"Tenebrion!?" Shia gasped in surprise. "They're still alive? How come I didn't know of such an admission?"
"Miss Shia, this is what happens when you don't read my reports." A voice came out, from a young man, who seemed not older than twenty, his brown hair neatly slick back.
"Yeah, yeah Templeton, please forgive my slip out," Shia spoke as she gleefully bowed at her assistant.
"And Tenebrion? Are they some noble family?" the assistant asked.
"One that supposedly went extinct a century ago," Shia explained, her tone switching to a more serious one, "I never thought one would be alive and kicking. How did the boy get in?"
"Special admission number one, recommended by Eldric Valeson."
"Wait the old man recommended him? But why?" Shia asked.
"He must have had his reasons," the assistant shrugged, "But he was adamant in getting the boy admitted to Nexarion."
Shia's eyes narrowed in thought, "So, who is our second special admission?"
"Nichole Avery," the assistant replied scanning his notes, "Under the recommendation of Laurent Thorne."
"Oh, ho, now what a coincidence," Shia spoke her voice filled with excitement.
The assistant unbothered by Shia's comments continued, "She is the one who chose the manakai class; speaking of that, did you find anyone who can teach yet? Like I told you, the best course of action would be to terminate the admission," He spoke, his voice serious, in stark contrast to Shia's.
"I found someone," Shia replied twirling around a strand of her hair, "I'm also hiring that someone, tomorrow."
"Who?" Templeton frowned.
"Jonathan Thorne."
"I think this year is going to turn Nexarion upside down," Templeton sighed.
"More like inside out," Shia chuckled.
"Principal, it's great you found a professor, but you have work to do," Templeton spoke as he placed a stack of files in front of Shia.
"Take care of it, will you?" Shia teased, "I'll pay you extra."
"No."
"Please, I beg of you, maybe I'll teach you a new type of magic."
"You're going to play that card?" Templeton crossed his arms, unimpressed, "I've seen most of your spells, and they're just normal spells, the only difference is your vast quantity of mana makes it more powerful."
Shia smirked, "Nope, I'll teach you a new way around magic, a little something like using elements without following the elemental triad."
"Bluffing," Templeton's eyes narrowed, "Now you want to do the impossible."
"Don't worry," Shia's voice dropped to a whisper, "Someone already did it."
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"So you're telling me that the spirit has been in—, ahem, has been with you ever since you were a teen," Finn queried, his face unreadable.
"Yes, he's always been there for me. Although he does get freaky at times."
"So mister, when are you leaving?"
"The principal told me she'll come pick me up tomorrow," Jack sighed.
"You were reluctant to accept it at first. What made you change your mind?" Finn queried.
"Her perspective. I wanted to reject the offer but after hearing of her perspective on magic, I had no choice but to accept. I remember accepting faster than I could think," Jack spoke, his voice stern, yet his soft smile softened the mood.
"Mages value perspectives; I guess a manakai is not that far from a mage."
"Although manakai might seem like mages using weapons, we're different."
"How so?" Finn questioned, his expression, one of a curious child. 'I already know some things about manakai but hearing it from someone of that class should be different.'
"Mages, what do you think is their goal?"
"Research," Finn replied, scratching the back of his head, "Finding the truth and stuff like that."
"Close enough," Jack chuckled, "So what of a martial artist?"
"Discovering oneself, becoming a part of the natural order and following the will of the universe."
Jack raised an eyebrow at Finn's answer, impressed, "Haha, quite the mature answer for a kid."
"Thanks, so what is the goal of a manakai?" Finn probed.
"I don't know " Jack smirked.
"Wait," Finn stared at Jack confused, "What do you mean Mister?"
"I don't know, I'm still searching for it," Jack replied, slightly grinning.
"I thought you knew, by the way you were talking," Finn remarked in surprise.
"Sorry if I misled you," Jack replied with an innocent smile.
"It's alright, Mister; it doesn't seem like you did it on purpose," Finn spoke, waving his hands dismissing Jack's blunder. "So, Mister, can I ask you something?"
"Aren't you out of questions?"
"Not like you care, right, Mister?"
"I don't care. Besides, it's not every day you talk to someone old and wise like me."
"I don't think you're that old but your face looks very weathered," Finn teased.
"Ouch, I'm bleeding, Hey kid, is that how you talk to your elderly?" Jack replies with a smile.
"That's not what I meant Mister," Finn spoke as he shrugged off Jack's comment with a laugh. "You're still looking good for your O-L-D age."
"I'll take that as a compliment kid."
Finn smirked, "So, don't you have stuff to do Mister, like going to the workers association and signing your resignation or stuff like that?"
Jack raised an eyebrow, "Don't we have something else to do before that?"
"Huh?"
"Talent assessment."
Jack stands up and starts unbuttoning his shirt and drops it to the floor. He walks over to the wardrobe and pulls it open before sliding into a black shirt.
"Mister what about that cut on your shoulder? Shouldn't you take care of it?"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it once we're back, like you said, it's just a cut."
"Where is it?" Jack muttered as he looked around. "Ah, yes there it is." He kneels and pulls a large box from beneath his bed.
The box creaked as he pushed it open. Inside there were multiple smaller boxes. Jack picked up one such box and opened it. A plain ruby ring was placed in it. Jack picks it up and slides it into his index finger in his left hand. "This should do it."
He closes the box and pushes it back under the bed. He walks over to Finn and places his palm on his shoulder, "Alright, let's go."
Finn sighs, "Mister, that was cool and all, but your palm is torn up right now; it needs to be treated before we can leave."
Jack glanced at his injured palm. "I forgot about it; I guess I should fix that up, maybe. Hey kid, if you go to the end of the room, there is a drawer. Inside it, there should be a first-aid kit, mind grabbing it for me kid?"
____________________________________________________
I wanted some shut-eye, but I can't sleep at all. I'm homesick, although I don't have anyone waiting for me back at home...
"Sorry Marcus, if anything, I'd like to see you one last time," Rose spoke, her voice filled with sadness. Is this how all reincarnated feel during these moments? I guess so, but what happened to my real body?
"Let's take a look around my new room, shall we?"
Daniela sits up looks around, and looks out the window to see it's only past noon. "The city sure is beautiful, the blend of green with the steampunk aesthetics sure, looks good. I'm sure I'll never see such a sight back on earth."
She spots the drawer beside her and decides to check it out. Upon pulling it open, she spots a black watch, with a golden dial. "Ooh, a Vördr, I've only seen this, I mean..."
She quickly takes it and wraps it around her wrist. If I remember it correctly, the Vördr uses the internet or as they like to call it... I forgot, to function like a smartphone.
She looks further into the drawer and finds a notebook with a pen beside it. I should take notes of stuff about what happens and things I know of this world.
I'll need to note down the months and seasonal divide; if I remember it correctly, they used the same weeks as on Earth, but the seasons were based on the Four Guardians.
Daniela taps on her watch and a small blue holographic screen pops up, displaying the date and time.
"How do I use this, is it similar to a smartphone?" Daniela spoke out as she tilted her head in confusion.
She tries to touch the screen where the date is displayed, and the layout changes to one of a calendar, one very similar with seven days a week and four-five weeks a month. At the top of the calendar, it was written, Yinyue and the date was marked twenty-fourth.
The calendar, Yes, so this thing works with touch and gestures, let me try that.
Daniela swipes left and the current screen shifts to the next month, Qingyue.
"Why are the names Chinese-based?" Daniela retorted. If this is the case I'll never be able to remember this shit.
"Isn't this the west? My guess is that this world has a shared tradition; does that mean religions are the same, too?"
Only if I had access to Daniela's memories. A lot of the stuff would have been easier. Even though I used to be a hardcore fan of Duke's Liebling, I don't know every small detail in the world.
Blue sparks flared as the system manifested before her.
"The system?" Daniela looked at it annoyed, "What does it want now?"
MEMORY SYNCHRONISATION POSSIBLE
WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTINUE?
YES
NO
"What do you know, the system is kind of useful. I don't have any reason to reject this."
The system flared as Daniela tapped YES before falling to the floor blood pouring out of her nose, and her breathing ragged.
"This... fucking hurts! Aaghh. My head is getting flooded... with memories, her memories."
"MOTHER DIED BECAUSE OF YOU! WHY? LEAVE ME ALONE...
DANIELA YOU MUST JOIN THE ACADEMY
WYGE WILL YOU HELP ME?
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, LET THEM TRY
I'LL CHANGE THIS...
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DESTROY THE KINGDOM
WHAT IS THIS FEELING IN MY CHEST, MY HEART IS BURNING... IS THI—
EONBO—
INVASIO—"
Daniela tried to stand up after the memories flooded her, gasping for air. Ha ha, now I don't need to learn things from scratch.
"But... there are things that are not making any... sense," Daniela stood up as she wiped the blood off her face with her shirt. "Something happened to Daniela, did she die? No, that wouldn't be possible; why are things going south?"
Was she assassinated, poisoning me wouldn't work because Wyge tests the food I eat herself and no one is brave enough to poison the food during breakfast and dinner, and there were no physical wounds and I have no memories of any suicide attempt, so that means outs—
ERROR
THE HOST HAS TRIED TO THINK OF #########
STOP
DISCRETION ADVISED
THOUGHT PROCESS BLOCKED
The system disappears without a trace, as it usually does.
"Huh, why's the system glitching? What was I thinking anyway?"
"Anyways things are easier now that I have all her memories. Although it's jumbled, I can make it out if I concentrate enough."
But that last part of her memory? What was that?
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"Mister, during the duel you told the knight that you had high aptitude and no talent, what did you mean by that?" Finn asked Jack as they walked through the busy street.
"Hmm, have you heard of the talent 'All-Master'? Jack replies.
"The S-grade talent, which lets the one with the talent use any weapons with a master's proficiency?"
"Yes, well think of my talent as a watered down version of it. It's similar but there is a big difference."
"So you can learn to use all the weapons but not master any of them? Is that it?" Finn deduced, his eyes narrowing.
"Kid your insight truly is terrifying," Jack remarked, impressed by Finn's words. "It's just like you said kid, but unlike All-Masters who can instantly use any weapons, I need to have at least the basic training for me to use the weapon with proficiency."
"But anyone can do that with enough training, right?" Finn replied, confused.
"Exactly, it's pretty useless, if not for the talent extension I unlocked at the second-star, that's when the talent truly became a talent."
"And that is?"
"For a kid your interest sure lay elsewhere? You sure you want to know more about this O-L-D man?" Jack queried, clearly amused by Finn.
"Why not Mister? I haven't heard of anyone becoming a six-star with red hair, and if that isn't interesting then I'm not sure what is?"
"Anyways it's a tale for another day, I don't want to finish my backstory yet, do I? I have to keep you hooked up on me."
"No fair," Finn pouted.
"Finally, one of this old man's wishes has been fulfilled," Jack chuckled.
"And what's that Mister?"
"I got to see you acting like a child, all this time you've been talking like some forty year old man, serious and commanding," Jack replied laughing.
'I mean I am a forty year old man, although I can't remember any fucking thing.'
Finn sighing in defeat speaks up, "Alright Mister, you win."
They finally arrived at the assessment center, a breathtaking white building. Its sleek design featured smooth walls and large, curved glass windows that reflected the vibrant greenery surrounding it. The entrance was adorned with vines and bright flowers, creating a welcoming atmosphere. A well laid cobblestone path wound through the landscaped garden.
"Excited?" Jack asked.
"Not so much, I don't think talents matter much."
"There you go acting like an old man again," Jack sighed, "Act like the cute kid you are."
"C-cute, what's that supposed to mean old man," Finn blushed.
"Old man? What happened to Mister? Jack spoke as his lips curled up into a grin, "Here let me spell it out for you; C-U-T-E L-I-T—"
"Quit it old m—, I mean Mister," Finn lightly punched Jack's stomach, pleading him to stop.
Did I really regress? It feels like I'm still the little boy.
"Just call me whatever you want, honestly I don't care, old man, Jack, uncle, anything and mister was starting to get old."
"Then shall we go in, OLD MAN," Finn replied slightly pouting.
"Ouch, why are you saying it in a way it hits?" Jack chuckled as he patted Finn's head.
"Because I want it to hit you."
"Well this old man is happy either way."
"Old man."
"Did you know I'm only thirty two years old."
"Thirty two! You look over forty."
Jack fell to the floor, "I can't believe I look so damn old, no one is going to believe I'm only thirty two."
"Hey old man, you're going to embarrass yourself, get up. And why are you worried? Being old has its own charm."
"But I'm not old," Jack replied, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Not that anyone's going to believe you," Finn teased enjoying the reaction.
____________________________________________________
The main enemies I have to face in this world are the Eonarion's, disgusting bastards. I don't know where their current hideout is, but I will find it.
Daniela walked around the room, occasionally looking outside the window.
I have to prevent the deaths, which means I can't follow the original storyline. The main characters in this world aren't as reliable either since too many people from the main cast die off later on.
She stops and looks back at her diary, open and filled with notes.
I can find the main character and solve the problems with him, or I can continue to change the storyline, making the results unpredictable and rendering my knowledge useless, but then again I'll be able to prevent a lot of future casualties no matter what path I choose.
"This is a difficult choice," Daniela muttered as she rubbed her temples.
Jonathan was one such casualty, but I feel like he will be a lot safer now, but the real reason I wanted to put him in Nexarion was so he wouldn't be a threat to me, afterall he was the one who killed a few important people in the story. Dark moments, —PHEW—, I don't even want to remember those things.
I think I'll go with the second choice, and I'm not doing this for the thrill of it but I feel like I might be able to do everything smoother if I operate alone.
"I guess it's decided, but the system hasn't been activating for sometime, wonder what's up with that?"
ERROR
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AUTHOR'S THOUGHTS
From now on I'll be using italics for thoughts rather than inverted commas since this could be more convenient for readers.
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