November 12.
A few months went by.
Nothing substantial had occurred during those few months aside from the occasional sneaking out and constant learning for Grace. But today was a special day for Grace--it was a Sunday morning.
And he had just gotten back from a trip outside of the academy with Alice. They don't regularly go on the sneak outs, doing them biweekly instead of it being a weekly occurrence.
But when they do, Grace made sure to kill as much mana beasts as possible. To him, they were merely mobs in games that would function as a farm for experience. And he felt a certain amount of joy from killing mana beasts that school could hardly ever compare.
"Normal Grade 5 here I come," Grace muttered to himself. His growth had become seismic, engrossing almost. Despite that, he had been stuck on Normal Grade 6 for quite awhile.
The experience farm was slowly coming to a halt. And the only way to stimulate higher growth would be fight higher level creatures or - the worse option - to train in the training pod as if it was his home.
Field experience is inferior and better at the same time. He could clearly see the benefits of the training pod and that had been the primary tool that he had wanted to utilize when he witnessed the training pod.
But things were different.
The intensity.
The overwhelming insanity.
The brief realization of death.
A training pod could not replicate all three as perfect as going out in the wild and hunting yourself.
Entering a training pod, Grace felt his body submerge into an endless swirl of imagination. His body transcended, leaping into a white space. Then, in that same white space, Grace closed his eyes and began to conjure an image in his head.
The most ideal place to nurture a devotee of the Creator.
Opening his eyes, he was surrounded by the familiar sight of endless speckles of stars that radiated the intense - but also somewhat dim - light. And also the swirls of galaxies that were millions of light-years away from where he stood.
"I wonder," he muttered. "Can you see me, Creator?"
Other Gods may not be able to "see" their devotees and instead only feel and hear--but what about the entity that started it all?
Could he be the exception?
He got no answer.
To be expected.
Carrying on, Grace began to recite the prayer and the movements that were necessary to bolster greater rewards. He found it funny--he was getting better with each prayer. The movements - while refined before - became more fluid like water. And the words were like thick slabs of softened butter being spooned.
In the end, he felt the rush of power sprint into his veins.
It pulsated like a heart, a profoundness igniting.
And, like a bell, something suddenly rung within his head. It resonated and called for him--a mutter of a simple word.
He summoned ten blades.
Not six.
But ten.
They came forth, hovering closely.
"Merge."
Each individual dagger surged towards one another, a blinding light occurring. And in its wake was one dagger. An extremely potent and mesmerizing dagger. On top of that, Grace was able to summon another dagger beside it, shocking him.
"To think this is merely the tip of the ice-berg."
Exiting the training pod afterwards, Grace sighed. He walked amongst the crowds before exiting the training facility. He closed his eyes for a moment, a cold wind rushing.
He then felt something touch his skin. It was soft and delicate. Both cold and fleeting. Opening his eyes, he was met with the soft speckles of white fluttering from above and to the sides.
Snow.
It was indeed a special day.
Not only because of his breakthrough to Normal Grade 5, but because this snow was now a sign of change. In a blogpost created by the author of Blight, Grace recalled him speaking about this specific day - November 12 - and the utilization of snow to signify a turning point in the narrative.
The main act of the first semester would soon commence.
The mentorship incident.
~~~
On the morning of the 13th of November, Grace entered his homeroom class with his fall-winter uniform. The atmosphere today was unusually dreary, most likely due to the cloudy day casting its essence onto the students.
Today was an especially important day despite the dreariness.
We will be shadowing a professional for the rest of the month. Despite knowing what kind of job that Ivan was going to delve into for a short amount of time, Grace did not have any intention of pursuing the same mentorship that Ivan would do.
The gigantic asylum that was in the middle of the ocean, at the center between Nebula - a neighboring continent - and Ergo.
Obsidian.
That was the name.
It was due to the exterior of the infrastructure being constructed with an incredibly durable black material that was akin to the color of obsidian.
Adronium.
Furthermore, it was reinforced with constant mana amplifying the durability of the material.
However, this would all change soon enough.
As Obsidian will be plunged to its doom.
And it would take awhile for it to be fully rebuilt again due to the sheer expensiveness of the material being used at that quantity.
Thought the question remained:
Could its destruction be prevented?
At Grace's current level?
No chance. Grace shuddered. The perpetrator was an Intermediate-Grade 1 and is adept in stealth due to his devotion to the God of Tranquility--he was a mercenary.
James Turner.
He'll doing anything as long as the price was right. No matter the danger, as long as he is given the right amount of money and ample time--he'll get it done.
That is why Grace will leave it alone for Ivan and whoever goes to that prison.
Canonically, Rufus goes there as well. He stretched as Professor Newman entered the room. He held a thick book between his ribs and his arms. He stopped in front of the class, situated at the podium.
Setting the book down on the desk behind him, his dimensional storage ring glowed profusely before a vast amount of papers sprawled into his hands. He then walked up to the board and began sticking each individual paper onto the board with tape.
Once finished, he returned to the front of the class.
"By the end of this period... you all will be choosing mentors."
The eyes of manner widened.
"Behind me are various individuals and their job description. These individuals have kindly offered their services in order to teach various kids what their jobs entailed. There is no limit to the number of participants for each mentorship--choose whatever you desire."
Soon everyone began to crowd around the endless papers. Grace was closer towards the back due to his sluggish pacing, but he had a good view of the papers and could clearly see each letter due to his enhanced vision.
"Professor," Ivan approached Paul. "I'd like to do the mentorship under Jessica Parsons. The one about the Obsidian Asylum?" He pointed towards a paper that was towards the middle-top.
"Very well," Paul spoke.
Grace heard this and was pleased. He focused on the papers and began to scan anything of interest. After a few seconds, Grace caught something that piqued his interest greatly.
[Wilson Gray]
[Grade: Intermediate-Grade 1]
[Job description: Independent investigator situated in Quantum City. The shadowing will consist of hunting various criminals that may be out of your pay-grade. Heed with caution before choosing. Fighting is not something that may be necessarily be done.]
The description was both informative and vague, maintaining a calm combination of both. Grace was immediately interested for a multitude of reasons. He would not only get to go to Quantum City - a necessarily place for him - and gain more field experience, but also the person that he would be working with.
Wilson Gray.
Biological brother of a Alfe Gray--a member of a crime syndicate.