Taking A Leave

"Truth is," Teacher Conde sat straight on his chair, his tone slightly calm and warm after the waitress left. "It's not only distributing you the rewards for winning the competition... Heian Ciemnosc, the Academy has thought about it and... Well, in the meeting. I also offered myself to relay the news. Boy, you're becoming one of the Wrath Nihility Academy's renowned students to go from being a Sub Student to a Student in a year."

“!” Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes widened as he looked at the Teacher. Such a thing was known throughout the Academy’s history but hadn’t happened for the last few Ages. It was a novelty now happening, and with him from all people. Though he had done incredible things, barely seen through time, it was much less than any other student like him had achieved. Still, Heian Ciemnosc has qualities that were either uniquely rare or never seen before.

“Don’t believe it? It’s simple,” Teacher Conde gestured before placing his hands on the table and looking at Elena, warmth showering her as she behaved and looked back obediently. Facing Heian Ciemnosc, he began. “Besides your incredible battle prowess, Heian Ciemnosc. There are your allrounder capabilities in Craftsmaking. Well, that’s something any organization would want, even the big bosses around.”

“There’s also the fact you already had a Soul formed when you came into the Academy. The Supervisor of your test couldn’t stop talking about you for a few weeks in the meetings before he was finally busy handling other things. Even Assistant Teachers like the one who aided you taking missions your first week and of your classes can’t help gossiping about you.”

“They say your energy fluctuations are smooth, soft, flowing, and flawless. But no matter what, they can’t figure out the speed and trajectory it goes within your body. And when practices began, your inner body seems to drown itself into the occasion, as if you couldn’t help but naturally connect with the Craftsmaking professions and cultivation wonders of the world.”

“Your bodily strength is beyond natural! Only Godly people are known to have that kind of might. But you aren’t even in the Crabstynian realm and already have above 30,000 kg bodily strength. Your Spirit Sense is too large, so much so that it is terrifying to think how much it would grow once you simply break into the Spirit Rebirth realm. Many Beast and Elf teachers say you have an extremely long lifespan already. Your Race is still a mystery to the whole world!”

“If we ever encounter your Race, or it is found. With such impossible magnitudes, which the intellectuals and knowledgeable masters of our Academy have deduced, you are a big gem among your people, and not as if every single one of your Race was like this. Then, if we nurture you and give you a chance to form something in the world. Wouldn’t that be an incredible ally for the Academy??

Teacher Conde paused and looked straight into Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes, which calmly looked back. “Heian Ciemnosc, if the Academy gives you such recognition and isn’t limiting your opportunities. Isn’t it clear the Academy wants you to become its seed and grow as large as possible in the future? Near future.”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc looked pensive at Teacher Conde’s words. And as he nodded very slowly and somewhat heavily. Thoughts flashed inside his head.

It was true the Wrath Nihility Academy had chosen to remain a Second Step organization simply so that no other organization outside the Blackotia Kingdom within the same Universe could freely attack them, financed by other organizations who had lusted from long ago after the Academy’s potential and riches. Conquering the Blackotia Kingdom is the same as ruling the Wrath Nihility Academy and deciding everything within it.

As for the possible ‘enemies’ within, if the Wrath Nihility Academy didn’t have such a firm hand over the Blackotia Kingdom as a whole, how could they ever have been capable of forming this Academy in the first place? The dangers within the Blackotia Kingdom were always dealt with by the Academy itself. If they couldn’t protect themselves, what use would there be in having people send their children and disciples here?

The Wrath Nihility Academy didn’t need to worry about being invaded by another Galaxy or even a Universe. It wasn’t just protected under the Existential Sixth Step lording over this Universal Land. Any student that came through here would inevitably become attached to it and wish to protect it should any harm befall it or be about to. And that was for the students who weren’t converted from whichever organization, group, or family they came from into students and then teachers of the Academy.

Heian Ciemnosc had seen far too many diehard Sub Students in his dormitories, including the eastern section’s Sub Students, becoming diehard students for the Academy. He himself quite liked the Academy. There was a simple yet hardworking manner to earn money, to the point the more you do, the more you gain. There was good hunting when going on club missions, and he could get good snacks and even better cultivation aid from some corpses.

He never won Merit points even once, but as soon as he did today, he felt the Wrath Nihility Academy’s welcoming towards him and any Sub Student who ‘reached’ far. The other rewards were expected. Most of them were ingredients for all Craftsmaking professions, even caretaking. But he also received some to make ‘more’ than Mortal weapons, and not specifically weapons.

“So, I accept,” Heian Ciemnosc said. His eyes carried a bit of determination, and Teacher Conde saw it with a warm light as he sat with his back straight once again and looked around. The Teacher took his medallion out again and presented its face directly to Heian Ciemnosc. Teacher Conde whispered some words only he and not even Elena could hear.

“The Wrath Nihility Academy welcomes Heian Ciemnosc, Sub Student, now a Student of the Academy!” The medallion glowed a shiny grey, then a yellow, before becoming black. Some clapping could be heard from other tables. The place wasn’t too big, and about 17 or so tables could fill up the restaurant, with each table accommodating 3 to 4 people. Thus, when people clapped, Heian Ciemnosc realized that this was it.

“What, were you expecting a grand ceremony and an insane cheer of the Academy’s territory to celebrate you and only you? Promotions of this kind occur every day. It is only at the end of the year that they are recounted. The Academy publishes a list as they do with the Sub Students. Heian Ciemnosc tilted his head to the right, his inner thoughts slightly read through as he ‘annoyedly’ said. “I know that. I just wasn’t aware it would be this casual.”

Heian Ciemnosc then halted for a moment before telling his mind, but only after he sipped a bit of a glass of juice a waiter brought over as they talked. “Now that I am a Sub Student, I can go out any time I want, right? However, I need to ask for permission in case I want to go out of the Blackotia Kingdom. I’d like to ask Teacher Conde’s permission to take a leave. Other than that, I also want to apply for the incoming test. I’d like to form part of the Students who go there.”

“You can’t go in, silly. Only when a student of the Academy has been in the Academy for over 2 years can they partake in testing those participants. I, for example, am going to do so next test. You won’t because you only have a few days before your first year is concluded, so you’ll have to let big sistah Elena show you the way. As for Master’s perm-” Elena interjected, giving Heian Ciemnosc a well-deserved ice bucket and silencing the mighty, handsome, pale teenager.

But then, Elena’s master interrupted her. There was no way he would let his little disciple speak for him, though he did so by complementing her words as if she really knew how he articulates. “I can give you permission for the former. Just make the details known no later than the day before you want to leave. Go to the Management and Exterior Affairs building for that.”

“Okay, now,” Teacher Conde changed the subject and the atmosphere of their table as a waiter came to deliver 3 plates and drinks. His face visibly changed and turned hungry as he spoke once the waiter was gone and all plates laid deliciously before him. “Too many decent talks and about the Academy. Let’s dig in. I haven’t gone to a restaurant for a decade…”

Heian Ciemnosc looked at the hungry Teacher and his hungry disciple. The former lowered his head and began eating. A normal occurrence. The latter moved hands, ducked her neck, and gobbled food into her mouth down her throat nonstop, her regular occurrence. For this Teacher to seemingly participate in many meetings where Supervisors attend, he really had to be in the known of his backstory.

As for the ‘place’ he would be going. There was nothing to worry about. Heian Ciemnosc could simply tell he would be around Blackotia Kingdom’s space. So unless his notification triggered the Academy’s higher ups, they would see a Carrier coming over to pick him up, and nothing else would matter.

“Teacher, if you really wanted to talk to me,” Heian Ciemnosc started eating. Unlike them, he showed decency, taking a fork and eating little by little as he spoke with his chin slightly lowered. “Then simply sending Elena a message to visit you or relay these worlds would’ve been enough. I don’t have a Universal Conveyance, but she does. Why want to use so many ‘Academy’s messages’ in order to speak with me?”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Nom nom, nothing escapes your nature-seeing eyes, kid?” Teacher Conde cleaned his mouth full of soup and looked up at Heian Ciemnosc. Sitting with his back straight, he sighed through his nostrils a little before saying in a light voice. “An incredibly noteworthy ‘member’ of the Academy has… seen you, well, ah… This member has seen your road in the Academy all this long and… uhh… after seeing you go through the year, has decided to take you… as a disciple.”

Heian Ciemnosc: c( O.O )ɔ

Elena: 🌭ԅ( ͒ ۝ ͒ ) 🍫ԅ( ͒ ۝ ͒ )

“...” Heian Ciemnosc was taken aback so much that he became silent without precipitation. Teacher Conde saw this and let the teenager take the time to take it in. Meanwhile, as Elena gobbled down huge and wide glasses of yummy juice, Heian Ciemnosc was wrecked with thoughts in his mind. ‘Who is it? Am I… finally being seen as… worthy? Did someone just want to bite a bullet? A test? Is it… good or bad for me?’

“You don’t look especially thrilled. It’s been close to a year. Don’t you want to have someone to learn from? Starting next year, besides truthfully going from ‘First Year’ to ‘Second Year’, you will also receive teachings from your Master.” Teacher Conde commented after seeing Heian Ciemnosc not give a response.

“Oh. Something tells me you won’t tell me anything about who it is.” Heian Ciemnosc said before drinking from his glass, which Elena pouted at as she was about to drink from it… the hungry little monster. Teacher Conde swayed his head left and right with closed eyes. Heian Ciemnosc rolled his eyes slowly and then continued eating. This time, he devoured his plate like the other two.

During their meal, Heian Ciemnosc and the pair of master and disciple conversed. And now more than ever, Heian Ciemnosc asked them about a disciple and master’s relationship and what kind of things the Academy could have such people do. If there were more ‘untold’ local rules, he should be aware of it. Though Heian Ciemnosc didn’t wholeheartedly welcome such a sudden notice, he at least didn’t seem to go against it. For Teacher Conde, that was enough.

Elena and Teacher Conde also asked Heian Ciemnosc, for he was a boy who didn’t seem to have any good previous history with some sort of guiding figure or any type of parent’s figure. They didn’t just answer his questions but asked him a few things, from what he thought about the matter to what he saw in such relationships when not being part of one. It was somewhat of a silly attempt to ease in case this pale teenager felt cold feet or insecure.

Of course, Heian Ciemnosc would never need such encouragement. If he was this weak-minded, Heian Ciemnosc would’ve perished before starting his journey. Let alone now, where he wasn’t just a recently promoted new Student.

***

Within the central building, gray with each floor clearly separated visible from the outside. The tallest and most robust building and structure within all of the Wrath Nihility Academy’s territory.

In one of the many large rooms, just after thousands of Supervisors and a few hundred Teachers left the area. A Beast owl was gathering some papers on his desk in front of all the other chairs in the room. Some hurried steps sounded before the owner of those footsteps halted right before the desk and spoke somewhat loudly and concernedly.

“Sir, this- should this really be happening?!” The voice was from a woman, and as the Beast owl humanoid lifted his beak and eyes, he saw a Supervisor with blonde hair aiming backwards and screaming lowly with her face scrunching up in confused disbelief. Looking at her without reaction, as if he had just fallen asleep, caused the woman to stop yelling and recompose herself, though only by a small margin.

“Sigh, I know what you’re trying to say. But aren’t you doing this exactly because of what a few have whispered in your ears?” Saying so, Mr. Owl took his papers and detoured beside the blonde Supervisor before walking out of the room. The blonde Supervisor followed suit.

“It is with even more importance that these worries should be considered then!” They started walking through some tens of meters-wide corridors as she began to loudly exclaim and explain. “Sir knows nobody here would do something for outsiders if it didn’t truly concern the Academy. But this does, and I assure you, if you let me gather those with similar minds as mine, I can get a third of every teacher and Supervisor to stand with me.”

“I know you can, but you’ve played with the wrong game here. You’ve chosen to take a side, and nobody with intellect, so whether with thoughts similar to yours or not, would want to step on someone else’s foot. Someone who has been there for us, who has formed some ties and given a true, hidden alliance in the end.” The Beast Owl said casually, seemingly not bothered by her concerning words nor about the implications of the last meetings these last few days.

“Sir!” The Supervisor became desperate there for a moment, but she quickly calmed herself and continued. “He shows too much prowess. Killing 2 whole realms above his own? But only showing it when there are not so ‘many’ observers? That is killing, not defeating, or routing his enemies. It is utterly impossible!”

“His Craftsmaking is too rapidly advancing and flexible. Assistant Teachers in charge of the Sub Students’ classes can’t stop talking about him, even those the kid had nothing to do with the whole year! There might be rumors of his relationship with Miss. But the truth may be she just did her job and didn’t want this ‘preciously’ talented person mixing with her people, so why do we?!”

“So, what are you suggesting? Is he an old devil or the reincarnation of betrayal? Good! That he has chosen our poor little Academy means he trusts us this much. We have a future, then! Haha~,” the Beast Owl said, even facing the ceiling and relaxedly laughing it off like it couldn’t be any better.

“Ugghh,” the blonde Supervisor visibly and audibly showed annoyance, but she still continued. “He has even been seen eating living bodies of his enemies. In front of other Sub Students and Students! Is that what a student of the Wrath Nihility Academy ought to do? He is showing he doesn’t care about the integrity of our image! We are a peaceful, neutral, and welcoming organization for everyone. Suddenly eating our enemies while they move and breathe isn’t any of our ideals, sir.”

Towards the end of her words, her voice became calm, gentle, and reasonably soft as if trying to get the sir to reason. Yet, Mr. Owl once again acted like it was of unimportance and said with his tone trailing off by the wind. “Our Wrath Nihility Academy has seen peace for the last few Archeons. But it has not seen the providence it should have been bathing in since long before I even took this seat. Everything always remained the same. Our ideals are simple, and so are our hearts. But even so, we are, at times, reminded how comfy our bed is as we are pushed down and told to remain there.”

“If we are seen as the Academy that is now changing its face… then that face must be terrifying. It must let everyone know that… we are changing the sheets.” Mr. Owl’s words were left behind, as did the blonde Supervisor, whose calm face slowly became determined. Whether or not that would be the case, it had to be seen, and she wouldn’t just watch as any other thing could happen. If it does, then it will. If it doesn’t, then she would have been right.

***

Dark night with beautiful stars. It was a moment of rest where Heian Ciemnosc had gone to visit Elena’s master’s residence, and he was now stargazing, thinking about home. Elena was at his side, lying on the grass while a few hill-sized rabbits ate away some leaves of the trees nearby. They didn’t overeat and destroy her master’s garden ecosystem.

“That one is a Carrier. Those other 2 are its Fleet. Look, this one is the one with big resources. The other is a ‘just in case’ kamikaze, for whenever an enemy organization tries to take it, or simply destroy it, from their hands. I heard the Far East Region has emptied another treasury to buy many resources. Their poor behemoth is sooo weak. I can’t believe they were once competitors with the Academy. Sometimes, I think we should help them recover to their greatest times, you know?”

“Oh, honor?” Heian Ciemnosc asked, his legs folded and the soles of his feet against the soft but short grass. He tilted his head to the right, where Elena felt his eyes 2 meters away and shook her head, her eyes closing momentarily. He then asked again, “Melancholy?”

But Elena shook her head again, this time with her eyes gazing back at him with expectant eyes. Heian Ciemnosc looked at them and became pensive. After a little while, he seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes moved first before his head followed to face the sky. “Love?”

Rustle, rustle- thud-bpa.

Heian Ciemnosc immediately felt Elena dragging her body to him. And as soon as she came into contact’s reach, her head plowed on his right chest and shoulder as he rested the back of his head on both palms. With a cheeky, glad grin, she hid her profile from his naked eye, and her voice turned pretty soft but still sharp.

“Love. Love for the land is really something. It is way too much time for everyone to grow crazy if there isn’t a clear objective in life. Even beings and existences would grow crazy if there was nothing. Purpose is just a part of that love. Even if the Blackotia Kingdom is our tiny jail with a big cell room, we can’t want anything more but to escape it and step wherever we want…”

She looked up, revealing her rosy countenance and gleaming, brown, simple eyes. Her lips seemed somewhat pale, but were red as they danced in the dull milky substance. “It’s still what we have. Where our ‘capital’ would lay and where our history centers. There’s nothing more convenient than making a powerful eternal ally.”

Elena looked at him a bit more, tender emotions in her crescent eyes, before returning to hide her profile from him and burying the left half of her face into his chest. So cool and refreshing but inundating her with warmth. It just felt amazing.

“A warrior and a thinker, Valeria would’ve really liked you.” Heian Ciemnosc’s words caused a sleepy, heavy-dozing Elena to wake up slightly as she murmured quietly. “Who is she? Your patron?”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc grinned. Afterwards, a little nightly storytelling began, and he finally spoke of his past. It was the first time, and Elena immediately woke up. She couldn’t miss this!

…