Warm water washed over Ranni's face, coiling down and around her long platinum hair.
The shower's rhythmic hum, the pattering of the water, its comfortable embrace—they stabilized her mind.
Everything had been made clear to her. Now Ranni had a choice. Choice wasn't a liberty she seemed to have often, but one she desired and pursued.
But even before the shower, she had made her choice. This action was more therapeutic than anything.
Despite his current skill ineptitude and tendency to lie, it was clear to Ranni:
Mark had all the ingredients for greatness.
Knowledge of the future wasn't something she could pass up. There would be no one better than this.
However, there was much more to Mark than his knowledge. The Luikots had an insightful eye—a trait disjointed from the Perceptive Eye.
In the hospital, Mark had closely resembled her father.
'Gross,' Ranni thought.
Arthur Luikots was a great man. His power was earned, and his strength was respected across the Realms.
What were the qualities of great people?
The controlled anger, willpower, and determination—qualities that were universal among the greats. A Maven such as the Luikots patriarch contained a few universal qualities among those in power—those that Mark shared as well.
Ranni could sense it—feel it. His potential was unquantifiable. The Perceptive Eye agreed. There was no doubt that Mark would bring great help to her cause. In the short term as well as the long term.
Perhaps, he would even fulfill her dream. Mark had sworn to do so, with the utmost sincerity and confidence.
But she was getting far ahead of herself.
Ranni wasn't absolved of doubt; she felt there was more to his story. There was something that he omitted, that would neatly tie this all in a bow—though she couldn't quite put a finger on it. All the lies and omissions still irked her.
But that was from a 'glass half-empty' perspective.
What Mark did share was enough to guarantee her safety and quell any worries or doubts.
Mark had shared a lot with her—memories of a different life and all. It appeared to be his life's greatest secret, and for that vulnerability, she was grateful.
Even with this revelation, she didn't see him as some imposter who had taken over a classmate.
Though that was an angle, Mark was the only Mark that she—or anyone—knew.
Despite the possibility of Mark not telling Ranni the entire story, what she received was enough for her to give him the benefit of the doubt once more.
In her mind, Ranni felt safe labeling Mark as an asset over a liability. Hope had won out in the end.
Turning off the shower, a small smile appeared on her steely face. She dried and dressed herself, all while humming a nostalgic tune.
Ranni grabbed her watch from the top of her drawer as she sent a message.
***
===================
To: Mark di Abbott
From: Ranni Luikots
I believe you, and I'll stand by you. The Luikots Guild will be happy to have you.
===================
A massive sigh of relief washed over Mark as he sunk deep into his surprisingly comfortable hospital bed. All the tension and weight left his spirit.
'Now I don't have to commit terrible crimes just to survive!'
Societal systems sucked, the illusion of choice was prevalent wherever one looked.
Had Ranni not admitted Mark to the Luikots Guild, he would have been forced into a life of crime.
Crime was preferable over subjecting himself to further authority; though the Luikots Guild offered enough future benefits to make the moral sacrifice worth it—he wouldn't settle for anything less than the Luikots.
One of those benefits was a more personal connection with the Guild's heir and cream-of-the-crop Academy student.
Mark felt that they had a good first-name-basis connection, though it had only been a few days, they were spent mostly with one another
Especially after their long-winded conversation, most grievances had been aired and settled.
Mark also wasn't totally sure if Ranni had any friends other than him—aristocratic society was brutal like that. That didn't mean she had no fault in the matter; her attitude wasn't the most people-friendly.
Speaking of friends, Mark hadn't made all that many either. Besides Ranni, he only had a handful of interactions with the rest of the main cast.
Not like he had much reason to—Zac and Valeria didn't seem like the best friends for him to acquire anyhow.
'But hey! Could be wrong! Guess we'll see…'
Everything would settle with time. He was getting ahead of himself.
***
The rest of the week became a monotonous—but ultimately fulfilling—grind reminiscent of his old life.
Mark would wake up early, feast upon whatever the dining hall served, and then go to class.
Professor Everett's Class 1-A wasn't nearly as eventful as the first two days. They finally started to do actual academic work. As Mark did in his previous school life, he performed the barest of minimums at an above-average level.
The material was roughly the same as college on Earth—though the exact reason behind this choice, Mark couldn't say.
There were other concepts too, particularly magic and other fantasy subjects.
For example, his academic class allowed him to refresh his world knowledge.
The world was collectively called Kaedom. Kaedom was made up of seven Realms, one Realm per race: Humans, Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, Beasts, Mutants, and Demons respectively.
That created the Pantheon of 13—originally 12 in the novel without End. They were the Gods who ran the world but could only influence it indirectly, staying in the Astral Plane.
Humanity had historically been closest with the Elves and Dwarves due to their similarities. As for the rest of the races—called the Demi-Human Coalition—they all near-ubiquitously denounced Humanity for a millennia's worth of grievances.
Humanity had also historically been a strict hierarchical aristocracy, though, in the past 725 years, the Human Realm had been slowly democratizing since the massive Human-Demon War.
Many believed that radical change was needed—that the aristocracy was failing—after Humanity nearly lost to the Demons.
The Human-Demon War changed everything. 725 years ago, the Demons did have a God guiding them. The Demon God used their power to create portals that infinitely pumped out monsters in the Human Realm as they waged a massive war.
While this was a good move initially, the Demons lost the war in the end as their God succumbed to the combined might of the Human Gods—Father, Mother, and Traveler.
But in the long term, this horrifically backfired. Humans quickly adapted, building their cities extremely dense and fortified against any outer aggression. After they were safe from the Human wilderness—ravaged and scourged by monsters—Humanity now had a near-infinite resource to grow strong and wealthy.
A massive post-war boom emerged, and Humans became even more dominant than before. The aristocracy transitioned to a Guild-based system in which Guilds employed the strength of commoners and nobles alike to aid in combatting the wild Portals.
The Guild system didn't eradicate the aristocracy; the best Guilds were the highest families on the aristocratic hierarchy for a reason.
But now in the modern-day, racial tensions have only risen. The Elves and the Dwarves have never been so distant, and the Demi-Human Coalition had grown extremely bold diplomatically.
Particularly, the original novel centered around the growing conflict between Humanity and the Demons—one of the reasons why Mark suspected his own involvement in some master ploy against Humanity by End, but that was a tangent of its own.
While the novel's 'War Arc' was used mainly to stroke William's ego as he beat the Godless demons to a pulp, this world was different.
In this altered world, the Demons had a living God, End. And it was clear that End was planning something massive. The foreboding shadow of war had begun to loom over Humanity, making the next generation of Academy graduates all the more important.
This was all fine and dandy, but where did Mark fit into all of this?
And to that, he couldn't really answer. It was nuanced.
Mark was a human; their survival was interlinked.
But then again, he didn't have a true attachment to this Humanity. He wasn't like them. If they perished, as long as he had the power to defend himself, it was no issue.
Humanity in this world was the culmination of the things he hated.
Mark would certainly hate perpetuating that.