Shrooom!
Chuk-chuk, chuk-chuk, chuk-chuk!
As the sound of mechanical engine overwhelmed his ears, a listless voice rang.
'Familiar... Yet unfamiliar, isn't it?'
'...Huh?'
Ruffle!
Bright light overwhelmed his vision as he heard incomprehensible sounds in the distance.
They sounded so similar, as if they were easy to understand, as if "he" just needed to "extend" his "vision" to understand them.
But.
He couldn't.
More like, he didn't.
For some reason, even though he wanted to extend all his senses and get out of this "bright" state he was in, he didn't.
The reason?
'Heh.'
'It is you. You again.' He thought, the bright light vanishing from his vision as it was replaced by peaceful darkness. '...Why?'
A memory from not too long ago resurfaced in his mind: "'Captives held victim by the terrorists in Eversin were drugged even after they were released through ransom. It is said by the captives that they were unable to recollect the method they were captured by. Much less the route to the terrorists hideout as they were apparently drugged asleep."'
He remained quiet.
But via the memory, he felt that the incomprehensible words were a little bit more comprehensive.
"Avvta dis, food..."
His world spun. His stomach too, experienced a rotation as he resisted the urge to puke that had emerged in himself.
Ding, dong!
"Welcome... To... Madilan..."
'Huh? Madi... lan?'
Why did it sound so... Familiar?
"Please note that any use of magic, or any acts that encourage magic are prohibited."
Ding!
A rush of cold air entered his nostrils as he took a deep breath. He felt his feet rubbing against something hard as scorching pain seeped in.
'Hot... Asphalt?'
"Arriving at Station 302." A pleasant female's voice repeated in his ears. "I repeat, arriving at Station 302."
He felt himself fall, yet not fall as if he was picked up by something at the very last moment.
Ting!
"We shall bask in glory once again!" A voice resounded as it bought forth a stream of battle cries. "For Madilan!"
Then rang a quiet voice.
"For... Us."
Crunch!
His stomach gurgled as he heard this sound, a deep wave of greed overwhelming him.
'Food!' He instantly became panicked. 'No, no, no! They... They are going to steal it! All the food I gathered the whole day! Oh no! That includes the rations I spent a month to store...'
'Heh, am I going to starve? In this unpredictable weather where winter might arrive anyday? I certainly had better days.'
'No, I won't ... Let you have my food!'
Clang!
A hum resounded in the air along with the clanging sound of chains.
'Hmm...'
'Wake up. Or else... '
...
A loud exhale was heard in a place filled with darkness as clanging sounds were heard immediately after.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Rapid breathings were heard as the figure shrouded in darkness looked around.
Before it could come back to its senses, it felt that something had touched it's face.
It was startled!
But it immediately calmed down the next moment after it got to know that it was the figure's own hand that had subconsciously touched it's face.
'Subconsciously?'
The figure stared dazedly at the darkness for a few moments until clarity returned to it's eyes. It suddenly sparkled.
It looked around the darkness-filled place before examining it's face and touching it's eyes.
"They are fine..." The figure said aloud. 'My own eyes... They are fine. Then...'
With great caution and wariness, the figure tried to stand up amidst it's numb limbs.
Clang!
The figure was startled once again due to the noise.
It instantly felt cold metallic sensation around it's wrists.
'Chains? Handcuffs?' The figure held it's forehead as it tried to recall what had happened.
But before it did...
"Hello." A pleasant voice resounded from the darkness. "Whoever you are, please don't panic and quite down."
The figure was stunned for a moment before it instantly snapped awake.
"I know that you must be very confused—"
"Belite." The figure muttered. "Right, Belite."
The voice in the darkness sounded a little confused. "Be... light? What?"
But the figure, Belite, merely shook his head as he coughed in pain before he repeated and re-adjusted his words. "Light..."
"Oh." The voice from the darkness sounded a bit more firm now, and it had a tone of understanding in it. "Right, light."
Clang!
Chains clashed in the darkness, as if the owner of the voice which was hidden within the darkness had spread it's arms.
"As you can see, there is no light here." The pleasant voice turned a bit indifferent. "You need to wait till mid-day or night to see light."
"Oh." Belite nodded slightly, but he immediately froze as he felt receding pain in his neck. 'Right, I was knocked unconscious by Armado...'
Armado, that vicious leader of the biggest gang in the whole of Cvoilics — Blevoics. The gang said to have three Superhumans in it's rank while it's leader himself remained as a normal human.
'Mountain' Armado, the same sharp, shrewd and smooth-talking Armado who had made three people who could squash him and his entire gang to death join him.
The same Armado that he, Belite, had almost killed unintentionally.
'Wait...'
Belite also remembered that Armado had said something related to the unification of Lower Street District. As for other nonsense Armado had said...
Sighing lightly, Belite asked. "Where are we? How long were you awake?"
"I don't know. As for your second question, I don't know either. All I have been doing here since I was awake was walk around, eat, sleep, repeat.
"But as for the number of meals I have eaten..."
The voice immediately halted, but Belite felt that the owner of the voice was smiling instead.
"Why don't we introduce ourselves first?" The voice said. "Let me introduce myself first,"
"I am Erenic, from the Kofter family. Also known as Eric or Eren. Nice to meet you — whoever you are."
'Eric?' Belite's expression changed and turned into that of shock and surprise as he recalled the boy he had met in the auditorium during the entrance ceremony — and also the one who he had exchanged contacts with — and was also the one who he met in classes.
The son of the famous 'Watchlight Passer' of the famous Kofter Noble Family — Erenic Kofter.
Belite adjusted his facial expressions as he pondered how this well protected son of the Kofter Family was in front of him.
'The second-in-line for the successor of the Kofter Family... Too bad I couldn't extract information by faking my identity. The darkness would have been ideal otherwise.'
Slightly disappointed that he couldn't scam the latter, Belite decided to reveal his identity, the one he had chosen ofcourse.
"I am the first son of the Bostorne family," Belite said as he peered into the darkness. "Levester, Levester Bostorne. You can call me Leve or Lev in short." Belite further shortened his name to match Eric's introduction for no apparent reason.
"We had met earlier in the auditorium at the entrance ceremony and had exchanged contact informations, remember?"
The darkness was quiet all of a sudden, as if the owner of the voice in the other side was pondering.
"Ah, I remember." The pleasant voice had a tinge of disappointment in it that Belite was barely able to detect. "The only son of 'Young' Arcson Bostorne, Levester Bostorne. You had previously resided in Eversin's periphery as a citizen of the Alliance but you shifted to the capital Cvoilics once your father got promoted."
Belite was quiet for a second as he sneered softly.
'Wow, you know alot.'
"...Yes." Belite replied somewhat dispiritedly yet enthusiastically. "Eversin and it's mountain ranges were certainly better than the boring old Cvoilics, where you can barely get access to internet." He lamented as he recited the information that the Peacekeepers had given him. "Like come on, Cvoilics looks older than those pre-historical city-states that existed before Last Embers and were mentioned in various books."
Belite then heaved a sigh, as if getting rid of all the resentment he had built up in his chest.
"And as Cvoilics is a city and the capital where the Sixteen Star Noble Families residences, and is also the city where major political struggles occur, the taxes are very high, isn't it?" Eric said in an understanding tone, which sounded very convincing.
'"Nobles, especially the descendants of the Sixteen Noble Star Families... They all wear a facade. They live with us as if they are us, as if they have gone through every bit of hardship that we have actually gone through and could relate to every single one of it or perhaps even more..."'
A certain someone's words appeared in Belite's mind before quickly dissipating.
Belite ignored the memory that popped up from nowhere as he asked the most important question. "What are you doing here?"
"The same and usual." A long sigh was heard in front of him. "My protectors hired by my father failed miserably... And I was captured."
"Captured? You were in the Lower Street District?" Belite was stunned for a moment as he blurted out. "What were you doing there?"
"Lower Street District?" Eric's voice sounded puzzled. "Why would I step foot in the Lower Street District...?"
Belite changed his tone as he stressed his words. "Then how were you captured? Please get right into the point."
The first conclusion that Erenic arrived at was that: 'This guy has probably gone mad?,' but after staying silent and pondering for a while, he slowly asked.
"You were in the Lower Street District when the academy was attacked?"
'The Royal Academy was attacked and Erenic was captured?' Belite was surprised as he immediately restrained himself from blurting out words of astonishment in his daze.
As if knowing that Belite was going to be silent for a while, Erenic Kofter rambled on with a sigh.
"Unbelievable right? The majestic Royal Academy also known as the Best Magic Academy in the world for it's peculiar studies and expertise of magical arts... Attacked and destroyed."
His tone turned even lower and weary. "As for how it happened and what happened, don't ask me. I was tightly surrounded by spells and my guards until I passed out." But in the next moment, his voice became somewhat dejected as he extended his sigh.
"The spells which were stored under expensive magic artifacts — expensive even in the standards of our Noble Family — that fall under the classification of Inner-medium magic, all gone... Poof!"
Clanging sounds of chains were heard as if Erenic was making exaggerated gestures in the air.
"...As if the spells had never existed in the first place, and as if... All the imperial relics that were supposed to wake me up were... Uniformly dismantled, without alerting anyone of my current location."
He laughed as he made exaggerated gestures again, the chains repeatedly clanging.
"Poof!"