The Next Morning
The sun filtered through the crystal arches above the Academy's eastern walkways, scattering light across the cobblestone paths in fractured rainbow patterns. Beside me, Celestia dragged her feet as if weights hung from her ankles.
"I swear," she groaned, "it's only the second day of the week and I already feel like I've run three laps around the Empire."
I chuckled at her misery. "Blame school. It's the greatest enemy of youthful joy."
"Who cam up with this concept anyway?"
She shot me a look that was half a glare, half a smile. "If you think this is bad, wait until you take arcanist body circuitry after Enhancement Forms. It's torture."
"That's where we're headed now, isn't it?" I teased.
She let out another overdramatic sigh. "Exactly."
"Atleats you only have to sit through 7 more of his lecture before you can graduate."
"Aaaargh, i wish I had my stars already!" She shouted while mimicing clawing at her face.
I used my most annoying laugh after seeing her antics. She of course jabbed my ribs. Then darted away and I gave chase after her.
We turned into the arched gateway that led toward the Faculty of Martial and Body Arts. This building was nothing like the grand Arcanist Halls, it was red-hued stone with copper trim, built sturdy like a fortress.
Her steps slowed suddenly. I caught the subtle shift in her expression before she spoke.
"…My brother's coming today," she said softly.
"Eric Varnemire?" I asked. "As in the Count Eric Varnemire?"
Celestia nodded. "A Fourth Circle Arcanist. Father calls him his pride and joy." Her voice wavered on the last part.
"It doesn't matter how strong I become… I'm still just the daughter with no arcane circuits, the cripple."
I slowed my pace to match hers, watching her stare at the ground like she was looking at a mirror reflecting her.
"He'll come around," I said gently. "Eventually. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But he will."
She didn't answer.
"For now," I added, bumping my elbow lightly against her arm, "focus on graduating. You're already on the fifth level in Body Arts and quiet frankly I don't know how you did that. But Once you kneel before the Emperor for your knighthood, no one will be able to doubt you."
We reached the classroom doors just as a cluster of gold-robed noble students pushed past us.
" Circuitless brute," one of them muttered.
"Uncouth savage," another whispered, throwing me a lingering glare before disappearing inside.
I didn't flinch, and neither did Celestia. We walked through the insults like they were nothing and took our seats midway up the amphitheater.
She remained quiet.
I leaned in slightly and said, "Besides… you've got your mom and… and me."
I hesitated at those last words.
Celestia blinked, turning her head to look at me. Her eyes softened, and a small, real smile curled at her lips. Before I could say anything else, the heavy oak door at the front slammed open.
"Page three-hundred and thirty-one of your module! Now! Unless you want to repeat this term!"
Professor Stennwald stomped into the amphitheater like a man marching to war. His sleeveless robes exposed arms covered in scars and etched runes, each one pulsing faintly with kinetic energy. I chuckled, grabbed Celestia's module, and flipped to the page.
"Body circuitry," Stennwald barked, "is not about mindlessly shoving mana into your limbs and hoping for the best. It's about nerve command, response chain optimization, and mana elasticity. Every fifth-circle or fifth level body Arts practitioner must understand this."
He flicked his wrist, and a glowing diagram of the human nervous system formed midair.
"This—" he jabbed at the base of the spine, "—is the mana core interface for kinetic conversion. Most of you brutes overcharge it and expect your body to obey. What happens instead?"
A few timid voices answered, "It collapses the channel…"
"Exactly!" he roared. "And you're left twitching like a half-dead fish on the ground. Any questions No Good. Moving on."
The lesson continued, but my attention began to drift, because I could feel something. Above the Academy, swirling like a storm cloud, it was a thick mist of divine essence. It was so much denser than before. It pooled heavily around the Academy grounds and was almost… alive.
"So much divine essence…" I muttered under my breath.
I turned back toward the front and caught the professor looking right at me. It was brief, almost imperceptible, but Stennwald's sharp eyes lingered on mine for just a heartbeat too long. Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned back to the floating diagram and kept lecturing.
My spine tightened. Something wasn't right. The lesson ended and Stennwald walked out for eh lecture theatre without saying anything. The students took this as a que to leave and we did the same. As we approached the Academy gates while still deep in conversation they swung open courtesy of the guards.
The moment the academy gates swung open, a luxurious obsidian-black carriage creaked to a stop outside. Gold-engraved house insignia marked the doors, House Varnemire. I barely had time to scan the details before the door cracked open and a cheerful voice rang out.
"Celestia! Hop in already," the voice called.
Eric Varnemire, her older brother.
Celestia perked up beside me, then glanced at me briefly as if asking for permission, an old habit I didn't like. I nodded and offered a faint smile.
Eric's amber eyes swept over to me for a moment. He offered a polite nod, not haughty, not weak, just a noble acknowledging another presence and shut the door as Celestia climbed in.
Typical.
I followed quietly, flanked by his two guards. They didn't say a word, but I could feel subtle tremors in their aura. They sensed something… off about me. Their feet were steady, but their gazes dipped when mine rose. Not even the boldest of the Emperor's veterans could fake calmness before something they were weaker to.
By the time the carriage rolled to a stop, we were outside a wide, elegant villa nestled in the heart of the capital's noble quarter. Polished marble stairs led up to ornate double doors framed by flowering silverleaf vines. A decent estate that was well-guarded too.
Eric stepped out first, straightened his coat, then offered a hand to help Celestia down. His voice was warm, brotherly. "I had Father purchase this place for us. I figured we needed somewhere proper in the capital for when we visit."
Celestia tilted her head, laughing lightly. "Father dotes on you very much, brother."
For the briefest second, Eric's smile twitched — not visibly, just a faint muscle at the edge of his jawline. He recovered quickly, his voice softer than before. "He loves you too, Celestia. He just… has a strange way of showing it."
We moved inside.
I took note of the way his guards subtly walked behind me, even when I wasn't in their line of command. That was respect, the old kind. The kind gods used to receive instinctually. Even with my power hidden, the air around me pulsed gently, barely perceptible, like a heartbeat.
Eric and Celestia spent the next couple hours catching up, lounging in the sun-drenched atrium. Turns out Celestia hadn't been back to Varnemire in almost two years. Living with her mother in seclusion gave her little chance to return to the main estate.
They spoke like real siblings no hidden bitterness, no poisonous undertones. It was… refreshing.
Eric wasn't arrogant either. He treated the maids with grace, didn't belittle his guards, and acknowledged even me when our eyes met. Sometimes it was strange when he talked, it was as if he was trying too much to be nice.
By the time dusk fell and the shadows grew long, Eric stretched and rose to his feet.
"Well, I'll be heading in for the night," he said, running a hand through his windswept golden hair. "Celestia, pick whichever room you like. This is your villa too after all."
He gave a soft chuckle and left with his guards in tow.
Before they disappeared down the hall, both of them turned toward me and gave two quick nods, clearly packed with something between fear and reverence. Then all returned to silence.
Celestia noticed. She turned toward me slowly, brows slightly furrowed.
I didn't explain. Just gave her a graceful bow and gestured toward the staircase. "Sleep well, Celestia."
She hesitated. "Good night, Adam."
I turned away and gently closed the door behind me. The night air was cooler now, crisp with city mist as I made my way back to the Academy to pick up the luggage.
Luggage, yeah
I exhaled slowly, dragging my fingers through my hair. "I'm a god, for crying out loud… Why the hell am I doing this?"
Each footstep i made on the cobbled road echoed like the universe was mocking me.
I used to soar above clouds, dive through planets' rings, ride the breath of galaxies. I watched time loop and fold beneath me. Stars lived and died while I blinked.
And now?
Now I was fetching a teenage girl's bags.
"Mortality really is the most absurd comedy," I muttered, lips curling into a sardonic smile. "Maybe I'll sneak in a little flight later. Just enough to watch the stars remind me who I was.
As I was leaving the noble quarter about to enter the street the Academy was located in, a figure appeared from an alley infront of me. It was Eric
"I have heard good things about you from my sister Adam" he said smoothly with a charming smile.
His face was too flawless, it even made me question my sexuality at some point.
" She's my friend as well as my employer" I said with a frown. His words sounded like he was suspicious of something, and the auras of 7 bodyguards around the area made me even more on edge. They felt like they were in the sixth level of body Arts but one of them felt like he had an ocean inside him, no doubt a sixth level arcane arts master.
" Yes, so I've heard her say." He said his voice still velvety.
"I am just looking out for my sister is all" he added
"Well you have nothing to worry about from me. Harmless as a fly"
my voice didn't come out as calm as I had wished it to.
"Hmm, good. Now tell me how did you raise your power to that level in such a short time? I'm curious really, she tells me you were not at that level when you met. Do tell"