บท 10: Personal Weapon
In an office at Stellar Academy.
The man stared at Beatrix with his deep, penetrating eyes.
He carried a stern expression. His face, framed by a dignified white beard, spoke of wisdom earned through the passage of time.
"Is that all you have to report?" He asked in a gruff voice.
"Yes."
"I see. You can leave."
Beatrix bowed and left the office.
She navigated through the corridors. Her lack of vision wasn't a problem thanks to her heightened senses.
Several staff members passed by her. They lowered their eyes when they saw her cold expression.
Beatrix peeked at their thoughts. She could do it since the day she lost her eyes. The ability allowed her to read other's surface-level thoughts.
Suddenly, dozens of foreign thoughts rushed into her head.
"That [BEEP], I will [BEEP] his mother and [BEEP] [BEEP]."
The gush of profanities flowed like a turbulent river.
"I haven't heard this voice before." Beatrix's brows creased.
Every mind had a different voice, just like fingerprints.
Beatrix could hear the mind voices of others and had a good memory. She should've recognized the mind voice.
Pulled by curiosity, Beatrix followed the source of the mind voice.
She stood outside the infirmary.
A wall separated the owner of the mind voice and Beatrix. It didn't worry her.
She could sense everything on the other side clearly through her senses.
"There is no way it was a coincidence! That [BEEP] knew about my ability! Arhg! He must be laughing after insulting me like that! I swear next time I see him I'll [BEEP] [BEEP] [BEEP] [BEEP]."
The little girl, barely 160 cm, was shouting in her mind and outside. Her leg was supported to hasten the healing.
Beatrix recognized her as Alice, the girl Mr. Walker recommended to the Academy.
As someone aware of Mr. Walker's true identity, Beatrix knew Alice was special. There was no way the Demon would spend his time on a normal girl.
Beatrix couldn't read Alice's mind. But today Alice was tired.
Healing with magic and potions accelerated the body's metabolism and depleted stamina at a rapid pace. It gave Beatrix a chance to peek into Alice's thoughts.
"Is she cursing Zain?" Beatrix had noticed Zain as he stood out due to his ridiculous get-up.
He wore a Top hat in the classroom, spoke with a frivolous attitude, and cracked weird jokes.
His mind was also protected.
Only those with prominent backgrounds go through training to resist mind reading abilities.
Zain didn't seem to belong to such a background. Or, he wouldn't have been a low rank student.
She thought that it had to do with Zain's Talent.
Seeing Alice thinking that Zain was hiding his true abilities, Beatrix's suspicion became firmer. There seemed more to Zain than what he let on.
"But why would he hide his true strength?"
…
Zain POV
"Achoo!"
Which ugly b*tch was cursing me behind my back?
"I bet it's the Angry Inch."
I wouldn't call Alice with that nickname in front of her, her height was her reverse scale, but I wasn't stopping behind her back.
I had every right to be angry.
Why did she attack me for no reason?
If I hadn't worn the protective gear, I could've lost something more precious than life!
I wanted to sigh. Childish insults aside, Alice would definitely try to get her revenge.
There weren't many powers capable of countering her Time Stop. I could subdue her with traps, but there was only so much that little tricks could do.
Sooner or later, I would have to find a more permanent way to dissuade her anger.
"I'm home." Opening the room's door, I started my preparations.
The problem with Alice came later.
First, I had to deal with the surveillance and find a target. I didn't have much time left, only 48 hours.
I packed rations for one day, all remaining training potions, a torch, a short-sword that I bought a few days ago for 15,000 Coins and… Zain's personal weapon.
A Deck of 54 cards.
I played with Zain's personal weapons, shuffling them like a professional dealer.
These cards had two settings.
Normally, they were soft and flexible like normal cards.
If I infused my mana inside them, their edges would turn sharp. In this setting, they could slice through strengthened steel like a knife cutting butter.
The second setting worked only with my mana signature.
"Gallium Alloy. Given their size, each card must have 30,000 Coins worth of the alloy. That's excluding the money spent for the weaponsmith who shaped the Alloy."
The cards could be disguised as normal cards and brought to any place.
It was a perfect weapon for assassination.
I hid the cards in various places inside my clothes.
"Let's try it."
I flicked my hand and a card appeared in my hand. It was hidden in my clothes, but I was able to make it seem as though the card appeared out of thin air.
As a circus member in my past life, I was more comfortable with cards and darts as throwing weapons.
I had reasons for not using bows or guns.
In a battle, a split second could decide life and death. Using an unfamiliar weapon like a bow was dangerous.
Guns weren't cheap and the ammunition was expendable. I didn't have practice with them either.
These boys didn't have any such problems. Cards were a lethal weapon in mid-range. They could be thrown in a straight line, as curved shots or as a returning boomerang.
"Hehe, I'm using the things I learned for Circus to kill others."
I lamented at the irony of fate and left my room.
…
I couldn't hack the planet-wide surveillance myself.
However, I knew someone who could: The planet itself.
The Academy's ground covered the entire surface of the planet.
Stellar Academy was built over a living weaponized planet.
The planets that gained sentience after coming in contact with interdimensional energies were called Living Planets.
These planets could control their orbits, terraform their landmasses, and use supernatural abilities.
During Emergence, 500 years ago, several Galactic Kingdoms added weapons and defenses to their Living Planets, giving birth to the Weaponized Living Planets.
Weaponized Living Planets were among the strongest weapons during Emergence.
The planet over which Stellar Academy was built was one of such weapons.
However, it had gone berserk.
After killing the living planet, the military found out that the technology used to weaponize the planet was unknown.
More research was done to find its origin. Later, it was reported that there was no record of building this weaponized living planet,
As the technology used to build the planet was unknown, it was a valuable research material.
Back then, a retired military officer brought the planet's corpse from the Moretti Kingdom to conduct research on it.
He became the first Governor of Stellar Academy and the best Academy in the White Spiral Galaxy was born.
"I wonder what would happen if it was known that this planet is still alive." I thought while gazing at the scenery from the taxi window.
The consciousness of the Stellar Academy's planet had been uploaded into the supercomputers located in the planet's core when it was weaponized.
After its defeat, the planet's ego went dormant.
It had been biding its time, eagerly awaiting the opportune moment to return and continue the battle for conquest.
I spent 40,000 Coins to buy a Grade 3 monster core on my way to one of the excavation sites.
With this, I had only a few thousand Coins remaining.
I would have to wait until Sarah sold the potions and send me my shares if I wanted to buy something expensive.
I trusted her enough to know that there must have been an important reason if she hadn't sold them until now.
Stellar Academy was the name of the planet as well as the academy. It was divided into 26 cities. Sector A to Sector Z.
I landed in Sector X and went towards the Excavation center.
There was at least one excavation site in every city.
These excavation sites were built over the doors leading to paths built inside the planet. They created a giant network of tunnels and rooms below the surface.
For centuries, students have been going inside the surface to extract its technology.
As one went deeper, the planet's defenses would increase. Dismantling these defenses was called excavating the resources.
Until now, not even one-fourth of the tunnels had been explored.
I needed to go to the planet's center, where the supercomputers containing its consciousness lay.
Murmur! Murmur!
The plaza before the excavation center was packed with hundreds of students going around. They wore advanced combat gears and carried metal and plasma weapons.
"Get in line! Everyone needs to buy a ticket before entering the excavation site."
I entered a line.
When my turn came, I met the receptionist. She was an old lady who looked to be in her eighties.
"First time?" She asked me while smoking the cigar.
"Yes."
"Are you going with a team or solo?"
"Solo."
"How many hours are you planning on diving?"
"Around 8… no, 24 hours."
"2400 Coins."
She punched the ticket hole before passing the slip to me.
"That slip has a tracking device. Tear it if you need help. The emergency help costs additional charges depending on how deep you are. If you are late, additional charges of 400 Coins per hour will be deducted."
I nodded and entered another line for the tunnel entrance.
The Academy encouraged the students to excavate the planet and find technology used for its creation.
The students could sell the excavated material to the Academy or another buyer. Sometimes, students would find a powerful relic or a new array.
This system was one of the reasons why many students applied for Stellar Academy and allowed it to reach its current height of prosperity
Soon, my turn came, and I stepped inside the metallic tunnels.
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