“Well, I cannot truly be considered to be his disciple now…” Bennio said modestly, while simultaneously puffing out his chest and flexing his arms to display his muscles for all those who cared to look. About fifty teenagers were gathered around him, listening to the story with rapt attention. They were pressed near the side of a large stone outcropping in a dusty scrubland. Beyond that first group, there were hundreds more teenagers and kids, giggling and whooping, gathering for the much anticipated Under Auction.

Bennio quite enjoyed the attention he received for taking that punch to the face. He coughed in his fist and looked moodily up at the sky. “...but there was a moment, just before he punched me. It felt like… he acknowledged me, you know? Heh, perhaps you don’t understand that sort of feeling… Fists are truly the words of men…!”

His hangers-on began to whisper excitedly to each other. Most of the listeners were younger boys; their eyes went starry at the thought of getting into a fistfight with their hero. Bennio nodded heavily, rubbing his jaw in the location where he had been punched. “And receiving that blow… in a way, it destroyed my confidence. But it also showed me a new way forward… I plan on isolating myself in a Dungeon for a few months, chasing this inspiration…”

“I cannot believe we were chasing the Ghosthound,” Eileen Krouse seemed to have been constantly shaking her head since she had learned the truth. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “No wonder… now wonder we could barely… was he toying with us the whole time…?”

Damien was standing next to Eileen and he patted her back. “The question is how Toddler managed to grab the attention of the Ghosthound. He has been improving a lot recently… do you think the Ghosthound has been helping him this whole time…? So the broken spear with his legacy-”

“I’m GOING to get that spear,” Eileen bristled and glared at Damien, who backed off and waved his hands in surrender. Then Eileen returned to looking at the ground. “No matter if the Ghosthound knows Toddler somehow… the Under Auction is fair. Not even the Ghosthound can interfere. With the demerits that Toddler already has… there is no way that he has a powerful enough Scrawl to beat me…”

Bennio looked over at Eileen in amusement. He folded his arms across his chest and release a long sigh. “Quite foolish… I remember when I had the gall to try and cross blows with the Ghosthound. Although it was an enlightening experience-”

“I was there you pompous ass!” Eileen snapped at Bennio this time. “Stop telling the same story over and over again! No one cares.”

Perhaps in the past Bennio would have been angered by Eileen’s display, but he was different now. He had perspective and maturity. He chuckled softly and shook his head. Now that he had been personally instructed by the Ghosthound, it was easier to understand the things that were important and the things that weren’t.

Fighting against Eileen wasn’t important.

Savoring the attention was.

“Enough,” Zack Krum stood and stretched. With a light hop, he climbed to the top of the large rock that the items would be auctioned from for the event. The nineteen-year-old had long limbs and a shock of frizzy red hair on top of his head. His freckled face looked around at the assembled kids mildly, but everyone lowered their gaze. Even Bennio, buoyed by meeting the Ghosthound, stepped to the side in deference. Almost a thousand kids had already gathered on the sandy scrublands, with more whizzing in on driftwood skyboards every second.

Zack Krum was the acknowledged number one fighter at Kharon Academy. He was the man considered closest to breaking through the to final room of the Kharon Labyrinth. He clapped his hands twice. The sound echoed outward, silencing the kids that hadn’t heard Zack’s initial word. Zack pointed out to the skyline. “Before we start the Under Auction… The man of the hour has arrived. Toddler, get up here; how do you know the Ghosthound?”

Perhaps because of the suddenness and enormity of the question, Todd’s eyes went big and buggy behind his massive glasses and he crashed into the ground in a tumble of limbs. Giggles rippled outward through the assembled kids. Feeling a small sense of comradery for Todd as the source of his new confidence, Bennio strode forward and helped the small kid to his feet.

Todd looked around wildly, suddenly very aware that basically everyone in the area was staring at him with an obsessive intensity. The demerits on his wrist clattered noisily as he continually pivoted in alarm at all the attention he was receiving. He licked his lips. “Ummm… what did you say?”

Bennio was generously brushing the dirt off Todd’s shoulders when Zack crouched down on that massive stone and answer. His eyes were just as intense as everyone else’s as he considered Todd. “How do you know the Ghosthound? Why was he acting as your bodyguard for the past several days?

“T-t-t-t-t-t-the G-g-ghosthound?” Todd seemed genuinely confused. “No, my bodyguard was… his name… uh… well actually...”

Another ripple of giggles spread out through the assembled kids. Zack Krum’s eyes hardened and he straightened once more. He began to methodically crack his knuckles. “If you refuse to be honest…”

Bennio stepped in front of the diminutive Todd and looked up with a frown. He owed the kid at least this much. “Ease off Zack. His secrets are his own.”

“Peh.” Zack spat to the side and stepped forward. His willowy body slid through the air until he landed on the ground. Then he stalked forward, a flinty edge in his eye. “I don’t mind you boasting, but you know the sort of place Kharon Academy is, ‘Superman’ Bennio. If you don’t respect the hierarchy… Do you really want me to humiliate you in front of everyone?”

Bennio was under no impression that he could suddenly fight Zack after his run-in with the Ghosthound; if he was honest with himself, he knew that he was shamelessly bragging about an interaction that the Ghosthound will probably never remember. But Bennio replayed that extended moment before the Ghosthound punched over and over again. The emerald eyes struck him with an enormous sense of solemn responsibility. Standing there in the moment, he was extremely conscious of the stunned Todd behind him.

He knew what the Ghosthound would do in this situation. He would not take a step back.

Bennio took a step forward and shrugged. “I suppose it is about time that I test the limits of the insight-”

Zack Krum moved quickly, lowering his head and darting forward. Although his limbs were long and slender, his Strength was the real deal. Bennio whipped his hands up into a fighting stance but Zack is within his guard, his freckled arms rotating in irresistible circles. Zack hip-checked Bennio and he was tumbling through the air, tossed weightlessly to the side by the Champion of Kharon Academy’s famous judo throws.

Congratulations! Your Skill Fiery Spirit (Un) has grown to Level 98!

After the wind was knocked out of him, Bennio took several seconds to regain his scrambled senses and push himself back up to his feet. At this point, Zack was standing in front of Todd with his head tilted to the side. The other kids have backed away, leaving the two in a circle of bodies.

“He…” Todd licked his lips and nervously adjusted his glasses. “He… my bodyguard has a sister! We met for dinner. He… he can’t be the Ghosthound; the Ghosthound doesn’t have any siblings.”

Zack swayed strangely. He shook his head, which set his red hair bouncing above his face. “You… Heh. You really didn’t know? Hahaha…. Well, I suspect that the sister that you met for dinner… was the talented Neveah, the secretive woman who handles all of the difficult Engravings for Kharon. A celebrity in her own right.”

“I-” Todd was just blinking. Eileen snorted and turned away.

Bennio felt a deep pity for Todd and walked over to whisper the details of his experience of not recognizing the Ghosthound at first… until he had been sitting beneath a statue of the man for almost an hour. But suddenly the kids were very aware of an adult that appeared amongst their number. next to Todd.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” Ajax, the humanoid beetle and combat instructor for the Order Ducis, looked around at the surrounding children with his glassy eyes. The only sound was a sharp intake of breath. Everyone was tense, especially Zack Krum; all of the older kids at Kharon Academy dreamed of catching the eye of someone from the Order Ducis. The beetle man turned to Todd and arranged his mandibles in his version of a smile. “I’ve been ordered to bring three items for Todd here, to be put up for auction. On behalf of Randidly Ghosthound.”

“He really is…” Todd whispered. Meanwhile, the rest of the kids subconsciously took several steps closer so they could see the treasures the Ghosthound would send.

Zack cleared his throat. “Ahem. Sir Ajax, what… what are the items…?”

Ajax clicked his mouth in amusement. “I see you are expecting something grand. Well, certainly these items are valuable, but I’m afraid you will be disappointed if you expect pageantry.” Ajax flexed his jointed fingers and produced three pieces of paper. He waved them in front of the group of children. “These three are the donations. I will specify that the first and third are designed to be renewed each year for the Under Auction… but they are not inheritances from the Ghosthound.”

The kids sighed as one. Bennio couldn’t help but sigh along with them, wistfully thinking about catching the Ghosthound’s eyes and being instructed personally by him.

Zack Krum managed to keep his composure a little bit better than the rest, simply nodding. “May I ask… what those items are?”

Ajax nodded and hefted the first paper. “This is a renewing license to paint both the inside and outside of any dormitory the user selects as that individual sees fit. Once used, that dormitory can be painted freely for the first week of term.”

Some individual perked up at that, mostly those orphans who were stuffed into the free housing skyislands. But of course, such a prize couldn’t catch the eye of the truly elite of Kharon Academy. Bennio eyed the three demerits on Todd’s wrist. It will help, but three such things are not enough-

“The second,” Ajax continued to speak. He raised another piece of paper. “Is a permit to design a hundred unit villa-style housing skyisland for Kharon Academy students attending on scholarship. Included within the plans is complete freedom to design two specialty areas within that skyisland. Some of the options for those specialty areas include an underwater pool system, an obstacle course, a student-run restaurant or shopping area, or any other option that is submitted before the Kharon Academy Board and receives approval.”

“Shit,” Eileen swore quietly next to Bennio. Around them, the kids began to furiously whisper to one another, making alliances in preparation to bid for control of this option.

Even Bennio was tempted. But he knew that he would be pushed out of the bidding by the affluent students who addressed the Weakness of Ignorance. These crafters, cooks, and explorers had pleaded time and time again with the Kharon Academy Board, but the ability to set up shops on Kharon Academy land was sharply restricted. There were a few spots, but they hotly contested. When there were thousands of students wanting to sell their wares, the hundred or so student stalls were just a drop in the bucket.

But the ability to make a specialty student-run market area…

“And finally,” Ajax raised the last piece of paper, which flashed briefly golden. Bennio watched as Zack Krum’s jaw dropped. “A Golden Referendum.”

Despite the excitement for the prior item, this new announcement silenced everyone.

A Golden Referendum had only been seen once in the past. After years of struggle, the previous most powerful student at Kharon Academy had managed to impress the professors enough to earn one. Which was the reason that they currently had the yearly Kharon Academy Ball.

The Kharon Academy Board was able to make ‘reasonable changes to increase the feasibility of the event’, but a Golden Referendum that obtained 50% of the student population plus one signatures essentially couldn’t be refused. The students could ask for anything with it.

At this rate… Bennio looked at the confused Todd. You’ll be able to buy anything at the Under Auction that you want.