280 Entering the Data Room
"Don't push your luck, 'Professor' Argas," Asher said, his indifferent eyes looking at Argas who was standing still.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Asher asked.
"No," Argas replied, placing the card near the scanner.
Asher was standing behind Argas, so he couldn't see the expression of anger etched on Argas's face.
Never in his life had Argas imagined that he would be forced to obey another's orders, his whole life and career hanging on another person's whim.
<Access to the Data System Room confirmed>
The robotic voice was audible to both of them as the elevator began to ascend. Their destination was two floors below the topmost floor, where Farnus always stayed.
Farnus occasionally used his floor to practice his mana circulation, so he evacuated everyone from the five floors below him.
That was why there were no guards directly safeguarding the Data System Room. The security system and Farnus himself were sufficient to keep unwanted intruders out.
"I will remind you again, you will not be able to register your artifacts," Argas stated as the elevator doors opened to reveal a vast room.
Argas moved forward and Asher, donning a cap, followed suit. Argas noticed various security devices scanning the ID bracelets on their wrists.
<Entry Confirmed Argas Verment>
<Entry Confirmed Mark Stevenson>
The robotic voice echoed in the room, heard by both Asher and Argas who continued walking towards the center where a massive cube was situated.
This was where every artifact was placed and its mana frequency recorded, while those that possessed them used them.
"I want to record the Mana Frequency," Argas declared, halting in front of the cube.
<Initializing the Recording Protocol>
<Please enter the ID of the Artifact>
The robotic voice guided Argas as a hologram appeared. After an inspection by the Security Team, the artifact's information was recorded by the team, and Argas only needed to enter the room and record the mana frequency.
This was why he had told Asher it was futile, as he couldn't register his own artifact.
"If you place your artifact there, it will scan for the specific details recorded by the Security Team," Argas explained, producing a ring, the artifact he had permission for.
"Only if you have a similar artifact can you record it here," Argas stated. But deep down, he yearned to see the look of defeat on Asher's face.
He had been compelled to bring Asher here, but he knew it would be fruitless.
Even if Asher possessed a ring-type artifact, that artifact would be registered under Argas's name. For Asher to use it, he needed to purchase it via the trade center, which was impossible as the artifact Argas had brought was an S Rank artifact.
And a student couldn't possess an artifact above A Rank at all in the World Academy.
It made sense for a person like Argas to use an S Rank artifact, as an A Rank artifact was useless for him due to his rank. Farnus would have rejected it.
He had explained this to Asher, but Asher told him not to overthink it.
His only task was to bring Asher here, which he had accomplished.
Now he wanted to see what Asher could do.
'Now this bastard will see how wrong he was,' Argas thought, maintaining his neutral expression.
He didn't want to agitate Asher and make an enemy out of him, as Asher still possessed all the evidence against Argas.
If Asher weren't from the Greville family or any influential family, Argas would never have allowed someone to control him like this.
He couldn't overcome Asher's status, so his only option was to obey Asher's orders.
Asher stepped forward upon seeing the cube, crouching down to place his hand on the robust metal structure.
Asher stood up, circling the cube.
"If you're done, we should head back," Argas suggested, aware that cameras were continuously recording the room.
But the only person with access to this footage was Farnus himself. And typically, Farnus wouldn't go out of his way to review the footage, as his mana sense was adequate to know what was transpiring in this room.
All the professors were cognizant of this.
If Farnus hadn't left the World Academy, Argas would have brought Asher here with the pretext of satisfying Asher's curiosity due to losing a bet against him.
That way, even if Farnus had detected and stopped them, he could have found a way out, as he didn't bring Asher here covertly like now.
But that also implied they would be caught anyway.
Argas had brought Asher here as Mark because Farnus wasn't present. However, he didn't want Asher to linger here any longer.
"Make a cut here," Asher directed, pointing at a particular part of the large cube.
"Huh?" Argas responded in surprise, confusion evident on his face.
"Hey, we can't do that; it will alert the Security System. The runes here..." Argas moved closer to prevent Asher from tampering with the cube.
But he halted when he saw Asher coat his fist in aura and punch a specific part behind the cube.
"No!" Argas hastily approached the cube, but Asher's punch hadn't damaged it nor triggered the Security System.
"Cut a narrow line here to create an opening," Asher instructed, observing the anxious Argas.
Argas almost panicked when he saw Asher's punch. He was about to use his mana to push Asher away but restrained himself.
He didn't want to add harming the heir of the Greville family to his list of crimes.
"Do it if you don't want to get caught here," Asher said as mana started flowing out of his hand and onto the big cube.
Argas was confused, but Asher didn't give him time to contemplate anything.
Crouching down, Argas fashioned a blade from his aura and made a square cut to remove a section of metal from the big cube.
Asher peered into the opening, revealing a complex system of circuit boards that controlled the cube's functions.
Asher produced a chip, a device Tom had constructed after extracting data from the Operating Tower.
The cube was a device used in certain areas of the World Association's Main Headquarters. Tom had spent hours studying it, identifying potential points of data breach and manipulation.
Because Asher had told him in advance about the data he wanted to input, it was relatively straightforward for Tom to design a program that could help Asher, provided that Asher could access the Recording Table itself.
The Recording Table was the big cube that stood before Asher and Argas.
Following Tom's detailed blueprint of the board functions, Asher crouched down and slotted the chip into one of the boards. Everything had been carefully committed to Asher's memory, making the task effortless.
"Wait, what are you putting inside?" Argas asked, panic creeping into his voice.
<Input Data Received>
<Checking Access Authority....Process Stopped...Bypassing Authority...Adding Data>
A robotic voice announced, prompting Asher to rise to his feet. This left Argas completely bewildered by the unfolding events.
<Artifact ID updated>
Asher advanced towards the front, brandishing a card-
type artifact. He placed it on top of the cube, then extracted a small vial of blood and dripped its contents onto the card.
The card's embedded jewel gleamed as the artifact activated.
To register it, Asher needed to activate the artifact.
<Recording the Mana Frequency>
A force field enveloped the card as Asher watched the jewel illuminate. Subsequently, a mark was engraved on the top-right corner of the card.
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