Chapter 92: Discovering His Anomaly

The system panel blinked, and Declan’s brows furrowed.

It was indeed steep.

Even when the classes during the Newcomer year had begun increasing, the hours had also been cut short, with most lasting only one hour instead of three.

But these were full hours of classes with barely nine hours of rest throughout the day.

"I guess it means things are just seriously beginning now. Can’t wait to see how class proceeds."

Glancing at the time, Declan noticed it was still 4:47 in the evening.

There was still plenty of time before night fell, and normally, the second-year students would have been in class at this hour but today was an exception because it was Sunday.

There was something he needed to pick up, so he rose from his seat and headed for the door.

He was also curious about some of the places he had wondered about during his first year, and now that he was a second-year student, he would love to see what they were truly like.

One of those places was an area labelled All for One Extermination!

Although he was curious about his surroundings, Declan prioritized picking up the items he needed first.

He arrived at the building and, upon stepping inside, immediately paused when he saw a woman whose appearance seemed strangely familiar.

He remembered her.

She was the same spectacled lady he had met when he first came to the academy, the one who had given him his devices and cards.

But she had been at the academy’s entrance, so how was she here again?

That was when he began noticing the differences.

This woman looked a little different. She was slightly older, with darker eyes and hair.

[It’s a twin.]

The system finally linked the pieces together, and the realization dawned on him.

The woman raised her head at that exact moment, noticing Declan as he stepped forward.

"Don’t tell me you’re here cause your lab coat got burned off during an experiment?"

She said it and Declan paused.

"Uh? Is that a thing?" he asked, causing her to furrow her eyebrows.

She didn’t respond. Instead, she quickly began typing on her keyboard.

After a few seconds, she paused, a glint flashing through her eyes.

"Oh, so you’re the one who just got promoted. Hmm, Declan Ezra?"

She said, and he nodded.

"Yes. I just came in to..."

"I know what you’re here for," she said, cutting him off before he could finish as her hands rapidly moved across the keyboard.

She continued typing quietly for about a minute before finally rising to her feet.

"Wait here, and don’t you dare move!"

She said this before turning her back and disappearing through a door on the side.

’Quite the fiery woman.’

Declan’s eyes scanned her huge desk for a moment before he turned away, his attention instead being caught by some of the murals covering the walls.

"Beautiful artwork," he mused, taking a couple of steps toward them.

The room was spacious, with only a desk and chair occupying one end, while interesting murals covered almost every other section of the walls.

They weren’t exactly paintings. Instead, they resembled artwork made from pieces of gemstones, with different colors arranged together to form distinct designs.

Some depicted tall structures that looked modern yet were completely different from the kind of modernity Declan was familiar with.

Others depicted celestial bodies, and among them, one particular star caught his attention.

A blue star.

It appeared in every mural.

Even in the murals depicting buildings, that same blue star hung in the sky like a moon.

"Just what are these..." he mused, reaching toward the image of the star.

His heart began pounding louder the closer his hand got to it, but he never actually touched it.

With his hand only a few inches away, a second hand suddenly grabbed his, stopping him.

Declan froze and turned his head, finding the woman’s dark eyes staring at him through her spectacles.

"I said, don’t you dare move," she said, gripping his hand tightly.

Declan awkwardly caressed the back of his head with his free hand.

"My bad. Still, no harm caused, right?"

She paused, her eyes shifting toward the spot on his arm where she had gripped him.

After a moment, she released him and raised her other hand before tossing a bag toward him.

Declan caught it, hugging it against his chest as he felt its weight.

"That’s all you need."

"Though lab coats are free, I don’t want you coming to my place every three days, so you’d better take care of them, so they don’t get burned!"

She warned before returning to her seat.

Declan’s brows quivered as he watched her.

"What’s with lab coats getting burned anyway?" he mused before shrugging it off.

Giving the mural one last look, one thing was clear: those pictures were strange.

But in the end, they were just pictures, and he wasn’t some nerdy art guy.

He slung the bag over his shoulder before turning around and leaving the building.

The spectacled lady took her seat and watched him disappear into the distance before turning her attention to the hand that had grabbed him.

"He couldn’t feel my touch..." she mused, her eyebrows creasing.

Then, in the next moment, the flesh of her hand suddenly peeled away, revealing a bizarre astral form beneath it.

Her right hand no longer had flesh and blood.

Instead, it had become translucent, filled with star-like particles that made it look as though it had been crafted from a fragment of the void.

They were magical hands, rippling with Arcana!

This was one of her secret powers, a strange ability that, with a single touch, could send most Nexians to their knees in pain, with some even being knocked unconscious.

Yet when she had touched Declan and gripped his arm tightly, he had not reacted at all, almost as if her touch had been completely normal.

"Only someone with Arcane, like the Ember Race, wouldn’t feel anything."

"Just what are you really, Declan Ezra."

______________________

"Hey, to get in is 150 points! Pay it up or scrraaaam!"

The harsh words reverberated through the area as a young man with a bag stood before another student seated high above him behind a large desk, his eyes looking down at Declan.

"Fuck you, you thief! 150 points for entrance!? The fuck?"

Declan shot back in disbelief.

He had wanted to check out this place, All for One Extermination, an exclusive area for second-year students.

Yet this bastard was claiming that entering would cost him 150 points.

Fucking 150 points!

Even though the poster beside the man’s head clearly stated that the entrance fee was only 10 points.

It was obvious that the guy was simply trying to prevent him from entering, and worse, Declan didn’t even know him.

"You’re just a brokie. Shoo off and let some real dude in," the guy said mercilessly, causing Declan to scoff.

"Yeah, right. Why are you seated so high anyway? Don’t tell me you’re as short as your little dick?"

He replied, watching the young man’s face turn red.

’Seems like that got him,’ he mused with a satisfied grin before turning around to leave.

"You bastard! You’re just mad cause you’re broke, you brokie!"

The guy shouted after him before Declan could disappear.

"At least I ain’t got a small dick like yours," Declan shot back, walking away with a loud laugh.

"YOU BASTAAAAARD!"

_____________

DRIIING!

DRIIING!

The sound of a vibration echoed through the dim bedroom, illuminated by the soft moonlight spilling through the half-open window.

A hand crawled out from beneath the sheets and grabbed the vibrating device before disappearing back underneath.

There was silence for a couple of moments before the sheets were pulled away and a head popped out.

It was Declan, his blue hair messy and his eyes drooping as the glow from his device illuminated his face.

He checked the time.

"5:00."

This was the alarm he had set in preparation for his first class, which would begin at 6:00, leaving him only an hour to get ready.

The last thing he wanted was to be late on his first day.

Getting out of bed, he immediately headed for the bathroom.

Just thirty minutes later, he stepped into the living room, fully dressed in the attire provided by the academy: a long, knee-length lab coat in a Tiffany-blue colour, a white round-neck shirt mostly hidden beneath the coat, and black trousers that complemented it quite well.

He grabbed the purple card from the table and gave his room one last look before stepping out.

The door closed behind him, and all the lights immediately went out, plunging the room into darkness.

_________________

VROOOOOOOOOOOM!

VROOOOOOOOOOOM!

The sound of engines rumbled past Declan as vehicles, mostly Tron powerbikes and some cars, streaked by at blurring speeds.

Unlike the Newcomers’ area, where students primarily used hoverboards, the majority of the second years rode Tron powerbikes, like Evie’s, while some were even wealthy enough to afford flying sports cars.

In the second year, the level of wealth was entirely different, and for good reason.

Earning points had become easier, and with some hard work and the completion of quests, acquiring enough points for utilities such as bikes and cars was no longer particularly difficult.

Point bullying among second-year students was also strongly discouraged and strictly punished by the academy, unlike in the Newcomer area.

Although the ceaseless rumbling filled his ears and the vehicles’ speed sent his coat and hair flapping intensely, Declan wasn’t particularly bothered by them and continued along the sidewalk calmly.

Since it was still quite early, there weren’t many people around.

Additionally, many of the students weren’t wearing coats, indicating that they were likely returning from their midnight racing.

Declan hadn’t walked very far, however, when he noticed the soft rumble of a vehicle slowing down behind him.

He didn’t turn around, but the vehicle soon pulled up beside him, trailing quietly while matching his pace.

That made him stop and look to the side.