Chapter 24: Madness (1)

Q: Why do almost half of the twelve powers have side-effects?

A: Original reason is unknown, but it was hinted that it was related to curse.

- - -

I stood before a statue, looking directly at it, ignoring all the other glorious figures around it. Even though the statues were about one-and-a-half times taller than usual, the one before me still looked a little short compared to the surrounding others.

According to the historical records, the one before me was just a few shades away from six feet, fairly handsome with a thick-framed glass in his eyes. There was some debate about the colour of his skin and hair. I surmised different nations gave him different appearances, claiming he was their people.

But I knew that the person in the statue before me was not of any nation in Shrankor, but a fellow transmigrator who came before me a thousand and five hundred years ago. Well, truth be told, I am not sure about that as well. Other designs involved here; designs—I am not aware of. Things were getting complicated even though I am doing nothing to change the plot. Sighing, I returned my attention to the statue again.

Ayaan List, the Cursed Eye, one of the twelve heroes.

I did not know what to think, looking at the statue. Only questions came into my mind. Was he like me? Transmigrated to someone else's body with full memory intact? Did the author involve in this as well? It's probably the author.

But more questions came with that assumption. The story starts at the third age, but the Ayaan List came over a thousand and five hundred years ago, just before the end of the second age. Well, if we went on with history, Ayaan List himself had his hands on hailing the end of the epoch with a few others.

I could not help but rub my forehead and recall the only thing I got from his biography. There was not a lot of information about the twelve heroes. And about Ayaan List was the scarcest, along with his wife, Adriana—as if someone tried their best to hide everything about them. But one thing still struck me when I researched the biography.

The portrait of Ayaan List that he drew himself.

He did not write his name there. Instead, it was a line in the tongue I recognise. 'I killed people.' Even the portrait was somewhat repulsive and glitched while keeping some striking parts. I did not know if he was self-reflecting or something else, yet I could not eliminate the words from my brain.

I killed people.

Certainly, the events he experienced in this world were more than enough to cause trauma and question his own humanity. It was only a couple of days ago that I faced the ghoul, and with just that brief encounter, it changed me. Worse of all, I can't do anything to stop the change.

"What are you doing there?" A voice called from behind. It was Elinor, in her white garb of the division of Magus.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. Walking away from the statue, I stood near the fountain. The academy will start tomorrow. I wonder what she's doing here now. It could be related to the accident. "I am waiting for others to arrive."

"You know, I heard there happen to be some disturbance the night before the festival. Are you here because of that?" she said, guessing through my face. "Well, I was called up for some reason as well."

"Well, something like that," I said. We all were told to say nothing about that incident to anyone before they solve some matters. Though it was likely Elinor would get to know about the attack related to the undead soon enough.

What puzzled me was that I still have not got the destiny points yet. It was quick when I passed the admission test.

Professor Ranyan was a person who was meant to die, yet somehow we managed to save him. This should give a good number of destiny points, yet I have got nothing as of yet. There was no point in killing that ghoul. Perhaps the problem is not solved yet.

"Scar," another voice called, and I did not need to look behind to know who it belonged to. It was Yasmine, and she was not wearing a uniform, but in a while, free gown, simple, but lovely. She had already graduated with the highest score from the Knight department, and her knighthood ceremony would be held today in the afternoon along with the others. But now she should be here for the same reason as me. The questionnaires about the attack.

"You are here," I said. "Where are the others?"

Yasmine shook her head, telling me she did not know. Well, there was no wind of Julies, I have checked, but the others wouldn't be irresponsible as him. As I was wondering, I noticed the two silver-haired young ladies were staring at each other, frowning. A chuckle escaped from my mouth as I introduced them.

Both of them had burning silver hair, but Yasmine clearly won in the contest of looks and everywhere else, from the slender body to the sparkling eyes to the long legs. Elinor did have a lovely face, but she only looked cute to me, not to mention she was barely a kid. But Yasmine was everything I dreamt of. Well, my opinion could be biassed. Nonetheless, Elinor is the most important individual to the plot—she was, after all, our protagonist.

We walked into the office building of the academy. Elinor looked at us peculiarly and followed without a word. Now we need to go to the third floor, and just when we arrived there, the woman I saw with the President the other night brought us in.

May was her name. She was the current president's Knight as well as an assistant in all things pertaining to the academy. She even brought Elinor with us, which confused the frail girl.

A few people were already present in the room. Other than the familiar faces of Adarsh Starlight, my aunt, Lorne, and Lily, there were a few other notable people. The thing that caught my vision was Professor Ranyan on the bed, and beside him were two other men. They were not in healer or doctor suits, though.

From their size, I could guess who they were: retired knights who worked in the academy, taking care of stuff that did not need them to fight.

"Is that the girl?" the young president asked, eyeing Elinor. The black glasses were still in his eyes as he stood leaning against the desk.

May nodded, and Adarsh called for Elinor to move towards him. The short girl did hesitantly, then her eyes wandered to the figure in the bed.

"Do you know this person?" the president asked her, pointing towards Professor Ranyan.

Elinor looked carefully, and her eyes widened to find it was Professor Ranyan, the person who introduced spirit arts to her.

"Teacher," she called, moving before the bed. Though the one standing before her stopped her. "What happened to him? Is he injured?"

"You will be informed about it soon," May said, touching the shoulder of the frail girl. "First, answer a few questions of the President."

Elinor looked around to find the president, though she did not know which one was the president. In the end, May helped her by turning her head towards the person in sunglasses. I almost laughed out loud, seeing this, and so did May.

The young president glared at his Knight slightly. "How do you know Professor Ranyan?" Adarsh asked the frail girl in a stern voice. "Tell me everything about your encounter with Professor Ranyan."

Elinor flinched, hearing the stern voice of the president. May brought her a chair and tried to calm her down. She started with how she met with Professor Ranyan and how he helped her escape from a few thugs. Then their paths crossed again when she saw him sleeping outside in the cold.

After conversing, she learned he was a Magus and asked him to guide her if she could learn magic. The professor laughed, but he did check if she had any talent for sorcery. And when he found out about her talent, he was so happy that he agreed to teach her for a couple of weeks.

A couple of weeks turned into a couple of months. Elinor learned many things about spirit arts and the world from the professor. In the end, one day, she found the professor had already left, leaving two letters.

The one for her—he told her to get into Starlight Academy—and the other one will assist her in obtaining the scholarship she needs to survive here. Unfortunately, she lost both of them and almost got sold to human traffickers.

Luckily, she had learned more than enough in two months and got her freedom. Then she made a journey for a couple of months to get here. That was all. I knew most of it because it was canon in the book, though that was Edward, and a few things were left out.

By the time Elinor finished, Kyle, Julies, and Yeriel appeared in the room and silently listened to everything. Yeriel was dumbstruck hearing the experience of Elinor, while the others shared her bewilderment as well.

Ben was not here. His condition was better, but that was not enough to let him move out of the bed. I went to see him once and his treatment went better than we had assumed, though he might never get close to the level of Grand Knight. It was a tremendous blow to him and his family. Everyone had high hopes for him.

. . .