William would wake up in a cold sweat. Thankfully, the library was underground, so there weren't any windows to make him feel ashamed of his sleep schedule.
'The hell? That guy...that was Kael, wasn't it? Why the f*ck was he in a dark cave? First the Purple-haired guy and now this...This ability really doesn't give me much to work off of...'
'I could have sworn he was here yesterday...does he actually have the ability to teleport? I was just joking when I said that...'
He would get up from his bed and start to do his morning routine. Getting dressed in some relatively monotone clothing, brushing his teeth, and heading out.
'What he said...Is he allowing the Fame Games to happen because of what I said? But when I was talking to him about it, he seemed so worried about it!'
While eating some toast for breakfast.
'Was he lying about all of that? How strong is he really? Or does he have a twin brother who works from the shadows? I should go look for him. Author's Note should be able to confirm my suspicions.'
William would scour the upper level of the library, which took him quite a while because it was around the size of two soccer fields. He would then facepalm himself, as Kaelus was usually never in the upper library in the early morning.
So he would turn to the area he knew Kaelus had to be. The underground research facility!
He would head over to the center area, pull the book lever, and descend the spiralling staircase in a hurry.
He would be panting heavily once he finally reached the underground institute. His eyes would scan the surroundings for any sign of a living being.
At this early hour, most of the lights in the institute were still off, except for one. A lone paradise in a sea of void. To which, the nearby shadows surged towards in a tapestry of light and dark.
There.
Standing in front of a messy whiteboard, scribbling a multitude of letters, numbers, and symbols in incomprehensible handwriting was a tired, sleep-deprived-looking Kaelus.
Hearing panting and running behind him, Kaelus would turn around to see his student looking rather disheveled. He would ask inquisitively.
"William? What brings you here so early?"
William would still be catching his breath, not out of the running but more out of nervousness, or was it fear? That wouldn't be something he should know now, though. He would hastily activate the Author's Note as fast as he could.
Only to see:
[Error: Skill must target a living being or an inanimate object.]
William would be...well, shocked to say the least. Also dumbfounded! It was strange. If the Kaelus that was right in front of him right now was neither a living being nor an inanimate object, what the hell was he? Even stranger,
He was unsure what to do with this information. The person who had taken care of him for the last six years, his guardian, wasn't...real? He felt rather odd. Was he supposed to just live on knowing his truth was a fiction?
As the thoughts in his head whipped up into a storm, Kaelus would be rather confused at his student, who seemed to be in a daze.
"William? What seems to be the matter?"
William would force a calm smile. Deciding to simply stomach this oddity that was welling up inside of him for the time being.
"It's nothing. I just woke up early today and wanted to see what you were up to. Speaking of which, what are you doing?"
Kaelus would step to the side of the whiteboard he was just writing on and present it to his student.
On the whiteboard was a complete layout of the entire city of Shanghai that was very crudely drawn. Arrows were leading to several sections of the city, with some being labeled as 'safe', and others as 'baaaaaaad'.
Kaelus would then start explaining.
"I was planning on using this for our lesson today, but since you've arrived so early today, I might just give you a brief overview before you start your physical training."
He would gesture to the city. It was in the shape of a circle. With a massive outer wall, as well as a citation to add that there were energy shields around the city that formed a dome of defense for the inhabitants. These shields were formed by the constant formation of Ingenuity by a select few elite experts of Ingenuity Manipulation.
Inside the wall was another wall. In fact, there were three walls in total. Wall Wai(Outer), Wall Zhong(Middle), and Wall Li(Inner). I know, very creative naming by the Shanghai Government. Each wall also had its own respective dome of energy to protect it from being penetrated. Giving the core parts of the city three layers of protection in total.
Though William was a total Neet, he wasn't very well-versed in the geography of the world until the past few days when Kaelus jammed the information into his mind.
Inside each area, there were a select few zones that were under heavy surveillance. Such as every CVA building and government institution. These areas were very safe in case the barriers were ever breached.
William would nod along as Kaelus explained the diagram. Making a mental note of everything that was on the whiteboard for future purposes.
"I recognize this type of formation! So is this preparation for the Fame Game?"
Kaelus would nod and start pointing to the different safe areas.
"Yes. I won't go too in-depth for the details since your training should be soon and you need to stick to the schedule, but essentially, if the barrier happens to be breached, you must head for the nearest safe zone. And if those somehow ended up getting breached too for any reason, you'd have to dash the inner walls. Though you could always head for the inner walls initially. Though the very core usually refuses the entry of those without high status or importance due to the fact that the innermost walls don't have much space. Those discriminating bastards..."
William would mentally criticize his master.
'That's...pretty in depth, Kael...Whatever in heaven or hell you are.'
Kaelus's eyes would then flick over to an electronic clock on a nearby desk, then over to William's right arm, which was now almost entirely transparent, with the erasure likely spreading across the right side of his chest already.
"It should be time for your physical training. Off you go now!"
William would nod. Before heading back up the spiral staircase and to the front door. Putting on a simple and sleek navy blue coat and sneakers, then heading out for his run.
As he ran around the local area, which was inside the outermost wall of Shanghai, Wall Wai. He would begin to hear.....
Drums?
'What kind of budget raptu-oh.'
'So it begins.'
A loud, whimsical voice would boom across the entirety of the city, loud enough that every single person could hear it like they were right next to the one speaking.
"Hahaha! It's about time you peace-loving, normie-loving vermin faced the wrath of the gods."
"Let the Fame Game begin."