After thorough deliberation and consultation with the Kingdom's codices of war, the Council hereby acknowledges and accepts the use of plague wraiths during this war. Their utilization, while catastrophic, has led to no loss of human life, which is in accordance with the established statutes of warfare regarding machines and magical contraptions, thus permitting their sanctioned use in strategic operations.
Duchess Madrassa Darlington,
High Member of the Council of Lords,
Central Kingdom (Lutia), year 2275.
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Aodhán finally settled into a rhythm, going from gym to class and then to control training every evening. The weekdays were almost monotonous, but the weekends brought enough excitement and pain to last him a lifetime.
In this manner, three weeks passed. Three weeks since their devastating attack on the Sunstone. The news had circulated fast, reaching them even within the academy. Ragnarok’s actions had escalated the war, and now they were preparing for Sunstone's inevitable retaliation.
Reports of increased military activities filled the news, and in their letters, Unrid and Synové complained that the streets were scanty and the prices of goods had increased drastically.
Speaking of letters, Aodhán and Daruk had maintained regular communication with Synové and Unrid over the last three weeks, informing them about their lives and everything concerning their studies.
Synové requested every detail, even the unimportant ones, and her replies were just as detailed, usually taking up so much space that Unrid usually just managed a small portion of it to wish them the best and remind them to be careful.
It wasn’t a problem, though, as Synové spoke enough for two. She told them about their new neighbors, the new house, and how, even with all the luxury around her, she still missed Warren.
Aldric wasn’t with them yet, as he’d chosen to graduate from the 12th Academy first before leaving. Not like a certificate from such a poor-rated school mattered much to anyone here in the 5th sector, but it was always better to be a graduate than not.
Still, he would be visiting for the midterm break, and Aodhán was looking forward to meeting his snarky and sarcastic older brother again. It had been too long.
Unrid and Synové had been provided jobs as workers in a large food processing factory not too far from their new home, and although it wasn’t a special job, the pay was good.
“Besides, we're rich now," Synové had written in one of her letters, attaching a pouch of ten gold coins that Aodhán and Daruk had shared equally.
Aodhán didn’t really have much he was spending money on, except for the meals he bought for his dates with Lupin, which were going extremely well, by the way.
He hadn’t asked her to be his girlfriend yet. He would soon, but he felt it was still too early, and with all that was going on with the war, it didn’t seem like the right time to do so.
The escalation of the war had made life in the academy more difficult and hectic. Tension filled the halls and classrooms as everyone went about their activities, impatiently waiting for the Sunstonians to attack, to retaliate, to do something.
It had been three whole weeks since they’d destroyed about a quarter of their farmlands, and everyone was just holding their breaths, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Principal Zatya had shown him a video of the devastation a few of their champions had wrought on the Sunstonian agricultural sector, and it had been nothing short of horrific.
Hundreds of miles of farmland had been destroyed as the decay effect persisted for nearly a full day, even after the wraith had been eliminated. The video had also shown several earth and plant awakeneds attempting to curb the destruction, but their efforts proved futile.
Ragnarok had demanded Sunstone's immediate surrender after that, threatening to attack with a battalion of plague wraiths in two months’s time if they didn’t receive a suitable reply.
Yet, three weeks had passed, and the Sunstonians hadn’t said a word. They had held no press conference, nor had they printed anything in their newspapers. Their silence grated on Aodhán’s nerves as well as that of the other students.
Aodhán shuddered. Was this the war he was meant to join? The war the principal was preparing him for? He wasn't ready, not in the least. The scale of power he'd witnessed in the video the principal had shown him was nothing short of astounding, with reality twisting and bending to the will of several champions.
Yet, despite his fear, excitement flickered within him as he replayed the video in his mind and imagined himself wielding power on such a scale.
His excitement faded when he remembered the devastation their champions had wrecked on the Sunstonian agricultural sector, and his shoulders tensed.
He wasn't the only affected student, though, as everywhere he turned, tensed and angry students milled about. They moved around with vigor, shoulders tensed, and fingers clenched. In the last week alone, over a dozen fights had broken out within the hallways, double that within the houses, and it was a true miracle that Aodhán hadn’t been dragged into it.
The forge matches had changed from challenges to battle grounds, with students feverishly challenging their foes and beating them up until they either surrendered or a professor intervened. Even Daruk had been dragged into the ring by Alan Kasirel, one of the students who had participated in the tournament.
Alan was a solar awakened, and immediately their fight had been declared. The boy had blazed with heat and light so bright that he looked like a mini-sun, but Daruk had beaten him to a pulp by channeling both {Freeze} and {Drain Heat} at the same time before topping it all off with a blast of his aura.
Alan had been reduced to a shimmering blue block of ice almost immediately, and the professors had had to intervene before he froze to death. Even Aodhán hadn’t been spared, as he’d been challenged twice in the last three weeks, forcing him to defend his position rather than climb up the ranks like he wanted to, and now he stood at rank 26, while Daruk was at rank 22.
Things within the house weren’t any better. Marcellus and Meredith had fought last week, almost bringing the entire building down in their fury. Aodhán had rushed into the living room to see Eren pointedly ignoring their violent argument as he slowly munched on a bowl of popcorn, while Imani was obviously trying and failing to settle the fight.
Aodhán couldn’t believe there was finally trouble in paradise, and from the look of things, Eren was thoroughly enjoying it as well. Aodhán had grown bored after Marcellus called Meredith the sl*t word for the dozenth time, and with a shake of his head, he had returned to his room and locked his door.
He didn’t care if they killed themselves, but any hope he’d had that such a thing might happen was dashed when the house had stopped shaking and he'd heard the familiar voice of their coordinator scolding them from the living room.
Also, he, Daruk, and Andrew had begun rift diving, although they'd only been allowed access into the rugwort rift while the students with conceptual affinities had been granted access into a sky rift that contained a bizzare amount of avian creatures.
The three of them had delved into the rugwort rift weekly for the past three weeks and now stood at the 20th tier.
…
[STATUS]
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Name: Aodhán Ashoka-Brystion.
Title: Neophyte, Storm Spirit, Bronze, Origin Marked.
Class: Evolved storm awakened: 99.9% (PENDING)
Tier: 20—47%
Skills {Innate}: [Storm creation and manipulation] [Lightning creation and manipulation]
{Other}: [Lightning surge] [Lightning beam] [Lightning descent] [Create constructs] [Absorb lightning] [Spear rain—Lightning] [Spear rain—Storm] [Vortex of lightning] [Vortex of Storm]
Bloodline: Origin Storm supremacy. {Unique}
Amplifies storm abilities by 3%.
Grants major resistance to lightning.
Aura of Origin supremacy.
Glimpse- Grasp--- Opening: Increases elemental affinity and abilities by 2.5%
Techniques: Perfect will imbue (7).
Familiar—Dragonkin (Storm Fury)
Perks: psychic bond.
….
Even after his recent advancement, his storage space was still filled with cores. Aside from the one he’d accumulated from their rift delves, Varéc had taken to hunting daily and usually returned with at least one core.
Most of the cores were conceptual, meaning he couldn’t absorb them, but he could still sell them, which was exactly what he intended to do once the midterm break came around.
The nightly hunts also seemed to have calmed Varéc, who now stretched about 18 feet in length, suppressing his excess energy so that their jaunts into the sky were now a much calmer affair.
Gym exercises, on the other hand, had turned into a nightmare by the third week when Coach Harvey added a pair of null gauntlets to the null armor they usually wore. According to him, they weren't taking the laps seriously any longer.
It was true that the laps had become much easier, with more than half the student body finishing their laps in less than forty-five minutes, but the gauntlets, as small as they were, increased the total weight each person had to bear, which increased the amount of time they spent running the laps, which in turn increased the weight of the armor and... Arghh. It was an endless cycle of torture, and Aodhán avoided coming late at all costs.
The classes were another challenge he was facing. Understanding Elemental Affinities was obviously the least stressful, and Aodhán was always happy to attend the class every Monday morning after a grueling gym exercise and a torturous session the previous day. They’d moved on from discussing the limitations of certain elemental affinities, and we’re now discussing their strengths as well as the best way or places to cultivate them.
Awakened advancement theory, on the other hand, was just as stressful as he’d predicted. Professor Jorendil, the professor who had taken over after Professor Dubois, had instructed them to read several pages of the textbook and had even organized a mock test in the last class concerning the intricate nature of spirit cultivation as well as the relationship between conceptual and elemental affinities.
Saying the test was hard was an understatement. It had been brutal, and Aodhán had only escaped failure by a hairbreadth, causing him to allocate more time out of his busy schedule to reading.
Runic theory, on the other hand, was his favorite, and although he’d planned to cut down the scripting of Fehu to a second, he’d only managed to bring it down to approximately two minutes, which was still a win in his book.
They’d also moved on to studying the next rune, Urda, the rune of durability and hardness. Aodhán had perfected the rune in less than a week and was now working on the third rune, Thurisaz, the rune of protection and defense.
On their own, the runes had little power, but that was where runic links came in. In their last class, professor Caldwell mentioned the stages of runes: from the initiate/Novice ---> Advanced ---> Grand----> Elder.
She’d described the twenty-four runic alphabets as initiate runes, explaining that linking two or three initiate runes created a single advanced rune. The introduction of links made the runes much more complex, and although Professor Caldwell said it wasn’t yet something they needed to worry about, Aodhán couldn’t wait to learn more.
In the last three weeks, more than half of the class had managed to perfect at least two runes, including Lupin, whose efforts had finally coalesced into perfection during one of their private practices in his room last week.
Yurin had been with them at the time, so when she’d pressed her body against his in excitement, nothing interesting had happened. Aodhán was happy for her, though, as she’d been working tirelessly ever since the second class.
Yurin was still yet to draw something that didn’t look like a pile of poop, but he remained adamant and tackled the practice sessions without complaints. Aodhán was sure Yurin would perfect the rune eventually, but he doubted it would happen any time soon.
The class on awakened plants was also going well, but they were yet to begin practicals and were still discussing the importance of proper harvesting methods. In one of the classes, Aodhán realized that even common-ranked plants were considered extremely valuable to low-tiered individuals and could still be used to make common-ranked energy and healing potions.
This had caused him to ask Gwendolyn Blackwood for the current price of common-ranked plants, and her reply had caused a buzz of excitement to sweep through the class.
Five silvers! Just for a single plant. Aodhán was amazed, and his mind spun as he began contemplating a career as an herbalist. Gwendolyn had mentioned that five silvers were considered the average price, but a common-ranked plant could still be sold for a higher price depending on the rarity of its affinity or how well it had been harvested.
Aodhán definitely saw himself in this line of business and made up his mind to begin looking out for awakened plants whenever he found himself in a forest.
Unsurprisingly, the class on awakened combat was the most stimulating, and after the second lecture, which had still been held in the class, Professor Alaric had begun holding the class within a large training hall littered with dueling rings.
In the last two weeks, he’d pitched them against each other randomly, asking them to fight without the use of their skills. This caused a bit of an issue, as most students weren’t used to fighting without abilities at all, and it showed.
Professor Alaric had moved from one dueling ring to the other, shouting out comments like, “Fighting is music; follow it's rhythm!” “Do not project; deflect!” “Faster reactions!” “Block!” and “Move your ascendant-damned feet!” When he'd reached the ring where Daruk and Tobais were dueling, he shook his head in disappointment. “Tobais, as a devout feminist, I refuse to say that you hit like a girl, but by ascendants! Are you trying to hug him or smash his face into the concrete?”
Even Aodhán wasn't spared, and by the end of the class, he had lost count of the number of times Professor Alaric had called him pathetic, even though he was doing far better than 80% of the class. Students didn’t exactly leave the class in tears, but they might as well have, considering the gloomy and depressed looks they bore after each dueling session..
At the end of the third dueling session, though, Professor Alaric announced. “As much as I’d like to continue these pathetic sessions we call duels, I have decided to take things up a notch.” His gaze roamed their weary and tired faces before he continued. “The next class will be held within the newly commissioned Alternate Simulated Reality Chambers (ASRC). Make sure you do not eat anything before coming.”
The whole class cheered, unable to contain their excitement. The ASR chamber was a newly commissioned building close to the library, and the students had watched with anticipation while it was being built.
It had only recently been opened for use, so the fact that they were going to see it in their next class was exciting. Aodhán began looking forward to the next class, and for the remainder of that week, he forgot about the war.
When the weekend came around, his torturous sessions with Eldrith mercilessly continued, and even after a two-tier advancement, he still wasn’t anywhere close to stabbing a lightning spear through Eldrith’s insane skull.
The boy taunted him, inflicting him with varying levels of pain, but ever since he’d stopped using his willpower as a crutch to fight the pain, Eldrith had stopped using his {Transmute Pain—Emotion} on him.
Aodhán was getting stronger, though; although the change was subtle and noticeable only to the very observant, his movements had become more fluid, as if he now understood his body better.
He was learning from Eldrith, and with each torturous session, he got better, faster, and stronger. His reaction time increased, and after so many hours of pain endurance, he was finally moving his body along to the rhythm and pattern of battle. Eldrith had, of course, noticed this and had inflicted much more pain on him for being predictable, which meant he had to continuously change his rhythm at irregular intervals.
Daruk was of course enjoying his predicament, but if Andrew noticed how tired he usually was on Mondays, he neglected to mention it.
The days passed, and as the fifth week rolled in, Aodhán, along with the rest of the first years, moved through their classes with barely suppressed anticipation, waiting impatiently for the next class on awakened combat to come around, and when it finally did, Aodhán, Daruk, and Andrew rushed to the ASR chamber.
The chamber was a circular structure, constructed neither with Ragnar steel nor with Romanian glass but with an azure-colored tile popular in the 2nd sector. The building was just as large as the arena on the outside, but it wasn’t until they stepped into it that they realized just how gigantic it really was.
Unlike the other buildings in the academy, this one screamed of futuristic technology. Crafted entirely of these azure tiles and shiny metals, the chamber gave off an ultramodern vibe.
The sleek structure spanned multiple floors, each with a façade of reflective glass panels and dynamic LED displays that shifted colors and patterns.
Inside, the lobby featured a minimalist design with smooth white surfaces, holographic screens, and ambient lighting that adjusted to the time of day.
Beyond the lobby were individual soundproofed chambers containing the ASR pods, which were equipped with a full-body haptic suit, a timer, and an option for suspended animation.
The floor above contained group chambers where each pod was connected to dozens of others, allowing the students to all share one simulated reality.
As they gazed around in awe, they found Professor Alaric waiting alongside a group of early birds, and they quickly made their way towards them. Students trickled in quickly, and when Lupin walked in, Aodhán beckoned her and Scarlett over.
Ten minutes later, all 100 students stood in the lobby, and Professor Alaric moved to address them.
“Welcome to the ASR.” He began. “A technological innovation made from the fusion of science and various magical affinities, chief among them being time, space, illusion, reality, and mind." He grinned as he produced a single black key that he pointed towards the upper floor. “Are you ready?”