Crimson Core

After some time of walking, Kai got to his room. And tried taking off the gauntlets.

‘Forget it. You can not take it off, it has bonded with you…’ The deity informed him.

‘What? I can’t take this off?’ Kai was stupefied.

‘No you can’t. What you are wearing is a low level god weapon, you can’t see it anywhere else. I got a blacksmith to make it for Salinger, but he died before he could use it.’

‘I do not understand what you mean by a low level god weapon, I have never heard about it.’

‘Soon you will understand, sleep you have a big day tomorrow…’ The deity stopped talking, making Kai’s head go silent.

“Aargh…I just can’t get you to talk can I?” Kai was frustrated.

As frustrated as he was, he could only sleep. He knew that he could not go against the deity, he did not even know how.

The next morning...

—Chirp, chirp—

The sounds of birds chirping and the sounds of servants doing their duties filled the mansion’s premises. The whole mansion was lively.

‘Weakling, rise and shine! It is a new day!’

Still trying to get his bearings, it was the first time his bed felt so welcoming. It was becoming even harder to wake up now.

“Yawn… I am awake, what is it?” Kai asked with eyes half-closed. He wanted to go to back sleep.

‘You have simply slept enough. Today you will you travel to the central academy.’

Before Kai could respond, someone rapped at his door. “Come in whoever you are.”

The next minute the door was opened and Chelsea walked in. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel the same attractive force towards Kai as last night.

“Good morning, Kai.”

“Good morning to you, my lady.” Kai had his most seductive smile on without even trying “…please do close the door, I would not like what happened yesterday to happen again.”

Chelsea’s face had gone scarlet. With a hurried motion, she bowed her head so Kai would not see her blushing. She closed the door walked across the room and sat opposite Kai,

“Kai I have a question to ask you,” Chelsea said trying to act tough, although it wasn’t working as planned.

“Ask away my lady.” Kai was already sitting up on his bed.

“Did you carry me out of the tomb two nights ago?” Chelsea was very clear with her questions.

“Yes, I did carry you out of the tomb, Anything else you would like to know?” Kai was calm.

“Yes…” She paused. “What happened to you in the tomb? You seem different.”

Kai stood up and walked closer and slouched forward a bit, with their heads almost touching. “Are you sure you want to know?”

Chelsea was already out of breath. “Ye—Yes.”

“Alright,” Kai moved away from Chelsea, giving her a chance to breathe. “I discovered something, I can not tell you what it is though…yet.”

“Another question, so is that what’s off about you?”

“Oh, where are my manners? Please have a seat my lady.” Kai didn’t want to answer the question immediately.

Chelsea sat down and Kai took the wall by her side as a pillar and leaned on it.

“Well if you mean the fact that you are more attracted to me now, then yes, something is off about me.” Kai flashed a grin and Chelsea’s face burned up. It wasn’t as though Kai’s charisma was out of this world; the memory of them kissing flashed in Chelsea’s head at the moment of Kai’s smile.

Before Chelsea could say anything someone rapped at the door. “Well, my lady, I would not want anybody seeing your face all beet red, you know?”

The person rapped at the door once more but Kai didn’t move, he waited until Chelsea’s face was back to normal.

“Come in.”

The door opened and the sight of the person who entered the room made Chelsea freeze. Lord Marshall entered the room and was about to bow.

“Don’t…!” Kai stopped him in a forced whisper.

“Why?”

Lord Marshall was surprised at Kai’s behavior until, “mm hmm…” Kai side nodded towards Chelsea, who was on the verge of disappearing with her face hidden in her hands.

“Oh…in that case, Kai you leave for the central continent today,” Lord Marshall walked out of Kai’s room but stopped at the door. “…your carriage is ready as well,” Then he left the room and closed the door.

After Lord Marshall closed the door and Kai was sure that he had left by that time, he turned to Chelsea “You can stop hiding… Not that it was necessary.”

“But what just happened? That was my father right?” Chelsea was confused sincerely.

“Well he came…said some things…and left,” Kai shrugged.

“That’s not what happened, well not all of it. Tell me the truth, why did my father not flip out on you? And…and he talked as if he was talking to an important person.” Chelsea was beginning to suspect that Kai was not who he said he was.

“Is that so? I did not even notice.” Kai’s facial expression of being oblivious was so real.

“You are lying, tell me the truth!” Her eyes glistened as she looked at Kai for answers.

“Hahaha. I am being honest here, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. He acted quite normal if you ask me.”

“Hmmph, am angry with you now!” Chelsea said with a cute scowl on her face.

“Hahaha, you know you look cute with that expression. Now, you have to join me on this trip.”

“No, hmmph, you travel alone!” She said as she stormed out of the room.

“Wait do not go—Hahaha, she is so cute,” Kai laughed once more. “No…not yet.” Kai shook his head as though he was possessed or something. He could not let himself fall for her.

‘Hmmph I can’t believe he let me walk out of the room… Was I too hard on him? No!’ Chelsea looked a bit troubled as she walked through the hallway into her room. ‘Was I too hard on him? No…but I will get to see him again, right?’

“Oomph!”

Chelsea fell on her bed, her hair sprayed around her head. “Maybe I will get to see him, but I have to see him one last time. Am I obsessed with him? I am a lady this is not proper; Mother would be unhappy if she saw me now.”

Chelsea crawled to the window by her bed and leaned on it, looking into the mansion’s concourse.

Gilbert was in the concourse looking over the servants doing their duties, he looked up exactly at where Chelsea was, and smiled ‘Where have I seen that smile before? No, it can not be him,’ she shook her head to remove her suspicious thoughts towards him.

Kai walked out of the mansion with Lord Marshall by his side. ‘What happened to my father? He is getting awfully familiar with Kai, I have to ask him about it.’

Kai walked towards the carriage and walked towards the carriage and was about to enter but stopped.

“Kai…!”

Chelsea called his name from her, window causing Kai to raise his head towards Chelsea up in her window. Chelsea waved and Kai waved back. Gilbert’s face contoured but only for a second before it went back to his normal emotionless face.

Kai smiled and entered the carriage. ‘What was wrong with Gilbert’s face?’

It didn’t take long before the carriage took off. A teleportation array was used to teleport it, the coachman and Kai into the central continent.

The central continent, although under the same king as the western continent, it looked as though they had moved through worlds. Surely the Marshall manor had its splendor but the houses on the streets of the central continent looked as though they were made of gold and of precious stones.

“Now I begin to wonder how the king’s palace would look if this place looks so exquisite such as this?” Kai asked no one in particular, he was just talking to himself.

‘Don’t think much of it, this place doesn’t even hold a candle to the celestial realm,’ the deity butted in.

‘I will compare when I get there, but now, what I see is amazing.’ Truly Kai was in awe.

‘The…Sigh— Suit yourself, and don’t do anything foolish when you get there,’ the deity had given up on making Kai understand.

‘Don’t worry I will not!’ Kai’s thought was filled with a suppressed anger.

‘All alright then, off to sleep I go…’ The deity’s voice died out.

‘Well this place does look beautiful.’ The view from inside the carriage was simply awe inducing.

After some time the carriage stopped, Kai looked through his window and saw a huge gate with the words THE CENTRAL CONTINENT SCHOOL OF MAGIC, simply floating above it.

—ba-dump, ba-dump—

Kai’s heart beat loudly against his ribs. And no it was not anxiety, it was excitement.

‘Let us go see the kingdom’s finest?’ Kai stepped out of the carriage and walked towards the big black gate.

“Your rune?” The official at the gate asked Kai.

“Here you go,” Kai handed the official the black rune to the official.

After some time the official had a puzzled look on his face before he handed Kai a talisman “That’s unusual… Here you go.”

“Thank you.” The talisman glowed and dispersed into glowing specks and disappeared into Kai’s right hand. “…”

“Your chamber is the white rank in the mountain tiger house, there are map stones around the school—Don’t get lost, Now… Get lost,” the official said without even throwing Kai another glance.

Kai walked into the school and he was gob smacked at the scene before him. The school was beautiful. The premises were filled with large buildings. Each and every edifice had a majestic aura to them. The school was simply colossal.

The green patches in between walkways, the many stone statues of past school heads. The huge blue-tiled fountain in the center of the compound accentuated the beauty of the school’s exterior.

The stone pathways looked as though they were carved by hand and arranged with the accuracy and delicateness of a veteran craftsman.

Kai was already on his way to find a map stone when he heard his name “Kai…!” The voice that called him was sweet but nothing compared to that of Chelsea.

He turned and looked to see a familiar blonde girl walking towards me “Hi, am Darcy, We met before.”

Darcy was a tall girl but not as tall as Kai. Although sun-tanned, her skin had the delicate nature of a pampered child. Her figure was covered in her flowing warrior clothes, she could be described in one word: Stunning.

Her brown eyes, her flowing blonde hair and the sword by her hip made her look even more like a goddess which of course would be an overstatement. She was beautiful but not world toppling. although it seemed like the sword was a decoration of some sort...

‘Hey, mortal don’t blow it, she would be important to your journey.’ The deity chipped in before Kai could say something to make Darcy leave him alone.

‘Argh… If you insist!’

“Yes we have, I think it was at the assessment right?” Kai said, trying his best to be friendly.

The look in Darcy’s eyes was something else, she looked hooked on Kai. “Exactly…” Darcy looked as though she had seen someone or something so entrancing that she could not look away.

“I am new here Could you lead me to the white rank on the mountain Tiger house,” Kai spoke, bringing Darcy out of her trance.

“Oh… Mountain Tiger house? I live in the purple rank. Let us go let me show you around.” Darcy was an outgoing girl, unlike Chelsea.

“Right,” Kai answered as Darcy took his hand and led him walking side by side.

‘What is happening, he looks so different from the last time I saw him, he looks so alluring. Even his voice had put me in a trance; What’s wrong with me?’

Darcy thought as she held Kai’s hand and walked through the stone pathway through many parts of the school. It was odd when he held her hand but she waved it off as nothing, on account of their last encounter.

A building caught Kai’s eyes. It looked ancient almost like an insult to the school only that it wasn’t.

“Darcy…” Kai called out in a low voice.

“Yes, Kai?” Darcy stopped to look at Kai.

“What is that?” Kai asked and Darcy followed his finger to the huge ancient building. It had different exquisite designs. It looked old but not dilapidated to the very least. It looked majestic. The more Kai looked at it the more he began to see its beauty.

“That is the house of the keepers of knowledge. Normal students are not allowed to enter. It keeps the knowledge from time immemorial.” Darcy’s eyes glowed as she spoke.

“I have to ask… How is it that I can get access to the knowledge within those walls?” Kai was visibly curious.

The more Kai looked at the huge building, he noticed that the building wasn’t an eye sore to the other school buildings that looked new. The building accentuated the beauty of the school giving it a mysterious visage.

“Well, for normal students to get access they would have to get merit points from missions the school assigns. Look over there that the mission’s department building; there you get missions as well as rent weapons for the missions.”

Darcy pointed to a small building with the words MISSIONS boldly written on its banner.

“All alright, please proceed to our destination,” Kai urged her on.

“Okay,” Darcy proceeded to walk towards the mountain Tiger house.

“Is that not lady Darcy? What is she doing with him, are they a couple?” A female student said as Darcy and Kai walked past them.

“That is so not expected, who would have known that the crazy Darcy would be so smitten by a man,” another female student responded.

But the thing was that even though they talked about Darcy their eyes were glued to Kai.

“I wonder if he is new? I wonder if I even have a chance to know him?” The female student looked visibly attracted

“Probably not, the stuck-up fire princess looks like she will end you if you enter the same room as him.” This student also looked hooked as well, but hesitant; as though Darcy had the aura of a world-ender.

Darcy led Kai around the school till they got to the gate of the mountain Tiger house. Darcy stopped. “This is the mountain Tiger house, let me show you to your chambers…”

The house was large, beautiful and majestic, it had a lot of chambers within it, so it took some time to walk to Kai’s chamber on the door it was engraved,

White 10: Kai Walter

“How do I get in?” Kai asked Darcy.

“Take your hand this way and place it close to the door, it is only for the first time. After that, you can open it as any other door.”

Darcy took Kai’s hand and placed it close to the door and a click sound was heard from the door.

—Click—

The door opened and Kai entered and Darcy followed behind. The initial anticipation just died as they entered the room. Even Kai’s bathroom at the Marshall Manor was bigger than the whole room.

‘What was I even expecting?’ Kai was visibly disappointed.

“Do not be disappointed that’s how all the white rank 10 rooms are, when you go on missions and gain merit and your rank increases you will be able to get a better room”

“When do I get to engage in missions?” Kai asked with scorn and disgust.

“Soon, in your second year. Umm… By the way, we could go to see the ranks, I have a portable one in my room.” Darcy was almost hiding her face now. ‘What was I thinking? I just met him, at least I just talked to him today. Even Asher does not have this effect on me.’ Darcy was frantic in her thoughts even though her face was calm.

“All right, let us go then,” Kai said and shattered all her doubt.

“OK, follow me.” Darcy walked ahead of Kai and Kai followed behind.

Kai walked faster and held Darcy’s hand “You are my guide you know.” Kai wasn’t in any way confident, the devil’s heart was simply making him compatible.

Kai smiled in a way that took Darcy off guard and made her smile almost ear to ear in return. She looked so beautiful at that moment.

“All right, let’s go,” still smiling Darcy took Kai’s hand and walked towards the better part of the mountain Tiger house.

They stopped after walking for some time. They stopped in front of the door It had Mountain Tiger

Purple rank zero: noble,

Darcy Fire-field; engraved boldly on it.

Darcy walked into the room and Kai followed behind, “Welcome to my humble chambers, follow me to the bedroom.”

Extravagant would be an understatement, the chamber was huge, and it had a sauna, a study, a living area, a bathroom and then a balcony.

“Please sit, let me bring it out.” Darcy walked into a room that Kai later discovered to be Darcy’s dressing room.

After some time of waiting, Darcy came out of the dressing room with a tablet, but what she wore would make any man drool. She had a pink-laced nightgown on. It was fairly transparent, hugging her in all the right areas; she had the build of a fine warrior.

“Apologies for taking so much time.” She pushed her hair back behind her ears and sat beside Kai on her bed. “This is the tablet I was telling you about,” Darcy showed Kai a stone tablet with eccentric carvings, she placed her hand over the tablet and it glowed a blue light.

“Right, so how does it work?” Kai asked as he inched closer.

“This is how it is; it shows the list of students in the school of magic in the central continent. But the one in the arena shows the list of students throughout the five continents.” Darcy explained as she scrolled down through the list of names.

“Look here, I am ranked 17th on the merit list.” Darcy showed Kai, trying her best to make a good impression on him.

“What rank am I at?” Kai asked, curious.

“Well…let us see,” Darcy looked and scrolled through the portable merit list, till she came to the end and brought Kai’s profile up. “Umm…. You just got admitted so you are ranked number 2078th.”

“This is exciting….very exciting,” Kai laughed silently.

‘He just saw that he ranked last and he is trying to laugh it off. But his laugh makes him look more handsome.’ It was rather odd that Darcy seemed drawn to him, it wasn’t as though Kai was perfect in any way. No one would believe that Darcy, the fiery princess would fawn over someone this way.

“Tell me Darcy, how do I go up this merit board even though I am still a first-year student?” Kai’s facial expression changed from laughing to serious in a click.

Kai’s abyssal black eyes locked onto Darcy’s as he brought his face closer to hers unconsciously. She felt his hot breath on her skin as he longed for answers. If someone saw it, this would look as though they were a couple and were about to kiss.

At this point, blood shot up to Darcy’s ears. “Well…uh…”

‘Darcy get a hold of yourself.’ After some time, Darcy calmed herself down to answer Kai, without making eye contact with him.

“Well, the thing is you could challenge students at the Death Ring for some merit points,” Darcy managed to finally say.

“Thanks a lot for the information. I will be taking my leave, have a good day.” Kai was already standing, about to go.

“Wait!!!” Darcy called back. ‘No…now, what was I thinking? I cannot do this I just met him.’

Kai stopped. “What can I do for you?” He asked.

“Nothing, I wanted to give you something but I think it can wait.” Darcy seemed to be hesitant, and in a dilemma as she spoke those words to Kai.

“Right then, I will be leaving,” Kai scratched his left brow, turned around and left.

‘Phew~ that was close, I do not want him to see me as a libertine.’

Kai walked through the long hallways of the mountain tiger house. A lot of females passed him by while walking but it seemed he had a weird effect on different genders.

‘Deity…’ Kai called out to the deity.

‘Mortal, what is it?’ The deity answered, almost immediately.

‘What have you done to me? The females look like they want to copulate with me and the men look as though they saw a monster. How do I stop it?’ Kai asked.

‘Well, you cannot, well not yet. You need to get stronger. You know what that means…’ This was something Kai never wanted to experience again. ‘Training starts tomorrow night.’

This was the worst news Kai had ever heard. “NO!… He he, my apologies everyone please move along.”

Everyone in the hallway looked at the freak called Kai scream to no one in particular before laughing and walking away.

“He must have been crazy,” one of the students in the hall said to his colleague.

“Yes, I do say so myself.”