Connor looked up from the book and remained silent as Rhys stepped inside their shared room and closed the door behind him. Rhys managed to explain away the birthmark as a simple tattoo to Killian, but there was no quick lie he could tell to explain away an entire book written in an alien language.
["This is a little troublesome... "] The teacher grumbled softly in his head.
"You're awake." Connor snapped the book closed in his hand and continued to stare at Rhys blankly.
"Yeah…" Rhys was at a loss for words. He knew Connor couldn't read the book since it was in the language of the higher beings, but the book itself was damming evidence that Rhys had been lying to everyone.
"Thanks for helping me out of the forest." They were talking, but it also felt like they weren't saying anything at all.
They stared at each other for a long time, each waiting for the other to say something first. Unable to take it anymore, Rhys was the first to break the silence.
"So you found my bag..." Rhys glanced at his duffle bag and then the book in Connor's hand, not sure yet on how he would broach the subject of the Book of the Dead.
"I did." Connor's blank expression was anything but comforting.
"Did you show it to the Professor?" He asked while holding his breath.
"No."
"Why not?"
Connor shrugged. "I didn't want to."
Rhys narrowed his eyes because there had to be a better reason than that, "Why?" He insisted on knowing.
Connor sighed and slouched back in the chair. Finally, he let some kind of recognizable emotion show on his face: irritation.
"Killian tried to bribe me into keeping tabs on you in exchange for information on my family. In other words, he pissed me off. That's why I didn't tell him."
Rhys was startled by that loaded statement. The professor tried to bribe Connor to spy on Rhys in exchange for information on his family, but Connor did not follow through with it. This unsettling news told Rhys two things. Firstly, that he needed to be careful of the Professor. Secondly, Connor was somewhat trustworthy. He kept Rhys's secret at his own expense since Connor wasn't going to get the information on his family.
"Thanks, Connor." This was all Rhys could think to say. He was grateful because he could not imagine how things would have turned out if Killian got ahold of the book while he was unconscious.
Rhys's thinking shifted to Killian. What was the Professor's business with him anyway? Why would he ask Connor to keep tabs on him?
"And the Professor didn't ask you to spy on anyone else?"
"No. Just you," Connor confirmed. "He seemed to think you were keeping stuff from him. I guess he was right..." Connor gently shook the book in his hand and then tossed it to Rhys.
Rhys caught the heavy thing and pressed it to his chest, feeling oddly possessive of it.
"I spent hours in the library trying to find out what language that is, but I couldn't find anything. Its not a writing system from Earth, is it?"
Rhys closed his eyes for a second, frustrated that he put himself in a situation where he was so easily found out by Connor. He shook his head. "No, it's not a language from Earth." He admitted, knowing that he would not be able to convince Connor that is was.
The urge to just come clean to Connor was strong. He had been dealing with the ghost system all on his own since he got it, and had been consistently lying to the people around him to keep his secret safe. Connor already figured out this much, would it be so bad to tell him everything?
"He tried to convince me to spy on you four days ago. As soon as it happened I went to go and find you. I wanted to hear it from you… Why the Professor is so obsessed with you."
Connor stood up from the chair and walked around it to the window. He tapped his finger on the windowpane that looked out into the forest and said, "I always see you heading out into the forest in that direction, so after my chat with Killian I went the same way to try and find you."
Connor stared at Rhys again, his sharp eyes putting him on the spot. "You left a trail of dead plants for me to follow…"
Rhys thought of the plants he used his Energy absorption skill on in the forest. It made sense that Connor was able to find him so easily. All the guy had to do was follow the path of death and decay to Rhys. He was frustrated with himself for being so careless, stupid was probably a better way to describe his negligence. He had grown to comfortable in the forest over the last few days and forgot that he was in a place where privacy was scarce.
"There was even this big circle of dry dirt in the forest…" Connor stared pointedly at Rhys, waiting for an explanation.
Rhys thought about his new heart and the skill that allowed it to absorb anything within range, which left a circle of nothing in the middle of the lush forest. Something like that would stand out to anybody who passed by it.
Since Rhys remained silent Connor continued. "Then I found you, just as you were collapsing against a tree."
Rhys nodded with understanding. It was no wonder how Connor was able to find him. This was a valuable lesson for him to learn, he needed to be more discreet when he entered the forest, like he had been the first time he went into the forest to train. He had gotten sloppy over the past few days.
"I saw that big hole in your shirt too, and that mark on your chest..? We've been sharing a bathroom for a while, so I know that mark wasn't there before…"
Rhys sighed. Connor was clever. Spinning some big elaborate tale at this point would not work on him.
"If I'm going to be keeping your secrets, you should at least explain some of what is going on with you." Connor crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on the wall, glaring at Rhys.
"Fair enough." Rhys closed his eyes for a moment, defeated by Connor's logic.
["You want to tell him the truth?"] The teacher sounded unbothered but curious.
'I do… but I won't tell him everything.'
"You know that I got my core from another planet when I went through a portal on a raid with some guys from District 20..." Rhys squatted down on the floor suddenly feeling drained.
"Yeah, I remember what you told Aria and me." Connor thought about the conversation they had on the first day of class
"After I infused with it I realised pretty quickly that it wasn't a normal core..." Rhys chuckled to himself thinking about how abnormal his core really was. A core that gave him the system and turned him into a different race of species was definitely not normal.
Connor was staring intently at Rhys, waiting for an explanation for all the weird things he saw in the forest and all the craziness with Professor Killian.
"It gave me more than one ability," Rhys admitted. "You saw the dead plants in the forest, so you can probably guess what my other ability is."
"Something like the dehydration ability?" Connor asked, unsure.
"Yeah, it's similar to dehydration..." Rhys nodded.
He clenched his jaw before saying the next bit, struggling to find the words. "It can also communicate with me… The core, I mean." Saying this out loud was painful because of how crazy it made him sound.
"Communicate with you?" Connor raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
Rhys nodded his head and chuckled to himself. He admitted that he sounded like a crazy person, but it was all the truth. "I know how it sounds, but... Yeah."
Rhys took in a deep breath, willing himself to keep talking. "I didn't tell anyone and I still don't want anyone to know because I don't think I'll be safe if the wrong people find out."
"And you think it isn't safe to tell Killian?"
Rhys shook his head firmly. He had considered telling Killian and getting his help at one point. However, as the days went on, he was finding Killian to be more and more suspicious.
"Okay." Connor nodded once. "I'll keep your secrets."
"Thanks, again." He could not trust Connor completely but he was relieved to be sharing part of his secret with someone else.
"But I still want to know about that book." Connor pointed to the Book of the Dead in Rhys's arms. "Did you bring it back from the planet you raided?"
Rhys thought about lying to him again, but decided against. Instead he would just evade the question. Rhys scratched the back of his head. "This one is a bit hard for me to explain..."
Connor raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by Rhys's devotion to secrecy. "Fine, suit yourself… Then, the least you can do is let me train with you."
Rhys blinked in surprise at Connor's sudden suggestion. "You want to train with me?" He asked.
"Killian also offered to make me stronger if I spied on you. Since I won't be doing that and he won't be helping me, I need a way to get stronger on my own. I just have a feeling that training with you is a good way to start."
Rhys smiled, feeling proud, as if Connor had just complimented him.
"Don't kid yourself," Connor smirked. "I'm only asking you because you're the only one who can withstand my currents for more than a few seconds."
The helpful and kind Connor who had kept his secrets safe from Killian disappeared in a flash and out came the arrogant smirking Connor who Rhys was more familiar with. "There you are..." Rhys muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." Rhys coughed a little to hide his words.
"Let's go train." Connor suddenly pushed off the wall and headed for the door.
"Now?" Rhys asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Move it." Connor growled impatiently seeing as Rhys had not gotten off the floor yet.
Rhys sighed, he couldn't exactly say no to the guy after what he had done for him. He begrudgingly got to his feet and went into his room to change into his uniform. He could not train in pyjamas after all.
The pair walked out of the Glowry dorm together and headed deeper into the forest. Connor was filling Rhys in on all that had happened during classes over the past four days. One piece of news in particular interested Rhys. Connor told him that a challenge took place over the course of the four days.
Rhys learned that a challenge was when someone of a lower rank challenged someone of a higher rank, in this case, some from the B class challenged some for the A class.
An official challenge had to be overseen by an instructor, but essentially the two students would fight in a one on one match for the higher rank. If the lower ranking individual won, the two students would swap ranks/classes. But if the higher-ranking individual one, the lower-ranking individual would drop by one rank, or if they were already in the F rank a condition would be negotiated before the start of the match which would be agreed upon by the higher ranking students.
Apparently, Otis challenged someone from the A rank and won. Thus Otis became part of the A class and the person he won against went to the B class.
Rhys smiled thinking about Otis and how happy he would be. He could just picture that blockhead smiling like an idiot.
After a while of walking in an unfamiliar direction, the two came to a stop at a clearing in the woods, where Connor's powers would not be so hazardous.
Connor cracked his neck and began to rock back and forth on the balls of his feet. He was intimidating even when he warmed up.
"It's been a long time since I really let out all my electricity." He grinned as he stretched his arms. "Be prepared because I'm going to hit you with everything I've got."
Rhys looked at him with a deadpanned expression. "Am I you're personal shock absorber?"
Connor only grinned as his aura swelled with electricity and his hair stood up straight on his head because of the static.
Rhys chuckled at Connor's new form, he was at a loss for words. Connor's aura was truly impressive, at least twice as brilliant as the last time he saw it. Connor really had been holding back this whole time.
"Overpowered bastard," Rhys muttered under his breath.
[Spectral Form used +5 Exp]
This was going to hurt like nothing else, but he needed to gain resistance to electricity as soon as possible. Although Connor was only thinking about letting loose, Rhys knew this actually would be great training for him as well. Teaming up was a great idea.
Just as Connor was about to release the full force of his electrical power towards Rhys, a screeching siren wrecked through the forest. It was a emergency siren so loud that it shook awake the sleeping birds in the trees, so loud that Rhys covered his ears with his hands.
Rhys looked at Connor hoping he had the answer, but Connor looked just as confused as he was.
The volume of the siren lowered a bit, just enough so that the voice being projected around the campus could be heard.
"ALL STUDENTS RETREAT TO THE CENTRAL GYMNASIUM. I REPEAT, ALL STUDENTS RETREAT TO THE CENTRAL GYMNASIUM." It was a man's voice and it sounded panicked and urgent.
Rhys and Connor looked at each other, each of them was alarmed by this sudden announcement.
"THIS IS NOT A DRILL! ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF NEED TO IMMEDIATELY PROCEED TO THE CENTRAL GYMNASIUM!" There was a serious urgency in the speaker's voice that made Rhys worry.
"THE BARRIER AROUND THE CAMPUS HAS BEEN BREACHED! ONE OR MORE INTRUDERS HAVE ENTERED THE MILITARY COLLEGE. FOR YOUR SAFETY, IMMEDIATELY MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE CENTRAL GYMNASIUM!"
Rhys and Connor stared at each other in shock. Someone broke into the MCP... How and why were the first questions on Rhys's mind.
"We should get going!" Rhys shouted to Connor over the wailing siren. Connor nodded in agreement and the two turned towards the direction they came, ready to head to the central gymnasium.
As the two started jogging out to the forest, Rhys could feel that something was off with the teacher. At first, he thought the teacher was simply a voice in his head, but he was beginning to realise that it was more complicated than that. He did not only hear the teacher, he could sense him.
'What's wrong?' He asked.
["There is a filthy stench in this forest."]
Rhys frowned at the strange words, 'I don't smell anything.' The air was fresh and earthy just like you would expect it to be.
["You need to be careful, Rhys."] There was a grave seriousness in the teacher's voice.
["Don't use your power unless your life depends on it. Head straight to the central gym that the announcement mentioned, and stay with the others. Don't come outside until that intruder they were talking about has been found. Do you understand?"]
'Yes, I understand.' He had heard the teacher be serious before, but this was different. The teacher almost sounded fearful as he instructed Rhys.
'What's going on?' Rhys gulped, suddenly feeling very aware of the darkening forest around them as the sun was setting, 'You're scaring me...'
["Good, you should be scared. No more questions. Just focus on getting to safety."]