"I knew this day will be a blast," Arthur muttered with raised brows. Emma was equally shocked as the two looked at the flames being spouted from the building.
"Activate the repair mechanism!"
"Extinguish the fire first!"
The building began shining with runes as carbon dioxide extinguished the fire. To Arthur's and Emma's amazement, the building began to repair itself until it was spotlessly clean.
"Uh, I guess that's a common occurrence here?" Emma said with a snort.
"The explosion or the self-repairing?"
"I think they're linked," Emma began walking. "Let's go." She opened the door and the two entered the building.
Inside, it was a crowded hall where people wearing white coats rushed from one place to another. They looked young, characterized by their dark blue or silver uniforms that they wore under their golden-sleeved white coats.
After the two asked for the registration office, they were guided toward an office to the left of the entrance where an old lady sat there.
She was chewing on some fruit when Arthur and Emma knocked on the door. She glanced at them and gestured for them to sit down.
The two took a seat and watched the old lady eat her fruit for about five minutes, questioning their whole existence. After she was done, she smacked her lips and looked at them.
"How can I help you, dear?"
"Uh, my name is Emma Agard. I'm a scholarship student for the Runes Research Department." Emma showed her student ID. "I was told I'd be on Professor Ma's research team?"
"Oh! Emma, dear, I've expected you. How is your grandfather?" The old lady brightened up.
"You know my grandfather personally?" Emma blinked. "I don't think I've heard of you…"
"I was one of his girlfriends." The old lady smiled sweetly. "And I don't mean his ex-girlfriends, the bastard had more than one relationship going on."
"Uh, I'm so sorry…"
"Not at all, dear. He was quite handsome, so I knew it wasn't anything serious. There was this incident where we tied him to a tree and had lunch together underneath it."
"By we, you mean…"
"Yes, the people he was going out with." The lady chuckled. "It was a fun day, hah." She then glanced at Arthur, at last. "You are?"
"I'm Alexie Linan."
"Oh, you're the grandson of that filthy rich man…"
"I'm an illegitimate son," Arthur hurried to explain. "So, I don't know my grandfather."
"Expected." The lady smacked her lips. "Men are animals." Arthur was taken aback by her remark but he kept quiet. "For you dear Emma, you'll be assigned as a trainee in Professor's Ma research team. Make sure to make use of her knowledge."
"Thank you, Senior!"
"Don't mention it, heh." The lady waved her hand and turned to Arthur, scrutinizing him. "Have your entrance exam. If you get accepted, join the third logistic team."
"That's…" Arthur's mouth opened but he didn't know what to say. "I hoped I'd get some guidance about runes…"
"Sure, sure." The lady shut him off. "The classes for first years are once a week, they'll be on your second minor day."
"But can we take other minor fields?" Arthur asked, remembering the mecha he saw on the first day here.
"You could, but…" The lady nodded before smacking the table, making a crack appear on it. "DO YOU LOOK DOWN ON THE RUNIC PATH, CHILD?"
She roared in Arthur's face so loudly that his hair fluttered. He blinked twice as she saw her adjust her collar.
"Arrogant little child, that's why men are…" The lady turned to Emma. "Don't be like him, dear. He looks like a sneaky one too, so be careful."
"I know," Emma said with a smile. "Please excuse us now," She pulled on Arthur as they hurried out of the room. As soon as they were out, Emma snorted before giggling heartily.
Arthur was still stunned by what happened and turned to look at her with wide eyes. She giggled to her heart's content before apologizing.
"I'm sorry, it's not that you get to see one of your grandfather's exes demolish your friend every day."
"You already consider me to be a friend? This is a bit too fast for me, I don't think I'm ready for such a responsibility." He said teasingly but he paused when he saw Emma look at him with a frown.
"Why are you talking like that?" Emma looked at him with both confusion and discomfort. "Where did you…" She didn't say anything more and simply walked away.
"Emma? Emma!" Arthur called out but she was already gone. He sighed and looked at the people rushing around him. He knew what he did wrong.
He allowed himself to slip and act like himself, like Arthur Silvera. That's why she was confused and uncomfortable. It was similarly seeing your friend act to your dead friend, so it's obvious why she was uncomfortable. It would stir bad thoughts and suspicion.
Arthur looked to the side and saw himself in the reflection of the window. He ruffled his blond hair and felt how changed he had become. He was a different person now. That's why he shouldn't have approached Emma again.
But can he hold himself back?
Arthur asked around and found the examination room he was assigned to. Inside, he found a bored runes master that was reading a book.
"Sir, I have an exam…"
"Get into the machine!" He said with a wave of his hand. Arthur sighed and walked toward the machine. It was a chamber of sorts and he was asked to give out his ID. The machine scanned it and he was asked to enter.
Once he was inside, runic encryption appeared in front of him. Without thinking, Arthur began to solve them. Like puzzles, they were thrown in his direction one after the other.
He paused when the chamber turned red after he moved a runic line. He frowned and tilted his head as he saw number one appear in front of him.
Instead of his earlier move, something else was done instead. Arthur noticed that the move proposed by the chamber was also correct, but it would result in an entanglement later on. It would take more time to solve if he followed this route, but he couldn't do anything about it.
After solving a hundred small puzzles, the chamber turned green. A paper was printed and Arthur grabbed it to find his score.
16/100.
These were his 'mistakes.' However, in Arthur's opinion, they were the mistakes that the system had. His ability was invincible in anything related to runes.
He took the paper, that had his name and information alongside his score, to the man outside.
"What's your score?" The man didn't lift his head from the book as he asked. Arthur knew how demanding the runic path was, but he would appreciate it if the man paid some attention.
"It's sixtee…"
"This generation!" The man closed his book, interrupting Arthur before he can finish. "Back in my day, these encryptions were child-play! Go to the logistic department. It's in the basement."
The man kicked Arthur out of the room before he could say anything. He took his paper and threw it to the side too. Arthur stood there rooted with confusion. Was his score that bad? Or did the man simply misunderstand?
However, there was a computer in front of the man that was connected to the chamber. He must have seen Arthur's result before he was out and simply wanted to brag.
'Basement it is, I guess. The lady told me I'd go to the logistic department anyway.' Arthur went to the elevator and found a portal instead.
"First time?" A man chuckled when he saw Arthur's face looking at the portal. "I'm fascinated by it every day. It takes you to any place you want on campus, too."
"That's awesome, how can humans create these?" Arthur mumbled.
"Beats me, we just doodle stuff and hope they don't kill us." The man laughed before speaking into the portal.
"Fifth floor!" He then walked into the portal and disappeared. Arthur looked at the sign beside the portal that listed every location's command.
"Logistic basement!" Arthur entered the portal and came out of another instantaneously. He looked around the empty corridor and saw many students carrying boxes or files and running.
"Move! Move!"
After searching for a while, he found the third logistic team. A tired young man was sitting in an office filled with boxes with labels on them.
"Hello, I was told to come down here to work, I just started today…"
"Oh, a freshman?" The young man looked up and nodded. "I guess you did pretty badly, huh?"
"Uh, I don't know…"
"You're the clueless type, not that our job needs any brains." The man laughed. "I'm Eric. Our job is simple, to deliver what's needed." He pointed at the boxes. "You see these? These are supplies. Don't worry, the boxes are special themselves. When we get an order, we look for the materials in the order and take them upstairs."
"But… what about learning about runes?"
"Hah," Eric sighed. "Look, I'll be honest. It's a tiring job, but we get some benefits. Unless you can complete an artifact, you'll be stuck here. We get the evening labs for ourselves at night, but no teachers. We can use the resources as we wish, but with no guidance."
"And what if I create an artifact."
"Then congrats, you've graduated from the logistic team. But for now, it's time to deliver some orders." Eric pushed a tablet toward him.