Julius had walked into his dorm and took in the layout of his new room. The room was big and had its own bathroom. The room was decorated with school colors but it wasn't against the rules to change a few things. Julius made his way to a desk with two different stacks of paper on it. pulling out the chair Julius sat down and read the two titles, the first paper was ' school rules' and the second was ' house leader responsibilities'. Julius decided to browse through the first stack of papers and memorizing the important rules. the most important rule was you not to kill anyone on school grounds. while competitions were dangerous the school had many mages and masters that could interfere before anything fatal happened.
Turing his focus away from the 'school rules' to the ' house leader rules' papers. The first rule of the house leader was he had to deal with all the major disputes between students with the other leader. The second rule was that the leader would fight for different resource the school made available through monthly competitions. The third rule was that the leader was in charge of dishing out punishment to students for offenses against other students. The teachers can't interfere unless the punishment is unpuroptional. The two house leaders each selected 5 student that served as the council and even if the leader loses their position the council member wouldn't automatically lose. The only way to change a council member was through a majority vote. The fourth rule gave the leader the power to conduct training exercises within their grade. The fifth rule held the leader to meet with other senior leaders and report any problems within the house or problems the house could face from the other house.
The rest of the rules were pretty simple so Julius finished reading through them and got up from the chair to jump into bed. Before he could jump on to his bed he got a good look at his uniform. Blue pants, grey shirt, and a blue coat the uniform seemed neatly fitted for Julius so he didn't need to try it on but just draped it over the chair. Finally getting in bed Julius had decided to go into his small world. He hadn't spent anytime In there today as he spectated the whole exam and was to busy in the spirit realm for the rest so he didn't het a chance.
Julius waking up in his small world took in the bright warm sun. Julius moment of bliss lasted only for a moment til he noticed a small black ball in front of the tree. this was the first time something Julius hadn't brought out from his ring was in here and it seemed alive. Julius studied the small creature til it seemed to notice him too. the small ball uncurled into a small black dragon about a foot tall and slightly longer. Julius hadn't recognized the creature but felt the bond between them and figured out that this was his contracted creature.
The small dragon relaxed a little less but maintained its vigilance." How are you connected to this doom place? " The small dragon asked with a shaking voice. Julius was taken back by what the dragon had asked but didn't know how to answer. " This isn't something that a mere human can possess nor should it been in this lower realm" The dragon continued speaking trying to process how it ended up in such a place that it had dreaded. " What are you talking about?" Julius tried slowing the dragon down to figure out what he is talking about. the dragon stopped it's panic and sat back down near the tree " Come here, there's seems that we have more than just me to discuss" The small dragon waved Julius over with one of it's four legs. Julius walked up to the tree and sat next to the dragon waiting for wha it had to say.
The small dragon slouched over and shook its oval little head. "Do you know about the different realms?" The little dragon asked. Julius jogged his memory remembering what Gabriel had learned. The only different realms he knew about was the physical realm, spirit realm, heaven, and hell. He didn't have evidence for the other two but since he was reborn it probably existed."I only know the physical realm and spirit realm 2.If heaven and hell count then it would be 4." Julius answered. The dragon shook its head in disappointment and said " NO!!! that's not it at all. This is going to be difficult" The small dragon said as it pushed his small arms into his head.
"Are you talking about something else?" Julius asked. The small dragon sat up and fixed his posture" Indeed I'm talking about a something different but you wouldn't be on the wrong track. The realms I am talking about is the fabric of our reality. The realm we are at now is the lowest realm where once you become a saint realm you will ascend to the second realm. The stronger you get the higher you can ascend but competing with the natural born of the realm will be a lot more difficult as they are more talented and naturally stronger. Ascending to a higher realm isn't easy unless factors like fate and other beings who've broken from the rules of these realms provide help. Now this is now where near breaking the surface. Your mention of heaven and hell being realms isn't wrong but they are separate from the realms that I know of. They are a separate spaces created by celestial rank. The celestials are above everyone but those who broke away from the realms to become things like fate, space, and time.They are known as the Severed." the dragon stopped for a moment for Julius to comprehend what he had just said.
Julius tussled with the concepts provided to him ' What did he mean you can ascend? Saint rank/ Celestials? becoming fate, time, and space?' All these things were bigger than he could imagine. Julius cut his worrying about the implications since all of that seemed beyond him but he was delighted to at least receive the information. " So are you from a higher realm and get stuck in this lower realm with me? did you think you were bonding with someone in. higher realm? Julius first question was serious but his second question he was rubbing salt in the wound for the scare from before." Indeed I am from a higher realm but no bonding with someone from the lower was a possibility. The chances weren't likely but escaping that prison was more dire situation than being stuck in the lower realms for a while. There is a bigger problem at hand and that is the Energy infused with this place." the dragon answered Julius but left him even more stumped.
"What do you mean?" Julius hadn't expected to truly ever know what this place was but now he had a treasure trove of answers. The small dragon didn't answer Julius immediately. The dragon fought himself on how to answer but he finally settled on something.
"As I've mentioned the ones who broke out of the realms to become concepts they are the oldest beings know to existence. Nobody knows how they have become the embodiment the these concepts but they are the pillar in existence that can't be destroyed. This place is filled with the bastard who embodies time which is a major problem not only for me but for you too. Before I tell you why let me tell you about myself. I am known as Magnull 'Dragon of the endless Cosmos '. I was born 47 realms above this one, in its spirit realm, making me exponentially stronger than other cosmos dragons. Through my free life I've reached the 300th realm before several Celestials and those Severed bastards sealed me in the spirit realm for millions of years. That Bastard time was part of those forces that attacked me, He was the main piece to sealing me since they had no way to kill me. Now the problems comes when a higher realm being like me is bonded to someone like you who has a connection to a severed concept no matter how weak." The dragon said eyeing Julius." Will beings from higher realms be attracted to us?" Julius asked with a slight worry.
the small dragon nodded his head and said" Not only will the be attracted to us it's highly likely that you will ascend to their playing field since they are restricted in lower realms especially if they are born in a higher realm. It is without a doubt fate had a hand in our bonding but there's other forces likely involved." Magnull showed slight approval of Julius assessing the situation properly." having being reborn in a lower realm allows me to set my on foundation instead of complying with the foundation I was born with. With our bond we'll be able to accumulate a greater amount of strength so I have no objection to working with you since you have great potential." Magnull finally relaxed a little after explaining all those different things to Julius.
" Maybe we won't ever be forced to ascend and avoid all those major problems" Julius remained pretty hopeful since there was no mentions of people ascending to a higher realm. The only connection he could make was those extremely talented master who have mysteriously disappeared but many of those disappearances could be explained through some more than questionable theories. Mangle shook his head at Julius but didn't speak no longer and laid out his small body to sleep. Julius having nothing left to do but organize all the information head learned he mauled over them for hours.
. . . . . .
In a higher realm 13 days earlier
Three beings humanoid yet not human gathered in space that was pure white and gold. The three beings looked like knights in full armor with only their faces having not metallic features. the face of the creatures was mad of flames that were of the same color as their armor. The biggest red knight looked relaxed but slightly restrained. Next to the red knight was a knight a gold, the gold knight was clearly the friendliest of the three. Finally the solum blue knight sat up properly and kept a strict posture. The red knight spoke up first " so we've all felt the presences of master right?" the gold and blue knight nodded in agreement with the red knight.
" I can go take a look" the gold knight offered to follow where the presence of the master was coming from.
" you'd probably get lost or distracted, I'll go handle it, not only am I more experienced but I've also got better impulse control." the red knight objected to letting the energetic gold knight take up the mission.
" neither of you will handle a mission of this caliber. Noble you say you a have better impulse control but you a far to slow to get there at an adequate time. we might be the first to notice masters presence but we surely won't be the only once for a long time. Joy you are better off handling more direct matters. tracking matters don't fit you. " The blue knight spoke up but the other two didn't object immediately.
" Truth we can't exactly object to that but shouldn't you take care of this place til master returns.?" Joy the gold Knight asked.
" Not necessarily, nobody but those marked by master can enter not even those other Severed. everything else shouldn't be two difficult for you two to handle til I return without master or hopefully with him " the blue Knight
" well be careful of those Celestials while you are on your search" Noble said as he got up to leave the area leaving behind just Joy and Truth. Truth didn't wasted much time staying around with gold and left.
gold sat comfortably for a while before muttering " They've been less themselves ever since master left." The gold knight followed along the other two knight and disappeared.
. . . . . . . .
Back at greyhound
Julius had spent several hours mauling over everything Magnull had said but at the end he decided he wouldn't have to start worrying much till he was near ascending. Julius took a nice shower before sleeping. Julius slept through the night peacefully and woke up to the school bells around 6 am. Getting a decent 5 hours of sleep Julius tried talking to Magnull but didn't receive a respond. Julius took care of his morning routine and getting ready for the day.
once Julius was done with his preparations he went back to the small world and practiced drawing runes alongside the sleeping dragon. The dragon was visibly bigger now than he was last knight. Julius took note and added it to the list of questions til he woke up again. Julius had improved his success rate with runes and he had sufficiently improved his drawing of the runes. Julius was confident enough to call himself an apprentice level instead of elementary now but he had a long way to go before he could be considered a master. Julius selected 30 of the best runes formations and got rid of the rest.
After an hour from the bell ringing the students all received a knock on their doors and a small box left at the door. Julius getting up to check the door like the rest of the students noticed Kiri and the other guys who he was friendly with reach for the boxes. Julius grabbed the small box and opened it. inside the box was a watch and note that said' School communication device'.
Julius put on the watch and it automatically turned on. There were several different function for the watch. The first function was it informed students of all the school events going on. The second function was the students individual schedules. the third function showed their school merit points and all the things they would have access to buying with the merit points. Those three functions were the most important but there were many smaller functions from talking to other students to searching the web.
The Julius opened the schedule tap and found that his classes weren't selected other than one class ,what course was required, and homeroom teacher the rest were up to the students to select. Julius didn't pick any class instead he wanted to pick his classes with Kiri. When the other guys noticed Julius they all collectively moved towards him. "good morning" Kiri said as he stretched his arms high above his head, his hair was still messy, he seemed to have a had a good night of sleep." good morning" Julius replied sticking his fist out for a fist bump.
" I don't know if I've ever slept that good. the beds are so much better than even the ones at the hotel." Kiri said as he bumped fists with Julius.
" I think we'll need that good sleep a lot if this school is half decent." Julius replied. While the two were having their conversation Tsuneo, Edric, and Zhou ming joined the two in front of Julius ' room. Tsuneo seemed to have a small black feline in his hand, the small feline was jet black and its small eyes were a mix of gold and silver. the little feline looked around curiously with it's pretty little eyes taking in all the surroundings. " hey guys, this was that little feline I was telling you about, it doesn't look very strong but it's at least very cute" Tsuneo said as he introduced the little feline.
Kiri stretched his palm out to pet the small feline and felt that its fur felt like his was passing his hand through clouds. The feeling was soft but yet felt like almost like nothing. " it really is cute but I don't think I've ever seen anything like it" Kiri said as he retracted his hand. Tsuneo nodded agreeing with what Kiri said but he was happy with keeping the Small feline as a pet if it couldn't fight. "I don't mean to sound condescending but even at my clan I don't believe we have information on this little spirit. My family might specialize in alchemy but we don't slack on makings spirit contracts so this spirit might be more rare Than we think. " Zhou Ming said as he closely studied the small pet.
Julius was just as interested in the small cat as everyone else since it gave a much different feeling than every spirit he came across in the spirit realm. 'Hey old dragon since you are a spirit animal would you have a clue on what it is?' Julius asked Magnull through their bond. Magnull didn't answer Julius but Julius felt that the dragon had received the information just didn't want to answer. ' I guess you don't know either' Julius focused back on what the group was doing when he received a reply from Magnull ' I've been trapped in the spirit realm for millions years with nothing better to do, of course I know what it is human' Magnull answered. 'what is it than' Julius asked. ' I think it'll be more interesting when you find out for yourselves.' Magnull didn't budge so Julius fired more question but Magnull didn't answer him.
" Well would you guys like to come in?" Julius asked opening his room door. The four of them looked slightly surprised as they made their way into the room. Julius was slightly confused on why they all looked like that. "what's with the look?" Julius asked looking around the room as if something was wrong with it. " Man no wonder the first room belongs to the house leader. this is completely different from our rooms" Tsuneo answered still exploring the room. " yeah man, this is like 2 rooms put together" Kiri added as he threw himself on the couch" you even got seating for a large group" Kiri said. Zhou ming and Edric were a little more reserved than the other two.
" once people find out how nice you have it you'll be getting a lot of challenges. " Zhou ming said as he took his seat on the couch. Julius wasn't worried currently about losing his room most of his class weren't strong enough to beat him. he grabbed drinks from the vending machine in his room. He hadn't gotten any merits so he had to use his own money which he was grateful that it worked. " I hope the challenges are at least worth my time. losing wouldn't be to bad so you are all welcome to challenge me" Julius set the drinks down on the table for the group but nobody grabbed one a drink. The first to reach out and grab a drink was Kiri." I'm not far from silver rank so once I reach that you'll be in a tough spot" Kiri said. Julius smiled at Kiri and took a sip from his drink saying" I can wait before breaking through to rank 2 than." The other three didn't know of these two ranks but finding now they knew and they looked at the two completely differently.
" Wait!! your not even silver rank and your are barely silver rank?" Zhou Ming who was always surrounded by talented youths and adults was completely shocked on what he had just heard. Julius and Kiri both demonstrated speed and strength no lower than silver rank 5 but now They were telling him that they were lower than that. " If you don't mind can you guess project your Aura ranks?" Zhou Ming asked nicely as it wasn't rude to ask for rank as long as you were on good terms. Julius and Kiri activated their Auras showing the exact ranks they said they were but their Auras were on a different realm than anyone of the same rank. Julius knew he had a deeper Aura control due to all the time he spent in the small world but Kiri was special in his own way.
" I wasn't wrong in switching houses I can't wait to see what you'll do I the school" Zhou Ming was very happy to have found something interesting at the school that his parent sent to punish him. The group stared discussing their school schedules, they all had the same core class in the early morning and the second half was 4 empty class. They all picked the first class of the second half to be physical training class. Edric seemed to have the clear advantage in raw strength but that wasn't all physical training was about. the second class they picked was free dueling. This class wasn't like the main class where you were tested on you sword skill but it was a class meant just for dueling. the third class was already selected for them other than Edirc. Edric picked weapon forging while the other four would be going to spirit beast class. the fourth class they all picked different ones since they all had different interests. Julius and Kiri were both doing runes, Zhou ming was doing alchemy, Tsuneo took weapon forging as his fourth class, and Edric took another weapon forging class as his fourth class.
The group chatted amongst themselves talking about their interests and main goals for the school year. Julius wasn't didn't talk much but he still answered questions here and there. While the group was enjoying their moment of bliss they all suddenly felt a heavy pressure on their bodies. The group was forced to look at the Door against their wills. At the door stood a knight in blue with a ghost flame for a face. The world beyond the door seemed to lose all color swaying between black and white.
The Blue knight stepped through the door and walked up to the group of boys who were paralyzed. shaking his head slightly the creature spoke" I guess master did say that fate messed with the lower realm birth a new celestial but seems she had deeper plans with this cohort in front of me ..." The blue knight stared down the group with known of them knowing what he planned to do.