Chapter 3

The Director and Team (2)

    The man, not required to participate in the weapon selection, got up to leave his row but was then sharply called to stop by a high-pitched, authoritative voice.

    "Where do you think you're going?"

    A woman from the same department asked, her blood-red eyes shining fiercely, not showing any respect. Her golden hair shone in the sunlight, reflecting with her black dress. The eye contact made Esther feel his luck worsening.

    "I don’t need to join the ceremony," he shrugged and walked away.

    "Bang!" A gunshot rang out, leaving a shallow wound on his shoulder.

    "Don't disrespect the sacred ceremony. Your actions could undermine the credibility of this place," the woman said, visibly angry. "You can't tarnish the department on your very first day!"

    "Ask the director if I need to participate," he said, turning to Director Loren Aegis, who stood by the podium, trying to suppress his laughter.

    The director sternly cleared his throat. "Let him go. That was my order."

    Following the authoritative voice of Loren Aegis, the woman holstered her gun with a disgruntled face, and the seniors surrounding him dispersed.

    "You can go back to your room for now, Esther. The rest of today's activities are mostly entertainment. Come back after lunch if you'd like," the director spoke again, and the named student headed back to his room, feeling the cold stares despite the chain still binding his leg.

    Back in his room,

    "It hurts! How could that crazy woman shoot me like this? It scared me to my core," the young man exclaimed as he collapsed and inspected his wound. "It stings... I didn’t even know anyone, and I'm already getting dirty looks. What's going on?"

    "You were talking about how weapons aren't necessary, right? Do you realize that the scanning device that was secretly observing you only identified me as a high-level restraint tool? By now, they must be thinking you're a top-level danger who can kill people with bare hands. Even the Director had to supervise you himself and had to keep you restrained," the cursed chain spoke in an unusually high tone, as if mocking him.

    "And then you went and said that you didn't need to participate in the ceremony, instead of saying you were prohibited. It turned out as if you didn't need weapons to stay here. In their eyes, you might already be a murderer of a thousand."

    "Ugh," he grimaced. "Let it be. It doesn't make much difference if I die, but I guess I have to be more careful now."

    Tartarus scoffed.

    "Since we have some time now, let's explore this room," Esther suggested as he walked towards a shelf full of books. He reached for a thick, musty book that emitted a smoky smell first because it caught his eye from the moment he entered.

    Whoosh! The moment his hand touched the book, flames burst forth.

    "Black-blue flames, just like the key... But hey, it's burning!" He complained while shaking off the flames from his sleeve, yet not letting go of the book.

    "Think of it as not hot," Tartarus advised.

    "Are you crazy? I can see it's starting to burn my hand."

    "Just do as I said," she insisted more sternly this time.

    "Okay, it's not hot. The heat is normal. I don't feel anything. You're just a string of deep blue sugar icing that somehow wound around a book. My hand isn't swelling."

    As Esther mumbled something that contradicted his feelings intensely, the pain intensified but simultaneously, he felt a soft, pliable quality to the cover, as if he was holding water. As his thoughts shifted, the pain miraculously vanished, even as the fire blazed fiercer, yet the burn marks faded astonishingly.

    "Now, can you read it?"

    Esther moved his other hand to open the book, which also caught fire as expected, but he tried not to pay it much attention.

    The book's dark cover was inscribed with " The Compendium of the Oceanus " in handwriting.

    "Huh, using a fire curse for protection, eh? It's called The Compendium of the Oceanus, so why not make it a drowning curse?"

    As he read on, he discovered histories of various seas in this world, both familiar and unfamiliar. Some illustrations were drawn, others were photographs. Now, as the fire on his hand spread, seemingly trying to distract him, he remained engrossed in his reading, unaffected by the blaze enveloping him.

    ‘Heh, this kid's cooler than I thought,’ Tartarus thought to herself.

    When Esther came back to his senses, the sunlight streaming through the room indicated it was nearly noon. After finishing the book, the fire disappeared. As a book lover, his mind wandered to what he had read, especially intrigued by what lay beneath the War University's sea. It was not fully explored or documented unlike other dangerous seas mentioned in the book. Why did the explorer not dare reach that place?

    As he went to put the book back, the Compendium of the Oceanus vanished into mist, merging into his chest.

    "It now considers you its owner. Whenever you wish to read it, just think, and it will appear," Tartarus informed a puzzled Esther who was looking at the bookshelf.

    "Well, at least I have something to read now," the new owner of the compendium muttered, nodding before heading back out.

    Returning to the wide courtyard, Esther found that other students and seniors had finished their activities. People were divided into groups of about twenty to thirty, though not uniformly. It didn't take long for him to find the person he was looking for.

    "Dividing into teams, huh?" He said as he dragged his chained legs to Brian, who was now with a group of about twenty others. Esther noticed some looked too young for university, but kept his questions to himself, preferring not to stir more trouble.

    "You’ve come? The teams have already been divided up. Do you want to join this one? We've mixed up the faculties, and the others don't seem to mind you too much. Although some might be a bit afraid."

    'I'd like to join... but from what I've heard, quite a few people already dislike me. Plus, there's that fierce girl with the gun who shot at me earlier. If those death glares don't go away, I might just end up being killed by someone in this group.'

    Just go for it.                                                  

    "Alright, I'll join this group then," he said, raising an eyebrow towards the blonde gunwoman who shot him a glare.

    "Esther Devald," he introduced himself, pointing at himself. "Pleased to meet everyone."

    "You don’t have a codename?" asked a young man, evident from his gown and composed demeanor, his neatly combed black hair and glasses suggesting his major. "Setting Sun Blade, Joshua Healer, pleased to meet you."

    "Ah, likewise. As for a nickname, I don't have one. Sounds a bit odd to me, gives me the jitters," Esther pondered briefly. "But if I had to choose something close to that, maybe... the Prisoner of the Cursed Building?"

    At this moment, some faces showed shock, others paled, and even Joshua looked startled.

    "A doctor, a sorcerer, a witch, a thief, an engineer... we've got them all. Never thought we'd have a prisoner too. What did you do to end up being shackled like that?" the blonde woman who had shot him inquired, her blood-colored eyes now showing a clear interest.

    "Just missed a paperwork deadline," Esther replied with a wry smile.

    "What!?” A loud voice rang out around him.

    “Late paperwork got you shackled up like that, with high-security restraints. Who sentenced you?"

    "The director," the unfortunate man sighed again.

    That alone made everyone's face turn pale, and their suspicion towards him nearly vanished, knowing the eccentricity of the faculty and director of this university, where outstanding ability was all that mattered, irrespective of personal quirks or flaws, including the director.

    "But I still haven't forgiven you for showing off to me," the woman added.

    'I'm the one who got shot.'

    "Grace Valpurgis, nice to meet you," she offered her hand, which he shook. "Hope you won't annoy me again."

    'Valpurgis, seriously? Did I just provoke the daughter of a mafia vampire family? Her cold handshake and the quiet panic from touching her confirmed that she wasn't often in the news like other families, but whenever the Walpurgis name surfaced, big trouble wasn't far behind,' Esther, a news junkie, realized who he was dealing with.

    "Pleased to meet you, Miss," he smiled back.

    "What can your chains do?" Grace exhaled in annoyance.

    "Uh... it's shocked me, absorbed souls causing death, sucked blood... not sure about the rest," he revealed, shocking Grace and the listeners.

    "And you're here, how?" the vampire heiress swallowed hard.

    "It stopped a while back, as long as it's not hungry, I think it won't suck... probably."

    After quickly getting to know each other, even though Esther could only vaguely remember names, he knew everyone by face in his group. Before their casual chat went too far, an announcement interrupted.

    "Announcement from the Student Council," everyone listened to the same beautiful president speaking.

    "Observing how quickly everyone has gotten acquainted, to streamline our schedule, the Council and faculty have decided to replace the lunch break with a war simulation instead. Hope no one objects."

    At that moment, all students promptly displayed their weapons, from Bryan’s serpent-carved staff to Joshua's surgical knife, and even Grace's gun, leaving Esther weaponless.

    "Calm down, everyone," the president soothed. "I'm setting the rules since it's our lovely juniors' first battle. Every building, street, and the forest beside the school are in play. Leaving these bounds counts as desertion, with permission granted for immediate sniping."

    'Great, no where's safe.'

    "Where can I even escape to then?" he murmured, seeking an escape from brawling with the masses.

    "You have until midnight today. Use the teams we've formed. Survivors will receive rewards from both the faculty and Student Council. And yes, seniors can join as a welcoming gesture, but if a junior takes them down, punishment is assured," the president spoke with a smile that chilled even third-year seniors.

    "Seniors, please disperse to your positions and kindly refrain from killing too swiftly." As soon as these words were spoken, the seniors around utilized levitation spells, short-range warps, or even flew to various points across the university, leaving the juniors looking bewildered and unsure of how to react.

    "I'll be watching to see how many of you remain. Oh... I'm participating in this game too," she said while drawing a katana from her waist.

    'The faculty are acting as referees, huh...' Esther thought to himself. 'Maybe I can escape in time then.'

    "Alright... the freshman welcoming war begins."