*Knock* *Knock* Yana put down her reading glasses and stepped out of her reading table to check on her door. A lady with a half mask on stood on her doorsteps. "Hello, senior sister." Yana revealed a vibrant smile and ushered the woman inside.
"Please come in, Darlene." The redhead didn't stand on ceremony, stepping into the apartment and dropping down on the sofa in Yana's bedroom. "I bet you didn't hear about it, did you?"
Yana took her seat opposite Darlene who was grinning non-stop. "Hear about what? I retired early today." "Hehe.. thought so. Here.." The redhead fished out a clear stone from her pocket, chucking it over the raven-haired beauty.
"What's in this?" Yana fiddled with the impression stone, acutely aware of its properties. "Set it up, you will see." Darlene refused to divulge anything, crossing her arms over her bountiful chest.
"I had to pull a lot of strings to get my hands on this thing. It's in high demand, you know." Her words certainly raised Yana's curiosity. "Did something happen while I was locked in here?" She spoke to no one in particular.
Just then the impression stone flashed with a bright light, projecting a screen in the air. Yana's black eyes flashed when she saw the young face. A boy stood in an empty arena rubbing his palms. He had a sharp expression poised to take on any incoming challenge.
"Ohh.. Aron?" She raised her head to look at Darlene, pleasantly surprised. "Hehe.. thought you would love to see how the brat performed. "Absolutely.. hahaha.. Thanks a lot for fetching this Darlene."
"No.. no.. not yet. Just keep watching.. you can thank me later." From her words, Yana had a hunch that this was not everything Darlene had come here for. Even before her eyes could return to the screen, Aron was already under attack.
Sadly the impression stone was not of the best quality and hence there was no sound accompanying the visuals. Even then, Yana's chest shrunk when the boy stepped to the side and punched the magic beast rhino to death.
"Wow.. hahaha.. awesome." Yana ended up clapping like a fangirl. "Ahem.. I didn't expect him to get this good." Realizing she had let too much enthusiasm out, she swiped her forehead, trying to brush the embarrassment off.
"Hahaha.. for sure. Anyhow.. this is not the end. Look..!" Darlene pointed to the projection screen which had cut to a new round. This time the boy was faced with a plant-type magical creation. Although they saw him face some trouble with the shifty being, in the end, he made a quick work of it.
*Clap* *Clap* There was no way Yana can stop grinning. "I guess with this, I can rest assured that he will pass." Darlene watched her massage her chest as if relieved. "You really took a quite keen interest in the boy, senior sister."
Yana didn't hide it. "Of course. He is just too sweet to ignore." Both the ladies fell silent because the boy had fallen into a fight of attrition with a clay golem. "I.. I never realized he was this strong. Or can it be because of the incident with.." Yana didn't complete her sentence, but Darlene can tell what her concerns were.
"It's fine. There are no signs of him turning because of the bite. All of us were already skeptical about it. Purebloods don't go on biting random kids like stray dogs." Darlene put forth her remarks at the same time as the boy defeated the golem.
"If you ask me, he is quite lucky to have gained from the tragedy." Yana acknowledged with a nod, her eyes glued to the screen. Right, when she thought that Aron will give up, the screen flashed again and this time she almost stumbled out of her couch.
"What is this? Why isn't this guy giving up? Don't tell me three stages were not enough for this glutton?" The scene of the boy staring at the water elemental for the next minute was making Yana nervous. "Please tell me he wasn't injured?"
Darlene shook her head. "He is fine. Just keep watching, sister." She can tell how anxious Yana was getting and had to assure her of the boy's well-being. Some time passed and both women witnessed with interest as Aron got tossed around the arena by the torrents of water.
"As expected, he can't face an elemental yet." Yana chimed in, resting her face in her palms and looking even more closely at the screen. "Nevertheless, whatever he had achieved is already better than many first-year students."
Darlene didn't say anything, choosing to keep quiet and let the fight progress. "Han?" Yana's face morphed and she slumped over to the edge of her seat. Aron can be seen kneeling on the ground, his body releasing a red mist.
"What's happening?" Darlene chuckled lightly at the question directed her way. "As I told earlier, the boy had some harvests from his misfortunes. This seems to be one of the spoils." She held her long index finger towards the fluctuating screen.
Yana's eyes widened in part amusement and part concern. She saw Aron burst through the curtains of water the Elemental summoned. His strength seems to have surpassed all limits as his body released more and more red vapor.
Five minutes later the screen was cut off, ending the recording. Yana stood in her place, unmoving. A ton of thoughts crossed her mind but she wasn't sure what to say. This was not how she had anticipated the screening test to end for Aron.
It was not even a month back when she would find him doing chores around her class. Recalling the times, it presented a stark contrast to what he had turned into now, fighting valiantly against all odds in his ways.
Massaging her head, she fell back in her seat. "This guy.. he is definitely going to attract a lot of eyeballs with this.." She held the same reservation as Julia and her gang. Too much publicity was nothing good for Aron.
"I think you don't need to worry about that." Darlene had a smirk on her face. "With 310 points in the Gamma trials, he had already attracted his fair share of 'eyeballs'." She confiscated the impression stone back into her pocket. "Why else do you think it was so hard to get this recording? I had to pester my department head for this.. hehe.."
Darlene explained, but apparently, Yana didn't hear anything. Her mind was still processing the previous data. "310? What did you say?" Unable to swallow the fact, the lady dressed in her nighty got to her feet.
Opposite her, Darlene took a deep sigh and removed the mask from her face. "It's correct. I double-checked it. I bet whoever needs to know, knows about him now."
"How did this happen?" Still in disbelief about how she managed to remain totally oblivious to this matter. Who would have known that the trial will judge Aron to be such a talent? No.. this was no longer just talent. 310 points in five stages at his age was unprecedented. He can't be assessed by simply being called talented. Even the prodigies of the best clans out there can't compare.
A smile eventually crept on her face. "Haha.. hahahahah..!! This brat..!!" All the tension in the air culminated in both mature ladies laughing hysterically.
For the next few minutes, both of them celebrated Aron's feat over a cup of coffee. "You think we should check up on him?" Darlene offered. Yana mulled over the matter for a bit before snickering.
"Hmph.. he is just a brat. No matter how gifted.. he is but a kid. Let's not spoil him too much, lest he turns complacent." Darlene was caught off-guard by the response. "You think so?" "Of course!" Yana sipped coffee from her cup, avoiding looking directly at Darlene.
On the other hand, the redhead recalled her promise to Aron today and instantly her face flushed red, not much different than Yana who seems to be going through her own set of fantasies. "Ahem.. I think you are right. Let's avoid the boy for some time." She concurred with a big nod of her head.
*Rumble* *Rumble* As soon as they came to a conclusion, thunder echoed outside their room. Both of their rates shrank instantly and without saying a word, they walked over to the window.
"Again?" Darlene commented, finding herself unable to sense the external mana. In a matter of minutes, the abundant mana from nature itself seems to have dried up like a creek in drought.
"Isn't this happening too often to be considered a natural phenomenon?" The figure of the grim reaper clutching its scythe in his hand was all too familiar to both ladies.
"No.. This is no natural development.." The scene from the fated day was fresh in Yana's mind. That day she didn't get much time to witness it because of Aron's case, but today she could bear witness to the phenomenon in all its glory.
Darlene was not much different in that regard. Regardless, Yana's remarks were outrageous to her. "Not natural? You mean to tell me someone is doing this on purpose?"
The repercussions of this possibility can be severe for her group and their goal. Why? Because it was the first sighting of the grim reaper that had acted as a trigger to put their plans in action. If this was not natural.. didn't that mean they were doomed to fail in their mission?
"I can't tell if they are doing this on purpose or not. But yeah, natural phenomenons are not known to strike again and again like this." *Rumble* *Rumble* Lightning flashes illuminated Yana's sculpted face staring intensely into the skies. "Then again, I can be completely wrong in my analysis as well." She added.
Darlene nodded but didn't say anything in response. There was no way their leader would have misjudged the timing. She got to have faith in that man's decision. Both ladies spoke nothing for the next few minutes when a perennial downpour began.
Similar scene was playing out at every major power centers in the capital. Every powerhouse stood in their windows, gazing at the strange event with both fear and reverence in their eyes. The image in the skies dwarfed each on of them, forecasting the imminent future that will bring chaos with itself. A chaos that is probably going to involve most if not all of them.
***
"What are we doing here, grandma?" Aron wasn't sure why instead of his slave quarters, he had been brought to the girls' hostel by Nancy. She just dragged him over to this place, without letting off a word.
The librarian looked down at the kid, especially his pitch-black eyes filled with innocence. Once the tumultuous feeling in her heart settled, she beamed a smile at him and retrieved a towel from her ring.
"Because almost half of the academy knows your name and that you belong to the slave quarters of the Necromancy department. The rest half will know by tomorrow." She put the towel on Aron's head, vigorously drying his hair.
"Do you understand why I brought you to this place?" Aron was on the front porch of the girl's hostel. Although there were a few gazes thrown at him out of curiosity, he didn't seem to attract as much attention as he should.
"You mean to tell.. no one knows what I look like?" Nancy clicked her tongue and went ahead to wipe his face. "Smart." She put the towel back in her ring. "We have restricted the recordings only to the teachers at the moment. While it is certain that it will eventually leak over to the students, at least this way you can maintain some level of privacy for the first year.. or whatever was left of it."
Once again, Aron didn't know how to thank this kind woman. "Can I kiss you, grandma?" Aron didn't know what came over him when he put such a demand. Immediately retracting his statement, he apologized. "I am sorry.. I spoke..?"
Nancy placed her soft hand on his lips, stopping him from ranting any further. "You got guts asking this old woman for a kiss... That too in public." She said that, but Aron saw her face get down and she replaced her hand with her lips.
A soft peck on his lips was all Aron ever required. More than anything sensual, the kiss was a rather intimate gesture from an endearing figure. Aron cherished it. "Looks like your friends are back. I will be going now. Make sure to drop by the Library. I believe you still have your faculty pass." With a blink, he saw her figure vanish from the spot.
< Kudos!!>>