Note: Volume 4 is now fully available in the Glitch Plus Ultra Tier, if you would like to read it in one go
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A massive black marble showcased the words — Yaoyorozu — blatantly oozing class and richness.
The black marble was on the side of the massive gate of iron bars.
Behind the gate, a grand mansion could be seen, with lush gardens between them.
And, eying this grandness, from the other side of the bars, were the Class' low scorers — Kyoka, Mina, Kaminari, Hanta, Ojiro, and… Luke.
Luke?!
"Wait!" Mina stared at the tall, blond boy with the bird on his shoulder. "What are you doing here?!"
Luke's mouth twitched at the obvious tone of betrayal in Mina's voice.
Before going to Momo for help, she had come to him, asking him to help her with her studies.
Of course, Luke had rejected her. If she had come to his home, then it wouldn't have benefited him at all, piling up eyes over him even.
In the name of Dr. Blessed's threat, Reijirou Saionji had doubled down on Luke ever since he had returned from I-Island.
If Luke remained absent for even 5 minutes from a guard watching him, then people would storm the place where he was.
That Dr. Blessed had the means to teleport wherever he wished was pretty common knowledge among the Pros now.
Even now, two men in black suits, wearing black glasses, were standing on the opposite side of the road behind the children, eying Luke.
So, he had been looking for a chance to ditch these eyes to get a much-needed breather.
Using Descorrer to disappear, and then making an excuse later, wasn't worth the trouble of making all Pros panic.
Also, it wasn't a permanent solution, anyway.
Just as Luke had been worrying about his advancement, he learned that Momo had invited the low rankers for a group study.
This was the exact chance he had been looking for.
Given the Yaoyorozu's status, for the guards to follow him inside the mansion would be equivalent to looking down on their security.
And, once inside, Luke could think of plenty of reasons to take out the time.
"Nyx forced me…" Luke said, smiling wryly.
"Yeah, sure," Nyx rolled her eyes. "Let's go with me again…"
Mina pouted and looked away, pressing the ring button heavily.
"Oh, you guys are here!" Momo's excited voice rang out. "I have been waiting for…"
"Luke's here, too," Kyoka suddenly said.
"…"
A strange silence lingered on the other side.
"… Hello, Luke," Momo's voice came out oddly this time. "Alright. Please, come in."
"Bet it's not the first time you hearing that," Nyx slyly remarked.
"NYX!!!" Luke screamed, his eyes popping out.
The good thing was that because of the iron doors opening with a metallic, ringing sound, others didn't hear Nyx.
Realizing that, Luke sighed with a frown on his face.
Nyx laughed on his shoulder, holding her stomach, making him even madder.
…
In a grand hall, on either side of an oversized table, the group of students sat, gawking at the rich designs on the wall.
"Man…" Kaminari gasped. "I thought Luke's folks were rich. This…"
Suddenly, Momo entered the hall, rolling a tray of exquisite teas. "I didn't know you would be coming today. Did you like the cookies? I baked them this morning…"
Momo looked at the table and found Luke missing. "Where's Luke?"
"He's gone to the bathroom…" Ojiro said.
"Again?" Momo asked. "Did the cookies not suit him?"
In the bathroom, Luke sat on the toilet seat and let out a breath.
"If I had known this kidnapping myself for an alibi would come back to bite my ass…" he complained, shaking his head.
"We need to kidnap someone else next time," Nyx nodded. "If we keep going on with this pace, then I will not become a Magician even after the next term."
Luke's frown returned. "Can you not just think about yourself? We have bigger issues."
"Like taking a shit?!" Nyx fired back. "Should I get toilet paper and wipe your ass, your majesty?!"
[OK, you two!] Miss Justice reprimanded, seeing that both of them were about to throw hands. [No more fighting. Also, Luke. Are you sure about this? We can still go with a different Potion?]
Luke tore his narrowed eyes from Nyx and shook his head. "No, Miss Justice," he said. "Astrologer is fine."
[Are you aiming for Divination?]
Luke nodded. "One of the core powers of Seer Potion is Dream Divination," he said. "The ability to get clues, and often outright results, from Dream Divination is one of the most broken abilities I know of.
"But I cannot use this ability because of Conformity and Singularity. Nyx can, but the results she gets aren't on the same level and lack precision. With the abundance of Spirituality I have, I should be able to get at least three times better results than she."
Sitting in front of him, Nyx's eyes had become needles. "… Is this your way to get back to me?"
[Luke!] Miss Justice gasped.
Luke's lips twitched. "I didn't lie, right?"
Even though he didn't mention it, there was one more, and grander, reason for him to choose Astrologer.
Sequence 7 of the Door Pathway shared almost all of its qualities with the Sequence 9 Seer.
Even down to the Acting Method, Principles, Abilities, etc., these two Sequences were the same.
So, if he became an Astrologer, along with providing an alternative to the Dream Divination, it would also lessen the time of digesting the potion by months.
"Alright, let's not stretch it more," Luke said, taking out a vial of glowing potion. "It's time."
For once, Nyx's face gained a hard touch.
Both she and Luke took out their Spirit Pendulums and divined if it was the right time to drink the potion and the probability of success.
After getting relatively positive results, their eyes matched.
"Go on," Nyx said. "I will guard you."
Smiling, Luke put the vial against his mouth and gulped it down.
And, in the very next moment, Luke fell on the floor, twitching, blood foaming in his mouth.
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