The night passed without incident. After receiving a reassuring reply from his teacher the previous evening, Azrael had finally been able to meditate peacefully. The sense of security that came from having a master Lore Cardian Master's support truly brought tremendous peace of mind.
Taking out his phone the next morning, Azrael found no new messages, so he washed up and prepared for class. After all, the university hadn't announced any suspension of regular activities.
When he arrived at the classroom, Azrael took a quick survey and noticed fewer students than usual. This was understandable, yesterday's crisis had been quite dangerous, and it was within his expectations that some students might have been injured or were still recovering from the trauma.
Seeing that Harold and Arnald were both present and unharmed, Azrael felt a wave of relief wash over him.
"Good to see you two are okay," he said, approaching their usual seats.
Harold rolled his eyes dramatically. "Were you actually expecting us to get into trouble?"
Azrael grinned mischievously. "I'll remember to burn incense for you next time."
"..."
While the three friends were chatting, Alice walked into the classroom with her characteristic composed demeanor. This surprised Azrael somewhat, according to his calculations, his senior sister should have been busy with post-crisis reports today.
But then he remembered her personality. Formal paperwork and bureaucratic meetings were indeed quite challenging for someone with her social anxieties.
"She seemed pretty normal during the battle yesterday, though," Azrael muttered under his breath.
Harold, standing nearby, caught Azrael's words and asked curiously, "Did you actually see Professor Alice fighting yesterday?"
Azrael nodded, expecting Harold might have some insightful observation. Instead, his friend could only manage two words:
"Incredible."
Despite starting university half a year before Azrael, Harold had never witnessed Alice fighting at full strength. In their usual practical training sessions, she treated their sparring matches more like casual exercises than serious combat demonstrations.
At that moment, every student in Class One of the Card Making Department received a notification on their phones.
[Alice: Regarding the garrison and exploration missions mentioned yesterday, interested students may come register with me.]
The students were stunned. They had assumed that after yesterday's events, they wouldn't need to undertake additional missions. Most of the class responded with collective groans of "Seriously?!"
Azrael received a private message from Alice almost immediately afterward.
[Alice: Junior Brother, you don't need to register. I have other arrangements for you.]
Seeing this message, Azrael felt a mixture of curiosity and anticipation. He could guess the general nature of these arrangements, they likely involved the newly discovered secret realm.
After some time, Alice finished collecting her students' mission preferences and assigning their destinations. When the classroom had emptied except for Azrael and herself, she approached him.
"Come with me, Junior Brother."
Her voice carried its usual soft tone, but Azrael detected an underlying seriousness that made him pay closer attention.
Azrael stood and followed his senior sister toward the university gates. Once they were outside, Alice gestured casually, and a white cloud materialized beneath Azrael's feet, gently lifting him into the air.
This was Azrael's first experience with such a unique mode of transportation. With Alice standing serenely on her own formation of clouds, ethereal mist swirling around her petite form, she looked remarkably like a legendary immortal, if one could ignore the casual sweater she was wearing.
Although Alice's cloud appeared to drift lazily through the air, its actual speed was remarkable. Within minutes, she had transported Azrael to the headquarters of the Lore Cardian Master Association in Pixar City.
This was Azrael's first visit to the Pixar City Association headquarters. Following Alice through the imposing entrance, they made their way to a massive assembly hall.
The moment Alice entered, the previously noisy hall fell into complete silence. Every conversation stopped mid-sentence as dozens of experienced Lore Cardian Masters turned to observe their arrival.
"I'll go up first," Alice whispered to Azrael, her social discomfort evident in her slightly tense posture.
Without waiting for his response, she walked directly toward the elevated platform at the front of the hall. A middle-aged man was already waiting there, his face immediately breaking into a broad smile upon seeing her approach.
Unfortunately, as someone with severe social anxiety, Alice was clearly uncomfortable with such attention. She simply sat in the provided chair with an expression that could freeze water, completely ignoring the man's friendly demeanor.
The middle-aged man obviously understood her personality and didn't take offense. However, the large group of Lore Cardian Masters below had mixed reactions, at least most of them seemed uncertain how to interpret her behavior.
Azrael could hear whispered conversations starting around him.
"That's the Diamond-level Lore Cardian Master who took action yesterday, right?"
"Yeah, she doesn't seem like someone who's easy to approach."
"Did you just underestimate a Diamond-level practitioner's hearing abilities?"
The person who had been speaking immediately paled and fell silent, clearly realizing his mistake.
Some of the assembled Lore Cardian Masters had noticed Azrael, who had arrived with Alice, and were stealing curious glances in his direction. Azrael maintained his composure, quietly waiting for the leader on the platform to begin the meeting.
After a few minutes, the middle-aged man cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.
"Well then, I've called everyone here today primarily to discuss the newly discovered secret realm," he announced, his voice carrying clearly through the hall.
"First, let us express our gratitude to Master Alice for her decisive action yesterday."
As he finished speaking, the hall erupted in thunderous applause. After all, Alice was a genuine Diamond-level Lore Cardian Master, showing proper respect was simply common sense.
When the applause gradually subsided, the middle-aged man continued, "Regarding this newly discovered high-level secret realm, I'm sure everyone has formed their own theories about what we'll find inside."
"That's correct, this exploration will once again be handled by our Association."
"The purpose of today's gathering is to assign specific roles and responsibilities."
Azrael caught some slightly dissatisfied murmurs rippling through the assembled crowd.
"Of course, every time something dangerous comes up, the Imperial Court pushes the work onto us."
"There's nothing we can do about it. They know we won't simply abandon our responsibilities."
"Honestly, sometimes I think we should just..."
The speaker didn't finish that particular thought, but Azrael could easily guess what they wanted to say. He shook his head internally, changing dynasties wasn't such a simple matter. Besides, he suspected the Imperial Court possessed certain trump cards that prevented the Association from taking more aggressive action.
Azrael redirected his attention to the middle-aged man on the platform, but what followed was mostly meaningless bureaucratic rhetoric that nearly put him to sleep.
After what felt like an eternity, the man's voice finally stopped.
"That concludes our business. Meeting adjourned."
After speaking briefly with Alice, the official left the hall. Alice then approached Azrael with her characteristic reserved expression.
"Let's go, Junior Brother."
As they walked side by side through the Association corridors, Azrael couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.
"What was the purpose of bringing me here today, Senior Sister?"
In his opinion, there hadn't been any real need for him to attend that meeting.
Alice's answer caught him completely off guard, "I wanted to introduce you to some people."
"But he said he was busy with other matters."
Azrael felt genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected his socially anxious senior sister to have such networking intentions. As for who "he" referred to, Azrael could easily deduce it was the middle-aged man from the platform.
"The Association President?" Azrael ventured.
Alice nodded slightly, confirming his suspicion.
This struck Azrael as rather odd. Logically speaking, with Alice's introduction and his status as Master Lucian's disciple, the Pixar City Association President should have made time to meet him regardless of other commitments. The fact that he had avoided the meeting entirely seemed deliberately dismissive.
Before Azrael could dwell on this troubling development further, Alice interrupted his thoughts.
"Junior Brother, I'm going to take you to see where the new secret realm appeared."