Ray was facing a brown wooden door with the words "P. Maric" carved into it.
The whole process went smoothly; the only problem for Ray was that it took about an hour.
Ray started to knock on the door. A voice with a welcoming tone said, "Come in."
Entering the room, he saw a room designed with paintings of different faces. Ray didn't know who the faces belonged to, and to be honest, he didn't care. The frames were all made of metal; the difference between this guy's wealth and a great family was obvious.
Behind a wooden desk sat a man with no hair on his face; he didn't even have any eyebrows. He was wearing a white shirt, looking at him. The man gestured to him to sit. After Ray sat on the sofa placed in front of the desk, he said with a sweet voice, "So I heard that you joined a great family already."
"Straight to the point." Ray thought to himself, "With how fast the news had reached Maric, he decided to keep a low profile." Nothing good came with being in a spotlight. Although the Lighthouse family was one of the neutral families, they still had many enemies.
Ray took his hand to his chest and said with a grateful tone, "It was only part of Lady Cypris's kind soul to pity my mere existence and take me under her wings."
Maric smiled at him, but his thoughts were pure chaos. Students like him meant trouble; this morning he saw a video of him killing a man with a calm expression like when someone kills an insect, and now here he was in front of him acting like a priest.
Upon hearing that Cypris had taken him under her own care, the first thing that came to Maric's mind was that the boy was just a plaything to her; now he was not so confident about the reasoning behind her decision.
The Lighthouse family was the youngest of the great families and the weakest. With most of them being on the Mind and Soul domain, their fighting ability was also inferior compared to other great families.
"Did she choose him to be one of her personal assets in the future? With the amount of talent Sofia has, it won't be long before she surpasses Bella. Maybe it's just a low-cost gamble." Maric was confident in his reasoning.
"Well, anyway, I welcome you to our academia. Here we prepare youngsters like you to face off against their first mark. I will tell you about the instructions of the academia, but beforehand, do you have any questions?"
Ray had so many questions, but he chose the most important thing to himself: "I don't need instructions; I'm already low on time. It would be appreciated if you just told me where to eat and sleep and some information about the mark. Cyptis probably was going to tell him everything he needed; still, more details from more sources were better.
With a cold gaze from Maric, he heard his answer: "Young man, I know your situation. There are some lines and rules you can't cross. You sit here, and I will tell you all the instructions about the academy. After that, I will tell you we provide your food and a dorm for your residence. In the end, if we have time, I will tell you the basics you need to know. Are we clear?"
Ray clenched his teeth, although his face had no change in it. Maric just wanted to show him who had the power. "I hope he doesn't drag it too much, at least."
With an emotionless tone, he said, "I'm all ears." Sometimes the best way to handle a matter was just to accept defeat.
Maric observed each of his actions: "He is good at hiding his feelings; however, he is not perfect at hiding them." Maric didn't want this kid to think too highly of himself.
Thus two hours were spent, with Maric explaining the most useless rules ever for Ray.
Ray really attempted to listen.
"...and that's the last part of the instructions you need to follow." Maric himself was tired too; usually they told everyone to read the instructions themselves.
"For your food, there is a hall named Feast Hall. You can locate it on the map of the academia easily. Their time schedule will be there when you go there. In 30 minutes they will open. Two meals for the day are free; if you want more, you must pay." Maric gave Ray a card: "This is your ID card; you can get food with it and the key to your room." Maric took a breath and continued, "When you reach the dorms, its staff will help you find your room. Do you have any other questions regarding this matter?"
The mood between them was awkward for the moment; despite that, Ray answered with his usual state: "Thanks for the PERFECT explanations. Can you tell me a little about the mark and what it does?"
Maric looked at the clock; he had spent two whole hours. If anyone became aware of it, he would be framed as a fool or worse; some rumors might start about him having personal troubles with Cypris.
He sighed and started to explain, "No one knows how someone can take the mark. Each year on the fifth day of the fifth month, all the people who have received the mark will be sent to special places. We don't exactly know what they are; however, we named them realms."
Ray was listening with all of his attention on each word that Maric told him: "Wasn't the first time the mark appeared around tens of thousands of years ago? How are there so many unknown factors?" Or are you telling me about them? He said it would be better to be silent about it.
Maric felt tired after so much talking; he tried to finish the topic as fast as he could: "Each realm is as vast as a continent, filled with dangers; both the environment and the creatures that live there are extremely dangerous for humankind." He took a breath again: "Again, your teacher will be telling you more details for sure. The last thing I have to inform you is that, for the first mark, realms are divided into three different kinds of realms. First are the flower realms; they are the easiest kind of realms, with mild environments and weaker creatures roaming around them. The second type is mountain realms; they are just harder than flower realms in all shapes and forms. At last, the Unknown Realm—they are just as the name says."
Ray received too much data at the same time; his mind was filled with possibilities. "Is it random which realm each person will be sent to? How can someone pass his realm?"
Maric started to brew some tea, and while he was waiting, he said, "To pass a realm, you or someone in that realm must conquer it. Many people in flower realms hide until someone conquers the realm. And your first question: yes, there is no rule about it."
"It seems this guy's whole life is about some sort of rules," Ray thought to himself. "He won't tell me the things I need the most; better just leave now and go for a meal."
"It seems this guy's whole life is about some sort of rules," Ray thought to himself. "He won't tell me the things I need the most; better just leave now and go for a meal."
Ray picked up his card; it was all black with an R in white written on it. He had no money, so two free meals, even for two days, were a great deal.
He stood up, and he bowed to Maric: "Thanks for your help, professor. I shall let everyone know how much you know about the instructions. If you let me, I think it's time for me to go."
"You may leave."
After Ray left his office, Maric fell on his chair and stared at his tea. This boy meant unnecessary trouble. Maric wanted to use his authority; however, now he was going to be framed as a cruel person who had wasted the time of a person with his life on the line.
He sighed and drank some of his tea. "I hope he..."
He shook his head. He was not a demon, and these two hours wouldn't make that much of a difference for him.
Not many people came back from their first mark. Maric was fully aware of this matter, and after so long, he was numb to it. One more person to be added to the casualties.
Who would care?
________________________________________
The academy was divided into five main buildings and some small ones: the management, the dorms, the classes, the feast hall, and the last one, the main hall.
The feast hall was in the north of the management building. Ray had walked for 10 minutes, and with each minute passing, the building was getting closer and closer.
Ray saw so many people the same age as himgoing in the same direction as him, but he was busy with his own thoughts instead of paying any attention to anyone.
And then he saw something that shook him. To his left, far away in the middle of the academia, was a tree. Unlike the whole place that was made of different metals, it grew to reach the skies. Its leaves were like drops of blood dancing in the wind, and its trunk was made out of a black wood.
Ray remembered something that Maric told him about a tree and not to get near it but to think it was a Naraka tree, an embodiment of the god of death! Believers of the god of death had long been known as lunatics, so they were few and far between, yet at the prison one still believed in that religion.
He took one step toward the tree.
"No, it should be if I have no other way!" He returned on his path toward the feast hall.
"Anyone conquering the realm means any person in that realm will return; according to my luck, I will probably end up in a mountain or unknown realm." Ray always considered the worst outcome to happen. Lady Luck never had a glimpse into his life. "Using Cypris's name, I might find some people to help me; after all, she is from a great family.... No! It's too risky; with no rules and in hard conditions, people will show their true sides." The Nakara tree sight still was alive in his mind.
He entered the hall. It was full of people busy with their own stuff; some were eating, and some were chatting among themselves. Ray looked around; there were at least four hundred people there, with so many on their way. Finding the line for food, he went and stood in line. A boy with a muscular body and much taller than him was in front of him.
Everything was made out of metal here too, just like almost everything in the city, so there was nothing to distract him.
Ray went back to his planning: "The best course of action is to stay alone and wait for someone to do the hard lifting. Ahhh... I have so many questions; I should act fast and go to Cypris.
"The line seemed to move fast. He looked at the food they were serving; it was some meat and some rice. "Good enough." Ray smiled and waited for his turn.
As time passed, he felt more looks from all sides toward him. A newcomer at this close to the call meant only elimination.
Some whispered to themselves, "Poor boy." And some others only looked with indifference.
Only one girl was looking at him with curiosity.
Sofia, from the Lighthouse Family, was the younger daughter of Cypria. She had the exact same features as other members of her family; blonde hair and green eyes were the most outstanding things about them. When she heard that her family had taken a newcomer at this date for a servant, her first thought was that her mother pitied this boy, but the moreshe thought about it, the more weird it became.
She knew her mother best with her choice. Sofia was sure there was more to this boy than met the eye. Nothing about his looks stands out, and he seemed to be a lonely one.
With her last look, she turned to the other side of the hall. A single girl with long black hair was eating her food. Unlike Sofia's table, which was filled with people, she was alone.
She heard talk from her friends and joined their conversation; despite the talk, her mind was on the girl on the other side.
Finally Ray got his turn. With his meal in his hand, he looked around the hall for somewhere to be empty.
At the right corner, at a whole table, only one girl was sitting. "Probably a weirdo. Like I care." He walked toward the table; with each step, he felt more people looking at him.
"What is going on?" Ray sat on the other side of the table; the girl was eating her food too.
He started on his food: "Tasty." Anything compared to his food in prison would have been tasty.
The girl out of nowhere started to talk: "Get out of my table."
Ray turned his head and looked at the girl; she had long black hair and blue eyes like his own. Her eyes were filled with killing intent.
"What kind of crazy person would want to kill someone over something like this?" Ray thought to himself, and he started to compare his options: if he just leaves, in the future he will be seen as easy prey, and he could even lose the food he got. If he holds his ground, even if it gets to a fight, surely that girl wouldn't go so far as to kill.
"If the whole table is empty, maybe she is a big shot…"
He picked up his food and wanted to move away when he heard her again: "By any chance are you the new toy of the Lighthouse family?"
Ray turned around and saw her cleaning her mouth; on her hand a tattoo stood out. A crown chained with thorns.
Their eyes met once more. Ray felt many emotions in her eyes. It didn't matter how big she was in this academia; she was not a killer.
Among the people that Ray grew up with, there was a big difference between a killer and someone that kills people. A killer understood the meaning behind his action. If you kill someone, you must be ready to die at any time. But the other people killed and made excuses about their reason. Oh, I killed him because of my pride. Oh, I killed that person because she betrayed me.
They both understood each other.
A fight was inevitable.
"Can I ask you a question?" Ray put his dish on the table as he sat on one of the chairs.
"Be my guest." She stood up from her with elegance.
Ray asked a question that had been on his mind since long ago.
"What does it mean to be a demon?"