Odd Jobs
Heian Ciemnosc didn't choose 20 Sub Students to fight. He knew better than that. So he selected about 400 Sub Students, who now understood Heian Ciemnosc wasn't playing shit with them. And after being elected, the rest of the Sub Students of his dormitory stepped back, leaving the 400 chosen ones standing tall before them. When the 20 rounds commenced, Heian Ciemnosc chose first, deciding for a cultivator in the early stages of the Obsidiafying realm.
Heian Ciemnosc sent the cultivator out, and the other dormitory leader could only send someone a stage above to fight him. At long last, Heian Ciemnosc’s cultivator won after somewhat of a bloody battle. Flesh flew about as swords danced, but it ended well, and both cultivators saw each other’s hands after the victor was decided. From there, even if Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t intending to, his dormitory gained even more morale after the fight. He was right, and they could win!
Round of battle after battle went on, Heian Ciemnosc responded to face the rivaling dormitory’s cultivators with those in the same stage or even lower. It seemed to depend on his whim. But in reality, Heian Ciemnosc chose with delicate examination after scanning the next opponent and placed a challenge upon the cultivator he sent. Thus, his dormitory suffered some losses, ending the competition with a victory of 7 losses and 14 wins, including his fight.
Only when the 21 rounds finished would the victories and defeats mean something. There was no meaning other than the possibilities that any competition could have. Some would end up being fought by a ‘last person standing’ rule, suddenly changing the nature of the competition in case both parties agreed or were convinced to do so. There were no strict or robotic rules, everything could be bent, and many situations could arise from even the simple competitions.
But it didn’t end there. Heian Ciemnosc the Hungry wasn’t over yet. After defeating this dormitory that dared violate the regulations, he marched with his dormitories to the neighboring dormitory and challenged them next to a competition. Their leader was aware of the things happening. But just as he wanted to concede, Heian Ciemnosc hit him with the ‘fight or receive punishment’ declaration and thus fought another dormitory.
Heian Ciemnosc fought fast against this leader, who was beaten down harsher than the previous tall and robust guy, no longer leaders. After brutalizing him, his dormitory had barely any will to fight, so the next 20 rounds were won with more ease than before. His dormitory had also gained more awareness and fought seriously this time, not feeling like they were heroic heroes following the commander of the ages… or so.
With all 21 wins achieved one after another, the second dormitory fell in Heian Ciemnosc’s hands, and he marked his name in the Sub Students of the Wrath Nihility Academy. It was just his second day, yet there he was, conquering dormitories with his charm and might like they were young girls, innocent but willing naïve girls seduced by his handsomeness.
It was supposed to be 1 competition every week. Only once a week would dormitories fight and ‘become one’ around the Wrath Nihility Academy’s territory. Basically, after the second day, only there were leaders only half the amount of dormitories. Heian Ciemnosc became a 3-dormitories leader, while the others were a 2-dormitories leader now. It wasn’t something important to bring in the future, but how it started did bring importance to his name.
There were just way too many dormitories in only the western section. Yet half would be conquered already by the leaders remaining. Those who lost would not stay as leaders but could be considered as their spokesperson. While those who won would not only receive the dormitory they defeated but also the ones who lost to that dormitory before, in the future.
Of course, only in the mornings would such things happen every first day of the week, as being Sub Students of the Academy, they had to go to classes every day during the afternoons and nights, only returning to their dormitories after night adorned the stars and contrasted them with brightness.
Thus, once things were done and all competitions ended for the week, Heian Ciemnosc and his new dormitories’ Sub Students all walked out of the dormitories section and took portals to the Cities or towards the center of the Wrath Nihility Academy’s territory. Some already had things going on with the Cities nearby. While the largest ‘City’ was the center of the Wrath Nihility Academy, which surrounded the tallest buildings in the territory.
There were more ‘normal’ buildings within the buildings, roads, and stuff. But the real coexisting and livelihood of the Wrath Nihility Aademy’s territory lay around its center, not the precise middle of it all. Those tall buildings were not for Sub Students, and only as a Student would one see themselves going between them back and forth every day, sometimes not even coming out of the Academy’s departments where Students had their dormitories quite close to.
On the other hand, Sub Students had to live far away where not only would they have to work their schedules every day. But also be available in the Cities, just in case they couldn’t take any job and remain within the Academy.
The Wrath Nihility Academy doesn’t take money from its Students or Sub Students. Only Assitant Teachers or higher are to pay tribute to the Academy every year or decade, depending on their capabilities. But from Sub Students to Leading Students, they had to earn the respect of the Wrath Nihility Academy. They had to attend class every day, never miss one, take tests and pass them. As well as homework from time to time.
If one was unprogressive for too long, they would either be sent out of the Academy or else they would be taken in as ‘assistants’ of some kind. This wasn’t the same as to a Sub Student’s odd jobs within the Academy’s center or Cities. But more like staying as advisors in civilian cities, guaranteeing their needs were met, and so on. That was a special treatment only for those who ried. Lazy bums are a no-no within the Wrath Nihility Academy.
Heian Ciemnosc quickly went to the Wrath Nihilirty Academy’s center, where he needed 5 different teleportations in order to go there. There were other portals, but his status was too low to enjoy. Instead, he bought a few hands from Races from street vendors and waited until his ticket dictated his turn. It was still in the morning at the time, so he was just testing the waters of timing, so he could schedule in the future for his needs.
After arriving at the Wrath Nihility Academy’s center, he directly walked towards one of the many mission-taking buildings owned by the Academy’s staff. Just as he was going to enter one, a woman with glasses and carrying some thin briefcases made of leather, black and brown. She looked like a teacher, and she approached Heian Ciemnosc with a smile at ease. Short hair and looking mature. She attracted his attention as she seemed to know him.
“I’ve come because you, Sub Student Heian Ciemnosc, as the best Sub Student in this year’s test. Are now renowned and reputed within the world. So I could help you get any job you’d like for a week, just helping you acclimatize. It is also the Academy’s attitude to assist someone who hasn’t had a real connection to the world after leaving a backwater Kingdom.”
“...” Hearing her words, Heian Ciemnosc looked at her expressionlessly before nodding. Nothing wrong with having some little help here and there. And besides, he was indeed a country bumpkin. He was barely getting used to the portals. There were already civilians selling limbs of any Race like it was normal and even smiling as they sold them off. He was thankful there were so many food stalls like those, though.
“Very well!” The woman smiled and presented her left hand for him to grab, just like a child would to an adult. She smiled brightly and stood beside him, adding, “I’m an Assistant Teacher. I’ll bring you to the respective departments in time, so don’t worry and look around once we’re in. Alright?”
Heian Ciemnosc nodded again, took her hand, and let this mommy bring him around to enter the building. He was the source of all attention as he stepped in. However, not because of seemingly having a sugar mommy, but being himself! His face was pointed at so much from the first to the higher floor, as it was an open building in the middle with the various floors having a view downstairs.
Silence followed with every step he took, and the Assistant Teacher holding his hand helped him walk to a nearby desk, where a handsome and bright-eyed young man looked at Heian Ciemnosc, almost ignoring the Assistant Teacher holding his hand. She wasn’t a beauty, but she was still a spectacular woman, or else she wouldn’t be given such responsibility as a teacher within the Wrath Nihility Academy.
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“Hello, could you hand us the missions for today and the rest of the week?” Smiling politely, the Assistant Teacher didn’t mind the lack of attention. The young man with a cultivation higher than Heian Ciemnosc couldn’t read looked at her and nodded like a chicken pecking on mountains of rice. He took out a pamphlet and a big notebook, which looked more like a book.
The notebook was several inches thick, and Heian Ciemnosc was left speechless at the readiness of such a thing. The young man offered no explanation as the Assistant Teacher handed the pamphlet to him. Heian Ciemnosc then read through it, taking his oh so sweet 1 minute and 7 seconds to read it with his Spirit Sense before choosing the highest payout mission, which would last the whole week. He would be busy these mornings and noons with taking such a mission.
“This one? Are you sure you don’t want another one?” Looking into his selected mission for the entire week, the Assistant Teacher asked with some doubt, uncomprehending why he would choose such a mission when having a reputation as he had. Heian Ciemnoscnodded at her and pointed at it again, not saying a word. The young man looked at the Assistant Teacher, waiting for her confirmation, as she blinked and her eyes changed, understanding a little.
“He will be taking this mission,” she lightly smiled and faced the young man, who nodded without doing any reaction and simply opened the notebook. Heian Ciemnosc felt his Spirit Sense attracted as he let it be shot into the notebook’s pages. Rapidly, the notebook flipped pages faster than Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes could take. But the contents, which were all in his mind until the flipping stopped, and Heian Ciemnosc could see the description of his mission as well as his responsibilities, rules, and what yes and not to do.
The young man placed his right index finger on the page and looked upturned at Heian Ciemnosc. The latter nodded at the former, and the page was closed, but not before Heian Ciemnosc saw it disappear and felt his medallion glow with heat. He looked at the young man again, now storing the notebook below the desk, and stepped away from the desk with the Assistant Teacher.
“... How much free time do I have before attending my mission?” Heian Ciemnosc asked the Assistant Teacher once they were out on the streets again. The Assistant Teacher answered, calm and collected with ease. “You can waste 20 minutes before hurrying to the nearest portal. Your employer will be in the Management and Exterior Affairs building. The large, blue one.”
Hearing her words, Heian Ciemnosc looked to the east, where that tall building stood atop the cloud, and he marveled. Looking back at the Assistant Teacher, Heian Ciemnosc’s guts were more solid than the most durable metal, and asked her, “Thank you, may I treat you to eat?”
“...” The Assistant Teacher looked at Heian Ciemnosc silently, his tilted head to the right appearing quite cute as it worked to convince her. “Okay.”
Thus Heian, smooth, Ciemnosc brought the lady to an ordinary restaurant and ate, drank, and slightly chatted with her. If he could see his growing relationships and connections with people, he would notice +1 everywhere on top of her head. Not only was he incredibly handsome, so terrifyingly, he could make old cougars, beauties of old age, fear for his tenderness.
But he was also seemingly famous. He didn’t know why and felt compelled to ask after sensing everyone’s eyes and index fingertips pointed at him. After all, helping an Assistant Teacher get good points for being close to him couldn’t be for nothing, not just to thank her for her help. Mommy would be proud if she could know her son’s machinations. “Why is it everyone looks at me that way?”
“Mm?! You don’t… know?” The Assistant Teacher finished gobbling down a sandwich with filling of some tentacle type of Fauna before asking him in response, shocked. She then cleaned her mouth, though it was already clean and decent enough, and elaborated as she brought her right wrist to the table facing the ceiling. From it, images of violet holograms appeared, letting Heian Ciemnosc become self-absorbed in such a marvelous thing.
“The list of the Wrath Nihility academy’s new Sub Students came out yesterday, at night. Most Sub Students don’t have a Universal Conveyance, so you might not know about it after all. Hmm. Well, those lists are always ignored unless a good talent or various is shown in the yearly competition between Sub Student dormitories. But, in this case, as it has been in the far past. A little monster like you steps out of hiding, and the Academy brags about having you in their embrace.”
“In this case, you are… everyone’s focus of attention. When the list was placed, every other Sixth Step organizational territory knew about the Wrath Nihility Academy finding a new monstrous talent. Yet, I assure you. When they read about your accomplishments and beating those two realms of cultivation above you, things escalated as nobody could have imagined. Even the Sixth Step organization that the Academy is now cooperating with and within their organizational territory asked for you. I heard the Headmaster and Vice headmaster had gone out to tranquilize them. Or else, those fools may just start a civil war right after the 10 year war. And nobody with a brain wants that.”
“For now, all you have to know is that… despite you being able to fight… like that. Everyone sees you as a rarer bug. Many more with the battle prowess of the Great Sage had shown up during the Archeons. It’s all in the records. And though none were as powerful as the Great Sage, they could jump already a couple stages before entering the Wrath Nihility Academy. Now, imagine they are trained well by the Academy. Their prowess might be just as amazing.”
“However, none of them survived. And that’s the bland truth. There were 2 such capabilities within the Great Sage’s Change. But they were assassinated in ways the Academy couldn’t do a thing about it. And fewer betrayed the Academy, and the Academy put them down for it. Those were painful moments… yet, there was never someone like you. It… was thought impossible. Even the last Lord wasn’t this powerful early on. It’s… you’re amazing, kid.”
“But, your lifespan might just be as short as the others. After all, everyone has limitations and the same amount of Power Energy or any other energy within their bodies. Souls are easily tempted by power, too. Many things could happen.” The Assistant Teacher stopped talking momentarily and stood up, nudged her head to gesture to Heian Ciemnosc to walk out before continuing. “But it’s different this time.”
“Not only the Vice headmaster and Headmaster are standing up for you, you know? Anyway,” now walking through the streets again, they hurried to the next portal, just 3 minutes away from the restaurant. “Most think you’ll end up dying this year or decade. While the Academy makes no direct claim about you, they also don’t show weakness. For now, trust the Academy’s big shots. They know how to dance amidst harmless fire and swim through the harshest blood currents.”
“Okay,” Heian Ciemnosc obediently responded, bringing a surprised look from the Assistant Teacher, but that soon turned into warmth as she walked him by hand to the portal.
… After crossing through it, they appeared right a few minutes’ worth of walking from the blue, tall building disappearing into the clouds. The Assistant Teacher hesitated no more after checking the time, took her medallion out, and she told Heian Ciemnosc to ‘pay her back later’ after he gained some money. Then, she directly flew towards the Management and Exterior Affairs building. Nobody stopped her or looked up to frown as if it was normal.
Whoooosh… tap tap.
She descended on the entrance, not directly flown through a window or something, and accommodated Heian Ciemnosc’s clothes that were all disarranged with her flight speed. Meanwhile, Heian Ciemnosc himself was dizzy and readjusting his eyes. Then she nodded at Heian Ciemnosc, who nodded back with his eyes returning to normal and left him there as she walked away with confidence.
Seeing her attitude and walking away, Heian Ciemnosc tilted his head leftwards and became pensive. He didn’t waste time as he turned around and entered the building, instantly showered by a large amount of refreshing atmosphere. An air of pure energy assaulted his nostrils, then his chest, as he was stared at with surprise by the hundreds of clerks and thousands of people walking around. It was a strange sensation and experience, worse than waking up naked in the middle of a classroom, perhaps.
“Oi, you took my mission, right? Come here!” Thankfully, as soon as Heian Ciemnosc noticed the greatness of this building’s very first floor, so ample and filled with almost half a ten thousand people walking around it with lots of space in between. A voice shouted towards him vigorously. Heian Ciemnosc ignored his shock at the excellently good pure energy amassed around here and looked for the owner of that voice. Heian Ciemnosc found a purple-robed man waving his arm high up towards him.
Heian Ciemnosc looked around one last time around the first floor. It was so gigantic that he believed quite a few dormitories could be built on just the first floor, quite the amazing sight to behold. Unavoidably, he grinned a little as he ignored the attention and casually walked towards the purple-robed man. All along, Heian Ciemnosc didn’t hear hushes, but he felt the intercommunication between each other from the people around him as they looked at Heian Ciemnosc and gossiped inside their minds.
Step, step, step, step…
“Alright, as my attendant, I’ll give you some books any Student can read for the last hour of the noon working with me. Is that okay with you, or do you want any of the other 2 rewards?” The man looked young, and though his hair was short and somewhat strict, he talked to Heian Ciemnosc like he was his little brother.
“Oh. No, that is fine.” Heian Ciemnosc shook his head, then nodded with it. The man looked pleased, then looked around, standing before Heian Ciemnosc before making a ‘ew’ face and spoke to him. “Let’s get out of here. Too many peepers. You’ll be carrying some books for me to read. If I ask you to bring out any other book, you just do it without questioning anything. With exactly the instructions I give you. Heard?”
“Understood.” Heian Ciemnosc said with his darkest eyes fully opened and looking up at the tall man. In return, the man grinned with the left corners of his mouth before flashing a book out of his strange Covert Space bag and placing it on Heian Ciemnosc’s quick hands, which he lifted out of reflex.
“This is the record I’ll read first. Hold it high so my eyes can be read by this damn array formation. If you do really well, I’ll let you read it aloud in my stead tomorrow. Now, let’s go.” Though the man’s words, this Teacher, sounded not so friendly, Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes ‘brightened’ at the permission to read these little things that for many would mean nothing. Or maybe for a spy, but Heian Ciemnosc didn’t need to be one to be interested in these things.
…