A group of students came out led by Arin. The only two people with their own reputations were Sefi and Patrick. Patrick had already been seen beside Arin when he waged war against the three factions. As for Sefi, she was quite possibly more terrifying in other people’s eyes.
Noah hadn’t done anything at all as he usually kept to himself. A few people recognized him as a library addict, constantly reaching out to a book and reading it one after another. He was the last person that they would’ve thought would’ve joined Arin’s side.
“So there are four factions now, huh?” A bystander glanced over at Arin’s group walking away. “The common group that’s led by Alexander. The coward’s faction is led by Elliot and by proxy, Fiona. That mysterious girl’s cult and finally, Arin’s team. So who’re you joining?”
His friend whispered to him, ensuring that no one else looked at him, “It’s not even close. Elliot’s group’s just too safe. Fiona had already beaten Arin into a pulp, he should be the least threatening one out of all of them. Just uh… don’t tell him I said that. I don’t want to see my guts spilling out me…”
“That makes sense. But don’t you think she’s a little too… off, in a way?”
“Now that I think about it, yeah. She’s not going to let us get stronger. By process of elimination, Alexander’s the only candidate, huh?”
“Well, we aren’t going to submit to Arin. Who knows how we’ll be treated? Fiona’s far too weak-willed to do anything. As for that veiled girl… she gives me a bad feeling. Alexander’s the only good option out of all of them.” He had been looking at the current state of the academy and had been figuring out how he should maneuver to get through his first year safely.
“The weak go hide behind Fiona while those wanting to get stronger join Alexander. From the looks of it, only these two factions have any genuine power. That is unless something unexpected happens.” He sighed and recalled that in a few weeks, they would be getting their Combat Techniques.
“True, no one’s making any big moves right now since it doesn’t matter. Arin’s actions had been propping him up on a pedestal but luckily for us, Fiona stopped him.”
“So, we joining Alexander’s faction?” He asked his friend while nudging his shoulder.
“I kind of want to wait for a while. At least after we get our Combat Techniques, that’ll be when hell breaks loose.” He looked at Arin’s back and sighed, feeling that Arin made far too many enemies. As he thought of this, he felt a chill get sent down his spine.
“Hey… don’t you feel like something’s wrong?”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“About everything. A Labyrinth Solver’s son shouldn’t be this reckless, right? He’s making so many enemies that it even superseded what Fiona had to deal with during her first year. You heard how he slaughtered so many small organizations, right? You don’t think he’s thinking of taking on everyone here…”
This student looked in Arin’s direction and narrowed his eyes, “Now that you mention it, he just might be thinking of that. What a lunatic.”
As Arin’s group passed by, the old man guarding the passage to the academy narrowed his eyes as he glared at Sefi. He was about to make a move when a sudden order forced him to let her go.
Arin stood still in front of the train and turned around to speak with the people behind him. “Do you know the rules while inside the train?”
Sefi energetically looked around, excitedly wanting to enter it as soon as possible. “No, but I won’t make trouble! Let’s go!”
“I’ve heard rumors that you should keep quiet while you travel unless you don’t value your life.” Noah accurately spoke up. He was well-versed with knowledge pertaining to everything.
“I’ll just keep quiet.” Patrick wasn’t slow and immediately caught on to what Noah just said. He still valued his life after all.
“Sefi, keep quiet or you’ll be a corpse after the ride ends. If that happens, that’s on you.” Arin coldly stated as he entered the train.
Sefi scoffed but still followed his orders. It wasn’t that she was entirely against playing around but the unsettling sensation within the train made her stay put. Noah and Patrick kept to themselves as they sat down, waiting for the train to move on.
The ride towards Arin’s house was a little eventful. Patrick wanted to ask a question but he was immediately shut down by Arin. Placing his finger on his lips, the gravity of the situation made Patrick shut up.
The three students riding on the train for the very first time looked around to see notable figures also abiding by the silence. No one dared make any trouble as they didn’t wish to break the rules inside this place.
Sefi looked around to see a few people looking outside the train. She followed their gazes and looked out to see a nearly foreign sight. Her eyes locked on a certain shack in the distance. There was an ongoing robbery that no one else bothered to help out.
She kept looking on and saw a few people running right behind a small kid carrying a precious necklace. One of the men took out a pistol and shot his leg. Visible droplets of blood splattered all around him as he was brought back to be punished.
I’ve missed the outside. It’s as depraved as I remember it.
Arin didn’t stop Sefi from sightseeing. As long as she kept her mouth shut, it wouldn’t be that bad. She needed it for what he was about to do to them.
Patrick still kept his imposing stature, staring back at those who observed him. He was undoubtedly the weakest person here yet he didn’t want to act as such.
Noah once again took out his small notebook and wrote down a few things on it. He had written whatever it was in another language that no one else knew but him. Perhaps it was an ancient league or maybe it was his own self-made one, at the very least, Arin couldn’t tell.
The trip finished as the train stopped at its destination. Arin stood up which alerted everyone that this was where they stopped. As they left it, both Noah and Patrick were a little confused on where they were. As far as they could tell, this was leading to outside the city.
“Where are we heading?” Noah asked.
“My place,” Arin answered back as he started walking. “Keep up.” After a brief moment to warm up, he immediately ran at his fastest speed. The distance from the city to the mountain wasn’t a short one either.
Noah looked around only to see that there wasn’t anything here but lush vegetation. He was interested in what kind of place Arin lived in. He quickly followed suit, not even lagging behind at all.
Sefi felt disappointed as she couldn’t just immediately go out as she wished. She wanted to go out and move on her own when she realized just how barren it was. Other than the train staff, there wasn’t anything else here. Feeling unsatisfied, she decided to just follow Arin.
Patrick suffered the greatest here, he was already outclassed in every aspect. Not to mention that his speed was his weakest point. Even so, he moved forward, pushing on to try and keep up.
From the distance, the group could see a monumental mountain show up. An odd feeling swelled up within Noah, “Don’t tell me we’re going to go that way.”
“If you don’t want to then don’t.” Arin had been far too familiar with this path that climbing this nearly vertical slope was as easy as breathing to him. Without waiting for the rest, he started nimbly climbing up.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Noah sighed and was left with no other choice but to pack his notebook back and start climbing. He wasn’t familiar with the terrain at all but observing Arin’s actions, he quickly got accustomed to it.
The other two climbed at their own pace. Sefi’s attention was drawn to the pretty sights around her while Patrick was struggling to keep up. They were both behind but for different reasons.
At the very peak, Arin started walking towards his humble abode. He immediately went in and started preparing. Noah arrived a few minutes later and was taken aback at how small Arin’s house was. It was only a two-story house that was big enough to accommodate three people.
Noah followed right behind Arin and opened the door. Inside, he was patiently waiting for the rest to come. Noah let himself in and took a seat right beside him.
“Not going to lie, I expected something more extravagant.” Noah once again took out his notebook and started writing things down.
“It gets broken far too often. With how far out we are, getting people to fix something gigantic takes a while. This is just more efficient.” Arin didn’t mind making some small talk as they waited. “Besides, this isn’t all there is.”
“Then I’ll keep my expectations high. Mind if I look around?”
“Suit yourself.” Arin gestured for Noah to go at it.
Noah stood up and went to the kitchen where he was immediately humbled. The ingredients in the cabinets were of the highest quality, even the storage containers they were placed in used extremely valuable metals to create.
He glanced at the numerous options available and was even shocked to find something so hard to find in abundance in this place. “This is really expensive. I’ll just stay away. Even a full year’s tuition in Seal Academy won’t be enough to pay for a pack.”
Noah meekly went back and waited alongside Arin for the other two. Using this small moment, he wanted to ask a few things.
“Just how real are the rumors?” Noah wanted to clear things up about Arin’s defeat. “Was Fiona really that terrifying?”
“I couldn’t break past her Combat Technique. It was completely one-sided.” Arin casually responded. “She’s the greatest prodigy for a reason. If she didn’t have such a mentality then it would’ve been her era. Too bad she’s too held up with her beliefs.”
“I heard she could use Malum even without a Fragment.” Noah subtly implied what he really wanted to know.
“A loss is a loss.” Arin’s wording had let Noah understand everything at once. “I was just weak but… not for long.”
“So what do you have in plan? Grow fast enough to compete with her or sabotage her so that she’s held back.”
“Both. It’s just that she’s forcing my hand. My initial plans are now useless. It used to be so simple too. Force everyone down, be the sole target of everyone’s wrath, and then use that pressure to grow stronger than ever before. Now that Fiona’s here, she’s interfering far too much.”
“First years should be kept to their own region away from everything else, Fiona’s clearly violating this so there’s only one explanation, she used an Insignia of Excellence. If we use one of those to cancel out her access then you could just return back to how things were.” Noah suggested.
“That dean won’t let that happen so easily. If anything I might need two or three to do it. Besides, there’s no reliable way to get one outside special events.”
Noah made a subtle smile fully knowing well what Arin was hiding. Even if the others didn’t know, Noah fully understood. Back when Professor Ferial had given Arin something during their mock Trial, the item she gave him was an Insignia of Excellence.
Now that Arin was withholding this information from the others meant that he was keeping it for a reason.
Noah had to feign ignorance. “That’s true, so what do you plan on doing now? Other than doing the Trials and creating a little bit of trouble for her.”
“Turn up the conflicts in the academy. Fill her time with useless battles. She has a soft spot for injured people, use that against her.” Arin glanced at Noah. “I’m not going to do that by myself.”
“That’s why we’re here. Sefi would definitely like to hear that. She’s been itching for a little bit of blood being spilled. You have no idea just how excited she got when she saw your work earlier.”
Arin didn’t respond, merely letting Noah keep talking. He kept on going about the current state of the academy.
“Since you haven’t been paying attention to the academy much, the three big factions have started solidifying their position. Alexander has become the voice of reason, retaining the essence of Seal Academy. He’s quite popular with the upper echelon of the students. Without a shred of doubt, his force’s strength is currently the highest.”
“He’s not going to be a threat at all. Great leadership but he isn’t cruel enough.” Arin recalled the way Alexander fought. Only fights by himself on equal terms against his opponent. He willingly placed himself at a disadvantage for no reason.
“The next one is Elliot’s faction. As you can expect, countless sheep that were initially going to be slaughtered wanted to live just a bit longer. Barlot and Rachel joined up. They’re both the backbone of the faction, well, other than Fiona.”
Rachel’s that girl that Robert fought. She was extremely durable. Too bad she’s too stupid to use it properly.
“Last but not least, the most mysterious faction out of the three, the cult. That veiled girl, Marina, is quite the tricky one. Her followers don’t even act like her followers. They act how they normally would but once they see her, their personality shifts immediately. Her personal strength is unknown and her faction’s strength is unknown.”
“There might be one of her people in our class and we don’t know yet. If she had a Fragment that could control people then Seal Academy wouldn’t let that slide. This means that she has some kind of Combat Technique that can do that.”
“I’m surprised she’s not in our class.” Arin felt something off about her. She just seemed as if she was looking from a distance yet not daring to come near them. It was as if she was a spectator.
“I’ve heard some rumors about her circling around. Apparently, she was supposed to be in our class but Dean Alabaster decided against it. He said that it would’ve ruined any competition.” Noah honestly spoke out all he knew. Holding back at this point was stupid.
Arin could take it in a number of ways but the one that he had decided to view it was evident. “She’s a bigger threat than Fiona. We don’t know anything about her except her name. Not even her face. That’s someone I need to take seriously.”
“I agree. A hidden danger is more dangerous than the one that you could see. Hmm? I guess it’s about time.” Noah looked at the door only for it be to slammed wide open.
In came, Sefi dragged Patrick by the neck. “So this is your place? Smaller than I thought. So, where are the Trials?”
Arin had finished up waiting and started walking away. He aimed directly for the training grounds where all his equipment lay. The weights he used and the restrictions that limited his movements were on full display.
From how heavy these materials were, they could see just how Arin’s body could hold so much power. Sefi lifted up a few weights quite easily yet once it reached a certain point, she started to struggle. Patrick tried as well yet it was obvious that he wasn’t even close to reaching anyone’s strength. Noah also tried but he stopped midway, preventing anyone from knowing his full power.
On top of the training grounds, Arin went over to a specific spot and bit his finger. He let that droplet make contact with a peculiar stone on the ground. As the three were playing around with his equipment, a sudden thunderous roar pierced their ears forcing them to cover it with their hands.
A light so blinding that it consumed the darkness. They were disoriented from such a sudden change in the environment. Noah fared a bit better as he seemed to have reacted much faster than the others.
By the time they came to their senses, they realized that they had been transported to a whole new world. They looked around to see that there were numerous people going about in this place with a fearful look in their eyes.
All of them were running a fully functioning city filled with the necessities of any human. Food, entertainment, shelter, and vices. The only thing that made it surreal for them was the evident mark of a brand on their foreheads. It was the exact same mark on each and every single one of them.
“Prepare for combat! Intruders!” An incoming battalion immediately responded wielding their own weapons. A few even started bringing out their own respective Fragments to use in combat. The sheer amount of people rushing in at the slightest notice made them feel concerned.
The general leading the army looked at the three of them with a meticulous eye and gritted his teeth, “Do not be fooled! To make Master’s son bleed means that they are extremely dangerous!”
The soldiers sang their battle cry as they steeled themselves for death. “Hoorah! Hoorah! Hoorah!”
On the other side of the city, Arin was being escorted by a few elites. A few held packaged goods and prepared basic necessities for an entire month. A few Seal Solvers joined him in guiding his escape. Their faces were extremely grim as this unexpected attack was far too sudden.
“Stop the protocol. I just wanted to bring them in without letting them know the secret path.” Arin pushed away the doctor trying to examine his wounds. The numerous pills in his hands fell down on the ground.
“Oh…” Hearing this, a feeling of both relief and irritation filled the person in charge’s heart. As much as he wanted to reprimand Arin, he had enough power to dictate his life and death. “Do we bring them to you?”
“Not so quickly. Brand them with the slave mark on a hidden part of their body. I can’t use pawns I have no complete control over.” Arin spoke such a terrifying sentence so easily. He didn’t view the people who joined him blindly.
I initially didn’t want to brand anyone with a slave mark. I didn’t even want to bring anyone here but circumstances just had to change. This way, I’ll be able to use them however I want. Force them against their will to do as I wish.
“As you command.” The man in charge immediately gave out orders to detain and brand those three. Noah, Patrick, and Sefi tried fighting back but they were just far too outclassed. Patrick was detained far too easily which would’ve made one think that he wasn’t even trying.
Sefi had managed to deflect a few attacks and crack a few bones but she was easily put down as well. She went down swinging as hard as she could. As for Noah, it was odd yet he immediately raised his hands without even fighting back. Thus, a mark was branded into each of their bodies against their wills.