There may also be some inaccuracies, since English is not my native language.
Essentially, TBATE is first translated from English into my native language - and in that process, some details are already altered to make it more understandable for us. Now I'm taking that adapted (and somewhat distorted) version, revising it, rewriting it, and then translating it back into English.
I hope you'll point out any mistakes in the text that I might have missed.
× × × × ×
Lucius Zogratis POV
"Academy professors exist outside the usual social strata," Darrin said, quickly following on the heels of Alaric's statement. "At least in the prestigious academies. Even a powerful pureblood wouldn't be able to tear the two of you away from a teaching post, and the Granbehls would be stripped of their name immediately if they were caught arranging an attack on Central Academy grounds."
"Your position will be that of an entry-level hand-to-hand combat instructor," Darrin continued, tapping his fingers against the table. He was staring at me intently because I had effortlessly put him - a former Ascender at the silver core level - flat on his back.
"Easy work, and you won't even have to teach little vogarts magic," Alaric added with a grin. "Just some sword-swinging and running around, something like that. Like I said, one becomes the instructor, the other becomes his assistant, and problem solved."
"In fact, your classes would only take place a couple of days a week," Darrin continued, "so once you're settled in, you'll have time-"
A soft knock at the door cut him off.
A moment later, the door opened and Sorrel came in carrying two heavily laden trays piled with food. "You all must be hungry after training," she said with a sweet smile as she set the trays down on the table.
The moment I glanced at Arthur, I immediately linked into the mental space between him and Regis.
"I know what you're thinking," Regis said, "but both you and I know that, logically speaking, it's actually a pretty good plan."
"And what exactly seems logical to you, Regis?" Arthur replied, and there was obvious irritation in his voice.
"Teaching rich little Alacryan brats to hit each other with sticks is a small price to pay for protection and the chance to go about your business without outside interference, princess." There was open insolence in Regis's tone.
"You mean teaching Alacryan children to kill Dicathen children?"
"Is that what you were doing when you helped little Belmun get his Crest in Maerin? Or what about Mayla and her Emblem?"
"I didn't do anything..." Arthur's voice cut off abruptly.
"It's a good turn of events," I cut in during the silence. "I don't remember all the details anymore since I read the original a long time ago, but if I remember correctly, there's a Relicvault-a place where they keep dead Relics."
"Your GodRune of Theft." Arthur's voice changed sharply. It was almost amusing how quickly his mood shifted whenever we started talking about something that could increase his strength.
"Yes," I answered simply, watching as Sorrel gave a gentle bow and left. "There's a Relic there that will let us enter the relictombs whenever we want. I barely even remember what it looks like or why, in the original storyline, you got close to the Academy, but the fact remains that we need that Relic, and now that we have the GodRune of Theft or God Step, we can steal it fairly easily."
Without interrupting their dialogue and listening to it only with half an ear, I casually tossed a sweet fruit into my mouth. It looked like a blueberry, but the taste was like some bizarre mixture of strawberry and banana.
Darrin nodded enthusiastically. "That's true. I was a guest speaker there about a year ago, and they showed off what they call their 'Relicvault,' sort of a small museum of dead Relics they've collected over the decades."
"All right," I said, realizing that once the information about the dead Relics was confirmed Arthur would become much more cooperative, "let's say I agree with your plan-but Gray will be the professor, I'm saying that now. What happens next?"
Arthur's head turned toward me, and I felt the weight of his stare burning into me. At that moment, Alaric's tangled beard became unbelievably fascinating.
Alaric thumped a fist down on the table and grinned, spraying a few crumbs into his beard, while Darrin launched into a more detailed explanation.
× × × × ×
May 4
"All right, do you remember everything I told you?" Alaric asked me for the third time, despite the fact that he had already explained the exact same thing twice.
As I already said, he's actually pretty caring-as long as you don't point it out and make him embarrassed.
Alaric stood with his hands shoved into the pockets of a purple robe stretched too tightly over his stomach.
"Yes, Uncle Al," I said mockingly, adjusting my black clothes with gold runes.
"You know," he replied thoughtfully, "I'm still not sure whether I like that or not."
"Well, damn me where I stand, are we going or what?"
Alaric, Darrin, Arthur, and I all turned to look at Briar, who was leaning against the wall of Darrin's teleportation room. She was dressed in snow-white leather armor and had one hand resting on the hilt of her slender blade.
The disagreeable young girl, about my age, met our stares resolutely. "I'd like to get back to the academy before I become as old as the four of you."
"Considering all the forces of evil directed against you," Regis intoned grandly to Arthur, "who would've thought you'd end up being mocked by a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl."
Alaric burst out laughing and clapped Darrin hard on the back. "Whatever Blood Nadir is paying you, make them double it," he teased.
The girl only snorted, shifting her gaze to the warped space at the center of the raised stone platform. The anvil-shaped artifact was made of dull gray metal and decorated with dozens of runes, which I had kindly memorized just like so many other runes.
"I'm sending you to the Sovereign's Library," Darrin said while calibrating the artifact. "Briar, you can show Gray and Lucius-"
"The student administration office, yes." When Darrin arched a brow at the girl, she straightened and said, "I mean, yes, sir."
Smiling to myself, Darrin finished the calibration and stepped back. "Everything's ready for transit."
Arthur held out his hand to the Alacryan, and Darrin took it. "Thank you for your hospitality and your help," Arthur said sincerely.
"What the two of you went through was a terrible injustice," Darrin replied, shifting his gaze from Arthur to me and back. "I'm glad we were able to help."
"You owe me big time, boy," Alaric said with a crooked grin when I held out my hand to him too. "Darrin's still going to remind me of this, and that's not even counting all the other favors I had to call in."
"My hero," I replied.
"So before you leave, we'd better settle this-thirty percent, if I remember correctly?"
Briar frowned. "Thirty percent is robbery."
Darrin looked faintly embarrassed, but kept his opinion of our arrangement to himself.
"Plus ten percent for my services as your consultant," Alaric added, giving a sly wink.
Arthur theatrically reached into his pocket and pulled out his spatial ring. He slipped it onto his finger and "activated" it, looking through the collection of rewards he had brought back from the relictombs. When he pulled out the first item-a silver crown adorned with blood-red gemstones so saturated with fire mana that it was visible to the naked eye-Alaric lit up with restrained delight.
One by one, Arthur began handing over part of the treasure we had gathered. Deciding this was a good moment, I too began pulling out items one after another, making sure that Arthur's and mine did not accidentally overlap.
Briar's bright eyes grew wider and wider with every piece that came out of our "spatial rings," and even Darrin could not hide his surprise at the sheer size of the payment, which consisted of a broad assortment of gleaming, faintly magical artifacts.
"Gray, I thought you said you didn't have any wealth?" Darrin asked, lifting a brow in our direction.
"I don't. I have a pile of things. It's not really 'wealth' until I have a chance to sell it," Arthur said, pulling another reward from his dimensional rune.
Alaric pretended to inspect each item carefully before stowing it into his own dimensional ring, trying to keep a calm face, but by the end, from the sheer amount of treasure, he was practically drooling, and his hands were trembling with excitement.
"Do me a favor and don't drink yourself to death on all this," I said, fixing him with a stern look.
The old Ascender lifted the ring as though he could physically feel the weight of all the treasure now inside. "Lucius, Gray, once you get to Cardigan, the local Ascenders Association will buy everything you've got and deposit the value straight onto your rune card," he said distractedly. "And they can also print you an official badge, since you've completed your preliminary Ascension."
"You got all this during a preliminary Ascension?" Briar asked in disbelief, her eyes jumping from Arthur to me to our dimensional rings and back again.
Darrin answered quickly. "Don't get your hopes up, Briar. This is definitely not an ordinary haul for one or even several Ascensions."
Arthur merely shrugged, looking at the girl. "We got lucky."
"Agreed," Darrin began. "In any case, the three of you had better get going. Gray, Lucius, Briar will help you get oriented." He looked at his student and ran a hand through his blond hair. "And Briar, don't forget that Gray is going to be a professor at the academy, and Lucius his assistant. You may not be in their class, but I doubt they'll be tolerant of even more rudeness from you."
"See you, Gray, Lucius," Darrin said as Arthur and I joined the girl on the platform.
"Get settled quickly so you can get back to making me money," Alaric added hoarsely, spinning his dimensional ring around his calloused finger.
"Bye-bye!" came a thin little voice from the doorway as Penn peeked around the corner, waving, her eyes sparkling as she looked at my neatly groomed hair.
I waved back, then the manor vanished around me, and I found myself standing on another platform, far from rural Sehz-Clar.
The transition was smooth, with no sharp nausea or twisting of my insides. The platform beneath my feet changed from bare stone to dark wood, while the space around me resembled a cave.
After a quick document check, easily passed thanks to our Central Academy professor badge and Central Academy assistant professor badge,
we walked in silence for several more minutes before emerging onto the main thoroughfare. The street was busy with foot traffic, and businesses lined it that clearly catered to academy students: restaurants and taverns, weapon depots, luxury clothing shops, and a couple of stores claiming to buy and sell rewards.
"You don't need that," Briar said when Arthur slowed to read the sign outside Andweil's Honors. "All those shops are shady, and most of the people who trade with them are too. Great if you've got a stolen reward you need to get rid of fast, not so great for preserving your reputation as a Central Academy professor. If you're going to sell anything you didn't hand over to Alaric, take it to the Ascenders Association. The building is right by the campus entrance anyway."
As if to reinforce her point, the door swung open and a man with shifty eyes in a filthy gray battle robe stepped out. His attention was fixed on a glass stone in his hand, so he nearly walked straight into Arthur. The man flinched when Arthur came into view, shot him a suspicious glance, then pulled up his hood and disappeared into the crowd.
Briar cast Arthur a look that clearly said, "See? I told you."
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a moving image playing across the surface of some kind of crystal mounted to a wall with black brackets.
Briar smirked. "You really are in a big city for the first time, aren't you?"
"Is that some kind of projection artifact? It shows recorded images?" Arthur asked, stepping closer after me. The moment we moved within a few centimeters of the artifact, I expected to hear something-but nothing happened, absolutely nothing.
Could it be that the strength of my soul and the fact that I still didn't know how to control it had, for the first time, worked against me?
No matter. I'll learn that later.
I turned my attention to the other merchants lined along Sovereign's Street, but didn't stop to linger again. A few minutes later we stood between two tall complexes, and before us black iron gates barred the entrance to what could only be Central Academy.
Several groups of students were heading toward the gate. A few girls suddenly stopped when they noticed Briar, Arthur, and me, and squealed excitedly. Briar smirked and waved back.
"As fun as this has been, this is where I leave you, professor, assistant." She had already started walking away when she added, "I assume the two of you can somehow find your way from here?"
"I think I'll manage," Arthur called after her.
Quickly dismissing the girl from my mind, I focused my gaze on the impressive buildings before me. The tall white buildings flanking the entrance to Central Academy were actually linked by several arched stone bridges at different heights overhead.
"Oh my Vritra, Briar. Who are those two gorgeous men?"
Despite the distance to the group and the noise of the street, my enhanced hearing was enough to catch everything the group of girls was saying, and I shot a glance at Arthur, who had noticed the sounds too.
"Which one's your boyfriend? You said you couldn't hang out because you were training! If the taller one isn't yours, could you maybe introduce-"
"That's not what you think, and could you shut up, Valeri, before I show you just how hard I've been training," Briar said in a low growl that only made the other girls smile even wider.
They lingered only for a moment before hurrying after Darrin's student, though not without throwing a few curious glances our way.
"You know, I'm a little surprised they're so... normal," Arthur said with a faint smile as he watched the students line up at the academy gates.
"Honestly, I'm more surprised Briar has friends," Regis commented.
Mentally amused by Regis's remark, I returned my full attention to the buildings of the Ascenders Association. Black metal placards indicated that the entrance to my right was for Testing and Teleportation, while the one to my left led to Administration and Quarters.
Choosing the left entrance, we followed a short path to a pair of double doors-wide enough for an entire carriage to pass through-and Arthur tugged at the black iron handle. The door did not open, but a moment later a small panel at face level slid open, revealing a helmeted guard.
"Badge?" he drawled in a bored voice.
Arthur pulled out the badge he'd been given in Aramur and held it up to the narrow slot. The man snatched it from his hand, and the panel slid shut again, leaving us waiting. A minute and forty-three seconds passed, enough time for two other Ascenders-both short even by average standards, thin men in the stylish battle robes adored by casters-to line up behind me, muttering grumpily about the delay.
Another minute later, the lock finally opened with a heavy thunk, and the door swung inward.
A man in a silver battle robe with blackwood shoulder guards, bracers, and boots that caught and bent the light in an odd, fluid way stepped forward. He had short black hair and a neatly trimmed beard with hints of gray at the temples and chin. His gaze flicked quickly from Arthur to me-or rather, to the small identification badge in my hand-and a trace of understanding appeared on his face.
"Welcome to the Hall of the Ascenders Association of Cardigan, Ascender Gray, Ascender Lucius. We've already heard quite a lot about you."
× × × × ×
After taking a quick look around my quarters, I dropped into one of the soft chairs by a small table and let out a quiet sigh. Polite conversation with strangers was becoming more exhausting by the day. And it wasn't only the need to keep up appearances or choose the right tone. What tired me far more was that, being a person from another time, I constantly had to watch my language, thoughts, and reactions so as not to accidentally say something out of place, too strange, or simply inappropriate for this world.
As soon as I came out of my brief daze, two objects drew my attention, both placed in the center of the small lounge area with a note.
The first was the jade rune stone that opened the doors and chests in our classroom.
The second item was even more interesting-a blackwood ring shaped like a snake coiled into a closed circle. The moment I slipped it onto my finger, it almost immediately adjusted itself, tightening slightly until it fit perfectly, as if it had always been made for me.
Returning to the table before me, I read the small bronze plaque that said: Sovereigns' Quarrel.
Scarlet and gray figures of Named Blood Herkross.
"Often the sharpest mind wins a war, not the sharpest blade."
A gift to Central Academy from Lord Linder.
Unlike the crude "figures" Caera and I had played with, the hexagonal marble board held elegantly carved Attackers, Casters, and Shields of red stone on one side, and gray ones the color of storm clouds on the other.
"All right," I murmured, looking over the board and lazily flicking a couple of pieces over with my finger.
The game itself might perhaps have entertained me for a while, but right now I was more interested in anything that might have practical value. So almost immediately I shifted my attention to the projection device fixed to the wall.
An oval pane of glass, slightly rough as if it had been cut and polished by hand, was held in place by metal brackets. It looked simple enough, but I had no doubt the mechanism behind it was much more complex than it pretended to be. However, lacking mana, I still couldn't activate it, so I didn't even bother trying. It would be stupid to waste time on something obviously pointless.
For several moments I simply stood in the empty room, listening to the air drifting in through the open window. There was something surprisingly calm in that sound-a rare, almost awkward silence after everything that had happened recently.
It would be far more useful to see exactly what class Arthur and I were supposed to teach. With that thought, I turned and stepped out of the room. Almost immediately I felt a familiar aether presence, clear and unmistakable, just as someone reached the door of his own room.
The walk to the building with Arthur turned out surprisingly short. Classes had not started yet, so the academic building was nearly empty, which gave the whole place a peculiar, almost sleepy quiet. Our footsteps echoed calmly through the broad corridors as we moved at an unhurried pace past tall windows, closed doors, and the occasional decorative panel on the walls while searching for the correct room.
In the end we found it without much trouble.
A single door led into a semi-circular chamber that resembled a small arena more than anything else. At the center was a dueling ring surrounded by tiers of seats for students. Contrary to my expectations, the classroom was smaller than I had imagined from the original novel. For a practical class it was, of course, sufficient, but reality still looked more modest than imagination had painted it.
When Arthur took the first shallow step down the stairs leading to the ring, the lamps along the outer wall and beneath the ceiling flared to life automatically, flooding the room with cool, even light and making the arena feel more alive.
I followed, but almost immediately stopped sharply.
Arthur froze too, unintentionally blocking my path.
Something had caught my eye. I tilted my head slightly, peering at one of the seats, and almost immediately noticed a rune carved into its surface.
"Am I reading that right?" Arthur muttered.
"Yes," I answered with a nod. "I'm almost certain you are."
A faint smile came to my face of its own accord as my eyes flicked quickly across the runes again.
[When activated, this rune sent a sharp impulse of pain directly into the spine of whoever was sitting on it.]
Exactly.
That was exactly what Arthur had used on Caera in the original story.
We continued downward and, circling around the ring, came to the opposite side, where a metal panel had been set into the wall with a row of levers, handles, and switches. Arthur, naturally, became interested at once and curiously pulled one of the levers. At the same instant a transparent glowing barrier rose around the platform with a faint vibration.
Everything really was exactly as in the original.
With a single click, one could activate a dampener to reduce the force of all blows within the combat platform. Slightly below that was a dial that even allowed the gravity inside the ring to be adjusted, making a fighter's body heavier or lighter. A useful thing-especially if you needed to test students, train their stability and reflexes, or simply break their usual rhythm in combat.
Another door was built directly into the wall behind the dueling ring. Arthur pressed the jade rune-stone to it, and the lock clicked softly. The door opened, letting us into a small office.
Inside, everything was arranged simply enough: a writing desk, three chairs, a few shelves, and a large chest bound with metal and engraved with runes.
A stack of scrolls, parchments, and books was already waiting for him on the desk. Arthur took two scrolls from his rune-ones he had received from our acquaintance Alaric-and placed them on the table, deciding to look into the more detailed aspects of the work later.
The rune-stone also opened the chest, which held important items. For now, it was filled with class equipment. I recognized, from the original story, the vests that allowed detailed analysis of mana flow, physical strength, acceleration, and perhaps a dozen other indicators.
"Arthur," I began, sweeping my gaze around the nearly empty room where everything had already been prepared for future lessons, "I think you share my thought that we should enter the relictombs before the full academic program begins."
"Yeah," he answered shortly, shutting the chest with the rune-stone. Then he cast me a quick glance and narrowed his eyes slightly. "And judging by your face, you've got something else to say too."
I couldn't hold back a quiet snort. Of course you figured it out-I actually made everything obvious on purpose so you'd realize I was thinking about something.
"Am I really that easy to read?" I asked, but without waiting for an answer, I merely shook my head slightly. "Fine. Doesn't matter. I have two suggestions."
When he nodded silently, completely focused on me, I turned and, beginning to walk out of the office back into the training hall, continued, "First, I'd like us to split up temporarily during the next Ascension into the relictombs."
"Why?" he asked. Though from his tone it was obvious that he had at least partly expected this.
"Because I want to see where exactly the relictombs can lead me," I answered, stepping out into the corridor. "At least once. If nothing changes, if the route turns out to be ordinary again, then the question will close itself."
Arthur was silent for a moment, considering my words, then simply nodded. "Fine. And the second piece of news?"
Instead of answering, I felt my lips stretch into a grin on their own. I raised my hand, and in the next second a rank 7 World Seed appeared in my palm-a tiny, mesmerizing object like a shard of the universe itself, swirling inside a transparent glass shell. It looked as though someone had managed to shatter a miniature cosmos and then seal one fragment of it into a perfectly smooth form.
This time even Arthur couldn't hold his expression.
His eyes widened at last, and poorly hidden excitement sounded in his voice. "You figured out how it works?"
"Well, finally," Regis drawled with obvious satisfaction, partially emerging from Arthur's body as if he too wanted to admire the find personally.
"Not exactly," I answered honestly, though in the very next second I launched into that mixture of half-truth and convenient nonsense. "But I finally worked out the levels in the system more fully. Before, I divided everything too roughly-into ordinary and unusual. And, in essence, that's still true, but within those two categories there were always sub-ranks I didn't fully understand. I couldn't always see the difference, couldn't always explain what exactly was changing, but during the time we spent in the relictombs, I finally began to catch the pattern."
I turned the World Seed lightly between my fingers, letting it catch the light.
"To put it simply, objects have a faint aura around them. Small, nearly imperceptible, and as far as I understand, it appears because of the system. It seems that only I can see it. That aura differs-in murkiness, density, brightness. And the light of this World Seed is a little weaker than that of an aether core, by roughly one sub-rank, if my guess is right."
I looked at Arthur and continued more calmly:
"And also, comparing it to what Djinn gave me, I came to the conclusion that after the system upgraded it, the energy the World Seed was supposed to draw from the core had been fully restored and almost renewed. Because the upgraded World Seed, while still trying to integrate into the core, didn't actually reach specifically for the aether in that core. In other words, it wanted to occupy a place somewhere in the core, but no longer required the exact same type of nourishment it had originally been meant to draw."
With those words, I held out the rank 7 World Seed to Arthur, and he carefully took it into his palm.
For several seconds he simply stared at it.
I understood perfectly what he was thinking.
Not just about power, and not just about a new stage of growth. But about a world inside the core. A world where, one day, it would be possible to hide his family in a moment of mortal danger-a true sanctuary that could not simply be taken away or destroyed on the whim of an Asuran Lord sitting in an entirely different dimension.
At last he raised his eyes to me and, arching a brow slightly, asked, "And when are you planning to test this on me?" From his tone it was obvious that he wasn't rejecting the idea at all. Quite the opposite.
"This evening," I answered. "After each of us spends a little time wandering around the academy, looking around, and getting some fresh air."
I turned on my heel and headed off in the other direction, no longer looking at him, only waving one hand in farewell.