The profound effort employed to incorporate gravitational-type Rune Arts in construction never delivered an adequate result.
Apart from the current seventh seat of the Rune Arts Federation, "Ivy," transporting or supporting colossal objects had proven to be a reach beyond mortal manipulation. And if it could be utilised in any shape or form, the duration of the effect would never last longer than a mere hour.
Therefore, even for the most prestigious academy in all of Runalond, the construction of its fountain-like shape had to be supported with metallic pillars. Perfectionists might critique that such a design diminishes the true beauty of the structure, but the students within the academy found it more beneficial than unsound.
The hollow cavern inside these gigantic pillars provided a completely private space free from professors' intervention. They were the unseen paradises that, due to some specific reasons, had been provided to the students intentionally.
Inside one of these pillars was the infamous sanctuary belonging to Edgar Helmander and his rebellious supporters—or more correctly, slaves.
Despite Nathan's figurative and overly emotional description, the circumstances of these students were not necessarily sarcastic. In their past, they had messed with the wrong people, the wrong systems, and only Edgar provided them with a survivable space. Sure, Edgar abused them for his desire for power and superiority, but compared to the Student Council, these torments suddenly became much more tolerable.
Every time they wanted to stand up for themselves, one sentence that popped up in their hearts would be enough to douse their defiant flame:
"At least it wasn't Arthur Paradox."
As always, Ash Robert repeated that prayer to himself.
Ash was born into an ordinary family—and probably even that would be an overstatement. He would've never earned the luxury to be enrolled in this school if his father hadn't saved a royal officer's life. However, this sudden blessing turned out to be the beginning of his nightmare.
Persecuted for his indigent habits and status, he never received any sort of respect from any of the students or staff. Even with the awakening of two elemental traits, he had been isolated from the rest of the academy's community. Under such influence, a sudden distortion emerged inside his mind.
He felt that everything was unfair—that the world should only judge people for what they did, not who they were.
Unfortunately, this was no more than heresy in Runalond's political system. Even with the consideration of Lostburg, some people were born superior to others, and it was simply a fact that had to be accepted.
This was the reason he ended up under the tyranny of Edgar Helmander. Ash Robert felt like a living corpse; his humble desire for freedom was eventually defeated by society's silent acceptance. Now, he only wished that the remaining two years of his academy life would end faster.
Until a boy named Nathan Modernson appeared in his life, out of nowhere.
"Yo, look what we have here. You having a party or something?"
Nathan Modernson violently slammed the door open as he stepped into the cavern. The orderly line of white-uniformed representative students followed suit. To everyone in the room, it was a suffocating scene they would've never imagined witnessing.
Edgar lifted his head from a simplistic throne that he had commanded others to construct. As the son of the second seat of the Rune Arts Federation, Mirror, he would be a fool if he hadn't recognised the boy leading the group. However, it wasn't necessarily Nathan Modernson himself that concerned him—it was the fact that the seven representative students of the first year stood together as if they were comrades. The appearance of a professor beside them was also astounding; an unwritten rule suggested that professors should not interfere with matters inside the pillars.
"Get out," he calmly replied, word by word. "You are not welcome."
With a lift of his hand, everyone else in the room stood up like corpses brought back to life. They looked at the intruders with eyes more hollow than the pillars themselves.
Nathan Modernson side-eyed him worriedly. "Come on, Edgar, you know the relationship between our parents! Don't be so hostile." He walked towards him slowly, with a confidence that didn't match the expression on his face.
Edgar stood up. "What do you want?"
Eventually, standing before him, Nathan lifted his head with a friendly smile. But as he raised his arm, the smile suddenly shifted into a provocative scoff.
"How about… a handshake?"
Edgar squinted his eyes, his fists already clenched. Only silence and inaction replied to Nathan; his arm stood awkwardly in midair.
"Are you not going to shake hands with me, Mister Helmander?" Nathan questioned, and the creepy smile on his face widened.
"Are you taunting me?" Another question answered, clearly wanting to continue the trend.
Nathan's smile disappeared, and he also dropped his hand.
But instead of returning to its idle position, it swung backward—so exaggerated that it brought Nathan's body sideways.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Nathan's hand went back up again with a charged momentum. The only difference this time was that it landed directly on Edgar's face.
Slap.
"Yes, I am."
Drawing his light wand from his waist, he instantly illustrated a simple rule on his hand—something that he had been practising for quite a while. The simplest light-element Rune Arts in existence: Illuminate.
Nathan pressed his hand on Edgar's eyes, who was still stunned by the sheer force of the slap. With radiant light emitted from his hand, a scream escaped the victim's mouth.
Nathan Modernson wasn't the best fighter, but a childhood in Lostburg had taught him a couple of moves. Launching his knee forward, Edgar was sent rolling on the ground, his hand still covering his eyes.
"Joseph!" he yelled toward the back.
Everyone was still in a state of shock—no one expected Nathan to operate with such sheer violence. It wasn't his to blame; light and darkness provided zero combat capabilities. This was as much as Nathan could have done.
Even Daniel, Joseph, and Jay—who were involved in forming the plan—took a few moments to return to reality.
To his credit, Joseph Gravekin's reflexes were excellent; among all the students, his improvements in the field of Rune Arts had always been the greatest. Drawing his wand, a rather complicated pattern emerged effortlessly. Flooding waterings unveiled themselves to find their way around Edgar Helmander, forming a water prison of immense pressure.
Circulating Shackle, a complex Rune Art that, despite the plainness of the Rune itself, required significant control over the water element to be properly unleashed. William Schwarz, as a possessor of the water elemental trait, blinked, astonished at the talent of the boy in front. Unlike Nathan's, Joseph's gesture was enhanced by a calm momentum.
Professor Brandle closed his eyes in resignation, as if turning a blind eye could help him evade responsibility. Henry Nox had commanded him to listen to whatever Nathan managed to accomplish.
"You bunch of obtuse idiots!" Edgar shouted in desperation on the ground. "Have you forgotten who I am?"
The message was directed at the students under his protection, their bodies trembling under the uncertainty of the future. For once, they disobeyed—or ignored—Edgar's command. Call it fear, doubt, or something on the polarised end.
"Think again before you move!" Nathan stared at the students cautiously as he retrieved his wand. "Listen to me!"
"I know… the ability to think by yourselves, and for yourselves, has been suppressed to the depths of your hearts by the endless storms of voices. Voices that tell you to follow, voices that suggest people were born different, voices that you doubted—but were forced to accept!" Nathan yelled out. Compared to his previous speech, his words were now much more forceful, as if an entire army were talking all at once. He sauntered from side to side, sheer determination visible in his blazing eyes. His arms soared through the air exaggeratedly as he spoke.
"Now, whether you trust me or not, I hope that you can recall the ability to think. Think about the times of mistreatment you encountered in the past—and more importantly, think about how this can be turned around in the future! I know, it's difficult. Impossible. There is no hope, no future, no tomorrow for the underprivileged. You don't get to choose—instead, people like him choose for you."
The students below froze as they listened to Nathan's deafening cry, and the hollowness in their eyes began to slowly dissipate.
"Now think: how many times have you been inclined to stand up for yourselves, and how many times have you replied to yourselves with silence? How many times have you decided to give up, and how many times has the desire for freedom dragged you back up again? My name is Nathan Modernson, and I understand how you feel."
"You don't want to die—but you also don't want to live like this."
This sentence was a critical strike to everyone's hearts.
"As you can tell from my uniform, I'm a representative student. A privileged bastard just like him." Nathan pointed toward Edgar, his voice lowered. "And you probably think I'm no different."
"Don't worry. You have the freedom to think whatever you want—and I also have the freedom to prove, with my actions, that I am not him. He says that no one will protect you from the Student Council apart from him, correct?"
"Wrong," Nathan stated with sorrow.
"Look around you. You are never alone."
"There are people like you. They faced the same suppression and suffering. They also have a flame of equality and freedom inside them, and they are by your side. It is for you to choose—would you rather stand up for yourselves courageously, or lock yourselves away from what you rightfully deserve?"
Nathan's voice became louder and louder. His constant change in tone was an intricate piece of music, stirring up life for once more from the husks under the stage.
"You've been through enough! Let the volcano inside you erupt in a thundering explosion! Next time someone looks down on you or treats you as inferior, slap them hard in the face! Press your hatred onto their eyes! Kick them until they roll on the floor, crying for your mercy! You already have nothing left but fury and a will for equality—so don't hold them back anymore! By the name of Nathan Modernson, I hereby promise that whoever mistreats you will be marked as my enemy. We stand as one, not because we are classified by the same social status, age, or Rune Arts Mastery. We stand together because we believe in a mutual message: that no one is superior to anyone else."
"This world is funny and cruel—nobody makes their way out alive. We are all the same. Nobody has the responsibility to serve anyone else but themselves."
"So tell me… are you still afraid?" Nathan cried out, the voice coming from his mouth more astonishing than his prior action.
The audience below stood still—until one man broke the silence.
"No." Ash Robert shook his head, his expression numb but somehow filled with hope.
Following him, the others shook their heads as well. Negative responses permeated the room, quiet yet determined.
"You are lying! You can lie to me, but don't lie to yourselves!" Nathan continued. Shouting would be an understatement. "It's hard to believe, isn't it? The Rune Arts Federation repeats its promise to secure the rights of the people every day—but do they ever truly put their words into reality? I'll tell you the difference between me and them: they stand with the world, and I only stand with you—you who are standing before me right now! Now answer me again! Are you still willing to shudder under the illegitimate rules of cunning nobles? They hide in the darkness, scoffing at frightened shadows like you. But the game changes tonight! You are no longer shadows, no longer underlings, no longer slaves! You are free men! Children of freedom, answer me! ARE YOU STILL AFRAID?"
The response was a harmonised, quiet yet suffocatingly powerful: "No."
Not anymore
Their eyes were no longer hollow. Their faces were no longer expressionless.
They had found a glimmer of light in their abyssal nightmare—and no matter how doubtful they still were, they simultaneously chose to grasp onto it, no matter the cost.
Perhaps nothing would change, and Nathan was but a fraud, no different from Edgar Helmander's tyranny.
But somehow, everyone believed Nathan's promise—not because of his words, but because of the look on his face. For some mysterious reason, Ash Robert felt like this aristocratic, white-uniformed representative student might have actually faced the same experiences as they did. Nathan's relatable words continued to linger in his mind.
"I don't want to die, but I also don't want to live like this."