Y-204 IDENTITY

"What's your plan on surviving the academy after today?" Both Bobby and Joel unhesitatingly asked in a synchronized tone the moment they got the go ahead from Stare.

Stare however seemed to be completely unaware on what they were insinuating as he stared at them with a confused expression

"Surviving?" He asked back.

Both Bobby and Joel instinctively opened their mouth to respond but halted when they realized they were about to speak in unison once more.

"You start first." Joel suggested, attempting to avoid the repetitive synchronization.

"Mhm," Bobby concurred with a nod.

"You literally hit Raziel Erebus the prince of the Erubus Power family and you even did so in public, he'll definitely come for his revenge."

"What were you even thinking, I swear if you weren't already worn out I would have flicked your head…why didn't you just stick to annoying the Elites, you had to go piss off Raziel." The tension in Bobby's tone began growing as he spoke on.

"God…what if he even finds out we know each other then come for me as well."

While Bobby blabbed on, Stare's mind seemed to be preoccupied with something else.

'So that fucker is called Raziel in this cycle and he also most likely have a powerful family background, well that explains a lot."

Wait, how does he manage to have both a good name and a powerful family background? Where are my protagonist perks in this cycle? At least a nice name would have been a great start,' Stare muttered inwardly with dissatisfaction as his thoughts drifted.

His contemplation was however interrupted with Bobby persistently snapping his fingers in front of his face.

"What's on your mind? Did you even hear what I just said? Your life…in fact our lives are at risk." Bobby emphasized.

"Oh, right... you meant my 'encounter' with the white-haired guy earlier," Stare said with an innocent tone, as if he had just realized Bobby's concern. 

"You see, you remember that old friend I mentioned earlier, right? That guy, umm, Raziel, yeah, Raziel is the one I was referring to," Stare casually added.

However, Bobby and Joel remained skeptical, exchanging incredulous looks.

"So, Raziel Erebus, the heir to the Erebus Powerhouse family, who was only revealed to the public about a month ago, is somehow an old friend of someone with a supposedly simple background?" Bobby inquired, raising his eyebrows and staring deeply into Stare's emerald eyes.

"Uh... mhm... well, our friendship is more of an ambiguous type," Stare managed to stutter a response, causing Bobby to scoff and rub his hands over his face in exasperation.

"We're in trouble... and for real this time," Bobby concluded, with Joel nodding in agreement from the side.

Stare, with a mix of curiosity and casualness, asked, "How bad could it be? I mean, how much more powerful could his Erebus family be compared to the other Elites?"

In actuality, Stare was a lot more curious than he showed about how powerful the incarnation of Y-204 and his family was.

He wasn't after all so daft not to have since realize the family of Y-204 were a lot more powerful than the norm.

He could tell from how Y-204 got to skip the breakfast dispensation despite the rest of Elites amongst Elites attending to it unfailingly, there was also Imma's reaction during the status issuing which he had pushed aside initially and even Lagertha.

No matter her excuse or 'reason' Stare could still tell she purposely tried to avoid punishing Y-204 alongside him.

This was someone even Elites like Ares and Eleanor feared.

Besides considering his current condition with the failure of his plan A, Stare was sure today won't definitely be the last he and Y-204 clashed and crossed paths.

"How powerful can the Erebus family be?" Bobby immediately asked, almost pulling out his hair.

"How powerful can the Erebus family be?" He repeated, literally bringing his face very close to Stare as he spoke.

"Well let's start from the reason Raziel wasn't even in the list of Elites or Elite amongst Elites…this is simply because he is on a whole different tier of his own."

"He is a subject that shouldn't be spoken about or spoken to. Avoid him at all costs, and, most importantly, refrain from provoking him."

"His family was established by the first and oldest of the only three Tier V Primes in existence, Erebus, also known as the Lord of Darkness. They hold the title of the most influential powerhouse family on the entire New Earth."

"While it might appear that this is due to their founder, that's not the case. After all, there are other powerhouse families more deserving of that title, like the Withsworth powerhouse family, who were primarily responsible for the creation of the Algos, or even the Equans, known for making significant decisions that have positively impacted humanity," Bobby explained in a slightly eerie tone.

"The family is rumored to harbor numerous hidden and unspoken dark secrets, which are believed to be the driving force behind their current status as the most powerful family," Bobby added.

"For instance, no one outside their family has ever awakened similar darkness-controlling or projection fief as their family's, despite the random bestowal of Algos fiefs. What's even more intriguing is that they employ a similar concealing pattern to the Withsworths."

"The consumption of Algos and the initial awakening of their fiefs take place within their secluded walls, hidden from public view. Raziel would also be the first in their family to train outside these walls." Bobby continued.

"And you can tell from his performance today, his case is definitely not similar to that of Charlotte."

Stare would be lying if he said he didn't feel even the least curiosity on the family Y-204 had been born into.

It kind of reminded him of a similar case in one of the previous cycles where Y-204 was also born into a powerful family although that time he ended up killing everyone in his family as he supposedly saw them as hindrance to his plans.

This case however seemed to involve a lot more secrets, secrets that piqued Stare's interest.

"I heard once, that their family is responsible for carrying out the top assassinations of the government's opposition and as such their unexplainable rank as the most powerful powerhouse family." Joel who had been quiet and stuck to just nodding in support to Bobby's words finally spoke.

"I've heard that Erebus might not even be human anymore, or at least that's the rumor. No one has ever laid eyes on the man. All we have to rely on to prove his existence is his family and stories. Even my 86-year-old grandma claimed to have only seen him once in all her years and even then all she saw was darkness."

"The family is just too unknown to be messed with," Bobby concluded.

Just as he finished speaking, the announcement for lights out was made, almost as if it were planned.

Bobby and Joel headed to their beds, but not before repeatedly advising Stare to steer clear of anything related to Raziel. Stare nodded in agreement, though he could tell from their expressions that they remained unconvinced.

After their departure, Stare was left to enjoy some peace and quiet.

Truth be told, Stare had no intention of avoiding Raziel, despite his formidable family background. However, perhaps Joel and Bobby had a point.

Naturally Raziel or even the Erebus family shouldn't be able to possibly bring life-threatening harm to him within the academy's walls, but Stare wasn't so dumb to carelessly place his life on such thought.

Just from Lagertha's behavior today, he could tell Erebus Family were very capable of pulling huge strings even here in the academy, there were numerous ways to take care of him in his current meager state even here in the academy without alerting suspicion on them, plus he also had to consider his family unprotected outside the academy walls.

So for now, despite his plans on nullifying the Oracle's Path, it would be wiser to be more covert with whatever he planned on doing, especially when it involved Y-204.

There was also the fact that he just recently and supposedly fully activated his fief and with what Y-204 showed earlier today, Stare had no doubt that he also needed to work on his fief.

If he was going to force that guy off the Oracle's Path and have clashes with him eventually, then he'd definitely need an upgrade in using his fief…plus he couldn't stand the fact that Y-204 was better than him in using his fief.

If only each cycle used the same format and procedures when unlocking and maxing out buffs and upgrades like this…Stare would have already been like those overpowered mcs in light novels with his already vast knowledge and experience.

But then again, in a way with his unsealed memories, he was already overpowered in this cycle.

He was sure even with his current unhoned body, he could go toe on toe with all of the Elites amongst Elites in a fight not involving the use of fiefs and beat them all easily and if it was a fight that involved the use of fief, he was sure on easily finishing half of that number.

There was also his lucky perk as the protagonist in the cycle, although it hasn't seemed to be active since he came to the academy.

And what was worse off was the fact that Stare wasn't even aware of the reason because he was sure his luck was a lot better in previous cycles…was it relating to his plans of deviating from the Oracle's Path or the fact he had unsealed his memories.

Was it possible that the Oracle was already aware of his abnormality?

As Stare immersed himself in these thoughts, he let out a wide yawn. His thoughts gradually became incoherent as he snuggled deeper into the soft bed.

After all, he was still incredibly tired. Feeling alarmed by how swiftly fatigue overcame him, he attempted to speak, only to produce unintelligible sounds, before eventually drifting into a deep slumber.