Chapter 61: A Man With Many Names

"...Saint... of... Swords..." Arthur mumbled, the words lingering in the room longer than they should have.

I had first heard that name three days ago. Back then, it had been nothing more than a name mentioned in passing, something attached to a distant figure whose identity I hadn’t bothered to investigate deeply. Now that figure was standing directly in front of us. And he was our teacher.

Arthur stared at Mr. Draeus with an expression I had rarely seen on his face.

"You mean..."

Draeus smiled. "Yes."

Theodore leaned back in his chair. "So you’ve been pretending to be disabled this entire time?"

Draeus glanced at the wheelchair beside him. "I wouldn’t call it pretending."

Theodore frowned. "You literally stood up."

"I did."

"Then what would you call it?"

"A secret."

Arthur gave a small laugh, more air than sound. "I think that’s the strangest answer you’ve given us today."

Mary remained quiet. She was looking at Draeus differently now, her eyes moving between him and the wheelchair. I couldn’t blame her. Everything we knew about him had suddenly become questionable. The quiet teacher who had always sat at the front of the classroom. The man who had patiently corrected our mistakes. The man who had watched us train without ever revealing what he truly was.

And now, apparently, he was a Saint.

There was another question I wanted answered.

"What is your actual name?"

Draeus looked at me, and for a brief moment his expression became unreadable. Then he smiled again.

"I am a man with many names, but for now and the future you may call me Tony."

Arthur blinked. "Tony? Is that your real name?"

"As I said, I have many names," Tony chuckled.

"Understood, Mr. Tony."

Tony smiled as he said, "Much better."

I couldn’t help but smile slightly myself, and the atmosphere in the room eased. But there was still a question that had been lingering in my mind for a long time.

"Mr. Tony, I have two questions."

He looked toward me with curiosity/

"First, why is the Silver Core considered an Inferior Awakened? Why can’t there be a separate rank for it?"

Tony nodded slowly.

"An interesting question." He pulled out the chair and sat down. "The Silver Core is considered an Inferior Awakened because it does not grant you any new abilities. You will retain everything you possessed before advancing though they will be enhanced. Your existing abilities remain your own, but the Silver Core itself does not provide you with a new power."

Arthur frowned. "Then what’s the point of advancing?"

"Two things." Tony raised one finger. "First, the ability to store summons." A second finger followed. "Second, an increase in spiritual power."

’I considered it. So Silver isn’t really about gaining some spectacular new ability. It is more of a foundation, a step toward something greater.’

I asked my second question.

"Then how can we obtain a Silver Core?"

Tony’s expression grew more serious. "That is considerably more troublesome. To obtain a Silver Core, you need to make a trip to the Realm of the Evil."

Theodore sighed. "Of course."

Tony ignored him. "You will need four eyes belonging to either a Devil Horror or a Nightmare Fiend level Unorthodox Creatures, along with four hundred milliliters of their blood."

Arthur’s expression changed. "Four eyes?"

"Four." Tony continued calmly. "You will also need four Beast Characteristics."

"What if it is above a Devil Horror? let’s say a Devil Lord?" I asked.

"Well, that will also work, infact it would actually be better for you."

Mary asked, "And then?"

"Those materials, with several other mystical ingredients, can be used to brew four potions." He looked at each of us in turn. "Each of you will drink one."

I nodded slowly. "And after drinking it?"

"You will advance to the Silver Core."

The room fell quiet. The process sounded straightforward when he explained it. The requirements were anything but.

Arthur leaned back.

"So why don’t professional masters do this themselves and simply give us the potions?"

Tony smiled.

"I knew someone would ask. There are two reasons." He raised one finger. "Experience. You need to experience the process yourselves. Strength gained without understanding how it was obtained is fragile." He raised a second finger. "And fate."

I frowned. "Fate?"

Tony nodded. "We need to see whether fate is on your side."

I remained silent. There was something about the way he said it that made the answer feel more important than the words themselves. He didn’t explain further. Perhaps he deliberately didn’t.

I nodded.

Tony’s explanations were surprisingly straightforward, even when the subject itself was complicated.

I looked toward the others. Arthur was still thinking, his brow faintly creased. Mary seemed to be silently processing everything she had heard. Theodore had his arms crossed, already thinking about the Realm of the Evil, and not fondly.

Tony stood.

"I will tell you about the other matters in the near future, Sirs and Lady." He gestured toward the door.

"You may take your leave now."

We stood as well. Arthur extended his hand first. Tony shook it. Mary followed. Then Theodore. Finally, I stepped forward and shook his hand. His grip was firm, steadier than I expected from a man who had spent months pretending otherwise.

"Thank you, Mr. Tony."

He smiled. "You’re welcome, Sir Edmund."

We turned toward the door. I opened it. A Royal Guard was waiting outside, and he immediately straightened.

"Please follow me."

We left the room, the doors closing behind us. The guard led us through another series of corridors, down several flights of stairs, and toward the entrance of the palace.

Eventually, the palace doors opened, and the familiar evening air greeted us. A carriage was waiting outside. We climbed inside one after another, and the door shut behind us. The carriage began moving.

For several moments, nobody spoke. Arthur looked out of the window, watching the palace shrink behind us. Theodore leaned back against his seat, eyes closed but clearly not resting. Mary sat quietly with her hands resting in her lap. I stared at the passing streets.

Everything outside looked normal. People walked along the pavements. Carriages moved through the roads. Gas lamps were beginning to illuminate the streets as evening descended over Valemont. Yet none of it felt quite the same anymore. We had just learned that our teacher was a Saint, received Bound-ranked items, and been officially recognized as Awakeneds. And now our next destination was the Realm of the Evil.

Eventually, Mary broke the silence.

"So..." She looked at the three of us. "Do we even have a choice?"

I looked at her, then glanced toward Arthur and Theodore. Nobody answered immediately.

I shook my head. "I don’t think so."