- Didn't you tell me that the mental strain was gonna be the worst I ever felt until now?
- Yeah, I did. Wasn't it the strongest?
- No, It wasn't.
- See I tol... Huh.
- Huh.
- Wait, wait, what do you mean? Explain what you felt. How painful was it? Or compared to the pain that you usually feel, how painful was it?
- I mean... It wasn't even like the pain I usually feel, it barely felt anything... Wait in fact I don't even think I felt a tiny bit of pain, It was like the pain was nonexistent.
- Sooo, long story short, what you are saying right now, is that you didn't feel anything, absolutely nothing not even a little bit of pain like somebody poked at you with a needle?
- That is exactly what I'm saying. Are you sure I reached Mind Immersion? Are you sure you made me do the right training?
- Hmmm... Dull! What do you think? You were always better than me when it came to Inner Realm Mastery.
Dull approaches them.
- I was better than you at everything. You were never able to surpass me did you already forget that?
- Those are nothing but details, did you forget what happened when...
Bright words distort and become Ununderstandable.
- WAIT YOU TWO STOP!
After the distortion of the words, all of a sudden, Noah is attacked by an imaginable amount of pain. His vein looks like they are about to burst, he is bleeding from his nose and he is crying tears of blood.
{Noah}
" I SWEAR THAT SOMEDAY I AM GONNA BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THESE TWO!"
Noah passes out.
[2 hours later]
When he wakes up Noah is in the outside world.
" It seems like I was ejected from my Inner Realm since I couldn't maintain my consciousness plus I had reached my limit when it came to mental strain."
- Can you hear me? Noooaaah.
- What the, who is that... wait... that voice... is that you Bright?
- Oh! Good, you can hear me.
- But how?
- It seems you really did reach Mind Immersion.
- What does that have to do with the question I asked?
- Oh! Let me explain! When you reach Mind Immersion it means that you have obtained a certain amount of control over your Inner Realm, or in other words which are human terms, your subconsciousness. When we try to contact you our voices are sent through your subconsciousness to your consciousness which then heads to your mind.
- But I did interact with you guys a few times without mastering Mind Immersion.
- That is only because you contacted us first and we then used our Prana to force our voices to pass through the wall between your subconsciousness and your consciousness. Since you reached Mind Immersion we do not need to go through the process of wasting our prana and we can contact you first.
The door opens and Jynn enters followed by Yoann.
- I passed by the cafeteria earlier and it seems like you didn't head down to eat, says Jynn. You do realize that it's 2h47 pm right?
- Is it? I fell asleep after you left. So I missed dinner, huh?
Noah's stomach growls.
- You can still go eat since you don't have any classes today but normally you would be in class right now. Says Yoann.
- Alright! You should have said that sooner! Im going to go eat. Are you guys coming with me?
- Nah we can't. I got one last class and Yoann got two classes left. answers Jynn. Like I said, tell the lunch lady to put it on my tab, ok?
- Yeah! I'll tell her.
Noah leaves and closes the door behind him.
[In the room]
- Did you feel that Jynn? asks Yoann
- Yeah.
- Something's changed, but I can't really grasp what it is that changed. What about you?
- I can't either. The air around him changed but I don't understand what exactly and how it changed.
- Our youngest sure is incredible and unpredictable. says Yoann
- What do you mean?
- Did you not hear?
- Hear what?
- He broke my records and set new ones for every test.
- What? For real?
- Yeah.
- I guess that is only to be expected from our little brother. says Jynn with a proud expression on his face.
- Of course, it is! He is the most handsome as well as the cutest and in the future, he might become the strongest! and until he does it's our job as his elder brothers to protect him!
- Right! agrees Jynn with a smile on his face.
[Cafeteria]
{Noah}
" Let's see..."
Noah heads over to the lunch lady.
- I would like to have a meal.
- At this time? Don't you know that at this time even the free meal costs points?
- I actually didn't since I am a first year.
- If you are a first year then it's a different story since you don't have any points right now. You can have the first meals from the free course for free.
- Free course?
- The cafeteria works like this, you better listen since I'll only explain once. You eat three times a day. The morning, at 8h00, is breakfast, the dinner at 12h30, and the supper at 19h00. Between those times there are distributors in the academy where you can buy snacks with points, but you can also go to cafeterias there are distributors there too. There are two meal courses. The first course is the free course with three different meals you can choose from and the second course is the point course, the point course always changes it's totally up to the chef, however, you need to buy the meals with points. Did you understand the explanation kid?
- I did but how come you didn't know that I was a first year if you work here?
- Maybe because all the other students came down for dinner and were explained the rules at the same time.
- I get it, anyway I would like to have the point course menu.
- Did you not understand my explanation?
- My brother said to put it on his tab.
The lunch lady looks at Noah with a doubtful look.
-.... And who is your brother?
- I have two brothers actually but the one that lives in this dorm, his name is Jynn, Jynn Arcadios.
- You are Jynn's younger brother? The one he always talks about, Noah Arcadios?
- Yeah, that's me.
- Now that I see you, I can see why he's always bragging about your looks.
{Noah}
"The more I hear about my brother the more I understand that in my past life, I hated him for no reason, which makes me feel bad because of how much affection he has for me."
{Lunch lady}
" Ooooh, this is quite a sight. His mental power is impressive for his age and not only that but there is something weird about his mana heart, but I can't see what it is, this is quite interesting."
- So I'm gonna put it on your brother tab. Here, this is the point course menu.
She hands the Point course menu to Noah. Noah opens the menu, and when he opens it the menu is blank but words start appearing which explain the menu.
{Noah}
" Using magic to make menus. Really, what the hell is wrong with Darius"
- I am gonna take set B.
- Alright! Set B? The spicy noodles with spicy fried chicken? At your age?
- I love spicy food.
- Ok. You can go and sit down I'll bring your food when it's ready.
Noah walks away and sits down.
{Noah}
" I've been getting a weird feeling since earlier, what is going on?"
{Dull}
- It's probably because of that lunch lady. Who is she?
{Noah}
" What do you mean?"
{Bright}
- He means that she is a bit too strong to be a mere lunch lady. The weird feeling you've been having is because she was inspecting your body.
{Noah}
" Wait! Did she see my Aura?"
{Bright}
- No, Aura is different than any other energy so she probably only felt that your mana was weird.
{Noah}
" I hate to admit it but I guess you were right, Dull."
{Dull}
- I am always right, weakling.
[Flashback before Yoann and Jynn came back to the dorm]
- By the way kid do you want everyone to know that you actually don't have any mana hearts? asks Dull
- What can I do about it Aura is different then mana.
- I don't know how Aura works but can't you just gather a bunch of it together to make it look like a mana heart at least?
- I never tried but I guess it could work. answers Noah.
[End of Flashback]
{Noah}
"Gathering a bunch of Aura at one place and covering it with Aura, so no matter what they do all they can only feel that my "mana heart" is weird because of the Aura that hides it."
- Here you go. says the lunch lady while placing Noah's food on the table.
- Thank you!
[After eating]
Noah takes his plates and brings them to the lunch lady, he says thank you, leaves the dorm, and heads to the library. He arrives at the library opens the door and enters.
{Noah}
" This might be the most important place of the academy. The library. It is said to contain many martial arts manuals, magic theories, Contract Holders theories, and scrolls. However, there is something in particular that I'm looking for here, I just don't know where it is.