A few hours passed, and it was only late in the afternoon that Dignitas and the others woke up in the infirmary.
"Good job on passing the exam. The professors were delighted with the skill you all showcased."
Perhaps to make the accomplishment more "earned", Shib stressed his next sentence. "You know, those two are by far the most difficult to impress out of all the other professors. Seeing as you managed to do that, it means you're more than prepared."
"Gee, thanks for that. I really feel better." Dignitas snickered.
"Shut it. It's the least you can do as honor students. I wouldn't be able to show my face in the faculty room after Sayuri forced me to vouch for honor students who aren't even good."
"Well, at least we managed to do it. Good job, Leader. Good job, everyone." Rokas congratulated everyone.
"If I landed that spell, I would've gotten it…!" Alter cursed under her teeth.
Hearing this, Percivale got up from his bed and comforted his sister. "It's okay, I'm sure we'll get them next time!"
"Anyway," Shib interrupted. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but it's well past the time you should be going home. I'm heading back now too, so turn off the lights when you all are done."
Once everyone was fully rested, they all went home.
On the way back to the dorm, Dignitas split up with the rest of his teammates and went straight back to his room.
Rokas had proposed a small dinner to celebrate them founding the club, but Dignitas had refused, saying they could hold it themselves.
The moment Dignitas entered, he dove onto his bed and pulled out his phone.
Then, he opened the Academy's site and went straight to the "Student Profiles" tab. He scrolled through the hundreds of students listed before eventually finding the two people he was looking for.
He pressed the button to contact them, and began composing some special handcrafted messages for both of them.
The two people he was looking for were Alicer Roski and another student named Andrea Bolkins.
There was no explanation needed for Alicer. He was strong, deadly, perhaps just as much as John was.
His abilities, coupled with the dagger he wielded, would make him indispensable in covert operations. Though Dignitas did admit that he would be more difficult to convince than Andrea.
Miss Bolkins on the other hand, wasn't someone Dignitas wanted for her strength. In fact, if you put all the students together and ranked them by combat power, she was the lowest of the low.
But she made up for that through other means. In the original novel, Andrea was one of the most knowledgable people Dignitas had created. Her ingenuity and smarts were second to none.
She had been labeled the "Tactician Goddess", as the only strategist who was able to defend a city from thousands of demons with only fifty people.
But that wasn't all. She was the heiress to the information guild The Unseen, the primarily elf-dominated guild that specialized in obtaining any and all sorts of information.
It was said that as long as you had the money, The Unseen could find anything.
At this point in the story though, there wasn't much she had done yet, in terms of putting herself out there.
After composing the messages, Dignitas set them to disappear after a day before sending. If Alicer or Andrea did not receive the message or dismissed it as not worthy of attention, Dignitas would just send more.
But for now, it was time to sleep. Turning off his phone, Dignitas rested his head on his bed and drifted off to sleep.
***
Today was the day! Another day of obtaining more strength, perhaps the last before everything would start running.
After school, Dignitas brought his club members, including Elliott, to where the Colosseum was.
"The Colosseum? Are we here to watch some fights?" Percivale inquisitively asked.
"Nah. Just follow me, you'll see soon enough."
The rest silently followed Dignitas into a quiet, and somewhat obscured alleyway. Hidden behind the protection of darkness, a certain familiar path was laid bare.
Disappearing into the alleyway, Dignitas walked for a good fifteen seconds before he suddenly turned right and pushed open a door.
The faint sound of bells ringing echoed outside.
"Heh. "It's been months since I've seen a new customer. Tell me, ki–"
"It's only been a few weeks, Bigsby. Do you say that whenever someone enters your shop?" Dignitas interrupted.
"Oh. It's you. Still, it's been a while." Bigsby stared behind him, seeing Dignitas' friends entering the shop as well. "Well, you've brought some buddies with you this time, I see. Come to deplete me of my stock?"
With a grin, Dignitas pulled out a small, black card. "Nah. But we are going to rip you off your prices."
Bigsby's eye showed hints of surprise. "Well, well, this is a shocker. What makes you think I'll accept a voucher?"
Ignoring him, Dignitas turned to his friends. "Go ahead, you all can take one. I'll join you guys later."
By this time, they had already figured out what kind of shop this was. In the past few weeks, Bigsby had managed to refill his stock of skill cards, thereby making the store actually look like one.
"Hah! I'm taking the strongest one." Alter split off first, eager to browse the various merchandise available.
"Wa-wait, I'm coming too!" Percivale followed soon after.
"If Leader says its fine, then I will accept." Rokas nodded, before blazing off at a speed unlike him.
"Let's see… which one will help me get the perfect shot?" Elliott murmured to himself, his hand on his chin.
Then, finally, Dignitas answered Bigsby. "Curie gave me this, you know. I figured you'd accept it too."
"The Mortem girl? What makes you think I'd accept something with her symbol?"
"I don't know… perhaps you two are related somehow?" Dignitas replied.
In truth, he knew. The true identity of Bigsby was Byrie "Big" Mortem. He was Curie's uncle, and the brother of the current Ad Mortem guild leader.
"Connections are bound to be snooped out, one way or another. How about you accept the card?"
Despite a battle-hardened veteran who loved dungeon raiding in his younger days, Bigsby was very protective of his niece. He was the type to spoil her with gifts, and it was even more so when Curie obtained her Mental Magic and lost function in parts of her body.
"Hah. I get it. I will, but you better tell me this first. What's your relationship to her? Boyfriend? Friend?
Oddly enough, this question held no malice within it. It was simply one of curiousness.
Perhaps Bigsby deemed Dignitas worthy enough that he didn't even mind if he was Curie's boyfriend.
"Nah, no. Just someone she's indebted to. If you want her boyfriend though, maybe consider looking into this guy named John Ailey."
"Hah! Alright. I'll allow you to use that card. But I'll only sell you cards at C+ rank at most. Can't be having the district police chasing after me if I sell kids powers they can't control."
Skill cards, despite seeming very strong on paper, had fatal consequences for people who dared to use them lightly.
Skill cards had a requirement to use them; the person's rank had to be at least two sub ranks away. Meaning a B rank skill card could only be used if the person was C+ rank.
This restriction didn't apply to cards below B rank though, as typically those skills weren't strong enough to cause much havoc.
Walking away for a few seconds, Dignitas came back holding a skill card in his hand. "Then, if that's all, I think I've already found my card. Here."
____
Affinity Wave| | C+ |
This skill has no set affinity. Instead, it takes on the affinity of the User and changes accordingly.
When bonded: sends out a wave of the User's affinity from their weapon. It can move at half the speed of a bullet.
____
It was a perfect addition to Dignitas' arsenal. Having a ranged ability would allow him to deal with speedy targets.
Dignitas took pride in his speed, as it was his best stat. But that didn't mean he could beat everyone in that aspect.
Affinity Wave granted him the edge in battle that he needed.
"Ah, but that's not all, too." Dignitas thought.
Affinity Wave as a skill had no set element. Instead it would bond with the User and release the wave differently, corresponding to what their affinity was.
Up until now, Dignitas had no idea what his affinity was. Death's Vision gave him a few ideas, mainly that his were either of the Dark or Chaos type.
But the recent appearance of the Log changed that all. With the power to alter reality, Dignitas was now no longer sure on what his affinity would be.
"I'll take this."
Just as Dignitas was thinking, Alter came forward and placed the skill card she chose on the counter.
____
Concentration Burst| | C +|
This skill has no set affinity. Instead, it takes on the affinity of the User and changes accordingly.
When bonded: sends forward small, concentrated drops of the User's mana into target locations. When set off, they explode in a burst, sending out the User's mana in every direction.
____
Just like Dignitas', it was a skill card that had no set affinity. It would only change to be Chaos once Alter used it.
"Um, me next!"
Percivale soon followed, gently sliding his card onto the counter.
____
Mute Casting| | C |
A passive skill. It permanently changes the User's body to be able to cast spells without the need to voice it out.
Alongside this, it also lessens the required concentration to successfully cast a spell.
____
It was perfect for Percivale, who preferred to stay in the backlines and support his teammates. However, Dignitas knew that if anything unfortunate were to happen to them or his sister, no one would like a rampaging Spatial magic user.
"Here is the one I have chosen." Rokas confirmed his pick.
____
Wrathful Shout| | C - |
A deafening shout that draws in the attention of any nearby enemy within a set radius. Once activated, the User is given a boost of defense for the duration of the skill or until all enemies affected are defeated.
____
In most games, tanks were often the ones who drew the enemies' attention. With their skills, they could disrupt entire hordes of enemies, and even protect their teammates from harm.
Rokas seemed to be going down that route.
"One skill card to go."
____
Bounty| | C+ |
Place a bounty on a target. When anyone attacks that person, their attacks are automatically boosted.
Upon successful "hunting", the "Bounty" will restore a portion of the person's stockpile, replenishing mana, aura, or even weapon sharpness.
____
"I never asked this before, but what's your rank, Elliott?" Dignitas inquired.
"D. Same as most students. My reflexes are far above them, though. A single bullet, and whoo. Dead." He replied, imitating a gunslinger blowing the smoke out of his revolver's barrel.
Bounty was very useful for the entire team, by the looks of it. Not only does the skill supposedly increase the damage weapons do on the marked target, it also replenishes important components.
"He's probably still hung up on the last time he fought John."
During Elliott's battle with John, he had just barely lost. His guns happened to run out of bullets at the most crucial point of the match.
Perhaps that left a small scar in his head.
"Is that it, then? I better ring these up before more customers come." Bigsby laughed.
Dignitas saw straight through the joke, and used the opportunity to take a jab at him. "You don't have other customers, Bigsby."
***
Directly after everyone had purchased their cards, Dignitas led the party into a small restaurant, where they held a small dinner.
Once that was done, Dignitas bid farewell to his teammates, and headed straight back to his dorm.
Now in bed, Dignitas picked up his phone and rang up a certain S rank hero.
Only after a few small beeps was the phone picked up, and the voice of Sayuri Kinako filled the receiver.
"Hello, my disciple. I'm so glad you decided to call!"
"Yeah, sorry about the blank period, Teacher. Was just really busy with stuff."
"That's perfectly fine. I, too, am busy with work. Have you heard? The demon attacks have become more frequent ever since the invasion. I've had my schedule piled up to the very tip, and it was only now that I was allowed time to rest."
"That sounds rough. Maybe you should consider taking a break. Surely there are other heroes that can fill in your shoes?" Dignitas replied.
"Yes, but none of them are even the least bit qualified for the job. Even if they do decide to help me with work, they do it in such… ungraceful ways!"
It was well known around the world that most S rank heroes were eccentric. They either had the worst personalities, or were stupidly stubborn with their ways.
For one, William Meister, the Hero Of Light, was known to be very particular about things. He embodied the term "tidy" to such a degree that he may as well be the personification of said word.
"There's my teacher. You'll always hear the word "grace" in almost every sentence she says. She even fails to notice how similar she is to the other S ranks. In terms of eccentricness, yes." Dignitas thought as he listened to Sayuri rant.
"Ah, but that's enough about me. Say, my student. You haven't been slacking off on training, no?"
"Not at all. I train when the situation allows it."
"Good, good! Then, what is your reason for calling me? It can't possibly be just to catch up."
"Yeah, about that. Have you ever heard of the Ryushin dojo, Teacher?"
"Indeed I have. They're well known for being the most graceful of all sword-wielding dojos. In fact, I often incorporate some of their techniques and movements into my attacks."
"Then, have you ever heard of The Penguin?"
The entire line was silent. Sayuri didn't respond.
"Uh, hello?"
"Where did you hear that?"
"Huh?"
"Where did you hear that, my disciple?"
Dignitas sensed something was wrong with what he said. He immediately thought of a way to calm the mood.
"I read about it in one of the Academy's libraries." He replied, lying through his teeth.
"The Academy's Libraries…? But they shouldn't have anything related to that there… no matter. Anyway, you wanted to know about The Penguin? Then my answer for you, my disciple, is to look deeply into what the penguin does."
"Do not look at it as a mere animal, but study the things that make it so important, that even the Ryushin named their technique after that."
"I… see."