It would shock many in the human domain, but Lumindra, the petite voice that had been sounding in Zoey's head, was a tier 7 spirit— one of the very few in the whole of Eldoralth.
Despite being bound with a tier 7 spirit capable of standing toe to toe against a paragon, Zoey was still far from being able to harness the full power of her spirit.
While some might attribute her top rank in the entrance test to luck, despite being in the advanced rank, one rank lower than Kael who considered the best prodigy in their generation.
Zoey was confident that if she were to utilize her full power, the power of Lumindra, none of the students would stand a chance against her.
And Lumindra was well aware of this fact.
There was only one reason Lumindra would acknowledge another person's strength— because that person was stronger than her.
'L-' Before Zoey could even ask, Lumindra started speaking.
'We spirits are friends of mana. Our compatibility and control toward mana is something that you humans couldn't dream of achieving. Th-'
'Stop praising yourself so much,' Zoey interrupted with a deadpan voice.
'Ahem! Just listen! We're able to derive and receive information from the mana in the air, and as soon as your crush entered, I-"
'He's not my crush!' Zoey screamed inwardly, interrupting Lumindra's voice once again. If Lumindra had been in physical form, she would have been rolling her eyes right now.
'Whatever. Now where was I? As I probed him, I discovered two things. The first was that just like the acclaimed prodigy of your generation, he appeared to also be in the Advanced+ rank,'
Zoey was once again shocked. 'Was this why grandmother asked me to choose between both of them?'
She suddenly remembered Seraphina's words. She would only approve if she chose between one of them.
'Listen,' Zoey was brought out of her thoughts by Lumindra continuing to speak.
'The first part wasn't the shocking part; it's the second. As I mentioned earlier, our connection to mana is profoundly deep, allowing us to detect even the slightest disturbances in mana.
'From what I sensed, there was some kind of veil covering him, masking something immense.
'And, Zoey, based on what I observed, even if you were at your current full strength, if that boy wanted to, he could single handedly kill every student, including you, before you could even blink.'
Zoey's thoughts went blank.
…
Two youths walked in tandem through a hallway. The first was a white haired boy with piercing blue eyes, while the other was a brown haired boy with a plethora of swords around his body. It was none other than Atticus and Kael.
Despite being in the academy, inside a relatively safe ground, Kael was still equipped with his tsunami of swords.
Atticus also always had his katana strapped to his waist no matter where he went, but Kael's collection was different!
While Atticus carried just one sword on his waist, Kael had eight! What was more, there was a huge broadsword on his back.
Yet, Kael simply walked with an unchanged expression, as if it were a normal occurrence.
They moved through the hallway in complete silence, still on the second floor, heading towards the elevator at the end of the hall to reach the bottom floor.
The hallway was a perfect blend of white and black, with transparent glass walls offering illumination and a great view of the expansive garden.
During the walk, Atticus kept stealing glances at Kael's expressionless figure.
'Damn, this is so awkward,' Atticus thought.
Neither of them had said anything since leaving the class, and it was becoming too awkward. To break the silence, Atticus decided to ease the situation by asking the first thing that came to his mind.
"So, how are you finding the academy so far?" Atticus suddenly asked, inwardly admonishing himself for asking something so... stupid?
'Damn it feels like something an old man would ask. Couldn't I have thought of something cooler?'
Atticus was brought out of his thoughts by Kael's sudden response, "It's good," Kael simply said.
Atticus nodded, "Sounds like you're having fun," he added.
Kael nodded in response, his expressionless face suddenly changing into a slight smile— an action that instantly astonished Atticus.
"Yeah, it is. I met someone strong during the entrance test," Kael said with a slight smile.
Atticus simply stared at him for a few seconds, not saying anything. With a slight chuckle, he took his gaze away and faced forward. 'Weirdo.'
Atticus had been praised a lot growing up, called a genius and even a monster by many people. But this was the first time a praise had stirred something within him.
It felt good.
Atticus smiled.
Undeterred, he and Kael kept walking through the hallway. After a few seconds, they both reached the elevator and took it to the bottom floor.
Stepping out, they were met with an expansive hall that had an open exit right in front of them.
Unlike the previous floor, the bottom floor was a little crowded with other students, many different groups already formed.
Atticus observed these new groups of students with a neutral gaze. They were different from the ones he had been in class with.
'Maybe the ranks below 100?' Atticus surmised.
Given that they were in the leaders' section of the campus, only leaders should be able to access this location. Judging by how worn out many of the students looked, it was easy to tell that they were at the lower spectrum of power.
The figures of Atticus and Kael stepping out of the elevator doors drew the attention of most students on the ground floor.
There was no one who hadn't seen Atticus's face on the big screen after the test, but what most of them focused on was the expressionless figure of Kael.
Kael was tagged as the most talented in their generation, breaking records as though it were nothing. There was no one who didn't know who he was.
The students immediately broke into chatter as Atticus and Kael walked through the crowd.
Many wondered why they were both walking together. It was very rare to see two tier ones moving together.
Anytime two tier ones were together, they were always trying to get the upper hand on one another. This had always been the way, whether it was the older generation or the younger— they always wanted to be the best.
But right now, why were they both walking together as though they were friends?
They were confused.
Just as Atticus and Kael were about to step out of the door, "Young master Atticus," Atticus turned to see a silver haired boy approaching both of them with a smile.
'Silver hair? The Vermore family?' Although Atticus had hardly socialized when he was back in sector 3, he still made sure to remember the features of all the tiered family in the sector.
And there was only one silver haired tiered family in sector 3— the Vermore family. The tier 2 family that controlled one of the four regions in sector 3, Dusk Town.
It was this same estate that Sirius had visited when they were searching for Alvis and Ronad after the attack on the Raven camp.
The silver haired boy bowed respectively towards Atticus and Kael as he reached the duo.
Although it was obviously Atticus he had come to greet, he still had to show Kael the appropriate respect as a tier one.
"My name is Zelas Vermore, and I am the second son of Darius Vermore," Zelas introduced himself as he stood up from the bow with a smile.
Atticus observed the smiling figure of Zelas, capturing even subtle nuances of him.
After coming to a conclusion in less than a second, Atticus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. But despite this he still decided to respond.
"I'm Atticus. Nice to meet you. You mentioned you're from the Vermore family, right?" Atticus inquired.
"Yes, young master," Zelas replied with a nod.
"I see. Do you need me for anything?" Atticus asked.
Kael was currently standing by the side, quietly waiting with his expressionless face. And Atticus had already promised to hang out with him. It would be rude to keep him waiting.
Sensing Atticus's impatience, Zelas replied, "No, young master. I merely wanted to introduce myself." Zelas bowed respectfully once again and excused himself, allowing Atticus and Kael to continue their walk.
As soon as Atticus and Kael stepped through the door, the genuine smile on Zelas's face transformed into an irritated expression as he narrowed his eyes. It was as though his earlier demeanor had been a facade.
'I wonder why Dad wanted me to get close to him,' Zelas thought with a cold glint in his eyes.
After a few seconds of staring at the backs of Atticus and Kael, who were already outside and far away from the building, Zelas turned and headed back to his group.