Mario remained observing them in their playful banter, especially the way they were clearly trying to comfort him. It took him a moment to realize that Ron's arm was still draped over his shoulder.
From the memories he received in the simulation, his simulated self's first day had been different—sharply so.
His roommates had been cold toward him, and one of them had even tried to provoke him to establish their dominance. From that day on, no one spoke to each other for the whole seven years.
But this…
Mario inwardly shook his head, dismissing the thought, and slowly lifted Ron's arm off his shoulder, then turned toward the door.
He twisted the doorknob and opened it. Yet he didn't leave immediately. His hand lingered on the frame, his back still turned to them as he said, "Thanks…"
The voice was low, calm, and almost flat, but it was genuine.
Although Mario didn't really need their comfort since he had only answered Jacob's question, he still decided to express his gratitude.
---
He wandered through the unfamiliar roads of Elyndor Academy, carefully memorizing the path in his head.
Eventually, while wandering, he spotted a young woman wearing the academy uniform.
He approached her from behind before putting on his usual mask and spoke in a shy, polite tone. "Um… excuse me!"
The young woman, looking at her watch and watching something, frowned briefly at the call from behind her before turning around.
The moment her eyes fell on Mario, the displeasure of being disturbed vanished, replaced by a subtle delight. Her posture eased, and she asked softly, "What is it?"
"I wanted to ask for directions to the library… Could you please point me the way?" Mario, though confused about her reaction, didn't linger on it and set it aside.
She spoke with a small smile. "Elyndor Academy is big. You might get lost." After a pause, she hesitantly added, "Do you want me to guide you there?"
Hearing that, Mario inwardly frowned as understanding clicked into place. His voice, however, remained shy and polite as he replied, "No, I don't want to disturb you. I'm fine with directions—you can just point me the way."
"Really?" she asked, leaning slightly closer, testing the space between them.
Mario took a step back and nodded. "It's fine. Please, just point it out."
Seeing him step back, a flicker of disappointment crossed her face. With a quiet sigh, she raised her hand. "Do you see the huge building over there? That's the library."
She paused, clearly about to say more—but Mario had already turned away, walking toward the building she had indicated.
'…How troublesome,' he thought, exhaling inwardly, irritation threading through his mind. 'Why is this second simulation so different?'
'Is it… because it's a different academy?'
The speculation offered no satisfaction, but he set it aside and continued walking.
---
Thirty minutes passed.
He walked faster than necessary, ignoring the unbidden gazes of other students as he moved.
At last, he stopped in front of the building.
'Is this even a library?'
The structure towering before him resembled nothing like the library in the Celestine Hotel. It didn't feel like a place of study—it looked more like a small hotel, grand and imposing.
'…Such grandiosity.' After a few moments, he entered.
The instant he stepped inside, a small flying shuttle drifted toward him. [Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?]
Mario paused before noticing that every entrant received the same greeting from other flying shuttles, each addressed with identical mechanical politeness.
"It's fine. I'll just wander around myself," he replied, his tone calm, almost indifferent.
[But, sir. Only those who are officially ranked may enter the second floor.] The AI shuttle reminded him.
"Rank?" Mario asked, his brows knitting slightly.
[The test one month later.]
"I see." Hearing that, realization dawned upon him. "Thank you."
'So, one of its purposes is to rank us, huh…' With that thought, he walked on, his footsteps echoing faintly as he wandered through the first-floor hall of the library.
For a few minutes he kept looking around the shelves with no clear purpose before a book title caught his attention—Records of Elyndor Academy Opening Ceremony.
The book was thin, like the biography of Aurelian from before, and also bound in the same red leather with gold-colored lettering.
Curious, he took it from the shelf and opened it.
—Headmaster's opening speech… page 1-79
—Opening ceremony incident… page 80
'Hmm… there are only two sections?' Mario thought, before looking at the first page.
For half an hour he skimmed through the headmaster's opening speech before noticing something similar.
'So… is the headmaster trying to hint at something with that quote?' he wondered. The speeches changed a little each year, but the quote at the end—like the one just now—was always the same.
After that thought, he closed the book before planning to put it back, but before he could, a voice beside him called out.
"Excuse me, but are you done with that book?"
Mario flinched slightly at the voice—he hadn't noticed anyone approaching, despite his experience and memory from the simulation.
Turning, he saw a young man standing to the side, deliberately lingering in the shadows, as if he had been waiting for him to finish for who-knows-how-long.
"No, I'm done." Mario handed the book to the person while thinking to himself, 'Is it a unique skill?'
Even though Mario currently didn't have cultivation like his simulated self had, he could still sense everything happening in his surroundings, especially since the library was too quiet, making it easy for him to do so.
But this person beside him had clearly been standing there for quite some time, and yet he hadn't been aware of it.
"Thanks. All the other copies were already taken by the students to study—only yours remained." Saying that, he turned and walked away.
Mario watched his back until he disappeared, then let out a quiet breath of relief. '…So there are more types of unique skills besides those of the instructor and the white-haired youth.'
He recalled the only two unique skill users he had seen in the simulation. Despite the simulation lasting over half a century, they were the only ones he had encountered.
Shaking his head inwardly, he resumed wandering the library.
---
Inside a luxurious office
Aurelian Elyndor let out a weary sigh and sank into his chair, pressing his back against the support.
'…Finally, it's over.' He stretched his arms upward, then slowly let his body slump, lifting his head toward the ceiling and closing his eyes.
A few moments later, he frowned and opened his eyes.
"How… uncomfortable." He muttered, raising his right hand to his eye and removing the blue-colored contact lens he had been wearing, revealing the golden pupil beneath.
But before he could remove the other lens, a knock echoed from the door, which slowly creaked open.
"Wait! Don't come in yet!" He hurriedly called out in the same tone he had used during the opening speech, then placed the blue-colored contact lens back into his eye.
"...Alright, come in," he said after fixing the contact lens back in his eye.
A woman entered wearing a white uniform with a small crest of "E" on the chest area.
She approached him, holding a folder in her hands.
Lowering her head slightly, she handed it over. Her voice carried a hint of respect. "Headmaster, as you instructed, this contains the information on students whose unique skills we were unable to identify."
Aurelian took the folder from her and said, "Thank you, you can go now."
Hearing that, the woman bowed again before walking out of the office.
Seeing her gone, Aurelian didn't immediately open the folder and instead removed the blue-colored contact lenses from his eyes.
He took out a small black box from his pocket, then carefully placed them inside.
Only then did he turn to look at the folder and carefully open it.
Three sheets of paper were inside.
Aurelian raised an eyebrow. "Three…?"
He muttered under his breath, surprise threading his voice, "...I remember she said there were only two."
He placed each paper on the table.
One paper showed a young man with black hair, wolf ears, and silver vertical pupils.
Name: Kael
Sponsor: None
Unique skill: Based on the person's words…
The other featured a black-haired, blue-eyed youth with freckles on his face.
Name: Zenith
Sponsor: Arthur White
Unique skill: Based on the person's words…
Aurelian let out a soft breath as he studied the two papers. "...Demigods."
His gaze then lingered on the sponsor section of the second sheet.
"Arthur…" he muttered, recalling a young man with brown hair and blue eyes from decades ago.
That memory led him to think of another person—a young man with short curly black hair and black eyes. "...I wonder what he's doing now?"
Aurelian shook his head with a heavy sigh. "I'm really not cut out to be a teacher." He dismissed the thoughts and shifted his focus to the final paper.
"Mario…?" Confusion deepened across his face as his golden-colored pupils studied the photo, as if engraving it into memory. "What are you?"
After half a minute, he shook his head, looked away, and relaxed into the chair.
"...I guess I should find some time to visit her," he murmured, a faint, gentle smile appearing before he leaned back fully and closed his eyes.