The farther his shadow was away from him, the more mana it consumed. With the tree's long shadows that were thrown over the forest by the descending sun, his shadow managed to track the cloaked person without being found out.
The sunset came earlier than Arthur had expected it would. It took a moment to realize that A) he was in a different time zone and B) he was high in the sky. The air was thinner and mana was richer, but Arthur faced little difficulty adapting to it with his mana and stamina stats.
He followed after both the shadow and the cloaked person until he felt that it was too dangerous to go farther than this. Monsters roamed in the dim-lit forest and the deeper he went into it, the stronger they were.
His shadow kept following after the cloaked person as Arthur hid atop a tree, making sure his Stealth rune was activated. He closed his eyes as he shared his senses with the shadow as it followed after the cloaked person.
Despite looking unhurried, each time this person's foot touched the ground, he would already have crossed a distance forward. The only reason that Arthur's shadow managed to catch up was that it used the shadow and the person wasn't in a rush.
Five minutes before the shadow's time was up, the cloaked person slowed down near an unremarkable spot. He stood there motionless for a while before Arthur felt the space twist itself. A crack appeared in the space and the person slipped in without leaving a trace.
Just like that, Arthur's target disappeared. He asked the shadow to scour the area for any leads but he ended up with nothing. Arthur sighed and canceled his shadow and turned to leave the forest.
Suddenly, he heard a flap of wings from above. The sun has disappeared and the moon stepped up to replace it with its light. Arthur saw a giant crow that was as big as a car fly around the forest.
As soon as it came above Arthur, it snapped its head toward him and issued a deafening sound.
"Night! Leave!"
With that, it flapped its wings again and flew away. Arthur felt his heart fill with dread when he heard those words. He frowned and used his rune, Dispel.
[Fear Illusion has been dispelled.]
That crow had the skill to insert fear into people's hearts. Arthur looked at it departing and looking for other intruders before he turned and went back toward the gate of the forest.
'So, Jerano hired a monster to enforce curfew upon the forest?' Arthur felt amazed. Every day that he spends in this place, he comes across more mysterious things.
He found his way to the gate using his Detection rune. After showing his ID again, Arthur entered the city and witnessed its nightlife for the first time.
As expected from a city of magic, there were floating lanterns traveling through the streets to lit up every nook and canny. Vendors on the streets were selling all sorts of food and accessories.
"Can I have one?" Arthur approached a vendor that was selling sauced hot wings that seemed delicious. The vendor looked at him with suspicion and glanced at the uniform Arthur wore.
"Are you a student?" The vendor asked as he cleaned his hand with his apron, to which Arthur nodded. "Three wings are for one point."
"Points?" Arthur was confused. As he was about to ask, a hand wrapped itself around him from the back.
"I'll pay for it, mister!" Jonah said quick enough for Arthur not to elbow him. Arthur watched as the vendor took out a bracelet that was of a different color and Jonah clicked something on his hologram.
After that, the vendor nodded and gave Arthur three wings. Carrying them in one hand, Arthur glanced at Jonah.
"I thought I told you to avoid me in public."
"Relax, boss," Jonah said with a grin. "No one from college is here. Rest easy and relax." He said as he took one of the wings.
"Those are mine." Arthur smiled when he saw Jonah pause. "But I'll let you eat it. It is said that he who feeds a dog goes to heaven."
"I don't believe in heaven unless it's a place on Earth." Jonah laughed as he bit down on the wing. "Most people don't believe in gods anymore."
"That's true." Arthur nodded.
After the awakening of abilities and the feats of mana, the belief in gods almost went extinct. After all, why would anyone believe in gods if miracles happened regularly? The man you see on TV, labeled as the strongest human, can be also seen as a god in ancient times.
"So why are you here?" Arthur asked as they began to talk. "Rather, how did you find me?"
"I asked one of the students that guided you to the forest about your task. I was over there waiting for you to come back." Jonah pointed to a bench.
"… For how long?" Arthur stopped walking. Jonah turned around and scratched the back of his head.
"An hour or two?" Hearing him, Arthur felt suspicious.
"What do you need?"
"I don't need anything, boss!" Jonah raised both of his hands in protest. Arthur can see that a few women around were stealing glances at him. In their dark silver uniform, the number nine visible on his bracelet and his killer looks, Jonah was bound to attract attention.
"Then what is it?" Arthur started walking again because he didn't like the attention they were gathering.
"I think you have already forgotten about it, but there is a party to welcome us today. It's in the Central Hall, right across the plaza where the statue of that beauty is."
"I didn't tour the campus, remember?" Arthur said as he avoided the crowd. Indeed, he did forget about the party because of his task.
"Everyone is going there. Well, almost everyone." Jonah snickered and Arthur raised a brow. "The person you fought with. Uh, Trevor? He isn't. I think he's rage-breaking stuff in his room right now."
"Hah," Arthur chuckled. "He's going to be a bother."
"Yes, boss. I thought it would be best for you to forge some connections before he starts rallying students against you." Jonah ponded his chest. "I thought I can help you with that." He pointed at his bracelet. "It's the least I can do for you, boss."
"Alright, I'll go." Arthur smiled. "Stop calling me boss, call me Alexie."
"Boss Alexie!"
"… We have to work on that. Let me drop these herbs at the disciplinary committee before we go." Arthur patted the pouch on his waist.
***
The music reached their ears before they were even close to the hall. Classic music, Arthur noted. It wasn't that he was expecting anything wild, but this was more like a ball than a party.
Luckily, he found that no one wore their evening gown or formal suits to this event. Daybreak dorm wore their dark silver uniform while Nightfall dorm wore their dark blue uniforms.
Even though Arthur hated that they were separated, it was indeed competitiveness-inducing. Both dorms gathered with their team as their seniors made toasts to them.
"Here's our ninth ranker!" A loud person, that was standing with Yurirl and a few students, rushed forward to grab Jonah as soon as he spotted him.
He had inadvertently pushed Arthur away when he tried to pull Jonah to the center of the room. Arthur smelled alcohol from this person, so he didn't hold it against him.
"Wait, senior!" Jonah called out and pulled himself. "I'm here with a friend of mine, Alexie Linan." Jonah introduced Arthur.
As soon as he did, Yurirl's head turned in their direction with a frown. Arthur wanted to punch Jonah in the stomach for pulling him here and introducing him, but he was also expectant of gathering some intel here.
With slow confident steps, Yurirl made his way across the room and stopped in front of Arthur. With a serious face and stern eyes, he asked the two.
"Are you the one who fought against the tenth ranker?"
Arthur sighed in his mind when he heard Yurirl's question. After all, he indeed caused a problem an hour after Yurirl asked them not to.
"Let's talk outside." Yurirl gave his glass to the loud person who was still holding Jonah by the arm and started walking out.
Arthur obediently followed after him to leave the hall moment after he entered. He knew Yurirl was a good person, but he didn't feel like hearing a lecture from the leader of his dorm.
"First of all," Yurirl said as soon as they were alone in the plaza. "Why are you hiding your face?" His eyes glowed white as he looked at Arthur.
This was another reason that Arthur didn't want to interact with Yurirl. Even though his artifact was a genuine one given to him by the tower after acing the first floors, Yurirl's ability was the bane of disguise.
Divine Sense. He was sure to pick on the use of disguise. Now, Arthur needed to find a way to get out of this situation.