The next day…
Scar and Julien walked alongside many students who were all clad in all-black combat gear similar to Scar's, from the ladies to the gentlemen.
Leading them was a man in a suit who had yet to flash a smile as he took them on a tour around campus. The whole thing seemed like nothing but a chore to him.
Surprising, though. Students enrolled daily, sure. But nearly fifty in one day? Impressive.
Scar had to yawn through the orientation.
Julien had been quite troublesome last night. Everyone had their weaknesses. Scar missed the old man Isaac, but Julien? He'd woken Scar up late at night simply because he couldn't sleep and wanted to talk.
Absurd, but the chill and relaxed aura Julien gave off made it impossible to ignore him. Now Scar's eyes were half-closed, and Julien? He was as quiet as if he weren't the same person who'd talked nonstop the previous night.
Even so, he got glimpses of all that he needed to see.
They were introduced to the training rooms, libraries, and dining hall and were currently heading toward the labs where everyone's rank would be assessed through tests.
As for the arenas, they'd be fighting or watching fights within a day. The staff was too listless to elaborate.
But he did take the initiative to explain a few things. Some training rooms had simulations that allowed people to fight all three threat levels of Scarlet Kins: Danger, the lowest; Hostile, the medium; and Catastrophe, the most dangerous among them all.
To access these rooms, you needed at least five wins from the dueling grounds. For people who just received their Inheritance, losing was already a penalty no different from a death sentence.
However, walking through the massive white corridors that dwarfed their size, someone's presence made Scar's heart skip a beat. It was captivating enough to bring everyone to a standstill.
Before them was a woman dressed in a uniform like theirs but with a red banner from shoulder to waist. Her skin was pale as snow, as if the sun had never touched it. She had blue eyes and long white hair nearly as white as her skin.
She was Haven Velanora.
She was a Moon Killer and had inherited one of the eight Founders of Magic, the Heir of Skadi. That was why no one could keep their eyes off her. But for Scar, it was personal.
When Scar was younger, he'd played with her often, though back then she had dark hair, wasn't as pale, and her eyes were never blue.
Everything changed when she got her Inheritance eight years ago. Bearing the magic of ice and snow, her body adapted to the transformation.
But that wasn't why Scar stopped seeing her. His parents' death was. It still pained him, he'd developed a crush on her back then. To her, though, he'd never existed.
Thanks to Scar's father's smart thinking, having foreseen their deaths, no records had any information about their child, Scar Rover.
Even though some Rover family members might recognize him from a distance despite his age, they could only recognize him through old memories, not as one of their own.
Glance.
Chills coursed through his body. He gulped.
She looked at him. Just for a second, through her peripheral vision as she passed by.
The boy's body began tingling with excitement. It could've been a mistake, but he didn't care. For the first time in a long time, his crush looked his way!
"She was the reason the Quagmire attacked eight years ago… at least, that's what I heard."
Someone whispered in the crowd. Scar's excitement vanished instantly.
…
Name: Quagmire, Clown of the Living
Classification: Nightmare
Scarlet Kin – Apocalypse Manifestation
Threat Level: Catastrophe+ (Uncontained)
…
This was the creature that had attacked the day his parents were murdered. Quagmire was one of the few Nightmare creatures in existence. Nightmare creatures existed from natural causes.
There were four classifications of Scarlet Kins.
Nightwalkers lived only in sunless zones. Daywalkers survived in sunlight and beneath the eternal scarlet moon. Dreamwalkers invaded dreams within their territory, attacking anyone at any time.
And Nightmares, the most dangerous. Unlike the flesh-and-blood creatures of the other types, Nightmares existed for dark purposes and were almost impossible to kill.
Whenever Quagmire appeared, there was only one way to stop it: five people had to sacrifice their Inheritances permanently.
The Clown of the Living only showed when the number of Inheritances exceeded a certain threshold. What number? No one knew, but as long as five people made that sacrifice, it wouldn't slaughter the entire world.
"I heard having such an Inheritance at a very young age was an abomination. Many people died that day because of her."
Someone else added.
An agitated sneer from Julien had Scar's attention for a moment. His initial cool was no more. He trembled slightly, fists clenched tightly, appearing on the verge of breaking.
"I swear it, I'll kill the Quagmire with my own hands. That bastard will pay. I refuse to even hear its name."
Julien muttered, barely audible, but Scar, being closest to him, heard him well.
Scar sighed.
It was obvious they all had their share of trauma that night eight years ago.
Scar shrugged.
He turned in the direction Haven had left. The thought of her looking at him nearly made him drool again. If she actually remembered him, that would make him lose his mind for sure.
'Ah… this is what you get when a virgin raises a child.'
He had more of Isaac's perverted ideas than he'd like to admit.
They hurried to the lab for their tests. But as soon as they arrived, the guy in front of Scar began panicking, clinging to the door frame like he was allergic to the smell of magic and the crystal ball radiating in the room.
"No, no… I am afraid of needles."
He cried. Literally.
One of the staff approached him.
"Come on, it wouldn't hurt. I promise."
The guy's acting became evident to Scar.
"No. You are lying…"
After a few back-and-forths with the lady, he threw out a question that made everyone burst into laughter.
"If I agreed to the injections… would that make you go out with me?"
He was turned down as politely as possible, but the men around didn't take his words lightly. They insisted on handling his assessment personally. The guy looked dead for a moment.
Checking everyone's evolution required two processes. They'd take blood samples, and since evolution worked internally, the blood would indicate any decline or increase in magic. It also let them monitor whether people were losing their sanity due to their Inheritances.
The second was simple. They'd place their hands on a giant crystal that appeared to have the sky trapped inside it. This would tell them their exact rank, with Tier 7 being the weakest and Tier 0 the strongest.
"Congratulations! All of you have been placed at Tier-7. If at any point you believe your level has declined, you are free to request a reassessment. For now, this evaluation test will be repeated once every month."
The lady spoke.
One of the men hurried their words to seal their meeting.
"Your duels will commence tomorrow. While some will fight immediately, others will be assigned dates over the coming days. Prepare accordingly. This is Supreme Academy, and failure will not be tolerated."
Scar's heart tightened. This was what he feared. This was where the eyes he had to avoid would come for him and his Inheritance, the Flames of the Unknown.