I ignore the messages from dean Palmer and instead respond to texts left by my family. My parents are worried about my safety and well-being, but Val doesn't seem to care and instead sends lengthy messages about how I've abandoned her and the team.

I didn't respond to Val but messaged my parents that I was alive and alright and still am. I don't get a response, so I move on to the next few messages.

Nelson from the FIB was giving me a heads up about the turbulent situation over there, but if I'm interested, I can talk to the people at the capital's [Hazard Branch] if I want to make some money.

The other members of 'my team' were texting me, asking about my situation or if I'll be there on time. Even Arlug seemed to show care in his messages.

My fingers glide against the keypad as I delete Arlug's messages from my phone before reading the only message from Charlie.

[Hey, Friend! I wonder if you wanted to buy some limited-edition bubble gum from me! Haha, just kidding. I'm alright, but we should meet up soon. Message me when you can!]

The grammar is off, and the message is out of the blue. The mention of bubblegum is weird because he's never brought that up after scamming me with bubblegum. I thought it was because he'd make me recognize I got scammed or rekindled some grudge.

Wait, didn't I tell his sister about the bubblegum? Gods dammit, Charlie, either you are gaslighting me from a text message from weeks ago, or someone else in your family is pretending to be you.

I shouldn't message back right now. I have too many things on my plate, and the Greenbacks shouldn't be stupid enough to harm Charlie in any way. Banking my friend's safety on the intelligence of his captors is not a wise decision, but even if I drop everything right now and go and rescue him, there's nothing I can do.

They can ruin my life just by moving some of their wealth around. I'll need backers or something. Winning the competition might be an in. Hopefully, I'm not disqualified or anything.

I finally read dean Palmer's messages.

Most of the messages are signed by his assistant except for the first few. The texts all boil down to concern for my safety and hidden rage. Fortunately, the texts from the assistant are actually helpful. She gave me a brief recap of every day I missed, and it didn't look good.

If you got to the competition site early, you'd have all the time till the start of the competition to train with their state-of-the-art facilities.

The entire point of the competition is to see which school should have the honor of sending their students to the elf country. But the competition is being held at the highest-ranked institute in the capital. Seems like they have an unfair advantage.

They aren't just holding an elimination-based tournament to decide the spot but have created an entire point-based ranking system. The students from each group can earn points as a team or individually.

The ways to earn points are akin to a silent auction. There are many events and challenges that students can sign up for and complete, and depending on the event and their placement, they will earn points.

If someone loses their spot in the first place, they lose subsequent points. Except for group events which are mandatory and scheduled beforehand, individual categories can be taken as many times as you want.

This breed competition and points hoarding. There wasn't any elaboration of rules to prevent students from harassing others away from specific events, but I'm assuming the school would do something to stop that, right?

The first week I missed was just a series of social events for everyone to get to know each other. Only the lower ranked schools took this time to make friends, while the higher ranks used this to sus out any competition. I'm not upset with missing this part.

Then after a few days of free time for students to collect points individually, the first group challenge happened, which was wilderness survival in one of the institute's fractures. I'm also not upset with missing this part, but I'm sure if I were there, we would've earned more points than we have currently.

The Auroran Institute Greenville's Institute Goldworks Acadamy ... Bluefield Institute Goldfield Institute

Points are anonymous until the final day, but the rankings are there for all to see.

Yeah... We are second to last. The only reason why we aren't in last place is one of the institutes never showed up in the first place. I'm positive my schoolmates aren't that terrible, so something must be wrong.

Oh, yeah. We are all freshmen, and no other institute would send only newbies for this. Hopefully, once I arrive, I can turn this all around.

If my tamed beasts were allowed to help, I don't think we'd have so few points, but alas, without the tamer there, they aren't allowed to participate. Dumb rule, but I can understand why. It's way more time efficient to only bring tamers with the max amount of tamed beasts possible and make them spread out and conquer as many points as possible.

From the last few messages, they should currently be in a group event, something similar to capture the flag. I can probably catch the tail end of the event today.

The car finally reaches the walls surrounding the Auroran Institute and all its glory. This place looks like a miniature city rather than a school campus. We pull up to the toll checkpoint terminal and wait in silence before the driver clears his voice.

I check one of my pockets and pull out my rank pin, which also works as my school identification. It's wrapped in my purple tie. My uniform is too fucked up for me to consider wearing. If there's a dress code, it'll be dean Palmer's problem.

The terminal beeps and the barrier lifts, letting us through. The driver hands me my pin as I put on my tie. Might as well wear the damn thing.

The institute has a sprawling infrastructure and a second wall deeper inside. The buildings look like dorm rooms and cafes with occasional parks. I see students wearing the same jacket walking together to and fro. It's a distinguished black color, almost like an oil spill.

"Neither my driver nor I know where you need to go exactly. So, this is as far as I can take you, brother. Good hunting, and let my god smile down on you."

"..."

My monkey brother gestures a wave. The door on my side opens, and the seat belt unbuckles. I get out of the car before he gets ideas and physically kicks me out.

As soon as both of my feet touch solid ground, the car quickly does a 180 and zooms away. I wonder if the car's enchantment allows Hoo to control the doors magically or if he's been holding out on me and is more mystical than he seems.

I look around at my surroundings... I have no idea where I'm at. I approach a student and try to initiate a conversation with him.

"Hey-"

"Sorry, I have to be somewhere."

The student instantly dodges the conversation and sprints away. Like that would stop me. I don't pursue him, however. It wouldn't be worth it if I just got more lost than I already am.

I start looking around for signs or extroverted people, but I come up short. Everyone seems to be avoiding me. Strange. Maybe this is some sort of ostracization common in this institute. I am an outsider, after all.

I'm seconds away from whistling and conjuring Flash Gordon so he can lead me, but someone else beat him to it.

[Hello, Master. It's been a while.]

I hear her voice before I hear her wings. Duchess glides through the sky and lands around, coiling around my frame with her tail. It reminds me of the time before she evolved and got so big. Wrapped around my neck like a fashion accessory.

"Did you miss me, Duchess?"

[Not really. Rob missed you a lot. Thisss one didn't know undead could fall into depression.]

Something tells me she's downplaying her feelings. Duchess looks at me and slowly looks away. I remember now that she reads my mind when we are close.

[Your brain is thisss one's primary source of entertainment. Thisss one was planning on using you as a case study.]

"On what?"

I ignore that she changes the subject.

[Does it matter? By the way, why are you walking around like a maniac?"

"Am I? What do you mean?"

[... If the grotesque sword covered with meat and blood wasn't enough, your eyes are enough to deter anyone who doesn't want to mess with a crazy person.]

I look down at my prosthetic arm and my sword that fits snuggly in my palm. I almost forgot that was there. I stab it into my body slightly, and the entire blade disappears into my bloodstream. The remaining chunks fall to the ground with a squelch.

"What's wrong with my eyes?"

I touch them with my fingers, and they're still there. If anything, better than ever.

[Don't do that. Before, you always looked like you were switching between looking at nothing and everything. It's like a switch in your head that makes you gather as much information as you can at once. Now it's weird.]

"How?"

[First of all, you haven't blinked once during this conversation, master. Not even when you touched your eyeball with your bare fingers. Actually, that's it. Any other off-putting features have only been amplified. Like how you constantly look in thought but stare at your target anyway.]

Maybe constant exposure to the desert air and sand made my eyes resistant without me noticing. I didn't feel that I needed to blink. Did I close my eyes during my shower? I can't recall.

I manually blink. At least I didn't lose the function.

[Just like that. Staring while thinking. At least thisss one can listen in.]

"Where are the others?"

[Rob and Flash Gordon are with your parents, and Khan is with your dean.]

"Aren't you going to ask about where I've been or what I've been up to?"

[Thisss one is assured that master will tell thisss one without needing to prompt.]

~

She was right. I told Duchess all about my time in the fracture. From meeting the god to appearing in my monkey brother's living room. I skipped details I found unnecessary, but by thinking of them as unnecessary, Duchess can probably get a glimpse of what I was excluding. Win-win. Right?

"So Beryl will eventually be your little sister, and you're not allowed to bully her."

[...]

'So what's been happening down there."

We are flying above a sports stadium with active holograms, most likely conjured by some illusion mage or magic item. It shows various student's in different uniforms battling it out and struggling to acquire the opposing student's flag.

[Thisss one hasn't been paying too much attention, but the game is simple. Plant your team's flag in a defendable position and search for other teams' flags. Eliminating enemy students grant a paltry amount of points but bringing their flag to your base grants a great amount of points and eliminates their entire team.]

"I thought you weren't paying attention?"

[You can't capture flags until you plant your teams. By the way, your team members are worth more since a player is missing.]

"What?"

[It's so all teams are worth the same, so individually they are worth more.]

I decide to tell the dean that I'm here now. I pull out my flip phone and snap a picture of the stadium from up above.

A person size tornado flies up from the stadium and heads straight for me.