Day 1:

There was a monotonous bustle to the movements of the people around me and the smell of paper filled the air as I sat waiting to be called. It wasn't every day that I got to visit my city’s Government offices. I'd been here once when I was younger when the local authorities had caught me illegally using my metal magic after I'd attuned to the element. They'd forced me to register as a metal magician.

This time I was here to register a patent.

"Andross Silver?” A voice called out.

I breathed a sigh of relief as my name was finally called out. The wait had seemed like an hour, but it had actually been two. The staff member was an elderly lady that gazed down at me with bespectacled eyes. Her glasses were a regent of some kind, and they passed through me as though scanning something past my exterior.

"I'd like to register a symbol." I spoke.

My father had insisted on Oubliez’s symbol being registered immediately. That way even if it appeared on the market, or somebody stole it from me, I would have a legal right to all the proceeds.

The staff member glanced at her desk and brought out several papers from under it.

"The cost of registering a symbol is—”

“Two gold pieces. Or twenty silver pieces.” I interjected.

I put a piece of gold down onto the desk and the staff member raised an eyebrow at me. It had been carved off of the box that William had given me to hold the [heart silver] and it measured at the exact value of two gold coins.

The entire box together was estimated to be worth twenty gold coins. More money than I'd ever held in my life until that moment.

She swiped the piece and pulled out a scale to measure it. It hurt to give up the gold so quickly, but it wasn't a mystery why inscribing was rarely a viable profession. It cost more money for me to pursue the career than most families made in a lifetime.

My father and I had come to an agreement. I could do whatever I want with the symbol. I could hide it or auction it if I wanted to. I could even sell it to Zodiac or other companies directly. But I had to do it all legally.

Hopefully I would be able to make some money off of the tragedy the monster had brought.

****

Day 3:

Spires of earth and stone littered the Koshima arena room, mixing with the mud and water that my opponent had conjured during our fight. The boy himself was impaled atop one of the spires, his eyes wide as he took in the sudden change of terrain. Spears of earth jutted out his body by the dozen. One moment he had been right next to me with his fist closing in on a victory. The next moment I’d flung him across the air and stabbed him through the chest. Multiple times.

[Stone Grasp (II) has reached level 2.]

"Are you okay?" A melodic voice asked.

It was Berlia, my cousin. She ignored the earth and stone that I had driven toward the sky and focused on me instead.

My breathing was ragged, and my heart was beating so fast that it threatened to break out of my chest, but it wasn't caused by weariness or exhaustion.

I'd lost control of my calm.

In an instant the arena around me had transformed from a smooth dirt floor into a canyon filled with treacherous pitfalls and spikes that had sought to destroy my opponent.

"I'm okay." I said.

It was a tiny lie, but one that Berlia was willing to accept. She went to check on my opponent. I could see that the water magician was more surprised than upset. I'd sent more than just a few spires at him.

"I really screwed up." I said to Agni.

The cause of my loss of control was the final attack that he had sent toward me. It was a simple punch imbued with water.

I rested a hand on the spot that my opponent had been about to hit.

My ribs.

A flush of embarrassment crossed over my cheeks and Agni chirped to let me know she was here for me. It had been over three years since I'd died, but the feeling of death and my trauma hadn't been overcome yet. The moment my opponent had swung his fist toward my side I'd blanked out.

When I'd come back to my senses the arena had been destroyed.

"Well, he's not going to forget that any time soon." Berlia said. "But he agreed not to tell anybody. He has a good reputation, and I believe his words.”

My cousin was walking back toward me, and I saw that my opponent was leaving the arena. The boy was shivering. My card had already changed, updating my new rank and point count.

Crijik: 95 points. Rank 45.

It was getting harder to rank up now that I'd gone on to win several fights in a row. Either people were so close in rank to me that they didn't provide many points, or they were so far below in rank to me that they didn't provide many points. The rankings were also constantly fluctuating as people gained points through fights or extracurricular activities.

Berlia took a look at me and then at the devastated arena around us.

"I need to get you tougher opponents.”

****

Week 1:

Helping the church build houses for the less fortunate gave me a sense of peace and tranquility. It also sent sweat down my neck as I worked for hours on end in the boiling heat of the sun. Behind me Wahyu raised rocks with his bare hands and placed them down into the hole that would house the foundations of the other house.

Normally Ouros would be working on it, but he’d fallen sick, and Wahyu had insisted he rest at home.

"I'm not getting sick and risking our whole operation because you were too stubborn to go to bed.” Wahyu had said.

Now the man was regretting his words as he had to do some real work instead of just telling Ouros to do it.

I finished the final touches on the house and slapped a symbol onto it. A protection symbol that was identical to the one I'd used in my stone block. The entire structure glowed gently, and I nodded in satisfaction.

The [heart silver] was working wonders for my leveling and the church work helped too. I checked my system notifications and smiled as I saw new ones appearing.

[Mana: 28,520 —> 28,820.]

I'd used my Mark six times since I'd received Gerial’s gift. It hurt a lot.

Every. Single. Time.

[Metal Manipulation (II) has reached level 3.]

The series of symbols I’d weaved together for the house was similar to an onze regent and would absorb the mana within the stones and the air to power itself. An earthquake could hit it and it would still stand proudly.

"Not bad.” Wahyu said. “You said you added this to your room, right?”

"Well, it's more like a closet than a room.” I said.

With a flick of my hand a stone block appeared from my inventory. It looked the same as the others, a cube with symbols glowing on its surface. Except this one wasn’t the size of my head. It was the size of a small carriage. The surface of the cube was smooth. I'd hidden all the symbols with an outer layer of stone.

"Amazing.” Wahyu said. He nodded in appreciation as he ran his fingers over the surface of the block. “Holy Crijik, I’m a good teacher.”

He let out a laugh and I joined him. His words weren't incorrect, he had taught me a lot about earth manipulation and inscribing. I placed my hand against the wall of the cube and it shimmered as my mana coursed into it.

Then it disappeared.

"Woah.” Wahyu’s eyes widened, surprise flickering across his features. “This is the symbol you were talking about?”

"It is." I said. “It hides things from four senses.”

My testing had shown me that sight, smell, and hearing were all impacted by Oubliez’s symbol, only touch remained completely unaffected. It was a miracle that the monster hadn't been able to do more damage.

“The block is hollow inside so I can hide within it whenever I want to. It can even take quite a few hits thanks to the symbols you helped me inscribe.” I said.

"It's a panic room." He said. "Fascinating.”

I activated my [Mana Sense] and the cube instantly became visible to me. Just like when I'd used it against Oubliez, the illusion was undone by my skill. However, I knew that to everyone else it would still be invisible. Or at least very difficult to see.

"It's good that you have this now.” Wahyu said.

His tone shifted, and I glanced at him curiously. I dismissed the illusion and placed the block back in my inventory. Wahyu rarely talked about anything serious, but Gerial had asked him to do more than just teach me to build houses.

Wahyu was in charge of keeping me informed what was going on in the church. He couldn't tell me anything classified because with his low rank in the church he didn’t have that information, but his news was still valuable to me.

"Got more rumours and gossip for me today?" I said.

He rolled his eyes.

“You know, I liked it better when you didn't know me and thought that I was mysterious.” Wahyu grumbled. “I got a lot less sass back then.”

“I don't think that was ever the case.” I said.

A smile tugged at my lips and we both sat back. Wahyu lifted a nearby column that we used as a bench, and I glanced at my side. Gold had chosen to stay at home today, carving more symbols into the tree in our yard. The advanced protection symbols on Gerial’s box had given him ideas that he couldn't contain.

"I heard a rumour that the church of Artus has been spotted gathering in numerous frontier cities.” Wahyu’s voice lowered with each word, until the final one was spoken as a whisper. "You should be careful of strangers.”

Artus. The name of the Divine of chaos sent a shiver down my spine.

Many chose to believe that Artus was the one divine that wasn't real. And others just hoped that Artus would never have designs on them.

I had my own thoughts on the Divines. It was a complicated situation, especially knowing what I knew. If the Crijik was real, I had no reason to doubt that the others were as well.

Whether or not they wanted anything to do with me was another question entirely.

"If that's true, what do you think they're doing?” I asked.

It wasn’t that I doubted his words. But the movements of a major church were and the kind of thing that the average citizen would know about. It was more likely that Wahyu was spreading a harmless rumor.

"The same thing they always do, kill things and make sure that others are killing things.” Wahyu said. “But I think their targets are bigger this time. Normally you don't hear about gatherings of Artus' followers because that means they're following orders. And order is the opposite of their tenets.”

“How big are you talking? Attacking a town? Maybe a city?” I said. “Surely the churches would stop them if they planned something that big.”

“The churches can't stop them, or they would have already.” Wahyu shook his head.

"Why can't the churches stop them?” I asked.

It was the one thing that he’d said that interested me more than anything else. The influence and power of the churches was like an iron grip on the world. There wasn't a single town or city not graced by their presence.

"Because the power of chaos stops them. Their Marked one has always disrupted magic in strange ways. Making it hard for others to find them.” Wahyu said. His eyes glanced at the houses around us to double check that they were empty. "And they say that Artus’ church has monsters in its employ. Ones that help hide its members from harm.”

I held up my hand to stop him.

“I think someone is pulling your leg. Monsters joining a church is crazy talk.” A chuckle escaped my lips. “But tell me more about this chaos magic.”

Wahyu glanced at me at my words, his eyes shimmering. There was a flash of emotion in them. Confidence. Both in his words, and in his actions. There was also a hint of disappointment that I hadn't taken him seriously. Then he shook his head and joined my chuckling, the momentary crack in his mask disappearing in an instant.

He thought I hadn't noticed. But I had.

And the wheels in my head began to turn.

****

“It's absolutely true.”

Kyle’s voice was garbled, as though I was hearing it through a layer of water. The observer had his arms crossed and a smile on his face as the last of the flames that engulfed the arena died down. My opponent this time had decided to aim for my head, and I’d barely escaped an attack from below as flames had shot toward my face.

That was when they'd hit me with their sound magic.

[Earthen Spear (II) has reached level 6.]

[Mana Communication (I) has reached level 4.]

[Spirit Communication (II) has reached level 5.]

[Symbol Inscription (II) has reached level 3.]

"Sorry, I missed that last thing you said. Are my ears meant to be ringing this much?” I asked.

The effects from the sound magician’s last attack hadn’t gone away.

"It sounded like you said that it was true?” I said.

"That's because I did."

Kyle said.

He handed me back my card and I smiled at the updated numbers.

Crijik: 155 points. Rank 22.

My opponents were growing more numerous now. It wasn't my provocative name or mistake that attracted them. It was the temptation of my points, and the allure of fighting a strong opponent.

I'd gotten a reputation for winning fights, going undefeated in every match I'd been in. Contrary to my expectations that meant that my fellow students were lining up to get a piece of me. It had sent my rank skyrocketing upwards. Even if I wasn't receiving as many points as when I was lower ranked, the steady stream of opponents meant that I would breach the top ten in a week. Maybe sooner.

“The church of Artus has a monster in its employ.” He said. "It's how they hide from the other churches of the Divines.”

"Really?" I couldn't believe it. "This is common knowledge?”

"Maybe not among the average person. But as your senior it's important for me to teach you about these things." Kyle’s chest puffed up with pride. "You're forgetting your position. Knowledge is something we should actively seek out.”

He was right. Even if the knowledge of monsters being part of a church was hidden to the general public, Koshima Academy was a gathering of elites. Their households knew secrets that could influence governments and empower future generations.

“So, you think Artus’ followers are going to attack the churches? maybe even the Marked ones?” I asked.

"Absolutely not. They’re chaotic, not suicidal.” Kyle said. "Take the Marked of the Crijik for example. He’s considered to be the least guarded because he attends this school. But to get to him you have to fight against the teachers of the academy, the church of the Crijik, and his father! All in one go! Why would they do that?”

"To cause chaos." I said. “Starting fights is what they do.”

It seemed obvious to me. If their entire goal was to cause chaos in the easiest way to do that would be to attack the churches. Or attack something at least.

“I have a lot to teach you.” Kyle said. “All conflict is chaos, but not all chaos is conflict.”

"Okay, I'm listening." I said.

I could feel Agni moving along my hair, also listening intently to Kyle’s words. The senior student smiled as he saw how seriously I was taking him, and he waved his hands around as he spoke.

“Tell me, what if there was a city that you knew would fight against the world one day? I'd say that a true agent of chaos would help that city to prosper. Similarly, Marked ones are the ultimate causes of chaos in the world. Civilisations live and die by their word. Leaving them alive causes more chaos than anything else.”

Kyle shrugged as he used the arena symbols to return the environment back to its normal form.

"Trust me, the followers of Artus won't be going anywhere near a Marked one for a long time.”

****

Week 2:

[Mana: 28,820 —> 29,270.]

[Intelligence: 83 —> 88.]

[Pain tolerance (V) has reached level 4.]

[Earthen Spear (II) has reached level 7.]

Roxxy’s household cultivation room was a single large circle pool, with several transparent lilies floating on the surface. Each one emanated waves of water mana across the room, filling it to the brim.

The first time I'd visited it had been a lot steamier than I’d imagined it would be. Literally. There was steam everywhere in the room, allowing the water mana to spread across every surface and skim through the air.

Today, I was using the pool for my cultivation.

I lay in a sea of mana, my inner calm and peace reflected in the water. I'd spent the last hour becoming one with the water around me, and my consciousness sank into it, merging into a flow of higher consciousness that swam and ebbed like the tides.

Unlike before, I didn't follow the intentions and thoughts of the water mana around me. I stayed separate from them, and instead sent my intentions into them.

It was a request.

They responded instantly, and I flicked my hand above me. The moment I performed the action my vision was blotted out by a thin veil of water rising over me. It shimmered brightly for a single glorious second, moving at my command and crisscrossing the air above me.

Then it dropped back down and hit me in the face.

As the water drained back into the pool a massive smile grew on my lips. There was a new system notification floating in front of my eyes.

[You have unlocked the skill: Water Manipulation.]