"Amelie Rose, an abandoned girl, lived in some sewers where beggars are flocking for a few years... You made the right choice in choosing to join our faction as you've proved your worth based on our observation of your skills.
"And if I don't remember incorrectly, you said that you have an idea about what happened to one of my candidates in joining our group? Please do tell, Amelie, you see... I don't like some random people ruining my toys.
Arthur Wolfson, the Student Council President said, a distorted smile formed on his face and his eyes seemed to become a half-moon shape while both his hands were clasped together.
Without a moment of hesitation, Amelie spoke respectfully.
"Sir, I discovered that it was the brother of the one who fought the missing Kevin."
Arthur — who listened to the pink-haired genuflecting woman — pressed his temples with his right index and right thumb, pondering over her words.
"And how exactly did you manage to discover that it was him? How can you be certain?"
Before Amelie was accepted into the Weaver Faction, she was given a task to prove herself with preliminary information about the focus of the investigation... It was to find any clues or the culprit himself regarding the disappearance of Kevin Springer.
With conviction, Amelie spoke without looking in front of her.
"To be honest with you Sir, I'm not exactly certain, but I suspected that it might be someone who has a close relationship with Kevin's opponent that day in the Mock Battle which is the brother himself. And I remembered in the banquet, he has an inexplicable connection with the daughter of the number 1 player..."
At that moment, the man with short blonde hair and reddish eyes standing on the right side reacted mildly as the man clenched both his fist, and the only one who noticed it was the woman whose hair and eyes were dyed crimson.
"Also with Kevin Springer's scandal in the Obelisk Tracking Field where he couldn't move his limbs, as well as opened his mouth to speak. I deduced that it was because of a fighter-type skill related to acupuncture points... And sorry in advance, I cannot reveal the information of this person, but I asked someone to take a look at the Status Window of the person I suspected to be the culprit, and found that he possessed a unique acupuncture skill. That's why I concluded that he's the suspect in Kevin's disappearance. I have no idea how he did it, but according to Freya, the name of my classmate that Kevin Springer fought, her brother will participate in the Ranking of Exchange on its final day."
Arthur Wolfson contemplated over words of Amelie before he spoke succinctly.
"Alright, you may leave."
After five to six seconds of registering Arthur's words in her ears, she stood up, bowed, then turned her back as she walked with small steps.
An ominous smile was painted on her lips.
...
"Do you trust her?"
The man with short blonde hair asked, looking at the back of the woman as her figure dissipates in their sight.
"At first no, but she wasn't faltering at all while speaking, you know that even a clown breaks their character in front of being pressured. If she was truly acting, she better go to the entertainment industry.
"I'll officially declare her entry to others if we proved what she just said as correct."
Arthur Wolfson said, looking at his left side where a woman was standing.
"She's an E rank with Battle Mage profession. She didn't have any Status Appraisal Skill and she didn't have many skills except for Staff Mastery."
"Is that so... thank you, Ruina. By the way, Rein, have someone to find out when's the schedule of our suspected culprit."
Arthur addressed the two. It was Ruina and Rein who interacted with Samantha during the Banquet of Obelisk.
Rein just nodded as he quickly tapped into his smartwatch, contacting someone to do the job.
Arthur then stood up and stretched his hands before saying while walking to leave.
"Alright, let's wait and see."
...
Obelisk Laboratory for General Alchemist (OLGA)
A woman with green hair and green eyes as if she was an embodiment of nature's purity was stirring some ingredients in chemical form as whitish, glistening smoke from the conical flask was evaporating.
On the other side of the laboratory, a woman whose hair was dyed brown while her eyes were yellow was burning something called Twinkle Leaf, a determinant that came from the Nereian mountain range, its purpose was to soften the thick liquid of potion for the person to easily consume it, and it's the best Mana Regulator to halt any possible side effects such as Mana Incompatibility because Mana... such as Chaos within one's body also has its own signature which was the reason why a person cannot just transfer Mana in another's body, thus the existence of Mana Potions.
"2 minutes."
An Obelisk Laboratory staff whose specialty was in regards to Neo-Chemistry and has a Rare Profession called Chemical Appraiser which lets someone crack a potion back into its original components with the use of a Chemical Appraiser exclusive skill: Chemical Assembly.
...
[Activating Skill: Nature Blessing]
Celine Cello-ana activated a skill exclusive to her as the final touch for the potion-making battle then a small, complicated green magic circle appeared atop the tip of the round-bottom flask where she poured the potion that she just concocted using the conical flask.
'Sigh... I barely made it. It's hard to make a potion within only 15 minutes.'
She sighed inwardly, slightly complaining about the unexpected, nonsensical duration to make a potion.
After a few seconds, the judge of the battle used a skill that made the potions they made fly in the air, then arrived at the judge's hands who looked at the potions for a few seconds.
"Celine wins."
The judge said succinctly.
"Yes!"
Celine didn't hide her joyfulness as her small hands clenched reflexively because her opponent was also formidable and would probably be sought by known Guilds in the future.
"Katelyn, you've done well, too. Continue to improve yourself. As a biased opinion, you'll have a great future as an Alchemist in some renowned Guild."
"Thank you, Miss Astrea. I'll take it to heart.
"Thank you for the match, and congrats Celine."
Katelyn said sincerely as she bowed her head to the judge who watched them pour and stir ingredients just now, and to Celine who just won the Ranking Exchange battle against her.
"Alright, you may go now, and Celine... Stay."
...
After Katelyn left, Celine stayed in the laboratory with Miss Astrea, seemingly confused about why she was asked to stay.
"Have you thought about your future?"
Celine — who heard Miss Astrea's flat voice — cocked her head, caught off-guard with the unexpected question.
"Huh...?"
Miss Astrea chuckled as the seemingly lost Celine became dazed as if her sense of reason left her body for a moment.
"Let me rephrase the question, what do you want to do in the future?"
Celine was snapped back to reality as she turned lucid, hearing Miss Astrea's question.
"A-ah, I-I don't know... I-I just want to make p-potions."
Celine spoke as her mouth slightly trembled, a trace of innocence can be seen in her expression.
"Is that so... Alright. You may go now. Congratulations again on defending your position in the A-1 class."
Celine bowed but her head was full of confusion before she left the OLGA building.
...
"I don't like him. I don't know why, but that's how I feel."
Han Jiho said in a low voice as he kept his pace with others, walking side by side.
Anya — who, at this time, join with them — listened attentively to Han Jiho's words because she felt the same when it comes to that person.
"Hey, hey, I'm listening, please do tell me the reasons, whatever they might be."
Rumia scoffed at Elizabeth's way of speaking before she interjected to voice her opinion.
"I don't find or feel anything wrong with the Student Council President, though. He seems normal to me. Well, at least when it comes to the new definition of 'normal'."
Rumia said casually, her hands behind her back as she walked.
Han Jiho became curious about Rumia's words... To be specific, her last sentence.
"New normal? What about 'Old normal'?"
He asked seriously while looking at Rumia from the side.
"Old normal exists before the Emergence happened, but the traces of history at that point in time was almost completely destroyed. Either it was burned due to chain disasters with the climate change or drowned in the depths of the earth. My mother said it was when the System, Skills, Dungeon Towers, and Constellations didn't exist... or more like didn't appear yet."
Rumia said as if she became a storyteller.
Han Jiho ruminated over Rumia's words but at that moment, his head felt a pang as a notification from the System entered his ears. After enduring a little, without alerting the company, he read the System message.
[Warning! Your ??? of the Past cannot be accessed without the ??? Shards!]
[Collected ??? Shards 0/10000]
[Collected ??? Fragments 0/100]
...
Han Jiho recalled his Authority from a mysterious Constellation whose Cosmic Title was unknown.
Authority: Fragment of Lights
'Alexander said he had no idea about it either.'
He previously asked Chancellor Alexander when he trained under him during the countless visits he made in the Sanctum Solaris after the Monster Stampede that killed almost everyone in his village.
"Mister, what are you thinking? We've arrived."
"Ah, nothing. I'm sorry."
Han Jiho replied to Elizabeth who was looking at him with a somewhat playful expression as her lips curled up.
Recovering from his little reverie, he began to scan his surroundings, causing his eyes to slightly shine.
Weapons and armor of various kinds. hanging side by side in the room. The designs were intricate and somewhat colorful.
"Tada-! A sponsorship from some rich investors!"
Rumia said stretching and waving her hands as if she did a magic trick. She continued to speak as she saw Han Jiho's confused face.
"I don't know where you came from, but don't tell me you don't know what investors are?"
"No, I do."
Alexander once told him that there are people who will do anything to get the good graces of what they deemed to have a great future or great power.
"Alright, so in this case just as I said earlier, some rich guys sponsored us. If you don't have a personal weapon, this is great for you, but if you do have one, then a secondary weapon wouldn't be so bad, right? So take your pick."
Elizabeth listened to Rumia before she interjected.
"Our respective parents also told us to accept any investments because their only intention is to have connections with our respective guilds, and it's fine because if they try anything funny, they'll just be assassinated, you know. And, why didn't you tell us before that you were recommended here by the Chancellor himself? That's why when it came to light, various investors flocked into the Chancellor's office like a group of fish in a small pond."
Han Jiho listened to Elizabeth's words as they started to observe weapons and armor inside one of the Obelisks secured equipment storage buildings.
'We haven't even talked to each other before. If not for the Banquet of Obelisk, I don't think this kind of thing will even happen.'
"That's a good one."
Han Jiho was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw a glistening, yellowish, long sword. But unconsciously, he felt drawn to it before he said to Rumia as he pointed his index finger in the direction of where the weapon was hanging.
"I'll have that one."
"Alright, take it. Let's bring it to the manager of this place later."
Rumia said as she picked a purple, slightly thin whip before she scans her surrounding around, watching the others.
...
After an unknown period of time, all of them managed to choose their weapons. Han Jiho then asked out of nowhere.
"By the way, why is Samantha not with us? Aren't there many investors who wanted to make connections with the number 1 guild?"
"You're right, too many to count if I may say, but she didn't feel the need to obtain a weapon through investors."
Elizabeth replied casually as she slightly swung her additional shortsword that has a cloud design.
"Well, she might just be the weapon herself."
Rumia said, causing Han Jiho to ponder a little before he asked, his expression was full of curiosity.
"I noticed it from before... But, don't you think you're praising Samantha too much? As if she's beyond human."
Rumia and Elizabeth looked at him with inexplicable expressions, but before they say anything in regards to what Han Jiho just said, the seemingly quiet woman spoke first.
"Because she deserved such praise."
It was from Anya Amasawa.
"Is that so..."
Han Jiho replied while his emotions and will to fight Samantha on the fifth day of the Emergence event intensified.
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