The night was long for me.
For some reason, I couldn't sleep in peace. I'd occasionally woke up every hour in the middle of the night. This was the fifth time I had woken up because of the same dream that keep repeating.
Looking at the clock screen, the time showed 1:30 AM.
"Huu… I can't sleep."
The bed was indeed soft but why couldn't I sleep peacefully?
Looking ahead, the bed across me was empty. It looked like I was right, I was the only one occupying this room.
I stood up, wondering what I could do to relieve my mind so I could sleep.
Then I caught a shadow passing by the window. My room was on the other side, facing away from the street. So the scenery outside wasn't the street filled with lamplight but trees.
The trees were firmly planted in the ground, but their leaves danced in the night breeze. Opening the window, the night breeze hit my skin, my face. I felt refreshed, but that didn't wash away the lumpy feeling in my mind.
"Haa…"
I sat by the window, letting my leg hang while the other was against the window, supporting my hand that was lying softly there.
The moonlight shone as if I were the main character in a stage play. My mind was traveling somewhere while my body was drying under the moonlight.
It felt good… Too bad I only just enjoying this now…
I leaned back as I thought about what to do now that I opened the window.
"Should I practice?"
Looking down, I just realized that I was on the 6th floor.
The distance between the ground and my feet was more or less 30 meters. At first, I wanted to jump to practice in the shady trees down there, but I immediately discouraged myself.
"Maybe next time. I don't want to risk injuring my legs just to practice…"
As I was about to return to my bed, I remembered something.
"Wait! This is the sixth floor, right…?"
I looked outside again and searched its surrounding, the trees, the night sky, and the grass on the ground. But, nothing in particular caught my attention.
"Then… What was that shadow?"
Strange thoughts filled my head. Soon I immediately closed the window and curtains and then forced myself to sleep.
Eventually, I fell into a deep slumber but the repeated dream still haunted me.
…
"Huaaamm…"
The next morning, I found myself awoken on the floor. No wonder I managed to wake up early in the morning, I was not in a comfy bed but on the cold floor.
It was still early but I couldn't be more patient, so I head out for a tour.
They said that the written exam would start at nine in the morning, so I'd got time for like three or four hours.
"Now… What should I do first?"
Of course, first thing first was to wash my face and brush my teeth. It would be embarrassing if people see me with an untidy appearance like this.
After that, I walked out of my room.
As soon as the door opened, Lux was passing by in front of me and eventually stopped as he saw my face with recognition.
"Ah. Zio Varrez, right?"
Grace was by her side this time. Her long dark hair was tied into a ponytail, and her violet and cat-like eyes were observing me cautiously, a moment later she dropped her gaze and looked at Lux with a face full of questions.
"Someone you know, Lux?"
Grace asked as her finger pressed Lux's shoulder.
"Yes. We had just met yesterday evening when he was talking to–"
"Lux Virtus! I didn't think you would remember my name! I thought our relationship was just acquaintances, but it seems like we could become friends."
Hearing me mention 'friend', his face was slightly shocked a bit. In fact, in the early chapter, before he enrolls in the academy, he was a lone wolf. Not because no one wanted to befriend him but instead because he was in seclusion. He was being exclusively and intensively trained by the girl beside him, Grace.
Truthfully, I honestly had no idea how he managed to make friends with the others quickly despite being out of touch with other humans except Grace. Usually, when someone undergoes seclusion from a very young age until youth age, they'd be an introvert or anti-social person, no?
Well, as the author who wrote his character, I could just say that it was because of his naivety and the main protagonist's aura, you know what I meant, right?
"Friend…"
Lux's mouth moved as he muttered the word 'friend', it was obvious from his slowly widening smile that he wanted it, a friend, that is.
He looked at Grace with puppy eyes.
"Ugh! Don't look at me like that… It's up to you who you want to be friends with, as long as you remember one thing I said."
Lux nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!"
I looked at them with a knowing look.
Did they think I didn't know their relationship as master and disciple? Moreover, did she think I didn't know that she was actually one of the eight heroes?
Well, it'd be best to keep my mouth shut. She won't like it if some strangers found out her real identity.
Looking at me, Lux grabbed my hand and shook it excitedly.
"Deal! From now on, we're friends! And not just an ordinary friend, but you're my first friend!"
Deal? What the hell? I thought we were making friends, not a trade.
"First? How about her? You two seem close, I thought that she is your friend…"
My smirk widened as I continue.
"Oh. Perhaps she's your—"
"No!"
To my surprise, Grace snapped in a high voice. I looked dumbfounded when she shouted like that, but she immediately go to her calm mode again.
Lux was also surprised as he kept looking in Grace's direction.
"What?"
Grace said in an irritated tone.
"N-nothing…"
Lux looked back at me, clearing his throat before start talking again.
"Anyway, she's uhh… My relative, yes…"
"Oh, okay. By the way, where are you going?"
"Uhh. We are just going to look around the academy."
"A tour?"
Grace nodded slightly when Lux looked at her.
"Yes."
Oh, what a coincidence!
But, I thought it'd be best for me to go alone than with them.
Just look at Grace, she looked like she was trying to bore a hole in my body with that sharp stare. I knew why she was like that because actually, their reason wasn't to just look around the academy but to meet with the headmaster.
"Then, don't let me disturb your time, have fun. I hope we pass the entrance exam and be placed in the same class."
Lux nodded with a smile. "See you later, Zio Varrez!"
"Yeah…"
Watching them as they go and disappeared into an elevator, I then walked down the stair to the first floor so there would be a time gap between us so I won't cross paths with them later.
The first floor was a lobby, a student's zone. The public space for everyone stayed in the dorm.
When I arrived there, the lobby was filled with diligent people, the tables were almost full of ambitious candidates. This lively atmosphere was accompanied by the sound of jazz music.
In their hands was either a book, a tablet phone, or even the most advanced device categorized as a man-made artifact that was selling very well in the market, a smartwatch called 'Nova Watch' that was connected to the system directly.
Actually, Nova Watch was one of the dozens of smartwatch brands or models. It was just that Nova Watch was the most popular model of smartwatch so I was assuming it was that model they used.
Although they were a diligent bunch of kids, it didn't mean that their studies went well. There were those who were really serious about studying, there were those who were confused but determined, and there were also those who were excited at first and then immediately gave up after a few seconds.
There was a reason behind it all.
They didn't know what the written exam would be like. Would it be about history? about heroes? about Enhanced? about monsters? Or even general knowledge.
Suck to be them for being clueless.
Hah… In this time like this that I felt superior to the main characters, even Lux. Because I knew what they did not.
Enough sightseeing in the lobby which air was now full of invisible steam.
Leaving the building, I head out to wherever my feet led me.
"I'll be the tour guide for myself…"
…
Time flies when you are having fun.
That line applied to my current situation.
I didn't think walking around the academy would be this fun. One of the reasons was because of the architecture of the academy building itself was very diverse. When I entered another realm (area), the scenery immediately changed as if I had indeed changed realms.
My final destination was the Eagle realm, where the written exam would be held shortly.
It was eight and a half in the morning when I arrived at the Eagle realm.
It had four main buildings, the lecture halls. Each building was for each school year; first-year students, second-year students, third-year students, and fourth-year students.
The building had a large capacity so that it could accommodate more than 2000 students in one building with dozens of spacious classrooms which could also accommodate approximately 100 students per class.
There were still 30 minutes before the exam starts but I was already sitting in the classroom assigned to me. I used these precious 30 minutes as best as I could to remember what would appear in this written exam.
There were already several people sitting in the classroom apart from me, they were reading physical and digital books. I was the only one who sat with nothing and looked like someone who was daydreaming.
30 minutes passed and the time has come to fill out the answer sheet.
To my surprise, the answer sheet wasn't the one I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be a normal paper sheet, turned out it was a fvcking digital tablet!
I sometimes forgot that it was the year 2030, and plus, this world had advanced further than Earth expected in 2030 due to the use of otherworldly materials from dungeons and field monsters.
Oh well, I needed to make a mental note not to be surprised again if I saw anything out of ordinary in the future.
Smiling, I started filling out the answer…