This had to be a farce of some kind. A stupid and easily unraveled farce since there is an easy way to find out and get to the bottom of it. All she has to do is go to the battle academy. It also happens to be the place that the message wants her to go to.
Then she turned to Kayla. “Let’s go to the battle academy. Soverick is being sent out.”
Kayla stumbled because of the shock. “Who did he offend?” She asked.
Mihila answered. “We will find out.”
So they left the house and sped straight for the academy. It was only Kayla and Mihila, so they got there faster. They saw the record steles in front of the academy and Soverick’s name had been added to it.
There were a lot of mentions and records of his name. His name was glaring and noticeable, they couldn’t miss it even if they had poor eyesight. So they stood transfixed in front of the steles. Both of them trying their hardest to process their shock.
“Whaaaaaa?” Kayla exclaimed.
She seemed ready to fall over from the shock. She was tired mentally and physically. This blow is one too much for her to handle.
As Mihila’s brain did quick calculations, she began to realize that maybe the message from the school wasn’t a hoax after all. The impossible records that Soverick had set when added together explained why he was graduating in such a short amount of time. He might not be expelled after all. Or maybe this entire thing is a giant lie or an illusion.
Mihila moved their floating platform forward to inquire more from the Academy. They received her and gave her the information she needed and most importantly the records of past achievements. The more she read, the more unbelievable everything seemed.
Soverick finished the physical preparatory stage in 3 months while the last record was a year. Spiritual training in 1 month, the previous record was a year and a half. He completed the Footwork regimen in 14 weeks and the record he beat was 43 weeks. And more and more.
He blazed through everything as if he was playing. The difference in the time he achieved the same thing with the former records was too wide to be believable.
She returned to the record stele to watch and compare with the records she got. So that she could catch any little discrepancy that will unmask this entire facade for what it truly is. She ignored the part of her mind asking why anyone would do this. Why would anyone go to this length to fool her about Soverick’s performance?
She couldn’t find anything off, for now. So she waited by the steel. She didn’t wait long. Soverick came out of the academy and spotted them. Then he began walking towards them. He had that apathetic expression on his face. As if he was immune to external stimuli.
The only thing that indicated that he is actually focused on the world is his eyes. Those multicolored gems of flesh scoured the world for information. It’s just that whatever they relayed back to him wasn’t enough to move him. He looks at the world, he sees the world, and he finds the world wanting. He is like a pompous young master unimpressed with the food being served at a less-than-perfect restaurant. She just wanted to punch his face so bad.
What finally convinced Mihila was Soverick’s gait. She knew immediately that he could harness momentum and he could harness it well. There was also something off about him. He seemed to be moving with less physical effort than necessary to cover the distance he is moving. He seemed to be boosted by something. And only one thing came to Mihila’s mind, World Momentum.
Soverick had somehow managed to tap into the world’s momentum instead of his body and that of his weapon. Where else could he be getting the extra momentum? But that would mean the third step of spear mastery. It sounded impossible, just as impossible as finishing the secondary battle academy in a year.
He stopped in front of the two women and stared at them. Kayla’s dull senses didn’t perceive as much as Mihila but she could see that he was moving unnaturally. Anyone would be able to see it too. Soverick was walking as if he had springs under his foot that were boosting him. But there are no springs to see.
No one said anything. He arched an eyebrow and asked. “Aren’t you here to pick me up?”
“Yes, we are,” Mihila answered.
Kayla was still ruminating on the weird movement technique so she couldn’t talk yet.
“Then let’s go.” He said to her.
Kayla pointed at the record steles. Soverick looked at what she was pointing at. He saw the records.
“Oh. I see.”
Kayla screamed. “That’s all you have to say to that?”
Mihila found herself nodding in agreement. She wanted to ask the same thing too.
Soverick did that shrug of indifference he always did. An indication that the world was still wanting and he didn’t care. Mihila found it irritating. Then he said, “It is to be expected but it was out of my mind.”
Kayla seemed to be struggling with what to say. So Mihila picked up the pace. “What could be so important, more important than your records?”
Soverick’s eyes focused on her then. “It is funny that you would ask. Saves me the trouble of bringing it up myself. I have somewhere I have to be. I might be late already so let’s get this over with as quickly as possible. Have you heard of the divine dungeon?”
“What’s that?” Kayla asked.
Mihila asked. “Is it recent? If it’s recent we wouldn’t know. We have been sequestered from the world to train Kayla.”
Kayla shuddered.
“It is the last stand of the gods. A defensive mechanism that only those at the Vitality core stage can attempt to destroy. There’s something I need there. So I am giving you the opportunity to give me the permission to go.” Soverick explained.
“Is this place dangerous?” Mihila asked.
“It’s war so of course, it’s dangerous.”
“Then no.” She rejected firmly.
“I see.”
Soverick was calm at the refusal. He was always calm like this and it grated on Mihila. Her irritation was increasing. He never once had an outburst. He would just watch, listen to you, and still do what he wants anyway. And like she expected, he played the cards that will allow him to get his way.
“It is a bad thing that you feel that way. It is a good thing that I don’t feel bad about what I’m about to do. I checked up on your kids, Mihila. I took time out of my very busy schedule and non-stop training to see if your kids were fine and I listened to their worries. I even advised them. You owe me.”
Kayla wanted to keep quiet and watch the negotiation that will inevitably end in Soverick’s favor. Like every time, she hoped he would fail and not get his way. But this time, she wanted it so badly. Because she suspects that her sparring with Mihila will become more violent if Mihila suffers a loss here. So she pitched in.
“But they are your siblings.”
Soverick didn’t even turn to her, “So?” He asked.
She asked as if it was obvious. “Isn’t that your job to watch them, to protect them and Check in on them?”
Soverick answered. “It is not my job to do anything.”
She didn’t give up, “But you were born together.”
“Irrelevant. Should I die with them too since I was born with them?”
His question threw her. “You can’t think like that.”
“I can. You meant to say, I shouldn’t. But I can and I did.” He corrected her.
“You won’t be able to find a partner to love you and who will love you back if you continue like this.”
Soverick didn’t bother to reply to her anymore. She was wasting his time with foolish sentiments and nonsense. He is in a good mood, so he won’t call her stupid.
“What is your answer?” He asked Mihila.
Mihila tamped down her irritation and tried to push him, to see how far he wanted to go. “Let’s say that I owe you for checking up on your siblings. Asking for my permission to go to the front lines is too much a payment.”
Soverick chuckled. Both Mihila and Kayla knew that chuckle. It’s the chuckle of amusement. The one that adults have when they see children being cute. Soverick found something amusing. It is in no way an upgrade on his evaluation of the world. The world is still lacking, but he found something funny about it. He had only seen something funny, not worthy.
“You are mistaken. It is understandable but not excusable. I was not asking you for permission. I was giving you the opportunity to give me permission. I assure you that I can easily give that opportunity to someone else. I just need a titan of law to give me permission. It can be anyone from the family. Do you think I will have any problem acquiring one?” He asked her and also pointed to the record steles with his name written numerous times on.
All he needs to be permitted to the expedition for the divine dungeon is a permission from a titan of law of the family. Even if he had no amazing records, odds are he will be able to get one of the temperamental titans of law who are easily influenced by emotions instead of logic, to give him the permission he needs. His so called amazing records will make getting that permission very easy.