Time passed. Eventually, there is only one week left before the start of the school year. On this day, Deverick brought Mary with him to campus. He wanted to give some time for her to get used to the new city and find her a place to stay. Well, more like give her a place. The game plan was to give her a tour of the city before he meets up with Sylvia the next day. Surprise, surprise. She applied to research under him.
As they walked into the city, Mary had a weird look on her face. She kept looking around as if trying to confirm something.
"Weird. Why does this place seem familiar? I am sure I have never been here before. So why does it feel like I have seen this scenery before?" Mary thought to herself.
This feeling only continued to grow stronger as they walked by more buildings.
"Hey, Deverick."
"Yeah?"
"Why do I have this familiar feeling about this place?"
"Maybe you have seen it on the network a while back."
"That explains it. But where did I?"
Deverick smiled but didn't answer. Instead, he continued to give her a tour of the place, introducing all the main attractions and best places to eat. Partway through the tour, they stopped at a place to get a cold drink. Eventually, Deverick brought her to a building. He opened the door and let her go first.
"How can I help you today?" the person behind the desk asked.
Mary didn't know how to answer that. She didn't even know why she was here in the first place.
"She's my assistant for the year. I wanted to get all the procedural stuff for new hires settled."
The clerk looked over, but what she saw exceeded her expectations.
"Uhhhh, are you a staff member?"
"Yes," Deverick showed his card. It was purple. An indication of a staff member. The people of the college can easily distinguish between the status of the holder by the color. Unlike the staff, the students have green cards with different number stripes to indicate their year.
"I see. Can I have your name?"
"Deverick Mordesin."
The clerk started typing on her hologram keyboard and pulled up his profile.
"Ah, professor Moredesin."
The clerk then turned to Mary.
"I just need you to answer a few questions."
10 minutes later, they walked out of the place with everything settled for.
"You know, I still can't remember where this feeling of familiarity is coming from."
"How about I show you around campus? I am sure that is something that will jog your memory."
As they continued their tour, Dverick eventually led Mary to a training facility.
"This is the magic dummy zone. Here, students can practice any of their spells on a magic dummy. When hit, the machine will give the student a reading of how powerful the spell was. There are also other factors the machine can measure for, but the main ones are speed, accuracy, power, and whatnot. It's very useful for students to get an indication of their skills."
Hearing this explanation, Mary started to realize why everything seemed familiar. There was only one magic academy with such advanced facilities. And it's one of the signature buildings that enticed people to get into this school. This realization, though, sent Mary into shock.
"Wait, this is Star Bound!?!?!"
Deverick laughed at that.
"Took you long enough to realize."
Mary became flustered at that. How was that possible? Everything seems to not make sense anymore. This fact was more surprising for her than when Deverick revealed he was a professor. At the time, she thought that he was part of a small college, which could somewhat explain his status. But this was beyond anything she had imagined.
"Did you do that on purpose?"
"Telling you that I was a professor already sent you into shock so I didn't want to overstimulate you."
"That's beside the point. How did you even get in here as a professor? And they even let you stay?"
"Like I said, my results show everything."
"How good are they that they allowed you to be a professor?"
"Let's just say all my students in one class have reached the top ranking."
"Where do you keep pulling these accomplishments out of anyways?"
The next day, Devrerick brought Mary to welcome Sylvia. Compared to the last time Deverick saw her, she was more energetic and less prone to depression. Although there were still faint traces of this negativity, he considered this a good step for her. Rome wasn't built in a day after all.
"So why did you ask me to meet now instead of when we move in?"
"Knowing you, you probably won't move in until the last day. By then, we wouldn't have much time to settle you."
"Why would I need time to get settled? I don't have that much stuff."
"That's where you are wrong. I am talking about the lab, not your dorm room."
"That makes sense? So who's this?"
Silvia decided now would be the best time to ask about his new companion.
"This is Mary. She will be my assistant for the year. Mary, this is Sylvia. She will be researching under me for the year."
"Nice to meet you."
"Same here."
"Anyway, let's drop your stuff off at your room. Then I will introduce you to the facilities we will be using."
30 minutes later, the trio was standing outside the same lab Sylvia was using for her final project. She stared at this familiar place with a complex expression on her face.
"I never thought I would get to work here again."
They walked in and greeted Susie.
"Hey Susie, glad to see you again. How was your summer?"
"It was very fun, thanks to a certain boss. Are you here to make more access cards for them?"
"Actually no. Give them permanent access."
Susie nodded and walked to the back room.
Sylvia, though, had many questions.
"I thought this lab was for commercial use?"
"It is."
"Then why are we using it for my research? As much as I enjoy this place, I don't think it's a sustainable solution to constantly be renting the facilities. And what is the permanent access thing about?"
"I don't think I ever told you, did I?"
"Tell me what?"
"Your class was the first people to use the facility."
"Ok? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Think about it some more."
Sylvia pondered the implications of that statement.
"So it opened sometime around the middle of the year?"
"Yes. Keep thinking."
Sylvia knew she was on the right track, but what did he want her to figure out? There's not much to work on. This place was only opened for a short time so what is there to infer? Wait! Only a short time! And he said we were the first people to use it. Then...
Seeing her face of realization, Deverick decided now would be a good time to jump in.
"Then how did I know about the place beforehand?"
When all other possibilities were eliminated, the remaining one must be the truth.
"This place has something to do with you."
"See? That wasn't that hard to figure out."
"So are you going to tell me your connection with this place?"
"Let's just say I wanted to build my own lab."
"..."
"..."
"What? Why are you two looking at me like that?"
"No reason."
"Whatever. Let me show you around the place."
"Don't I already know everything there is to the lab?"
Deverick chuckled at this naive thought.
"You really think all the floors are the same as what you have seen?"
"Is that not the case?"
"I think it is better to show you. Come follow me."
He led them to a bookshelf. Tracing his finger along the spines of the colorful books, he stopped at one with ancient characters. He pulled this out and started tracing his finger again. After moving over a few more books, he inserted his hand into the shelf and pushed to the left. A click sounded. He then put the book in his hand in the newly created position. Then nothing happened.
"Was that supposed to do something?"
"Just wait."
A minute later, the bookshelf split in half and opened inwards like a door, revealing a hidden passageway. They entered the dimly lit hallway and came across a room with a staircase. They walked down one floor and came across a brightly lit lab. Sylvia was astonished by this revelation.
"Has this always been here?"
"What do you think?"
"But what's so special about this lab?"
"Remember how I said I designed some of my own tools?"
"I think you did mention something like that."
"Well, this lab is fully equipped with the best of that."
"..."
"What? Not impressed?"
"No?"
"Well let me give you a comparison. You know how the other lab rooms are supposedly equipped with the best machines in the world."
"Yeah."
"Well, the ones I have here have gotten praise from the group at Nemesis."
"Don't they have technology beyond the times?"
"And so is mine."
This gave them a wake-up call. How did they forget that Deverick is far from normal? It really feels like every time they think they see the limit of what he can do, he pulls something that forces them to redefine their definition of what's possible. Should they be surprised anymore?
On this day, Elder William sent out two call requests.
"How rare of you to call me, William. How can I help you?"
"Before I go over anything, let's wait for Elanora to accept my call. This will be a group call."
A few seconds later, a third voice joined the chat.
"Oh hi, Windfrey. I didn't realize you were also in this call."
"Glad to talk to you again as well."
"Now that everyone has joined, I want you to read the information I sent you."
The two of them opened the file William sent them.
"Magic in Battle(MB): This class will cover everything the professor regards as necessary for a mage to survive in battle. Topics include physical training, casting techniques, survival knowledge, and factors that will give one an edge over their opponents. This class will include lots of physical activities and very little lecture. Do not apply if you like to complain. Limited to sophomores and above."
"Systematic Encryption (SE): What is encryption? What are some methods of hiding information? And what is considered good encryption? This class will cover these questions and the fundamentals of an encryption system. By the end of this class, the student will develop their own encryption methods and practice against the systems developed by others. This course is intended to cover everything from the basics all the way to specialization level so this course will be very fast-paced. Open to everyone."
After they read these two, they were very confused. Why did William have them read this? The information recorded in this file seems completely irrelevant to them.
"This seems like the course description of a college class," Windfrey observed.
"That's because it is," replied William
"So why did you have us read them?" Elenora asked.
"Well, the thing I want you to notice is who is teaching the two classes."
They looked down at the file again.
"Professor: Deverick Mordesin."
Windfrey rubbed his chin.
"The name sounds familiar."
"Is he supposed to be someone well-known?" Elenora asked.
"You might not know the name all that well, but you might better know him by something else. He is the guy that made the Rune Mapping Device."
"It's him!"
"No way!"
"That changes things, right?"
"But that still doesn't explain why you had us read this," Elenora pointed out.
"Well, I was wondering if you want to join me in the class? I am very curious what such a person will teach."
"Completely unrelated to runes, but the person is worth the visit."
"Then why did you call me as well?" asked Windfrey.
"Well, the topic of the second class is in one of the areas you dabble in."
"I guess? But encryption has never been my focus."
"Cut the side talk. Are you joining?"
"Of course. This opportunity is hard to come by after all. But how are you going to get us in?"
"Oh, that's simple."
William then gave Lilith a call. When Lilith saw who was calling her, it wouldn't be a lie to be a little scared. What do 3 elders want with someone like her? As far as she remembers, she hasn't done anything wrong.
"Hello, elders. What do I owe to have this call?" She sounded nervous.
William chuckled.
"Relax. It's nothing serious. We just want you to do us a favor."
"It would be my honor."
"We just want you to get us 3 into Deverick's encryption class."
"Huh?!"
Lilith couldn't help but be stunned. What did Deverick do that caught the attention of the elders? And three of them at that?
