The professor's voice droned on at the front of the lecture hall. "And thus is how the scattered realms were created. By Mother Fate Alisia's flesh and blood, her veins weaving the tapestry of fate that is attached to all living beings."
Lucid sat in his usual spot near the back, while Mary sat beside him, engrossed in her notebook and paying him little mind. Three weeks had passed since the Cleansing. So far, he hadn't ended up in a prison cell. He still talked with Frederick occasionally, and things were as normal as they could be in a place like this. The Chapeu, or whoever was behind the attacks, hadn't made another move. He had, more or less, adapted.
"Her eyes served as the twin moons, and she offered her body to the harsh void, creating what we know as the scattered realms." The professor, an elegant woman with sharp features and an air of gentle detached authority, gestured to a large map. "There are a total of three continents: Osteria, where Vex resides; Ashten, where the rival empire Materna sits; and Caducus Celestia, where the kingdom of Ater lie."
Lucid was almost falling asleep. Normally, this should have interested him. He still needed to learn more about this world he was stuck in. But what was the point? Learning about a forsaken world he would eventually have to leave one day? The thought felt hollow.
'Learn...'
That reminded him. In the span of three weeks, he had passed two assignments and two exams. With Alice inside his head, often whispering the answers she had studied or retained with him, Lucid could have gotten perfect scores. But he decided against it. He didn't want to stand out. He really didn't. Though surviving the Cleansing had already drawn a few unwanted eyes.
"Moreover, Vex... how was this precious, almighty, unrelenting kingdom founded?" the professor continued. She was also the senior administrator who had dismissed their report about the dead student that day. She had pink hair with sharp bangs, red eyes, and skin as clear as snow. Her demeanor was chilling. "Well, you see, during the Great War, Materna reigned supreme over all the scattered realms, ruled by the very same empress to this day: Crepuscula. An iron-handed empress who seeks domination, submission, and conquest."
"It is said she single-handedly took over multiple kingdoms before Vex rose. An empress who has exceeded the life expectancy of a normal human, living and ruling for a continuous four hundred years, because of her Enlightened status as an illuminated."
'Damn, she's old,' Lucid thought idly.
Someone in the front row asked, "Then how did such a fierce ruler lose her grip on all the continents?"
The professor smiled a thin, practiced smile. "Well, that is because of an individual. An individual who has a bounty of five diamond coins."
"You mean... that person?"
"Indeed. The legend who is rumored to have a connection with the seven heavenly virtues and is said to have ties with Alisia herself. This person sparked uprisings, revolutions, and rebellions, granting each leader of each continent a gift."
"A... gift?"
"Relics."
"What kind?"
"Well, I'm afraid that is confidential. But let's say they are relics that are rumored to be capable of killing a high-rank Enlightened being of the Eminent rank. It is publicly known that Vex still possesses theirs. As for the other continents, we have no knowledge. Of course, with time, most are lost. Some were carried by Monoliths that protected each continent and later vanished. Some procreated within royal lineages, integrating their power and possession of the relic in certain families. Some monitor their kingdoms from a safe distance."
'Neptune...' Lucid thought. Could she have been Vex's single chance of defending against the empire? No, that didn't seem right. They still had their relic. That meant... a Monolith must have passed it on to them. 'What are Monoliths, though?' He thought.
Now he was listening. She had his attention. Crepuscula, that name rang a bell. He remembered those horrible iterated lives he lived through Karmen, where he met a woman named Ivy who was supposedly a healer from Materna, which was a lie. She had mentioned the name Crepuscula with honor and dignity, as if the name and the word went hand in hand. He had learned a great deal about her during that time, yet he was starting to forget things as time went on. The events of that trial were now a blur.
The professor spoke again. "Not only does she fail to care for her own subjects, but her strategic foothold is downright questionable, often leading thousands of soldiers to their deaths and leaving her citizens to starve. Yet she carries herself with an air of enigma, declaring: 'Those who are unwilling to suffer under my rule do not deserve to be part of my empire.'"
"She often holds mass executions of her own citizens, and any diplomatic visit or any improvement that is in the sole reason to maintain order seems nothing more than a facade."
"Then she is a tyrant," a student said.
"Yeah a dictator," one replied.
"Most say that," the professor agreed. "But her wishes, her desires as an empress, align with the fact that she wants nothing more than to dominate her subjects and the world."
'She seeks world domination,' Lucid thought lazily. To him, it was kind of admirable, acting true to oneself, acting true to one's own desires. Yet the methods of her actions to do that... were questionable. Lucid thought, closing his eyes for a moment. 'Morals are a privilege.' To him, people who love to preach and denounce others for their evil acts while they have their bellies full and have no need to worry about tomorrow are hypocritical. They deem others evil for acting a way that, often times, those very people don't even have a choice, and it is the only solution to steal or starve. To Lucid, judging others and saying what is moral or not is nothing but a joke. Though he couldn't undermine her actions, who knows what she must have gone through — yet he simply didn't care about this supposedly *tyrant* or this world.
The professor shot him a glance. She spoke.
"Lucid, is it? Do you know who founded Materna?"
Such an abrupt question. He momentarily jolted back. Silver badges and black badges looked back at him. Some snickered.
"Crepuscula?" he ventured.
"You are wrong."
'Huh? She is four hundred years old, though.'
"The answer is... a young man named Carpe Diem. The father of all civilization of mankind. Carpe Diem is also the one who founded Vex as we know it, while Crepuscula rose into power."
'Cool. It's just some guy that founded an empire. Nothing interesting about it.' The bell chimed, signaling the end of class.
Everyone packed their bags. Mary, sitting beside Lucid, silently waved goodbye as she had somewhere to be. After the Cleansing, she had enrolled in private tutoring in Fate Conjuring as a Latent to better her chances when entering the rift. Brian and Garfield had already left; they also had their own matters to attend to. That left Lucid alone. He didn't particularly like to do anything after class. Well, if it was training, no — he was doing something else. He was plotting... plotting how he would steal that blueprint.
As he was the last to leave, the pink-haired professor called his name.
"Lucid?"
'Great,' he thought. He didn't like this one. He didn't particularly detest any professors, as they were all corrupt in their own ways, but this one particularly reeked of danger. His senses were tingling.
As he walked closer, she smiled gently, her ruby eyes remaining fixed on him.
"I have noticed that you are not focusing recently."
"Despite that, you have great marks. Though they could be slightly better if you applied yourself more."
'Great, she is here to lecture me...'
"Say... I heard you were in Vex's First Arsenal custody before you enrolled. What could have transpired and led to such actions?"
The mood quickly darkened as she shot him a condescending glance.
'She is testing me...'
"You looked into my records? Why... am I getting disciplinary action?"
"Oh, no, no, no... you are a model student. You ask little questions." She inched closer to him, turning around him. "You attend. You don't look away when others are in need. You take the pain inflicted by the black badges for another, to shield another, overlooking their immaturity."
She put both of her hands on his shoulders, whispering beside his ear.
"Without being Awakened, you were the one that killed the most unfaithful beasts in the Cleansing."
Lucid looked confused and uncomfortable.
"Then what is the matter?" Her voice turned ice cold. "The Epsilon Rift. Such a promising student cannot be lost to such a thing. I have yet to see your last year's essay. It would be... shameful if something terribly happened inside that rift. I would be losing a favorite student."
'Such bullshit. She's essentially telling me that she's watching me and something is coming if I don't decide otherwise.'
Lucid remained perfectly still under the weight of her hands. The professor's whisper was a serpent's hiss in the now-empty lecture hall. A favorite student? He was nobody's favorite. This was a threat, wrapped in the thinnest possible silk of concern.
He had to play this exactly right. Too much defiance, and she'd make him a project or a problem to be removed. Too much submission, and she'd own him.
He let a flicker of the confusion he'd shown earlier settle back into his features, then carefully schooled them into something resembling earnest, clueless worry. He took a small, deliberate step back, forcing her hands to fall from his shoulders.
"Professor," he began, his voice deliberately flat, but with a slight, manufactured tremor of uncertainty. "I appreciate your... concern. But the records are correct. I was detained due to a misunderstanding about the incident on the void-rail. Knight Frederick resolved it." He kept his gaze lowered, not meeting her piercing red eyes. "As for the Cleansing... I got lucky. My team worked well together. We covered each other's weaknesses."
He paused, letting the lie hang in the air. Then he lifted his head just enough to look at her chin, not her eyes. "The Epsilon Rift is the next challenge. I intend to prepare with my team. We will be careful. I don't plan on being... lost." He infused the last word with just a hint of questioning fear, the kind a normal student might feel.
His act was a calculated blend of truth and fiction. He acknowledged her veiled threat about the rift without confirming he understood its source. He redirected credit to his team to diffuse her focus on him alone. He presented himself as what she probably expected: a capable but ultimately naïve silver badge, more lucky than talented, aware of danger but not of the deeper political knives being sharpened around him.
Inside, his mind was cold and clear. 'She's not just watching. She's positioning pieces. The Fenshore house, the cover-up, now this "favorite student" act. She's connected to the black badge faction, maybe even directs them. The rift isn't just an exam; it's a filter. Or a hunting ground.'
He wouldn't give her a single thing, defiance, secrets, fear. Nothing.
He waited for her response, his body language screaming 'dutiful student' while his mind plotted the theft of the Fenshore blueprint with renewed urgency. The walls were closing in, and the rift might be the only place with enough chaos to act.