Van was sitting at a nearby cafe with Kikki and Nikki the next day. They had invited him out to apologize for hiding the fact that they were still in Akeldama. Which was fine with him since he still had a few questions he would like to ask them.

“I won’t think less of you for hiding such a secret from me. What spy would simply tell anyone what they are a spy to begin with? Though I do hope our relationship is genuine…” Van said, taking a sip of his drink and eyeing the biscuits on the table.

“Of course it is! We were just told to make connections as necessary and do our show! Our relationship with you happened before we were conscripted into all this spy stuff!” Kiki exclaimed, though she tried to say so in a calm voice so as not to attract attention, worriedly eying the people around them.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t just make use of our friends like that. Especially you.” Nikki added. “But we had no choice but to do these kinds of things from time to time because that was what we agreed on when we signed the contract.”

“They don’t just let anyone carry around the latest in visual recording technology.” Kiki also added. “Of course, it's going to come with some strings attached. But…”

The two girls shared a look. “But we really wanted an excuse to explore the world so we took it.” Nikki said.

“Not like there were others who weren’t interested, so we had to prove ourselves that we could not only do our day job. But also our not so secret any more night job…” Kiki said.

“They even said that they may never even call us to do our extracurricular activities. So we took the chance to have an all-expense paid tour of the world while getting to film it all.” Nikkia said. “We didn’t expect for things to go like this!”

They then both bowed their heads. ““We're sorry!””

Van waved it off. “It’s fine… It’s fine… Forgive and forget… I just want to ask a few questions myself about all this stuff that's been happening. Do you mind filling me in?”

“If it’s something we can answer…” Kiki said worriedly.

“What do you want to know?” Nikki tilted her head.

“How long were you two working for this program of yours?” Van asked.

The two girls looked at each other. Then both tilted their heads in thought.

“We're not sure… A few years ago? We were both teenagers at the time so… Maybe five years we’ve been exploring?” Kiki said, with Nikkia nodding.

“That’s pretty impressive!” Van stated, surprised by how worldly they were. “Any places stand out to you in all your travels?”

“Oh a lot of places!” Kiki said happily. Istra and the Staven Republic were amazing. Lyra as well… Though… It’s going through a few difficulties… TROA though was a favorite of Nikki’s I believe.”

Nikki nodded. “It’s where I got my bell and decided to be a follower of Lady Miu.” Jiggling the bell on her tail.

“I can’t believe anyone would want to be her follower…” Van commented. “Why did you join her religion in the first place?”

Nikki smiled. “The benefits were amazing! Just by exploring and having fun, or even being lazy you can accrue faith energy! And with faith energy I can heal or jump really high, sometimes move really fast. And so long as I continue I could even maybe one day change into a cat, or grow wings to fly. Though… there are a few more difficult tenants to follow…”

“Oh? Such as?” Van asked, finding this line of questioning to be fascinating.

“Ignoring injustice, or not properly taking care of the environment can lead to a disfellowship. Meaning I will lose any faith I gained if I don’t do things that help people or nature. More importantly Lady Miu is a guardian goddess, meaning most of her spells revolve around defense and the resolve to protect others. Such as the young and innocent.”

“Of course there were a few other gods and goddesses that have similar powers and tenets in TROA, but I liked her the most because she’s just like me.” Happily moving her cat ears and waving her tails around.

“Huh… I… Never knew that about her…” It was a surprise to him to find such another side to Astrid that he never knew about. “Just like how she can move through light, it seems like there is a lot more I don’t know about her. Perhaps I should endeavor to find out more about my fellow roommates than just the surface level…”

---Back at the dorms---

“Achoo!” Astrid sneezed out loud as she was trying to rest on Van’s bed. “Jeez… is someone talking about me?” She then gave a little groan. “Damn… Van really hammered me yesterday, I’m still a little sore… Hehe… Hammered…” She then sneezed again. “...Maybe it was because I was wet for so long yesterday?”

---Back at the Cafe---

“Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything at all?” Van asked the girls.

Kiki and Nikki looked at each other and shook their heads sadly.

“Sorry Van. But they kept everything very professional and compartmentalized. There was no one we knew other than Lucia, and only then because she had us swear on our name that we wouldn’t speak about it. Though that's a moot point since you already know…”

“Other than that, we never actually met directly anyone else. Everything was done through layers of security. Sometimes we would be told to stand for hours in one particular place, the next drop off a trinket we bought at another store in plain view. We had no idea what we were doing. The only thing we really had a hand in was just recording our own observations and giving our genuine impressions on places or people we were told to meet.”

“Sorry…” Kiki apologized, followed by Nikki.

“It’s fine…” Van said, now going back deep into his own thoughts about everything, gently sipping his drink.

“Lucia said that there were things she could provide me and help me with that only she could. And it seemed like she knew me pretty well… Perhaps Kiki and Nikki gave their honest impressions of me just like they did with others… Though I doubt they realized the harm in doing so, even if there wasn’t much of it…”

He leaned back to think about it some more.

“Using her to my own benefit would be nice… Though I would have to be careful about not being manipulated in turn. The real issue I am having is… What do I want to do with my life…?”

“For so long I’ve just been acquiring power… But for what purpose? Does Ren know what’s going on with me? What do I want to do?”

He shook his head.

“If my instincts are telling me to gather more power… Then perhaps That’s what I should do… There is no downside to getting stronger that I can think of. And who knows? Maybe I’ll thank my past self for this line of thinking…”

“There is something though… I do know I have to do now… And that is form my own information gathering network… But… How…?”

Kiki and Nikki were just staring as Van lost himself in his own thoughts. Wondering if they were off the hook or if there was something else that Van wanted to ask.

A few minutes later, Van was grilling them for more information about their experiences in being spies and what else they have learned during their time exploring the world.

In the end, their time together was cut short since Van had to prepare for tomorrow's classes. He kissed the girls goodbye and went on his way.

---Blood and Shadow Class---

“Okay class, who can tell me what came first before the blood binding ritual we use nowadays… Anyone?” Miss Delia of the blood and shadow class asked of her students.

One student raised her hand. “Is it blood beads?”

“Very good,” Delia said. “Indeed, it is blood beads. Before we did the ritual of blood binding, vampires would instead create a bead of their blood and have the person or creature they want to bond with ingest it. The bead would effectively sit in their body, and nothing else, other than provide a method of connection between the caster and the user, with only minimal control, usually by making the blood bead harm the insides of the person in question.”

“But since the discovery methods of blood binding. The user expands a portion of their power into their chosen target. Their blood then flows into the veins of their chosen, and empowers them, not only making the ones they bind stronger, but providing an even stronger connection than what a simple blood bead can do.”

“Now… Who can tell me which method of binding did not catch on?” Delia asked, now looking over the class.

Another student answered.

“Blood pacts?” The student said nervously.

“And your reasoning is?” Delia asked, hoping the student would answer more thoroughly.

“B-because blood pacts are weaker?”

Miss Delia shook her head. “Not at all… In some cases, they are even more powerful than a regular blood binding.”

That got a few murmurs from the class.

“Let me explain. A blood binding causes your blood to be ingested and then flow through the veins of your familiar, or newly bound kin. A blood pact though is different, not only does it provide even greater power, but can even give an increase of power to yourself as well. This is done by weaving your blood in a unique symbol upon your chosen kin, alongside them ingesting your blood into their veins. You then accept your kin’s blood as your own, almost as if in a reverse binding.”

“Doing this gives you immense control over your kin, and gives them greater power, while also giving you some of their power in turn. Even if your kin or familiar were to die, they could be resurrected so long as you're alive. There are only three downsides to this.”

“One is that the chances of your kin dying when you die is extremely high. Two, if a kin of yours dies, the effects of its death can weaken you, or you might receive a temporary backlash that can harm you, due to the fact that you are more closely tied than a normal binding would normally allow. And three, since they are more closely tied to you, there are methods that others could use to get to you through your familiar unless the kin takes its own life to prevent such a thing.”

She then raised both her hands as if they were scales. “On the one hand, A kin’s lifespan will be guaranteed to be as long as the masters, with twice and sometimes thrice the power then a regular blood binding can provide. On the other hand, the death of a kin is all but certain upon the death of the master, the kin’s death could harm the master, and the kin can be used against the master if they are not careful.”

“Because of this, blood pacts have largely fallen out of fashion. Though they are used from time to time rarely, mostly for cultural reasons.”

She then began walking over to the board in front of the class. “Now I want everyone to open their books to page one hundred and thirty-six. Today we’ll be discussing the methods of blood binding and its benefits and drawbacks. After that, we will be practicing blood manipulation and then shadow manipulation. For homework I expect you all to finish your project about how blood magic affects biology and how it can be used to heal yourself and others. For students who want to major in bio alchemy and perhaps create homunculi or just want to become sanguine doctors this will be a very important assignment for you.”

Van began writing in his notebook. He had some interest in bio alchemy, it seemed pretty interesting. He was also happy about learning more about blood binding and these blood packs, wondering how he could use them for his own benefits.

---Golemancy Class---

“Hey Van, how are you doing?” Devi asked, leaning forward to look at the small clay figure in his hands.

“Hey Devi, good, just trying to figure out what I want to make here.” Van said, trying to mold the clay in his hand. “How are you? I can’t believe they have you covering two classes at the same time.” Commenting on the reason as to why she was here also teaching golemancy class.

Devi sighed. “Yeah… I know, right? Turns out, the reason for Miss Pine’s accident was because she got in a fight with miss Chopin. Turns out they were longtime rivals and their antagonism has finally boiled over into a full-blown fight. Both think the other took away their dream job.”

“Wow… And they never thought too uh… Switch?” Van asked.

“Oh, they did. But their pride wouldn’t let them admit to it.” Devi said.

“Huh…” Was all he could respond with. “Well, at least we have an amazing teacher to help us.” Flattering her just a bit.

“Oh, you…” Devi blushed, playfully patting his shoulder.

“By the way… I’ve been thinking… Do you want to discuss artificery? Let’s say… Over dinner?” Van asked, setting into motion his plan to rope Devi into his circle.

Devi blushed a little harder. “Oh don’t tease me you… I’m your teacher, what will the others think?”

Van tilted his head. “That they’re jealous?” Wondering if this was a trick question.

Devi laughed. “Good point! This is your last class, right? Wait for me after it’s finished, I just have to grade a few papers and I’ll be right with you!” She then happily with a skip in her step walked back to her desk.

Van smiled as she left. Wondering if everything would go as easily as this.