"Oh, Cylius was it? You're here too?"
As all first stage students were on the ship and some were here in the water park, there were bound to be some people who knew him. As he had laid low during his stay in the school, it was likely to be either his classmates or his mentor's other students.
He was a talented student after all.
Now seeing the person who talked to him, it was one of his classmates. He wasn't anyone special; no one in his class would be special except Arthremis, the destiny child.
Well, it could be said that he was popular within the class at least. He had entered the second-tier after a few months of entering the academy. Although slow compared to the other classes, fast compared to their own C1 class.
Looking at him now, he seemed to be with his girlfriend. A beautiful girl with long blonde hair and sharp ears, just like those elves in fantasy.
"Yes" he replied back; simple and monotone.
"Anyways, what are you doing here? Did you complete the mission too? What mission did you get? I got a mission related to Crystalized Fire Essences, and it was 15 grams at that too! I even got a few for myself" he bragged.
Looking at his expression, he truly seemed to be proud of the achievement.
Considering their power was worlds apart, the difference in their mission was also great. But that wasn't important for now.
"Hunting monsters"
He told a lie. A lie that won't bring him any trouble.
"Oh yeah? Then is that monster the one you have made a contract with? You really picked a good choice man… Anyway, do you wanna go drinking with us? Arthremis and a few other seniors are coming"
The contract he was talking about was the contract between a person and a monster that is beneficial to both of the parties. The person provides the monster with the thing it wishes for and in return, the monster also helps complete the person's wishes.
Battling and such.
He and Fey didn't sign the contract.
Should he refuse, he would bring trouble upon himself. Should he agree, he would also be bringing trouble upon himself. But considering it was Arthremis, the destiny child, he will agree. Because he wanted to gather information from him and see if he could do something with the providence.
"Ok. Fey come here" he signaled for Fey to come over.
"Oh, so Fey is his name? What a great name… Can I pet it?" he looked at the winged serpent with greedy eyes; eyes that contained greed and delight.
He noticed it. He was probably thinking of gaining Fey's favor so that he could break the contract between him and Fey before making another contract with Fey. Powerful creatures were rare after all, more so for unique ones like Fey.
Still, he didn't refuse.
"Fey, go to him" he looked at Fey, signaling it to go and make the person pet it.
Fey nodded its head before trying to lower its head. But just as it was going to lower its head, the person said "Oh, no need" before flying into the space right in front of Fey.
Holding the canned soda in his hand, he raised his right hand up. Slow and gently, he placed it on Fey's head and rubbed it.
Fey wasn't dissatisfied at all. It practically didn't care about this human in front of it; whether it was petting or not. It only followed its master's orders.
'Woah, what a powerful creature. I could already feel the constant fluctuations coming from it. Hehe, that loser was truly lucky. What luck, I should snatch it'
"Hey, is it on sale? Will you sell it to me for 1000 credits. How about that? A good deal for a creature you found on the road right?" staring daggers at Cylius, he could already feel the intention of him.
'Sell it or else, you don't wanna what will happen'
Cylius stayed silent.
'That loser's gone quiet. He should be thinking about selling it to me already' he giggled.
"No need to rush. Think about it for a while, we've got time"
Great wealth attracts equivalent danger.
'I should erase their memories; this was his conclusion. He was sure that he could do it without them noticing anything wrong.
'First I should isolate the surroundings and then make an illusion that we're still talking normally.' thinking that, he isolated the surroundings.
An invisible barrier was set up which made an illusion that everything was going on normally.
They didn't even notice anything. Their power level was different after all.
Now that he isolated the surroundings, he did what he wanted to and flicked his finger, resulting in his soul force going out and entering their soul for a moment before erasing this desire of his.
As for the girlfriend, she didn't see anything. Only them conversing normally.
After their memories had been erased, they wouldn't even notice anything. This was the scary part. They didn't even know they had this desire nor that something like this had happened at all.
No headaches or whatever that would give him away.
Just a normal day passing by.
"My oh my. Isn't this Cylius? My friend?" suddenly someone entered the illusion barrier. Just like a ripple, Cylius could feel it clearly that this barrier had been invaded by another. Although it didn't collapse, it definitely was weakened.
"What are you doing out here? Are you keeping them so you could make them your test subjects? Hmm? What are you doing with a beautiful girl anyway. Why don't you lend her to me? I could surely make something good out of her" a sarcastic remark came.
It was Garen.
After the survival mission, he had changed drastically and was no longer the same Garen from before. He could be considered to have changed 180 degrees. But along with the change, his power also dramatically changed.
It's like something had awakened within him. Probably because of his bloodline.
He usually rapes women and also kills for fun. The thing was that he had the power to do these and remain safe.
He heard that he had gotten a powerful background and was doing what he wishes within the academy. He was infamous for a variety of cases.
Well, not that he cared about him and his doings.
"Hmm Cylius, is that your friend?" the person snapped back to reality from the trance state he had been.
His desire had been erased and his mind had come back.
The girlfriend was also the same.
"Oh, you don't remember? Haha, how funny. Do you want to know? Your memories have been cleaned by him. Now, you have no memory of what had happened before. Just like a rabbit trapped in a cage, you can do nothing haha"
"What- do you know who you're talking to?! Who are you?"
"Babe, let's back off… I think I have seen him somewhere… Ah, right! He's Garen! He's that infamous Garen from professor Kroft. I heard he has even beat seniors from the second stage. We should go back now!"
"Wha- is that true?... If so sorry sir, I will back off right now" he seemed troubled by something. And although his anger was still there, he could only eat it up right now.
He bowed before backing off with his girlfriend.
This person wasn't their league at all.
'Who is Cylius? For the infamous Garen to recognize him…' he whispered while backing off.
"Ha, Cylius. Are you really going to let them go? They're probably suspect your identity now that I have approached you, haha"
Hearing that, he fell into a thought. Although he was sure he could beat Garen in a match and capture him, it would cause quite a commotion which he didn't want right now.
He was skilled after all.
On one hand, he had these two to start rumors about him and on the other hand, Garen was there, prepared to do anything at any given moment.
He'll just make Garen handle them then.
He snapped his fingers. Just as he snapped them, the two who were going to go out stopped in their tracks. They couldn't move at all.
Walking slowly towards them, he once again erased their memories before making them asleep. After doing that, he threw them towards Garen and walked away.
He didn't want to bother with this trouble. He had already gotten the information on where to find Arthremis after all.
"You're giving them to me? Alright. I'll take good are of them" saying this with a smile, he waved his hand.
"Fey" along his word, Fey shrank to become tiny before sitting on his shoulder.
Garen didn't have any value left. He didn't care about him.
But if he were to disturb him, he will dispose of him.
…..
An hour later.
'They should be here anytime soon' he looked at his watch.
He was now outside the supposed bar they were going to meet. The inside of the spaceship was just like a whole city, with a variety of entertainment facilities. It would have everything a person needs.
It was exactly 8:30 pm and it was time they would come. Although he didn't have any hopes for the seniors that were going to attend, Arthremis was different.
This time, he will be entering with the identity of Laplace, the student that had attracted quite an attention due to the slaying of a semi converted creature. The realm of semi convert was powerful among the first stage students after all.
"New face?" a fat person came up, talking to him.
He looked to be of nobility, of an extravagant background. From his aura, he had comprehended one rune and it was at 25%. Neither strong nor weak.
''He should be one of the seniors'
"Yes. I heard people were gathering here today and came to participate"
"Haha, junior. Really so? Where's your card then?" his eyes narrowed, apparently suspicious.
"What card? Do we need something like that? Or are you testing me?" behind the cold metal mask, Cylius' voice rang out.
The voice was as cold as the abyss, striking deep into one's mind. Just listening to it made the fat person shiver.
"No no junior. I just haven't seen your face around here and was suspicious of you. By the way, junior's name is…?"
"Laplace" hearing the name, the fatty gasped.
It was said that this Laplace was a powerful newcomer who had killed a semi convert creature four years ago. After the incident, this Laplace appeared in some major events and always showed astonishing feats.
He was scouted by many factions that even had top tier factions among them.
However, he just disappeared as soon as he came and no one was able to find him.
Their 'Flaming Hand' group also sent an invitation to this newcomer but didn't receive any replies.
"Oh really. Junior was such a big figure, why didn't you notify us that you were going to come? We would have welcomed you with open arms. Anyway, what is junior here for? For the exchange that is happening today or…"
"Arthremis. I am here to meet Arthremis."