"What are you going to do then? The graduation exams are coming up soon. If you're not High Gaseous Fog by then…"
"If you're out of ideas, then I'm out of ideas too. Being expelled would be pretty shameful, but if that's my fate, then I'll have to accept it."
The two walked out of the classroom. The First Celestial Magic University was quite special in that there were no mandatory classes. Students were expected to self-study and attend lectures if necessary. There were two reasons behind this. The first was obviously attributed to the lack of instructors. The Zino Kingdom was relatively new. After all, Queen Bethnal was the one who allowed its founding. The infrastructure was still shaky and vacant. The second was the mandatory military draft. With students joining the military for a year or two, there was no way to teach everyone at the same rate.
So, the school was normally sparsely populated. Few students roamed the hallways unlike other traditional institutions. When Freon did see someone, they would duck their heads and change directions. Originally, they would not spare a second glance at him. In their minds, he was a failure, not even worthy of notice. But now, his status soared by becoming friends with the new heir apparent of the Alzar Kingdom! They might be descendants of Engelsheft Families, but the Zino Kingdom was subservient to the Alzar Kingdom. Hence, the Royal Family still towered far, far above them! No one dared to bring up old grudges for fear of retaliation. Freon shrugged his shoulders. Whether they ran or cowered, he did not care.
Outside of the main building, it was sunny with few clouds in the sky. The fresh embrace of spring lifted anyone's spirits. Freon and Yuna chatted along the way toward the gate. There, there was a boy with a grin on his face. He had a large nose and ears with the same university uniform on as Freon and Yuna. He seemed like the person who would be friends with anyone. His name was Gunther Paralun and he was quite accomplished as well. He ranked in at the upper two hundreds with his High Condensed Drop Core. The three of them were considered good friends as they were all external seeds.
Upon seeing them, Gunther waved his hand in greeting. "Hey, how come I wasn't invited?"
"I didn't want everyone to know about my grades," Freon smiled wryly.
"Nonsense. Why would I tell anyone?" Gunther slung his arm around Freon's shoulder. "Come on, out with it. How did you do?"
"I'm Low Gaseous Fog. It's already obvious how I'd perform. I'm in the expulsion ranks."
"That bad? This really is a predicament. Have you tried training back up to Medium Gaseous Fog at least? That way, you can delay your graduation, but you won't be expelled."
"Back then? I was never Medium Gaseous Fog to begin with," Freon sighed. "Besides, this is our final year. The university states that if I'm unable to reach High Gaseous Fog, then I'll be expelled without exception. They'll have deemed me as useless."
"Are you serious? I never knew that…" Gunther gasped. "Then, what are you going to do?"
"At this point, I don't know. Maybe being an Arcanist is not my future. I hear there's plenty of jobs being offered in Arcania research. I could go that route instead."
"That's true," he said. "You must be associated with the military if you graduate. Especially now, the world is chaotic. Who knows what will happen next?"
"Being an Arcanist is dangerous," Yuna quietly added. "Why do all this fighting and killing?"
"It must be human nature," Freon said. "Hatred and bloodshed… In the end, how are we so different from animals?"
Gunther smiled. "How was your grade, Yuna?"
"It hasn't changed."
"Rank 41 is still very impressive. Many people want to surpass you. It's not easy to reach Peak Gaseous Fog at your age. With your talent, you might reach Condensed Drop."
"I'm not that talented," she meekly whispered. "How could I compare to those Ten Dawns?"
"If his sister could reach Low Condensed Drop so young, you should be able to do it too," Gunther encouraged.
By the side, Freon frowned. The way Gunther worded it was not wrong, but it sounded so unpleasant to the ear. Worded a different way, was it not saying that Freon was worse than his sister? Sure, that was right but… Was there no such thing as common courtesy? There were some things that should not be said! Yuna grew embarrassed and hid her face into her uniform. Gunther was carefully watching both of their expressions. His thoughts were enigmatic.
"Come on, cheer up! Why do you two look so awkward?" Gunther laughed.
Freon opened his mouth, but he said nothing. In his mind, he wanted to tell Gunther off. However, he did not want to make things truly awkward. Truthfully speaking, the three were good friends prior to Freon being drafted to Port Silic. Practically all the external seeds knew each other. After all, it was a small group. How many seeds could there be? Freon remembered that Gunther used to be far more accommodating. He would not make such snide comments. Freon shot Gunther a queer look and decided to excuse himself.
He looked up at the suns and roughly gauged the time. "I have to go home and cook dinner for my sister and me. I'll have to leave here."
"And here I was about to suggest we talk a bit more," Gunther said regretfully. "If you're busy, then I can't help it. What about you, Yuna?"
Yuna whispered, "I… I'm busy as well."
"If you're busy as well, then it can't be helped. Then I'll see you two another time, alright?" he said, smiling and waving the two off. As Freon and Yuna walked off, Gunther's gaze was fell on Yuna for a moment before he too left.
Freon's home was in the lower districts of Firecast. There were no fancy mansions or large estates here. It was strictly occupied by commoners. Of course, to have property in the beautiful capital meant that anything was expensive here. Only well-off commoners could live here. While Freon did have the means to move into more extravagant abodes with Nassandra's income, he preferred this simple lifestyle. For two people to occupy an entire mansion, what was the point? That would be too lonely for him. Besides, he would have to deal with Engelsheft Families hounding him constantly…
He arrived at a two-story stout building off in one of the sideroads which blended in with the surroundings easily. The road was barely large enough to host two horse carriages at once. From afar, it would be hard to find the house if Freon were not present. It was incredibly inconspicuous. The only way to differentiate the house from the rest was the wheat shop on the first floor. The old shop owner greeted Freon politely. Freon nodded his head and went upstairs. Once inside, he tossed his satchel and cloak onto a chair to begin cooking.
Nassandra came home a bit later with a carriage from the Celestial Court. She was wearing the same Ten Dawn outfit as always: a long blue robe with golden outlines. Her brow was scrunched up in obvious displeasure and exhaustion. Freon was unhappy seeing his sister's face. He knew exactly what was bothering her. During the last fight with the emperor, she was forced to use the large-scale magic, Torrential Blizzard. Her magic reaped the lives of countless soldiers in front of her, shredding them to bloody pieces. Afterwards, she bore witness to the massacre of the Alzar army. Her hopes were thoroughly shattered, and her world came crashing down. She believed she was going to die!
For someone with no battle experience to be exposed to such brutalities, could anyone cope? Although she was part of the military, General Gordon was kind enough to spare her from fighting and bloodshed. It was Lord Korogin's order that forced her to act. When she returned to Firecast, the Three Sages allowed her to rest and recover from her ordeal. They had high expectations that she could push her Core to the next level, Medium Condensed Drop! It was no secret and Freon had expected it as well. With the Conquestian being old, Nassandra was the best choice for the Zino Kingdom's future! However, they had not expected her mental trauma to be so extreme. No matter how she tried, she could not push forward.
"Oh. Hello, brother," Nassandra said cheerfully, trying to cover up her fatigue.
"You don't have to pretend here. I'm your brother," he said.
He walked over to hug her, and she gave a short whimper. Others might be frightened by her status as one of the most powerful Arcanists in the kingdom, but at heart, she was a nice and gentle girl. She had her weaknesses too. Thinking this, Freon's resolve strengthened more. He was determined to share his little sister's burden. Not only for their deceased parents, but also for himself. Power was the only truth in the world!