Kai stared at his status window longer than he should.
He was staring because of the new changes, specifically the path section.
The Goddess of Discord is known by the populace.
Each Patron God or Goddess is recorded by Olympus and given a rating. And she's one of the Patron Goddesses with a very high rating. She sat at an 8.9 rating, and there should be about twenty Supernals with her bloodline across the entire world.
One of the famous Supernals under her is a Demigod Supernal called Red Mistress.
Kai was sure that the veiled woman was not the Goddess of Discord.
"Then does this mean the shadowy soldier is somewhat connected to her?" He questioned aloud, but that's not important. "What's important is this Perfect Slash. Is it an ability? Does gaining the required exp allow me to learn it?"
If that was the case, then Kai now had a faint grasp on what the Deep Slumber could do for him.
He concluded the void must be a place filled with many of these unknown beings, and if he learned their names, he could learn their abilities. Quite easy to understand, but Kai has to make sure that it's really the case.
"How do I gain exp?"
Considering there was a quest section, he assumed that would be his source of exp.
But even when he gained a path, no quest appeared.
It would be really bad if that is his only way of gaining exp.
"Maybe meeting with him again?" His thoughts wandered, searching for anything that might give him exp. And naturally, his eyes landed on his sister, "Or… is it from the Deep Slumber?"
Kai waited until night.
Once he could use the Deep Slumber again, he approached his sister.
And with a deep breath, he casts Deep Slumber onto her.
In order to use this Legacy Skill, he needed to face the night sky. But now that he used it on another person, he wondered whether he needed to do the same. Surprisingly, he didn't need to.
Or maybe because his sister's corpse was facing up, the Deep Slumber could work without a problem.
He watched as darkness began to envelop Bella's body, starting from her legs.
Slowly, it climbed up until only her beautiful face remained.
Kai placed her head gently on his lap and watched as the darkness swallowed her. He didn't flinch. It was better for her to disappear like this, as he doubted the monsters claiming to be Angels outside were really going to give her a proper burial.
"Don't worry, sister. I'll do what you wanted me to do," He whispered. "From now on, I will never be weak again."
[You fed the House of Night with a primordial blood (Grade 0 Awakened Supernal)]
[Gained 8 exp]
…
"Yo, wake up!" A man kicked the table, waking his friend, who was asleep on duty. "It's already seven. Don't you need to feed that waste of a Supernal? Don't be late for this kind of thing, you know how strict they are."
"Huh?" the friend woke up groggily. "Right… For fuck's sake. I hope he killed himself already so that I wouldn't need to go through this hassle." He stood up and went away while rubbing his eyes.
Behind him, the others on duty were laughing at the sight of the new Angels.
It has been more than a week, and most still suck at using the winged boots.
A few minutes later, the Angel Supernal arrived at the lower cloudlet.
He kicked the steel door, "Come to the door."
"I'm ready to leave," the voice from inside answered with a flat tone.
For a second, the Angel Supernal paused and then looked through the peephole. His pig mask approached to look at the cold eyes on the other side, 'Huh, would you look at that. Normally, his kind of people would need at least two weeks to recover.'
Noting the cold eyes staring back, the Angel Supernal grinned.
Seems like there's no need for him to be stuck feeding this dog.
"You're ready, eh? Then tell me, why did your sister get sacrificed for?"
"For the betterment of mankind. The lives of many will always be more important than the lives of the few."
"And why do you want to keep living?"
"I have a responsibility as the new Angel. I can't laze around doing nothing like I'm on vacation."
Hearing this, the Angel Supernal laughed.
He was greatly amused.
Earlier, he thought of making it hard for Kai, but this answer earned some leeway.
The door creaked open, and Kai finally walked out. The Angel Supernal looked into the chamber and frowned. "Where is your sister?" He asked in confusion. "What did you do to her?"
"Why does that matter?" Kai looked back. "I saved you the hassle of ridding her."
"Hah!" the Angel Supernal slapped Kai's back. "You're making my day better and better."
Kai was brought to where the academy was.
He was carried by his collar across the cloudy expanse until he hovered before the gate of the Eventide Academy. Huh, it looked like a normal academy. I thought it would be worse than this.
Considering what was being said on the orientation, he thought the academy was in name only. In reality, it would've been more like a slave institute. But he was in the wrong.
Before him was a nexus of marble and smooth stone buildings inside a circular wall.
He could single out the main academy building and the dormitory easily in the distance.
Kai followed the Angel Supernal through the academy's main gate. He'd expected the air inside to be enriched, charged with oxygen. Instead, it felt thinner, starved, pulling the breath short in his lungs.
It was really hard to breathe.
Much worse than even inside his small prison.
"Let's get you your mask," the Angel Supernal gestured to follow him. "You still have time to attend morning class."
He walked past a few groups of new Angels running in groups past him. All of them are wearing an identical faceless mask of plain white. Kai could tell they were exhausted; maybe they had been running from morning, who knows?
Even as he kept his gaze straight, he could feel their gazes on him.
Sizing him up. Some were even talking about him openly, thinking that he had already gone to accompany his crippled sister.
All of them recognized him as his face was practically broadcast everywhere.
After registering himself properly with the academy and answering a few questions, he was given a student badge, a mask, and an odd-looking stem with bright green leaves, which he had no idea what it was for.
"Grind the leaves in your palm," the Angel Supernal said, and then flipped the mask to point at a small, discrete chamber on the inner strap where it would meet the left temple. "And then pack them into the reservoir. It will help you breathe. One filling should last about eight hours."
"Where can I get more of the filling?" Kai asked, but he didn't get any answer.
There's still a bit over an hour until the first class starts, so he was brought to the dormitory.
As the Archangel had stated during orientation, the newly arrived were divided into two classes: Angels and High Angels. Their treatment reflected the distinction clearly. High Angels were granted quarters on the lower floors—spacious, appointed rooms.
Angels were assigned to the upper floors; their accommodations provided only the bare minimum.
Angels needed to pass the High Angels to get to their rooms? That seemed deliberate.
Kai could tell that there was intent behind this design.
If Angels needed to go through the High Angels' rooms to get to theirs, that means Angels could see clearly how much better the High Angels have it. No chance that this kind of dynamic is a coincidence.
Dangling luxury every single day sounded like asking for trouble.
But maybe that was the entire point.
As for Kai's room? He also didn't know.
At least not until the Angel Supernal brought him underground.
"Here we are," the Angel Supernal flipped the switch and turned on the flickering light, showing the abandoned basement that was dusty and filled with unused, broken furniture. "Nobody expected you to survive, so don't expect too much."
I didn't expect much, but this…?
Kai clenched his fists, but he didn't let his anger take over him.
"Find Professor Hera," the Angel Supernal turned to leave Kai alone. "You're in her class. See ya~!"
Once the door was closed behind him, it was silent again.
Kai still has many questions, like his class schedule or even his uniform.
But the Angel Supernal had already left.
He sighed and went down the staircase. Then, he looked around, "At least it's big."
Half an hour later, Kai headed for the main building.
Class was about to start, and he would be damned if he was late for his first class.
Kai now wore the academy's uniform—a slightly loose black shirt, red blazer on top bearing the crest of a coiling black dragon on a shield, and fitted red pants. He'd found a few salvageable sets in the basement; their fabric was worn, but still holding its color and shape.
Good enough to wear.
He simply dusted it off and wore it.
Bella would say he looked dashing right now, but she's not here to compliment him.
It became more apparent that they were expecting him to kill himself in prison.
But it doesn't matter.
Fortunately, there are no incidents with the students. Most were busy running to their classes to care about him. After going around the halls, he finally found where his class was.
He was late by five minutes. Shit.
Kai knocked on the door, and without being invited in, he stepped inside.
Almost immediately, the eyes of about a hundred students were fixed on him.
It was a big class, and it was very nerve-wracking.
Fortunately, the mask hides his nervousness.
But wait… nobody is wearing their masks.
"Don't you have any etiquette?" the mature blonde woman with glasses and heels asked sternly, placing her fists against her waist. "Take off your mask when you're in class."
"Ah, sorry," Kai opened his mask hesitantly.
Once his face was exposed, some of the students whistled in amusement.
"It's the Lesser Angel."
"Thought he killed himself already. What's he doing here? Has he no shame?"
"Hey, hey, that's not how you talked to the martyr's brother."
Snickers bursts across the classroom at the sight of Kai.
On the other hand, Professor Hera's eyes narrowed, "You must be the imprisoned one. Fine. Come here and introduce yourself to the class."
Kai nodded and stood beside her, hands on his sides, "My name is Kai, hope we get along well."
"Like hell we are! Hahah~!"
"He's a fucking clown. Who even wanted to go along with a waste like you? It's better for you to just kill yourself. At least your bloodline would be better on someone else who is more competent."
"Silence!" Professor Hera's voice echoed across the classroom, silencing the students.
It was a deafening silence in an instant.
"Go on," She nudged her head towards an empty seat at the very back. "Sit down and don't make trouble. Stay behind after class, I have something to say."
Kai nodded.
But as he was about to go to his seat, a student raised her hand.
"Professor, I have a question for him," She announced.
Her voice was light, but it was loud in the deafening silence.
Before Professor Hera could even say anything, the girl turned to look at Kai with her pearly eyes. "Your sin was cleansed by your sister, not by yourself. It was she who made you press. You're a Supernal, but you're weaker than even your sister, a normal human. So, my question is, why do you think you deserve to live?"