Intermission [1] - The Offer [2]

{Thank you TheWallOfFantasy for your generous gifts}

*Splash*

As the girl fell to the ground, Lloyd's eyes darted to the right, watching as several floating cameras approached him from a distance.

"Perfect timing." Lloyd muttered to himself before sinking into his shadows and disappearing from sight.

***

15 Minutes earlier

Upon a building, Lloyd held a small knife covered in purple runes as he tinkered with the spherical object on his lap.

While most would have thought that the sphere was some kind of weapon, especially since he was in the middle of a battlefield where he could be attacked at any second. However, at a closer look, one would realize that he was not holding a weapon. Well, not in this particular sense.

"If I reroute the wires in this order with a capacitor at the maximum input, I single shock to its processor would send an electrical current through it. If I just-" However, that's when it hit him.

Halting his rampant mutterings, Lloyd let out a small smile before touching a certain component.

When Lloyd's finger touched the component, he felt a small amount of mana leaving his body before that same mana ingrained itself into the component in the form of purple runes.

"If I've done this correctly, this camera should send out an electric pulse that will deactivate all electronics in a certain area. The cameras will continue to float around since they use mana crystals as a fuel source, but they won't have the ability to transmit without electricity." Lloyd muttered before his smile widened.

Lowering the device, Lloyd turned it around and looked straight into the large lens at the front of the spherical.

"I've already gained the attention of the higher-ups, now all I need are points."

***

Sitting on a tree branch in the forest, Lloyd played with his fingernails until an announcement made his ears perk up.

*"Time's up! You will now be transported to a different area. Please refrain from moving."*

It only took a few seconds for bright flashes of light to coat the island's entirety, causing many of the smaller creatures to run into their 'homes' while others simply closed their eyes due to the blinding light.

When the lights finally subsided, Lloyd and the others returned to the same waiting hall they had been in a few hours ago.

Lloyd could not help but look around for a moment as he felt something weird about the room he was in, but just before he was about to let go of the matter, his eyes landed upon a familiar white-haired man surrounded by people dressed just as luxuriously as him.

Just as Lloyd made eye contact with the man, the man also seemed to see him.

And then they all looked towards Lloyd...

They all had the same expressions on their faces, yet while some seemed to radiate an air of confidence, others protruded the stench of desperation.

'The rest are simple recruiters who have been given the job to find anyone with talent. Those four, on the other hand...' Lloyd squinted his eyes before beginning to talk toward them, his eyes shining bright purple as he got closer to them.

The moment he got to a certain distance, he felt an overwhelming pressure press down upon him, but after a moment, he simply walked through the pressure as if it didn't affect him.

However, the same could not be said for the recruiters who had gone pale and had already dropped to the ground, gasping for air and trying their hardest not to faint.

'Zombies...' Lloyd mused while looking at them, trying to reach out for him as if he was some kind of messiah.

"Hello principle." Lloyd smiled slightly, causing the three of them to widen their eyes while the white-haired man extended his hand while also letting out a smile similar to Lloyd's.

"So, have you thought over my offer." The white-haired man asked.

"I have, but I'll need a little more time to think about it. You know, after the little stunt I pulled, I will be gaining a few more options, don't you think?" Lloyd smiled back, yet this time it had a hint of deviousness within it, an amount that made the principal narrow his eyes for a moment before shaking his head.

"No worries. You will come to see that my academy gives much more than the others do." He winked, but that was the extent of what the other principles were going to allow him to do.

The instant they felt like the conversation had stopped, they all came forward to introduce themselves.

"Mr. Elrod. I'd like to introduce myself. I am Elijah Quinn, and the principal of the Caraxes academy. I come from a family with the dragon bloodline, and we only take in the best of the best." A man with brown hair and hazel eyes smiled while extending his hand toward Lloyd.

Lloyd simply looked at his hand for a second before finally returning the handshake.

"Lloyd Elrod. What a beautiful name." A woman with crimson eyes and hair muttered before letting out a smile when she saw that Lloyd's eyes had been drawn to her.

Flicking her back, pursing her lips, and narrowing her eyes, she walked forwards in an exaggerated manner before extending her hand, not into a handshake, but in a way that implied Lloyd should kiss her hand.

"Seducing me will not work, Principal Crimson." Lloyd narrowed his eyes before grabbing her hand. Yet, instead of kissing it like she had expected, he simply turned it to the side and gave a normal handshake.

"Ignore the fool beside me. She is not suited to become the principal of her academy. She was simply the rightful heir or the next in line before someone from her family kills her to take her throne." A woman with golden red hair stepped forward before extending her hand.

She had a serious expression on her face that could not be mistaken for anything other than pure determination.

However, there was something else that made her different. Something that made her stand out from the rest the moment she entered Lloyd's line of sight.

She radiated a majestic aura that could not be replicated by anyone else. It was one that made people cheer in a time of peace and roar in a time of war. It was an aura that gave people the instinctive sense to serve her, and it had a power behind it that had the capability of making the weakest of minds into the minds of soldiers.

She was, in all senses and purposes, a queen.

"I am Alexa Windsor, and I am the Principal of the Royal Elizabeth Academy."

"What is someone of the royal academy doing in the same vicinity as a commoner like myself?" Lloyd chuckled, yet for some reason, the tension became much harder to bear as silence descended upon the conversation.

Lloyd felt a shiver go down his spine as he looked into the empty eyes of the "Queen" before him. He could tell that she was powerful at a single look, yet he could not tell how powerful she was.

Whether she was a second commandment or a fourth, that was up to fate to decide.

After what felt like a minute of silence, Lloyd's patience had almost run out as he began to reach for his watch to pull out his blades and gain distance on her, yet right when he was about to do so, he felt the wind shift around him.

Feeling this, he could not help but narrow his eyes and look at Alexa carefully.

"Hahahaha." Yet, in contrary to Lloyd's expectations, she began to laugh before wiping her eyes and explaining-

"You might think of yourself as a commoner, but in the eyes of many of the higher families, you are already one of us. Of course, no one is truly willing to accept that fact since you don't have the same history as our families that goes back generations; being associated with the Glade family alone is capable of giving you high stature."

"Not only are you associated with them, but your parents fought alongside other family heads. It just happens that you grew closest with the Glade family. You have many connections Mr. Lloyd Elrod, and you don't even know it." She smiled, yet her smile only served to make Lloyd more anxious.

Not knowing what to say, Lloyd stayed silent.

"You do not have to make your decision now. I will send you an invitation to my academy that should come in a day or two. The invitation will have all the details you need to make your decision. Just make sure that you are careful what academy you choose." She explained, her voice becoming sterner by the second.

"It's been nice meeting you, and I hope I hear from you in the near future." She saluted before disappearing into an array of blue light.

The other two were about to take advantage of this moment, yet when they saw the look in Lloyd's eyes as he turned away from them, they knew they had no chance of recruiting him.

Principle Relworth smiled, seeing this before disappearing in the same fashion as Alexa before the other two followed shortly behind him.