"-an!"
"...Ian, wake up!"
…Huh…? What's going on…
Julien could hear the footsteps all around him. He shuddered as a splitting headache suddenly made itself known to him, along with the intense soreness around his legs and chest. But he couldn't open his eyes. Not yet--his body didn't seem to be listening to him.
Hushed whispers surrounded him, full of worry. There seemed to be multiple people talking.
Suddenly, memories flooded back into his mind. The Draconian. Rushing in to save Little Julien. Using [Mana Ignition] to defeat it. Everything cutting to black.
He was lying on the ground. Must've passed out from mana exhaustion.
"He'll wake up soon. It's been a few hours already--"
"I just wish we could've gotten him to you sooner."
Julien recognised the voices. The first one was the Academy's head healer--not that he'd had to see her often in his days as a student. The other was Haley, and she sounded worried.
We must have made it outside of the gate, if the healers are here.
Relief flooded through him.
Ding.
Through the darkness of his vision, a system notification appeared.
[Main Quest: "The Beginning" – Part II Completed.]
[Reward: Alignment Progress +1]
[You have reached Level One Alignment: Villain's Path]
I'm more aligned with the Villain's Path? I don't like the sound of that…
[As a reward, you have been granted access to the next page of Ian Mooring's 'Real' Journal.]
The journal?!
In all the drama and tension, Julien had forgotten about the journal. It was currently sitting in his inventory, opened just one time.
He had been disappointed by the lack of information in the unlocked pages. But if there was one more, there might be something worth knowing in them.
His eyes snapped open and he sat straight up, startling the small crowd of people around him. Before he had a chance to say anything, Haley grabbed him, hugging him tightly.
Julien flinched at the sudden pressure. "H-hey--ow, Haley--you don't need to--"
"Sorry…" Haley murmured quietly, her voice breaking. She let go of him, but didn't move away.
As he looked around, Julien took in where they actually were.
They were on the cliffs, outside where the gate had been. But now, the gate was nowhere to be found. It must've collapsed after they'd cleared it. The area was bustling, and people in Academy uniforms were all over the place.
The Academy sent a lot of people to check up on us… that's good.
The world seemed dim. It was like the colors of the environment had become muted and dark. He realised it was because they were no longer trying to see through the haze of visible mana.
Julien shifted, trying to stand up. But his legs were weak, and every movement made him stagger painfully.
"Ian, stop," the head healer chided, gently pressing him back down. "Don't move. I've fixed you up, but your injuries were pretty bad. You need rest."
Julien was about to ignore her--but his old skill popped up again.
[Character Guidance Reactivated]
"Sorry, ma'am," he found himself saying, sitting back down. The words weren't Julien's… they were Ian's. "I'm just worried for everyone else."
The old woman's expression softened. "Ian, you may be strong, but don't forget you're not invincible."
Ray and Amara leaned in closer, both nodding, faces full of concern.
"Can you tell me about what happened while I was unconscious?" Julien asked.
Ray sighed, looking uncomfortable. "After you fainted, we went back to the gate portal to check on the kids. After they all went through, Julien took us to where… Harris and his group were."
He nodded to the right, where there were lines of white arranged neatly. Bodies wrapped in unblemished silk, as per the Rainian tradition for the dead.
"We recovered them. There was no way we could leave them to vanish in the gate."
"I see," Julien said quietly. "I'm glad."
Amara continued from where Ray left off. "The Draconian dropped loot."
"What could it possibly have dropped?"
"We don't exactly know what it is. Maybe you can go see it later. Anyway, we took it with us because we thought it might shine some light on that whole 'Unmarked' thing it kept talking about before."
"Then, we got ourselves out. There were Academy staff waiting for us, 'cos obviously we didn't finish the gate when we were supposed to, and we explained the entire situation about the whole Gate Amplification thing," Haley finished.
Just as I thought. But how is the Academy going to handle this? Will they come clean about it, or will they cover it up as a simple 'tragic accident'?
He thought of the Headmistress, Millicent Aryle. A stern woman who'd been in the job for 30 years--and who cared only about getting the best results and impressions for the Academy.
She wasn't the type to openly admit to such a tragedy occurring to the public. More likely, she would gloss over the event with a vague report to save face.
And she'll make us students keep our mouths shut too.
Julien's headache was already worsening at the thought of having to meet that ruthless woman. He shuddered as he remembered the words she'd said to him the day he was accepted into Asanel Academy.
"You're the one of the most talented young Marked in the kingdom," she'd said, with an unnervingly hungry look in her eyes. "Everyone will see the honor of Asanel through you. Do not fail us."
I still can't believe she said that to a fifteen year old. She's really something…
"Alright," the head healer said briskly, interrupting the conversation. "I need to go check on the others, so Ian, don't overexert yourself while I'm gone. And you three--" she looked over Ray, Haley and Amara, "--try to talk about lighter things. No need to keep dwelling on it all right now."
She smiled kindly and walked away to the groups of others. Julien watched her for a moment--her aged silver hair swayed gently in the wind as she consulted her clipboard. There was something oddly comforting about her presence--maybe that was one of her skills, or something.
Once she was fully gone, the four of them sat in silence for a few minutes.
Ray, predictably, was the first to break it. "I knew there was something ominous about this expedition. Why did I even go?" he sighed.
"Well, think of it this way. What would've happened to your group if you didn't go?" Julien responded, Ian's words lightening the conversation in a way Julien normally wouldn't have.
Ray gave a rueful grin. "Yeah, I guess. But really, it was you saving my ass as always." He laughed a little. "Hey, I said I'd buy you a drink. When this is all over, you're coming with me."
Julien smiled genuinely. "I'll hold you to it. Buuut it better not be that bitter junk you made us try last time!"
Ian had actually secretly enjoyed that one. But he had enjoyed teasing Ray about it, so Julien didn't mention that.
Ray clutched his chest dramatically, sinking to the ground. "Oh, you wound me with such harsh words. You're supposed to be a nice guy. This is a betrayal. I don't know what you all hated about it. I liked it. It was imported from the vineyards of…"
Haley scoffed. "We all know you like your wine, you alcoholic."
Julien chuckled quietly as Ray protested indignantly. The tension in his body and mind loosened just a fraction as he listened to him defend his opinions. Amara shook head like one would at a child, and the weight of the expedition, the Draconian, and the dead was distant for a brief moment.
But then he shifted uncomfortably where he sat, testing his legs again. The movement sent a flash of soreness along his body. Less than there had been when he'd woken up, but still, it would probably take a day or two to stop. It would be fine for a normal person, but he was Ian, the S-tier mage. He couldn't be out of service too long, or people would start talking.
"I should… probably stretch a little," he said to the others.
I want to go check the journal as soon as possible, anyway.
"Stretch? Ian, the head healer herself literally told you a minute ago to take it easy," Haley said, frowning at him.
"It'll only be a few steps," he said, letting [Character Guidance] do the arguing for him.
"You're hopeless," Amara said, grinning. "First you risk your life for everyone like a sacrificial hero multiple times, and now you wanna do it again by wandering off when you barely have any mana to keep you upright?
Ouch. That first part hit a little too close to home.
Julien shrugged. "There's nothing dangerous around here. It's just a cliff, it's perfectly safe. I'll be careful."
Ignoring their complaints, he gingerly pulled himself up, taking his scratched and fraying Academy coat with him.
Ray groaned. "I swear, one of these days your confidence is gonna get you into big trouble again."
Haley just folded her arms. "Honestly, do you even think before you move? Barely a few hours ago you were half dead from mana exhaustion. Now you're acting like you're immortal. It's infuriating."
Julien didn't hear them. He was already walking towards the forest, behind the hive of activity at the cliff's edge. The whirlwind of sound faded the further he went, and eventually he found a flat rock a peaceful distance away from it all.
He summoned the journal from his inventory, feeling excited and nervous and apprehensive all at once. Would he find the masterplan of the villain the system suggested Ian was? Or would it be just another page, documenting a day in his life?
[Ian Mooring's 'Real' Journal--Next Page Unlocked.]
[Would you like to read the newly unlocked page?]
Yes, I would, very much so.
The pages began to flip on their own, rustling until he got to the new one. Where the page had been blank before, there were suddenly new, elegantly written words filling every inch of space.
He began to read--and his breath caught.
…No wonder this was kept hidden.
His heart pounded.
Could this be what the system was trying to tell me about--?