Monday came, and Ralph went to school in good spirits and high spirits.
Having felt Aura itself, he would finally begin to move forward with his practice.
Also, having earned a point in the 'Will Power' stat, he felt that he needed less concentration to create illusions, which made him happy.
When he arrived at the classroom, he sat in the same place as always, and noticed a look directed at him.
Looking to the side, he saw the boy who had teased him the week before and had a fight with him.
Ralph smiled cynically and looked away.
Today, club members will discover whether or not the club will continue to exist.
Aoi entered the room after a while, and Ralph could see her nervous expression.
Time passed quickly, and in an instant lunchtime arrived.
Ralph and Aoi sat beside one of the tables and started eating after greeting each other.
After both were finished, Ralph was the first to speak.
"No need to worry, I'm sure that old stranger will find our work interesting.", Ralph said and put his hands behind his head casually while looking at Aoi.
Aoi smiled slightly and said:
"I hope so, the benefits that this club can bring to us are greater than what we would gain if we entered the hidden history society."
This caught the interest of Ralph, who asked:
"I know this club is interesting for us, as we can manage our time better, but why do you think it will bring so many benefits?"
"If you don't know, all clubs receive a certain amount of support from the school, something besides money ... If we need something for our extracurricular activities, which are practically in line with our practice, the school will do everything to help us. " Aoi explained.
Ralph understood then, he had seen the club's activity calendar, and most of the activities were related to their practice.
"You don't know that, which is normal ... But there are times in our practice that striving alone in a room or bedroom is not enough." Aoi said and stood up.
"Really ... You still don't have a mission for me?" Ralph asked, but was ignored by Aoi.
Ralph blinked a few times as he watched Aoi return to the classroom.
-I have a lot to understand about this world ...
Ralph thought and sighed, he needs to move quickly to the peak of level 1, 'Original Aura', and thus be able to restrict his Aura.
When classes ended, Ralph met the other members of the club in front of the principal's office.
Ralph exchanged a greeting with the others and Aoi knocked on the director's door.
"You may come in." The director spoke from inside the room.
Everyone entered and saw the director sitting across the table and old Hajime sitting in an armchair.
"Good afternoon, director, Hajime-san." Aoi greeted the two nervously.
The director smiled and said:
"I hope you are prepared for the result."
Aoi nodded and looked at old Hajime, who was drinking tea peacefully.
"Hajime-san ...?" Aoi spoke nervously.
Hajime looked at Aoi and smiled.
"I liked your work." He spoke briefly and went back to tea.
Aoi's expression was filled with happiness and she looked at the director and asked:
"Does that mean the club will continue?"
The director looked at Hajime and ignored Aoi.
"Old man, what do you have in mind?" The director asked seriously.
Hajime finished drinking tea and let out a slight sigh.
"I really do have something in mind." Hajime spoke with a smile.
At that point, Aoi started to get a little nervous about being ignored.
Hajime stood up and asked:
"Who of you is Imamoto Ralph?"
Everyone blinked for a moment and then looked at Ralph, who was also surprised.
"It's me." Ralph looked at the old man watchfully.
The old man then looked at Ralph and said:
"I have a purpose for you."
Ralph narrowed his eyes and smiled as he said:
"I'm all ears."
Hajime then took a deep breath and said:
"Be my disciple."
Everyone was unresponsive for a moment, but then their eyes widened, especially the director.
Ralph looked strange and did not know how to answer the proposal.
First, he didn't know the old man. Second, even if he did, he probably wouldn't accept becoming his disciple.
After a period of time, the director returned to his senses and swallowed his own spit in silence while looking at Ralph in surprise.
"Excuse me, Hajime-san, but I don't know you, how can I be your disciple? Besides, even if I did, I wouldn't have time ... So I will have to refuse your offer, Hajime-san." Ralph spoke cautiously, so that no misunderstanding could take place ... Even if that was a little rude.
Hajime blinked, as if he didn't believe he had been refused, but then he laughed and said:
"It's true, it was rude of me not to introduce myself and explain who I am."
Ralph calmly looked at Hajime with a smile, but at the same time watchful, he did not know the reason for receiving this attention from Hajime.
"Well, I think the place is not suitable, how about we meet later?" Hajime proposed.
Ralph frowned slightly and looked around as he said:
"No problem, but please explain your opinion of our work, the club depends on it."
Hajime nodded and started praising the work of the club members as if there was no tomorrow, as if to please Ralph, who just got more confused.
Even if the old man liked his work, this is not enough to receive such a proposal, was he ignoring something?
After the director approved Gray Gray's continued existence with a bitter smile, Aoi and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ralph-kun, how about we meet at the cafeteria when your club's activities are over?" Hajime approached Ralph and suggested.
Ralph agreed without thinking too much, he had already decided to refuse the old man's offer, and only accepted their meeting out of politeness.
When all members of Gray Gate arrived in room 04-A, the clubhouse, they sat in a circle and started talking about the club's next activities and issues of their practice.
"Ralph-san, why do you think that old man took an interest in you?" Aoi, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly asked.
Ralph rolled his eyes and said arrogantly:
"I'm just too awesome and I get everyone's attention wherever I go."
Everyone but Aoi was immediately silent, but then they understood that Ralph was joking and laughed lightly.
In fact, Ralph was partially joking, he really thought he had a certain gift for attracting attention, this since the great Aurora.
Aoi looked at Ralph with a strange smile and said:
"I didn't think you had that kind of sense of humor."
Ralph snorted and said coldly:
"Humor? What is it? Is it food?"
Aoi shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"Well, anyway, now that we can continue to pursue activities as a club, I have an announcement to make." Aoi said and stood up.
"As you saw in the activity calendar, we have a trip planned for Kyoto in the winter. There has been a slight change in plans, and this will not just be a fun trip." Aoi started to speak in a serious tone.
"... My father told me that there is possibly an artifact forming in Kyoto, and we will go after it when the time is right." Aoi said seriously.
Everyone but Ralph changed his expression radically.
-Artifact?
Ralph was surprised and suddenly remembered the gray sword he had, this is the closest artifact image he has.
Aoi looked furtively at Ralph, and, seeing his confused and surprised expression, she smiled furtively.
"Yes, Ralph-kun must not know about artifacts!" Josef suddenly spoke as he put one hand over the other.
Ralph looked at Josef and said:
"Yes, can someone explain to me about this?"
Aoi was about to speak but was interrupted by Touka, who took a book out of her bag and handed it to Ralph with a smile.
"Here, Ralph-kun, this book should be useful to you, it has a lot of information about the hidden world of Aura, including artifacts and other useful things." Touka spoke and winked furtively at him.
Ralph took the book without thinking and said:
"Thank you, Touka-san, I think I owe you a favor."
Touka's eyes lit up when she heard this, but she was silent and returned to her seat with a slight smile.
"You can keep talking, don't mind me." Ralph said while waved with his hand and started to read the book.
Thanks to stat points, his mental efficiency is about 40% higher than that of an ordinary person, according to Ralph's instincts and observations.
He could concentrate on the book and still hear important parts of the conversation from other members.
"Cough Cough" Aoi was a little embarrassed and looked at Touka strangely for a moment before returning to talk about the Kyoto trip.
The trip will take place in December, during the winter holidays. They will receive assistance from the school with travel expenses, and will also be helped by friends of the vice principal, Aoki Sai.
The artifact cannot be located precisely until it is fully formed, and only strong Aura Masters can locate the artifact. It takes a strong sense of transcendence to do this.
Of the members of the club, no one has this capacity, but this is temporary, until the end of the year it is expected that at least one of them will be able to have a strong enough sense for the mission.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the club's future activities, and Ralph had already read the entire book, which actually wasn't much, when it came time to leave.
Closing the book, Ralph also closed his eyes and summarized the contents.
Artifacts ... are items born from the Aura of the world.
The world can be considered something dead, but there is so much life in it, that it's Aura has undergone transformations and now borders on the living and the dead.
Artifacts are born of this inconsistency, bordering on something alive and something dead. Therefore, they have their own Aura, which can be weak but also strong, and can also have various types of uses and attributes.
There are two types of Artifacts, the intelligent ones, which are born inheriting the living part of the world. And the pure, who are born inheriting the dead part of the world.
The difference between the two is striking. Smart artifacts are not necessarily more powerful than pure artifacts, but they are more versatile and can adapt to their user.
In addition to artifacts, there are several types of treasures in the world, from fruits and plants to metals and magical gemstones.
Many of these items can assist the practice of Aura in several ways.
Ralph opened his eyes after a while of reflection and stood up, there was only one person in the room, Aoi, who was looking at him with folded arms, the rest were already gone.
"You've been standing there for a while, don't forget old Hajime." She spoke and left the room.
Ralph was a little surprised by Aoi's attitude but got up and left the room, accompanying Aoi to the exit of the auxiliary building.
"Why did you wait?" Ralph came over and asked.
Aoi looked at him for a moment and said:
"You just closed your eyes in the middle of everyone and acted weird, I was worried that a nail had come out of your head, besides, no one is allowed to stay in the building alone after dark."
Ralph made an expression as if he understood and smiled as he asked:
"Why didn't you wake me up from my trance? Besides, why is there such a rule?"
Aoi looked a little irritated and said:
"I'm not in the mood to answer, I'm tired. Go see old Hajime before he gets angry with you."
After saying that, Aoi accelerated her pace, leaving Ralph behind a little stunned.
-What's her problem?
Ralph put his hand behind his head and went to the cafeteria.
Old Hajime was sitting waiting for him at one of the tables.