The cold breeze was grazing through my skin. The radiating sunlight descends from above the sky, but it was shrouded by the fluttering leaves of the tall forest. Underneath the shrouded shade of light, I'm holding a raven-colored weapon with a long asymmetric handle, an elongated curving black blade, sharp edge, and at the heel, there's a skeletal figure of a cat engraved within it.
"This still feels weird to use."
Spinning it around and attempted to slice the falling leaves in one swoop; however, it backfired immediately as the momentum and weight of the weapon almost took my entire body on crashing to the trees. "Whoa! I poured too much!"
At the palm of my hand, nine dark-purple fireballs manifested right in front of me. It shot right off to the air divided into three groups scattering around the forest. I followed it in the blink of an eye, extinguishing the three fireballs in one swing of an arm. Soon after, I teleported to the other three. The scythe that I'm holding vanished in thin air, and on my hands, two swords materialized on my palm, killing the fire once again. The last three fireballs, I extinguished with three arrows that shot right off from my bow.
When I'm done, the bow glowed and shot right out of my hands. Right beside me, an adorable little girl manifested from the light. Her adorable red hair fluttered and her riveting golden eyes were looking at me. "I want food..."
"You're still hungry? I just used a lot of my quintessence."
"Waaah~ I want meat... Nya..."
A long sigh came right after. "Haaaaa... What a glutton I don't even know how a spirit could this be a glutton. Okay, let's go." I took her into my arms and she wrapped her arms around my neck while leaving the forest. It's the same forest that Lily and I would train every day. I went here to test some of Tsuki's repertoire. It took me a long time to grasp a shifting weapon kind of power, and also cycle them that would fit in different scenarios.
As my feet takes me back to the mansion, I gazed above the clear blue sky. "I need to go later, huh...? I wonder if Master Irene would feel lonely... She left before I could even say goodbye."
As soon as I got back to the mansion, I saw Adelle wearing an apron in the kitchen humming merrily. Tsuki immediately pushes me aside and jump down to sit on the dinner table where Adelle was preparing the plates and essentially the food too. When she took notice of Tsuki, she looks over me. "How's the training going?"
"Pretty good. I'm getting the hang of it, but still not on the decent level."
"What about my katana? You can use that for later. I have an extra one."
"Thank you for the offer, but I'll politely decline. It's a waste not to use it, plus I can see it as a more useful weapon of choice. Unlike my old weapon, Tsuki eats a lot more. It might not be efficient to use it, but I'll stick with it."
"If you ever change your mind just tell me. I'll bring it."
"Haa... I told you. You don't need to bring it."
Adelle and I went back and forth until we came to conclusion. I ended up losing the argument. After finishing our breakfast, we went to our respective rooms to dress ourselves up. However, as I'm putting my clothes on, I heard a knock coming from my door. Halfway from putting on my clothes, I opened the door and saw Adelle. She entered the room without saying anything.
"Huh? What are you doing here? I thought you'll be waiting for me." I tilted my head in confusion.
"Actually, I need to talk to you about something."
"What is it?"
"Remember the mark that I've given to you?"
"Yeah?" I pulled my left hand showed her.
"Ms. Irene gave me a lot of information about my race, and so, out of curiosity... I also asked about the mark that I gave to you. After learning it, she added the reason why I'm only addicted to your blood. And I'm here to apologize for it." Adelle bowed her head.
"Oh, I already know about it."
"Eh?"
"Isn't it a marital blood pact of the vampires?"
"How did you..."
"Through the same person that you asked from, Master Irene. She's way knowledgeable than expected. But for real though, how stupid can you be, for you to misunderstand that kind of magic as just a 'protection'. I can't believe you."
Adelle hanged her head low and slapped herself with both of her hands. "Aaaaah! I know! I know! I'm truly an idiot! Please, don't rub it in."
"I'm not rubbing it in. I'm just enlightening you to your stupidity."
"..."
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Luxurious carriages were moving one by one. On the carriages, young nobles or young children of merchants were coming down from it. Walking along, the busy streetwalk on the way to the Atlas Academy's examination building. Among them, some commoners were also walking down the path to enter the gate of the academy.
The noises of excitement and anticipation resonated in the air. Naturally, I'm also part of them. None of the people around me were looking dejected. They're all looking forward to it. Furthermore, not to forget, the scrutinizing gaze of other nobles was already being sent to some commoners as if they're looking down on them and also to me. What a lovely sight.
From their eyes, I'm a suspicious man walking alongside a beautiful long black-hair woman—or, a playboy. The playboy part would be the accurate reasoning of their gazes. "Am I that an eyesore to their eyes?"
"Ignore them." as Adelle said that, she patted my back.
"Hm..." I held my chin and glanced over Adelle's top to bottom, and quickly glanced once again to the people who are looking at us.
'Uh-huh, they're not looking at me at all.'
Lily and Clara weren't with me right now, as they already went ahead leaving Adelle and me behind. Lily went ahead to meet someone, so they will be waiting for us at the entrance. I have little knowledge about where we will be heading, or what kind of place was the Atlas Academy.
The Atlas Academy was a mysterious place, like the Askar kingdom, no one really knows the exact location of it. The place itself was found by the great explorer Atlas and built the academy—no one knows the reason for it. Some said, there's a hidden mystery within deep underneath of the academy. As for the man himself, he remained a mystery. People only knew his existence from books written about him; the journey and exploration, but other than that—nothing.
We stopped as the other examinees were all waiting in front of the golden blue gate with a symbol of the sun at the center of it. Shortly after, it opened incrementally. The crowd flooded inside of it with excitement.
There it stood. The building where our future lies ahead. A castle structural frame made from tensile timber, retaining walls supporting the entire foundation. Adelle and I lead our feet inside. What welcomed us was the ginormous courtyard filled with people, as we are surrounded by see-through glass windows plastered in the wall giving a glimpse of the interiors.
Amidst the mesmerization, someone tapped my shoulder. Turning around, I was greeted by a smiling Lily dressed in her traditional blue cape signifying the ice attribute of her Fenrir. Her golden hair was spiraled at the back of her head. Overall, her imposing appearance would make all men in here crazy—and, I'm conclusively correct as the eyes were already fixated over her.
"Where have you been?"
"I met my friend who's also participating in the exam."
"You have one? I thought it was imaginary."
"And, yes, I have one unlike you who doesn't have one. At least, I have a female friend. What about you?"
"Ah..." it left my mouth hanging. "Ahem! Where's Clara?"
"She's here... Not sure..."
"I see..."
"Greetings!!"
A thunderous voice reverberated to the courtyard coming in front of us. Taking the attention and shutting the mouth of everyone. An old man emerged from the door with his conspicuous green skin, bald head, big stomach, and white mustache. He's wearing a brown coat.
"Welcome, examinees. I shall introduce myself. I'm Tino, the one who shall oversee that will transpire today. Everyone knew the examination would consist of three separate categories: spirit assessment, physical assessment, and academic assessment. As for the spirit evaluation, upon entering, it is already registered in your registered card."
"Card?"
"What card?"
"What is he talking about? I don't recall someone giving me one."
A huge commotion transpired. People are utterly confused by his words. Tino remained quite still and snapped his fingers with a small smile. Right in front of our faces, a small dimming light manifested shaping in a rectangular object. We all picked it right up. On the object, a picture of mine was engraved on it with my personal information adjacent to it. At the top right corner, I saw a one-letter character—X.
"X?" I said, completely confused.
Looking over, Adelle and Lily's card, they have what I expected them to have—S. However, in my case, I'm not sure why mine was different. I expected it to be F. Lily and Adelle were overjoyed by what they got. Upon receiving our cards, a mix of disappointment and joyfulness rose in the air.
"Whoa! I got an S!"
A familiar voice loud enough for people to get their attention. There it was Shin Morino who was celebrating with his shoulder quivering in excitement, along with the girl named Ami; the girl who passed out in front of me.
"We shall go to the next step, the physical assessment. A trial of challenge where one shall fight their way. It's an individual examination. The difficulty will differ, depending on the ranking that's displayed on your card. Fret not, you're not obligated to pass them, as I already stated that it's only an evaluation of your skills. The result will display on your cards."
Tino snapped his finger once again. "Additionally, the space where it will be held is a temporary space created by our founder, Atlas. No more dilly-dallying. Now, it shall begin!" He clapped once.
In a split second, the surrounding space wrapped around me, appearing in a dimensional white space. The sepulchral air enveloped my entire body. Out of nowhere, a two-meter white stone golem appeared right in front of me with its head face down and body idly sitting on the white ground. Every people around me disappeared in a blink of an eye.
Then, a voice whispered to my ears. "Do you accept the trial? Yes or no."
"Huh?"
I glance around to see where the voice is coming from. Utterly confused by what just transpired, I scatter my inner spatial consciousness around the place, but I can't feel any object nor the ground below me—even the golem right before my eyes. The dimensional itself is a paradox of some sort.
[Man-made dimension. The molecular particles around this dimensional space are too disjointed. Destroying our sense of perceptibility.] Diana said.
[Even with my eyes I can't tell how far or how tall everything was, in this place. Ruining how we perceive things. In addition to that, the golem in front of me... I can't tell if it's an illusion or not.]
I narrowed my eyes and replied to the voice earlier. "Yes." hoping it to work.
Soon after, the golem stood on its feet then a circle with intricate patterns emerged from its forehead. Its diamond-shaped eye-core opened. And, a transparent, diamond-shaped object third of its size orbiting around its core. The object was housed in an incredibly transparent sphere. The golem let out a small noise, as the core began to expand and contract exponentially, beating rapidly. A wind blasted over my face. A large surge of mana flow out of its ominous beating core. I felt an eye was staring at me.
I stretch out my limbs and neck, preparing myself. "Tsuki."