"What’s wrong?" Arthur asked as he looked at Ryuk, who stared at him as if he had seen a ghost.
But then, Arthur’s face changed massively as he felt something rising up on Ryuk’s shoulder.
His aura began undulating massively, and while not many people would notice, to Arthur, Ryuk wasn’t flesh.
He was a concentration of two dual energies—one blue and one pitch dark.
Right now, the pitch-dark aura was flaring all over Ryuk’s shoulder, undulating in the air like shadowy tendrils.
"It was nice meeting you once more, Arthur. But right now, I need to get to the Quest Hall," Ryuk stated before rising up without another word and moving off the table.
One step, he was only a few centimeters away, and the next step—Arthur saw Ryuk seemingly teleport to the front door of the cafeteria.
In the next second, he was gone!
"Wait! You won’t be allowed into the Quest Hall with a Newcomer Uni—" Arthur shouted after him, but Ryuk had already disappeared.
His golden eyes furrowed in worry.
’That darkness in him is undulating. I’ve never seen it undulate that much before, but I can sense that power. That power… is a nauseating one of chaos,’ Arthur mused under his breath.
In the next instant, he made his choice, rising to his feet and following after Ryuk.
’I want to see, Ryuk… Just what are you, truly?’
---
"Stop!"
The voice was uttered as Ryuk appeared before the gigantic building with the inscription Quest Hall.
The one who had commanded him was a student—except he had a badge that denoted three clear lines over his chest pocket. There were two more standing at the sides of the doors.
"I’m afraid this place is beyond the jurisdiction of Newcomers! Turn back now, or face the consequences of your stupid actions!" the student said in a threatening voice.
Ryuk looked at his own pocket, finding only one line on it.
He had donned a random uniform he found, but it seemed that was a mistake, as the uniform indicated it was a Newcomer uniform.
Now it seemed like he would need to get a 2nd-year or 3rd-year uniform, but right now, he didn’t have the time.
Immediately, Ryuk stepped forward as the three 3rd-years marched toward him.
He slowly stretched his hands toward them, but just before he could unleash his force, a voice resounded.
"Leave him be! He is a Lower Partner of mine."
The voice resounded as Ryuk halted the force, and the three Newcomers halted in their footsteps.
A figure walked forward—none other than Arthur, who soon arrived beside the three 3rd-years and showed them a card from his pocket.
"Wait, you’re Arthur Pendragon?!" one of the 3rd-years asked in disbelief.
Arthur nodded. "Nice to meet you too."
"Come with me," he said to Ryuk before walking forward.
The 3rd-years moved aside for him, looking at Ryuk with furrowed brows, but he paid them no further attention and followed Arthur inside.
---
"The Halls are divided into two—Soft Missions and Hard Missions."
"The door to the Hard Missions is right here…" Arthur said as Ryuk caught up, and both of them walked into a side elevator, which opened up.
A few button presses from Arthur, and they were being whisked up.
Silence followed for a long while, but it didn’t last that long, as the elevator soon opened up with a loud DING! and a new hall came into view.
There were a couple of students around, all 3rd-years. But what took Ryuk’s attention the most were the holographics hanging all over the room.
Ryuk’s eyes concentrated on them as he walked forward quickly, understanding the board, which was divided into:
<Mission Difficulties> <Ongoing> <Available>
However, there were no names of people partaking in the missions—until they arrived before the holographic, and Arthur brought out his card and planted it into a technological device at the side.
"The names are only there for 12 hours after the mission is undertaken. After that, it disappears, and only with a Level 5 Authority Card can you access it," Arthur explained.
The holographics rapidly changed to a keyboard in front of his fingers.
"Morgaine Dominare, right?" he asked.
"Yes," Ryuk replied curtly.
Arthur rapidly typed in the name, and a long list of missions appeared. But Ryuk’s gaze settled on one with the label Ongoing.
"Pseudo-Lord Rank Gate of Drocgoblins?" he asked with furrowed brows, but he noticed Arthur opening his mouth, then closing it, then opening it once more—only to clap his own face.
"She won’t be surviving that!" he unconsciously muttered, but seeing Ryuk’s furrowed brows, he cleared his throat.
"It’s a Pseudo-Lord Ranked Gate. A mission that should only be undertaken by Instructors. If a student goes for it, it’s tagged Impossible," Arthur explained.
"The last time I saw Morgaine, she was at the Core of the Dominion Stage. To go into a Pseudo-Lord Rank Gate, only a cultivator at the peak should consider that, and even then, it would be better to venture together in a group—which, as you can see, she didn’t do."
"Her chances of survival are very low…" He put it more nicely.
"Where?" Ryuk asked.
"Huh?"
"Where is it located?"
"Wait… You’re bluffing, right?" Arthur asked.
But then, he saw Ryuk divert his attention from him as his palm touched the technological device where his card was inserted.
Ryuk turned his head back to the holographic panel.
By now, they had attracted the attention of everyone in the room, but jaws dropped in shock when they saw the holographic panel rapidly changing.
Before long, large words appeared, showing an address.
<High-Grade Interdimensional Gates – Point X>
Immediately, the map of Grade A that Ryuk had been shown in the S0009 train reappeared in his brain.
He quickly scanned through it, finding the address before taking his hand off the device—causing the holographics to return to its former position.
Ryuk turned.
"I’m leaving," he said out loud before marching toward the elevator, leaving the 3rd-year students still in shock from what had just happened in front of them.
"Did he just hack into an A-Grade Device with nothing but a touch, or is the device malfunctioning?"
"Both of those should be technically impossible…"