"Haa... It's annoyingly beautiful."
I was staring at the sunrise from my dorm's balcony.
The dorm was really fancy.
Gold filigree traced the edges of walls so white they almost hurt to look at. The bed could've fit my entire squad from the exam with room left over.
And everything smelled amazing. It had this sort of lavender smell mixed with lily to create a sweet, fresh, and relaxing smell. The toilet somehow smelled nice despite me projectile vomiting in it.
There was even a hot tub.
An actual hot tub!!
But alas, I didn't try any of them.
I didn't even sleep, even though I wanted to.
My mind was a mess. There was too much to think about.
My plans for things I need to stop from happening, and everything else I need to do in and out of the academy.
It was too much, and it gave me a headache.
But especially it was Liora, seeing her was... uncanny to say the least, even more than when I met Liam and the others.
So I drowned myself in plans and asked Vaelis some questions on things like what it's like to be a spirit.
I know it was a dumb question, like asking what it's like to be human, but... he answered me regardless, albeit a bit vaguely.
"It's like your mother is constantly watching over you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"All spirits are born from the Spirit Realm's core. It knows when we act, when we rest, when we need strength. Spirits are never truly alone."
"...That sounds suffocating."
"To you, perhaps."
I asked him another question that had been bothering me as well.
"By the way, you mentioned mana purity. How does that work? Does higher purity mana have more power than lower purity?"
The novel never mentioned that mana had purity.
"Every living being's mana has a certain purity dependent on their soul. The mana purity determines how much mana one can absorb."
My eyes widened.
This was insane, and yet he said it casually like it was common knowledge.
Essentially, whenever someone absorbs mana, their soul acts like a filter trying to purify all the mana they absorb, and everyone's soul can only purify so much at a time.
This is what determines one's talent and how much they can rank up.
This also explains why absorbing mana directly from mana stones and rift creatures is deadly because you're essentially overflowing your purifier.
'Wait...'
"Does that mean I can sense another's talent through the purity of their mana?" I asked.
"No." Vaelis shot me down.
"Oh... why?"
"Haa... because the soul doesn't have a constant form or 'Rank' as you call it."
"Hmm...that makes sense... then what use does this 'sense' even do?" I asked.
"You can detect corrupted mana."
"Oh..." It dawned on me that's why Liora's presence was disgusting, her mana was so corrupted it was sickening.
But this also meant I could spot anyone who is a part of the churches like a radar.
I smiled at the thought. "So I can track them down."
"Not right now." Vaelis shot me down again. "At your current ability, you'll most likely only sense them if you're in direct contact with them."
"But I wasn't touching..." I paused.
She was just that bad.
"When can you teach me how to use ice?" I changed the subject.
Vaelis went along. "We can start now."
"Oh... wait now?!" My eyes widened.
"Yes, but don't you have classes soon?"
"Ughh, damn it... I hate school."
Vaelis's figure faded away, and he spoke in my head. 'Get moving.'
'Haa... yes, Mom.'
------
Each year's top 10 has a floor dedicated to them.
Each floor comes with the kind of stuff you'd see in a hotel, a coffee shop, and an entire food court of an incredible variety, which I was most excited to try.
But I had classes to attend.
I left the dorm in the academy uniform, or at least a badge on my chest that signified I was from Aethon Academy.
The Academies pretty much let you wear whatever you wanted as long as it wasn't inappropriate, and they gave everyone a badge representing the academy. I had the Aethon badge, which was a radiant sun with sharp flame-like rays.
The color of the sun showed which year you were.
Mine was Green for the first year.
Anyway, stepping out of the dorm, I found myself in a large hallway where I could see other doors that resembled mine but had different names engraved on top.
-click
The door right in front of me opened and...
"Oh... hey." I waved at Nira with a smile. "Looks like we're neighbours."
"...Yeah, looks like it." She didn't make eye contact with me.
She seemed almost...
"Nervous?" The words slipped out of my mouth.
"Excuse me?" She glared at me.
"Uhh, you seemed a bit out of it, so-"
-click
Another door opened a bit further down the hall, out came...
"Hey guys!!" He waved excitedly as he ran in our direction with his muscly figure and man bun. "It's me, Bram, remember?"
"No, I don't remember you." Nira bluntly replied.
'She's lying.'
"...I remember you, dude."
"Oh, Cassian!! Can I call you Cassian?" He asked.
He reminded me of a certain bear, so I didn't mind him, honestly.
"Yeah, dude, we're friends, right?" I offered him a handshake.
He smiled as he shook my hand. "Yeah, we're friends, duuddee."
"Okay, don't make it weird."
"My bad."
-click
Another door opened, this time...
"Oh, h-hello." A short girl with black braided hair and round glasses far too big for her face came out the door.
It wasn't someone I recognised.
Well its not like the novel mentioned all forty top 10's of all 3 academies, and even if it did, my memory wasn't that good.
"Oh, hi, nice to meet you." I bowed slightly
'wait...why did I just bow?'
She bowed as well. "I-It's nice to meet you too, I-I am Seris Dunmore."
"Hmm? From the Dunmore Duchy?" I asked.
"Y-yes, I'm an illegitimate child, though." She lowered her head slightly.
'Well, well, isn't this interesting?'
The novel never mentioned that Adrian had a sister.
"That's not a problem, I'm not a prince anymore, didn't you watch the whole 'fuck you' speech?"
"I-I did watch it." Her lips curled up slowly, and her tone changed. "You were so...cool."
I felt a slight shiver down my spine.
'The fuck?'
She felt a bit... off.
"Oohh," Bram made a stupid noise. "I think she likes you~."
"You're supposed to whisper that."
"Oh, was I?" He smiled.
'This fucker did it on purpose.'
"Nice to meet you, Lady Dunmore. I'm Bram Holt, a friend of Cassian's." He bowed slightly.
"N-nice to meet you too."
"Haa... we were just about to head to class, you wanna join us?" I asked her.
"I-I'd like that."
"No need to be so nervous," I spoke with a smile.
"O-oh y-you're right, I'm sorry."
"First of all, don't apologize when you don't have to; you're one of the top ten of Aethon, have some pride." I encouraged her.
"Yeah, if you want, I can help you build some muscle." Bram encouraged her in his own way.
She let out a small smile and softly said. "Thanks."
"Okay, guys, class starts soon, so let's go." I gestured for them to follow.
'...wait,' I paused.
Bram, noticing this, said. "Oh, she left."
Nira had already left, and I didn't notice.
"While we were talking?"
"Yep"
"Haa... whatever, let's go."