The road home was uneventful, save for Nakama’s recounting of her day at school. To make up for Gaius’ ban on her spreading the news about his feats at the Eastern battlefront, she had decided to compile a collection of the Nine-nine-nine Knight’s actions…which was odd, considering that the person in question was her older brother.

Her hand was holding on to a long roll of paper, where rumours about a Demigod barely one and a half metres tall beating down on the Lifespring and his troops were written. Other feats that allegedly happened included the splitting of the Eo-Seu landmass, as well creating a mile-high tsunami that pushed the Lifespring’s soldiers back.

The piece of paper shook like a leaf in the wind as Gaius continued to scan through it, growing increasingly creased for every sentence the boy read.

“How was it?” Nakama asked, her eyes gleaming.

“I sound more impressive than the Cardinal Champions, Nakama.” Gaius smoothed the paper out, and then rolled it back. “I suppose I can stuff this somewhere in the Library when we return during the school holidays. Might be a fun thing for the future Masters to read about.”

“And give them unrealistic expectations?” Nexus chimed in from Nakama’s bag. “No way.”

The two exchanged glances, and then broke out into laughter. The artificial intelligence sighed, and then started to expound on why keeping accurate records was an activity crucial to the survival of any nation or organisation, a lecture that lasted all the way until Sundown Residence came into view.

By the time Isabelle opened the door for the two siblings, both of them were pale in the face. Nexus, who was now sitting on Nakama’s shoulder, had a wide grin on its face, but Gaius couldn’t summon enough strength to smack it around for an object lesson.

“What happened to Nakama?” Isabelle asked.

“Nexus happened.” Gaius rubbed his forehead. “Go freshen Nakama up, I’m still able to take care of myself.”

The boy yawned, before producing a small bottle of water from his bag, which he promptly downed. As for Isabelle, she had whipped Nakama away for what sounded like a shower and a change of clothes, leaving the boy and the artificial intelligence alone.

“Have you killed anyone with your lectures before? Be honest,” said Gaius.

“Put some to sleep, yes. But not permanently,” replied the artificial intelligence. “Unimportant things aside, I’ve conditioned your body. It should be able to integrate the two Engines you have at hand right now, without taking more than a good night’s sleep.”

Gaius had brought up the idea of integrating these two Engines into his body the night before, given that someone had attacked him for it. After all, the best way to protect a treasure was if it no longer existed in the world, and Nakama hadn’t started cultivating yet. Kishi Gakuen was laying down solid foundations for its students, a rigorous curriculum of theory first and application second. From what he could remember of their syllabus, proper cultivation would only begin in the latter half of any student’s first year in the school.

“Excellent.” Gaius paused for a moment. The encounter with Paragon Sasori had been somewhat alarming, and with that in mind, he said, “Let’s get to it as soon as possible. I’m not in the mood for dinner, so after I inform Isabelle and Nakama, we’ll begin the integration.”

“Something wrong, Master Gaius?”

“I met Paragon Sasori today,” replied the boy. “He’s definitely planning to do something at Kishi Gakuen, although I’m not sure what.”

“Maybe it’s the people under him,” said the artificial intelligence. “Half a month ago, there was an attempted kidnapping at the school gates. The perpetuators weren’t successful, but rather than surrendering, they killed themselves by detonating the energy inside their bodies. Fortunately, Nakama was too far from the school gate to be affected, and the teachers had acted accordingly to protect the closer students.”

“Such a thing happened?” Gaius frowned. “Maybe I should…”

“I don’t recommend that you withdraw her from school. Believe me.” Nexus tapped its right foot, clearly deep in contemplation. “Isabelle had the same thought, but Nakama’s resistance was…to put it mildly, stronger than the walls of this house.”

“She’s created her own circle of friends,” Gaius analysed quietly. “Doesn’t want to leave them after all that. That’s reasonable. She would probably be angry at me and attempt to run off after a week or two to join them.”

“You sound experienced in these matters.”

“Strike off the ‘sound’. I am experienced these matters. Did you forget who I used to teach?”

“No, Master Gaius,” Nexus replied. “Was Master Yong Yue the same too?”

“I can’t remember my individual students, but anytime we had to move cities, the kids would be sad and mope for a week or two,” Gaius answered, a faint smile on his face. “And that was after I brought them little snacks to cheer them up and to take their mind off things.”

“Move cities? Why?”

Gaius rolled his eyes. “Teaching children the arts of street living can become problematic, because they draw the eyes of established syndicates. Do not underestimate the sheer drive these children have in learning skills and tricks of the…trade. Once I killed enough kidnappers, these syndicates would bring out the guns, which was the cue for us to go.”

“That’s…a rather nomadic lifestyle.”

“It is, isn’t it?” The boy smiled. “It was only after these kids grew up enough to take over my job, did I find a place to settle down. It was quite tiring, having to secure a new warehouse or building for them to live in. But it was worth it.”

“That smile on your face…” Nexus murmured. “If you were born in a more privileged background, the world would have benefitted so much more.”

“Depends.” Gaius shook his head. “There’s darkness in the successful, rich families. It’s the same for Orb, isn’t it? But your entire argument is invalid, no matter what. I can’t remember the circumstances in which I was born.”

“Well, there’s definitely improvement, at least.”

“Mm.”

The sounds of Nakama playing around with Isabelle grew more distinct, and Gaius got up, Nexus in his hand. “Let’s get these Engines integrated with me now.”

“Yes, Master Gaius.”

The boy picked up the two boxes he’d left lying around the room last night, before heading into the depths of Sundown. There were more than enough bedrooms for everyone here, but Gaius went back to his bedroom anyway, after informing Isabelle about what he was going to do next. It wasn’t much to look at, but the bed was soft — which was what really mattered.

A faint, vermilion glow illuminated the dark room as Gaius opened one of the boxes. In his hand was the Apex, the Engine that augmented one’s close combat ability through its unique abilities. According to the instruction sheet that came with it, the Apex provided massive boosts to reaction time, spatial awareness and pain tolerance. Its only active ability was Spot Weakness, which was as self-explanatory as the title.

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

“Close your eyes.”

The vermilion Engine floated into the air, and waves of sleepiness assaulted the boy’s mind. In his fatigue, a sentence echoed in his mind, over and over, but before Gaius could grab hold of it, his consciousness gave out entirely.