Alden turned around imdiately, careful not to make a sound—
But Aziel had already noticed him.
"Hey, bro! Over here!"
FK.
How does he always notice ?
Alden ignored him, pretending not to hear, hoping to get away.
But nope.
Aziel didn't have any intention to let Alden go so easily.
"BRO"
He yelled even louder this ti.
Alden's eyes twitched.
Just my rotten luck.
Alden sighed.
He carefully made his expression neutral as he turned around and made his way toward them.
As he approached, he quickly scanned the others on the table.
Lucien sat beside Seles, his entire focus on her. His expression was filled with quiet concern, but Seles looked... hollow.
Her usual arrogance was absent, replaced by empty eyes and a distant stare.
Alden frowned slightly.
Seles? Looking like a kicked puppy?
She must be scheming sothing.
Definitely.
He had heard about her fight with Amyra, but he still thought this was just another one of her manipulations.
Not that I care.
His eyes shifted to the others.
Dain sat stiffly, his hands clenched into fists.
The way he kept glaring at Aziel made it obvious of his jealousy.
He was not one of the top ten, so he wasn't in this dormitory, but it seems he had just co here to chat with his friends.
Aurelia sat quietly, as if hoping no one would talk to her. Her eyes shifted between people as if she were unsure whether she should speak or not.
And Cecilia…
She was looking at Aziel.
As soon as he reached the table, Aziel wasted no ti and introduced her to him.
"Hey, Cecilia, et my bro, Alden." He said. "Bro, this is Cecilia—my childhood friend."
"Hi, Alden. Nice to et you." Cecilia smiled.
"Nice to et you too," Alden replied smoothly.
Aziel grinned and gestured at the empty seat beside him. "Co sit, bro…"
"So other ti. I have things to do." Alden shook his head.
He just wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"What?" Aziel sighed dramatically. "Is it more important than bonding ti with your favourite bro?"
"Yes," Alden gave him a blank stare as if he was an idiot.
"You break my heart, bro." Aziel clutched his chest like he'd been shot.
Cecilia giggled softly at their exchange.
Before he could turn away, another voice, which was quiet till now, cut through their conversation.
It was soft, sweet, and calculated.
Seles.
"You're leaving so soon, Alden?"
Alden barely stopped himself from cursing.
Here we go.
"Aren't you even going to greet your dear sister?" Her lips curled into a smile and her tone deceptively gentle. "We haven't even talked in so long. And now you're walking away without a word?"
He turned to her with a smile.
"Hey, Seles, I didn't notice you there." He lied smoothly. "I was in a rush."
Alden t her gaze, keeping his voice carefully neutral.
"But I didn't think you'd care, Seles." Alden had no intention to play along with whatever ga Seles was playing.
Seles's eyes wavered ever so slightly.
Man, how is she such a good actor?
She is even controlling the smallest motion of her eyes to seem as pitiful as possible.
I have to give it to her; she really is a natural.
Lucien shifted beside her slightly, his gaze sharpening slightly.
Seles was a master at playing the victim.
And Lucien?
He was too blinded by his feelings to see through it.
'That dumb simp.'
Alden ignored him.
"You're always like this." Seles sighed, shaking her head with a look of disappointnt
Always like what?
She had never even spoken to him before.
Alden could've pointed that out, but—h. He wasn't interested.
She lowered her head slightly, making her already pitful expression more extre."I know we don't act like siblings, but I thought we could at least be normal."
Seles had set the stage perfectly.
If Alden dismissed her now, it would only make him look cold and heartless.
But did he care?
Nope.
"Maybe we could." Alden gave her a small, amused smile.
And with that, he turned around and walked away, leaving the table behind.
Seles had expected sothing different.
Alden had always seed indifferent to her.
But this?
This wasn't just indifference.
It was awareness.
He wasn't soone whom she could manipulate with ease.
And that made things more… interesting.
__
Alden exited the dorms.
He didn't know what Seles was planning.
Oh well.
He could just deal with it afterwards.
Right now he has more important things to focus on.
He walked out of the academy and made his way towards the outer city where the teleportation hub was.
He soon arrived in front of a huge building.
The building was very crowded, and he could see many people going in and out of it.
How could they not?
This was the only point through which they could enter the city.
There was absolutely no other way to enter it.
The entire island was shielded by layers of magic circles, making it invisible from the outside world.
He entered the building after verifying his identity and made his way towards the reception.
There was a man seated behind the reception table.
He carefully scanned Alden.
"Purpose of Visit?"
He directly asked about purpose, no greetings or anything of the sort.
Alden replied in the sa way.
"To complete the mission."
The man typed sothing in his device, which looked similar to a computer on Earth.
It was called Arcane Interface—it was just a fancy looking floating display.
A grand na for what's basically a mana-powered computer.
Whoever nad it was probably an edgy bastard.
Dismissing useless thoughts, Alden waited.
"Location of Mission?"
The man asked again.
"Imperial Capital—Valloria"
The man didn't say anything else and just simply extended his hands.
Alden knew exactly what he ant as he gave his ManaSync to the man.
The man calmly scanned Alden's ManaSync and gave it back to him.
This process was for confirming the identity and mission details.
A quick scan later, the man returned it to him.
"You're clear."
"You may proceed. Go to room no. 78."
The man gave him a note and gestured to Alden to get moving.
Alden didn't wait anymore as he made his way towards the room.
He soon arrived in front of the room and entered it.
There was a lone glowing blue portal there, its surface rippling like water.
Raw mana was radiating outside from it, distorting the air around it slightly.
The teleportation portal.
Apparently this was also a creation of Jeremy's and the reason he was given the surna Voidforge.
The portal used space magic to connect two faraway spaces.
As for how it worked,
Who cares?
It was so complicated shit, I would rather not learn at least not now.
He walked towards the portal as he saw a middle aged man with grey hairs standing there with upright posture.
He calmly scanned Alden.
Alden gave him the note given by the receptionist.
The man didn't say anything else as he calmly gestured to Alden to enter the portal.
Alden didn't think twice and entered it.
FK
He cursed as he felt his entire body twist and distort. His mind was spinning.
No matter how many tis he used them, he couldn't get used to the feeling of his body getting teleported with the portal.
And then—
Darkness.
And the next mont—
He was sowhere else.
He had finally arrived in the Vallorian Empire.
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