Vranas, Vranas

There were thirty-six districts in the Core city, naturally, it meant that there existed thirty-six camps too.

The military academy sent a number of military buses, thirty-six to be exact, to these camps.

So even though something as odd and impactful as the death of a great family's young master had occurred, the stellar geniuses needed to be on their way.

No one had the authority to keep a bus sent by the military academy, in a state of waiting.

As for this bus, it was a long vehicle that hovered a meter above the ground and had a blaring siren bursting aloud with noise as it traversed through the main roads and by extension, the several districts separating Blackridge and the Core district.

Therein, a distinct silence permeated the air.

Not a whisp of noise from the siren entered the interior of the bus.

Noise cancelation was a level of technology that was feasible in the old world, much less now.

More than just that, even though the nine saw outside the window of the bus as if it was a transparent glass, the tint on the window appeared as black as paint from the outside.

But none of them really focused on all these things.

The silence within...

Death was like this.

They barely knew one another.

After all, besides Cassius and Catharina, the next closest bond was those two siblings, Felix, and Anon.

The three had stuck around Anon for most of high school. 

The bond between Anon and Seth was much more complex and harder to identify but could also be considered as very close.

Still, one should've gotten the gist already.

Nickyle was arrogant and domineering in the initial two weeks, but the dominance of Anon and Seth had seemingly humbled him for the latter three months.

He was much more endearing to be around, more silent, and reclusive, like Melissa.

Like this, his death was impactful.

The very notion of death was the most glaring inner demon that gripped their hearts.

Because he wasn't even close to them, as in, blood-related, or for example, none of them spent their childhood with him, and yet, three months and two weeks was enough time, that when they realized that the aura of death had encompassed his being, they were left with a bitter sensation in their mouth.

Their chests were stuffy.

Melissa's eyes were red, clearly, even if she did not cry, she was close to crying.

Andrew's face was dark as he rested his forehead on the back of the seat in front of him and stared at the floor, in silence.

Catharina's eyes were squinted, and lines had formed on her forehead.

Her legs were crossed, and her arms were folded as she sat with a doubtful and dazed look in her eyes.

Cassius was breathing heavily.

This was much beyond his expectations.

A young man with a great future, someone of comparable status to himself, and possibly many times more doted on by his Knightly father, had just succumbed to death.

What was this?

They all truly began to understand...

Yes, they were geniuses, but so what?

How many times had Rolan said it? Yet, it took something like this for them to truly realize.

A genius was a brat who had yet to mature into a strong person.

In essence, one hailed as a genius, is just a glorified weakling.

Even with this title, if a slightly strong person sought them out, death would arrive all the same.

Dalia.

Besides Cassius, Felix, and Bolan, there was a fourth genius added to the previous six stellar geniuses.

More accurately, she was the second addition since she had become a stellar fighter somewhere in the middle of August, quite a bit before the two most recently awakened geniuses, Felix, and Bolan.

Felix, who became a stellar fighter last night, and Bolan, who 'revealed' himself as a stellar fighter, last night.

Nickyle's death.

Well, it was quite surprising and caused her heart to tremor slightly, as would any other person's heart toward the death of someone you had some knowledge and thought of.

After all, she did spend slightly more than a month with him.

But his impact on her was much less then, than his impact on the others when he first entered military zone #91.

At that time, his overbearingness was at its peak.

Felix's expressions were cold.

He was 6'2/6'3 now, so he had quite the frame, and his muscles were dense, compact. 

So with his fit and slender body, coupled with a small scar under his left eye, his presence was imposing.

With folded arms, his back was slouched as he sat on a comfortable seat with a plentiful of thoughts swirling through his mind.

To this Nickyle Orland's death, why would he care?

In which timeline did he care?

None of them.

In fact, that Nickyle Orland, he detested him!

And those like him.

Felix sat at the back of the bus, so his gaze encompassed the many stellar geniuses, pausing on Cassius and Catharina, Seth too.

'I heard that Nickyle was arrogant before being brought down to earth thanks to Anon and Seth.'

He snickered coldly and said under his breath, "Those lucked out fuckers looking down on people like me. Heh..."

He couldn't help but think of the military academy, "Brother, I promised you that I'll make it to the military academy, now, I promise myself that I'll fuck up those greater family bastards. Vranas, all your children... I'll fuck them all up!"

"Vranas, Vranas..."

Relentlessly, he uttered the name of those from "that" greater family.

His brother was once a genius, but he became a genius-turned-cripple after entering the academy and "offending" a greater family.

Now, it was their turn to live through that same experience.

Bolan.

The black-haired boy was fast asleep.

Whatever happened this morning, none of it had anything to do with him. 

'Nickyle's behavior in the last three months was odd.'

Anon thought, 'Well, it was only three months, and none of us truly knew him, nor how he usually acts, but compared to the first two weeks, looking back now after his death, it does appear as odd.'

Death.

The death of another being, the demise of another lifeform, it was pitiful.

'He had gotten sick. Stellar fighters rarely get sick,' Anon squinted his eyes.

'More than that, after he overcame his sickness, though ignored by everyone else, including myself, his disposition became even odder, strange...'

Anon, who had the window seat, subtly glanced at the boy sitting on his left.

And though it was subtle, no, it could even be considered as an imperceivable glance, Seth still sensed this and greeted Anon with a smile.

'Others remain unaware of the oddities surrounding you, but I am not.'

Anon voiced inwardly, 'It's a stretch, and yet, I'm certain you're involved somehow.'

Whether this could be considered as Anon's prejudice, did it matter?

Subconsciously, he was almost a hundred percent sure that Seth was involved in Nickyle's death.

"I did it to protect you." Seth said this and smiled.

Such a smile did not appear as if he was happy, but more as if another entity had seen his face and thought it would look better with a smile, so they forged a false smile onto it.

Though this smile did not appear as forced, still, it did not give off a warm feeling.

"Is that so," Anon mused outwardly before twisting his body to properly face Seth, and with a serious expression, he bowed his head.

"Well then, thank you."

Saying this, his amber gold eyes shone with splendor after solving the reasoning behind Nickyle's death.

As for Nickyle's death itself, it was a pity, the loss of a life that is.

But that was about it.

"It really feels nice when someone actually expresses thanks."

Seth became teary eyed as he wiped the fake teardrops that trickled down his cheeks, before playfully falling into Anon's embrace.

"Back then, I helped so many people, and yet, they all cursed me."

Seth groaned under his breath, "So, I killed the ungrateful, drank their blood, and ate their flesh. But years of corruption flowed through their bloodstream, and seeped into their very being, so it did not taste good."

Pushing himself away from Anon, he snickered out loud, "Heh, heh, what stupidity am I speaking... Don't take my words seriously, haha."