5 - 5

Even though he had not been the most sociable, somehow he had managed to make some new acquaintances, namely students that were in the same class.

In total, two more students in the 15-person class got hooked onto him. Their personalities were impressively compatible, however their interactions amongst one another were like scenes of a younger sibling supporting the older sibling.

He would be lying if he said that sometimes such behavior didn't give him a psychological chuckle.

On the other hand, when looking back at the moment of George's personality shift in a blink of an eye, he kept at least a portion of his attention on him. Schizophrenics were a rarity these days due to the convenient technology that readjusted the human psychology back to its original state. This technology was used on earlier generations, which therefore eliminated risks of it later on in the future.

Because of the technology's invasion of the human psychology, however, it was labeled as a forbidden mechanism.

So, the only explanation for George's scene was that he, like Vyrin, had a secret; he had a secret that nobody could know, however it was impossible to not seem suspicious while trying not to seem suspicious.

And for that, Vyrin didn't pursue him.

The two students that he became acquainted with were both female, with one of them being an open, lively, sociable young woman. Her short blonde hair was mildly spiky in a way that illustrated her character as somebody who didn't really care what outsiders thought about her.

Her sardonicism was also something to behold. Vexingly, she was the first person he had met so far that wasn't amongst the Prime Orders. This fact unsettled him, but it couldn't be helped. With an ordinary name of Amy Nelson, this was a certainty.

The other female was almost the exact opposite. Yes, she participated in conversations that naturally flowed to the academy, classes, Puppeteering specializations, and future occupations, but her timid vocal structure oozed negative self-confidence and uncertainty.

While she spoke of her ancestry, Vyrin found it quite interesting that she was the collateral descendent of Enzo Giovanni, a master swordsman that put the rest of his fellows in shame. Normally, Puppeteers' lineage determined their talent, and their talent determined their place in society.

For a Puppeteer to not only possess the hereditary abilities of one's recent generations, but also be the descendent of an infamous swordsman that had absolutely no Puppeteering qualities whatsoever, it was only natural for Vyrin and George alike to be slightly amazed and taken aback.

As expected, these reactions instigated the young woman to wilt under their gazes.

Her name was Kaley Davidson, and she would be sitting directly in front of Vyrin when homeroom commenced every day from this moment on for the entire year.

This left him no choice but to be mildly determined in breaking the ice a bit with her, for being so sociable on the first day and then not acknowledging her later in the year would most likely provide her a misunderstanding.

Nevertheless, not interacting with her at all would increase the chances of him not needing to worry about so many angles for his secret "stored" in the "vault".

It was a problematic situation.

'I don't really have a say in the matter anyway, huh?'

"Let's go eat somewhere. I saw a cozy place on the way here. We can go there."

Upon Amy's suggestion of eating, the group obliged and started to walk together in the supposed direction of the eatery. Students, more often than not, walked to and from the academy, as well as all places within a certain vicinity.

Since the normal use of transportation had resorted to three-passenger trams, rising in higher quantity than regular automobiles, students desired the pacification of observing their world instead of peering through a glass window every day.

The scenery of the metropolis that the students resided in was indeed exquisite.

The group of students held a casual conversation as they walked. Naturally, the topics included the events that had happened that day. They were officially enrolled in the academy, the entrance ceremony was conducted, they made new friends, and the start of the first year in the education facility was commencing.

It was only expected for the students to be excited over something like this. After all, they were of teenage minds.

When Amy came to a halt beside a door to her right, she turned around and gave the door a dramatic "and here it is!" type of presentation.

The wooden sign that hung over the entrance said "Michael's Friendly Eatery". This type of entrance "mat" wasn't exactly specific in the cuisine implications that they served, however Vyrin saw no reason to refuse their services.

—————————————————————

After selecting seats for the group to sit in, Amy immediately brought up a conversation regarding the Student Council. Her status as an ordinary Puppeteer who didn't precisely have the most elite and profound lineage made her curiosity of the higher-ups an understandable inquiry whilst they ate.

During the ceremony, the Student Council was introduced to the students in the audience, proceeding with the freshmen representative's reply address. The order of the introductions was based off of standard hierarchy, so the Student Council President was exposed first.

Unfortunately, Vyrin couldn't get the façade James put up in their encounter out of his head, so laying eyes upon him again on stage was slightly unsettling.

Nothing could be done, so he had no choice but to feign ignorance.

The Student Council Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor, Public Relations Officer, and even the Sergeant at Arms was openly introduced to the audience. Despite their place in the Puppeteer hierarchy, they weren't that unique, of course excluding the Student Council President of the Kreel Family. Besides him, no other oddities were formulated by the new faces.

Amy's awe of the Student Council was in no way subtle. After rambling on every unique trait every one of them had like a maniac, Vyrin resided back to his thoughts in order to conclude something that had been bothering him since the start of the ceremony.

James Kreel's presence was already distinguished and exposed to not only Vyrin, but the new students of the academy as well, so it wasn't as if he was totally suspicious in any way, although Vyrin didn't exactly receive the necessary time to analyze him.

The individual he sought confirmation and perhaps reassurance from was the freshmen representative himself, Aiden Lorenzo. Normally, such a man wouldn't gnaw at the back of his head like a parasite like this. It could be safely said that Vyrin was immune to these types of things.

However, this wasn't some ordinary prodigy.

The young man representing the entire freshmen body was direct descendent of the most highly regarded Prime Order in the country. The Lorenzo Family had been gifting the world with Puppeteers for generations beyond counting, with every one of them producing even finer Puppeteers moving forward in life. Because of their supreme bloodline, they were so-rightfully given the status as the First Order, the leading family in the 12 Prime Orders of the United States.

Now, it wasn't like they didn't exist. Supreme Puppeteers from powerful descent were surprisingly quite common in countries that had accepted Puppeteers as a race.

Despite that, Vyrin couldn't seem to shake the dark feeling that slowly crept up his neck.

'What on earth could the next head of the Prime Orders be doing at an academy? This isn't a place for such authority. James makes sense, being an executive and having influence, but just as a student...? No such situation exists without some ulterior motive.'

His thoughts were interrupted by a question randomly thrown by Amy. That being said, Vyrin couldn't determine if it was actually random, for he wasn't entirely paying attention to the exchange of information. He responded after a slight pause after realizing that the question was thrown at him, proceeding everyone else who had answered the same one.

"So Vyrin, what do you think about them?"

"The Student Council President is definitely somebody who knows what he's doing, and the Vice President sure as hell knows what her superior's intentions are. To be honest the rest don't exactly seem that extraordinary to me in terms of... I guess... presence?"

Vyrin's reply prolonged into an analytical piece of work, and the others gave him surprised looks, excluding Amy herself, the person to whom he answered.

She started giggling in an ignorant manner, almost as if she didn't pick up on his slight overabundance of suspicion, and started teasing him.

While this happened, Vyrin didn't miss the crease in George's eyebrows.

"Ooo, Vyrin, you're quite the perceptive young man. That's kinda hot."

"Quite the casual tone you've got, Amy. You sure you don't give it to other men?"

In response to Amy's comment, George gave her a cruel grin and jabbed at her a little bit. It was obvious he was just teasing, however the remark effectively got under her skin, if only a little bit.

A smile that was exponentially *NOT* a smile blanketed her face, with her closed eyes oozing an unnatural thirst for blood.

Her reply was clipped and full of restrained anger.

"What. Did. You. Say?"

"Oh, nothing. Just pointing out a mere hunch I that came up to me, that's all."

"George? Would you like to... take this outside?"

George's answer definitively snapped Amy's strings and her rage was beginning to engulf her. Her smile wasn't even close to being a positive expression anymore. It had converted to a front that a seductive assassin would put up, although her emotional fluctuation definitely made it harder to keep it up.

Upon Amy's not-so-friendly invitation, Kaley, despite her timidness and stressful composure, overcame the pressure that the atmosphere had adopted and desperately called out to Amy.

"Amy, he's just teasing! It's ok! Just calm-!"

"Oh, don't worry, I'm calm. I just want to give him a direct introduction."

To no avail did Kaley's classification of George's remark being "teasing" pacify her friend. Judging by the way the two young women interacted with each other, one could've easily assumed that they were middle school, even childhood friends, however if they were then they wouldn't have introduced themselves to each other in homeroom.

They were, again, very compatible.

"Oh yeah? Let's go-."

"George, don't make a scene. You can do that at a training area. Amy, this is getting out of hand."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine."

Among the students at the academy, Vyrin and George were relatively tall. Even for the upperclassmen, their height was slightly above the average. That said, George appeared to be unapproachable by many students. This fact was identified by Vyrin observing the sporadic glances made by multiple individuals.

In the situation, when George stood up and slid out his chair, he easily towered over the sitting students, and even if everybody stood up alongside him, the only person who would be comparable to him was Vyrin. Amy was short, even for females, for her age; around nine inches shorter than Vyrin. Needless to say, George effectively towered over her like a looming mountain.

Of course, Vyrin did not feel things such as internal pressure.

He had no problem reprimanding the young man standing next to him. Now, once events occurred continuously, witnesses became immune to them, used to their existence.

Due to Vyrin's sudden change in George's cycle of never being spoken to in such a way, the latter subconsciously held a face of bewilderment as he sat down without a word, grunting with disappointment.

For the other party, Kaley was using all of her efforts in order to restrain Amy from taking action as well, using smile to hide her panic.

Eventually, the heat was extinguished, and Amy's dangerous expression crumbled.

"You're lucky there's nobody in this place right now, George, or we might have had a problem."

"You're right. Thanks."

Vyrin's reminder of George's fortune of their being no witnesses was the last step to restraining George's body from moving. He knew that if word got out about a descendent of the Fourth Order acting like a child, attacking a female in a public place, then the punishment would be indescribable.

The young man who evaded the descendent from such a fate knew this as well.

Every action was accounted for.

Every man and woman was under surveillance.

If somebody made a scene, it was investigated immediately.

False identities were useless.

Fake attitudes were analyzed.

Interests were taken into account.

The 28th century's guideline to success was a rigorous one. It required perfection among the people across the board without excuse. If there was a problem, it was fixed, and if there was an opposer, they were taken care of.

The simple act including two teenagers of opposite sex getting into an escalating argument outside an eatery was all recorded into a database, a system. Every piece of information regarding conflicts and attitude, especially of the Prime Orders, was observed.

Just because Vyrin had never heard of George's existence, that didn't mean he didn't *officially* exist. It wasn't rare for families to neglect their children due to their inability for Puppeteering.

That didn't excuse George of being a Prime Order descendent.

Vyrin's first priority was to not draw attention. Befriending a Prime Order-affiliated individual had not helped matters. On the contrary, it wasn't as if he wanted to get rid of him.

All he had to do was make sure no reckless moves were made.

The government was ruthless.

They would do anything to lower the influence and power of the Prime Orders. Of course, conventional means wouldn't work, so blackmail and dark technological utility was more effective.

George's status was a liability that couldn't be helped. Therefore, keeping him in check was a must.

'This is going to be an interesting four years, huh?'

—————————————————————

Following the fairly interesting meetup at Michael's Friendly Eatery, everybody parted ways, with Amy and Kaley going one way, George walking straight in the direction the group was walking prior to stopping in to eat, and Vyrin making a turn. Because the building was the second to the corner, he and George said their goodbyes soon after leaving.

The neighborhood that Vyrin lived in was relatively far, or at least far enough to force out a sigh from the lone young man. Clouds covered the sky, clogging it of the sun. Rain clouds could be seen in the direction that Vyrin was walking. His shoes made light taps on the concrete as he looked at the sky.

For some reason, he did not call a tram, taxi, or friend for pickup. He continued to walk.

Vyrin's pitch black hair absorbed all light, enhancing the sheer redness of his eyes. These pools of blood gazed up at the visually gray clumps of water droplets hundreds of feet in the air with an aura of... nothingness.

There was no curiosity.

There was no irritation.

There was no contentment.

There was simply... nothing. The extremely mild positivity that lingered in his face upon being around his new friends had dissipated into oblivion.

Put simply, he wasn't the same person 10 minutes ago.

It was slight, but the difference was there.

After walking in a straight direction for about 25 minutes, the rain had started to pour. Dropping gallons of water, the clouds that Vyrin had just been laying his eyes on with indifference showed him no mercy. Each droplet slapped his head, attempting to soak his hair and rundown his face.

Yet it didn't happen. His hair remained dry as well as his face.

The static noise of water pegging the ground and buildings reached his ears as soon as the rain had started. Water gauges pooled with liquid and the street's pavement acquired fluid in its creases.

Now, rain was normal, but the use of Puppeteering increased in difficulty with the application of dropping water. Because the Puppeteer needed complete focus when manipulating internal and external energies, obstructions inevitably caused the said Puppeteer to miscalculate in some way, even if it was small.

Of course, that was if the Puppeteer was still limited by their own ability.

The young man did not hold an umbrella. It was a habit for him to check the weather every day, however for some reason he did not bring the proper tools to deal with the rain. It wasn't as if he forgot to bring an umbrella, let alone check the weather.

In fact, he was aware of the condition his residential region was going to be in from the moment he checked the weather portal this morning.

... But something was off.

The raindrops... they didn't touch him, nor his clothes. Every droplet of water seemed to come into contact with his apparel. On the other hand, not a single blemish was noticed upon his attire. Not a drop of water was absorbed by his clothing. The uniforms of the academy weren't water-resistant, let alone waterproof, so the apparel's properties had nothing to do with it.

Upon closer inspection, albeit very close, the reason was apparent.

Hovering around his entire body was a skin-tight blanket of mildly-distorted light. At first glance, this wasn't noticeable and it would have never become a possible reason for such an insignificant phenomenon.

But it was there, and without a doubt did it shield him from the rain. Contrasting to the soaking wet cars dotted across the edges of the street, Vyrin wasn't in the least bit affected by the downpour. The rifts of light that encompassed his entire frame were impossibly skinny and almost imperceptible.

This type of phenomenon was an example of Puppeteering.

The rifts of light made no sound, no disruptions, and held no aura. It was like an invisible stealth bodysuit.

What didn't make sense was the amount of control the young man had over this force. Considering his status as a Class E student, simply moving a compatible substance was difficult and required much training, concentration, and determination.

Yet, he didn't even seem moved. His face was as calm and collected as usual, like he didn't even realize the thing was there.

This type of control... was not normal, *ESPECIALLY* for a student placed in a Class E subclass.

'Partnered National Puppeteering Academy... If you are picked out of the mass number of Puppeteers to attend the academy, your ability is acknowledged and if it isn't, then it is given the potential to be acknowledged. If you are the latter, Class E was your place.

The race for nurturing Puppeteers had commenced long ago, and does not show any sign of slowing down. In the eyes of the country, we are special, yet monstrosities.

One's abilities determines their future.

If one cannot follow the system correctly, they were considered disappointments.

You are either an expert—who is respected—a special talent—who is privileged—

Or a variant—who is despised.'

avataravatar
Next chapter