Theoretical Exam [2]

Lami's stomach growled; coffee wasn't enough. He had only heard praise about the academy's cafeteria and couldn't wait to try it.

Scanning the campus map, he saw it was beside the massive arena. The metro, faster than even expected, whisked him there in minutes.

The area between Athena Hall and the cafeteria was vast, but the Academy's top-notch metro made it a quick trip. 

Walking would have taken him a while.

Though plain on the outside, the cafeteria was filled with high-quality dishes from every cuisine.

Lami wanted to sample various dishes, but deciding to save money, he settled on a bowl of ramen, savoring every moment.

"Only 10 Crowns? That is cheap as fuck," Lami remarked, nodding in satisfaction. Such a high-quality meal would cost at least 30 Crowns in the city center.

After paying for the food, Lami went back to Athena Hall, this time sitting on a bench just outside the building, listening to music while observing the neverending blue sky.

His gaze eventually fell on the white-haired girl, who seemed to be struggling.

Moments later, a powerful voice echoed through the room.

"We are done with the examination. You can check your results on your screens, and behind me are the top ten ranked candidates."

A holographic display appeared behind Mark Stevens, showcasing the top ten of the theoretical exam.

Results:

1- Lami Stern: 100%

2- Ivy V. Starglance: 99%

3- Eleanor Silverblade: 96%

4- Darion Vindale: 95%

5- Gareth Dale: 92%

6- Vinny Hope: 90%

7- David J. Kim: 89%

8- Lyria: 89%

9- Helen Cyprus: 87%

10- Seren Steinhart: 85%

As the results were announced, the room erupted into rumbling.

"Princess is third?"

"Who the fuck is Lami Stern?"

"Man, I am cooked. It's over..."

"That Ivy girl as well, who is she?"

"Let's fucking go!"

Some were mourning and some jumping around from joy, but a lot of them were questioning his identity.

'Weirdos… Mind your own results. What is with that idolization?'

Not wanting to get any needless attention, Lami darted out of the room and made his way to the office to enroll.

Knock! Knock!

"Come in.

Hearing the voice coming behind the door, Lami opened it, revealing a circular room bathed in sunlight.

He took a seat on the comfortable leather chair and handed in his ID card.

"I want to enroll," Lami expressed directly.

"Sure thing," the office lady with round glasses said. "...So you scored a perfect mark in the theoretical exam; congratulations. That rarely happens."

"Thanks," Lami thanked, nodding his head.

"Since you ranked first, you qualify for a 'Researcher Discount,' meaning a fifty percent discount on 189,000 Crowns—"

As she took out a calculator from a drawer and started entering the numbers, Lami opened his mouth.

"94,500 Crowns."

Lami took out around half of the bills from the wooden box and handed them to the lady. She seemed surprised to be paid in cash but counted the bills, switching her gaze between them and Lami.

"...Here is the change," she said hesitatingly, probably surprised by an 'orphan' having this much money; however, she didn't question Lami. 

It wasn't her job to do so. 

"Do you have a Pocket linked to your core?"

"No." Lami shook his head.

"Alright, follow me."

The office lady stood up from her seat and made her way to the inner room, scanning her fingerprint on the wall. 

She opened up a hidden room where lots of lusterless, black ball-like devices were organized on the shelves.

"You surely know what a Pocket is, so I will spare the long explanation."

She picked one of the many Pockets and made her way deeper into the hidden room. Lami followed her closely and stopped in front of a stale altar. 

The office lady put the Pocket on the altar and pulled out a small needle from a sterile bag.

"We need a small amount of mana and blood, so prick your finger and let a little blood onto the Pocket."

She handed him the needle, observing Lami as he followed exactly what he was told.

Drip!

Dripping his blood on the Pocket, it started glowing.

"...Infuse it with your mana, and the linking process will complete.

Lami pushed a small amount of mana onto the Pocket and felt it slightly tremble a couple of times.

"You should be able to use your Pocket now; check the manual on the website for the commands."

The office lady started walking the way they had come from, and Lami followed her back.

"Store your pocket inside a dimensional space when not in use; they are durable but not indestructible. Also, it can change forms and also float around, following you."

They left the hidden room and walked back into the office.

"You can use your Pocket as your academy ID card, and you can also use it as a payment method on the campus."

She took out a form and passed it to Lami.

"I need you to sign this. We backup important documents in physical form, so no data gets lost."

"Sure." Lami signed the paper after thoroughly reading it. "...I have a question: are academy uniforms mandatory?"

The lady threw Lami a questioning glance.

"No, not really. There are no written rules; however, most of the students enjoy them."

'Nice.'

After her initial response, he paid little attention to the rest of her explanation.

"If you don't have any questions, this is all for today. I welcome you to Nexus ."

"Thank you; have a good day."

Lami left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Hmm? Why is there no one waiting for enrollment?"

He was pondering his question while walking through the eerily silent hallway, then the realization hit him.

"Probably because they can enroll online. I'm feeling like an old head now."

Paying with cash and not enrolling online...

Another door opened while Lami was walking toward the exit, revealing two glimmering, golden eyes. 

Noticing Lami, she greeted him with a bright smile.

"Ah, hello!"

The beautiful and soft voice resounded beside Lami, sending a tingly sensation through him. Upon hearing it, he stopped and turned his head toward the owner of the voice.

"..Hi?"

What stood before his eyes was the flawlessly beautiful girl with snow-white hair and golden eyes that glistened and reflected the light like a sky full of stars. 

Her bangs fell just at eyebrow level, adding to her ethereal appearance.

She was wearing a white silk crop blouse with long sleeves and a black, long skirt. The blouse wrapped gracefully around her elegant curves. 

With her heels on, she stood at the same height as Lami.

Lami approved of her style.

"I am Lumia van Elysium. You should be Lami Stern."

Lumia was soft-spoken, but her way of speaking carried a faintly robotic tone; her bright smile on the other hand acted like an illuminant. 

She was angelic.

"...I am, but how did you know?"

"I can just tell. You finished the test early and left the room with confidence, and after getting the results, you left as if not caring about the exam."

Lami noticed her forcing herself to sound natural, but it was backfiring; she was lacking 'the' delivery.

"Oh, I see that makes sense," Lami said and continued after a short pause. "..Did you by any chance just come from the demon realm?"

Lumia's golden eyes widened in surprise; she looked a little bit startled.

"H- how did you find out?"

Seeing the state Lumia was in, Lami felt regretful.

"Well," Lami scratched his head in embarrassment. "It is the way you speak. It feels… I don't know you get me. …Probably."

"...Ah."

A soft sound escaped her lips, and a blush crept across her alabaster skin.

"I thought I was hiding it well," Lumia said, disappointed. "I was awed by human culture for a long time, so I started to research about humans, how they lived, how they acted, and what they did in their free time."

"We can't really access the human network in the demon realm, so the best I could do was to read, and to listen to those who had already visited the realm. Although, there—"

Lumia stopped abruptly and sighed.

"I am sorry, I just went on speaking without even asking you if you wanted to listen or not."

"No, please go on," Lami shrugged; he was honestly interested in her story.

"....Thank you."

Lumia's lips curled up once again.

"As I was saying, even though there weren't many resources, what I found about the culture kept on astonishing me and feeding my curiosity more."

Lumia crossed her arms with a smug expression as if boasting her victory.

"So after learning about the academy, I started studying everything about humans and their language, but the real challenge was convincing my father. That took me a while…"

"You are brave, coming to a new realm all alone," Lami said, acknowledging her boldness. "..Also, don't worry about me noticing it. I only did it since my senses are keen. I doubt anyone else will be able to notice it."

"... Thank you."

"Don't sweat it. You will get there eventually."

Lumia cocked her head slightly, looking at Lami in confusion.

"..Don't sweat?"

She looked quite funny and bewildered as she was trying to understand the saying.

To the crimson-eyed boy, Lumia looked like a confused kitten.

"...It means don't worry about it," Lami said, suppressing his chuckle.

"Aha! That's new." Lumia nodded her head strongly.

"So, I will go now; I need a place to be. See you in two weeks."

The academic year would start on the 25th of August, which was a Monday. 

Until then, Lami planned to train relentlessly.

"Wait a second." Lumia ran behind Lami. "I was wondering why you don't seem to have demonic energy; I can't sense anything from you."

Lami shook his head.

"..I don't know either." Lami didn't tell her the whole truth, but he still couldn't hide the disappointment from his face.

"I see, sorry for asking..."

Lami shrugged, not saying anything.

"Say Lami," Lumia's eyes glistened with a sense of expectation. "Can you teach me about humans? I can't seem to get used to how they live and... speak."

Lami narrowed his eyes in doubt.

"Why me?"

"Well, you are a demon and also a human, so you must know about both cultures. I guess?" Lumia said, tilting her head to the side.

He thought of himself as someone who was neither a demon nor a human. 

A boy simply stuck in between but appreciated by none.

Lami looked deep into Lumia's eyes, feeling as if he were catapulted into the sky, drifting aimlessly among the stars.

"I can't," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "How do they live? I don't know. I don't even know if I've been living until now—or if I'm still living."

He had never even tried to truly understand his parents when they were right there with him. 

Looking back, he wasn't sure what he had been doing all this time, blindly overlooking everything.

And now that they were not there beside him; he was regretting his ignorance.

Also, the boy was aimless in a sense.

He wanted to save his mother, but was that it? 

What did he want for himself?

He truly had nothing in mind, so for now he decided to follow others, maybe even learn a thing or two. 

Maybe even having fun like his mother wanted him to.

But for now, all those were in the background. His main goal was to gain the strength he needed.

The Apostles. 

He wanted to see it all burn.

Lami turned his back to the snow-white-haired girl as she watched him walk away in silence.

"..See you in two weeks," Lami said as he moved down the hallway.