The Tower.
Supreme Elder Wyngella’s study room.
The fairy girl floated in the air, reading a bunch of reports coming from Raskael.
She started to doubt Raskael’s skills when she hadn’t heard from him for a month.
Now that his reports were stacked on her desk, the doubt in her heart vanished.
According to the report by Raskael, Zachariel wasn’t a child of the Strom Household.
Albert adopted him and replaced his true grandson using Zachariel.
Two people, Albert and Leonardo, knew that Zachariel was extraordinary and that his talent was special, though the reason as to why they knew this wasn’t included in the report.
As for his association with the voids, the household didn’t know this.
They don’t know much about the ancient ruins either, nor do they know if Zachariel has some sort of closeness with the voids before the school selection event happened.
`There’s too much information missing here.`
Supreme Elder Wyngella couldn’t connect the dots easily since Zachariel’s background was too abstract for her to continue investigating.
She turned down the paper and read another one.
On the 48th Day of Exios, a tragedy concerning Zachariel happened.
The Templars made a move to kidnap him, though fortunately, or unfortunately, Amelia Strom alongside a Summer Household member was taken away using a spell that used space essence.
`Kidnapped him?`
She searched for the Templar’s motives but none were included in the report.
`Strange, it’s rare for the Templars to make a move like this.`
Their regular movements and even discreet ones didn’t involve kidnapping people, especially inside capital cities.
`This must be related to his talent, and something else. Talent doesn’t attract the Templars. If anything, it must be an issue related to the ascension restriction.`
Her eyes narrowed.
`What does Zachariel have to do anything about… Wait! The voids!`
Supreme Elder Azzad made a move twice in just one month, and all of this was centered upon Zachariel.
`If the Templars want him and the voids protect him…`
Supreme Elder Wyngella was now certain that Zachariel was the key to the mystery behind the restriction.
She put this matter on the side for now and continued reading the report.
An alleged member of the Knights of Solus, Von Augh Meryen, the Nightmare Knight, captain of the 7th Squad, was seen in the scene, helping Zachariel though his efforts weren’t enough to completely stop the Templars’ attempts.
`If I remember correctly, Knight Von should be stationed in the desolate Ingradium Continent right now. Don’t tell me he cloned himself and traveled thousands of kilometers just to oversee a household?`
The Supreme Elders knew the complete information of every member of the Knights of Solus.
For example, Von Augh Meryen had an extense skill named Phantasmal Illusion that allows him to clone himself, though his power would be halved on the process.
Supreme Elder Wyngella continued reading and was astounded by the events that happened next.
Von carried Zachariel to the Dark Forest, which was the primary training ground of trainees that wanted to be a member of the Knights of Solus.
After a month, Zachariel then returned to the Imperium Capital City.
`So Knight Von knows of it too.`
She felt fortunate that Von brought Zachariel to the Dark Forest, though she didn’t know that Zachariel only spent less than two weeks training there.
Raskael then listed the events that happened recently which Supreme Elder Wyngella carefully read.
She sighed a relief when Thalanil let out an offer to Zachariel.
`With this, we could avoid a disaster from happening.`
She was referring to the trial by combat between Kane and Zachariel.
The rule of their combat was that only one of them could only survive in the end.
It was a battle to prove the innocence between the two which, if one looked at it from a general public’s perspective, didn’t sound logical at all.
Zachariel didn’t have to prove himself innocent because he was innocent all along.
It was Kane and Amelia who were guilty of charges based on the evidence that was shown.
Amelia deliberately spoke out of herself, while Kane’s monstrosity was shown throughout the public by the now-dead Kent McKenzie.
If the trial by combat happens, Zachariel would surely win in the eyes of Supreme Elder Wyngella.
However, Kane wouldn’t die nor would Zachariel die either.
Instead, a civil war in the Imperium would break out.
If Emperor Marcus resists the verdict, with the chaos plaguing the Imperium recently, the rebels would use this chance to uphold their propaganda.
There was also the threat of the Templars.
`If they were able to attempt a kidnapping inside the city, then that means that they have already infiltrated it.`
Supreme Elder Wyngella became worried.
Even though Thalanil gave her a way out of the situation, there was a possibility that the Templars wouldn’t allow Zachariel to leave the Imperium.
Her thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on her door.
“Tsk! Come in.”
Elder Rashomon entered.
“What is it now, Elder Rashomon?”
“The Council of the Higher Elders has decided to send Squad 3 into the Imperium Capital City and control the situation there.”, he reported.
“Squad 3? On what basis?”
“The threat of the dark underground factions. If chaos persists, they might use this as a chance to infiltrate and lay out their plans.”
Supreme Elder Wyngella nodded in affirmation.
Squad 3 wasn’t the best out there, nor was it the worst either.
“Good, is there anything else?”
“Elder Malcolm pilfered some resources from the Supreme Academy.”
“Let him be. He wants to use it on his grandson, which could benefit us greatly.”, Supreme Elder Wyngella dismissed such reports.
She knew that it would be more beneficial in the long run if Kane’s strength was enhanced quickly.
Moreover, it is already pre-determined that the guy would enroll in the Supreme Academy in the later years.
Elder Rashomon nodded, “Then that is all, Supreme Elder. I will take my leave now.”
“Wait, deploy Squad 13 as well.”
Elder Rashomon narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t question her decision.
He was intrigued because Squad 13 was the second strongest squad in the ranks of the Knights of Solus.
`Did something else appear in the Imperium?`
Elder Rashomon noticed the stacks of papers in her desks.
That was then he understood that Raskael must’ve already sent her the reports and she found something within them.
He bowed and left the area.
Supreme Elder Wyngella waved her hands.
Her eyes suddenly landed on another report by Raskael and they widened in shock.
“A group of black-clothed men has been spotted wandering the streets of Imperium Capital City at night?!”
…
Imperium Capital City.
Zachariel went to the Elden Embassy but was denied by the Elden guards.
They said that they weren’t accepting human visitors, for now, especially someone like him who brought harm to one of their kin.
“Forget it.”
This was the consequence of his plan and he was ready to accept it. He wouldn’t want to argue with them on that matter.
He turned back and returned to his dormitory room.
On the way, more Imperium guards were patrolling the streets.
Some even had glamorous capes on their backs and were emitting a very strong aura similar to that black hooded leader from yesterday.
They would occasionally check people that pass them now and then. Even he, who was a student of the Great Schools, wasn’t excluded.
He would hear the bystanders gossiping about the event yesterday and some looked at him with suspicions in their eyes.
He ignored them and continued on his way.
Just as he was about to reach his dormitory, he noticed Victoria on a bench on the sides.
“Victoria?”
The girl looked up, “Zachariel…”
“Why are you here? Were you waiting for me?”
Victoria blushed. She did wait for him.
Zachariel sat beside her, wondering what this girl was up to now.
“Zachariel, I want to ask something.”
“What is it, Victoria?”
“That elden girl from yesterday. You were rather interested in her. I haven’t seen her alongside the eldens from before but I realized that at that moment, you did know her and was familiar to her as well.”
“Oh, you mean Althea, huh?”
`Althea…`, Victoria put the name in her mind.
Zachariel paused for a moment, wondering if he should tell her about Althea’s curse or not.
`Are they still following me?`
He didn’t want to accidentally divulge Althea’s secret in some normal conversation with people he didn’t trust enough.
Victoria was someone he could trust more than enough of his secrets.
He knew that she was a descendant of that woman named Haferna to whom has a relationship with Nerval, who then was some sort of an ‘ancestor’ to Zachariel.
There was no point hiding things from her. However, he should be discreet when sharing such information with her.
“Well, she is a special kind of girl, like you.”, Zachariel mysteriously implied.
“Like me?”, Victoria wondered.
`What does he mean by she’s like me? I am that special to him and she is that special to him too?`, she started to blush, yet felt angry at the same time.
Zachariel didn’t notice her misunderstanding.
“So that classmate of yours earlier, is she a special kind of girl too?”
“You mean Iria? Yeah, kind of like it as well.”
His words darkened Victoria’s impression of him.
“Why were the two of you alone earlier, huh? Did something happen between the two of you?”, Victoria further inquired.
“Victoria, now’s not the time to tell you these things. All I can say is that what happened between us was an accident.”
He was simply telling the truth yet Victoria took it the other way around.
“Did you… did you do it with her?”
Zachariel became dumbfounded.
What sort of ridiculous words was Victoria spouting all of a sudden?
He palmed his face, only realizing now that Victoria misunderstood his words.
There was no way around it. The circumstances forced him to rearrange his words in a way that couldn’t be easily understood.
`Damn it, this is why I try to avoid talking to people in public.`
He suddenly stood up.
“Victoria, we’ll talk more on this on another date. I have something else to do right now.”
Zachariel left the area, upsetting Victoria even more. Fortunately, for Zachariel, Hakkusha was there to clarify things.
<Mistress, he’s referring to that elden girl being cursed, just like you.>
<Then why did you not tell me earlier?>
Victoria was riled up.
Hakkusha didn’t reply but deep inside the wraith’s mind, she was giggling at almost the misfortune of Zachariel.
<What about that classmate of his? Is she cursed too?>
<No, but I feel that she emanates an aura very similar to the marked one.>
<An aura similar to Zachariel?>
Hakkusha didn’t reply. Her fragmented memories prevented her from recalling things she wanted to remember the most.
Meanwhile, Victoria finally understood why Zachariel called them special people like her.
‘That guy! He’s hiding things from me again!`
Victoria stood up and left the area after throwing a fit like the crazy girl she was.
…
Zachariel arrived in his dormitory room.
“What a day.”
He wanted to try out the rest of the spells in his mind but he hesitated.
Using that one mysterious spell almost caused him to go dizzy and blackout.
`Are these the spells that guy Nerval used in his era? Or were they spells that existed during his era?`
Zachariel wondered how powerful the people in the past were.
`I kind of remember that there was that Saint Disciple with a mark on his head.`
He touched his forehead, wondering if he had a mark like that as well.
His eyes wandered around the room until they landed on the two books that he retrieved a month ago.
“Oh, they’re still here.”
He checked them out again and took the one that was labeled, “A Guide to the Perfect Mana Essence Cultivation.”
`This one’s a bit thicker than the other. I wonder if there are real techniques discussed here.`
He opened the book and read it.
At the preface, a quote was printed at the center.
“Knowing one’s body is more important than knowing the techniques of improving one’s body.”
Eliydr Sarrelon, R.E.G.F.
`Knowing one’s body, huh?`
Zachariel felt discouraged when he saw those words. He doesn’t know who exactly he was and how talented he was.
Then there was this book encouraging its readers to understand their own body when he doesn’t know his body and what was inside his body in the first place.
`Should I continue reading?`
Zachariel snorted and flipped the pages.
According to the book, the mana essences were a type of mysterious essence, alongside qi itself, that existed in particular worlds termed as ‘Exaltian Worlds’.
It was said that the Exaltian worlds contained precious crystals called exon-altian crystals that contained pure mana essences.
These mana essences were then consumed by evolved beings that have an organ near the brain called manalarium.
It was a receptor capable of distinguishing mana essences in the environment.
`Hm, why did this guy add this sort of knowledge in a cultivation guidebook? Was it to let its readers know where the mana essences come from so that the cultivators know where to cultivate for their mana essence?`
Moreover, judging by the last statement, not every being was capable of cultivating unless they have a manalarium in their head.
Then there was another special body part called nuonia.
It was the organ responsible for reproducing ‘nuons’ at a great amount and could be trained to do more through consistent cultivation and physical exertion.
The book referred to the nuon as a mana particle, and the more nuons one has inside their body, the stronger their spells were.
Cultivators were then ranked based on their mana amplitude, or in other words, the number of nuons per zecfan.
The book then detailed out what the term zecfan was, which Zachariel skipped out most of the details.
He only read a small part of it, where zecfan meant the amount of mana essence per cubic meter, and that zecfan was named after the founder of mana essence cultivation named Arthuro Zecfanto.
At that moment, a spark ignited inside Zachariel’s head. He saw images of events similar to his dreams about Nerval.
However, each image flashed too quickly that he was unable to determine what they mean, or what they wanted to display.
He gruntled because of the sudden pain and stopped reading the book.
The pain subsided after a while.
Zachariel was confused, yet terrified at the same time.
He sweated and took very deep breaths.
`What was that all about?`
He didn’t expect that he would be having an episode of flashbacks just from reading a book.
If he clearly remembered, it happened when he struck on the name Arthuro Zecfanto.
`This name must be special, like Nerval. Looks like there are more to this than just flashbacks of foreign memories.`
He wanted to continue reading but his head no longer wanted to.
Zachariel chose to sleep and end the day.
…
22nd Day of Okton.
Public Training Area.
Zachariel and his classmates had just finished their training when Edward and the twins approached him.
`Damn, I forgot that I promised a match against them.`
He didn’t want to fight them right now. He wanted to go back and finish the other book before he fought with them.
“Hey, Zachariel.”, Edward courteously greeted.
“Senior Edward, senior Lina, and senior Luna.”, Zachariel greeted them.
His classmates followed suit.
That was when Zachariel remembered he shouldn’t be calling Luna a senior.
The sadistic girl had a dark expression on her face.
“Brat…”
Chains sprang from the ground, binding Zachariel.
“You’re going to the arena with me.”
She dragged the helpless Zachariel.
Lina was in disbelief of her twin sister. She couldn’t understand why Luna have to be that rough on other people.
Meanwhile, Edward smirked at Zachariel.
`Young brat, don’t get beaten up!`
He was excited about their match.
“Hey, big sister! Don’t be too rough on him!”, Edward cheered.
Luka and the rest were dumbfounded.
`Are our seniors this lively?`
They assumed that their seniors were cold and distanced themselves from their juniors. They didn’t expect they were this playful and mischievous.
“Do you guys want to see an exciting match?”, Edward whispered to them.
“Uh, is it okay, senior?”, Lia shyly asked.
“Of course, it is! Come, come. Let’s follow those two.”, Edward smiled innocently.
He was ready to bet lots of money today.
