Over the next few days, Caecus and Titus, the loners that they were, didn't attend any social gatherings.
They played games together, explored the academy, and trained.
All of the students only had two days left to submit the classes they wanted to attend, and Caecus was still indecisive.
'On one hand, I attended the academy to grow stronger, so combat would be the best branch, but on the other hand, theory is what I'm best at…'
The classes from your own branch would always be the ones that counted the most on your final score and ranking.
Titus and Caecus were both in the library, thinking about which classes Caecus should attend.
"I definitely want to attend combat classes like Weapon Arts, Combat Theory, and Soul Theory…"
"Hmm… well, you did say you wanted some theory classes… maybe General Knowledge on top?" Titus asked.
"General Knowledge seems excessive right now. I think I only want to partake in classes that will help me in the future."
"Yeah, that makes sense, although your grades in General Knowledge will be great. Well, you said your soul essence control is finer due to your blindness, so maybe try out Soul Forging or Soul Engineering."
"What's the difference? And what exactly do you do there? I haven't really looked into it…"
"Well, Soul Forging is where you learn to build weapons and armor, or generally simpler objects using soul essence. Soul Engineering is more specialized toward contraptions like your soul phone, or generally creating new things yourself, as in Soul Forging you rarely invent your own weapons."
"Wow… that sounds super interesting, and useful too. How about I take both?"
"Both? I mean sure… if you want to. So right now, for your classes, we have the main classes: Soul Control, Duels, and Exploration. As for your side classes, it's Weapon Arts, Combat Theory, Soul Theory, Soul Forging, and Soul Engineering. That would make your branch Theory, I think, as Combat Theory is counted as a theory class as well."
"Yeah… I feel like something is missing though. Oh, I need to select six side classes. So one more…"
"There are swordsmanship classes, but you're using daggers. There aren't any specified classes for daggers… well, let's just look at what else is available."
"Yeah."
The both of them skimmed through all available classes. There were a few interesting ones like "Music" and "Drawing," but nothing that really caught his eye, until they reached a class called "Soul Biology."
"What's this?"
"I'm not sure myself. The class itself only has five students who chose it so far… let's read the description."
In this class, you'll learn how soul essence affects our biology, and how to experiment with it.
"Wow… this seems super cool, I'll take this! But which branch is this under?"
"This class… is under no branch? Huh, that's confusing."
"Well, better for me. I'll stay under the Theory branch then. Um, alright, let's put all my classes into the app now."
Caecus selected all the classes he wanted to take, and submitted the application.
"Haa… now it's just time to wait for the introductory classes."
"Yeah, until then, let's just relax and better not train the day after tomorrow, as it's the last day before the introductory classes," Titus replied.
The blind boy grabbed himself a fantasy novel and started reading it to pass the time.
Titus followed him and did the same, and the both of them just enjoyed each other's presence.
…
A notification popped up on Caecus' phone.
It was the day before the introductory classes, and he was relaxing on his bed.
'What could this be?'
He never got any notifications from the Psychéion app unless it was something important, so he immediately checked it out.
'Social? Since when did the app have a social feature?'
There was a group with the name "Sub 300."
Caecus saw a pinned message and read through it.
"Greetings everyone, my name is Julius Aeternus, and I am the Aeternus heir along with Rank 3 of this year. The reason why you have received this message is that I am inviting every person below Rank 300 to participate in a banquet I'm holding. I'll include food and entertainment, you just attend and socialize. I look forward to seeing you there! It's from 6 PM until 10 PM, since we have our classes tomorrow.
Embed: Pinned Location"
"..."
'Could it be that the sole reason why I didn't discover the social feature is because I didn't get invited anywhere?'
With a frown, Caecus shook his head and focused on the matters at hand.
'Should I attend? I mean the tournament is over, and I probably should make a few friends… on the other hand, I never attended something like this. Hm… I'll ask Titus if he'll attend.'
He called his friend, and after a few seconds Titus picked up, his voice resounding from the phone.
"Caecus?"
"Uh, Titus, have you seen the notification on the social feature?"
"I get a lot of those, so I don't really check them. Let me see… oh, this is a big one. The Aeternus heir is someone with a lot of connections. I'll have to attend, or else my family will be mad."
"Oh, okay, would you say I should attend or is it not worth it?" Caecus wanted to hear his friend's opinion on the matter.
"I don't know… well, maybe just stick to me, and make a few friends."
"Okay, I'll stay with you then. Come to my room at 5."
"Understood, see you!" Titus replied, and Caecus hung up.
He had an hour or so to get ready, so Caecus showered and selected clothes for the banquet.
'Hm… they are probably gonna be dressed up exquisitely, let's see what I have here.'
Checking out his closet, he took out a button-up shirt, along with some suit pants and a suit jacket.
'I hope I don't look weird…'
The bracelet from Caelum was on his wrist, and accentuated the outfit.
This morning he got a package from the academy that included resources he needed, along with a pin showing his ranking.
In the message, Julius specifically asked those attending to wear them, so that you could see everyone's ranking.
After a while Titus knocked on the door, and Caecus opened it.
When he stepped inside, he felt Titus' clothes and sensed that he had a similar outfit.
"Is everything correct with my outfit? I mean, I want to make sure I didn't do anything wrong, since well, I'm blind," Caecus asked.
"Yeah, it seems good. Banquets held by bigger corpora usually require formal clothing, other than when a dress code is mentioned. So your clothes fit the occasion."
"Okay, that's relieving…"
The both of them walked out, and left the building.
Walking towards the gate of the academy, there were a few other students who were dressed formally and walking towards the gate.
Titus and Caecus reached the public transport, and entered it.
When they did, they felt the stares of a few civilians on their necks.
'I guess I have to get used to this.'
After three stations, Caecus noticed Titus tugging at his wrist.
"We'll have to leave after the next station. Stick close, as the s-train can be kind of full at this time of the day."
In response, Caecus just nodded.
When the s-train halted again, Titus pulled him along, making sure not to lose grip of his wrist, and the duo reached the street, effectively escaping the crowd.
'That was a hell of a lot of people.'
Looking at his soul phone quickly, Titus halted for a few seconds, and then led the way down the street.
Having released Caecus from his grip, because it would be unbecoming of them to appear like that, he walked in front of Caecus.
'I wonder how it's gonna be, if I am completely honest with myself… I'm really nervous!'
Quickly, the blind boy followed, making sure to stay close, but not too close.
'From what I've seen, they really are easy to judge on these occasions.'
The pavement on the ground below was the usual smooth floor, and the air was fresh, promising a good day, but Caecus still had a lot of anxiousness in him.
'I'll just stay close to Titus and try not to talk to anyone. Wait… why did I want to go here in the first place? To make friends… well, I'll just try my best and see how it'll go.'
They reached a hall, which had multiple floors, as seen by the terrace on the top. Caecus and Titus entered, looking at the time.
It was already six.
The black-haired boy sensed all the people's souls in the building. Two hundred twenty-eight people attended.
His echolocation spread out to encompass the whole interior when he entered.
Even though it was a two-storied building, the ceilings on the first floor were still extremely high and allowed for a big chandelier to hang down, lighting up the whole place, probably, he guessed.
Many people were talking, and music was playing, so it was kind of loud. Luckily, Caecus had expected this beforehand and kind of reinforced his reverse assimilation.
There were many tables, along with a big space where people could dance.
Titus told him on the way that people usually didn't come late, and they would most probably be the last ones to arrive, since it was common to arrive fifteen minutes early.
The duo searched for a table where they could sit down, and on the stage, with musicians behind him, a boy appeared.
He had a glass in hand and rang against it, quieting all the voices around them, making the musicians stop playing, and garnering the attention of all of the people in the hall.
Being well educated about these social situations, nobody even made a sound, giving the boy room to speak.
"Welcome. Now that everybody is here, I can start with my speech. If some of you don't recognize me, I am Julius Aeternus, the one hosting this event, and the one who sent you the invite. This gathering serves the cause of making social connections amongst the higher-ranking people. To be placed in the top three hundred, you all must have had to put a lot of work, diligence, sweat, and tears in, and I respect you all deeply for that. I expect you all to keep this respect up with everyone here… especially since rankings can always change."
He cast a meaningful gaze in the direction of one girl, who was surrounded by a lot of people, after saying the last sentence. Caecus' echolocation sensed her, but he couldn't sense her soul.
The silhouette was different from the one he met that one day at the library, Nyx. And only one other person in this year had a rank three soul core capable of hiding their soul.
Rank 1, Aurelia Caelum.
When he sensed her, an uncomfortable feeling welled up in Caecus, one that he couldn't name.
'I'll know which direction not to go today…'
'He's good with words… but that was a really ambitious way to say "I'm gonna become rank one."'
Julius continued: "Feel free to come approach and engage in conversation with me, and of course make friends, everyone! Have fun."
The music started playing again, and people started talking again.
"He seems oddly approachable, compared to other people in the top ten," Caecus said, 'looking' at Titus.
"Yes, he's very smart and knows his way around people… by the way, Caecus, you make it really easy to forget that you are blind if you can just lock eyes with people."
"Haha yeah, my servant told me it'd make people more comfortable than me just staring in whatever direction," the blind boy replied, while scratching his cheek.
"Hmm… She was right. A very smart servant…"
Not long after, Titus was already approached by people from different corpora, some of them heirs.
'I need to remember that Titus is the Titanus heir… I always forget it.'
Caecus just sat on the sidelines while Titus talked to them.
His attention diverted to his sister again.
'No, best just leave her alone. I don't know if she can sense my echolocation in some way…'
But thinking and acting logically required two very distinct abilities.
And so Caecus shifted his attention to his sister.
She was surrounded by at least thirty people, but from what he could tell, her face was extremely apathetic.
Just like a monolith, stone cold, without any emotion… a clear contrast to what he remembered her like when they were small.
His stomach churned. His worst fears had confirmed themselves, and if she was raised to behave without any emotion showing, then she must have received their father's teachings.
And he was very clear about how he perceived Caecus, not failing to mention it when he was with other people from the main family.
Height-wise, she was considerably taller than Caecus, which wasn't a surprise to him.
'After all, my lack of height is solely because of my lack of resources.' he coped in his mind.
She stood at around 178 to 180 cm, making her average among her peers, and from her physique alone, he could tell that she was extremely strong.
'I know where to stay away from for now… although my difficulties sensing her soul will cause me some trouble.'
Caecus felt like a little kid, being dragged around by his mother into social events, as he sat there waiting for Titus to finish talking.
The music was very pleasant to the ears, and he found himself enjoying the moment, until he felt a presence approaching.
"Would you want one?" a butler asked, offering some kind of drink.
"Ah… sure," the blind boy said, reaching towards one of the wine glasses and feeling the cold surface touch against his skin. "May I ask what's in these?"
"Of course!" the butler said, his face contorting into a practiced smile. Others might not have noticed, but when people were this close, Caecus could notice the microexpressions. "This is a cocktail made out of wine from the berries of the Abyss Realm, specifically dark berries. Added to it is the blood of a rank two soul parrot, which is surprisingly sweet. It provides a nice contrast against the wine."
'Holy… that sounds expensive, but why specifically dark berries? I heard they make mundane people drunk in an instant… ah yeah, that makes sense.'
"I assume dark berries are used so even soul essence users can get drunk?"
"You are correct, Young Master."
"Thank you for your help," Caecus said and silently bowed his head, signaling the butler that he could continue walking through the crowds.
The butler, on the other hand, was a little shocked. A corpora soul essence user bowing to a mundane person? But with ease, he gathered himself instantly, not letting his thoughts show.
When he felt the butler walk away, he took a little sniff of the wine, which kind of overwhelmed his sharpened senses.
'Oof. That's strong…'
Having never drunk in his life, he was hesitant, but ultimately decided against it, resting the glass on the table.
'Maybe just a little sip? I mean… it's expensive materials…'
He picked it up again, and his lips touched the cool rim of the wine glass.
Slowly, Caecus moved his hand up, and the drink started pouring into his mouth.
After taking a small sip, he put the wine glass back on the table again, and tasted it.
'Well actually… this is really good!'
When he swallowed, he felt a little burn in his throat, and silently hoped that he wouldn't get drunk.
Titus, who was talking with a boy from the Nyx clan, glanced at Caecus for a moment, looked back at the boy, and then, upon realizing what he just saw, double-checked again.
The tall boy excused himself and walked over to Caecus.
"Did you drink the wine? It's a lot stronger than you think, and you told me you don't have any experience with these things. Are you alright?" Titus asked worriedly.
'I was right about him being like a mother… I feel like a little kid now.'
"Y-yes, I think so. I can't really tell if I'm drunk or not, but probably not," Caecus answered.
"Why aren't you socializing anyways? I thought you wanted to make new friends?"
"Oh… uh… I mean…" Caecus scratched his cheek. "I'll try, okay? I was just getting a basic grasp of the situation, you know?"
Clearly not believing him, Titus shook his head, and patted his shoulder, walking back to the boy he was talking to before.
Caecus stood up, and finally tried socializing… emphasis on trying.
It was hard to just walk up to someone and start a conversation, and often he wasn't even noticed because of his height.
So he just walked back to Titus and tried joining in on his conversation.
"Oh… this is my friend Caecus, he is from Caelum. Caecus, this is Ares, from the same corpora as me."
Ares was ridiculously tall as well, a pattern he noticed with every person from the Titanus corpora.
"H-hello. Nice to meet you," Caecus said, making the same little bow with his head he did to the butler and reaching out his hand to shake it.
Ares took his hand, and shook it, the size difference between their hands throwing Caecus off.
"Nice meeting you."
Titus and Ares continued talking, and whenever Caecus tried to say something, they just nodded, making him feel like he was not taken seriously.
'I hate this so much.'
Exasperated, he excused himself from the two, and went up the stairs to the second floor to get some fresh air from the terrace.
Luckily, there was not a single soul to be sensed, so he entered it and shifted his weight onto the railing.
It was probably dark outside, since the time matched.
'This is way better. I was getting overwhelmed with the amount of people there…'
He took a few minutes just being alone with his thoughts like always, but this time it felt oddly comfortable.
"A blind person alone on a terrace? That's dangerous," he heard a teasing female voice with a chuckle.
'How didn't I sense her… oh…'
He knew that voice.