Chapter 199 A Reward.
"Vaan Astra Vesta." A man called out and Vaan who was sitting in the waiting room stood up, the man smiled, "Headmaster Octavius is waiting for you." Vaan nodded as he walked into the room the man had just come out of. The moment he walked in, Vaan froze. "F-Father…?" He stuttered, not expecting to see his father here. "W-What are you doing here?" Vaan questioned. Orion, however, just glanced at his child with a wide smile on his face and, "You didn't think that you could get away with going to the Vesta House to be excused from the training and leaving Elara behind to convince me, did you?" "Father… I promise you that it was important, I was not trying to be lazy and avoid the training…" "So the 'important' thing just had to be discussed right when I was supposed to train you, huh? It couldn't be adjusted before or after the training, correct?" "A-As if you leave me in a condition to do anything after training." Vaan tried to defend himself. "I clearly remember you trying to play around with that girl after my training." "Elara is different. I don't have to expend a lot of energy when I am with her and she usually takes of me when she notices that I am tired, those Vestas wouldn't be doing that and you know it as well. You can't compare the two things." Vaan was quick to reply and hearing his words, Orion turned silent. "So even your son is a fool for the girl he loves?" Suddenly, Octavius who had been silent this entire time and was only observing the situation spoke up. Vaan momentarily turned silent as many questions popped into his mind, Who was this old man? Why did he not see him before?
Also, why was he talking so casually in front of his father? Vaan had seen it, even the 7th Circle Mages are careful around Orion, especially here in the Academy where his father has a status similar to that of a legend, a Black Card Holder. To think this old man would talk to his father li-
Suddenly, Vaan froze as he thought of another possibility, He was inside the Head Office, the Office that belonged solely to the Headmaster of the Academy. The strange one here was his father. Even if he was a Black Card Holder, how could he be allowed to be in this place, especially when it was time for the Headmaster to meet another student? "Octavius Ravenshadow…" Vaan muttered as he stared at the old man sitting in front of him, then, he glanced at his father with a look that demanded answers, He finally understood. Orion Ravenshadow… His father was related to the Headmaster of the Agresia Academy. "He is quite slow, considering he is that woman's son.
Maybe he inherited your bad genes." Octavius commented as he glanced at Vaan. Vaan frowned, he however, ignored what the old man said and slightly bowed his head, "It is nice to meet you, Headmaster." "You can call me Grandfather." Octavius spoke up. "Grandfather…?" Vaan was taken back. "What? You still haven't realized it yet?" Octavius questioned as he raised his left eyebrow. "That's not it, Grandfather, I just couldn't believe that you are my Father's father. I guess my father wasn't able to inherit all your sharp features huh…" "…" Orion's face twitched the moment he heard those words. Octavius on the other hand, turned towards Orion and, "I take my words back, he did inherit that girl's genes, he is quite bright." "…" Orion didn't know how to react. Vaan on the other hand, chuckled. He had never seen Orion make such an expression before. From what he had seen so far, his Father and Grandfather seemed to have a nice relationship. "Anyways, Vaan, I am sure you understand it, however, I will make things clear right now, do not expect any favors from me, even if I am your Grandfather. I take the Academy Rules very seriously. From what I have seen so far, you seem to be the type to get into a lot of trouble, don't expect me or your father to get you out of it. You will be solely responsible for your actions." "Of course, I wasn't expecting a partial treatment anyway, I assure you, Grandpa, I do not need it." Vaan spoke with a confident look on his face. "You sure have inherited your Father's confidence." "If I had to guess, I'd say father inherited from you," Vaan replied. "Of course, all his positive qualities came from me, hahaha!" Octavius laughed out loud. "I can see that." Vaan nodded, then suddenly, his eyes fell on Orion, who, unlike before, wasn't clenching his fists in frustration anymore, right now, he was only looking at him with a polite smile on his face. A smile that seemed so harmless that Vaan was horrified. "A-Anyways, G-Grandpa, I have been meaning to ask…" Vaan was quick to change the topic, he could tell that his fate was already sealed, however, he didn't dare to push his luck any forward. "What is it?" Octavius questioned. "Why did the Headmaster summon me? From what I know, every student is summoned by the Headmaster whenever their card is upgraded, why? I doubt it is just because you wish to catch up to the excellent students, correct? With how others around me were acting when I revealed that I was summoned, I got a feeling that it wasn't just a normal summon." Octavius stared at his Grandson and, "You really didn't read the Academy Guidebook that was given to you, did you?" "Guidebook?" Vaan frowned and suddenly, "Astra decided to not give him the book since she knew he wouldn't read it anyways, she said it was better to save a book and give it to someone more decent and humble, someone who actually values what was given to him." Orion was quick to shoot a few jabs at his child. "...mother would never say something like that." Vaan retorted, however, with how weak his tone was, it was clear that he didn't hold confidence in that sentence. His mother was the type to definitely say something like that. "Hahaha~" Seeing him like that, Octavius couldn't help but laugh out loud. Then, as he turned towards Orion, he spoke up, "I now somewhat understand your perspective of life." Orion was taken aback when he heard his father speak and laugh like that. His father… seemed genuinely happy to meet his grandson. Vaan, who noticed the change in the environment of the room frowned in confusion, he didn't know what happened. "It is a reward." Then suddenly, Octavius spoke up. "Hmm?" Vaan tilted his head in confusion and Octavius continued, "The Agresia Academy is extremely competitive, this is especially true for students who focus on gathering as many Excellence Stars as they can, Students like these would never care about meeting me even if I am the Headmaster of the Academy, What they come here for is the reward." "Reward…?" "A chance to enter the Ancient Ruins," Octavius revealed. "Ancient Ruins…?" Vaan was taken aback. He wasn't a fool, the first thing he did when he came here was read this world's history, he knew that the oldest family in Agresia was 5000 years old, most of the records the history had come from 5000 years ago, however, this didn't mean that Agresia itself was that old. In truth, it was much older than that. No one knew how old, however, one thing was sure, There was a time, a time when the people of Agresia were much stronger than right now, so strong that if the two civilizations fight now, then even with all the strength they have, the Vesta Family, the Dawncrest Family, the Agresia Academy, Church of Light, the Dragons, all these powers combined still won't hold a candle to the past civilization. A Civilization that was lost in time. A Civilization, where the God of Magic still blessed his followers.
A Civilization where Magic saw its peak, a Civilization where Magic Artifacts were in abundance and Magic Engineering was at a level now deemed impossible. And the Ancient Ruins, are what's left of this Civilization. An opportunity to enter and explore the Ancient Ruins wasn't just something that would reward people with 'experience', exploring these ruins allowed the explorers to gather Ancient Magic Spells, Artifacts, and Instant Spells. It gave them the chance to trace back to the powerful Ancient Civilization and become a completely different person. That is, of course, once you pass its Trials, However, "Aren't most of the Ruins already explored? And all strong powers fight over the Ruins that are unexplored. How would the Academy give me the access to an unexplored Ruins? Even if it is the Academy, wouldn't one want to monopolize the ruin instead of giving it to someone else?" Vaan questioned. "Well, that's because the Ruins we allow you to enter is a special place, A place that you can very much call the heart of the Agresia Academy. A place due to which the Agresia Academy was founded in the first place.
A Magical Ruin that never runs out of treasures."
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