Bab 29: Sneaking Around
Professor McDowell's classes were always entertaining. Even if they did run longer than the allotted time. Currently, the class was in another world. They were far from the classroom Professor McDowell was supposed to teach his class. This world was different from the first one he had taken the class to. No, this time the world was governed by Jet. The resident potions and runes master.
"Being pulled into another summoner's world is like losing half the fight. But it's not all grim. So long as the other summoner is dealt with on the other side or is foolish enough to enter here you still have a favorable chance." Professor McDowell lectured on.
"Yeah, if I was on the other side I could have ejected you out of this place with a simple thought. The danger comes from where. I could easily eject you brats into space or a trash compactor. Pretty much anywhere I wish so long as I'm close to that location." Jet added.
"When a summoner enters his world it's normal not to battle enemies. It's to interact and learn from the lives inside. This way we can better nature and govern it from the outside. That's why Mr. Jet is here today." Professor McDowell explained.
"Toones, for the thousandth of times its just Jet." Jet complained. "Screw it, as Mr. Toones has just said we are here to discuss how one goes about nurturing their world. How you decide to develop it will affect your overall personal power. Your contracts, the spells you're able to use, and your mana reserves are all products of your world. Even if the creature you bond did not originate from your world the second the contract is signed it's become an intrical part of it." Jet took over the lecture.
Kaden found today's class to be one of the most enlightened ones he ever had. Now that he understood what the interlopers were. Still, he had plenty of questions he wanted answers to. Ones he could not find in the school library. Sure it was full of lots of knowledge but it was limited to a basic level.
"Jet, I have a question?" Kaden asked during the man's pause. That's how Jet operated, he would lecture for a bit then stop. He then would see if everyone was following along or had questions.
"Go ahead kid, shoot." Jet replied.
Kaden took a second to organize his thoughts before he asked his first one. "My Gege one gifted me a green gem to fuse with my book. This was how I gained my first guardian summons. My question: did she come from the gemstone or was she already a part of my world?" Kaden asked. He was curious about that.
"Grimoires have themes for a reason, kid. Is that your question?"Jet kind of answered it.
"No, it's just a part. Because the gem she gave me was a compressed star. I researched what I could when I have free time and found that star gems could only come from two places: the planner war battlefield or a different dimension. I need to collect a hundred and seven more of those stones to awaken every guarding spirit housed in my book. So I was curious. If those spirits are actually from a different dimension. Like the chaos eggs are all rewards gained at the planner war. Those eggs from what I can tell make up the bulk of our side's fighting force. They might not be from our reality and are beings from different dimensions. Only our contracts keep them from wanting to kill us." Kaden told the man.
"Long-winded just like your father. Have you ever heard that curiosity kills the cat? Let's say you're close to the right answer but it's more complicated than one side or another." Jet answered "also you're too lose lip with the details of your grimoire. Right now it's not that big of a deal because we are in a safe environment but don't be so free with that information in the future. Your whole class now knows how ridiculously overpowered you can one day become. Especially if you unlock all those damn guardians." Jet lectured him.
To have over One hundred unkillable servants was almost unheard of. A Guardian Summons is different from normal ones. A special payment had to be made. One that was normally too rich for one person to afford. But once paid the summons were extremely loyal to their master and would only die with them. The key was that they could be freely summoned on unlimited bases. They could live by their master's side if they so choose.
Currently part of Kaden's monthly expenses was the cost of keeping the clockwork butler summoned all the time. If it was just Kaden paying that bill the android would have been sealed back in his card long ago.
Hinata Ice Phoenix was also a Guardian. Unlike her Pegasus, the creature could be freely summoned. She had another Guardian Summons but Kaden was currently unaware of what it was other than it excelled at healing people and controlling water. One reason Kaden thought Hinata was super lucky was that she found her second guardian so fast. Kaden knew he would never find a second Star gem any time soon. Especially at the station while attending school. It would have to wait.
"Mr. Flanagan's findings and questions are without merit. The multiverse is vast and any number of possibilities are possible. Chaos Eggs do not originate from our universe. Powerful contracts require items from alternate universes to come to flourishing." Professor McDowell told the class. "While those items are important to everyone here. Us teachers included. They are not the most important part of being a Summoner. Cultivating our minds and bodies is the most important thing any of us can do. The state of our mind and body can affect our world."
"Right as Professor McDowell has said. Training oneself is the key to becoming successful. Using external means is just temporary aid. An individual's effort is what matters most. Take Mr. Flanagan's ridiculous potential for example. If he does not work hard to improve himself he will never be able to manifest those spirits. That's why these three key exercises are crucial to any summoner…." Jet continued teaching Professor McDowell's class.
Knock knock knock. Kaden woke up to someone tapping on his door. Not a hard knock that would wake the whole flat, just a loud enough one to wake him. A second later his PDA vibrates as he had turned it to silent when he set it to charge.
'Wake up man we got an adventure planned out!' The message from Bisma woke him up. His digital alarm on his writing desk showed it was almost 1 AM. A second message flashed just as another set of knocks arrived. "Hurry up man, else we will knock on your door for the remainder of the night." It read with a smiley face emoji. This time the message was from Tommy.
"Ah, might as well see what they want. Not like I need proper sleep anymore anyways." Kaden said out loud to himself. The Mana running through his body made it so that sleeping every night was no longer a normal thing to do. Most Summoners would use that time to meditate on their internal energy to improve themselves. Skipping a night of meditation would not hurt anything either. So going out to explore some of the stations sounded fun.
The group found themselves in the underbelly of the station. The underbelly was a maze of compact corridors and storage rooms with pipes and wiring running along the paths. Metal floor grates covered even more tubing. What followed through those lines was anyone's guess.
"Why did she have to come too," Maximo pouted. Celestia was with them beside Ash. Trying to do anything without Ash finding out about it was a feudal endeavor. The idea of exploring the unknown also got her motivated to tag along.
"Celestia can hack the station security so we don't get busted. I could try my hand but the odds are not in my favor." Bruce answered.
Tommy could not help but tell Maximo. "If she bothers you that much you can go back to your quarters. Nobody is going to stop you."
"Ash, Are you sure Jess and Bee are not going to find out? Those two could ruin the fun." Bisma asked.
Ash nodded after giving the question some thought. Then said "Yeah we are good. I thought of dragging Hinata up to join us but she looked like she was in the zone and I did not have the heart to break her meditation."
"The area of the explosion is probably already repaired. Gigi would have not jumped us if it was still unstable." Kaden said. He was not expecting to find anything. He tags along because just hanging out doing things like what they were doing. Exploring unknown places in school was on his bucket list of things to do.
Kaden had some goals he set for himself as a high school student. One example was to take a girl on a date. Preferably one who he liked. Another was to maintain his status on the honor roll. If he could become the class valedictorian he would.
Just as Bruce had predicted Celestia proved her worth right away. The first hurdle to their adventure was a security door that led to the substation maintenance rail. They would have to take a service tram to their desired location. Between Bruce and Celestia's hacking skills they were able to mask the unauthorized usage as a routine check-up.
The station subroutines would automatically at random test such systems to make sure they still operate as intended. Some of the sections on the station underbelly were only used during construction. The maintenance department would only do physical checks when a routine failed to complete.
"We got thirty minutes to poke around before we run out of time and have to take the tram car back to the surface," Celestia warned.
Bruce nodding his head in agreement added. "Yeah, and fifteen minutes after we arrive to clear the docking station before the security team does their checks."
They were not the first of the student body to go exploring the station. Many students have done it. Some to meet up with friends they had in the other schools. Some like seeing out the unknown. Some loved breaking the rules. So the group was not afraid of being expelled if they got caught. They would have to serve some detention or community services. At worst they would have to pay a fine.
Soon the group found themselves at the desired destination. The room was a typical storage room. An empty large room. It had a high ceiling and their regular training could fit into it with room to spare.
"I don't see what's so exciting about this. As I said, the place is already repaired. Whatever was here got destroyed by the explosion." Kaden told everyone in a bored tone. He lost the excitement he had on the tram ride. "Though this place could be an excellent backup training location." He added
Bruce nodding in agreement walked up to one of the walls and used a scanner on it. Nobody knew how he got the device but since it was Bruce they figure it had to do with his hobbies.
"The walls are reinforced with Uru, Gundamium, and Unobtanium. We could probably detonate a nuke in here and not leave a scratch. Tell me you're not curious as to what caused this room to get destroyed?" Bruce spoke in ah.
"Is it me or are all three of the things Bruce just listed fictitious metals in comic books and movies?" Kaden could not help but ask.
"Haha, come on, use that big brain of yours." Ash teased.
"Man, to think you of all people would ask that question," Tommy added.
"Fine, I get it the damn stuff came from some other place than our reality. I sometimes forget that those other places are real." Kaden said giving up on the conversation.
"If we can get permission this place would make a great basketball court. A trans-universal space station five times bigger than the island of Manhattan and not one hoop to be found. It's crazy." Bisma complained.
"Haha, that my friend, an excellent idea maybe we could start a school league. I'd love to shoot some hoops." Kaden seconds him. Now the rest of the group had moved on and ignored the two sports fanatics.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone