Magic of Arteria Volume 1. Reunion Arc

Chapter Two.

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After walking for a few minutes, a glass dome-shaped structure entered our view; standing over five-story tall with several tinier buildings attached. It was like something out of a futuristic movie of the 21^st century, the building was unique.

 

It was made from two superior-rare materials: Crystallized Sapphire and Rock Crystals. the materials I once desired in the past, looked for days for one of my companies’ products; these materials are known for their sharpness and defensive powers.

 

“What’s wrong?” Alina stopped on her tracks, looking at me curiously.

 

“Nothing, I was just surprised to see the two materials I searched everywhere to be here,” I replied, looking at the glass-dome building.

 

“By two materials, do you mean the rare Crystallized Sapphire and Rock Crystals? If so, where are they?” she inquired with eyes of shock.

 

“It is the materials used to build the entire school; the two materials that went out of stock two years ago, even my reservations were canceled by force. It now makes sense to me why I couldn’t track the hoarder,” I sighed.

The Government is professional in hiding their tracks, after all, corruption needs to be hidden away with no fail; war tools also needs to be hidden away without a single leak, it makes sense why I couldn’t track them.

 

“If what you are saying is true; why would the Government spend a lot of money on building this particular school. With its current reputation, I don’t see any reason to spend close to fifty billion or more Talis unless there is something inside the school,” Alina wondered.

 

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious; the Government loves being mysterious, the people at the top are unpredictable people especially the President, even my Mom is an unpredictable person.

 

“There is also the case of the college titled as the weakest among the several National College, it doesn’t make sense why this would be worth a fifty billion Talis investment; it could be another case of corruption within the higher-ups though,” I answered, all of a sudden, a silvery voice answered from behind.

 

“The title is only a mask, you know. There are more than what meets the eyes,”

 

I turned around in surprise and saw a stunningly beautiful, blue-haired girl standing there with a smile. She wore the same uniform with the only difference being the emblems: two crowns, and a blue feather.

 

The two emblems were familiar to me, but I can’t seem to remember where… there are many possibilities where I could have seen the emblem; one was from when we enrolled; two was either from inside the college or from the examinations.

 

I brainstormed my head for a few seconds, attempting to identify the person before me, and after a few more seconds. A sudden realization struck me, the blue crown emblem is an emblem granted to only one person in every school, one who wields authority.

 

“Are you perhaps, the student council president?” I questioned, leaning my head to the side. She giggled cutely.

 

“It took you too long to realize, even your adorable little partner over there noticed with a single glance at the emblem,” she replied, covering her mouth with her tiny hands.

 

I looked at Alina, she shook her head several times signaling she denied her words, but what’s weird was how her eyes are saying otherwise; they were saying, “I am lying, but I can’t say it.”

 

“Anyways, do you mind expanding over what you had said. Even as the student council president, you wouldn’t say something that would damage the reputation of the school. And aren’t titles handed out by the government, how could it be fake?” I inquired, frowning my eyebrows.

 

“It’s a long story. If you want to listen more, then how about the two of you visit me after class; it’s been a long time since I found someone to talk with. For now, how about I tour the two of you around the college. If you don’t mind?” she suggested.

 

I looked at Alina once again, and asked through my delusional telepathy whether to follow her or not; I received a weird gaze from her in response, it was the gaze of disgust or cringe like when someone looks at a person with the eighth-grade syndrome.

 

“Well, it would be a pleasure to be toured by the student council president, herself. If it doesn’t bother you too much, we’ll take your offer,” I replied.

 

She smiled at both Alina and me for a few seconds before, leading us inside the college; a few minutes of walking, we were inside the glass dome building. Inside was an entirely different world from the outside; a world filled with beautiful flowers: roses, lilies, tulips, hydrangea.

 

“This place looks beautiful, right? This is what we call, The Garden of Eve. It’s a place where students gather to study, hang around, or simply go in dates with their crush. It’s a beautiful place for relaxation, you can even have a picnic here if you like,” the blue-haired girl said.

 

Aside from the flowers, there were plenty of vendors; most of which sold either snacks or merchandise from famous animes. I was surprised to see the school allowing vendors to sell merchandise from animes; most schools don’t even allow merchandise from idols to be sold.

 

“Dating with your crushes, does that imply relationships are allowed here?” I asked, stunned.

 

Looking around, you can see plenty of students in groups or pairs; some held each other’s hands, while some fed each other with food. It was a nightmare for singles like me, the true definition of torture.

 

“It is allowed with certain limitations to have the students place half their attention towards studying; last year’s council believed a lot in how teamwork is the path of success, which is why the allowed dating. As long as you don’t step beyond the boundaries of dating,” she answered.

 

It seemed convincing to me, but I feel like there were more stuff hidden by the previous council; I wonder if they allowed it to cover up some of their members dating around, that would be plausible.

 

“Also, this is the only place where you can buy snacks inside the school; there are no canteens here. It’s better if you remember this place, otherwise, you would die from hunger. The school may look small from the outside, but it is large inside, you can easily get lost if you don’t memorize the areas around here,” she added.

 

Dying from hunger doesn’t sound nice, imagine how the public would react if the heiress to the Arteria dies from hunger. People would maybe go on a witch hunt from suspicion; though I won’t die from hunger anyway, my adorable little sister always carries portable lunchboxes after all.

 

We walked down the pathway for several minutes, arriving in front of a golden elevator. It was a strange elevator, no one seemed to use it. The other elevators around the place were in constant use, it made curious as we enter inside.

 

It had nothing unusual inside, closing its doors after a few seconds and ascending upwards to the second floor; the elevator only took a second to ascend and open the doors.

 

A large tiled room painted in white; it was filled with students of different races, colors. They roamed in pairs, some of which was watching the large hologram at the center of the room.

 

After we exited the elevator, our tour guide for today: the student council president, turned around and opened her arms wide; I was surprised for a second, I thought she wanted a hug. It’s not like I wanted one…

 

“This is the main lobby for the school; it is also where all fifty-six classrooms are located, and the only place where you can find the student navigator devices of the school. In case you are wondering what a student navigator device I, it is a device used to collect details from the database about yourself,” she said.

 

We walked towards the large hologram where she placed her hand on top of a white slab; the slab was as tall as my waist, it was tiny. The slab and the hologram also looked like the Pathfinder device we use in the military to plan our routes, targets in advance.

 

Not long after she placed her hand on the white slab, a hologram split off from the main one and approached us; it displayed a whole list of information, ranging from her name to her classroom.

 

 

It was then I learned her name, she was a figure famous for her prodigious knowledge about the business world, still inferior to me though; I was still taken aback though, I expected her to be older than me.

 

She took off her hand from the slab, and spoke in an adorably, proud, high-pitched tone: “How to use this device is simple, all you have to do is place your hand like how I did and it should display another hologram like this if you are enrolled to the school.”

 

It was a simple procedure, a simple device as well, but most public schools don’t have it. The way the device works is by taking a tiny sample of your mana and searching around the database for a match in mana signature, spitting the mana out after.

 

I had understood how it worked since it functioned like the Pathfinder device which was one of the several devices designed by my Avantgarden; it was an awful attempt of copying it, to be honest.

 

“Let me try,” I said, walking over to the white slab and placing my hand in the same place as hers. The slab felt cold, I felt like I placed my hand on an ice cube.

 

A few seconds after I had placed my hand on the slab, a loud bell rang from the main hologram as a golden holographic display with wings on both sides came out from it, flying towards me as it displayed all the information about me.

 

 

I was stunned by what was written on the role field; I looked at the student council, she was frozen in place. Her mouth was open, she looked at me with different kinds of emotions before a soft mumble came from her, which I didn’t understand.

“I never expected the one I was guiding to be my long-time childhood crush… how blind am I, no wonder why she looked familiar… what should I do?!” she mumbled, cheeks like tomatoes.

 

I was confused over what she had said and walked over to her; she became a complete tomato, didn’t even notice me approaching her. I patted her shoulders, and asked: “What’s wrong, did you eat something spicy today?”

 

She didn’t respond, even after a few pats on the shoulder. I was confused, had time stopped; I pinched her cheeks, pinched her arms but there was no response. The entire room was silent as well, making my confusion grow even more.

 

Suddenly, as I was pinching her, she shook her head and grabbed both Alina and mine’s hands, dragging the two of us to the elevator and pressing several buttons as the elevator closed as loud screams echoed from the outside; they were screams of when someone sees their idol.

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