Chapter 220: Visiting the Aurelian Academy
Kai wanted to believe that Layra had moved on from him.
It had been months.
She promised to contact him, but she didn’t, and he assumed that was a direct message from her that she had already moved on from the Blood Rite. From him. Though it stung, it was a good thing for her.
Now, Kai realized that he was being a coward.
Deep down, he knew that there was a chance something happened to her.
And with every bad thing that happened, he didn’t want another problem to deal with.
Layra was eager to meet with him again.
Even though they had parted badly due to a petty problem, it didn’t change what he wanted.
No chance that Layra could change that dramatically because of that alone.
It was the same with Bree.
Kai already had his suspicion that something was strange about Bree. He decided not to even bother to investigate, hoping that she had no bad intentions at all, as she was one of the few good things that had happened to him.
But it turned out like this.
So, no more.
Kai would be a coward no more.
Rather than being silent so things could stay the same, he’d confront the problems instead.
A few months had passed since he was living peacefully on the surface.
It hadn’t been that long, yet he had already stared death in the eyes more times than he could count. He had fought enemies and killed them. And through it all, problems kept stacking up on his shoulders.
At this point, it was safe to say that he was no longer the same person.
No matter what Layra was going through, he could fix it. Especially if it was somehow tied to him.
For the time they shared in the Blood Rite, he would help her as long as she allowed him to.
Kai and the porters walked down the boarding ramp.
Since the Aurelian Academy was located on the cliffside, the ship had no other choice—but to land on the bottom of the slope where the ground was flat. Kai and the porters would need to ascend the slope to reach the academy.
It’s not that far, so it’s not a problem for them.
"I won’t be long," Kai said when his eyes met with the lieutenant’s. "Just visiting a friend."
"Take your time. It’s not like we’re in a rush." The lieutenant nodded and continued to smoke.
The three ascended the slope, walking through the paved road with maple trees flanking them from both sides. Pale-red leaves drifted down in a slow—unhurried descent. Beneath the night sky, they seemed almost to glow under the gentle spill of the streetlights.
Gentle night wind brushed against their skin.
It was chilling, but not to the point of making them shiver.
"Oh, we haven’t introduced ourselves properly. My name is Sorra."
"Mine is Helio. Both of us aren’t from Layra’s class."
Kai nodded in acknowledgement and then looked at Helio.
"What’s wrong with Layra, anyway?"
"I don’t think we’re in any position to tell you anything. Just trust us on this. And since we are here already, best for Layra to tell you what happened directly."
"So it’s something really bad, got it."
Helio gave Kai an awkward smile, not knowing how to react to what he said.
It should have been obvious by now—something terrible had happened to Layra.
And from the expressions Helio and Sorra wore, it wasn’t just bad. It was devastating.
"Either way, can I even meet with her tonight? Aren’t the students mining right about now?"
"Huh... That’s right, I wasn’t thinking that far."
"I guess we’ll have to see."
Once the three neared the academy, they encountered several statues of griffins along the way. Each one was more overbearing than the last. The rushing sound of the waterfall also reached their ears, which meant they were really near.
Two grey-masked Angels saw them approaching and barred their way.
"State your identity and business."
"We’re volunteers who assisted the seniors in the Second Sky," Sorra replied smoothly with a pleasing tone. He turned toward Kai, who stood apart in different attire and a starkly different mask. "This one’s a volunteer from Eventide Academy. The ship is refuelling, so we’re taking him for a quick look around.
"And maybe meet a few friends from the Blood Rite."
Hearing this, one of the grey-masked Angels turned to Kai, "State your title and name."
Kai wasn’t surprised by the question at all.
In fact, he had already anticipated it.
"Lesser Angel Kai."
"Lesser Angel? Turn around and leave; you’re not welcome here."
"I’m not... welcomed?"
"Yes," the grey-masked Angel nodded—his sneer could practically be seen through the mask. "A Lesser Angel is not allowed to go around freely. Go back. You’re wasting the resources of your academy, and now you want to waste ours?"
"I think that’s too harsh," Helio intervened. "All we wanted was to walk around for a bit. Just to sightsee. After all, our Aurelian Academy is a beautiful place, and it’s a waste not to boast the view here."
"Since I’m a good person, I can let this pass," the grey-masked Angel replied.
Helio and Sorra breathed a sigh of relief, but they were relieved too early.
"As long as you provide me with your student identification, then we’ll let you in." He added.
"I think you forgot that we are from the Second Sky," Sorra chuckled awkwardly. "We are not really in a position to bring our student IDs with us.
"He didn’t forget," Kai intervened and tilted his head; his eyes remained fixated on the grey-masked Angel. "He knew that I didn’t bring my student ID to the Second Sky, and that’s why he asked for it."
"Seems like the Lesser Angel has a brain."
"For a coward who chose to work on the First Sky rather than tackle Sky Gates in the Second Sky, you sure do talk big. Is it fun bullying your juniors?"
"That’s a feisty mouth you have there, Lesser Angel. I won’t act brazenly if I were you."
"Really? Are you going to do something?"
Helio and Sorra scrambled to defuse the situation, their words tumbling over each other. But no one was listening. Kai and the grey-masked Angel had locked eyes and tension rose from their gaze, crackling the air like the moment before a lightning strike.
Even as seconds stretched, Kai’s black eye held the grey-masked Angel’s eyes.
He wasn’t glaring, and there was no aggression.
Just a dead, unblinking stare that seemed to press the air from the space between them.
At first, the grey-masked Angel meant to hold the stare until Kai backed down. After all—he’s a Lesser Angel. No Lesser Angel has the gall to lift their heads up, much less retain fiery and long eye contact.
But in the heat of that silent clash, he began to notice things that he hadn’t noticed earlier.
The tears across Kai’s clothes that were remnants of the battle he had gone through. The blood swimming behind those black eyes. And Helio and Sorra; they were trying to defuse whatever this was, but they were focused almost solely on Kai.
As if it was Kai who was the stronger side.
Each detail made the grey-masked Angel frown in confusion.
Despite not being a particularly spectacular Angel—he had gone through the Blood Rite, too, and developed the sixth sense to sense hidden danger. And for some reason, his danger sense was flaring right now.
And then, his peripheries began to grow darker and darker.
Like the night was pressing from all around him.
’Something is wrong with this kid. Is he really a Lesser Angel?’ The thought surfaced cold and unwelcome. He swallowed harshly. Beads of cold sweat broke across his forehead. It was the same feeling as the crawling, instinctive dread—when one stood in the direct line of sight of a ferocious Star Beast.
"Y-You’re lucky that I’m in a good mood," the grey-masked Angel said and stepped aside.
Helio and Sorra paused; they snapped out of their dazes when Kai already went ahead.
He walked past the two grey-masked Angels without hesitation.
Behind Helio and Sorra, they bowed slightly as a sign of respect and then chased after Kai.
Neither knew why the grey-masked Angel suddenly gave way, but it was good that things ended without a problem. After all, they asked Kai to come with them to meet with Layra and make a good impression, not bring him to trouble.
Fortunately, Kai didn’t seem to be blaming them for the encounter.
"What the fuck was that?" the other grey-masked Angel asked. Baffled at what happened.
"I don’t want to talk about it."
"Why in the world did you let that Lesser Angel past? We looked like pussies."
"You don’t understand. Something is odd about that Lesser Angel. It’s hard to describe—but he seemed dangerous."
"Eugh... Whatever dude. It’s not like we need to stop him, so it’s fine. Next time, you should not pick a fight from the start when you’re going to back down. If my girlfriend saw that, she’d dump me on the spot."
"Yeah. Yeah."
Once the three passed the grey-masked Angels, the Aurelian Academy came into view.
A vast marble edifice rose before them—a tower anchoring each of its four corners. Even the main building of Eventide Academy paled in comparison. It resembled a castle. A big fortress of pale stone capable of hosting thousands within its walls.
Just as expected, griffins could be seen everywhere.
It was the means of transport for the students of Aurelian Academy.
And unlike the griffins in the Aerial Stable, the griffins here are bigger and more muscular.
Like an entirely different species.
"You haven’t seen anything. There are Griffins the size of a damn tank! You’d be surprised."
"The Griffins here are another breed entirely. It’s our academy’s pride."
"Fascinating," Kai nodded in acknowledgment.
He was then brought inside, and naturally, he became the center of attention.
Some of the students—who weren’t mining glanced at him when they saw his different attire. His black and red stood out like a sore thumb against the white and gold. Fortunately, nothing happened along the way.
Most of the students were too tired to start anything.
Kai was brought to the cafeteria.
It was facing the waterfall and the full view of the maple forest.
Because of the scenery, it became the best place for students to gather. He was brought to a spot near the corner, and as he approached that area, his eyes caught sight of familiar figures. Both were facing away, but he recognized them.
"I’ll take it from here," Kai said.
Helio and Sorra nodded and took a seat nearby.
As for Kai, he made wide strides toward these two familiar figures.