[ > Angelic Light (Elemental Affinity): F-Rank (1/3) ]
"Hm,"
As I expected, meeting with Shyveon's headmaster was a good choice given the Traits I had. Although it was technically something only someone with a death wish would do, it worked out in the end.
At least, I didn't have much to lose.
'It's just death,'
[ > WIL: B-Rank (47/243) -> (49/243) ]
"..?"
I blinked, nearly exclaiming in exasperation. What the hell? I had a nagging suspicion that I wasn't increasing my Willpower. Instead, my status screen was just trying to adapt itself to my abnormal mental state.
Perhaps even the numbers were meaningless—just the system's feeble attempt to quantify something beyond its comprehension.
"…"
I stood among the crowd of students as the ceremony concluded, my mind already racing ahead to what came next. The entrance exam. The real test that would separate the wheat from the chaff.
"Congratulations on making it this far," Varric's voice boomed across the courtyard. "But don't get comfortable. Tomorrow's examination will determine if you truly belong at Shyveon."
Several students around me shifted nervously and I almost laughed.
They had no idea what they were in for. I did—I'd written it, after all. Or at least, I'd sketched an outline of it before getting bored and moving on to another plot point through rushed time skips.
I touched the insignia on my hand, feeling its warmth pulse through my skin. Avida's mark. It wouldn't help me pass the exam, but it might keep me alive if things went sideways.
In a way, it was my ID. As a Shadow Demon, this little insignia was Lux's vote of trust.
Now, it wouldn't be so easy for the humans to simply snuff me out.
As I concluded my thoughts.
The crowd began to disperse, heading toward the dormitories. I followed, keeping my head down.
"You need to prepare," I muttered to myself like a mantra. "You need a strategy."
My attributes were pathetic compared to most of the students here. Even with my Shadow Demon abilities, I'd be at a severe disadvantage in direct combat.
—And the exam would definitely include combat.
I needed to be smarter. To use what little advantages I had.
The Gift I'd received during my Awakening—Level the Playing Field—could temporarily match my attributes to an opponent's.
But it had a steep cost and a twenty-four-hour cooldown. I'd need to save it for the most desperate situation.
My True Shadow could help me hide, observe, and strike from darkness. And my Eight Senses would give me awareness beyond what most students possessed.
But was it enough?
I followed the stream of students toward the dormitories, my mind still racing with preparations for tomorrow's exam. The path wound through manicured gardens, illuminated by floating orbs of light that hovered just above our heads.
The dormitories loomed ahead. They were towering structures of luminous marble that caught the last rays of sunlight.
I'd written about them, of course, but seeing them in person was different. The buildings stood taller than I'd imagined, their windows arching elegantly toward the sky.
A student volunteer handed me a small crystal key with my room number etched into its surface: 317.
"East Wing," she said without looking up from her list. "Third floor."
I nodded and moved on, joining the flow of students entering the main doors. The entrance hall opened into a vast common area with plush seating arrangements and study alcoves tucked into corners. A massive mural depicting the founding of Vircadia stretched across one wall.
"…Another detail I'd never bothered to flesh out in my writing."
The staircase spiralled upward, its steps made of the same luminous marble as the exterior. I climbed to the third floor, feeling the subtle enchantments that made the ascent less taxing than it should have been.
Room 317 was at the end of a long corridor. I pressed the crystal key against the door, and it dissolved into the wood with a soft hiss. The door swung open.
The room was... unexpected. I'd written the dormitories as functional spaces, but this was almost luxurious. A bed made of what appeared to be woven moonlight occupied one corner, promising rest that would restore both body and mana. A desk of polished wood sat beneath a window that offered a view of the academy grounds. Bookshelves lined one wall, empty and waiting to be filled.
Most surprising was the ceiling—a perfect replica of the night sky above, complete with slowly moving constellations. I hadn't written that detail.
"It's my Aura of Depth, working overtime as usual" I murmured, understanding dawning.
I set my meager belongings on the desk and approached the window. From here, I could see the examination grounds where tomorrow's test would take place.
The examination grounds sprawled below. It was an arena of sorts, surrounded by tiered seating where faculty would observe our trials. I'd written this place as a rather brutal crucible where heroes were forged or broken.
A movement caught my eye. Someone crossing the courtyard with a purposeful stride.
My breath caught.
"No way," I whispered, pressing closer to the glass.
The figure moved with liquid grace, silver hair gleaming under the academy's enchanted lights. Even from this distance, I recognized the twin blades strapped to her back—curved swords with runes etched along their length.
Vex Nighvalle. The assassin prodigy.
I'd created her as a minor character—a rival for Kael during his second year. She wasn't supposed to be here yet. Hell, she wasn't supposed to be real at all.
She was supposed to exist only as a dream.
But there she was, moving with the deadly precision I'd imagined for her. Her uniform was already customized, the sleeves shortened to allow for quicker draws of her blades.
"This is getting ridiculous," I muttered, watching her disappear into another building.
I'd written Vex as a cold, calculating killer with a hidden soft spot for stray animals. A walking contradiction who'd been trained from childhood by a secret guild of assassins.
She was supposed to challenge Kael, then eventually become an uneasy ally — by becoming one of Kael's Gifts.
Now she was here, flesh and blood, walking around campus a full year before her scheduled appearance in my story.
My Aura of Depth was really working overtime, filling in blanks I'd never bothered to detail.
But bringing forward characters from future plot points? That was new.
I stepped back from the window, suddenly uneasy. If Vex was here early, what else had changed? Who else might show up?
"I guess only time can tell." my murmurs were the only whispers I could eek out.