Cvoilics Royal Academy was said to be the best Academy in the world by the easterners.
It was located in the capital city of the Welleysworths Union— which consisted of the Everlasting Alliance, many temples and churches and various small contries — Cvoilics.
Cvoilics, the city with the largest population was divided into three districts. The Lower Street District, Central Grounds, and Upper Street District.
Lower Street District usually consisted of slums, poor nobles drowning in debt, gamblers, gangs, dealers... It barely had any Superhumans protecting it but there was a decent amount of Cvoilics Police Force stationed in Lower Street District, though most of them turned a blind eye to the things happening in the background and accepted bribes.
Upper Street District meanwhile, consisted of various low-level nobles and high-class citizens and had rich defence system along with patrols patrolling the district 24/7.
But the Central Grounds was said to be the area that was very heavily protected throughout the Welleysworths Union. People said that it was placed under protection that was ten times harder than Upper Street District to breach. They said that it had countless countermeasures for countless scenarios and that it had one of the best safety measures throughout the world.
Even those of the Sixteen Star Families, also regarded as the Noble Stars of Eastern Continent, resided here due to it's safety measures.
But today, on 3rd March of the Year 84, the Cvoilics Royal Magic Academy which was situated at the centre of the Central Grounds and was built with Pristine Beach Crystal — one of the most beautiful and strongest crystal in the world — encountered a disaster.
Boom!
The Pristine Beach Crystal which reflected the serene sky suddenly cracked.
It's width and length overboard as the dome-shaped academy suddenly fell from it's obvious structure.
The green garden that it was built upon suddenly sunk, bringing forth with it a part of the academy as the residents and inhabitants screamed, may it be the teachers or the students.
As the ground sunk, the various chemicals and magic items, artifact and relics kept inside them caused an combination reaction as another explosion resounded.
Boom!
...It was as if this part of the academy was deliberately aimed.
This brought upon a faint starlight as water gushed like a fountain from the academy's grounds and turned the surroundings into a mess, scattering the mud and dirt on the ground as it made anyone who still survived difficult to move due to the sticky and wet mud.
The shattered glasses fell as they made a soft sound drowned by the already nerve-wracking chaos and explosions.
Various defensive measures failed to activate. The whole of the academy grounds shone as a faint white circle appeared in thin air before it abruptly faded into thin air, bringing along with it wisps of smoke.
Just at this instant, a very large "structure" rose from the ground, it's shape unknown as it tried to "swallow" the academy whole, but it apparently failed halfway as if it suddenly had a bone stuck in it's "mouth".
As the structure failed too, a bright red glow erupted from the underground as it sparkled, it's glow bright until it faded away; turning into mere firecrackers that spread distress signals to the surroundings.
Swoosh, Cackle!
But the sound didn't bring any help.
"Damn it!," A teacher named Filza Abrehend cursed in front of the students, unable to hold himself back as he barely supported the classroom with his magic spell. "Quick, jump over and shout as loud as you can. It doesn't matter if you're a noble or whatnot bullshit! Shout."
"Those who knows any type of spell may it be divination; combat; defence; utility or elemental, help me in keeping the classroom straight!" Filza looked at the window, as his pupils shook, gazing outside at the rapidly nearing ground as he shouted. "We are falling sideways! Brace for impact!"
Even though his spell could temporarily make the students have a firm foot and avoid the laws of gravitation, he was sure that upon impact, the survivability of the students were low.
In another classroom.
"F*ck!," A young noble cursed. "If it weren't for these extra classes, I would be sitting in my room..."
"Shut it!" The teacher, Alfen Benide, shouted in a shrill voice as he tried to calm down the panicking students. "Do. Not. Panic! I repeat, do not panic!"
"The academy has countless countermeasures and distress signals that will directly alert the Everlasting Alliance and the Temples themselves, so persevere!"
"Argh!" Just as Alfen concluded his shout, a loud scream rang from a corner of his classroom.
Alfen turned with a scowl as he noticed that a student had suddenly disappeared, then, with a grim expression, he looked at the uniformly breaking floor.
"Ah! What are those?!" In another classroom, a student panicked and shouted as it attracted the attention of another pair of students. "G-ghosts! N-no! S-spirits! Evil spirits!"
The teacher, Mumbe Berknalz shouted as she looked at the ghastly figures emerging from the floors, rooftops and windows. "Impossible! There are hundreds of Diminishing Lamps placed all over the academy!" However, in the seemingly impossible situation that went against all rationality, she threw her personal Diminishing Lamp towards the Evil Spirit that had suddenly appeared and was nearing the student.
Whoosh! Thump!
The thrown Diminishing Lamp bumped into the ceilings and fell nearby a students feet as the student jumped in fright.
Mumbe looked at this and frowned. 'A bait... To make sure I dropped my Diminishing Lamp?' She then looked around as her ears perked up, the sounds of calm footsteps resounding were heard as her expression grew tense.
Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap...
But just at the critical moment where everyone thought that hope was lost, a sharp glimmer shone as it blinded everyone, soaring at the sky.
Bang!
The starlight-like light seemingly hit "something" invisible in the air as the "something" instantly turned opaque and receded, shrinking back underground.
The three teachers taking special classes had pale expressions on their faces upon seeing the receding "something" as they shouted in unison.
"The Crude Bottle Spell!"
...
A few minutes before disaster struck.
Belite paid the amount of 20 Crystals that were the size of his fingertips to the Escort driver as he looked at the receding vehicle and sighed heavily.
'When did I even think... That I would be able to sit in one of those.'
Shaking his head lightly, he turned as he looked at the cafe in front of him which was painted in orange and white colours that had almost faded and had a huge sign board that had bright light shining on it which depicted along with a familiar and rough font with "Bright Days café" written in a crude language that was similar to common language.
The words were just similar because the alphabets were written crudely and Belite was only able to know what it was because he knew the name beforehand.
Walking in large strides, Belite opened the door of the cafe with slight effort, as no pleasant chimes of the ornaments rang unlike the library. Instead, what rang was a creak sound along with the sound of books falling inside.
"We-welcome!" A dry and hoarse voice rang before Belite set a foot in. "What would you like to order in Bright Days café to enlighten the brightness of your day? All we have are...Let me see, broken utensils!"
"Broken utensils like your broken heart? No.5 with extra meat please." Belite said as he entered the cafe, the door stuck half-way. "Along with some chocolate ice cream served in a small sized cup like tea."
Belite then chuckled as he looked at the stunned cafe owner, who was a twenty-seven years old young-man wearing brown shirt and trousers along with a dirty apron to boot.
"Bell!" The twenty-seven year old man shouted in surprise at Belite. "Where have you been, old friend? I haven't heard from you for three weeks!"
Belite smirked. "I presume 'Those that maintain Law' haven't knocked on your door?"
"Exactly! Not a single time!" The cafe owner exclaimed as he rubbed a broken utensil with a towel to dry it. "I first thought you were sent to prison, but I instantly sensed that something was off."
He started rambling as he placed the utensil aside and rubbed his chin.
"Because if you were sent to a prison, I wouldn't be safe either as I would be deemed as an accomplice of the criminal for protecting you from allegations various times and would have Law Enforcers knocking on my door the next day, asking me to pay a fine of exorbit amount or walk into the prison."
The cafe owner shook his head. "That's when I thought that you died in a ditch or something as I hadn't gotten the news of your death yet. But this wasn't ideal either. Because if you were found dead, then as someone who was suspicious to be in contact with you frequently, I would be called over for questioning by the local Police Forces."
"Smart," Belite nodded his head slightly. "Then what about your conclusion, Kesiar?"
The twenty-nine year old man and cafe owner known as Kesiar flashed a smile. "Thus, the conclusion I arrived to was that you were probably kidnapped by the local gangs in Cvoilics, either Blevoics, Mercoixs... or Bald Harbingers. This sounds more plausible as Law Enforcers wouldn't care if a troublemaker named 'Unwanted Hand' Belite was to get kidnapped by the gangs. It would only be helping them in their work." He continued. "Or you were blasted to death in that huge explosion three weeks ago that occured in Lower Street District and bought unprecedented chaos."
'Large explosion?' Belite raised an eyebrow. 'Wasn't what exploded just a truck? Did this happen after I was abducted by BECRF? For Kesiar to regard it as "large", I doubt it was just that...'
Intending to confirm his suspicions, Belite raised his hand to the front with his palm extending at the front as he signalled Kesiar to stop.
"Kesiar, what do you mean by large explosion? It was just a busted truck of the Blevoics wasn't it?"
"It was?" Kesiar tilted his head slightly to the side. "I doubt that. The explosion almost destroyed a part of the big Lower Street District and the casualties were in the ten thousands. It was a huge deal that a noble attendent of the Sixteen Star Noble Families has claimed himself accountable."
'I haven't heard of it. Shouldn't the Peace Keepers be upto-date with the information at hand? Did they think that it was unnecessary to mention it to me, who will not visit Lower Street District or stay in it? ' Belite's mind worked rapidly as he asked a question. "When did the explosion occur? Give me the exact date."
"It happened on the exact same day you went missing after heading outside to watch the sudden snow fall." Kesiar paused slightly to remember the date. "It happened on... 10th of February, Monday?"
He then scratched his head and let out an embarassed smile. "I don't remember but you should know the date as it was the same day as you went missing."
Belite nodded slightly as he then asked. "Then what about a Blevoics' truck getting into an accident..." His tone became lower as uncertainty shone in his voice. "...And getting seized by the Law Enforcement and Superhumans?"
Kesiar's gaze showed puzzlement as he slightly widened his eyes.
"Did that actually happen? I haven't heard of it at all." He then asked after a bit of thought. "Were you the only one who saw the... Uh, accident or were there others... Wait, was that incident the reason you went missing? Seeing something you shouldn't have seen? Then why are you out—"
"No, there were plenty of civilians from the Lower Street District surrounding the truck in the wreck." Belite interrupted Kesiar hurriedly as he asked. "How do you not know about it? The truck bore the symbol of Blevoics' Blessings to boot. It is a huge matter for Superhumans or anything related to Superhumans to appear in Lower Street District..."
This time, Kesiar frowned. 'Blevoics' Blessings... The only one superhuman in Blevoics...'
"What?" He blurted out instinctively, feeling that something was off. "If there were many people just like you mentioned and they were from Lower Street District and I don't know anything from what had happened, then that could only mean..."
"That the information is very important and the Alliance, Temples or the Sixteen Stars have personally intervened to shut off the people by bribing or threatening them or..."
Belite continued the next half of Kesiar's sentence with a grave expression.
"Or they have all been killed."
Kesiar gulped.
"Killed them all..." Kesiar muttered the sentence Belite had just said as a light crease appeared between his brows. "This..."
Belite gave a slight nod. "Even though it has a low probability of happening, it can undoubtedly happen."
"I think that it's more probable for the Alliance to do something like this. But if the Everlasting Alliance didn't care about mere sacrifices even during Remnant Embers which was a very small scaled war, I doubt the nobles — who have grand ambitions of overthrowing the Everlasting Alliance and the Temples — wouldn't kill a few dozen low-class citizens and beggers from Lower Street District." Belite thought for a moment. "You said that a noble from Upper Street District has claimed himself accountable, right?"
Seeing Kesiar nod, Belite asked. "His name and details?"
"He's Barley Whitetwin. He's twenty-four years of age, his parents are deceased but he still has a wife and a newborn child who was born a year ago." Kesiar answered with a ruminating gaze.
Belite nodded slightly. "He's just twenty-four... So young but he has the status of a noble? Then it's probably the case of his father's sudden death which made him accept this position at a young age, or maybe it was him who orchestrated his fathers death to gain control over all his properties?"
"I doubt it." Kesiar interrupted him. "He could be a mere scapegoat used for controversial situations such as the current one."
Belite nodded. "He probably is, but we should try to probe him, gather his deceased parents and spouse's information and try viewing his attitude towards Lower Street District while earning some profit."
Hearing this, Kesiar's lips couldn't help but curl up. "How could I forget the latter? With thou 'Esteemed One's' teachings, I have managed to gather up a total of 1800 Crystals over the past three weeks!"
Belite's eyes perked up.
"As I had mentioned a month ago, I had started to gather every beggar on the streets — those with and without families. And I gathered them and sent the beggers to various parts of Lower Street District to beg and gather money while also informing them to give me crucial information. In return, I provided them with 'protection'"
'"Protection" from thugs sent by yourself?' Belite chuckled noiselessly hearing Kesiar's words.
Oblivious to his thoughts, Kesiar continued. "After providing them protection from local thugs and goons at just the price of two percentage of their total earning of the day — which was further reduced depending on the information they bought, they happily agreed and I started making them run small errands while providing them small amounts of money for information that surpassed two percentage's worth of money." Kesiar's lips curled up. "Just like I did for the past three weeks."
Belite assessed the plan and praised it in his heart. 'Very good, by giving them small benefits on gathering crucial informations, they would try their very best at doing so. It is even more better since Kesiar is providing them extra money for information surpassing it's worth.'
"I presume the beggers were very enthusiastic and full of life these past three weeks?" Belite asked with a low chuckle.
"Heh, ofcourse." Kesiar sneered. "Why wouldn't they be?"
"Out of the 1,800 Crystalline White Crystals all of them have earned, ninety-eight percentage of the total was provided to them!"
'So Kesiar got about 36 Crystals right? Then that's not even worth a single ride from Central Grounds to Lower Street District in a heavily protected and luxurious vehicle.' Belite thought amusedly as he looked at Kesiar's regretful expression. 'I used to scramble every single Crystal I could find. Now I'm wasting them on escorts...'
'It's the same for Kesiar.' Belite reminisced the past. 'I doubt he would've given 1,763 Crystals in exchange of information in the past while only feeling regretful.'
But he didn't linger over the past memories in a daze any longer as his eyes shone lightly.
"So, what was that noble's behaviour towards all of this?" Belite finally asked, cutting the chase.
Kesiar nodded as his eyes shone brightly with greed overflowing within it. "Barley Whitetwin went live on various platforms and attracted various social media and television stations including reporters and almost everyone who held a camera."
"To my delight, after finding out that it was live broadcast with alot of platforms and organisations belong to the opposing party — the Everlasting Alliance, I sent some of my own beggers too."
"That's a great risk this Barley took." Belite chuckled. "Imagine you're doing a community service for maintaining your status but you throw everything in the midst of it."
"Exactly," Kesiar laughed. "How could anyone refuse when the microphones the media held were more dangerous than modern weapons?"
"So when the beggers I sent — ranging from old to young stormed Barley and his party that consisted of attention seeking media and reporters — who were all against him, poor guy had no choice but to force a smile and say that he will donate to every one of them later after he had already donated upto 700 Crystals."
"But under the constant pressure of the media, how could he?" Belite smiled. "Under the sobbing stories of the young and old who had sadly lost their families in the incident three weeks ago that he was responsible for, how could he?!"
Belite burst out laughing. "I-In front of the media sent by their opponents, how could he and the group of nobles behind him refuse?" He imagined the scenario as he stumbled on his words.
Kesiar's laughter halted in a short while as he sighed amidst Belite's laughter. "He probably had to pay damage funds out of his own pockets at the worse case scenario, and had to face the Everlasting Alliance's probes and demands with little help from his peers, the nobles of the Upper Street District. I heard he had almost fainted while doing that so called campaign of his yesterday."
"He supposedly has a great amount of help from his peers then," Belite, who knew more about political scenario's and the strengths of the Everlasting Alliance better than Kesiar due to Nanchoko replied. "Managing to survive and maintain that campaign of his for three whole weeks under constant pressure from the Everlasting Alliance is no joke."
"Is that so..."
Belite nodded. "You aren't sending your people anymore?"
Kesiar sighed once again as he shook his head in deep regret. "I obviously wanted to send everyone I could to beg for money in front of Barley by claiming him responsible for the deaths of their family members. No one would check the beggers histories and verify if their families died in the incident two weeks ago anyway since the Temples and Alliance don't hold I'd's or records of beggers and their families from Lower Street District."
Seeing Belite's gesture to continue, he said. "But when everything was going well, that damned noble Barley turned the tables." He went next to the counter as he picked up a neat utensil and wiped it as Belite closely monitored his actions. "Bell, that noble Barley said that the money donated to him by the Upper Street District's nobles, his own peers, and those of the Everlasting Alliance and Temples... And even that of the high-class citizens would be used to reconstruct Lower Street District." He sighed. "And this put us in a bad position as he already promised to give benefits to the people and ensure the reconstruction of the Lower Street District after gathering funds in front of people and media in a large scaled manner."
"If my people went to beg for money, then that would be said as a cheap trick to gain sympathy when Barley said that he would invest everything into rebuilding Lower Street District and..."
He gulped. "Renovating it."
Belite's eyebrows twitched. "Renovating it?"
"Yes, renovating it and making employment actually possible." Kesiar sighed. "Who would care about Lower Street District which was recently destroyed if employment is possible? This is a game changer! Something that could shift Lower Street District's position and probably make it a rich... Middle Street District or something!"
Belite said through furrowed brows. "Even if Lower Street District does become a 'Middle Street District', what difference would It have from Upper Street District? There will be even more divisions of people, there will be more organisations, crazed maniacs and many who will try to raise against the norm and break out of their thresholds while various conflicts arise over similar interests." Belite sighed. "As long as we're at the top of the food chain, we will continue to fight amongst ourselves."
"That's what others say, atleast." Kesiar ignored Belite's words and shrugged as he continued. "So the intense uproar that lasted a day has finally quietened down as the nobles and those of the Everlasting Alliance are in a dilemma. They have to help, they don't have any other way out if they don't want to face the pressure of the media. That was a brilliant move, Bell."
"I presume even the high-class citizens are angry with this?" Belite asked, turning a blind eye to Kesiar's ignorance.
"They truly are," Kesiar sighed again. "But this isn't even the worst thing, Bell." He wiped a neat coffee cup with no visible stains. "The worst thing is that this has caused the gangs in Lower Street District great unrest. Those bastards have went from working together with nobles discreetly to openly declaring them as their enemies and trying to conspire with the citizens of Everlasting Alliance against the nobles."
Belite nodded slightly as he averted his gaze and stared at Kesiar's hands. "You've changed the signs and gestures?"
Kesiar's expression changed slightly before he nodded indifferently, as if it wasn't a big matter.
"Ofcourse," He said with an awkward smile. "Your dissapearance causes me great unrest. Especially after the incident of the Twin Sisters two years ago."
Belite nodded slightly.
"It was rook's head for 'hold', knight's movements for assassination, bishop's conversation for emergency. And various others..." Belite paused slightly. "What about now?"
Kesiar, who was wiping the bottom of the cofee cup in a round manner with a crude and torn towel coughed slightly.
The corners of Belite's mouth curled up.
"It looks like it's more focused on the motion of how you wipe the utensils instead of hand and voice gestures? Incredible!" Belite praised. "This makes the gestures and signals more discreet and normal, and makes people ignore the threat of you, a cafe owner who's just wiping utensils."
"Right, Kes?"
Kesiar's expression finally changed.
"Don't call me that!" He yelled with furrowed brows. "And don't think that I don't know why you made the emergency and distress signals less discreet while it could've been well hidden and less exposed."
The atmosphere in the cafe turned odd for a second as Kesiar took a few breaths to calm himself down and put the cup he was wiping with 'passion' down and sighed as thuds were heard in unison at this motion of his.
Slightly stunned, Belite directed his gaze at the creaking and wooden ceiling up above before lowering it to look at Kesiar.
Seeing the ever-smiling Belite who barely reached the height of his tall shoulders, Kesiar coughed.
"What about you anyway?" Kesiar raised an eyebrow. "What have you been doing for the past three weeks?"
"Ahem," Belite extended his hand upwards towards his mouth as he let out a fake cough before taking his hand away and revealing a bright smile. "In the past three weeks..."
Under Kesiar's anticipating gaze, Belite revealed a cheeky grin as he enunciated his words slowly.
"...I have become a God."