The mountain campus was halfway on the other side of Vault. The only pathway into the campus was to follow the guide sent by the academy after reaching the top of Mountain Vault. Since the cable cars were the only way to get to the mountaintop, Loter, who had just showered this morning, and R.O.S. had been waiting outside the cable car terminal since 8 a.m.

Loter wore a red, hooded T-shirt and his iconic gray khakis, whereas R.O.S. had his overcoat buttoned up. Despite the sweating, R.O.S. kept the coat on to hide his jacket. This dedication, again, had Loter doubting if he had done enough to remember Kniton.

The terminal was just a steel platform plus a steel shed. Except for the ticket booth, the entire place was illuminated by sunlight alone.

R.O.S. typed rapidly on his phone like there was something emergent. Loter, on the other hand, just sat on his suitcase, hunching unintentionally and thinking about his father. He had just reran their last conversation in his mind. Then, he did it again. These memories grasped his attention whenever he was free. Most of the time, Loter would distract himself with his phone. Right now, he chose to bear this faint melancholy under the warm sun of Monday morning. The touch of sunlight lessened Loter's discomfort every single time.

The terminal finally opened at around 9 a.m., and the two took the first cart. They were the only passengers, anyway. The cable car slowly climbed in height as it moved forward. The slope of the cable was already steeper than the regular ones. Yet, it still took two hours just to reach the top.

Several meters before arriving, R.O.S. suddenly broke the tranquil silence between them. "Will you be fine, Loter?"

Being drawn back from his memories and faint grief, Loter stuttered, "Yeah, yeah, probably. I guess it depends on your standard?" His voice was energetic yet unexcited.

R.O.S. chuckled a bit at the answer and carried on with an easier tone, "What do you mean?"

"My ordering power was probably strong enough, although I still haven't seen the vision about it yet. But it is my first time living in a dorm. I don't know who my roommates would be. Maybe they are bad people. Who knows?"

"And that's your concern?" R.O.S. gave out another chuckle and consoled, "HueCam Academy is an academy for future heroes. Those kids would at least be better than your previous classmates."

"They aren't bad people." Loter paused and added, "They just sometimes laugh a lot."

"You won't ever need to worry about that again."

"Yeah."

"But will you miss it?" R.O.S. asked as he looked into the verdant mountain and lush trees.

"I don't know. I don't think so. I think, most of the time, I am not the kind to have much emotional connection with things. For example, I don't even remember who was in my kindergarten class."

"Who would remember that? Ha, ha, ha, ha." R.O.S. gently ceased his laughter and turned to Loter as he said, "I think you are a very unique kid, Loter."

The abrupt comment was confusing. Loter instinctively made a curious sound. "Uh?"

R.O.S. continued with a tender grin, "I want you to remember that no matter what, you are the only Loter Spawman. No one can replace you or be another you."

"Thanks? I do have an ordering power. That sets me apart from the regular kids."

Getting a bit serious, R.O.S. explained, "No, I'm not talking about your power. Look, I have seen many people in my life, but none of them is like you, Loter."

"Okay?"

"You need to remember this, Loter. You are special. You will meet people who make you think you aren't, and you have to have faith in yourself. You just need to believe in yourself, alright?"

"Yeah." Loter, still confused, decided not to figure out what those sentences were supposed to mean. With a bit of awkwardness, he turned away, spotting the terminal on the ridge of Vault. Its structure was precisely like the one down the hill. There was no booth but four rows of benches. On the closest row sat a light-skinned woman.

She wore a glossy, blue duffle coat with golden fastening and a waist-long, black capelet attached to the collar. Her face was slightly wrinkled, and her long, straight hair fused naturally with the capelet.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Smiling, the woman gracefully doffed her blue boonie as Loter saw her. In response, Loter waved his hand hard and attempted to yell out his greeting. However, R.O.S. stalled him with a tap on the shoulder. "Save it."

Several dozen seconds later, the cart finally arrived. R.O.S. opened the half door. "Take care, Loter, and be happy, alright?"

"I will, Ros. See you…" Loter replied while lifting his suitcase a bit off the ground. He hesitated before finishing the sentence.

"It's okay. I'd rather you don't get into any trouble and not contact me at all."

"Yeah, yeah," Loter said before jumping off the cable car. The weight of his luggage had him stumbled a bit. He quickly let down the suitcase and faced R.O.S., waiting for him to say something before leaving. At that moment, Loter realized his attachment to R.O.S.

"See you, yuletide."

"See you… Yuletide," Loter repeated with an expected disappointment. He stared at R.O.S. and the departing cart as R.O.S. glanced back at him. He knitted his brows slightly upward, turning away. Loter felt like he wept yet found no dampness after rubbing his eyes.

"Loter Spawman, did I pronounce it right?" The woman in blue stood up from the bench and walked forward. She was about 180 meters tall, at least a head taller than Loter, so she had to tilt her head down a bit to talk to him.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Loter ceased staring in R.O.S.'s direction and headed up. That was when he noticed her chartreuse eyes. He was stunned as he suddenly realized who this woman was.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Sayrine Neosol. I am the vice principal of HueCam Academy's mountain campus. And yes, I was the Twilight Watcher, the previous fifth seat of HueCam League." Her grin did not seem to be affected by Loter's reaction.

I remember her. She left HueCam League after Strikelet died. Unlike Ros, she was not disqualified. She actively chose to leave the league. She never explained the reason to the public, so everyone just assumed it had something to do with Strikelet's death. However, why did she not just say it if that was the case? I have always wanted to ask this question, but it is probably too weird for me to ask now.

"Hello?" Neosol patiently stooped down. She leaned in closer to Loter's blank visage with her grin lessened in a slight confusion.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Loter Spawman from Cavium."

She giggled with a hand before her lips and straightened up, restoring her casual posture. "Okay, let's go, then, Mr. Spawman. Follow up. I'm sure your classmates would love to see you."

"Yeah…" Loter followed. He was embarrassed for phasing out the conversation. This embarrassment proceeded even after they exited the terminal and onto an obscure footpath among the trees.

Fuck, that is not a good first impression. That is not good. I have to say something to revise my image. I have to be careful and caring… What can I say? Hm… Oh, I know.

Loter suddenly exclaimed while they were plodding down a steep slope, "Why are you wearing a coat? The day is so hot."

"Hm?" Neosol started. Her foot stepped on the edge of the path, crushing some dirt to roll off the hill. Gasping, Neosol swung her arms in the air for balance. She then grabbed onto the tree beside her and propped her hands against it.

She buried her face in her extended arms. Her panting and intentional deep breaths were loud enough to be heard.

Meanwhile, Loter could only stand aside nervously with his hands anxiously held in the air. He certainly did not know if he was supposed to put his hands on Neosol's shoulders or keep them to himself. "Uh…"

Fuck, fuck, fuck. How did I mess this up?

"What was it? What did you say?" Neosol raised her head out of her arms and looked at Loter with a rattled, unsettled visage. There was no anger in her expression, though.

"I, I, I was just asking if you feel hot wearing the coat."

"Thank you for your concern." She paused and gasped as she released her grip on the tree. "I don't feel heat. That is a part of my ability."

Oh yeah. Absorbing surrounding energy was a part of her power. How did I forget that?

"Uh, okay. That, that's cool."

"I can absorb the energy around me and cast magic with it."

"That's very cool."

"Can we keep going?" Frustrated yet still patient, the vice principal sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Ms. Neosol."

"No worries."

They continued hiking down the hill. Some trails were covered by green grass and herbs like clover; others were dusty with firm or soft soil; one spot even required them to slide down a smooth outcrop. Neosol had the height to simply jump down, whereas Loter needed her to hold his hand. Still, he stumbled off the rock. The embarrassment in the atmosphere increased.

At around 12:30 p.m., the two finally saw their destination from afar. The campus was in a shallow valley between two ridges.

"Wait, what?" Loter paused in his heavy panting and spoke again, "How are there two mountains?" He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand to refresh his vision.

"Mountain Vault always has two ridges. The one ridge version that is seen everywhere else is the result of our sky screen technology. Since the two ridges ended roughly at the same point, we can project a fake image of them being connected."

"Same point? That wouldn't make sense."

Still holding her inexhaustible patience, Neosol explained, "Geographically speaking, they end." She emphasized her next word, "Roughly on the same point. It means there is a gap between the two, and the school is built in this gap."

Loter nodded with his back hunched and hands on his knees.

"We can take a rest."

"It's okay. I'm not tired," Loter forced the words out of his heavy breathing.

"If you insist," Neosol replied with her gentle smile unfaded. Despite Loter's surprising will and determination to leave a good impression, he fainted before seeing the gate of the mountain campus.