As his breathing grew heavier, Ryan immediately tried to call his uncle, but nobody picked up.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, just- Just how-" he stared at the screen, at the words 'This Livestream Has Ended' mockingly staring back at him. Immediately, he left the page and tried to look for some other streams or news channels that were live, and quickly found one that seemed to be covering today's celebrations.
"-has come in that an incident occurred at Bonfire Plaza today at 9:50pm. We have lost contact with our on-site correspondents, but in the last moments, the sight of a large spirit currently assumed to be Finley, the original bonfire's spirit, could be seen. We are waiting for-" Ryan listened intensely, biting down onto his own lip while hoping for something, just anything at all, that would tell him that people are alright. That nobody got hurt, and that Runar and the others were able to just play this whole thing off as some kind of special event.
If this went wrong, if any sort of negative attention could be drawn to Finley, this could be catastrophic. Fear was one of the best ways to motivate, or manipulate, society as a whole. Just give them something to be scared of, something that could threaten their everyday, comfortable lives, and you could completely control large groups into action. And the worst part was that, after this, who knew if the White Shadow Society would really stop?
If they decided to spread the corruption to any spirit they came across, it would be absolutely impossible for the Aglecards to do anything against them. While it was possible to mass-produce regular plants through magic, plants that were magical on their own couldn't be grown right away and had to undergo more natural processes to develop their actual effect. It was one thing to have growth-boosting abilities like Gaia's, and those wouldn't change the effect too much, but it was otherwise impossible to easily mass-produce the flowers required to produce the cure.
If, after this, people had the idea in their mind that spirits might be dangerous, any small incident could be blown up to be even bigger than what happened at the expo.
Ryan continued listening to the news. He listened as more information came on. And he also listened as the first reports of injuries came in. But there was only one point where he had to stop himself from listening.
He stopped when the report came in that the fire spirit Finley, after going on a violent rampage at Bonfire Plaza, was killed.
Pulling into the parking lot, Ryan could feel his phone buzzing. He parked his bike and took off his helmet, before checking what those messages just were. It was in the group-chat.
Modak
@Ryan, waiting for you in the student café
Silvia
ordered you a coffee already :))
Ryan smiled lightly and stepped away from his bike, approaching the student café in the corner. There were a lot of reasons why this became a hangout spot for tons of students. It was relatively central to every building on campus, had accomodations for students of any size, and even multiple stories with private study rooms you could use for free. Though, if you wanted to use one in exam season, you had to sign up for it at the start of the semester, usually.
Plus, all the food, drinks, and snacks were cheap, the furniture was comfortable, and it had just a generally great vibe about it. Ryan made his way over and pushed open the door, stepping into the air-conditioned space. He quickly spotted his friends, making his way over quickly. Modak and Silvia both stood up and gave him a hug to greet him, though Modak obviously had to be a bit more careful since his arm was still broken.
The café was pretty busy, filled to the brim with both returning students and new students that were admitted for the year's second semester. Considering how tight things were, Ryan doubted that they could have a particularly detailed conversation about everything that was going on. Though, despite that, Silvia just got right into it.
"So... do you know what happened last night? I thought you took care of all that," she pointed out, and Ryan slowly glanced around for a moment, leaning forward as he replied.
"I definitely, 100% did take care of it. There was no more of 'that' left on him, and Runar promised that there was nothing to worry about with the barrier he put up."
"So, what? Richie managed to go back and infect him again?" Modak asked, also trying to wrap his head around the situation, "Does your uncle's magic have some kind of weak point that could have been exploited?"
With a scoff, Ryan shook his head, "Yeah, no, I doubt that. Definitely not the kind that Richie would be able to break through."
A bit confused at Ryan's confidence, Modak and Silvia looked at each other for a moment. Realizing that he hadn't told them about it yet, he figured that he should probably fill them in. According to Runar, aides were basically given the same 'information clearance' as the one they worked for within the family. Rather, they should always be on the same level of knowledge so that they could respond properly if necessary, so he shouldn't be able to complain about it.
While sipping on his iced coffee through a straw, with his helmet on his lap, Ryan typed out a short message into his notes app. He turned his phone around and showed it to his friends, who stared at the screen in disbelief.
"You're shitting me."
The young elf stared at Ryan, her smile almost completely wiped away, while Modak was sitting next to her trying to do the math.
Ryan nodded, "That's exactly what I said. But it explains a lot of things. Despite being a mage, he's insanely physically strong."
"Wait, but-" Modak started, confused, "Alicia is only level 87 officially, and even that is supposed to be a ridiculously hard thing to achieve. And she's like two hundred years old..."
"I know, it's almost dumb how high his level is. But I don't know why he would lie to me about it. And, I don't know, it just felt true," Ryan explained, sighing loudly, "But... somehow, despite his level, Runar was still tricked somehow. His protection wasn't good enough. The shadows have some trick up their sleeve."
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The three of them just sat there for a while, dejected. What happened last night was truly a worst-case scenario, and they had to somehow figure out what they were supposed to do now to help stop Richie and the White Shadow Society.
And then, it seemed like a spark lit up behind Modak's eyes, "Hear me out, what if we just try to find a perfect counter for corruption?"
"The cure works pretty well already, don't you think?" Ryan pointed out, but Modak shook his head.
"Of course, but that's not what I mean. Like... if Richie can spread corruption through basically a touch, then what if we make it so that a certain someone can spread blessings through touch? Basically, cancel him out somehow."
Ryan raised a brow, "I mean, I'm not quite sure if it works that way. Plus, blessings aren't exactly an easy thing to-"
He felt Modak's stare, quickly connecting the dots. With a grin, Modak continued, "You have the seeds, and you have Tiar," he said, glancing over to Ryan's left arm that was like a mixture of scars and the red tattoo-like, shifting lines that made up the symbiote's body, "I looked into being like Tiar, and apparently special variants like them can sometimes temporarily connect to others to share certain abilities. And the seeds, they're literally called 'Seeds of Blessing', and the corruption seems to have a similar nature to curses to some degree. So, once you develop the seed enough to be immune to the corruption, you and Tiar could put that onto others. That would solve the problem of how much of the cure you need pretty quickly, right?"
Though the idea intrigued Ryan, he had to slowly shake his head, "Yeah, I don't know about that. All variants have certain unique abilities. Tiar's are related more to something like copying or constructing things. They have absolutely no interest in other people, so I doubt that would be really possible," he explained, and Modak seemed a bit dejected for a moment. Ryan glanced to the side for a moment, "But well, Tiar can already push out corruption out of my body, and if that ability is potentially strengthened through the Seeds, then that's only going to grow stronger. Just being able to face Richie without needing to worry about corruption would be an amazing benefit. Anyway, stop talking about this for a second."
The other two were pretty confused for a moment, turning their heads to see what Ryan was looking at. It was two young women that were approaching the table. Or rather, their eyes were focused directly on one of the three.
"S-Sorry, but... are you Modak Stonebreaker?" one of them asked, and the orc straightened his back with a startled flinch, looking at his friends confused.
"I, uh... yeah, I am, can I help you somehow?"
"You're the same one that protected people at the expo last week, right? The Wizard from the Magic Tower?" the other asked, smiling nervously. They were both clutching their phones eagerly.
Modak swallowed nervously, "I-I'm not a wizard yet, actually, I've only just started writing my first-circle thesis... But- but that is me, yes."
The two of them looked at each other excitedly, and then turned back to Modak, "We're new admissions in the Magic Engineering track... uhm, do you think we could... maybe..."
As the girls were stammering at a similarly nervous orc, Ryan and Silvia glanced at each other. They both knew what this was about. Basically communicating with head-nudges, glances, and eyebrow-raises, they communicated to decide who was going to tell them. With a long sigh, Ryan realized that he was the one that had to do it, "Modak, they're asking for your number right now. And you two, please be aware that he's the world's shittiest texter, between his studies, his work at the magic tower, and his girlfriend."
At the mention of the last word, the two young woman practically flinched, "Oh, you have a..."
Immediately, a broad grin formed on Modak's face, "Girlfriend? Yeah, Yanna, she's pretty hard to miss, so you'll probably see her around."
The girls' nervous smiles dropped immediately, "Y-Yanna? As in... Yanna Redhorn, the newest Awakened League member?" they asked, glancing toward a nearby wall. Being a student café, this place of course liked to show off some of their high-profile students' accomplishments. And at the forefront of that currently was Yanna, who was about to make her debut in the Awakened League just a couple weeks from now. That meant that, all over the place in this university, were posters advertising that exact event.
With a proud smile, Modak looked at the poster the two were looking at, "The very same!"
The two looked at each other for a moment, and then decided to just laugh it off, "It was very nice to meet you, uhm... I think we have to go, we still have to find the room for our orientation."
Modak looked at them a bit perplexed as they just turned around, without even saying their names, "That was... weird."
"I mean, Yanna can be a bit intimidating, you know? You wouldn't want to hit on the boyfriend of that kind of girl," Ryan pointed out, and Modak just laughed.
"They weren't hitting on me."
"Yes they were," Silvia added.
Ryan smiled lightly. He quickly finished his drink and stood up, "Anyway, let's talk later. There's a lot more about yesterday we need to discuss. Just... when it's a bit more quiet."
"Wait, where are you going? You just got here," Modak complained, and Ryan nodded awkwardly.
"Yeah... I have a meeting with the uni's Awakened Supervisor, he's going to help me find the right course load and track for what I want to do."
"Ah..." Silvia had a moment of realization, "I think I forgot to set up a meeting with him as well..."
"Did you even let them know you've awakened?"
Silvia looked at Ryan with a slightly blank stare, "We were supposed to let someone know?"
Ryan let out a long sigh, "I can tell him when I'm there. I'll text you if he has time to meet with you right after me, so be ready for that. Anyway, are we still meeting at the library after class?"
The two of them nodded, and Ryan quickly went on his way. He didn't have a ton of time before his meeting, so he had to sort of hurry up to not be late. Figuring that he might as well, Ryan quickly entered a jog. He moved past everyone with ease. Though it was busy today, being the first day of the semester and all, Ryan actually managed to not bump into anyone. Compared to driving his bike to the bonfire plaza the other day, this was basically nothing.
He entered the administrative building before long, asking the security guy for directions toward the Awakened Supervisor's office. Once there, Ryan knocked on the large glass door. The frosted tape that was put on the front was peeling off on the door's edges. Soon, a shadow appeared in front of the other side of the door, which was opened up to a bright smile.
But rather than that, the first thing that Ryan noticed was that distinct smell of sunscreen as the man smiled at him, "Yes?"
"Hello, I'm Ryan, I'm here to meet with the Awakened Supervisor for-"
"Ah, yes! Yes, come right in!" the man said, before letting Ryan even answer. He practically pulled him into the room, offering him a chair while sitting down behind his desk. In a hurry, the man cleared out some familiar-looking bottles from the table, "Sorry, I was just having breakfast. Ryan... Aglecard, was it?"
As he asked, the man glanced at him for a few moments, as if trying to figure something out. Ryan nodded his head with a smile, "Yes, that's me."
"Wonderful. I'm Harrier Sing, but please, call me Harry," he explained, reaching out his hand toward Ryan. After quickly shaking it, Ryan sat down on the chair and waited for Harrier to sort through some documents on his computer, giving him enough time to glance around a bit. There were blackout blinds installed in front of the window, though they clearly weren't part of the room's standard equipment. There was a mini-fridge buzzing in the corner of the room, and right next to it stood a small bin that was filled with empty unlabelled, opaque plastic bottles. The only sort of writing they had on them was a stamp on the cap. An almost too complexly ornate 'A', which Ryan recognized all too well.
Before he could comment on it, though, Harrier started speaking again, "Spirit Keeper, huh? A summoner type class, and... your request was to move over to one of the magic classes, right?"
"Mhm," Ryan nodded his head with a smile, "I was in the business track until now, but I figured it was smarter to go switch to a magic track so I could actually learn a little more about spirits, magic as a whole... I only ever really did the mandatory magic classes until now."
"I see..." Harrier started taking some notes, "Is there any sort of field in particular you are hoping to enter after you graduate? I see that you have a Dungeoneering license."
"Right, uh... well, I don't have a particular field, I'm just going to help out in the family a bit."
Harrier stopped typing for a moment, "... The family?"
Ryan laughed a bit, "Oh, come on. The name isn't a coincidence, I'm part of that Aglecard family. And, you know, considering you're a Vampire, you must know exactly what kind of work I'm talking about."