“…wait, no information on Theodra? We didn’t get a big list of rules! And also what’s the reward?” Varian grumbled silently.
The large table had split into countless smaller tables suitable for three or four people.
The cadets quickly formed a small team and started to fiercely discuss their plans.
Big words were thrown around.
Unified Encirclement. Strategic deterrence. End-to-end tracking.
Varian didn’t understand most of the words and cursed the ones who did.
Most of these big words were coming from the strongest level 6s. In fact, eleven of them.
Excluding Charles, they were the strongest eleven.
William, Sarah, Maissa and the rest had a barrier cover them while they discussed their strategies.
Charles sat alone in the distance talking to Narcis.
Varian glanced at him for a moment before turning away in anger.
‘Boo, make a detailed list on the members participating in the Solar Trial.’
‘Yes, boss!’ The innocent voice replied.
Everyone was still busy. Except him.
“Erm, being alone in this occasions kinda sucks.” To his dismay, even Charles began talking to a few people.
“Since everyone’s busy, I can only ask these people.”
With a shrug, Varian walked towards the elevated floor that was just used as a stage.
Prince Kane, Princess Iris Xander and a few others were standing quietly as they observed their juniors.
It meant they were customer service…right?
“Oh, Varian? How are you?” Prince Kane appeared in front of him and greeted him with a smile.
Varian was caught off guard and replied. “I’m good. Do I know you, I mean, do you know me?”
‘Ok, that almost sounded arrogant.’
“I know you. I’m tutor Evander’s apprentice. In a way, I’m your senior brother.” Prince Kane rubbed his chin and nodded to himself.
He sounded proud to be his senior brother.
‘Does being my senior brother let him brag or what? He seems pretty proud of it.’
Of course, it let him brag. After Charles, he was the most talked about.
“I see.” Regardless of his thoughts, Varian nodded lightly.
Pupils and disciples were very different. He’d be surprised if Evander had another disciple.
But his enquires so far revealed that Evander never had an apprentice before him.
As Varian was about to ask for some information, Prince Kane started speaking.
“You’re a Body Awakener, so Vine Forest Region is the best for you. You can get a herb or two that can help you advance to level 6 and quickly stabilize your advancement.” He kindly advised.
“Um, I don’t have a map.” Varian coughed lightly and said with a straight face.
Prince Kane’s expression turned strange. “And you don’t have the Trial’s guide, do you?”
Varian looked at him silently and nodded.
“…whoever is responsible for you, they’re neglecting you.” Prince Kane looked at him with pity and sighed.
‘Sarah…’ Varian glanced at the busy blonde girl who was fiercely discussing, no, arguing with William and Ashtarh.
‘I’ll remember this, Sarah!’ He vowed to himself.
He already started formulating a revenge.
If Sarah was afraid of ghost movies, he’d take her to one and gloat. That was as far as his revenge went.
‘She isn’t my nanny but…, Richard is! He’s kinda my butler! Dammit! He didn’t even tell me about the duels or Theodra!’ Varian lamented.
Even if he wanted to search, these things weren’t available on the meta-net.
Of course, there was another option. Ask someone. But everyone was busy initially and later, he got into fights, so…
In his defense, he assumed Richard or Sarah would inform him of stuff it was important enough.
Since it wasn’t Sarah’s obligation, he shifted the blame to Richard.
‘I want a maid! Not an old man.’ Varian shamelessly protested.
Thankfully, neither Anna nor Richard knew his thoughts.
Prince Kane saw Varian was in a trance and said. “Here, this is the Trial’s guide. It’s sent with the invitation card you receive. There are only a few rules, but it’s good to know them.”
He selected a file on his comm and swiped it. Varian caught the hologram and saved it to his comm.
“Thank you. If not for you, I’d probably stilll in the dark.” Varian said.
“Haha. Don’t mention it.” Even though there were rumors about Varian’s growth being entirely due to ‘drugs’ and ‘herbs’, Kane believed his tutor.
“I’m looking forward to your growth.” As he watched Varian’s receding back, Kane muttered with a complicated smile.
“Dhruv, Mia?” Varian raised a brow and looked at the two seniors who were seated at his table.
“Oh, you’re back.” Mia abruptly stood up and said. “I was supposed to give these to you early on. A son of a bitch challenged me to duel and I had to heal all this time.”
“…Mia, you defeated him early on. But then you went on beat everyone in his family, his friends and relatives. Be honest, at least.” Dhruv silently chipped from the side.
“Because he insulted you…” Mia’s eyes turned red and Varian could swear he saw a bloodthirsty smile on her face.
‘A Yandere partner!’ Varian gave a thumbs up to Dhruv.
Mia’s eyes turned back to normal and she said. “Anyway, here’s the info you’ll need.”
She swiped three files towards him.
< Trial’s Comprehensive Guide>
< Dangers of Theodra Secret Realm>
< Treasures and Items of Theodra Secret Realm>.
These were much more detailed than the one Kane gave him and were going to be way more useful.
It didn’t mean that Kane wanted to slight him. He just gave him what he had. Why would a Prince possess the guide to Solar Trial?
“Mia, there’s the map too.” Dhruv reminded her from the side, causing Mia’s eyes to change.
She looked at Varian in jealousy and snorted, but gave him the map file anyway before deleting her own.
As she sat beside Dhruv, she bit her lip and mumbled. “I wasn’t even allowed to peek into it.”
Dhruv nodded in tandem.
“Huh? What’s going on?” Varian asked in confusion. Why can’t she see the map she gave herself?
Mia raised her head and looked at him in exasperation. “Just great. Sarah asked me to give those to you. No big deal. But she forbade me from even peeking into the map.
Like c’mon! She’s too protective!’
“Cough!” Varian nearly choked on water he was drinking.
His expression turned strange as he realized. “So Sarah planned everything.”
“Of course. I planned to give this to you in the beginning. But then we were both busy with duels.” Mia explained.
Varian opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.
Sarah, she…
Suddenly, Mia exclaimed. “Wait, you thought Sarah forgot?”
“….” Varian tried to remain silent, but seeing her interest that was growing visibly, he finally said.
“….you have a good IQ, senior sister. I hope you use it in the right places.”
Subtext: ‘You’re using it for useless stuff. And this is not a compliment.’
“That is of course. See Dhruv, someone finally agrees that I’m more clever than you. Tsk.” She nudged the poor man and snickered.
‘I never said that.’ Varian facepalmed.
“My advice is to form a suitable team. You know, get some peak level 5s with diverse Divine paths and collect treasures you all need. That way, you don’t have to fight among yourselves.” Dhruv stood up and patted Mia on her shoulders.
“I see.” Varian nodded lightly.
He wasn’t planning to form a team anyway.
“Argh! Beware of backstabbing. You attracted a lot of envy.” Mia patted her forehead and said.
Then she seemed to remember something and her eyes burned like torches. “That bitch backstabb—”
“Eh, we’ll see you around.” Dhruv dragged Mia away leaving Varian alone on the table.
“…well, it’s better to be alone.”
*** **** ***
A/N: Discord link below:
https://discord.gg/kBKaTtsrpb