Inside Csendez's apartment, the night had fallen silent, and everything had grown quiet.
The phoenix girl stood on the floor in front of the window, looking up at the sky.
Her gloves were gone, as was her ring. She was now wearing a simple white nightdress with an interesting pattern along the edges.
Her hair was loose, falling down her back and almost reaching the floor.
Under the light of the stars, her pale skin seemed to glow faintly.
This week finally ended. I entered a new one, and school has already started.
In this short amount of time, I discovered that I have a problem with my soul, that this Academy is not simple at all, that my family probably knows more than they tell me, that the universe is apparently in danger, that gods might actually be real, and that I sometimes enter someone else's body…
She paused.
Did I cover everything important?
Csendez looked at her reflection in the window.
Probably.
And today, Uituba took the problem to another level.
If the criteria for Class S are these two patterns, which make no sense at all, then what is their purpose?
She crossed her arms.
What is the Academy planning to do with children who rebel against their families? Train them to fight for them? Make them form alliances with other races because they hate their families?
I don't think that's the case.
My uncle's reaction tells me that much.
Her expression became more serious.
What if this entire school was created as a solution to the threat those teachers mentioned?
One of those threats has already been confirmed, and it is apparently a known secret: the creatures from the Shadow.
She glanced toward the wall where she kept some of her belongings and collections of various objects.
This school has crystals everywhere that prevent these creatures from even looking inside. So this place is definitely protected from them.
But is that the only reason?
Professor Iman said that the real reason is something else.
Something even more dangerous than the creatures from the Shadow…
That's very intriguing.
The creatures from the Shadow have hunted and terrorized this universe for two thousand years now.
They appeared around the same time as the Alocanai Council.
Or, more precisely, the Alocanai Council was officially formed because of these creatures.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the fabric of her dress.
Monsters born from the Shadow that hunt every form of life: plants, animals, fish, birds, and every race this universe knows.
I don't know if they hunt humans, but it would be highly likely.
These creatures couldn't be stopped through ordinary force or combat. For a long time, everyone could only avoid them by using special shields—like these crystals that are everywhere around the school.
But their numbers kept increasing.
No one knows how they multiply.
Five hundred years ago, a Dark Eye discovered a way to destroy them forever.
Shu Yun.
The current principal of the Academy.
After a short pause.
I'm not in a position to know everything. Perhaps they know their origin. Perhaps they will eventually teach us a method of fighting them that can actually destroy them.
But that's only speculation.
There must be a reason why such a method hasn't been made public.
Whatever the truth is, it hasn't been revealed.
Her eyes narrowed.
Going back to what that teacher said... a threat bigger than this.
What could it be?
A monster? A disease? A future event? A curse...?
She hesitated.
Or is it the wrath of the gods?
Could this really be punishment from some mighty existence?
She immediately shook her head.
But if that's really true, what role would "we" play in the solution?
"We" are simply teenagers who barely understand the world we're living in.
What could 'we' possibly do?
Or... what might 'we' be?
Her thoughts returned to the meeting with her classmates.
During our class meeting, we discussed how this school feels more like a prison, a laboratory, or an observation site.
But the interesting part is that no one seems to be watching us.
That's the conclusion I reached yesterday. And after Uituba's explanation, I'm even more convinced of it. Are they really trying to find someone or something?
But if that's the case, why is there no obvious sign of observation or...
She looked around the room and took a deep breath.
Everything is closed.
We can't leave. We can't contact the outside world. We can't send or receive anything.
But there is something strange about that.
They don't have recording crystals everywhere. There are no guards. There isn't even much disciplinary staff.
On this entire planet, only the students, teachers, and a few servants live here.
Csendez began playing with a strand of her hair.
That wasn't the case during the previous generation. My classmates brought up that difference during our meeting as well. There are so many differences between our generation and the previous one.
She frowned.
Is it because the creatures from the Shadow have become stronger?
Or because our generation has something the previous one didn't?
Her thoughts moved toward another strange subject.
Then there is the implication of the Alpha system.
Damionus.
These powerful and intelligent beings leave young children here, isolated from the outside world, in contact with races they barely understand.
These systems are supposed to seal our powers, but nobody checked anything this entire week. I saw many students using magic in the corners, and nothing happened.
There were fights as well, but nobody from the school came to stop them or punish anyone.
She looked down at her hands.
From what I've seen, many students have absolute control over their Damionus.
I feel like that's unusual too. It's almost as if someone told everyone to behave the same way. Someone is pulling the strings.
But how? And who?
The Academy?
The Alocanai?
A race?
A powerful individual?
A group?
The fanatics?
The gods?
She exhaled.
Are we the ones who benefit from all of this... or are we the ones being used?
Csendez shook her head.
Enough.
I can't reach any conclusion on this subject yet. Let's move to something else.
Her eyes drifted toward the bookshelf.
The universe having ten energies…. I've never found a single book that mentioned them.
That's interesting.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
Personally, I liked that teacher. It's a shame I'll probably never meet him again. He was the first person who clearly didn't hate Dark-element users. Professor Iman might be the same, but he never showed it publicly.
I knew from birth that I had a core connected to Dark energy, but nobody cared enough to tell me anything about it.
I only knew that it was black. And I knew about the secondary effect that appeared later.
She slowly opened and closed her hand.
If I touch something alive, a black flame ignites and consumes its life force and matter.
It's an irreversible phenomenon. Even I am afraid of it.
She stared at her fingers.
I never showed it to my family. Luckily, they didn't care enough to notice when this power first appeared.
She remembered the professor's explanation.
Now I know that this is probably an energy belonging to the domain of Death… I wonder what the difference between Destruction and Death is And between Life and Creation.
Their domains are so similar.
Csendez suddenly froze.
Wait.
This sounds familiar.
Where...?
Her eyes widened slightly.
Oh.
That silver legend. Mane.
She stood up and walked slowly toward the window.
It began with Life.
Life is the son of Creation, and Death is the daughter of Destruction.
She frowned.
There are energies belonging to the domains of Order and Chaos.
Those domains were also mentioned in that legend.
And now there are ten energies.
Is that a coincidence?
Do the energies correspond to the gods?
That is strange.
She placed one hand against the cold glass.
Gods exist in our world, but that fact never bothered me much before.
Now... I actually want to know.
Her expression darkened.
It's probably dangerous to think too much about gods.
I should stop here.
The faint reflection of her face stared back at her from the window.
For a few seconds, Csendez simply stood there.
Then another thought appeared.
I hope I dream about Anka again tonight.
Somehow, I feel that she's important to me. In a way I don't understand yet.
Her fingers remained against the glass.
If I hadn't entered her body that time, I would never have learned about Mane. I wouldn't have seen my uncle's reaction. I wouldn't have discovered any of this.
I know much more because of this connection.
After some time, Csendez finally moved away from the window.
She entered her bedroom and got into bed.
The room was completely silent. Her eyes slowly closed.
And eventually, she fell into a dream.
…
In the next moment, her mind woke up inside Anka's body.
For some reason, her mind was confused for a moment.
Everything around her was moving incredibly fast, and she couldn't see clearly what was happening.
This body is running very fast. I can't even see anything properly.
After a moment, the body suddenly stopped.
The movement was so abrupt that she lost her balance. Her foot caught on a branch—or something similar—and the body fell hard onto the ground.
Agh... I can feel the pain too?
This is strange.
But why did she suddenly fall like that?
What Csendez couldn't see was the shock on Anka's face.
After that brief moment of disbelief, Anka's expression became serious again, and she continued running.
[Anka, what's wrong? Why did you fall?]
"Nothing. My legs hurt from the strain."
Oh. So she has been running for a long time.
Where is this place?