Zenyph sat in his room staring blankly at his bedside. His breathing ragged and heavy. Sweat trickled down his face. He could still hear the voice ringing clearly through his ears. It felt real. Too real for comfort.
"I'm losing control. I need to calm the hell down," thought Zenyph as he closed his eyes.
He focused on his surroundings trying to clear his mind of any distractions. After a while a sense of relaxation enveloped his senses.
"There. Much better," sighed Zenyph.
His thoughts drifted to what happened in the dream realm.
"That was the goddess right? Is she Chaos? But there was also the magic flower named chaos in the city?" Zenyph pondered out loud. "No no no. That's not important right. What's important is why did that nameless smile? Did I miss something or did I forget something? Was I even the Zeny in that memory?"
Zenyph rubbed his temple in frustration.
"I'm going crazy." mumbled Zenyph to himself.
He decided to change the subject to his current situation.
"Right I'm in a magical universe where I was reincarnated into a royal family. I need to survive this months bounty and the event that's happening in four days. I also have a target on my back thanks to the bounty. And I also have a new deal with Luciana Sylvaris. I'm not going to survive long if I stay weak. What I need to do is get stronger fast. But I don't know if that is even possible. Even the second years can't handle a nameless. Maybe I should try going to the second year training field."
He looked outside his window to observe the three sun. They weren't there. It was still early in the morning so most likely the fields would be empty and he'd have some privacy to test his limits.
Zenyph quickly got dressed and exited his room.
His roommates were asleep at the moment so he quietly snuck out of dorm building.
Once outside he immediately headed for the other floating island that houses the second year facilities.
He reached the island after five minutes via teleportation portal. The second years training facility consisted of two separate areas: a forest area and a lake area. The mana in the air was incredibly pure and rich. Zenyph could feel the mana flowing freely within him. His body felt energized and refreshed.
Zenyph smiled brightly as the feeling coursing through his veins made him feel invincible.
He decided to start practicing his spells immediately. Zenyph concentrated on forming a water ball in front of his palm.
As soon as he formed the water ball a sudden surge of mana burst forth from his body sending the water ball flying into the nearby trees knocking several branches to the ground.
Zenyph was amazed by how easy and powerful his magic was. He felt invigorated. The sensation of magic coursing throughout his entire body excited him. He couldn't wait to see what else he could do.
Zenyph spent the next hour casting various water spells. Some were successful while others failed miserably. He finally ran out of mana. His energy drained from using all of his mana reserves.
"I'm exhausted." groaned Zenyph as he flopped onto the grassy ground.
He laid there staring at the cloudless sky watching birds fly overhead. His mind replayed images of his dream over and over again. He tried to ignore them but couldn't help wondering if there was more to the story. He needed to know. He needed answers.
"What am I missing?" whispered Zenyph.
"Something with chaos right? That woman said use chaos." muttered Zenyph as the image of a smiling nameless flashed in his mind. "I remember the nameless smiling. Why? What does that mean?"
The question plagued Zenyph's thoughts as he pondered over its meaning.
Zenyph closed his eyes letting himself relax while listening to nature around him.
It felt eerily quiet. It's already close to noon.
'There has to be at least a few second years coming to the training grounds right?' wondered Zenyph.
The peaceful atmosphere broke as he saw a girl entering the forest. She wore black shorts with a white shirt. A silver bracelet adorned with a skull hung on her wrist. Her blonde hair was braided into twin tails. She looked around her surroundings warily before noticing Zenyph.
Her ruby eyes met Zenyph's sapphire blue eyes. A faint blush crept up to her pale white cheeks as her gaze lingered upon Zenyph longer than appropriate.
Zenyph stared back curiously before speaking up.
"Hello?"
She flinched at his greeting and averted her gaze.
She cleared her throat before speaking, "Brother it's nice seeing you again." greeted the mysterious young female in the sweetest manner possible.
Zenyph was taken a back, not by her being his half sister, Nytio's sister. But by the feeling he's getting from Norena. It reminded him of that goddess.
"Hey Nori." replied Zenyph casually. He didn't get the chance to ask Lynette about his relationship with Norena but he did find out his nickname for her.
"How have you been?" asked Norena cheerfully with a smile plastered across her face. She was trying hard not show her nervousness around the man. Her heart was beating rapidly inside her small chest.
Zenyph shrugged his shoulders. "I managed to survive the first day with a bounty on my head so pretty good." joked Zenyph with a slight smile.
The young girl giggled cutely before replying," I've heard about the bounty on your head. You're lucky to survive that ordeal. I even heard about House Leofard and the death of their second born."
Zenyph frowned at that. "I had nothing to do with his death if that's what you are suggesting. I didn't touch Leon or the other two."
Norena shook her hands frantically in a defensive manner. "No no no. I wasn't implying you had something to do with it. Just saying you were lucky, Leon was really jealous of you, you know? Always talking bad about how you are favored by the queen even though she doesn't even acknowledge us or our older brother Theo."
"Yeah I know. So why are you here? Training or something?" inquired Zenyph changing the topic.
"I actually wanted to ask for a favor." admitted Norena hesitantly while fidgeting with her bracelet nervously.
Zenyph raised an eyebrow at this but motioned for her to continue.
"Can I teach you dark magic? I feel like I'm on the cusp of reaching a new understanding of it." requested the younger girl hopefully. "I promise I'll make it worth your while. "
Dark magic? wondered Zenyph as his interest spiked up.
Zenyph thought for a moment before agreeing.
Norena squealed happily before running up to him.
"Yay thank you brother~" cheered Norena as she hugged tightly.
"You're welcome. But are we going to train here? Are first years allowed to be here? Asked Zenyph.
"Don't worry about anything Zeny. I made extra extra sure no one will bother us today." said Norena cheerfully as she looked at the direction of the entrance. The second year classes managed to complete their first year without any deaths whatsoever. All 120 passed and survived.
"Alright then." agreed Zenyph.
Norena clapped happily before motioning for Zenyph to follow after her.
They walked towards the middle of the field before stopping in front of a large boulder. Norena was about to place her hand on the boulder when Zenyph interrupted her.
"Nori what's that red stain on on the back of your shirt? Is that blood?" asked Zenyph curiously.
Norena glanced at the red spot briefly before shaking her head.
"No it's just a an old stain." explained the girl as she placed her hands against the giant rock and activated her dark magic. A black shadowy aura surrounded her body before enveloping the stone completely.
The boulder crumbled into pieces scattering all over the ground.
Norena turned to look at him with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Wow." said Zenyph in amazement.
"Impressed?" questioned the blonde girl. Her tone teasingly.
"Very." replied Zenyph honestly. "But aren't you supposed to use black magic?"
"Black magic is just a fancy word for advanced dark magic. I can't use it yet since I haven't reached the advanced stage of dark magic. I'm at the late stages of intermediate dark magic." bragged Norena with a smirk on her face.
"Now it's your turn." said Norena with an excited grin on her face.