Chapter 73: One Cube

In Altur, the only country that occupied the large continent of Cauhaes, specifically in the city of Kluemwood, a huge city that was both the capital of the country and one of the most important metropolises in the world, one could currently feel the excitement in the air.

While it was a normal occurrence for there to be a large number of people roaming the streets, this time the number had grown exponentially, mainly thanks to all the young people flooding the streets.

If one looked closer, one could see that each of these young people gave off the unmistakable pressure of a super!

One wouldn't normally see such a concentration of supers unless it was an incredibly important event, but this time, the event that was about to take place today definitely warranted such a number.

After all, today was the one day of the year that the Eitsirc Academy was opening its doors so that all promising youngsters could take the entrance exam.

This was an opportunity that countless young people around the world could not pass up, not only because of the academy's fame, but because of what it really meant to be able to get in.

While the academy was known as the best place of learning for supers around the world, that of course, was something that was well justified.

With a terrain that was comparable to that of all Kluemwood City, state-of-the-art facilities and the most qualified teachers that could be found across the globe, these were all things that made up the Eitsirc Academy.

Undoubtedly, they were quite attractive benefits, but as if that wasn't enough, they also offered to all their students what was normally only available to certain families or sects.

Whether it was spells, martial techniques or special items to increase the espers' power, everything could be obtained at the academy as long as one did one's part to perform well.

Of course, that was only part of all the benefits that could be found at the academy, which could only be described as a meritocracy in all its glory.

It was currently 10 o'clock in the morning, taking into account that the exam would take place at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, these young people had some time to finish registration and walk around the city.

"Woah, I had already seen it several times on TV... but seeing it in person is something totally different..." Said a blue-haired girl who was watching the streets from inside a room located on the top floor of a 15+ story hotel.

At this moment, she was wearing short shorts along with a top that exposed her shoulders and arms along with sneakers, if one looked closely at her body, one could see that there were different types of runes which looked like tattoos inscribed on both her arms and legs.

Although they did not cover her skin completely, they were still large enough to be visible, on each of them running a thin stream of mana.

"It's the Eitsirc Academy entrance exam, anything less than this wouldn't live up to their reputation." Added a tall, stocky, white-haired young man whose appearance made him look like a model.

Like the girl, the clothes this young man wore were also light, wearing a tank top and sweatpants that didn't obstruct his movement too much.

Despite having a relatively normal appearance, anyone who saw him would think twice before even approaching him since at the moment, the impression he gave was that of a sword that could be drawn at any moment.

Clearly, these people were Sarah and James respectively.

"Don't you want to see this too, Jay?" As he finished speaking, the young man turned to look at Jay, who was currently lying on the bed in the hotel room.

"I will in a moment." He replied as he checked his smart watch, or rather, played the same game that had been sent to Colt a while back.

Apparently, this simple but informative game got even better depending on where one played it, so now that he was in Kluemwood City, there were a thousand interesting locations with a rich history to discover, something Jay was quite interested in.

Like Sarah and James, his appearance was also different, mainly due to the state of his body, which could be clearly seen due to the fact that he was wearing a similar outfit to James, exposing his strong arms.

While his body had been in a constant state of change since he obtained the system, the biggest and fastest change was undoubtedly when he advanced to rank (D+), which immediately increased his fitness to where he was now.

Of course, it was one thing to have the physique of a rank (D+) pugilist, and quite another to know how to use it, which is why most of the time after he recovered was spent on familiarizing himself with his body.

After the intensive training of the 3 finished, none of them took too long to sort their affairs to travel to Altur, and as they all had the same destination and goal, they decided to travel together.

As for the money needed for it, for both Sarah and James, these were funded by their respective families, as for Jay, his sponsors were none other than Jenny and Noah, the latter had also been left in charge of looking after the house in the meantime.

"So, you guys want to go out to eat something while we wait for the exam to start~?" Sarah said as she kept looking at all the people on the streets, "I've done some research on what are the best restaurants here~"

Since they had already registered for the admission test a long time ago, they now had plenty of time to walk around the city or rest if they wanted to.

"I'm in, we can also take the opportunity to visit some allied sects." Added James, who now had an expression of interest on his face.

With Kluemwood being one of the best metropolis in the world, it was also home to many incredibly strong pugilist sects, which were only more or just as powerful and influential as the Emperor's Gate, not less.

So James, being the descendant of said sect, was obligated to pay his respects towards the Emperor's Gate's allied sects, he had even brought gifts for that.

"Hmm, let's go then, I also want to check if what this game say is true..." Jay replied, getting up from the bed and stretching a bit.

Just like that, the three of them left the hotel and joined the youngsters walking the streets, visiting various places in the city while learning and eating various things.

***

While the three of them were having fun, a certain person was on his way home after buying groceries for the whole week, it was a young man with short blond hair who wore loose clothes and wore a cap to protect himself from the sun.

"Hm, it feels like it's getting hotter every year..." He said as he let out a sigh and wiped a bead of sweat from his face.

This young man was none other than Noah, who had stopped wearing the same clothes as before and had also gotten a haircut in addition to dyeing his hair to avoid being recognized as before.

After all, this time Jay was no longer here to save him, so he was always extremely careful when leaving the house.

Now that he was alone with his thoughts, he couldn't help but think about how only a few weeks ago he still found himself living in the South Zone, his biggest dream being to move out once and for all.

However, right now he was on his way to the place he was currently living in, which was much better than his old apartment, and more importantly, it was a place where he didn't have any bitter or painful memories.

Although it was perhaps too early to think this way, Noah felt content with his current situation.

'Hm, although the money issue is still a problem...' He thought as he put his hand on his chin, 'I guess I have no choice but to take the job Jenny offered me...'

Although he still had some savings, since he had quit his old job, it was only a matter of time until he ran out of money, which inevitably made him start thinking about looking for a job.

Fortunately for him, Jenny knew his situation, so she told him about the certain job position at Jujusen that was currently available, specifically, as a janitor.

'I guess I'll call her tonight...' 

Thinking about it, he quickly reached the neighborhood in which Jay's house was located, being only a few blocks away from reaching the house.

But at that moment, before he had even taken 1 step, he suddenly felt a great pressure coming from behind him, as if something incredibly dangerous was watching him from behind.

He immediately tried to turn around, but was stopped by a pinkish mist that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and made him lose control of his body.

Although Noah didn't know what was happening, he didn't take a second longer to activate his aura, causing the irises of his eyes to begin to give off a glow, making him momentarily regain control of his body so that he could see who the attacker was.

The moment he turned his head, the image of a long-haired man dressed in black and wearing a mask filled his eyes.

"Wow, you're tougher than I thought..." He said, seemingly surprised that Noah was resisting, "Unfortunately, that won't change anything."

At once, the man also increased the power of the mist, completely destroying the weak resistance Noah's ability was putting up, from this alone, it was clear that this man could only be a rank (C) super!

*BAM!*

"Gah!"

However, before the man could do anything else, his head suddenly slammed into the pavement at a speed that Noah even failed to see.

Suddenly, his body reared up before slamming back into the ground repeatedly, each crash being louder and faster than the last.

Although the man tried to resist, all he succeeded in doing was prolonging his pain until he finally fell unconscious... only to be awakened again by the blows, something that would be repeated several times.

At the same time the man lost consciousness, the pink haze that was surrounding Noah disappeared, or rather, was dispelled by someone.

"Are you okay?" A woman asked, her voice coming from above.

Shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness he was feeling, Noah brought his gaze upwards, specifically upwards from the man who was still still crashing to the ground, finding an adult woman who was dressed in an elegant yet beautiful manner.

Upon seeing her, the name of another girl popped into his mind, '...Sarah?'

The similarities between the woman in front of him and Jay's close friend were too many to overlook, from the distinctive silky blue hair to the graceful features of both, there was no doubt that they were related.

"...Are you Sarah's sister...?" Noah asked, amazed at the display of power he was currently observing.

In response, Sarah's aunt Iris only smiled before snapping her fingers, causing the long-haired man to finally stop crashing to the ground.

"A...argh..." 

He could barely let out a groan of pain due to the sheer amount of damage he had taken in this short amount of time. He wasn't a physical type esper to begin with, which simply worsened the damage.

"I recommend you close your eyes for a second." Iris said, looking at Noah, who quickly closed his eyes, not wanting to disobey someone with so much power.

The next moment, Iris raised both hands and snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up blue momentarily.

Noah could feel an invisible stream of energy pass through his body, trembling from the sudden sensation, though he was able to keep his eyes closed anyway.

Immediately, a magic circle appeared on the man's chest, causing the man's body to begin to bend unnaturally, over and over again until he took the shape of a cube that still contained the man's features.

Noah could have sworn he heard a scream, but because it was too short, he wasn't sure.

Throughout this entire process, Iris's face remained expressionless, as if whatever she was doing was simply normal. 

With another snap of his fingers, the outside of the cube was tinted black and floated up to her hand, remaining hovering above it.

"You can look now." She said, looking down at the blond boy who was still sitting on the floor.

Slowly, Noah opened his eyes, analyzing the spot where the long-haired man used to be and inevitably bringing his gaze to the black colored cube that was floating in Iris' palm.

"Th-that cube, is it...?" 

It wasn't hard to think about what had happened after he closed his eyes at the sight of the new black colored cube in Iris' hands, which was only more evident if one took into account the short but audible scream he heard a few seconds ago.

"If you ask if this cube is the man, yes, it is. But don't worry, he's not dead, he may be under an incredible amount of pain, but he's still alive. Sorry for making you hear his scream, I took a bit too long to create a sound barrier."

In response, Noah just blinked a few times trying to understand what the woman had just said.

"Hm, you seem to have a lot of questions, how about we go to Jay's house so I can answer to all of them?"

"...Please."

With that, they both headed towards Jay's house, though not before Iris "fixed" the sidewalk she had destroyed, putting all the shard pieces back in place, though they were still so weak anyway that if a person stepped on it, it would crumble instantly.