I am here! so it stands.

Adrienne took Chris to a registration zone, a place on the business district side of the city center. It was a bustling area as a lot of people had a lot of business. It was a well-lit area and there were different stalls set up for petty trade and there were also large corporate groups too.

They were currently in the Island Cities Legal Identity Departmental Service (ICLIDS), he had just completed his registration and he was about being fitted with a communications rune. The attendant was explaining its usage to him on Adrienne's behest, something about him not looking for the controls of it on the ground again which brought no small bit of confusion to the attendants face but she complied because she was a professional.

"It is very easy to use, it's a soul rune and can be stored in you Mystic space"

"It's a mass produced rune"

"You can use it like the mundane phones but it runs on mystic energy. And your runes just have to touch in any form and they can contact each other within 5,000 miles as long as there are no interference"

That was three times the diameter of the island which was 1,700 miles wide on its longest edges, those were impressive figures, very impressive indeed.

"Are there any communication runes with longer reaches?" Chris asked while feeling that the range of communication would be impossibly difficult if there were not

"There are things better than this with those in power …"

"Probably" she finished weakly. "But I know that some associations can communicate with other branches in other island cities."

...

Looking around and observing the academy base that was going to be his home for the next two years, a young man felt no excitement. At least not in the sense other teenagers his age getting enrolled felt, he could see a few people around, he could even feel their excitement from where he stood.

Turning around and staring at what had been his objective for the last three years. Even though he could not see it, he could still picture it, he could still feel it, and he could never forget.

He wanted to forget all his happy childhood memories, wanted to forget his mother's smile and his father's fake seriousness. He wanted to forget his brother's love most of all… but how could he forget when all his happy memories had become his nightmare? He could not sleep.

"I've seen the mark on his forehead it's him"

"That's a lie, it could not be him"

"Yeah, why would they let him enroll in the academy?"

"I think the better question is why he is still alive?"

He could hear them talk all around him, but he was used to it.

He could even taste the scorn they felt towards him.

'Cowards, all of them'

They all whispered ill words behind his back, now they did not even bother hiding it. He could not be bothered to respond to them, but he knew they were all 'good' people, they were all going to be his whetstones after all.

He walked away paying them no mind as he traced his lodging in the four-seasons quarters, an area open to only the titled nobility of the noble aristocracy.

"I heard a few of the upper aristocrats have their eyes on his noble title" one observer said out loud

"Yeah, I heard that too. He would be receiving a few challenges soon." Another said

"How long do you think he would last? Do you think he would last the two year duration or do you think he would win?" an abrupt voice jolted them, making them all turn to look at the latest addition in their midst. A slightly chubby teen dressed in white combat robes and a jacket like chainmail.

He continued in a conspiratorial tone "There's a secret bet going around, want to place a bet?"

He brought a piece of meat out of thin air and began to devour it in a natural fashion, looking at them all in interest… you could see him counting how much money he could make from each of them if you looked deeper into his innocent looking eyes.

He looked towards the newly departed last scion of the house of Fallen storm in interest, he believed they were going to be very good friends. How could they not be, wouldn't you be best buddies with whomever was about to make you a fortune . . . big or small, depends on how you utilized it.

"How did he do that?"

"How did he do what? Appear out of nowhere?"

"That's Warren of house Unhindered Flutter, what did you expect?"

"Where do you think he would be ranked in the young prodigies list?" they whispered in low voices to one another while Warren took unsteady strides towards the same four-seasons quarter without waiting for anyone to answer his question, he had already accomplished his goal and the rest was self-sorting, he was his own advertisement.

Chris had taken his time at the shopping with Adrienne and he had gotten all the necessities. He almost cried when Adrienne pulled a prank on him by asking him to pay for the things he had gotten for himself, but had wiggled out of paying or incurring a debt by claiming to be a property of the island… his argument had been strong and in a way irrefutable.

After their tour in the market district they finally went to the academy base, Adrienne had filled him in on the details. It was a two years compulsory schooling for young Mysterys, yes cultivation was a personal effort and could not be copied. But it could be guided in the early stages and the compulsory schooling was in essence to arm them with the ability to survive outside the confines of the safe zones and in society.

Adrienne had already sorted out his enrollment to the Riversky academy.

He was currently already in the academy, he had not bothered to return to his previous lodge as he had nothing to retrieve from it. He watched as the door opened and someone walked in, observing who he assumed was his new roommate since there were two rooms in the apartment. He watched the young man with a lightning mark on his forehead, decked in a sea blue battle robe walking in with a gloomy expression as if the world owed him money or something.

"Who are you?" taken aback by the rude and abrupt question, Chris had no choice but to re-access his opinion on his new roommate. The possibility of him being mentally challenged was high and the possibility of him having peace of mind… bleak.

"I am your roommate I presume, unless you are a staff here to clean up and were not expecting my presence" Chris could only cross his fingers in hope and prayers.

The lightning marked young man glared at him in annoyance, took a deep breath and said with patience "This is the four season's quarter, this place…" he said gesturing around the living quarters and the rooms "Is always reserved for house of fallen storm, so forgive me asking who are you?"

"House of Fallen storm?"

"That's inauspicious, is the house still standing?" Chris cracked a joke

The lightning mark young man's eyes drooped in sadness briefly, then a mirthless smile shown on his lips so bright one could cry.

"Which room is yours" he asked in a low voice

Chris looked at him in vigilance and surprise, then in realization at the fact that he may have just antagonized his new roommate. He could feel the sadness radiating from him.

'Crap!' he thought.

"I think we started off on the wrong foot here, and I know my words may have offended you just now. But I want you to understand that I meant no harm by any…"

"Meant no harm, huh?" the lightning marked teen interrupted Chris with a chuckling soft voice

"Well, that was maximum damage."

"by what I jus--" with a frown Chris could see where this was most likely going to end if he did nothing about it.

Taking a deep breath, Chris decided to explain his situation to the lightning marked young man.