I had a million questions about her, but first of all,
"Who the hell is she?" I blurted.
I scoured my two sets of memories, but in no one did I find her existence.
In the novel, House Necron didn't have a scion in the same set as the main cast, and in my memories as Damon, I surely hadn't heard about her before, and it was impossible not to remember someone with her looks and demeanor if I had ever seen her before.
So where the hell had she popped out from. Could it be that my actions have already starting to cause butterfly effects? Surely not, not unless butterfly effects can go back in time affect the past.
'Who knows?, maybe she's another transmigrated individual, just like you.' Bubbles suggested, this time telepathically.
'Hell no!' I didn't even want to think of the consequences that' would cause if it was true, so I didn't even entertain the idea.
'So then what do you think?' Bubbles asked.
'Whatever or whoever she is isn't my concern, but the amount of derailment the storyline would undergo is.' I replied.
To be honest, me being here was enough to derail the storyline, but at least I could still mitigate it's effect. But now, another X had been added in the equation, how could I not question Y?
"Aspirants of Astral mystic Institute!" A commanding voice took control of the chaos the ethereal redhead had stirred.
There above the sky, stood a man clad in a bronze suit. His face was as stern as they come, and his well combed mustache flared like it meant business.
His stern softened for a little moment, perhaps because his voice had done it's job of drawing everyone's....well, almost everyone's attention to him, some were still dumbstruck looking at the Necron girl.
If I were to be honest, even I was struggling not to look.
"Rejoice, for you are being given the chance to compete for a spot out of the one hundred and twenty slots available." The man continued.
"I don't like wasting time, so I'll get to the point, also anyone who interrupts me will be automatically disqualified." The man said, immediately crushing all protests.
"Let me start by clarifying again that out of over a thousand of you, only a hundred and twenty will be granted admission.
There is no written exam, so the less academically inclined among you can have a chance, after all what we seek from you is strength, not your knowledge.
In a few minutes the barrier encasing the island will open just wide enough to let you aspirants pass through.
Your one and only goal in this exam.... is to reach the main block of the Astral Mystic Institute however you can, and by whatever means necessary.
The exam will end the moment a hundred and twenty aspirants reach the institute.
And need I remind you, the barrier will only stay open for half a minute. Good luck." he disappeared.
His disappearance left an awkward silence, as some of the youths looked at each other, as if trying to ascertain whether they all heard the same thing, before reacting.
"He's joking right?" a guy broke the silence. That was all it took before everyone started reacting, and chaos once again took control.
"How can the entrance exam of such a prestigious institution be a race?" another argued.
"Perhaps it's a test." another offered.
"I'm more worried about the fact that he said the barrier would only stay open for half a minute. Isn't that ridiculous?"
Meanwhile, my mind was elsewhere.
"Is she always this statesque?" I found myself pondering. I didn't know when my eyes went back to the ethereal redhead still standing on the deck of her airship.
"Thwack!" Bubbles soft paw hit my head. "Focus baka." he chided.
"Relax." I said. "The entrance exam is going to be a piece of cake, for us at least. The bigger exam I've assigned to myself is figuring out who the hell she is." I explained myself.
"She's a witch I say. She'll affect the speed at which you draw your sword." Bubbles argued.
"Please," I scoffed. "There isn't a woman alive that could do that, and there never will be." No woman would ever be able to stop me from achieving my goals, that I was sure of.
And it wasn't like I was suddenly mesmerized by the girl.... well not entirely, but there were two main reasons I was focused on her. One was to remember the slightest bit about her.
Surely, if someone like her existed in the novel, then she must have died before the storyline began, and if that was the case, then something I might have done during the timeframe of my arrival in this world till now, must have had a hand in her presence here.
But I didn't dwell on it, for all I know it could be what Bubbles thought.
The second reason I was focused on her, was my frustration.
Man, if there was one thing that ranked just below me not liking being told what to do, it was that I hated not knowing.
Before, when I had knowledge about this world from a novel I had read, and then Damon's memories to fill in the blanks from the novel. I had felt nigh omniscient, kind of.
But this...this.... girl. Damn I couldn't even find it in me to call her bitch. This girl threw a wrench in most of the plans I had started to formulate, and now my knowing was not so perfect anymore, not that it was perfect before, but at least then, I was the only imperfection.
"Sigh, no use worrying over spilled milk." I sighed. "I'll deal with the problems as they come." My mind felt a bit clearer as I came to that realization.
Just as that happened, the shimmering translucent barrier encasing the island revealed itself once more.
As you can guess, the surroundings grew more chatty and chaotic.
"Oh my God the barrier has appeared."
"It only appeared not open."
"Same thing."
"Why do you humans love talking so much?" Bubbles muttered with faux disdain.
"Hmmm, that is because a wise man once said; humans are social creatures." I replied.
'But hold up a minute, why the hell is bubbles still out?' I gave the winged cat a strange look.
"What?" he asked confused.
"Why the hell are you not back in your tattoo form?!" I whisper yelled.
"Oh, this?" he licked his paw. "I'm not really here."
I raised a brow.
"Huh? what do you mean by you're not really here?" inquired.
"Uh, remember that projection sorcery you refused to learn?" he asked.
The projection sorcery in question, was this mind sorcery that enabled one to be able to project part of their spirit into the material world. Their projection could move around within a certain distance, about a hundred meters or so depending on the strength of the caster, and couldn't be noticed by those with a weaker spirit than the caster.
I was indeed too lazy to spend hours of my days, trying to learn it.
"Yeah, what does that have to do with 'you not being here'?" I asked.
Then my eyes widened.
"Don't tell me you learned it?!" I almost exclaimed.
"No that's stupid." he laughed. "It's something I discovered I could do. And just like the projection sorcery, I can only move about a hundred meters away from you and only you can hear me, but unlike the projection sorcery where people with stronger spirit than me can see me, since we're bonded, only people stronger than our combined spirit can see me."
I nodded in understanding.
"I see." Then I scowled. "Wait a minute... is that why people have been looking at me as if I was insane for the past few minutes?"
Indeed, I was being looked at before, but after the main cast appeared, followed by the redhead, all attention drew away from me. But a few minutes ago, after the proctor disappeared, I started feeling the eyes again.
Only this time, it wasn't just looks of contempt, but there were a weird mix of sympathy in their gazes.
"Oh you should have talked telepathically with me then." Bubbles wiggled his tail without a care in this world.
"This little shit..." I muttered.
'The barrier should be opening any moment from now.' my gaze sharpened. I wouldn't aim for first place because if Alistair doesn't get the first place, that was a problem on it's own. Not that I could get the first place to being with.
I knew a secret way to get to the institute faster than anyone else, but I'll wait for some time before going through with it. To be honest, it was kind of cheating, but the proctor clearly said by any means necessary. His words not mine.
Alistair should be in Eta+ by now, in the novel he was the one who got first place, Fabian got second, while Rose got third place. Notwithstanding, whatever place you got, would be your rank in the institute, and determines your privileges.
"Get ready Bubbles." I muttered as I set my eyes on the barrier.
The seconds began ticking, and on the thirteenth second, an opening formed on the barrier. It was large enough to let twenty people pass side by side.
"Whoosh!" my speed was like that of a spectre, as I dashed towards the opening, leaving after images behind.
But my fade had already been ruined, because three other people.... no scratch that, four other people, had already entered before me. The surprising one being the redhead that was still standing on her airship a moment ago.
***********
ALRIGHT EVERYONE, DONT FORGET TO DROP SOME POWER STONES, AND DONT BE TOO LAZY NOT TO WRITE A REVIEW.
HERE'S A PUZZLE I'M ASKING AGAIN; IS DAMON AN EDITOR WHO GOT TRANSMIGRATED INTO A NOVEL?
OR IS HE A PRINCE WHO GOT THE MEMORIES OF AN EDITOR FROM ANOTHER WORLD?
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?