[Damian Rosegold]
Importance: None
[Naimad Rosegold]
Importance: None
"Oh, Juli! You are back!" Damian yelled out in high spirits.
"Welcome back, how was class?" Naimad smiled gently.
"... It was nice. Teacher Hatta was asking about you two."
The twins before him were also his classmates. From what he had heard, the two were not too fond of coming to the class.
"Hehe, come on, don't talk about teacher Hatta here... You are ruining the mood!" Laughed Damian.
"Damian is right. Come on, sit with us. Let's play cards together," chimed Naimad.
"Sure."
Julian put his stuff down on top of his bed. As to how he knew which one was his, he just needed to see the black bedding and blanket to be certain it belonged to him. It was because his name had been beautifully knitted on the sides of the black cloth.
While he found his partition to be strangely devoid of any stuff and belongings, he decided to put it aside at that moment,
Sitting down, Julian familiarized himself with the game of cards. Although it was awkward at first, he quickly grasped how the game worked. They soon play round after round, truly like children without a care in the world. Nevertheless, he did not fail to see the prying, sneaking eyes of the twin the whole time.
"So, Julian... I heard this morning that you did not bring the stuff to my mother. Did something happen?" Naimad suddenly called out.
"No, nothing happened."
"If nothing happened, why did the items not get to her?"
"I don't know, why not ask your mother? Surely, she knows."
"Julian, have you forgotten about what happened?" Damian smiled mysteriously. His hand grabbed something under his clothes.
"Maybe, why not remind me about it?"
Julian's eyes were fixated on Damian's hand, which was hidden. Whatever he was hiding, Julian knew it was something unpleasant to the original Julian. His heart, the one that should not have felt any fear, pounded heavily the moment he saw what Damian was doing.
"... Damian, calm down. Julian must have had his reasoning, right?" Naimad said while holding his twin's shoulder.
"Really? Is what he says correct?"
"I-"
'I am really sorry.'
His mouth moved on its own. They were trying to say words that were not aligning with his mind.
"What? We can't hear you."
"If something happened two days ago, it is fine. You just need to go again today, and make things right," Naimad added.
'... I am trembling. Me? In front of these children?'
He was offended. He could not believe he was cowering in fear in front of another human.
"Why are you staying silent? And why are your eyes red again?! Did I ask you to cry?!"
'O' Julian, you poor kid. Let me deal with these two for you.'
Everything happened so fast after that. Against the literal children, all his experiences made up all the strength difference. It did not take him that much effort to smash those two into submission.
"Ple- kuhg- ple...st...op..."
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
His bloody hand crashed into the broken face of Damian. Blood splattered each time he stuck, and Damian had long lost consciousness. The one who had been pleading for Julian to stop was none other than Naimad.
Thud.
With a final punch, he let go of Damian before going to his twin.
"Naimad, is this the toy you have been scaring me with?" Julian asked as he tossed around a black pocket knife.
Although subtly, Julian also felt his hands and feet, become cold the moment he laid his eyes on the black blade. It appeared to him that the trauma of the original Julian was not by any means shallow.
"...We ... are sorry."
"I am also sorry, but I can't let you off just now. "
'Not until this heart found its peace.'
He continued until the clock struck midnight.
He did not prefer to go that far, but he had to do it to appease Julian's heart. He needed to have full control of his new body, and any grudge left behind uncleared may become a blockage in that goal.
'They really did take Julian's stuff...'
After he handled those boys, he turned the room upside down, searching for anything of Julian. Surely, he found books, journals, diaries, bags, and pouches with Julian's name lying around at the twins' partitions.
"Sigh..."
'Everything.'
[Yes, Mister Hauyne.]
'Show me the cheapest Affinity Altar.'
A single card flew out from the mouth of Everything. It was the cheapest, but unfortunately, still too expensive for him to afford. Dismissing Everything, he wondered if there was another way to fully inspect the capabilities of his body.
"Damian, does the Academy have an Affinity Altar?"
"..."
"I know you are already awake."
"...Yes."
Hearing the confirmation from the voice of suppressed tears, his heart eased up. If he could use that, he could save a lot.
"Bring me there."
Though the older twin hesitated to follow Julian's order, a few kicks shattered any remaining resistance from him. Sneaking into the campus, they eventually arrived at a room in a main building.
"...Julian."
"Go."
Glancing at the small figure that was stumbling away, Julian swung the door into the room open. The first thing that greeted him was a statue of a woman holding a stone. Around her, the tiles, ceiling and walls of the room were pitch black, greatly mimicking a void.
He stepped into the room and immediately made his way towards the statue. Inspecting the beautiful sculpture, Julian noticed a few translucent stones arranged neatly at its feet.
"As unguarded as ever."
Looking at the Arcane stones that were left unprotected, Julian was reminded how rich the Academy was. Not wanting to idle any longer, Julian bit off his thumb and drew a line of blood across the round stone which the statue was holding.
Starting from the round stone, the statue gradually lit up. Its entire body flickered with white light, and its two eyes burned with purplish hues. With the sound of deep rumbling, golden particles gathered around the statue's hand.
'38.'
A number formed before him.
The golden color of the particles then changed into a red one.
'34.'
The same process was repeated exactly 18 times, and each time, a different number was shown. Came the final number, the statue rumbled before all the light emitted from it vanished.
"..."
'What terrible luck.'
Julian felt it might be better if he had come and found the altar himself. Truly, he would be able to have some optimism if he had not known about his terrible affinities.
"Out of the 18 Guides, the highest affinity was 41... How did this kid end up in this Academy?"
The Guide.
They were the higher entities that humans bound themselves with in order to gain access to Arcane. The affinities were the measurements of how strong the bond was with the respective Guide. Unsurprisingly, the stronger the bond, the better it was for an Arcanist.
"It will be useless to become an Arcanist at this point."
He wanted to awaken into an Arcanist as fast as possible to prepare for whatever was coming the next month. But it won't change anything at that rate.
"Everything, show me the Guide potions."
[Riamis' Potion] - 200 Fate
[Cilafje's Potion] - 200 Fate
[Maria's Potion] - 200 Fate
[Gerangti's Potion] - 200 Fate
[Banamia's Potion] - 200 Fate
He encountered the same problem. He could not afford even one of them. Those potions work as catalyst to strengthen the affinity toward the guide. While the success was not guaranteed, they were better than any other methods.
"...Show me Dragon's Drug."
[Dragon's Drug(Riamis)] - 20
[Dragon's Drug(Cilafje)] - 20
[Dragon's Drug(Maria)] - 20
[Dragon's Drug(Gerangti)] - 20
[Dragon's Drug(Banamia)] - 20
That was his other option. The substance that caused the first death he had witnessed after taking over his body. They were cheap, and there were reasons why they were ten times cheaper than the potions.
"Yes."
Two vials slipped out of the empty air and landed on his hand. Under the dark room, those two glow in a faint, cyan color.
[Dragon's Drug(Cilafje)]
'The drug that strengthens the bond with Cilafje, the Lord of the Sky.'
It was the Guide whom Julian had the highest affinity with. While he wanted to once again bond with Riamis, the Guide from his previous life, the affinity he had was basically nonexistent.
"If this body were younger, it might be considered. But, I have less than a year."
Of course, that was assuming that he survived that long.
Looking at the empty room, he ran his finger on the vials. The drugs in his hand were also known as wonder medicine to some. As shameful as it may sound, he was ready to refer to it as such.
Pshhh.
He injected the first vial into his arm.
Cyan lines like veins appeared on his skin as blood seeped out from his ears and nose. He coughed uncontrollably, dispelling ashy, gray smoke each time he opened his mouth. Immediately, his eyes turned red.
Thud.