Carla turned around at the sound of her name and saw Vahn standing there.
"H-Hey," Vahn stammered.
"Hi," she replied, walking up to him.
'Crap, what do I even say?' Vahn's mind was spinning as they stared at each other.
"You chose the library?" Carla broke the silence.
"Yeah, I had some things to look into. You?" His voice steadied, the nerves melting away.
"I've got something to check too," she said.
"Then let's check," Vahn said and took the lead. Carla blinked in surprise at the sudden shift in his demeanor but still followed.
Before long, they arrived at a sleek, glass-like table that stretched across the floor. Raised platforms divided it into multiple compartments, each furnished with a chair and a built-in screen.
Other students milled about, their attention barely flickering in their direction. Including Vahn and Carla, there were twenty people in total.
They took the nearest open compartment and sat down.
The screen flickered to life, displaying a login prompt. After Vahn had input his name and year, it granted him access.
'Alright, let's do this.' He focused and began his first search.
[SEARCH QUERY: SPACE ABILITY USERS]
[SEARCHING...]
[4 RESULTS FOUND]
'Only four?' He thought, slightly disappointed, and tapped the first result.
[RESTRICTED ACCESS TO USER]
He stared at it for a while before moving on. It just felt disappointing that among the four, one was restricted.
The second result appeared.
[REPORT: SIGHTINGS IN GLENWOOD CITY OF CATS TELEPORTING WHO APPEAR TO HAVE TELEPORTING ABILITIES][DESCRIPTION: APPEAR AS REGULAR CATS. TAILS EMIT A SPACE-DISTORTING FIELD.]
'Teleporting beasts. Hmm, but it doesn't mention aggression. Still, better note this down.'He quickly saved the details on his phone before checking the third entry.
Luckily, this time, it was information.
[STUDENT: JARRAD DWIGHT]
[YEAR: SECOND YEAR]
[ABILITY: SPACE-RELATED]
'A fellow student with a similar ability and in this same camp? Perfect.' Vahn's eyes lit up, but they quickly dimmed. 'Second year.' He hadn't encountered any seniors yet, or maybe he had, but his mind wasn't focused.
Shaking off any useless thoughts, he saved the student's info and opened the fourth result.
[LOCATION: FIRST MUSEUM, FIRST CITY][ARTIFACT: INFINITE PURSE — CAPABLE OF STORING A LARGE NUMBER OF OBJECTS]
'An artifact?' His eyes showed surprise. He recalled the strange book that had altered his teleportation ability into a space ability. 'Wasn't that one too?'
Technology had advanced so far that there was still no point in school, but the idea of something storing an infinite number of items was clearly beyond science. 'No wonder they call it an artifact.'
After musing for a while, 'So the only real lead I have is…' He looked again at the student's details.
'But how do I find him? Find... Find,'
Then, the answer struck him like a large hammer,
'Dante.' His eyes shone as he also blurted out the answer.
A strange one, that guy. Somehow, Dante had access to the school's public security feeds, and since he didn't use his machines, he shared views with them without any suspicion.
Without overthinking it, Vahn forwarded the student's details to Dante.
Seconds later—
Ding.
He opened his phone, and his jaw nearly dropped.
"W-W-What is this?" he gasped, lowering his voice as nearby students glanced in his direction.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing as he scrolled through his phone. Dante had sent everything: class schedule, hangout spots, hobbies, social circle, even his phone password.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Vahn whispered, "Thanks, man," and locked his phone.
And honestly, calling Dante crazy felt unfair. What Vahn was planning… now that was crazy.
Clearing a scenario in three years. One, the Supremes needed ten years and everyone's help to clear? If that wasn't madness, what was?
Steeling his resolve, he returned to his second research,
[SEARCH QUERY: MARKED BEASTS]
[SEARCHING...]
Beside him, Carla was lost in her own search.
[SEARCH QUERY: GOLDEN EYES AND PURPLE HAIR]
[SEARCHING...]
[2 RESULTS FOUND]
Carla stared at the screen, unsure how to feel.
In just a few days of knowing Vahn, her world had been flipped upside down. She'd witnessed strength beyond imagination and crushing helplessness. That dragon she saw… it hadn't even released its power. Its sheer presence had said enough.
The truth? The world was far bigger than she'd ever imagined. And her family? The Heister family, one of the hidden bloodlines, was part of that bigger world.
She was originally here because of a succession race, a rite of age and power to succeed her family.
But now? That goal felt hollow.
'I haven't seen even a fraction of the world.' She thought to herself. Honestly, it was difficult not to think this way. And it all started with him, with Vahn.
She clicked the first result.
[GOLDEN EYES AND PURPLE HAIR: TRAITS OF A MYSTERIOUS FAMILY THAT HELPED SAVE EARTH DURING THE GREAT DEMON WAR]
[RESTRICTED ACCESS TO USER]
Of course. Beyond the surface-level info, it was all locked away.
She sighed and opened the second entry.
[STUDENT: VAHN CLAY]
[YEAR: FIRST YEAR]
[ABILITY: NON-ABILITY USER]
"…What?" she whispered, blinking in disbelief.
That couldn't be right.
'Non-ability user?' That didn't match anything she'd seen from him. He'd even told them about escaping from some kind of lab experiment.
'He's hiding something.' Her gaze drifted to Vahn, who was deeply focused on his screen.
She jotted it down silently and shook her head. No time to dwell, she also had her own mission.
She typed in her next query.
[SEARCH QUERY: SUPREMES]
[SEARCHING...]
[129 RESULTS FOUND]
'Now... which Supreme died?' she wondered.
With a breath, she dove into the results, knowing full well that whatever she found next could change everything.