Arclore Residents :
In a completely different area from the main resident, a little gathering was held.
It was held above a wooden stage, under the clear night sky where the bright moon shined. Lamps illuminated the surroundings of the stage.
Clink!
"Cheers!"
At one of the tables, four people—two girls and two men—clinked their drinks together.
"Huh. Aria shows her teeth more often these days, doesn't she, guys?"
"Haha, finally! After going to the academy, she'll be free from her mother."
"Remember those days when she cried? 'Chaa-chaaaa, my mother wants me to train in piano, but I don't want to!'" A girl imitated crying, and the table soon filled with laughter—except for one girl.
"Shut up, all of you! If we're talking about crying, don't forget Jonathan—he's the one who peed himself during training," the upset girl, Ariel, said as she looked at the person who first provoked her.
"Hey, hey, hey, we all have a past, so forget about it now," Jonathan hurriedly ended the conversation, seeing it turning toward him.
"Speaking of the past, I remember someone taking cooking classes back then," other boy said while taking a sip. Looking at the girl beside Ariel.
"Huh? I don't know about you all, but my maid and butler said it was tasty," Mansy hurriedly defended herself.
"Oh right, I remember! It was that butler and maid who got food poisoning, right? Who would have thought it was the result of your cooking?" Jonathan chimed in again, and instantly, the table filled with laughter.
"Haaa, haaaa, haaa, laugh all you want! I'll never cook for any of you ever again—especially you, Jonathan!"
"It's not like anyone asked you to," Jontjon responded, which irritated Mensy even more.
"Well, it's all over now. From now on, after getting into the academy, we are on our own. No one can influence us," the other boy, whose name was Victor, said, silencing the table.
"Yeah, but it's such a shame Patrick didn't get chosen. He's also a victim like us."
The four of them gazed at a boy at another table. Although he appeared happy and was laughing on the outside, his laughter instantly faded from time to time.
"Mmmmm, this wine is very good. Where did you get this, Victor? Is it from you're secret storage where you keep your dirty things" After downing the last of her glass of wine, Ariel gazed at Victor in a teasing manner.
"Unfortunately for you, it is not. I got it from mercenaries from the West. Fellas are pretty hard to catch onto, but you know me… I get anything I want." His answer is rather bold, but none took it as a joke because they believed it.
"Speaking of, I heard the reason no one else got selected is because Arclore only got five invitations from the academy."
"I heard it too. Other than us four, the last one belongs to Mordred. Unless one of us gets disqualified before going to the academy, there will be no changes in names."
"True, Mordred is unmovable from the beginning, and I don't think even if he does something wrong, he will be disqualified."
Thud!
"Speak of the devil..." Placing his glass down, Jonathan gazed away from the table. Following his gaze, the others also turned to see Mordred approaching their location.
They stood up in unison to welcome him.
With a smile on his face, Mordred arrived at the wooden stage, where he was greeted by the four people. Following behind him was Vanessa, who remained standing as Mordred stepped forward.
"Brother Mordred, it's so nice to meet you like this," Victor said with a smile, inviting Mordred to sit.
Accepting the invitation, Mordred took a seat, and the four people around him also sat down, surrounding him.
Victor glanced at Ariel and signaled her with his eyes. In response, she picked up a wine bottle and poured a glass for Mordred.
"This is something we got from a merchant from the West. Hope you like it," she explained.
After tasting the wine, Mordred simply responded.
"Interesting!" It was neither praise nor disappointment.
Hmm, these guys' names or faces... I don't have any recollection of them. Maybe there is a hero among them, and I'm forgetting him.
Mordred gazed at the four individuals at the table, but no matter how hard he tried to remember, no memories of them surfaced.
Well… there goes my hope. And my time is also wasted. Should I head back…?
But suddenly, something fell onto his body. A liquid soaked his clothes. Looking down, Mordred recognized it as wine.
"Patrick, what are you doing?" Victor immediately stood up and threw away the wine cup from Patrick's hands—as well as Patrick, who had collapsed onto Mordred.
Mordred looked back and saw the man named Patrick, who seemed drunk. He had a grand figure—great height, great muscles—but something wasn't right. He appeared to be in distress over something, and the drunkenness he was showing was definitely an act.
"I'm doing whatever I want! You all want to lick his ass, pfft! So what if he's the son of the first wife? He hasn't even shown any real talent, yet he gets to go to the academy. Meanwhile, I tried my best! I heard my mother's screams every night and trained through the day to prove myself—to prove she was wrong about me, to escape that misery. But he… he already lives in what we dream of! And by stepping on our dreams, he even snatches away my hopes! This is unfair, and I can't take it anymore!"
As Patrick's words echoed, the tension in the room rose. Some people supported him, while others disagreed and blamed him. There were also those who chose not to get involved, knowing that whatever they did here wouldn't matter.
"Oh no! Brother Mordred, please don't...." Victor tried to calm Mordred, but he was a bit too late.
"I, Mordred Vorthian, the legitimate second son of Arclore, won't be disrespected like this!"
Mordred's words rested like knives in everyone's hearts. At that moment, they understood that the legitimate lineage of Arclore was nothing like them.
Suddenly, Patrick's drunken, wavering movements came to a halt—it was as if he had turned into a statue. On his forehead, a long, thin tongue stretched from behind Mordred, where a strange, snake-like creature appeared.
"But since this is a joyful gathering, I'll let you off with a light punishment."
With fiery flames, two hellhounds rushed toward Patrick, tearing apart his two hands. Everyone watching felt immense pain in their own hands, and some closed their eyes. But Patrick remained silent—he couldn't move his muscles to even scream.
"Patrick, you fool."
After Mordred recalled his summons, Patrick fell to the ground unconscious, and Victor caught him.
Mordred, who felt nothing in his mind at first, suddenly sensed something strange.
Bulb!
A sound like waves of water echoed in Mordred's ears, popping as if rising from the depths. The space around him began to blur, and in the distortion, he could see the shadows of giant fish-like creatures moving in the void.
It was as if he were in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by predatory fish.
However, the atmosphere soon calmed down, and the space returned to emptiness, which, in turn, made Mordred disappointed.
Giving all those who looked at him a cold gaze, Mordred stepped out and walked away from the place. Ariel and the other two hesitated to stop him but eventually let him go—they were too scared to interfere.
In truth, Mordred's actions were brutal, but he needed everyone there to understand the consequences of offending him. From the moment he arrived, he knew most of them harbored a competitive urge against him. Even the one who invited him held those thoughts hidden behind a smiling face. But now, he was sure they would think twice before messing with him again.
In the brightness of the moon, Mordred lay on one of the benches placed beside the road of an Arclore residence.
"Would they try to take revenge, Master?" Standing beside him, Vennesa showed her concern.
"How could an ant shake a mountain?" Gazing at the moon, Mordred whispered.
If there were a hero in that group, this would be the moment he would be enraged or fear me. Maybe I could get a clue then. Although I already got a clue, the suspect is still hiding. Without seeing a clear picture, I cannot pinpoint what or who this is.
"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"
"If it's to you, Master, then the same for me."
"With all those stars, only the moon is worthy enough to brighten the world. Did you ever wonder why the stars couldn't be as bright as the moon?"
"...."
"The reason is simple—it's because of their place. Everything has its own place in this universe. Whether it's someone at the bottom of the world or at the top of the world, like those stars, they belong where they are meant to be.
But... I believe I'm someone who's lost, trying to find my place in this world. That place should be higher than everyone else—higher than the sky and the stars, and even higher than the one behind that bright moon."
With the blowing cold wind, the nearby trees shook, shedding their old, dry leaves, which fell upon Mordred and Vanessa.
After staying there for another few seconds, Mordred finally stood up.
"Let's go... It's time to start the next chapter of this game."
. . . . . . . . .
In the jungle, Celine stood straight with his eyes covered by a piece of cloth.
Swish!
From somewhere, a rock came flying at him.
Celine reacted quickly, catching the rock in his hand. A moment passed in silence before another group of rocks came at him from the surroundings.
Celine moved, dodging some of them and catching others.
"Hyah!"
From behind one of the trees, a golden light rushed at him. Celine neither dodged nor caught it—he let it hit him.
"He he he, my good disciple, you passed your awareness test."
Taking off his blindfold, Celine sat on a nearby rock, the little pixie flew around him.
"What's next, pixie?"
"Hmph!"
Celine saw that the pixie was showing a prideful smile and felt that whatever she was about to teach him now should be powerful or extremely useful.
"Close your eyes, and feel the surroundings," with instruction, the pixie flew extremely close to Celine. Obeying her, Celine did close his eyes. Soon, he felt his surroundings—trees, rocks—and he also felt the presence of some animals around him.
Flying extremely close to his face, the pixie touched Celine's eye, and a golden shine appeared on the skin.
"Now try to call one of them toward you. Those of the living creatures will obey the one with a benevolent aura."
According to her instruction, Celine called for one of the four-legged creatures he felt in his surroundings. In response, the creature lifted its head and gazed at him, but it did not move.
"OK, it seems bigger things are not yet responding to you, so try tiny things."
Celine heard the pixie's voice. At the next moment, Celine felt a tiny bird flying around him in the air.
Celine focused his attention. The benevolent force the pixie introduced to him began to move, creating a connection between him and the bird.
As a respond, the creatures flew down from the sky and landed near Celian.
'I... I think I did it.'
'You sure did, you're so talented, Celian" pixie flew around him in cheerful joy.
'Now let's get to the main point,' she then instructed Celian about another technique, which Celian instantly tried.
Looking at the bird, Celian tried to create a pathway between it and him through the benevolent aura. The first thing important to this is the acceptance of the bird.
Feeling the benevolent aura, the bird gazed at Celian, and after observing him for a few seconds, it accepted him.
In joy, Celian tried his technique. His eyes shined in golden light, and so did the bird's. Opening his eyes, Celian saw a different vision — the vision of the bird.
"Fly! Fly high!"
With a pixie's urge, the bird flew off around the sky and through the forest.
"Oh wow!"
Celian saw the view from above the clouds, with a full sky and dense forests beneath it. It was a whole different vision to him, and he enjoyed it thoroughly.
But as the bird flew high, Celian noticed something near him through its vision.
In one of the shadows of a large tree nearby to him, there was something dark and writhing like a living being.