Chapter 39: We Are Both Liers

"I have key information about the Unstable Rifts, and it explains how I survived. But I need something out of this too."

No idea yet what to ask for, but I knew I wanted something. No way I was walking away empty handed.

"What else do you want? You’re already my disciple, a student at this prestigious academy. What can I give you?"

"Let’s say I already have the strength of a C-rank hunter. Can I get a temporary hunter ID to start exploring rifts? I really want to go out on missions."

Frederic was getting hit with shock after shock. First I was alive, now a C-rank hunter? He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

"No way," he said. "How high are your attributes?"

"All above 100, except WIL. Some are getting close to 150."

Half true. My vitality and agility were already past 150. Vitality was my highest attribute now.

"No fucking way. That fast?"

Frederic went quiet, thinking. Probably about the academy. New Order Hunter’s Academy was too big, too prestigious to let rumors mess with its reputation.

He had to fix this properly.

"Fine, I’ll help you, but you’ll still have to pass the C-rank hunter test like everyone else."

"No problem."

"So tell me."

He looked so anxious it was almost funny.

I told him that all Unstable Rifts led to the same place, and by pure luck, I found a new portal that led me back out, back to Earth.

Then all I had to do was go through it again and return through the same portal that sucked me in to begin with.

Frederic frowned.

"And how lucky does someone have to be for that to work?" he said. "What if both portals had closed and you got stuck there?"

"Had to take the risk," I said. "That’s the truth."

I knew it wouldn’t be easy for Frederic to actually believe me, but still, it was possible I’d gotten out using that method.

Also, Frederic wasn’t shocked when I told him about the portals all leading to the same rift.

"You already knew all Unstable Rifts lead to the same world, right? Is this common knowledge?"

"Only among S-rank hunters," he said. "We’re still studying these rifts, so nobody’s sharing this with the public."

Frederic got up and started pacing, hand on his chin, thinking through his next move.

"If we tell your real story, this information about the Unstable Rifts goes public, and we can’t have that. So we’ll have to lie to everyone."

That was fucking hilarious. I was the one lying to him, and now we were cooking up a new lie together to tell everyone else. What kind of joke was that?

In the end, Frederic settled on this: Vincent got lucky and found a safe spot inside the Unstable Rift, somewhere the unknown energy that killed hunters who stayed too long never reached. He stayed there for days before finally finding a way out.

Who the hell would believe that? A safe place? No explanation, nothing.

But I didn’t complain. At least this way I didn’t have to share the truth about how I survived using my ability, and Frederic wouldn’t have to share that secret about the Unstable Rifts either.

We were both lying to keep our own secrets intact. Real sweet deal, honestly.

"Can you come to the lab tomorrow for a quick blood test? That’s the only thing I’ll ask of you, just to make sure there’s no residual damage."

I could tell it wasn’t really a question, more like an order, so I just nodded. He wouldn’t find anything anyway, no need to overthink it.

Then we left his residence together, heading outside to talk to all the students. Not just the first years, all of them.

Everyone already knew I’d gotten sucked into the rift by that point. It was all over the internet already.

Students were yelling, but the moment they spotted Frederic’s angry face, and me next to him, everyone went quiet.

Frederic gathered everyone in the gymnasium to explain things, or more accurately, to lie to everyone about what actually happened.

I spotted Ethan in the crowd and gave him a thumbs up. Guy had screwed me over last time, but this time, he came through.

Tom, Selena, and Brian all looked happy to see me too. At least it seemed that way. Couldn’t go talk to them, though, had to stay glued to Frederic’s side the whole time.

He had people record his speech so he could post it on social media, make it an official statement about what happened.

His way of making sure the academy’s reputation didn’t take a hit.

And in a weird way, all of that worked in my favor too. Last thing I wanted was people constantly asking how I survived.

It would happen eventually, though. People wouldn’t just blindly buy the whole story, and they’d get suspicious about it.

But eventually 99.9% of people would just forget the whole thing. Chalk it up as some lucky break for an ordinary hunter. That’s just how things went these days.

You could post the most absurd thing online, and a month later, everyone would act like it never even happened.

Anyway, once Frederic wrapped things up, he ordered all the students back to class. Not me, though. He told me to head to my dorm and rest.

"Tomorrow, come see me about that thing I mentioned," he said. "And about your C-Rank test, we can schedule that for next week."

"Understood."

I headed back to my dorm. Not all the students were back in class yet, so I could feel them watching me the whole way.

The blond guy who always talked shit to me was there too, and he walked over to say something.

"You’re fucking lucky, aren’t you? First you get into the academy while being so weak, and now this?"

"Being so weak? If I remember right, I did way better than you when professor Dorian tested us. Maybe check a mirror before talking."

That pissed him off.

"That was a long time ago. I’ve been training hard while you were out there running from beasts, starving, and getting lucky."

Unbelievable. Sure, maybe he’d been training, but the amount of power I’d picked up inside that rift was way beyond anything he could grasp. I was stronger than every new student at this point, probably stronger than most of the older ones too.

"We could do a practice fight, what do you say?" I suggested.

"Don’t worry, Dorian’s already got that planned for next week. When it happens, don’t run from my challenge."

He walked off after that.

Next week? By next week I could already be a C-rank hunter.

I got back to my room. Ethan showed up not long after. Figured he’d ask how I survived, but he had something else on his mind.

"I found the vampire. The one I saw in the woods that day."

"You did?"

Well, that was fucking great. I was still thinking about that vampire who let me go in the dungeon. I didn’t want any loose ends.

"And where is it?" I asked.

"It’s inside the principal’s house."

"Huh?"