While outside the Capital City, a dispute had taken place between the Woodland Folks and the Humans, the situation was equally grim inside the walls of the Academy.
A meeting between the first-years and the second-years commenced in an empty classroom.
On one side sat the first-year students, headed by Rhian, Luke, and Rachel. The other side had the second-years with Miyu and her classmate, Hidde, a tall and bulky blond. The #1 Rank second-year wasn’t with them, but Rhian was still relieved that such strong Awakened had gathered together.
Behind the first trio stood the other students, mainly Luke's two lackeys and Priyanka, a childhood friend of Rachel who had been reluctantly dragged here. On Miyu’s side were her two best friends, Kyla and Ophelia.
Kyla was a strong woman with a rough warrior-like appearance. She had mud-brown hair and eyes, sporting a leather jacket as well black combat boots.
Ophelia, on the other hand, had a playful twinkle in her eyes, like a class troublemaker ready to prank the teacher.
Her black hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, a stark contrast to her striking snake-green eyes. At first glance, she appeared to be a devout believer in Christ, with crosses adorning her earrings and rings, but her mischievous smile suggested a darker side. She wore an off-shoulder black top and matching skirt that accentuated her slender waist and elegant collarbones.
In their second year at the Academy, students are required to enter different tournaments with students from other Hero Academies. On the surface, these competitions were supposed to promote trust and teamwork among future generations of heroes, but in reality, it was used by the students to dominate others and set the foundation for their reputation, so that in their third year, they are able to gain internships to bigger Guilds.
Despite not being Heroes yet, Kyla and Ophelia were famous as “The Mastermind and The Executioner” duo. Among the student circles, it was rumoured that as long as those two are together, even a C+ Rank Hero would have trouble against the two D Ranks, their teamwork was flawless.
The two were standing at either side of Miyu, like bodyguards, and for some reason, they were glaring at him.
“Ahem, now that everyone has gathered together, let’s begin our meeting.” Rhian started the meeting. “As we all know, during the First Years’ Midterms, monsters invaded our Academy and have been attacking the students ever since. This meeting has been called upon so that we students can help to resolve the problem.”
“Isn’t resolving problems like this the job of the Professors?” Priyanka complained, ready to leave this troublesome situation at any time. She would have gone back home like the other students, but she was worried about Rachel staying here, so decided otherwise.
“Of course, the professors are doing their job, but with monsters attacking the students, and the traitor still at large, the manpower has been spread too thin. That’s why we, as future Heroes, should help them.” Rhian explained.
Hearing the conversation, Luke stood up and pointed at him. “Before that, why is the commoner acting like he is our leader? He doesn’t even have any experience in politics. Do you think leading others is so easy?”
Rhian silently scoffed at his comment. In his previous life, Rhian was one of the top aristocrats of his home planet, his title being Archduke. He had far more experience in these kinds of things than the newbies that were gathered here. But since he couldn’t reveal any of that here, he decided to compromise.
“If you don’t want to follow me, that’s fine. Why don’t we do this? There are two tasks at hand. One is to kill the monsters that are wandering the Academy. And the other is to find the person who let them in. We can split into teams and each can fulfil one of them.”
“Fine. Let’s do that.” Luke nodded in agreement, not realising that he was still following Rhian’s order.
Rhian had observed Luke for the past few months. Luke was very competitive, especially when it came to him, and had a strong desire to prove himself the best. As expected, he took the bait when provided with the opportunity to come up with a plan himself.
“If you two are done fighting amongst yourselves, how about we start to discuss how to tackle the problem?” Hidde finally spoke up.
“Ah, yes. Sorry about that.” Rhian quickly apologised.
Hidde was a D+ Rank, just one rank above them, but Rhian could feel incredible charisma from him, meaning he was not just some top student. He had the ability to lead people and the skills to back it up. Those two traits were rarely seen together, so Rhian was glad to have such a reliable ally.
“I would like to go search for the Fayde. I overheard the teachers saying that one of them still hasn’t been found. It would be best to take care of it before someone gets harmed.” Rhian offered.
“Then I will go and catch the bastard who’s behind all this!” Luke spoke up.
“All right. Rhian, I am sure you won’t be needing much help with your part of the work, so I will team up with Luke. A traitor is the most dangerous thing we can have amongst us right now.” Hidde decided.
So the Fayde team, headed by Rhian, and the Traitor Team, headed by Hidde and Luke, were formed. Priyanka and Rachel decided to join Rhian to distribute their manpower.
The three were currently standing in the Academy gardens, thinking about how to track a monster that even their High-Ranking teachers weren’t able to locate.
“Um, I don’t know if this is helpful, but I know someone who might be able to help us.” Priyanka said, after a while.
“Hmm. Who are you talking about?” Rachel asked her.
“He’s a friend I made recently.” She replied. “But I am not sure if he will be willing to help us.”
“Is there a problem with him or something?” Rhian asked.
“He’s a bit shy in using his powers in front of strangers.” Priyanka explained.
“If it’s just that much, then I will convince him.” Rhian was ready to accept any idea now. Although he would never admit it, Rhian and Luke were quite similar in terms of competitive spirit.
“All right, but please don’t force him or anything.”
“Okay!” Rhian agreed to the condition.
The three arrived at the student dorms.
“Does this guy live on the 25th floor? He must be really low in the student Rankings!” Rachel wondered aloud.
Rhian was a bit skeptical as well. Although it was unfortunate, in this world, a person’s Rank was directly related to how special their Skills and Abilities were and also how proficient they were at it, the ranking system had evolved so much. Unless a person intentionally hid their capabilities, the Rank would be an accurate measure. That's why Rhian wasn't sure how helpful this friend would be.
Priyanka knocked on one of the doors. After a minute, the door slid open a bit, revealing a pale and scrawny kid.
“May I help you?” The boy nervously asked them. His eyes had such deep dark circles, that Rhian worried for a bit if he had garlic in his dimensional ring.
“Hey, Rohan!” Priyanka greeted him.
“Ah, Priyanka. What are you doing here?” Seeing a familiar face, Rohan open the door a bit more.
“Actually, we need your help.” Rachel spoke up.
“M-my help? I don’t think I can help you with anything.”
“Rohan, can you please listen to us? You don’t have to help if you don’t want to.” Priyanka pleaded to him.
“...okay.” He said, after giving it a long thought. He swung the door open, inviting them in.
To say the room was dreary, would be an understatement.
Unlike Rhian’s penthouse, which came equipped with its own kitchen, gym, and other facilities, Rohan’s room was a small one-bedroom dorm with only an attached bathroom. His bed was pushed to a corner beside the closet. Facing it was a small wooden desk and chair.
But the most peculiar thing was that all over his bed and walls, yellow paper strips had been stuck. Strange words were written on all of them in red.
“What are the talismans for?” Rhian asked.
“It’s for keeping them away.” An almost inaudible whisper came out.
“Them? Them who?” Rhian asked.
“You guys can just sit on the bed.” Rohan ignored his question and pulled up the chair. “So, what did you want to ask me, Priyanka?”
“You know how the Faydes invaded during the Mid Terms, right?” Priyanka started.
If it was possible, the already gloomy room seemed to have gotten ever darker at the mention of the exam.
“How can I not?” Rohan replied in a lifeless tone. “Because the exams were stopped mid-way, I wasn’t able to hunt even one monster in the Dungeon. I think the Academy will just fail me this time.”
“Uh, well… I am sure the marking scheme will be different than last time.” Priyanka flustered.
“So, what is this about the Faydes?”
“Uh, well you told me once about how your Skill was related to ghosts? I thought since Faydes were a phantom-type monster, maybe you could help us find it.” Priyanka asked him.
“I think you got that wrong. My powers allow me to see creatures that are on the astral plane, but I am not some sort of radar that can sense their locations.”
“Oh, I see.” Disappointed appeared in Priyanka's dark eyes.
“Well, I might not be able to help, but I can ask around.”
“Ask around?”
Rohan got up from his seat and leaned behind the bed where the talisman had been placed. He looked at them for a moment, before taking one of them off and folding it up.
Suddenly the temperature of the room dropped. Rohan averted his eyes as if he had seen something unpleasant.
“Um, Rohan! What happened?” Rachel asked, feeling the chill in the air.
“I just summoned one of the ghosts nearby. Alexa might know where the Fayde is hiding?”
It was then Rhian remembered something one of his classmates had told him about before. That there was a boy in their class who could see ghosts.
Rhian hadn’t been interested in it at that time. With the world of magic they lived in, seeing ghosts was probably one of the least unique abilities. Not to mention, seeing dead people was not something he was a fan of, considering he had already died once.
Rhian raised his hand. “Not to shoot your idea down, Priyanka, but Faydes are creatures of the darkness, not the astral plane. It will be hard for a ghost to find it.”
“Actually, Alexa told me that the Fayde just popped up.” Rohan revealed.
“She found out its location so quickly? How?” All three crowded towards him. Rohan recoiled in discomfort from their explosive passion.
“Okay, back out, you two!” Priyanka pushed the others away, seeing the fear in her friend’s eyes. “Rohan, can you ask Alexa for the monster’s location?”
She asked him as gently as possible, remembering his introverted nature.
“Um, she says that she will tell you, but she needs something in return.”
“What does she want?”
“...Tea?”
“She wants a cup of tea?” Rhian asked in a confused nature. “Why would a ghost want something to drink?”
“Obviously not that kind of tea, you idiot.” Priyanka shot him a condescending look. “She wants to hear gossip. Rachel, do you know something juicy?”
“Something juicy…” Rachel fell into deep thought.
Rohan raised his hand nervously. “Um, Alexa wants to know something in particular.”
“She has something in mind? What is it?” Priyanka asked him quickly.
“Um…Can I say it in secret?” He shyly pointed out to Rachel.
“What is it?” Rachel leaned her ear towards him. As Rohan whispered something in Rachel’s ears, her face got visibly red.
"Wh-what? W-why does she want to know that? Wait, how does she even know about it in the first place?" Rachel grabbed Rohan's collar, demanding answers.
Priyanka quickly came in between the two. "Rachel, calm down. You are scaring him!"
"But..." She protested, but her concerns landed on deaf ears.
"Rachel, just answer the ghost so that we can get the location of the monster." She finally added. "Or do you want Luke to taunt us that we couldn't even find a single monster, for the rest of our lives?"
Although the concerned people themselves would never admit it, but the Top Rankers at the Star Academy hated to lose to one wonder. It was all to easy for Priyanka to push her buttons, especially since she knew Rachel for a long time.
"...Fine. But if you ever tell anyone about this, I swear you won't live to see the next day." She glared at Rohan.
"Eek!" Rohan, who was shivering in a corner, violently nodded his head.
After casting a glance at Rhian, she whispered in an almost inaudible voice to the ghost.
“Now, tell us where the damn Fayde is!” Rachel yelled at Rohan.
Despite the scary look on Rachel’s face, Priyanka shot a mischievous smirk at her friend. “I see…”
“Not a word, Priyanka!” Rachel shivered, her entire body turning red.
“Alexa said the Fayde is in the teachers’ dormitory.” Rohan interrupted after a moment, avoiding Rachel's eyes.
“Huh?” Their faces twisted in confusion, all three exchanging glances.
Wasn’t the teachers’ dorm the worst place to hide in, with all the Heroes looking for it? It's like seeking shelter in a wolf's cave just to get away from the predators outside.
"Are you sure that's what she said?" Priyanka asked for a final confirmation. Rohan nodded his head.
“Let’s think about it later. We need to go and find the Fayde first!” Rhian and the three rushed out of the building, heading toward their destination. Priyanka dragged the reluctant Rohan behind her so that the ghost could guide them.
"BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO!!!" Rohan's moans echoed throughout the campus.
Following Alexa’s directions, the three were now standing on the fourth floor of the teachers' dorms. One of the doors was ajar.
Rohan remained outside as the other three individuals entered the house. Inside, they found the professor lying still on the floor.
“Professor!” Rachel rushed towards the fainted Ray, but before Rhian could tell her to be careful, the entire room plunged into the darkness.
People often say, “Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me!”
I was ready to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment.
Just minutes ago I had told Deus that I wouldn't fall victim to the Fayde again. But here I was, standing in the middle of darkness, as soon as I stepped into my apartment. 'God, why are all these monsters attacking me?'
“Hello?” I yelled out, only to be responded with silence. Even Deus was not beside me. Seems I was the only one invited to this space.
“Hello to you, too.” A whisper spoke in my ear from behind.
I turned back, only to meet darkness. "Where are you?" I called out again.
“I am here, Ray.” This time the voice came from the front.
A hooded figure stood a few feet in front of me. I took a step backward, reaching for my sword, only to find my dimensional ring gone.
Instead, I clenched my fists. “I guess you are the last Fayde!”
“Fayde? I am not my children. You can call me Nyx.” The mysterious woman politely introduced herself.
‘Appraisal!’
| Name: Nyx Title: Mother of The Night Rank: B+ Skills: Nightmare(B): The skill can bring the target’s worst nightmares to life. Darkness Manipulation(A): Allows the user to summon and manipulate the darkness according to the user’s will. Also allows the user to teleport using the shadows. Master of the Night(A): During the night, the user’s skill jumps up by one sub-Rank, and the Stats change accordingly. |
‘A B+ Rank? What the hell? How did such a strong monster come out of its Dungeon and enter the Capital unnoticed?’
Like in many novels, the world had several rules meshed into its existence. One of them was the fact that Monsters can only come out of a Dungeon during a Dungeon Rampage.
But the Chaos Alliance was notorious for capturing monsters inside and smuggling them into the Capital City to cause chaos among the mundane citizens.
But the highest level of monster that can go undetected by Heroes is C Rank. Beyond that, the mana emitted by the monsters would be too strong and cannot be hidden.
And yet the monster in front of me was three sub-ranks above that threshold. It’s a surprise that no one had noticed the breach in the defences yet.
'The only thing I can do right now was buy time. The monster's Rank was too high for me to do anything. The Heroes in the Academy would surely come to the monster's location now that it has started using its Skills..'
“You do realise the moment you used your Skill to summon this dark space, your mana was detected by the Academy. Heroes will be swarming this place soon.”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I know? I had been observing the Star Academy’s workings while I was hiding.”
“Then why reveal yourself? You wasted all your hard work.”
“On the contrary! My real goal was to meet you!" The monster revealed. "It was a real ordeal for me to hide, not knowing when you would return."
“Meet me?” My senses were on high alert after the sudden revelation. ‘Why would a monster want to meet me?’
“Your sponsor wanted me to say hi to you!”
‘Sponsor? I had a sponsor-’ Blood drained from my face as I realised who she was talking about.
“Are you talking about the one who sent me that message? Who is it?” I yelled at her, grabbing at the cloak covering her. Unfortunately, the piece of fabric began to crumble into dust as soon as it touched my fingers.
“My apologies, but I was only ordered to say hi to you. Until next time. Well, that is, if you survive past this year.” She bowed as she took her body disintegrated.
Before I could check where she had escaped to, my eyes started to get heavy. The darkness soon engulfed me.
When Misa reached the crime scene, the monster had already escaped. She could feel its energy dissipating. In its place, four bodies were left behind, and one scared student hiding outside. The four appeared to have passed out, and Misa could feel their body temperature dropping.
Soon, the healers reached the scene and began to heal the victims.
“Thank god we reached them before their temperatures dropped further.” The head healer commented. “But, you know. I don’t sense that monster on Academy grounds anymore.”
Demons and monsters were creatures of destruction and thus were affiliated with the darkness element. Healers, who were affiliated with light, could easily sense when one from the opposing element was nearby.
Since the strongest healer in the Academy said so, then the monster had truly left.
One of the teachers came rushing to her. “Miss Misa, we have checked everywhere. The monster’s mana can’t be sensed anywhere on the Academy grounds.”
Misa nodded her head at the confirmation.
‘But why did it leave so suddenly?’ She pondered as she followed Ray and the students to the infirmary.
Thankfully, unlike last time, it only took them a couple of hours to wake up.
A groan escaped Ray’s mouth as he came back to reality.
“...Misa? You are here?”
“Now this is embarrassing. You are probably the first professor in the history of the Academy to be beaten by Faydes twice.”
“That is so not fair.” Ray slowly sat up. “Anyway, did you capture the monster yet?”
“Unfortunately, no. Looks like it ran away.”
“Hmm.” Ray pondered at her reply. After a moment, he spoke up. “I think this monster wasn’t a Fayde.”
“It wasn’t a Fayde?”
Ray shook his head. “It was a B+ Rank monster. It called itself Nyx.”
“B+ Rank!?” She couldn’t believe it. Smuggling monsters into the Academy was next to impossible. But someone managed to not only bring in so many monsters during the Mid-terms, but a B+ Rank monster at that.
“Could it be that you were mistaken?” Misa asked for confirmation.
Unfortunately, Ray shook his head. “I am positive it was a B+ Rank. I think the Academy should raise its security for the time being.”
“I will notify the security team immediately. And I am glad everyone is safe.”
“Everyone? Were there any more victims other than me?”
“Yes. Rhian and a few other students were searching for the monster and got caught in its attack.” Misa explained. “Thankfully, no one was hurt. But it is weird that the Fayde just ran away.”
“Yes, it is weird.” Ray’s eyebrows frowned, as he thought something.
“Well, why don’t you rest for now? I will come back later.”
“Sure. Thank you for everything.”
Now that interviewing Ray was over, it was time for the students. The three had been placed in a room opposite Ray's.
The three had already awoken when Misa entered the room.
Rohan, who was beside them, got up. "Miss Misa, did the Professor wake up yet?"
"He woke up just now." Misa informed them. Beside Rohan, the three were visibly fidgeting in their seats.
"I am not going to scold you three if that's what you guys are thinking." Misa told them. Their expressions immediately brightened up. "If you people don't value your lives enough to keep out of trouble, then there is hardly anything I can do about it."
Their expressions again dimmed.
"Isn't that a bit harsh? There were three us, against that D Rank Fayde." Rachel said.
"Well, you guys are wrong. I just had a talk with Professor Ray and he informed me that the monster wasn't a Fayde. It was a B+ Rank."
"B+ Rank? How did such a strong monster get inside the Academy?"
"I don't have a clue. We will be investigating it." Misa said finally. "The Academy will soon be releasing a statement that the monsters have all been defeated. The specifics of the monster wouldn't be revealed since we ourselves don't have much knowledge on the matter. Needless to say, there won't be a mention of you guys either, for obvious reasons."
"Ok, ma'am!" The four chorused.
"Finally, I wanted to ask you all. How did you guys find out the location of the monster? Even our best trackers weren't able to find a clue about its whereabouts."
The three looked at the guy beside them.
"So, Rohan, you were the one who helped them?" She turned to the boy. "I suppose one of your ghost friends helped you?"
"Ah, yes, ma'am."
"May I ask, which one?"
"It was a ghost named Alexa!"
"Alexa Walker? I knew about her. She had the tracking skills of a bloodhound. Too bad, it didn't keep her away from danger. Anyway, that is an amazing Skill you have. Make sure to use it wisely." Misa advised him, before leaving the room.
As she exited, a bunch of first and second-year students entered the room.
Misa's eyes met a pair of green ones.
"Have a good day, ma'am!" The second-year greeted her.
"You too, Ophelia!"
"Wow, you guys really messed up! Can't even do such an easy task..." Luke's voice project out, before the room's door closed.
After talking with Ray and the other students about the Fayde attack, Misa finally went back to her office.
She sat down on her desk and opened up her laptop. She will have to report this incident to the Hero League.
‘I just hope that the executives don’t blame Ray since he has been entangled with the monsters twice now.’
The stars were shining brightly by the time she sent her report.
She decided to call it a day, before going to the infirmary. Ray was checking out at the reception when Misa reached the building.
“You are already leaving?”
“Yeh. The healers said nothing was wrong with my body or mana, so I could be discharged.”
“That’s great. Should I drive you back home?” Misa offered.
“Oh, if it's not too much trouble, can I ask you for another favour?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Actually, I need to buy some clothes for an event. I was hoping you could drop me off at the shopping district.”
“Event? Oh, isn’t the Aurum Guild having an anniversary party this week? I haven’t bought clothes for it either. Why don’t we go shopping together?”
“Well, sure then.” Ray accepted her company.
And so, the two found themselves trying dresses in one of the famous boutiques in the shopping district.
‘Wow. I don’t say this often, but Ray is quite attractive.’
As Ray tried on the various suits, Misa couldn’t take her eyes off him. The Laxon couple was called the Most Beautiful Couple and their son had definitely inherited their beauty. Coupled with his good physique from sword training, Ray could very well be one of the most handsome Heroes on The Human Continent.
Misa glanced at the various female staff and customers sneaking a peek at him, whenever he came out of the trial room to ask her opinion about his attire.
“Ray, since the Aurum Guild’s anniversary party is supposed to be a ball, would you like to be my partner?”
“Partner?” Ray got startled at her offer.
After giving it a bit of thought, he took a small bow and offered her his hand. “Miss Amore, would you do me the great honour of accompanying me as my partner for the upcoming ball?"
“The pleasure is all mine.” She replied with a small laugh at the cringy-ness of their action, as she accepted his hand in the middle of the boutique.
Announcement
While outside the Capital City, a dispute had taken place between the Woodland Folks and the Humans, the situation was equally grim inside the walls of the Academy.
A meeting between the first-years and the second-years commenced in an empty classroom.
On one side sat the first-year students, headed by Rhian, Luke, and Rachel. The other side had the second-years with Miyu and her classmate, Hidde, a tall and bulky blond. The #1 Rank second-year wasn’t with them, but Rhian was still relieved that such strong Awakened had gathered together.
Behind the first trio stood the other students, mainly Luke's two lackeys and Priyanka, a childhood friend of Rachel who had been reluctantly dragged here. On Miyu’s side were her two best friends, Kyla and Ophelia.
Kyla was a strong woman with a rough warrior-like appearance. She had mud-brown hair and eyes, sporting a leather jacket as well black combat boots.
Ophelia, on the other hand, had a playful twinkle in her eyes, like a class troublemaker ready to prank the teacher.
Her black hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, a stark contrast to her striking snake-green eyes. At first glance, she appeared to be a devout believer in Christ, with crosses adorning her earrings and rings, but her mischievous smile suggested a darker side. She wore an off-shoulder black top and matching skirt that accentuated her slender waist and elegant collarbones.
In their second year at the Academy, students are required to enter different tournaments with students from other Hero Academies. On the surface, these competitions were supposed to promote trust and teamwork among future generations of heroes, but in reality, it was used by the students to dominate others and set the foundation for their reputation, so that in their third year, they are able to gain internships to bigger Guilds.
Despite not being Heroes yet, Kyla and Ophelia were famous as “The Mastermind and The Executioner” duo. Among the student circles, it was rumoured that as long as those two are together, even a C+ Rank Hero would have trouble against the two D Ranks, their teamwork was flawless.
The two were standing at either side of Miyu, like bodyguards, and for some reason, they were glaring at him.
“Ahem, now that everyone has gathered together, let’s begin our meeting.” Rhian started the meeting. “As we all know, during the First Years’ Midterms, monsters invaded our Academy and have been attacking the students ever since. This meeting has been called upon so that we students can help to resolve the problem.”
“Isn’t resolving problems like this the job of the Professors?” Priyanka complained, ready to leave this troublesome situation at any time. She would have gone back home like the other students, but she was worried about Rachel staying here, so decided otherwise.
“Of course, the professors are doing their job, but with monsters attacking the students, and the traitor still at large, the manpower has been spread too thin. That’s why we, as future Heroes, should help them.” Rhian explained.
Hearing the conversation, Luke stood up and pointed at him. “Before that, why is the commoner acting like he is our leader? He doesn’t even have any experience in politics. Do you think leading others is so easy?”
Rhian silently scoffed at his comment. In his previous life, Rhian was one of the top aristocrats of his home planet, his title being Archduke. He had far more experience in these kinds of things than the newbies that were gathered here. But since he couldn’t reveal any of that here, he decided to compromise.
“If you don’t want to follow me, that’s fine. Why don’t we do this? There are two tasks at hand. One is to kill the monsters that are wandering the Academy. And the other is to find the person who let them in. We can split into teams and each can fulfil one of them.”
“Fine. Let’s do that.” Luke nodded in agreement, not realising that he was still following Rhian’s order.
Rhian had observed Luke for the past few months. Luke was very competitive, especially when it came to him, and had a strong desire to prove himself the best. As expected, he took the bait when provided with the opportunity to come up with a plan himself.
“If you two are done fighting amongst yourselves, how about we start to discuss how to tackle the problem?” Hidde finally spoke up.
“Ah, yes. Sorry about that.” Rhian quickly apologised.
Hidde was a D+ Rank, just one rank above them, but Rhian could feel incredible charisma from him, meaning he was not just some top student. He had the ability to lead people and the skills to back it up. Those two traits were rarely seen together, so Rhian was glad to have such a reliable ally.
“I would like to go search for the Fayde. I overheard the teachers saying that one of them still hasn’t been found. It would be best to take care of it before someone gets harmed.” Rhian offered.
“Then I will go and catch the bastard who’s behind all this!” Luke spoke up.
“All right. Rhian, I am sure you won’t be needing much help with your part of the work, so I will team up with Luke. A traitor is the most dangerous thing we can have amongst us right now.” Hidde decided.
So the Fayde team, headed by Rhian, and the Traitor Team, headed by Hidde and Luke, were formed. Priyanka and Rachel decided to join Rhian to distribute their manpower.
The three were currently standing in the Academy gardens, thinking about how to track a monster that even their High-Ranking teachers weren’t able to locate.
“Um, I don’t know if this is helpful, but I know someone who might be able to help us.” Priyanka said, after a while.
“Hmm. Who are you talking about?” Rachel asked her.
“He’s a friend I made recently.” She replied. “But I am not sure if he will be willing to help us.”
“Is there a problem with him or something?” Rhian asked.
“He’s a bit shy in using his powers in front of strangers.” Priyanka explained.
“If it’s just that much, then I will convince him.” Rhian was ready to accept any idea now. Although he would never admit it, Rhian and Luke were quite similar in terms of competitive spirit.
“All right, but please don’t force him or anything.”
“Okay!” Rhian agreed to the condition.
The three arrived at the student dorms.
“Does this guy live on the 25th floor? He must be really low in the student Rankings!” Rachel wondered aloud.
Rhian was a bit skeptical as well. Although it was unfortunate, in this world, a person’s Rank was directly related to how special their Skills and Abilities were and also how proficient they were at it, the ranking system had evolved so much. Unless a person intentionally hid their capabilities, the Rank would be an accurate measure. That's why Rhian wasn't sure how helpful this friend would be.
Priyanka knocked on one of the doors. After a minute, the door slid open a bit, revealing a pale and scrawny kid.
“May I help you?” The boy nervously asked them. His eyes had such deep dark circles, that Rhian worried for a bit if he had garlic in his dimensional ring.
“Hey, Rohan!” Priyanka greeted him.
“Ah, Priyanka. What are you doing here?” Seeing a familiar face, Rohan open the door a bit more.
“Actually, we need your help.” Rachel spoke up.
“M-my help? I don’t think I can help you with anything.”
“Rohan, can you please listen to us? You don’t have to help if you don’t want to.” Priyanka pleaded to him.
“...okay.” He said, after giving it a long thought. He swung the door open, inviting them in.
To say the room was dreary, would be an understatement.
Unlike Rhian’s penthouse, which came equipped with its own kitchen, gym, and other facilities, Rohan’s room was a small one-bedroom dorm with only an attached bathroom. His bed was pushed to a corner beside the closet. Facing it was a small wooden desk and chair.
But the most peculiar thing was that all over his bed and walls, yellow paper strips had been stuck. Strange words were written on all of them in red.
“What are the talismans for?” Rhian asked.
“It’s for keeping them away.” An almost inaudible whisper came out.
“Them? Them who?” Rhian asked.
“You guys can just sit on the bed.” Rohan ignored his question and pulled up the chair. “So, what did you want to ask me, Priyanka?”
“You know how the Faydes invaded during the Mid Terms, right?” Priyanka started.
If it was possible, the already gloomy room seemed to have gotten ever darker at the mention of the exam.
“How can I not?” Rohan replied in a lifeless tone. “Because the exams were stopped mid-way, I wasn’t able to hunt even one monster in the Dungeon. I think the Academy will just fail me this time.”
“Uh, well… I am sure the marking scheme will be different than last time.” Priyanka flustered.
“So, what is this about the Faydes?”
“Uh, well you told me once about how your Skill was related to ghosts? I thought since Faydes were a phantom-type monster, maybe you could help us find it.” Priyanka asked him.
“I think you got that wrong. My powers allow me to see creatures that are on the astral plane, but I am not some sort of radar that can sense their locations.”
“Oh, I see.” Disappointed appeared in Priyanka's dark eyes.
“Well, I might not be able to help, but I can ask around.”
“Ask around?”
Rohan got up from his seat and leaned behind the bed where the talisman had been placed. He looked at them for a moment, before taking one of them off and folding it up.
Suddenly the temperature of the room dropped. Rohan averted his eyes as if he had seen something unpleasant.
“Um, Rohan! What happened?” Rachel asked, feeling the chill in the air.
“I just summoned one of the ghosts nearby. Alexa might know where the Fayde is hiding?”
It was then Rhian remembered something one of his classmates had told him about before. That there was a boy in their class who could see ghosts.
Rhian hadn’t been interested in it at that time. With the world of magic they lived in, seeing ghosts was probably one of the least unique abilities. Not to mention, seeing dead people was not something he was a fan of, considering he had already died once.
Rhian raised his hand. “Not to shoot your idea down, Priyanka, but Faydes are creatures of the darkness, not the astral plane. It will be hard for a ghost to find it.”
“Actually, Alexa told me that the Fayde just popped up.” Rohan revealed.
“She found out its location so quickly? How?” All three crowded towards him. Rohan recoiled in discomfort from their explosive passion.
“Okay, back out, you two!” Priyanka pushed the others away, seeing the fear in her friend’s eyes. “Rohan, can you ask Alexa for the monster’s location?”
She asked him as gently as possible, remembering his introverted nature.
“Um, she says that she will tell you, but she needs something in return.”
“What does she want?”
“...Tea?”
“She wants a cup of tea?” Rhian asked in a confused nature. “Why would a ghost want something to drink?”
“Obviously not that kind of tea, you idiot.” Priyanka shot him a condescending look. “She wants to hear gossip. Rachel, do you know something juicy?”
“Something juicy…” Rachel fell into deep thought.
Rohan raised his hand nervously. “Um, Alexa wants to know something in particular.”
“She has something in mind? What is it?” Priyanka asked him quickly.
“Um…Can I say it in secret?” He shyly pointed out to Rachel.
“What is it?” Rachel leaned her ear towards him. As Rohan whispered something in Rachel’s ears, her face got visibly red.
"Wh-what? W-why does she want to know that? Wait, how does she even know about it in the first place?" Rachel grabbed Rohan's collar, demanding answers.
Priyanka quickly came in between the two. "Rachel, calm down. You are scaring him!"
"But..." She protested, but her concerns landed on deaf ears.
"Rachel, just answer the ghost so that we can get the location of the monster." She finally added. "Or do you want Luke to taunt us that we couldn't even find a single monster, for the rest of our lives?"
Although the concerned people themselves would never admit it, but the Top Rankers at the Star Academy hated to lose to one wonder. It was all to easy for Priyanka to push her buttons, especially since she knew Rachel for a long time.
"...Fine. But if you ever tell anyone about this, I swear you won't live to see the next day." She glared at Rohan.
"Eek!" Rohan, who was shivering in a corner, violently nodded his head.
After casting a glance at Rhian, she whispered in an almost inaudible voice to the ghost.
“Now, tell us where the damn Fayde is!” Rachel yelled at Rohan.
Despite the scary look on Rachel’s face, Priyanka shot a mischievous smirk at her friend. “I see…”
“Not a word, Priyanka!” Rachel shivered, her entire body turning red.
“Alexa said the Fayde is in the teachers’ dormitory.” Rohan interrupted after a moment, avoiding Rachel's eyes.
“Huh?” Their faces twisted in confusion, all three exchanging glances.
Wasn’t the teachers’ dorm the worst place to hide in, with all the Heroes looking for it? It's like seeking shelter in a wolf's cave just to get away from the predators outside.
"Are you sure that's what she said?" Priyanka asked for a final confirmation. Rohan nodded his head.
“Let’s think about it later. We need to go and find the Fayde first!” Rhian and the three rushed out of the building, heading toward their destination. Priyanka dragged the reluctant Rohan behind her so that the ghost could guide them.
"BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO!!!" Rohan's moans echoed throughout the campus.
Following Alexa’s directions, the three were now standing on the fourth floor of the teachers' dorms. One of the doors was ajar.
Rohan remained outside as the other three individuals entered the house. Inside, they found the professor lying still on the floor.
“Professor!” Rachel rushed towards the fainted Ray, but before Rhian could tell her to be careful, the entire room plunged into the darkness.
People often say, “Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me!”
I was ready to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment.
Just minutes ago I had told Deus that I wouldn't fall victim to the Fayde again. But here I was, standing in the middle of darkness, as soon as I stepped into my apartment. 'God, why are all these monsters attacking me?'
“Hello?” I yelled out, only to be responded with silence. Even Deus was not beside me. Seems I was the only one invited to this space.
“Hello to you, too.” A whisper spoke in my ear from behind.
I turned back, only to meet darkness. "Where are you?" I called out again.
“I am here, Ray.” This time the voice came from the front.
A hooded figure stood a few feet in front of me. I took a step backward, reaching for my sword, only to find my dimensional ring gone.
Instead, I clenched my fists. “I guess you are the last Fayde!”
“Fayde? I am not my children. You can call me Nyx.” The mysterious woman politely introduced herself.
‘Appraisal!’
| Name: Nyx Title: Mother of The Night Rank: B+ Skills: Nightmare(B): The skill can bring the target’s worst nightmares to life. Darkness Manipulation(A): Allows the user to summon and manipulate the darkness according to the user’s will. Also allows the user to teleport using the shadows. Master of the Night(A): During the night, the user’s skill jumps up by one sub-Rank, and the Stats change accordingly. |
‘A B+ Rank? What the hell? How did such a strong monster come out of its Dungeon and enter the Capital unnoticed?’
Like in many novels, the world had several rules meshed into its existence. One of them was the fact that Monsters can only come out of a Dungeon during a Dungeon Rampage.
But the Chaos Alliance was notorious for capturing monsters inside and smuggling them into the Capital City to cause chaos among the mundane citizens.
But the highest level of monster that can go undetected by Heroes is C Rank. Beyond that, the mana emitted by the monsters would be too strong and cannot be hidden.
And yet the monster in front of me was three sub-ranks above that threshold. It’s a surprise that no one had noticed the breach in the defences yet.
'The only thing I can do right now was buy time. The monster's Rank was too high for me to do anything. The Heroes in the Academy would surely come to the monster's location now that it has started using its Skills..'
“You do realise the moment you used your Skill to summon this dark space, your mana was detected by the Academy. Heroes will be swarming this place soon.”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I know? I had been observing the Star Academy’s workings while I was hiding.”
“Then why reveal yourself? You wasted all your hard work.”
“On the contrary! My real goal was to meet you!" The monster revealed. "It was a real ordeal for me to hide, not knowing when you would return."
“Meet me?” My senses were on high alert after the sudden revelation. ‘Why would a monster want to meet me?’
“Your sponsor wanted me to say hi to you!”
‘Sponsor? I had a sponsor-’ Blood drained from my face as I realised who she was talking about.
“Are you talking about the one who sent me that message? Who is it?” I yelled at her, grabbing at the cloak covering her. Unfortunately, the piece of fabric began to crumble into dust as soon as it touched my fingers.
“My apologies, but I was only ordered to say hi to you. Until next time. Well, that is, if you survive past this year.” She bowed as she took her body disintegrated.
Before I could check where she had escaped to, my eyes started to get heavy. The darkness soon engulfed me.
When Misa reached the crime scene, the monster had already escaped. She could feel its energy dissipating. In its place, four bodies were left behind, and one scared student hiding outside. The four appeared to have passed out, and Misa could feel their body temperature dropping.
Soon, the healers reached the scene and began to heal the victims.
“Thank god we reached them before their temperatures dropped further.” The head healer commented. “But, you know. I don’t sense that monster on Academy grounds anymore.”
Demons and monsters were creatures of destruction and thus were affiliated with the darkness element. Healers, who were affiliated with light, could easily sense when one from the opposing element was nearby.
Since the strongest healer in the Academy said so, then the monster had truly left.
One of the teachers came rushing to her. “Miss Misa, we have checked everywhere. The monster’s mana can’t be sensed anywhere on the Academy grounds.”
Misa nodded her head at the confirmation.
‘But why did it leave so suddenly?’ She pondered as she followed Ray and the students to the infirmary.
Thankfully, unlike last time, it only took them a couple of hours to wake up.
A groan escaped Ray’s mouth as he came back to reality.
“...Misa? You are here?”
“Now this is embarrassing. You are probably the first professor in the history of the Academy to be beaten by Faydes twice.”
“That is so not fair.” Ray slowly sat up. “Anyway, did you capture the monster yet?”
“Unfortunately, no. Looks like it ran away.”
“Hmm.” Ray pondered at her reply. After a moment, he spoke up. “I think this monster wasn’t a Fayde.”
“It wasn’t a Fayde?”
Ray shook his head. “It was a B+ Rank monster. It called itself Nyx.”
“B+ Rank!?” She couldn’t believe it. Smuggling monsters into the Academy was next to impossible. But someone managed to not only bring in so many monsters during the Mid-terms, but a B+ Rank monster at that.
“Could it be that you were mistaken?” Misa asked for confirmation.
Unfortunately, Ray shook his head. “I am positive it was a B+ Rank. I think the Academy should raise its security for the time being.”
“I will notify the security team immediately. And I am glad everyone is safe.”
“Everyone? Were there any more victims other than me?”
“Yes. Rhian and a few other students were searching for the monster and got caught in its attack.” Misa explained. “Thankfully, no one was hurt. But it is weird that the Fayde just ran away.”
“Yes, it is weird.” Ray’s eyebrows frowned, as he thought something.
“Well, why don’t you rest for now? I will come back later.”
“Sure. Thank you for everything.”
Now that interviewing Ray was over, it was time for the students. The three had been placed in a room opposite Ray's.
The three had already awoken when Misa entered the room.
Rohan, who was beside them, got up. "Miss Misa, did the Professor wake up yet?"
"He woke up just now." Misa informed them. Beside Rohan, the three were visibly fidgeting in their seats.
"I am not going to scold you three if that's what you guys are thinking." Misa told them. Their expressions immediately brightened up. "If you people don't value your lives enough to keep out of trouble, then there is hardly anything I can do about it."
Their expressions again dimmed.
"Isn't that a bit harsh? There were three us, against that D Rank Fayde." Rachel said.
"Well, you guys are wrong. I just had a talk with Professor Ray and he informed me that the monster wasn't a Fayde. It was a B+ Rank."
"B+ Rank? How did such a strong monster get inside the Academy?"
"I don't have a clue. We will be investigating it." Misa said finally. "The Academy will soon be releasing a statement that the monsters have all been defeated. The specifics of the monster wouldn't be revealed since we ourselves don't have much knowledge on the matter. Needless to say, there won't be a mention of you guys either, for obvious reasons."
"Ok, ma'am!" The four chorused.
"Finally, I wanted to ask you all. How did you guys find out the location of the monster? Even our best trackers weren't able to find a clue about its whereabouts."
The three looked at the guy beside them.
"So, Rohan, you were the one who helped them?" She turned to the boy. "I suppose one of your ghost friends helped you?"
"Ah, yes, ma'am."
"May I ask, which one?"
"It was a ghost named Alexa!"
"Alexa Walker? I knew about her. She had the tracking skills of a bloodhound. Too bad, it didn't keep her away from danger. Anyway, that is an amazing Skill you have. Make sure to use it wisely." Misa advised him, before leaving the room.
As she exited, a bunch of first and second-year students entered the room.
Misa's eyes met a pair of green ones.
"Have a good day, ma'am!" The second-year greeted her.
"You too, Ophelia!"
"Wow, you guys really messed up! Can't even do such an easy task..." Luke's voice project out, before the room's door closed.
After talking with Ray and the other students about the Fayde attack, Misa finally went back to her office.
She sat down on her desk and opened up her laptop. She will have to report this incident to the Hero League.
‘I just hope that the executives don’t blame Ray since he has been entangled with the monsters twice now.’
The stars were shining brightly by the time she sent her report.
She decided to call it a day, before going to the infirmary. Ray was checking out at the reception when Misa reached the building.
“You are already leaving?”
“Yeh. The healers said nothing was wrong with my body or mana, so I could be discharged.”
“That’s great. Should I drive you back home?” Misa offered.
“Oh, if it's not too much trouble, can I ask you for another favour?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Actually, I need to buy some clothes for an event. I was hoping you could drop me off at the shopping district.”
“Event? Oh, isn’t the Aurum Guild having an anniversary party this week? I haven’t bought clothes for it either. Why don’t we go shopping together?”
“Well, sure then.” Ray accepted her company.
And so, the two found themselves trying dresses in one of the famous boutiques in the shopping district.
‘Wow. I don’t say this often, but Ray is quite attractive.’
As Ray tried on the various suits, Misa couldn’t take her eyes off him. The Laxon couple was called the Most Beautiful Couple and their son had definitely inherited their beauty. Coupled with his good physique from sword training, Ray could very well be one of the most handsome Heroes on The Human Continent.
Misa glanced at the various female staff and customers sneaking a peek at him, whenever he came out of the trial room to ask her opinion about his attire.
“Ray, since the Aurum Guild’s anniversary party is supposed to be a ball, would you like to be my partner?”
“Partner?” Ray got startled at her offer.
After giving it a bit of thought, he took a small bow and offered her his hand. “Miss Amore, would you do me the great honour of accompanying me as my partner for the upcoming ball?"
“The pleasure is all mine.” She replied with a small laugh at the cringy-ness of their action, as she accepted his hand in the middle of the boutique.
Announcement