19 Magen

Moments after Sasaki entered the pavilion, the large wooden doors closed noisily behind her, shutting her in complete darkness. Fortunately for her, the light appeared quickly, coming from a big white crystal that gleamed on the ceiling, revealing also the many frescoes and engravings that covered the walls of the building.

Sasaki was alone in the middle of this big imposing room that made her feel tiny. In the center of the pavilion was a circular platform a little higher than the rest of the ground, and the girl continued to advance to reach it, in the complete silence offered by the place.

When she put her feet on the platform, a small robotic voice dictated some announcements to welcome her.

"Welcome to the class pavilion, please wait for the analysis of your palm to be completed while staying on the elevator. You will be redirected to the corresponding room if your class master is available."

The girl then advanced to the center of the circle, waiting patiently as the voice had asked. Seconds later, it returned to service.

"xXSasakigelion45629Xx, level 1 polymorph. You will be directed to the polymorph master's room. Please stay in the center of the elevator for the duration of the trip."

She did not move a centimeter, already in the middle of the platform that the voice called the elevator. Still, it looked nothing like the towed cabins of the real world, and she was beginning to suspect that magic was probably changing the way things worked in this game.

In a loud noise, the platform she was on began to sink to the ground quickly, quickly reaching a speed so high that Sasaki felt as if she was free falling. The class pavilion really was so deep ?! Looking up, she could not even see the ceiling. The hole from which she had sunk had only become a small bright spot like a star.

After a few seconds, the elevator finally stopped, and a corridor appeared in front of the girl.

"145th basement : polymorph master's room." The robotic voice of the elevator announced the floor to which it had stopped, and above the corridor was a small plate with the number of the floor written on it. So they went down really deeply...

Sasaki walked slowly down the hall, still as well decorated as the entrance of the pavilion. She paused a moment to look at the engravings of the walls, always modeled with a realism that left her speechless, and representing scenes that she did not understand but which probably had to make reference to the history of the world of Alveola, like engravings found in Greek or Roman temples.

She quickly arrived at the end of the hall, in front of a new wooden door on which she knocked softly. She got no answer, but she decided to come in anyway. She was not going to leave without seeing this famous master.

Behind the door, she found a room entirely empty, with flat, gray walls as if they were only concrete. Hanging everywhere on these were a multitude of weapons, swords, spears, bows, scepters, but also others that she could not even name as their forms were extravagant or singular. In the middle of the room was a man, sitting cross-legged, as if he was meditating.

He was covered in bandages from head to toe, wearing nonetheless black canvas pants and a large sandogasa that hid his face.

"Uh... Hello ? I'm coming for-"

"I already know what you're coming for, let's skip the formalities. Usually I have more important things to do than play the model master who would do anything for his students, but it's not like I'm the busiest either, unlike my colleagues." The man cut her off in a very singular voice that sounded wrong in Sasaki's ears, as if it were not a human voice.

"After all, you're only the second polymorph of this world." The master let go, getting up slowly, staring at the girl who was standing at the entrance to the room. His two eyes were not directly visible, simply indicated by two stylized circles drawn on the bandages that also covered his face. Did he think he was a mummy ?

"The second ? At the same time, the game is not very old, I guess..." replied the girl who did not feel decidedly comfortable in the presence of the man with a particular appearance. It almost sounded like he was coming out of a horror movie... But his aura was giving off something that looked a bit like Dylan's. Did he also wear accursed equipment ?

"No, I guess the game just ended up understanding that this class was not to be put in the hands of anyone... Well, if it gave it to you, it's because you don't seem to have a lot of potential, so let's make it fast, okay ?"

"Hey, I didn't come here to be belittled by someone who looks like a roll of toilet paper !" The girl defended herself as she approached the man, then froze suddenly when a sensation of cold spread throughout her body. She knew this spell. It was petrification, but it seemed even more powerful than when Dylan had used it.

"And I didn't come here to burden myself with a girl who'll die in the next week. I don't need to share my knowledge with you, you're definitely not worth it."

"Who are you, are you a NPC ?" It was not possible for a character like this to be a NPC... Normally, the characters in the game are supposed to help the players... And in addition he had spoken of the game as a full individual ? It was really not clear.

"Me ?" He seemed to hesitate a little before answering the question.

"Of course I'm a NPC. I'm Magen, the polymorph master, but my role isn't to reveal certain information to you, so let's keep it short."