It had been 4 Earthen days on Nyxterra since Quinn and Aaron had arrived at the Church of Origins. Quinn was learning more and more of the planet and the city: its people, tradition and society; the Church had done a great job at making the two of them comfortable and providing Quinn with a better atmosphere to learn more about the topics that he wished to, about the city.
The Church of Origins was the most influential in the city of Vastoria, after the Imperial throne. It had the utmost support and backing of the majority of the citizens of Vastoria; further, it was a way for the worshippers of Scion to spread word of her exellence—although, not entirely true. Quinn was not really interested in any of this—nor the religious or culutral importance of the Church—so he only had to complete the studies that were necessary for him to step foot into the actual city and become part of the Vampire-Huma society.
The Pope of the Church of Origins was, supposedly, the closest to Scion's prowess of control over the Origin Energy; but, after a few more encounters with him, it seemed as though his power was not Energy at all: it was Origin Magic—something much different and inferior to Origin Energy. But, that did not undermine his powers; hus control over such ancient magic was unfathomable.
After the 4 days had passed, Quinn had amassed most of the information that he needed, without relying on Aaron. Now, the two of them were ready to finally set foot into the city. For Quinn's foreshadowed enrollment in the Royal academy, Aaron had prepared enough credits for that; however, on Quinn's request, the same wished to pay for it due to the huge amount of beast cores that he already had—some collected from the [Weekly Quest]'s random assignment of a plethora of Dungeons and interdimensional planets. In the end, only about over 35% of his total funds would be utilised for the academy—taking into account, all of the installments.
"You are most welcome here, dear sirs," the priestess that was seeing the two of them off said, "Master Quinn is most capable in studies; I am sure that he will be selected by the top academies in the city—seeing that he is of age. I hope you the best of luck. Then, if you would excuse me."
The priestess, having walked away after leaving the two of them at the exit to the grand Church, besides the even grander Cathedral. The place was rather far from the city, atop a small and beautiful hill, teeming with passive natural life, and a neat and clean path leading to and fro the city. It was most well-maintained.
"Come, then," Aaron said as he began walking on the path, to the city, "You will be giving the examination for admission in the Royal academy in two week's time. You will succeed; one way or another. I will give you whatever study and thesis material that you need to do the same. Remember, you only have one chance. I do not know why you are actually here, but it might just be best for you to get into the Royal academy for the long shot. It will not be easy by any means, but I am sure that if it is you, you can most certainly do it."
"Haah, I need to study again?" Quinn sighed, "Well, shit. I don't feel like wasting a whole month just studying for some stupid exam. Aside from the fighting aptitude and ability test, the only thing that I actually need to prepare for is the written test, huh? Tell me what subjects they will be asking about in the exam when we're in the city. Also, get me the study material as soon as possible; I'll finish studying it all within a week~"
Aaron did not know if Quinn was bluffing or not; to be fair, in his eyes, Quinn was most definitely a monster that was perfect at most of the things that he does—beyond the capabilities of any mortal that he knew. He began to wonder if he and his Master were somehow related; after all: the Shadow Ki, special abilities, immense strength and fighting prowess just proved it to seem true. Thus, he wondered if Quinn were also a god, or something close to the thing.
———
In the city of Vastoria, in one of the many buildings, was the penthouse that was owned under Aaron's disguise. It did not seem like it, but he and his team were incredible experts; additionally, their pockets were rather deep.
The penthouse gave view of one of the few great patches of nature in the city: filled with trees and a waterfall, following a stream of clean water. Although the city was mostly rather dark, the bioluminiscent natural life made the darkness just more romantic with the gentle light. From the top floor, Quinn looked at the magnificent and vast city; stumbling upon as to how it got its name.
Originally, he was only here to find out something about his parents and the Shadow Ring, and hopefully, meet with the Blood Ring Bearer. However, the chances of him meeting the Blood Ring Bearer seemed bleak; almost impossible, considering the numerous realms and billions upon billions of planets. The Ring Bearer being on Nyxterra seemed incredibly unlikely.
Quinn, for 4 days straight—after arriving at the penthouse—had been studying for the examination for enrollment in the Royal academy. With the help of his [Shadow Space] that supposedly slows down time relative to the physical realm by quite a margin, he had been able to make a hundred times more progress than he would have normally; on top of that, his Passive Skills that boosted his mental prowess only added to his progress. And thus, with the help of all of these factors, he was already done with the vast syllabus of one of the most difficult examinations on Nyxterra.
Quinn only had more time to spare now, so he wanted to dig out some information about his family name: Maw. Aaron was already busy with contacting his Master, and hopefully, meet with him alongside Quinn. The latter was not opposed to the idea since it seemed like Void knew this Master of his, and their ambitions seemed to match.
The examination would be more than a week later and Quinn could not do much until then. Aimlessly leaving his penthouse, he found himself wandering the busy streets of the city, and soon, in a grand library where he happnened upon a few interesting titles, relating to alchemy, ancient magics, Energy, Vampires and their history, and much more. Quinn, being rather interested and curious about these topics, wished to read them all and utilise the knowledge well in the future.
———
After 2 days, Quinn was done reading every single book containing somewhat useful information to him in all of Nyxterra. He had noticed that although he was rather open about his name, people did not seem to ire at him or his name; and, it was not like they had simply forgiven the crime or anything of the sort. After reading nearly every book and article that he could, he noted that the name of the Maw family had been wiped off of the records completely, and the people had forgotten something vital. Perhaps the information of the Divine Relic being in the hands of the Vampires was never even disclosed; it would make sense if that were the case. However, the name itself has been completely erased from the history.
'How come?' Quinn wondered, 'Aaron and Zoyal knew of this. It was pretty recent as well... . Really though, bold of my parents to give me this Divine Relic that they somehow stole, haha. I can't understand what the idea of their grand scheme is.'
———
It was finally the day of examination, and Quinn was more than confident in passing the enrollment with flying colours. Quinn had been secretly clearing his [Weekly Quest] without fail, in the matter of a few minutes, while testing out his Divine-tier set of armour. More often than not, he would just aggro the entirety of the Dungeon, or Instance Beast Planet, and let the hundreds of enemies attack him, so that he could figure out how much damage he really needed to active each colour of Skills of his Draconic armour.
Quinn would just stand still and let the hordes of enemies attack him—hordes of mainly A-Rank and pseudo S-Rank monsters and beasts. However, it took quite some time for the armour to glow a shade of Green, indicating that he could use the [Dragon Impulse] Skill of the armour. Although the process was tedious and long, the Skill, upon use, would grant him a small percentage bonus to his Physical and Magical abilities; on further experimentation, it seemes like the Skill gave him a 5% boost in all of his Attributes and powers—including the effectiveness of his Authorities to some extent. However, he did not intend to linger about for any longer and try to test the other colours—Yellow and Red. For that would just take him hours if not days, considering the weak attacks of the enemies
He did not know the strength of the Vampires, but from what he had heard from Aaron, they were almost as strong as S-Rank beasts, even some of the young talents that would normally be attending at the Royal academy. The average Vampire fighter would be at least as strong as a B-Rank beast; and the fact that there were so many of these powerful beings on just a single planet spelt doom for the Humans on Earth if they ever were to invade it for whatever reason. Supposedely, the Vampire Nobles are at an S-Rank beast's level, the Vampire Lords and Elders: much, much stronger.
The Vampires evolve from experience, battles and honing their skills; from just a fledgling to a real Vampire, from a Vampire to a more refined version: a Vampire Noble, if not a Vampire Neonate: a grey-area between the two. And from Vampire Nobles to either Vampire Lords, or Vampire Elders, through the experience accumulated through years upon years of hard work and special knowledge and wisdom. Is there something beyond the level of a Vampire Lord? Who knows; only the Original and Primordial Vampire, Scion had been the most powerful from the beginning. She was always something much greater than any Vampire Lord or King.
Although after becoming King, the Vampire Lord gains tremendous power through the Blood Sacrifice and the King's treasury, becoming the best version of themselves, they were all suppressed by some strange force and could not become something greater.
...
Preparing to head to the designated avenue—that of the Royal academy itself—Quinn wore a black, full-length trench coat, blending in with what is quite common in aspects of attire in the society for formal occasions. Under, he wore a black shirt and trousers of the highest quality, and a rather plain amulet around his neck. "Fuck me, it sure does take a lot to fit into the society here..." Quinn grumbled under his breath as he entered the large balcony of the penthouse.
With a jump, he disappeared and was flying to the Royal academy at an incredible velocity. Just a few seconds later, he could see the Royal academy: the pinnacle of education for the strongest and most unique Vampires and Humas in the whole planet. The exterior of the Royal academy featured the classic gothic elements that could be seen all over the city: tall spires, pointed arches and intricate stone carvings. But, of course, it would not be a historical and world-renowned place without the magnificent statue of the Original and Primordial Vampire.
Despite the overall gothic appearance, there were sleek, metallic accents and integrated advanced technology that created a seemless blend of the old and new; near to the stonework, murals and statues, transparent, holographic displays are embedded, providing information.
The enterance into the Royal academy was a wide, sweeping staircase leading up to massive, ornately carved wooden doors reinforced with metal. The entrance was framed by towering columns and a large archway. However, just outside the premises of the Royal academy, there was another giant metal gate that was decorated by statues of gargoyles on either side: a strange manner of decoration, but it did not feel out of place; upon further inspection, it could be deduced that the gargoyles were defense mechanisms.
Lush, well-maintained gardens surround the academy, featuring rare flora. Pathways lit by floating lights wind through the grounds, leading to various facilities inside of the premises. It was near to the gardens, in front of the grand enterance to the Royal academy's interior, that the applicants were to be poised, in an orderly manner.
Landing right in front of the main gate to the academy, Quinn shook the ground and caused quite the commotion, breaking the pavement right outside. He could sense all of the aura and energy of the participants in the area; all of them were strong, save for a few Humas—proving Aaron's remark about them to be absolutely correct. However, that was not what made him so excited; it was the auras that were inside of the Royal academy: 17 different auras that far surpassed even Aaron, a Werewolf—each, being in a league of their own.
And there was another... a strange person in the crowd. A Vampire, without a doubt, but something about him felt off. His aura was that of ethereal gold and a rainbow that merged to form a divine white. Quinn could tell: that among the participants—and even some of the auras within the Royal academy—this Vampire was the stronger one.