"Who the hel-"
There stood in front of me, Zyra, the sword god in the game, an endgame character feared across the continent filled with monsters.
"Hey, kid, why are you staring at the sky?"
He said, puzzled, but with a smile on his face.
He had white hair, a simple linen shirt, and pants, both white, had sharp features but at the same time approachable.
His hair cascaded naturally over his shoulders, blending with his shirt, I squinted– Too bright. Too white. My eyes hurt.
On his waist, his sword was there, hanging loosely sheathed; he gave too much divine vibes.
I subconsciously stepped back, overwhelmed by his presence, but the same pair of hands was still coming my way.
He lifted the suitcase easily with one hand, and me with the other, and put us together near each other like lifting toys.
"Here you go, kid, build some muscles there, ok?" he said, the last line flashing a smile, then going back to sleep.
I looked at him falling silent.
"He is the real deal" I muttered looked at his sleeping face
Just by sleeping, he subconsciously let a slip of his mana leak, and the air already gets thickened with mana particles.
Mana usually doesn't have a sound, but I could hear a soft humming coming from him.
My skin tingled; he slept there uncaring. No, it was because he didn't feel any threat near him.
The carriage pumped to some rocky section, and I snapped back, thinking.
"Isn't this a great opportunity, because training here could boost my mana proficiency by leaps and bounds."
"If my calculations didn't fail me, this is more concentrated than even the mana in the dragon king cave. If I could rotate my mana core near him…, but no..I shouldn't do it, you wouldn't like waking up suddenly to see a guy do that near you without permission .
Plus, If I rotate my mana while I'm near him, I will be totally exposed, because an attack at that state, my core will be destroyed for good.
And cores are every swordsman and mage's power source."
I said, looking at the 5th strongest guy in the world snoring loudly like a drunken man.
A guy who could take on a continent, now sleeping like a child beside me.
Turning my face to the old man driving the carriage, totally oblivious to the mana sun behind him.
"Huh, this guy doesn't have a clue" I said
"Make sense, unawakened people can't hope to sense mana in all their lives" I said wryly.
"And the Lumaniris academy accepts only awakened people, who, upon admission, are evaluated based on their awakening rarity."
I turned my face slowly to the sword god to see him awake, looking at me.
"So what's your name?, I don't want to call you "kid" all the way"
"My name is Lucien Vale" I said, eyeing his energetic state, 'did he notice his mana leak so he woke up?'
But before my thoughts could drift further he cut them short.
"I'm Zyra, you said Vale?, hmm, could you be…." he replied coolly, then blurted "oh nothing" trying to change the topic.
"So are you heading to Luminaris?" he added.
Looking down at my emblem, I guess even an idiot will guess it, "yes" I replied
He gave me a weird look like looking at an idiot, "Why? Academies are such a pain in the ass, and you wouldn't learn anything good!"
"You have to wake up by the sun rising, and sleep when it's down" he said trembling
I shot him an eye back, "People go there to get careers, you know to become proper adults"
"I do have a career, want me to tell you" he said with a grin from ear to ear.
"Yes", I really didn't want to say it, but I should at least give the character its weight I guess.
"The sword god, hahaha," he said laughing, grabbing his belly.
I gave him a weird look, "Really?" Even if I know he is the guy, I'm not giving him any chance to feel good.
"Don't underestimate me, Lucien, I know from your eyes that you know me"
"But" his face was slowly getting closer, blue dense mana leaking from his body, like a mini star.
"Why, or better how? I don't remember meeting you at all before?" he said, slowly locking his eyes with me.
I froze seeing those translucent sky like eyes, slowly shining by the sheer mana output.
"Okay, think, Lucien, think," I said, accelerating my thoughts.
The air grew heavier, his mana was so dense it almost crushed my lungs.
"Cool. I always wanted asthma in a fantasy world".
His eyes started scanning my body.
"Man, I'm so screwed," I said fearing he would find something strange in me.
"Wait,..Is this!" Muttered the sword god seeing "something" inside Lucien's body.
Then…everything went back to normal.
"I'm sorry, Lucien, I feel I came off a little offensive. How about you make one request from me?" he said casually, As if he didn't want to attack me just now.
I clutched my chest, my heart throbbing crazily, It took me a whole minute to steady myself.
Wiping the sweat running on my forehead, my outfit drenched with how much sweat had built up.
"Hey, you daze a lot, you know, I said, How about you have one request for me?" he said, slightly annoyed.
'Sorry, but not everyone can face an SSS rank mana release to the face and be fine to crack jokes after it', I thought, smiling dryly.
"Hmm, A request, I need to think of something good, something useful to me during the first stage after joining the academy"
My mind started racing back to all artifacts, ethers, and sword techniques that, while they may be worthless to Zyra, are a godsend opportunity to me.
Then my eyes flashed to that item, which is basically made for me.
My heart raced, I smiled, unable to hide my excitement putting my hands on it.
"Alright, I want to-"