Ding~
Rowayne stared at the notification she (female form) had just received on her phone. Well technically not hers as it belonged to one of the nearby corpses
She had originally left her phone at the place she was spawned, a necessary action since turning into a bird and being free meant you needed to sacrifice the ability to carry items
The only reason her clothes were still on was because of the shapeshifting feature; she could turn them into a ribbon that wrapped around her claws in raven form.
'Spending almost the entirety of Roanne's money on this was totally worth it. On the other hand, I am completely broke outside of the academy, but at least I have clothes that can reduce to the size of a ring if I wanted. It's practically a mid-grade artifact even without any other features.'
The waystone location was a bit far, and she couldn't fly now; she had loot to carry. Speaking of loot,
Rowayne unloaded the magazine from the pistol. It had a total capacity of 12 rounds and used 9mm; she only had 3 bullets left, though.
Flicking on the safety, she put the pistol inside her pocket.
She chose not to shift back because people were more likely to let their guard down against a girl than against a boy. Inexperienced teenagers made that mistake, according to Arius' memories.
Speaking of memories, in these six months one could say the situation regarding her memories had improved a bit.
Mostly, Arius' memories had gone into recess in her mind. They were painful to recall, filled with longing. So Roanne's memories were acting as the base of her personality, with added traits from Arius.
But she also discovered quirks that had nothing to do with either Arius or Roanne, like a talent with the sword. That talent didn't come from Arius, who was a necromancer and had never deemed it necessary to touch one, nor from Roanne, who was technically a bookworm.
'Can you still be called a bookworm if all you've read is erotica?'
Well anyway, she was not here to discuss a dead person's reading preferences.
At least Roanne's will had accepted her death; Arius' will was still denying reality. Well, it was fine as long as it didn't actively hinder her.
She looted the other corpses,
but only took the tachi from one of the ambusher's corpses. Then she started walking toward the direction of the waystone.
***
Back in the academic realm,
below the tower Maladie,
Elder Wong received a telegram. Yes, a telegram as sometimes the best way to prevent information leaks was to make the information medium primitive.
The message was simple, but it had very unsettling implications in the wider perspective.
The message stated:
"The vampires have made a move. John Raithe has joined the frontlines, requesting aid from the academy elders."
"Fuck", Cursed Elder Wong
***
In a large auditorium, a group of instructors could be seen sitting, tablets in hand, discussing something.
These were 5th-year professors, and every year they were called in for this entrance exam to evaluate students.
Apart from the top 1,000 who were guaranteed, the people sitting in this room were responsible for selecting the other 1,000 students.
"This year, prospective students seem rather weak, don't you think?" a man said while looking at his tablet. His colleague, who was sitting beside him, nodded.
"I guess it's more about quality rather than quantity this year."
"Quality? I don't see that either," the man replied.
"Which one are you looking at? Look at these two."
The colleague then swiped left on his tablet screen, and the live video, the same one that colleague was viewing appeared on the man's screen.
The man looked at his screen. The screen displayed a scene of two boys fighting; all around them was a scene of utter devastation; charred trees and upturned earth. Looking closely, one of the boys was using lightning while the other was using earth manipulation.
Both were locked in fierce combat, neither gaining any ground against the other. Their battle, however, killed many unsuspecting passerby students.
"Hmm, well, they are strong for teens who have just awakened their gifts. They lack control, but that can be fixed.
Well, that's for later anyway; it's not like they will use their gifts for the next four years," the man said after some deliberation.
"Well, refinement and control can be fixed, but stupidity can't," a third instructor chimed in.
"They are going all out without any care. Being awakened for 7 months at the least, 18 months at most, they won't be able to keep that up for more than a few minutes," he pointed out.
He then asked the second instructor, "How long have they been fighting for?"
"For about a minute and a half."
"They should run out of fuel soon enough."
And sure enough, as the man predicted, a few more seconds later, lightning flickered out and stone pillars collapsed.
Both boys seemed disoriented, then...
They were dead, shot by a sniper camping 400 meters away.
"They lived like idiots and died like one."
The first man then said,"They didn't touch the waystone; they don't qualify for the top 1000 ranking. Put them on the evaluation list, their gifts are strong."
The second man, trying to ease the atmosphere, asked another instructor.
"Professor Estella, who are you watching?"
"Oh, me?" Estella turned back to look at the second instructor.
She then double-tapped with two fingers on her tablet, and a hologram appeared.
"I am watching this boy."
The other instructors looked at her weirdly.
"It's a boy?"
"Looks like a girl, though."
"Sounds like a girl too."
"Oh wait, is he one of those 'femboys' or whatever these young people call themselves?"
"IT'S A SHAPESHIFTER," Estella clarified before the conversation sidetracked further.
"Oh, and what's so special about… him?"
"Oh!" Estella's eyes brightened up.
"He is a natural strategist and has a good understanding of himself and his skills. He knows how to best utilise his shapeshifting and has the patience to see it through.
He just planned a conflict between two groups and killed seventeen out of twenty-six participants while they were fighting each other.
All in all, a good seed."
"Let's see if she survives four years like that."
"It's a she," the first man said quietly. "Confirmed in the database.
Name - Rowayne. Legally changed under newly awakened rights.
Original name – Roanne Astraeus, 11th princess of the Ashkeia Empire
Female – 15 year old, 16 next month"
"oh. Interesting, anyway anyone else notable?"