Leon met up with Elvis at the start of daybreak, yawning because of the lack of sleep.

They headed down, along with the other boys. Grinning at the buffet waiting for them, Leon got a breakfast sandwich and some tea, with Elvis getting a porridge with fruits and honey.

As he bit into the warm bread, and was awakened by the delicious taste of bacon and eggs, Leon noticed that Luke was numbly sitting alone, picking at his food.

Remembering the other boy’s weird behavior yesterday, he wondered what was wrong with him.

Finishing up his breakfast, Leon and Elvis headed out, joining the group of girl students already there.

The teachers arrived, Duke Andras taking the lead.

“We will first go to the Weaponry District, then finish this day with a visit to a partner school.”

Elvis leaned over. “She means Goreduhan. It’s the second-best Academy, but it mainly focuses on Elemental magic. I heard Luna was supposed to go there, but decided on Velereth.”

As they all began walking, Lily ran up to Elvis, engaging in conversation. Having nothing to do, he approached Luke, wondering what the hell was going on with him.

As Luke caught Leon’s eye, he grimaced and looked away.

‘That bastard.’

His determination to annoy Luke grew even more, he walked right next to him, directly asking, “What’s wrong with you?”

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean?”

Leon rolled his eyes. “Where’s your arrogant expression that I want to punch so much? Why so dull?”

Luke began walking faster, shouting, “Hey, Luna!”

As the petite girl turned, Leon trailed Luke, shouting, “You can’t get rid of me that easily!”

Luke began asking Luna questions about Elemental affinity, with Leon trying to get his attention, when the girl turned and pointed to Leon. “Ask him. He’s good at Elemental magic.”

Luke turned with a weird look on his face. “He’s bad though? He couldn’t do anything during class.”

“I saw him out at night. He was shooting out fire and light easily. I think he was also with a small bo-”

Slapping his hand over her mouth, Leon laughed nervously. “I can just use a bit. I’m not that good.”

“Mmph!”

Luke started weirdly, “Um. Okay?”

As Luke walked away, Leon lost his will to continue to annoy him. Turning to Luna, he asked, “How much did you see?”

“Just the light and fire spells. Is that all you can do?”

“I can use water too.” After all, there was no point in hiding that. However, he didn’t mention the Prima Materia, as he ruled it as way too dangerous to share.

“Ooh. So a trio-user. You’ll like Goreduhan. I’ll give you a hint. During free-roam time, go to the library. There’ll be a librarian, with old, green hair. Ask him for advice.”

She was about to say more, but Lily came up behind him. “C’mon. Elvis is looking for you.”

Briefly turning around, and seeing that Luna had walked away, he followed Lily, meeting up with Elvis as they arrived at the Weaponry District.

The District was huge, filled with factories that belched out black smoke. Lost workers walked around, lugging around pots filled with molten metal.

Duke Andras addressed the crowd of first-years.

“This is the Weaponry District. You have most likely heard of this place before. While most of you have Bound weapons, this District makes cheaper weapons for the lesser well-off folks.”

The Duke motioned as a Lost demon approached them, her black hair pulled tight in a knot.

“This is the manager of this District. She will show you around and explain the functions of this place.”

The manager nodded. “Thank you,” turning to the students, she said, “I would first like to show you the place where we melt the metal.”

Walking inside a factory, they walked through the metal hallways, arriving in a big room where multiple workers grabbed bars of pre-made metals and melted them inside pots.

“This is Esmine.” She picked up a bar of silvery metal. “This is rather common, mostly found in the Outer Districts.”

Moving on to another room, they entered a room that was shielded by a thick glass sheet. Outside the glass, workers wearing hazmat suits walked around, transporting the melted metal and pouring it into molds.

“We need the glass sheet because melted Esmine expels out poisonous gasses as it cools down.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Finishing the tour, they said their goodbyes to the manager, walking some more for about 30 minutes.

Turning a corner in the streets, Leon looked up at the huge building that awaited them.

It looked much more technologically advanced than Velereth, with four base skyscrapers connected with long hallways of strong glass. The base was a building too, spanning wide around Leon’s whole vision.

Lily smiled. “Isn’t Goreduhan so much more pleasing? Velereth is just too dull.”

They arrived at the entrance, where a huge glass door awaited them. With a beep it smoothly opened, showing a neat lobby with clear marble for flooring.

An attendee bowed her head. “The Headmistress will be with you shortly.”

As they waited, Lily walked over to Leon. “What were you talking to Luna about?”

Leon stared at her impassively. “Why do you need to know?”

She shrugged. “Just wondering.”

He shook his head in reply. “We aren’t that close yet.”

As she pouted, Leon turned to Elvis. “Do you know where the map is?”

Elvis pointed at a Genesis Plate on the wall. “Try talking to the AI. I bet it's there.”

Walking over, Leon activated the console. As the AI’s clear voice rang out, he asked for the map.

As the console beeped and showed the 3D designs, Leon looked closely, finding the library quickly. It was located on the third floor of the second tower, which he quickly engraved into his memory.

Suddenly a sound on his left turned his head.

A woman wearing a flowing black dress stepped out of a door, a smile on her lips. She was wearing a mask, almost similar to the one that Lily wore.

She and Archlord Rangda did the pinkie greeting, bowing to each other after.

The woman spoke first. “I am the Headmistress of this Academy, and I am honored to be the one to introduce you to this school. I’ll assign everyone with some of our best students, and I’ll let everyone roam free for some time.”

The assignment quickly ended, with Leon being stuck with a snotty-nose brat who had been comforted and protected his whole life.

Losing the narcissistic boy, he quickly went to the library, taking Luna’s tip seriously.

Opening the door, he stepped into the fresh library, which smelled of disinfectant and sweet peaches.

Looking around, he spotted the person that Luna had talked about.

It was rather easy to see him, as his shocking green hair acted like a marker.

Approaching the old man, he asked, “Do you have any advice for me?”

Looking in confusion at Leon, the old man suddenly laughed.

“Did Luna send you?”

When Leon nodded, the man laughed even harder. “I asked her to stop doing this…”

“Does she do this often?”

The man shook his head. “You should be proud. She only does this to people who she believes have the most potential.”

“So what’s the advice?”

The man nodded. “It’s that you have to absorb the elements into your Mana core.”

“That’s it?”

He nodded again.

Sighing in disappointment, Leon asked, “Can I ask for your name?”

The man smiled. “I don’t hear that often. But I don’t have a name. But you can call me King.”

‘King?’

“You don’t happen to know a Queen, do you? One that hides somewhere…”

As the old man’s gaze suddenly intensified, Leon trailed off.

“I suggest you never say that name again. It’s too dangerous. Now, shoo. I have work to do.”

Nodding, Leon left the library, awkwardly closing the door behind him.

As he was walking down the corridor, he heard a rushed whispering coming from behind a closed door.

Recognizing Luke’s voice, he leaned into it, trying to make out the conversation.

“Is everything ready?”

Leon had never had that other voice before, but it sounded like it belonged to a man.

Luke replied with a mumbled reply that Leon couldn’t discern.

“You must be ready when it is time. Make sure that you’re not suspected.”

“Yes sir.”

The man spoke again. “If you succeed, the whole land of Sheol shall know our name. And they will know yours most of all.”

“Yes sir.”

“I’ll be waiting for your signal. I’ll be leaving you now. The First, the Last, the Eternal.”

Leon jerked back in surprise, his eyes widening in surprise. Whoever this man was, he either had known Fenrir or had known about the Society of the Knowing.

Hearing the doorknob turn, Leon hastily ducked behind a wall, as the door opened. Peeking out, he saw that the man was a middle-aged demon without wings. He was wearing strange armor that glistened in the air. It almost felt like it was causing him to blend into his surroundings, and Leon found it hard to focus on him.

‘So he’s not a Lost. And maybe some kind of Skill or magic power?’

As the man left, looking around cautiously, Leon slowly crept out behind the wall, hurrying back to the brat, who launched an hour-long lecture on how tiring Leon had made him.

Although he could have easily intimidated the kid - the guy knew that he was the Blessing of Abbadon - Leon refrained from doing so, his mind too occupied to do much action.

As the boy proudly continued to show off the high-end school, Leon absently nodded, his thoughts racing.

‘Luke… what’s going to happen?’

***

The man looked at the screen again.

“He has made enough progress.”

“Yes sir.”

The beautiful white-haired woman bowed, having learned not to question his actions.

The man stood up, his boots lightly stepping on the polished marble floor.

He silently made a gesture with his hands, causing reality to distort and fluctuate until a dark orb crackling with white energy appeared.

He grasped it, carefully studying it. Then a smile suddenly appeared on his impassive features. Of course, the smile was fake. How could one feel joy when their emotions were gone? But he felt like if there was any time to smile, this was it.

He walked down the corridor, floating souls bowing to his presence.

He opened the ivory-laid door, stepping into a massive theater.

Taking a seat right in the middle of the hundreds of seats, he looked on as the lights dimmed and the curtains opened.

A masked figure stepped out, arms and legs bound by wires, like a marionette.

The man took out the orb, clenching it tightly.

The energy shattered, dark and light tendrils slowly drifting away.

The masked figure stepped forward, his mask slowly removed.

The face of Leon Este’s mouth opened, a monotone voice echoing through the room.

“First act. Begin.”