Chapter 607: Unbelief
Northern looked lost for a minute before he allowed himself to be shown towards a seat.
Several medics were gathered around a certain red-haired girl that lay unconscious. Northern glanced in that direction for a while and muttered.
"The Lieutenant's undering..."
He remembered Shane looking quite pale and unwell, then a few moments before he slept and woke up to the final confrontation.
Everyone else seemed to be very fine, including Shin, Alystren, and Ryan.
A man in a black attire, so modern it looked like a suit but had an aura of medieval attached to it, watched the man talking to Shin and tried to make out what he was saying.
But before he could fully do so, a man wearing the same kind of attire arrived in front of him.
This one, however, looked bored and detached from the world, in comparison to the one talking to Shin.
He looked like he had not slept in ten years, drowsy even in his movement and speech.
"Uhm... yeah, hello. I am Jax Netter. I am a civil servant... and I have come to ask about your experiences in that rift."
With a lot of hiccups, he brought out an inked pen and a plain compiled book of sheets, folded out one leaf after another, and looked at Northern.
His eyes stayed on Northern for a moment, then he drifted off, nodding his head.
"Ah, right. So, we will start with your name?"
Northern, still somehow dumbfounded and in slight denial of this reality, lingered.
The man's eyes met his again, and that was when he decided to speak.
"I am Northern."
The civil servant raised a brow. "What a unique name?" His voice dragged the words.
"Just Northern?" He asked, looking at Northern who again lingered before responding. "Yes. Just Northern."
"Okay. So how old are you? If you can also provide your accurate date of birth, that will be nice."
"On the twenty-seventh day of the El Fach, in 1651."
The civil servant's eyes stayed on Northern with a bit of uncertainty.
'Sixteen years old? That can't be...'
He narrowed his eyes and asked again.
"Are you sure, sir? With that date of birth, you are sixteen years old. Factoring your height and
the level of maturity displayed on your face, you don't look sixteen."
Northern curled a corner of his lips, trying hard to suppress the full glory of his grin from escalating.
"Is that so? I look quite mature, don't I?"
'What's with this self-adoration...' The civil servant raised a brow, silently observing Northern's narcissistic demeanor.
"Well, I am very young. I am sixteen..."
The civil servant spared Northern a few more seconds of intense looks before deciding to write that down anyway with a shrug.
After a brief pause, his draggy voice came again.
"What is your drifter soul rank?"
"I'm a Transient rank..."
The civil servant's eyes slowly widened. He froze there blinking, then his eyes creased into a frown.
"You must think I have the time to be joking around."
Northern shrugged slightly with his head.
"I couldn't care less if you do or not. I want to get away from this as fast as I can, rest, and have a family reunion."
The man's eyes stayed stubbornly on Northern, furrowing closer with each passing millisecond.
Sparks ignited fiercely as the two gazes locked.
Until a third party suddenly arrived.
"Excuse me, sir."
Northern turned his head to see the owner of the voice. Immediately, his eyes kind of lightened.
"This man is a member of the Tharion Citadel, and as per the exclusive citadel right to keep their drifters away from the government, I'd appreciate it if you stop questioning him any further."
The drowsy civil servant stared into the Citadel Headmaster, Thalen's eyes for a few seconds, then he said.
"Then provide me an ID."
Thalen brought out a sleek rectangular card that contained Northern's bio data.
"Is that a rank card?"
Thalen frowned a bit. "Yes. Why?"
The civil servant turned his face to Northern. "This young man claims to be a Sage. I would love to see how true that is, or else I have the right to take him into custody for obstructing the work of a government official."
Thalen also looked at Northern, signaling with a raise of his brows to inquire what exactly was going on.
Because he also knew that the last time Northern left, which was just six days ago, he was still
a Master.
But Northern responded with a nonchalant shrug.
Thalen sighed and explained.
"I'm sorry for letting this happen. I'm sure we can work something out to avoid..."
"The card." The civil servant's voice was resolute and stern.
At that point, it was obvious to Thalen that this guy was not going to accept his bribery offer.
He sighed and placed the card in the guy's hand.
'They can only hold him for twenty-four hours anyway. After that, I'll be sure to pay back this embarrassment.' He glared at the guy.
The civil servant, oblivious of the anger in Thalen's gaze, gave Northern the card.
Northern collected it with a raised brow. "What do I do with this?"
"All you have to do is pour your essence into it, and it will automatically display your rank at
the base."
The civil servant scoffed as he watched Thalen have to explain the process to Northern.
'Almost everyone knows these things. He claims to be a Sage and doesn't even know how to
use a rank card. Don't play with me, fool.'
Northern did as he was told and poured a little of his essence into the card.
Immediately, the white card began to turn black and the black letters on the card became
purple.
At the base of the card was written:
Soul rank: TRANSIENT.
And at its top, just beside his name, a new word appeared:
Sage Northern.
Thalen's eyes widened while the civil servant's mouth dropped.
'He really is a Sage?!!' The drowsy man was shocked to his core.