"Have you decided to accept my help?"
Dan smiled. "Young sir, I had already made up my mind that day. I just went to put some things in order and prepare your entrance to the academy. Now that everything is ready, I'll let those guys see what I'm made of." He acted confidently, and his gaze revealed a glimmer of pride that he hadn't shown in quite some time.
"If we do this together, I'm sure we'll be able to take those bastards' family away from them." He added.
Louis smiled.
His uncle was more determined today and no longer had any doubts. He even looked excited, as if he had been rejuvenated a little.
"Then it's decided. I'll go on my own as well."
"What do you intend to do, young master?"
"Hmm." Louis thought for a moment. "Since you told me that the House of Shadows has an alliance with those two guys, I'll go with them to snoop around."
Dan nodded gently. He thought it would be a good start.
"Do you need any help from me? I'm willing to do whatever you want."
Louis shook his head and stood up.
"No, that's okay. Just helping me get into the academy is enough."
"Oh." At that moment, Dan remembered why he had come here and stood up abruptly. "Right, young master.
Come with me, I've already prepared everything for your entrance into the academy, and you don't need to take any tests. Sir Hardrial is waiting for you."
"All right. Let's go then." Louis nodded.
They both left the mansion and used some concealment tactics to lose their pursuers before entering the Upper District. It was early, so the streets were crowded.
A large Royal Academy stood in the northern part of the Upper District, far from the castles and cathedrals. It was built with beautiful bricks and an old-style facade. It was decorated in the colors of royalty: gold, red, and milky white.
Large, beautiful bars seemed to support the entrance's ceiling, as academics, professors, and all kinds of people came and went.
Inside, the academy was even larger.
But for now, Louis just looked at it from afar. Dan took him to a mansion very close to the academy, on one side.
It belonged to Sir Hardrial. The decorations were not as ostentatious as those of the nearby mansions, which boasted of their wealth.
Despite its excellent location, this mansion only had a simple garden and a normal painting. It had no guards, but that was normal; of all the mansions in the area, this man's was the one that no one would want to break into.
No one was that stupid.
When they both entered and walked down the hallway to the door leading to the main mansion, Louis felt his hair stand on end.
Instinctively, he drew his weapon and aimed to his right, firing a shot at the same time.
His passive energy burst forth, and a magical bullet was fired.
The bullet seemed to graze a second bullet coming toward him, deflecting its trajectory. It had been headed for his head, but after veering off course, the bullet grazed his cheek and continued on its way.
It had been a silent shot.
Louis wanted to fire again when he found the culprit, but he realized... he couldn't.
He looked at his gun and immediately realized that a bullet had lodged itself inside, with some strange magic to block it.
That left him stunned.
On the other side, next to a fruit tree, the man also carried a revolver. It was simple. It had no embellishments or modifications.
Black and brown, as simple as possible.
That man smiled.
"Not bad, kid. Being able to fire a bullet before two of mine reach you is worthy of praise." The man approached, holstering his pistol in a simple leather strap.
Dan smiled at him. "Sir Hardrial." He greeted him respectfully.
Hardrial returned the greeting with much more respect. "Thank you very much, Mr. Dan, for remembering me. I'm sorry for treating your relative that way; I needed to test his skills."
'So that's Sir Hardrial...' Louis looked at his own pistol once more. 'What impeccable aim,' he thought.
What's more, he was incredibly fast to shoot, as those had been two bullets coming out of a revolver. He couldn't do that that quickly.
Louis looked behind him, at a tree right where he had been standing, and saw a rubber bullet embedded in it.
'And with rubber bullets.'
"Greetings, Sir Hardrial." Louis was respectful as he greeted him.
"Haha, it's good that you didn't take it badly," he said. "From today, you will be under my tutelage, so don't be too surprised by this. It was just a little trick. The best is yet to come."
Then he looked at Dan.
"He passed the little test, so I'll take him to the Academy. I hope you've already discussed what you needed to discuss."
Dan nodded. "I'll thank you later, Sir Hardrial."
"No need, Sir Dan. It's my honor. Besides, I'm the most underrated teacher because I only have one student. With one more, I guess my status will rise. Thank you."
Dan said goodbye, and Sir Hardrial then took Louis to the Academy.
"Boy, my class isn't very large, but I'll teach you everything you need to know to understand magic and this world." He gave him a badge that marked him as a student.
"Take that with you. It's essential for walking around the Academy and its grounds. I'll give you your uniform later. For now, let's go see the classroom."
The academy was huge, to the point that it could be a whole city on its own. It had countless facilities for all kinds of awakened ones.
Facilities for magicians, swordsmen, and martial artists were everywhere, and classrooms were filled with students of all types.
Except for the Armamentalists.
They only had one facility for everything. It wasn't as big as the others, but it was functional. The classroom was also located here.
Its decor was simple but straightforward. It was blue and gold, with some old paintings of great heroes using firearms.
After a long walk, they finally arrived at the hall. It was huge, with windows that extended more than 2 meters high and 1 meter long.
It wasn't built as a classroom but as a living room, only larger and with various study items.
Upon entering, someone was waiting for them.
It was a woman in her twenties. She wore a school uniform and a token on her chest that identified her as an armament student.
Her appearance was... astonishing. So much so that she wore a veil that partially covered her features.
Something peculiar adorned her head: almost shiny white hair.
It wasn't like Louis's milky white hair. It was different and more beautiful.
Her eyelashes were also white. In fact, every hair on her body was that color.
Albinism.
She also had another beautiful peculiarity: heterochromia.