Seed of Titan

Another few weeks passed by as Drai busied himself with his study and group activities in Soluna Academy. During this time, Enda had informed Drai's party that their first venture was approved by the higher-ups, and it probably wouldn't take too long for the details to be determined.

This news excited Drai and his friends, sparking speculations among them regarding where they would be sent to and what missions would likely be given to them. Auri had hoped that they would be sent far away, to a another country if possible, so that they could experience plenty new things, such as the people, culture, food, and sight. The others also agreed that it would be nice to travel abroad, but they secretly suspected that Auri was treating this venture as some kind of vacation.

Christo truly managed to bring the mood down when he said that they would probably be given relatively simple tasks due to this being their first venture, such as resource gathering at nearby locations that weren't as dangerous as the wilderness. The group collectively grunted when Christo mentioned that a tedious mission such as data gathering on some local flora was also highly possible.

Another interesting thing that happened was Jian's closeness to Tamara, the busty girl who had ran away from the first Valiant Ventures' gathering. The others, especially Jian's roommates, had noticed that Jian often left the dorm or their party gatherings early while giving various excuses with an awkward face. It was actually Auri who had informed the others regarding Tamara as she had an acquaintance in Jian's class who told her about them. Apparently, they even always sat together just like Drai and Natalia did during their classes.

The bunch didn't really consider this a problem though, as there were a lot of similar happenings around the campus. They're at the age where romance tends to blossom and wither rapidly after all. Auri was only slightly annoyed with Jian for being secretive about it, but Christo reasoned that Jian probably still felt awkward about his relationship due to the incident between Drai and Tamara previously. Meanwhile, Natalia saw it differently, for she was in the opinion that Jian was just being shy.

***

On this particular evening, Auri was meeting her aunt in her campus residence. Her aunt had invited her for some tea, which somewhat surprised Auri as they had been mostly talking through chats and calls.

Sitting down on the sofa, Auri sipped her tea while looking around at her surroundings which reminded her of home. She always found it quite amusing that her family members mostly had similar preferences on many things, including home decoration.

"How's the tea?" Irina asked with her soft voice. She was dressed rather modestly this evening, which only accentuated her graceful beauty.

"It's lovely, Aunt Irina. The hint of floralness is similar to the tea we usually have back home. But there's an intriguing toasty aroma that I seldom find in tea which is unlike anything I've had before… soothing yet somehow invigorating."

Hearing this, Irina smiled. "I knew you would appreciate the tea, Auri. It's a variant procured from Caroe Highlands."

"Oh my, that famous wilderness?" Auri exclaimed as she examined her tea closely.

"Exactly. It's not quite the forbidden wilderness like Siyeun Mountains as there have been plenty successful explorations at Caroe Highlands, including the one that brought back these tea leaves, but it's a wilderness nonetheless. One should never underestimate those places. Who knows what dangers are lurking just beyond the trodden paths."

"Siyeun Mountains…" Auri muttered as a tinge of sadness surfaced in her eyes.

Seeing the sudden change in her niece, Irina's face softened as she said, "You must've seen uncle Maximillian's recording already."

Auri looked at her youthful aunt and nodded. She hadn't thought about it before, but her aunt must have been aware about the recording of Auri's own great-uncle which was annually shown by Valiant Ventures.

Irina sipped her tea in silence, letting Auri deal with her emotions momentarily. Irina was over it now, but at one point she had also experienced what Auri was going through after she saw her uncle's recording for the first time. That's why Irina could somewhat relate to Auri's current feelings.

After a few minutes of silence, Irina finally said, "Uncle Max was a man like no other. His early passing is a tragedy, but let it be a fuel for your own development, Auri."

Auri who was sipping her tea solemnly looked deeply at her aunt before nodding. Auri didn't know that Irina was speaking from experience, as Irina was actually a rather negligent person when she first entered Soluna Academy as a student years ago, content with mediocrity due to her background which guaranteed financial security regardless of what she would ever achieve.

Irina's admission in the academy was mainly because of her thorough knowledge of the magic class, a result of her upbringing, and her family's familiarity with the admission test. Only after seeing the recording did something spark inside of Irina, transforming her into a hard-working person who eventually became a dean in the number one academy of the country.

"Why don't they show the recording at home? Shouldn't that be more impactful compared to just being told about great-uncle's achievement?" Auri suddenly questioned.

Hearing this, Irina nodded. "I actually had the same question too, Auri. So I asked Father about it."

"And what did Grandpa say?" Auri asked impatiently as she further felt that it was irrational for the family to not be showing the recording if they had known about it all along.

"He said it's a legacy meant for Valiant Ventures, the group Uncle Max highly treasured during his days here. If it were meant for the Velles, he would've mentioned the family somewhere in his message. But since he didn't, then his intention was clear.

"Your grandfather and the other elders respected that, so they decided to leave the recording alone. And it looks like Valiant Ventures have no intention in sharing the recording with the world. I think they consider Uncle Max's words their sacred creed, a gospel if you like."

Hearing this, Auri thought that her family elders were far wiser than her, who had been thinking impulsively and perhaps quite emotionally. Recalling the scene that evening, Auri also agreed about the recording being something revered by the members. She thought that perhaps they avoided showing the recording to the public in fear of someone tarnishing the president's legacy since video editing is a common occurrence on the web.

"Speaking of Valiant Ventures, I heard that you'll soon set out for your first venture," said Irina.

"Yeah, we've just recently been informed about it too. Do you think they'll send us abroad, Auntie?" asked Auri expectantly.

Seeing her niece's eagerness, Irina couldn't help but giggle. "Silly girl, there's no chance they'll risk sending first-years abroad unless Bismar has lost his mind. Your president can be quite daring, but not to the extent of endangering his group members. Furthermore, these ventures must be approved by the academy beforehand, and I can vouch that our staff views student safety as a main consideration, especially when my niece is included in the group."

Hearing Irina echo the same speculation Christo had mentioned before, Auri promptly slumped on her armrest, feeling disappointed.

Irina shook her head in amusement before saying, "Still, don't take your safety for granted just because you won't be going somewhere far away. And even if the decided location is relatively safe, be prudent and prepared. Just so you know, Valiant Ventures' most recent casualty happened during one of these 'safe' ventures."

Auri's ears perked up upon hearing this. "Can you tell me what happened, Aunt Irina? I know my friends are secretly curious about the incident, but it feels like a taboo to ask the seniors about it. And they may not even know much about it since I heard that it happened years ago."

Looking at her niece, Irina merely shook her head. "The details are lost on me, dear. But the gist of it was that during a rather simple mission, the group stumbled upon something that wasn't supposed to be there at all. Perhaps it was merely bad luck rather than poor planning. But at least not all of them were lost on that day. From what I know, it could've been far worse."

Auri pondered upon her aunt's words. She tried picturing what could've happened at that time and whether this would happen again in the future or even during her own venture.

After taking another sip of tea, Irina stood up and walked toward the balcony window where she gazed upon the dark evening sky. Sighing, she said, "We live in such peaceful times, Auri."

Auri let go of her thoughts as she looked at her aunt was suddenly looking rather somber. She wondered why her aunt had brought up this topic.

"A single student dying is viewed as a tragedy in the present, but back then… it probably was normal for hundreds if not thousands of people to lose their lives every day. Nowadays, the System is commonly seen as a blessing. But countless lives have been lost since it first appeared in Gaia. Perhaps it's a scourge instead," Irina said, still gazing at the sky.

"Are you talking about the Century of Chaos, Auntie?" Auri asked, concerned. For her, the lives lost during the early decades after the System's inception was just a history lesson, not something to mourn. After all, it's been almost four hundred years since then. But somehow her aunt seemed to be rather preoccupied with the tragic past.

'Was it something in the tea?' Auri asked herself as she sniffed her cup. She couldn't find anything strange with it though, so she turned back to her aunt.

"Life would be so much different had we lived back then, or even before the dawn of the System. It would've been unthinkable for you to mingle with your friends—or at least most of them," Irina continued.

"What do you mean, Auntie?" Auri asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There used to be a wide chasm between the ruling class and the populace…" Irina muttered softly. She then turned around and walked back to the sofa.

"But now we're all considered equal. Isn't that wonderful?" Irina smilingly said as she sat down and lifted her cup.

"Of course it is, but hasn't that been the norm for hundreds of years, Auntie? Didn't Duncan Kingdom fall around the end of the Century of Chaos?"

"It indeed has…" Irina said before resigning back to sipping her tea in silence.

Feeling a bit awkward due to the sudden silence, Auri decided to fiddle with her comm. After a short moment of silence, Irina finally spoke up.

"Well, looks like I've been blabbering a bit too much. Now tell me about your friends, dear. I'd love to hear about them."

***

In room D5 of the male dorm, Jian was currently meditating on the floor on his usual pillow. There was no one else in the room, but the muffled shower noise indicated that someone was in the bathroom.

Not long after, Christo exited the bathroom with his blonde hair still damp and sporting fresh clothes. After putting his dirty clothes and towel away, he sat down on the sofa while checking out his comm. A few minutes had passed when Jian's voice finally broke the silence.

"Studying again?"

Christo raised his head and saw that Jian was peeking at him with one eye, still in a meditating position.

"Is there anything strange for a student in an academy to be studying? I'm the one who should be saying, 'Meditating again? This isn't a temple and you're not a monk.' But I'm such a good friend that I never bothered you with such questions, Jian," teased Christo.

"Ugh!" Jian grunted as he stood up and put away his meditation pillow. "This is the basic of cultivation which is qi accumulation, okay? I'm not striving for spiritual enlightenment like those monks. And I know studying is normal, but that's all you seem to be doing! It's stifling, Christo. Stifling! Go have fun or something, won't you?"

Jian's rebuke only made Christo chuckle. He hadn't expected that teasing Jian was so amusing that it became one of his favorite pastime.

"Maybe you're right, Jian," Christo said as he closed his comm. "I should go get myself a pretty girl to have fun with, preferably someone with a decently sized bust."

Hearing this, Jian's jaw dropped while his face rapidly turned red.

"Y-you know?!"

Suppressing his laughter, Christo merely shrugged, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hearing this, Jian tried to calm himself down. But unfortunately, his eyes caught the edges of Christo's mouth that were currently twitching nonstop.

"F******K!" Jian bellowed before slumping down the floor, which finally made Christo burst out laughing.

A minute passed by as Christo laughed his heart out while Jian silently sprawled on the floor. When the laughter died out, Jian finally rose up slowly from the floor.

"Does everyone know?" asked Jian weakly.

"Yep."

Hearing this, Jian sighed heavily and sat down beside Christo.

"Well… It's not like it's a big secret anyway since I brought her to the first gathering," Jian said. "But with what happened there, I can't be bringing her to hang out with you guys, especially during our party meetings. It's not like me and Tamara are in a special relationship either. We're just a bit close."

"Is she still bitter about Drai?" asked Christo.

"I don't know, man. I'm not taking any chances, so I always avoid mentioning about you guys or that particular incident. You know how girls tend to lash out unexpectedly. Just look at Auri and Natalia. They're becoming more rabid these days," Jian remarked as he shook his head.

"Don't be a sexist, Jian. Don't you also tend to suddenly burst out in anger?"

"T-that's… that's just how cultivators are!" Jian exclaimed, looking embarrassed. "If only you read cultivation stories, you'd see how most of them are so unrestrained to the point of absurdity. 'Looking at me briefly but it pisses me off? I'll pluck your eyes out! Making me lose face in public although I'm the one at fault? I'll end three generations of your family! Retaliating against my descendant who's acting like a ludicrous dickhead? I'll demolish your entire sect!'"

Seeing Jian's enactment, Christo was completely baffled. Compared to these examples, Jian might as well be a saint. Thinking about Jian's behavior when they first met, Christo truly wondered if his cultivator friend would also end up as a nutjob had Drai not put a leash on him early on.

"Okay, I get it," said Christo. "Still, it isn't wise to generalize. But I'm curious, Jian… Don't you find it strange that Tamara suddenly latch onto Drai that evening? I know Drai can sometimes react quite offensively since I've heard Auri's story about him calling her a vixen, but I think Tamara was a bit over the top that time."

"It's just her personality. It happened to me too when we first met each other," Jian shrugged.

"Oh?" remarked Christo intriguedly. "Was she the first one to approach you?"

"Yeah. We were having a break during an outdoor class and she suddenly appeared when I was resting alone, instantly wrapping herself around my arm as she introduced herself. See? She's just overly friendly and touchy like that."

"Hmm… I guess so. Well, good for you then," said Christo smilingly, not voicing out his real thoughts.

"I'm just going with the flow for now. Honestly, I'm not that infatuated with Tamara, or else I would've probably lashed out when Drai made her run away like that. I would've probably ended up in a hospital bed too," Jian admitted sighingly. "It just felt nice having a cutie comfort me amidst all the brutes in my class and the harsh trainings."

"Can't argue with that. Just be careful and remain attentive in case things aren't what they appear to be, okay?" Christo advised.

Jian looked at his roommate with a raised eyebrow. "You're suspecting Tamara?"

"It's like you don't know me, Jian," Christo said, shaking his head as he feigned disappointment. "I'm always suspecting everything and everyone. That's why I love you and Drai to death."

"Huh? Why?" Jian asked in bafflement with blushing cheeks upon hearing this sudden confession.

"Because you two are just too naive that I don't have to be constantly wary of you. It just makes my dorm life so peaceful. You guys have my utmost gratitude," said Christo as he slightly bowed, winking playfully.

Jian was speechless as looked as his unbridled friend. He couldn't even decide whether this was an appreciation or insult toward him and Drai.

"Talking to you is exhausting," Jian finally said as he stood up and went to grab his meditation pillow. "I need to clear my mind after that talk. Anyway, where's Drai?"

"Training with Auri. He was inspired after our party session with the seniors, so he's often been training with Auri since then," Christo replied while opening up his comm to resume his study.

"Don't tell me…"

"Yep. Auri's showering him with colors."

***