Capítulo 72: Ch 72:- A Strange Spell
With the event starting tomorrow, the students were free to do what they wanted for the rest of the evening. There were no strict requirements and even no curfew for the students, which was a first. It truly felt like they were on a week-long trip to watch a grand event. Never had they ever been treated like this before.
The only rule that was put in place was for students not to leave the arena, not that it was possible anyway. The arena was located in a separate part of the city, and the only way to get to it was via train, which would go through several different barriers.
The four boys—Rayne, Quinn, Fex, and Vorden—left the hotel room and headed down to the top of the arena. Just like the guide had said, the top of the arena was mostly flat and filled with all kinds of stalls manned by staff. There were coffee stalls, food places, VR games, and all sorts. But what interested most of the students were the equipment stalls.
Some of these stalls sold different types of beast gear and armor, as well as items that would go hand in hand with certain abilities while fighting. The boys decided that they would walk around the entire circle, looking at all the shops before committing to buying anything. It was always horrible when one would see something they liked in a shop, only to find something better or cheaper in the next one.
"Go on, tell me what you think of the sudden change," Fex said, directing the question to Quinn.
"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, confused.
"What? Do you mean you can't tell? All of a sudden, they're pampering us—nice hotel rooms, shops, equipment, and no curfew," Fex replied.
Rayne's ears perked up upon hearing it, wanting to hear what kind of argument they were bringing up.
"Looks like you figured it out," Vorden said and motioned around. "The whole thing is a ploy for the students. They show and give them a taste of what life is like at Military Base One. Some of the students will start to think that maybe choosing to join the military, rather than the faction, isn't so bad, especially if they can have a life like this. I hate to say it, but there's always a motive behind everything."
"Hmm, you are correct, but I don't think that's all it's about. I don't know, but it seems to me like some cheap trick—like saying to a kid, 'I will give you chocolate, come with me'—which I don't think may work on these students who at least know the ups and downs of society to some extent," Rayne said, deep in thought.
"You are indeed correct. This may all seem like a cheap trick at first, but it's a good strategy at the end of the day because, see for yourself, people still join the military for one reason or another, but it is mainly because of the deep-rooted aspects of human nature. Despite knowing the ups and downs of society, individuals are still susceptible to certain psychological factors that make them consider the military as an option," Vorden said.
Rayne furrowed his brow, contemplating the points raised. "I understand the appeal of belonging, purpose, and the desire for power. But aren't we underestimating the students? Many of them have experienced the hardships and complexities of society firsthand. They know that joining the military isn't a simple solution. There are sacrifices, risks, and challenges involved. Are we assuming that they would fall for this trickery?"
Vorden leaned forward, his expression serious. "Rayne, you have a valid point. The students are not naive; they are aware of the trade-offs. However, we must acknowledge the subtle ways in which human nature can influence our decisions. The military taps into deep-seated psychological factors that go beyond simple trickery. It offers a compelling narrative of purpose, belonging, and a chance for personal growth. These factors can sway individuals, especially those who don't have funds or the luxury of having an ability. To them, it's like the only way to rise to the top or get a good place in society to stay safe. Even those who are aware of the complexities, because at the end of the day, they are human. It feels bad to say, but not everyone can be like you all, can they?"
Hearing it, Rayne felt a little bad because he knew that he was viewing it from his perspective, which was not one bit fair. He not only has years' worth of experience fighting, but he also is a vampire, and he knew what Vorden was implying. As a vampire, they were naturally strong and powerful, but that can't be said for humans who need to cultivate their way to the top. Meanwhile, Quinn had a different reaction. He had stopped in his walk, and his head was held down, contemplating the words that Vorden spoke about. He knew those words were true because if he hadn't become a vampire, he would have also been one of the students to get an ability book and living like any other normal human out there serving the military.
Feeling the tension in the air, Fex tried to lighten the mood by adding, "Hey, did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost their job? Because they couldn't control their pupils!"
"Hahaha," Fex laughed at his own joke as the rest of the boys looked at him as if he had told the worst joke they had ever heard. But then Rayne started laughing, followed by Quinn and Vorden. They were away from their classes and school, and now was not the time for this serious talk, was it? It was time to enjoy and have some fun. Although Quinn's mood was still a little bit down from all the things that have been happening lately.
The four boys stopped to take a break and were looking over the edge, down at the arena floor. There looked to be thousands and thousands of seats, but none of them were for the students. The students would be watching the fight, either from the top platform they were currently on or from their hotel rooms. There were multiple large display screens every once in a while, so it wasn't like they would miss anything.
The seats themselves were for all the different factions from Earth and other planets. They had been invited to see the future generation display their power. It was a good chance for the military to show the world that it was necessary to continue to draft teens into the army. As well as for factions to try to get future talent.
"Maybe it's a good thing I'm not fighting," Vorden said. Although these words were spoken quietly, with the trio hearing, they had heard him say these words and were wondering what he meant by them as he looked at the crowd of empty chairs.
"Vorden is a talented individual, an original from a good family, but not one of the top four. If he were able to display his strong skills and abilities, he would easily be scouted into a top faction, but why doesn't he want to?" Rayne thought as he started wandering before finally coming to a conclusion.
"Could it be that he belongs to some super powerful secret family and doesn't want to show his power? That would also make sense why there isn't much knowledge concerning his family in the school database," Rayne thought.
The four of them continued walking, having already done a full circle, and
Rayne had scanned all the good equipment present there with the help of his system and getting their blueprint for his crafting function. Already existing ones or the ones that were scanned multiple times due to their different attributes got stacked up and went through a simulation, creating the most optimum and best version of their existing copy. They had decided which shops they wanted to stop by, starting with a food and beverage stall.
Rayne bought four shawarmas and Pepsi, giving them one each. With both Quinn and Fex looking at it in disgust and looking at him bewildered, even Vorden was giving him weird looks, knowing fully well what they were thinking. He smirked, put his hand in his pocket, and took out two sheets of paper. But that was not all because as soon as he took them out, a strong smell of blood entered their noses, and upon closer look, they could see a magic circle drawn in the middle, along with various other unrecognizable words inscribed around it, filling the whole sheet with its red ink, which was probably blood. Without saying much, he moved forward and slapped the talisman-looking magic paper sheet on their foreheads.
He stepped back and looked at his handiwork. Vorden now looked almost as if he was about to burst out laughing, with both Quinn and Fex being genuinely confused. At that moment, Vorden stopped laughing and watched wide-eyed as the two sheets disintegrated into ashes, with a glowing magic circle appearing on their heads, which soon disappeared.
Suddenly, both Fex and Quinn felt a warm sensation spreading throughout their bodies, with their body temperature and heartbeat rapidly rising until it was beating the same as normal humans. Fex was confused by the strange and strong thumping sensation, but Quinn was shocked because he knew what it was, and his system was now currently displaying what was happening to him. Even his AI was shocked.
[You have been affected by an unknown spell]
[A Status Effect detected]
[Status Effect: This spell gives the facade of being a human, fully simulating it.]
"Now go on, how do you like it? I think you can now eat it," Rayne said with a smile.
Fex, being the first one, took a bite and moaned in delight, having not eaten anything like this before. Quinn soon followed suit, with his system constantly exclaiming, "Marvelous! I haven't seen any spell like this before to be able to emulate being human. It's truly marvelous." Hearing his system, he was starting to doubt if it really was just an AI or an actual person trapped as an AI, but he couldn't help but relish the food. It felt like forever since he had eaten human food.
"What was that?" Vorden asked, confused. He knew vampires couldn't eat normal food, and seeing them eat really confused him.
"It's called magic, Vorden. Magic," Rayne said.
Vorden, hearing it, was even more confused, but he dismissed it. This school year he had been encountering bizarre things, so knowing that magic exists was not much of a stretch.
After eating, drinking, and resting for a while, they once again started their journey. When walking around this time, they noticed a lot more students around than before. This was because all of the other military bases had arrived by now, and they too had left to explore.
They entered a few shops, and Fex was the first to buy some items. He purchased very small knives that had a little ring just underneath the handle. And from his memory, it only complemented his string ability. If only he knew how to use them properly, he could already imagine some binding technique that he could perform with them.
While Vorden didn't purchase anything, he instead stared at two short swords on the wall. Quinn remembered when he had asked Vorden a long time ago what type of weapon he would use if he were to use one, and he had replied with a pair of short blades.
"Don't buy those," Quinn said. "Don't worry; I'll get you something nice soon.
Hearing it, Rayne was confused. He knew that Vorden wanted to buy those blades because of the emotion that he was emitting and his Qi sense capturing it, but he couldn't understand why Quinn would help him buy something.
[It's because of friendship. Don't you remember how you made that enchanted, overpowered frost axe and gave it to 'πολέμου'?] his system said.
"Oh! Yeah, I remember now," Rayne thought as he continued on with the group, looking at all the equipment, even the normal ones like the VR machine. He could now finally make one and add the best one to his crafting codex.
The next shop was a place for Quinn. A shop that mainly focused on armor. A piece had caught his eye before. An intermediate piece that was dark blue in color and had a silver trim going around the edges. But as his fingertips pressed against the right chest plate, another hand was seen pulling it from the other side.
The student to his left turned and looked at Quinn. The first thing that he noticed that stood out to him was the wristwatch, indicating he was a level one ability user. After seeing this, the boy immediately let go.
"Please go ahead and take it," the boy said. "You grabbed it first."
"Actually, you were a little faster than me; you go ahead," Quinn said. With his eyesight, he was able to tell the boy to his right was only a fraction of a second faster at grabbing the plate. He had no right to claim he grabbed it first.
"No, please get it instead of me. I insist I don't need it," the boy replied back once again.
The two of them continued like this, while Rayne, Vorden, and Fex stood back and couldn't believe what they were watching. "I guess this is what happens when you have two nice people," Fex said. "Nothing gets sorted."
"You think Quinn's nice?" Vorden asked him.
Fex thought about it for a while. Most of his interactions with Quinn were nice ones, and after saving his life, he had no other reason but to think he was a nice guy.
"You don't?" Fex replied back.
"Now I am also confused. Why do you think he isn't nice? He goes on and protects every other fellow that he sees in trouble. He is kind-hearted and a bit naive. If this isn't nice, then what is? You are needlessly hyping up his character. He is the very definition of nice," Rayne said.
"Now I didn't say that he was bad. I just said he isn't nice... which I guess I am wrong," Vorden said, sweating at Rayne's death glare.
Fex, looking at Vorden's reaction, could only smirk. But he was now becoming fed up with watching them go back and forth and snatched the chest piece, handing it over to Quinn. "Just take it, man. I want to continue shopping."
The boy smiled, indicating he was happy for Quinn to take the piece of armor. But before purchasing the item, Quinn wanted to get the name of the student.
"What's your name?" Quinn asked.
"The name's Sam."
****
[Spell: Blush of Life
Type: Blood Sorcery
Description: Blush of Life is a powerful blood ritual that enables an undead creature or beings of a similar nature to assume the guise of a living human. By harnessing the intricate intricacies of blood magic, this ritual creates a convincing illusion that allows the recipient to engage in all activities associated with human life.
Ingredient: Magic Paper, Magical Blood to be used as ink ( Rayne used his blood infused with blood aura)
Cost: 60 Soul force]
Estado de energía semanal
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Poder 
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