Chapter 98 98: Intermission

In the Royal Capital, countless skyscrapers and large buildings were situated all over the place. But among the rest, one gigantic skyscraper stood out the most — not just because of its towering height, but more so because of the trade-mark plastered over it.

Miracle Dawn.

Beneath the road, everyone would occasionally glance at the building, taking out their phones and cameras to catch a picture of the place.

It was obvious why — Miracle Dawn was the current undisputable strongest and greatest guild in the world. The skyscraper situated at the Royal Capital was akin to its main base, making it an extremely popular attraction for the common folk and Miracle Invokers alike.

A single Miracle Invoker could be said to already have some renowned fame, however the Miracle Invokers in the Miracle Dawn? They were almost worshiped. They were idol-like people represented as heroes on the media, protecting the safety of the earth.

Inside the main base of Miracle Dawn, at the highest floor level, a vast and spacious room filled with golden to diamond trophies, family pictures and flashy weapons was located.

In the middle of the room, a stern-looking man with rough features narrowed his green emerald eyes as he watched the hologram projected on the room.

The stern-looking man was the guild leader of Miracle Dawn, Zeus Damion Hong.

"Black feathers?" Zeus muttered strangely, his back comfortably relaxing on the soft cushion he was leaning on. He grabbed the cup of wine in the glass beside him. He stared at the hologram in fascination as he asked. "...I don't remember giving her any footwork technique like that. How peculiar... did she get it in the archive?"

"It couldn't be. I don't remember Gerald telling me anything about it, either. " Zeus sighed. "I know she's starting puberty and entering her rebellious phase, even going as far as creating her own guild; but couldn't she just asked her dear papa for a footwork technique...?"

Zeus shook his head, watching the hologram in silence. His daughter Amber seemed to be undergoing a rebellious phase at this time. He had already heard of it from Gerald and the other network distributors.

His daughter started a new guild in hopes of leaving behind his fame and shadow to start a guild dynasty all on her own. The guild was named as Aurora Tide — signifying the inevitable tide of aurora that would swallow everything.

When he first heard that, he thought that they were joking. It was incredulous. His lovely, cute little daughter leaving him behind...? It was almost a nightmare in recreation of reality. Unfortunately, whether he liked it or not, his daughter had decided to do so.

.. Staring at his daughter's figure kill the demonic worm, a satisfied smile curled into Zeus's lips. He raised the cup of wine to his face as he sipped.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Let her have fun for the moment. She would soon realize how foolish her actions are."

—

Inside the famed Volund Academy, at the observation room; countless teachers were bursting in activity as they talked to each other, commenting about the potential and talent of students participating in the exam.

It was an astonishing change from being bored and silently watching the exam to being surprised and genuinely interested in the new talented students.

A loud cough echoed in the room. All the teachers stopped talking as they shifted their attention to the middle of the room, staring at the intimidating man, Brandon.

"Well, let's be quiet for a moment. Day 1 is finally concluded." Brandon announced, his hand holding over a cup of wine. "All the students are more or less exhausted and resting inside the area they occupied.. Tomorrow, at the same time of the day, the exam would start again. I'm expecting all of you to come back. But for now... all of you can have a break while the staff will calculate the total points of the groups."

All the teachers nodded, a satisfied smile curling onto their lips. The new First Year's were worth expecting for. It wasn't so bad to watch again tomorrow, and besides...

While they were watching the students take the exam, a small betting match between every teacher inevitably begun on the room — letting the teachers choose a group of students of their choice to bet on.

The rules were simple; they put on their bet, whether credits, research, skills or artefacts to the team of students of their choosing. Then they would give a rough guess of the likely ranking of the team they chose for the final day. And finally, at the end of the exam, depending on the ranking of the team of students they chose, they would either lose or win the match.

For example; if they were to bet Eugene Pendragon as top 1 and at the final day of the exam, Eugene manages to snatch the top team ranking of the test, then the teachers who voted for him would win the watch.

Otherwise, if Eugene fails to snatch the top 1 ranking for the test, they would lose the match, therefore lose their bets.

"How about you, Salem?" Maria asked, her soft green eyes staring at the expressionless brown haired teacher. "Who did you bet on?"

"Whoever gets top number 1." Rio answered vaguely, his back turning as he prepared to leave.

"Arcuied, then?" Maria furrowed her brows, surprised.

Rio suddenly stopped, turning his head to Maria as he stared at her for a while — this woman was a bit too curious about him. He shook his head as he walked out of the room, leaving behind a vague answer:

"Who knows?"

Maria blankly stared at Rio's back for a while. She sighed, shaking her head as she gave up on asking. Though, it was probably for the better; the brown-haired professor's eyes were sunken deep, lacking any sleep.

—

Rio walked through the clean white tiles of the hallways, heading to a different direction from his room. He wasn't in the mood for sleeping this time. That was odd, especially from him—but for the night, he wanted to go outside for a nice breath of air.

His desolate footsteps resounded in the wide hallways, adding rhythm to the quiet academy. Only the fluttering of the wind could be heard. It was silent and tranquil... perhaps it was because everyone was inside their dorms now, sleeping peacefully.

...He would be too, if he could sleep peacefully, that is. Rio thought. However, he couldn't. Currently, his mind was plagued by messy and chaotic thoughts. Even if he tried sleeping, he would just remain awake—forced to remember the answer he had accepted.

It wouldn't be as any different to what happened last night. He would have to take an all-nighter again and resort to coffee in the morning to stay awake. It was taking a toll on his mind and body.

He was sure that Faust noticed it too. It was just that the resident remnant spirit knew better than to ask, and if he were to be honest, he appreciated that. He wasn't fond of sharing his inner demons with other people; he preferred to take them all alone.

In that matter, he figured that maybe... by taking a trip to outside, take some breath of fresh air, he could momentarily lose himself. Rio chuckled mockingly. He wanted to lose himself through oblivion; distance himself from his inner demons... and run away from the nightmares plaguing him.

How cowardly, was it not?

Rio pursed his lips, his body stepping outside the academy as he calmly stood over the soft green grass. The wind blew, fluttering his clothes and the nearby trees.

...It had been a while since he had experienced a calm, tranquil night like this one. Albeit little, the tranquility and calmness of the night helped alleviate the thoughts plaguing his mind.

'Better than nothing.'

Rio thought as his eyes darted around the place. In the middle of the place, he saw a feminine figure standing while staring at the starry night. His eyes widened as he recognized the familiar, thin beautiful figure beside the large tree.

The pale crescent moon shone amidst the darkness, illuminating the world along with the blanket of stars above the sky that stretched through infinity and beyond.

Beneath the starry sky, Samantha stood over the large tree in the middle — staring at the starry night as her clothes and hair fluttered by the wind. Her figure was like an angel's light, shining softly on the world amidst the darkness.

As if noticing something, Samantha shifted her gaze to the nearby entrance of the academy. A smile graced her lips.

"Mr. Rio, are you here for star sighting too?"