It was already twelve forty but Ms. Avry still hadn't come to class. Aefia had a lack of sleep last night due to the number of suspicious things that had happened yesterday and the days before.
She stayed up until five to try and find out the history behind her element, but the only thing she had discovered was that every element had a skill or two that were the same as another element's skills.
In her case, Aefia and Anasiy both shared the 'Mind Control' skill because they both shared the power of the mind. Meanwhile, Aefia's element was the combination of mind and surroundings.
Aefia was a mage while Anasiy was the one controlling the puppets, which are her enemies. Aefia could change the way the battle went but Anasiy could control the way the battle went.
And when an element and another element share the same skill, the owners can't use that skill against the other owner, which was why Aefia's attempt to use that skill was a failure, or it didn't apply.
She also stayed up to finish the remaining of the book about Hellas. Overall, Hellas is currently the residence of one of the members of the Torture Cell, or that's how it was explained in the rest of the book.
Besides that, she had homework. She basically had to copy down everything she had written into her system's notepad function so she could copy it down on her notebook later.
Ms. Avry came running into the meeting room with the same tired face and thin structure. She slammed the book she was holding onto her table while grabbing the marker and said, "Sorry, I am late. The situation in the office is currently a mess."
I had a theory that it was a mess but it only changed after the note. The destruction of this world is not long.
Ms. Avry started explaining about the Aglic calendar and the seven moons and it's dedicated months.
"As you all already know, a year in this world consists of seven months and a month consists of four weeks. Each week has five days and the weekend or breaks are decided by the facilities you work in. Each day consists of five hours of nighttime and seventeen hours of daytime.
"Any occasions related to the Royal house of Smod would automatically mean a holiday, and it requires every citizen to go. At the end of this month, we are all invited to the Royal Banquet, more on that later.
"Now the Aglican calendar consists of..." Ms. Avry blabbered on about the calendar while Aefia's attention turned around. She had her 'Knowledge Absorption' skill on, so she wasn't worried about missing any important information.
She had done her research already and she had also tested the results on her last class about Guardians. The only thing now was that she wanted to move forward in time until the end of class so that she could go back to her room and have a good sleep.
Just then, a curiosity popped up onto Aefia's mind, what if I can absorb knowledge while sleeping?
To try it, Aefia sat still, without movement, until she got bored enough to doze off. The 'Knowledge Absorption' skill was so powerful that the information came into Aefia's dreams.
She jolted awake when Ms. Avry asked a question to her teammates. Why does education have to be a big factor in every world? It's not like I hate it but I really want to sleep.
Aefia was very well-known to Nada as 'the one who can't handle being disturbed while sleeping'. Aefia internally smiled at being reminded of that one time when Nada had come to wake Aefia up from her after-school nap to finish up the project that was due the next day. Those were some golden memories she had back on Earth.
"Now let's talk about the states and countries of Nikoan..." Ms. Avry continued her lecture. At this point, Aefia was losing it and decided to stop time and see what skills she had to skip her class.
She read through her list and came up with an unlockable skill that will help her move forward in time while going through what had happened in between. The skill's name was given as 'Elemental Ability: Fast Forward'. What a weird name to give a skill. But the clear conditions are rather odd and impossible to achieve at the current time.
To unlock this skill, she had to finish ten battles with beasts that are more powerful than her. Which, to Aefia, was read as, "Go through ten near-death situations."
She then unpaused the time and decided to continue with the class until it finally ended. Ms. Avry explained about each state, which was basically supposed to be a country. The city of Smod was a state, and so are the cities of Robertstown and Nepolitan.
There are in total five main cities and fifteen subcities that reside next to or inside the main cities. Smod was a main city, and Nepolitan and Robertstown were its subcities.
Everything is confusing! Just use normal terms, just say countries! I feel like meeting up with the owner and requesting a change of the currency and the vocabulary. Maybe also the calendar and timing. I understand this is an outer world...but the currency at least needs to be changed.
While thinking about it, Aefia secretly went to her notebook's pages where she had written down about her skills, their descriptions, and disadvantages.
She reread the skills until she was in a state of memorization, she then closed her notebook in fear that someone might secretly read it. Just because she had the most wanted skill written in it as part of the skills she owned.
Aefia looked up at the glass board after a long time and gasped. This is more complex than my math trigonometry homework!
There were lines going from here to there explaining and linking to this and that information that made Aefia's brain go haywire. Even a strong skill like 'Knowledge Absorption' was slightly malfunctioning.
She quickly drew down the entire glass board onto her notebook in an attempt to decode the information later in her room. There is no hope I can decode such thing.
***
Class continued for another hour or so. At two in the afternoon, the teammates were released, and they insisted on leaving their belongings in their rooms and instantly coming back down to the court to help Aefia train.
The other teammates also investigated their elements and skills after Aefia told them about her extra training requirements. They also had a principle similar to Aefia's element's rules.
Aefia walked to her room while reading through the scribbles she had copied down from the board. It was a mind map that showed how things were connected to other things in this world.
She opened the door to her room and entered, prepared for a highly anticipated surprise. There was another note, but this one was written in ancient Aglic.
It was easy to tell that unknown being would continue warning me about stuff I don't know yet.
She took out her dictionary and decoded the note. 'Don't touch the orb'. While the back of the note said the same, 'Tear it up after reading'.
She tore the paper up while thinking about what this 'orb' could be. She hadn't come across any of it or even seen it. She had no connection to this thing and yet this message came from an unknown being.
She was worried at this point. Who could possibly be trying to warn me about whatever I don't know? Besides, I am not allowed to investigate this matter either.
She tore the note and put it in her notebook, just as she had done yesterday. She stepped out of her room and thought about checking if Nada was in her room. Never mind, I think she is already at the court.
She slowly walked towards the elevator while trying to recall the stories of the outer worlds she had studied. She didn't come across the world 'orb' in any part of her reading journey.
If only she knew what that orb looked like or what it really was, she could have taken better precautions at 'protecting herself'. Do I have a stalker? Or ...
A thought came into her mind. She had in fact learnt about it just yesterday. ...Is there spiritual magic involved?!
Aefia's mind was full of possible scenarios. It could be connected to spiritual magic since spirits, as far as she had heard, were capable of being unnoticeable to the human eyes. She activated her 'Wolf Instinct' skill and could feel two pairs of eyes watching her from above. It was unsual because in the novels she had read, there would be a lot of eyes watching at once, not a specific number.
Her vision blurred, and her head felt like it was spinning. She quickly deactivated her skill and continued to walk towards the elevator with her mind clear of thoughts.
Her teammates were already there. Everyone except Nada. Should I have at least knocked on Nada's door before coming here?
"I will go check her room then." Aefia volunteered. Just when she turned around, Nada came running in her teammates' direction.
"ANASIY! I told you to knock at my door before coming here!" Nada ran to Anasiy. After a small talk which Aefia didn't give her ears to, the team member started walking towards the direction of the court.
The four of them walked ahead while Aefia walked alone, completely confused as to why Nada started to ignore her like she never existed in the first place.
Things were already a knot of multiple strings for Aefia but now, the knot was tighter than usual. I guess she is allowing me to think about my situation currently.
***
During training, Anasiy's curiosity about the battle with the beast on the first day couldn't be contained.
"I don't know, it was easy but it was also very tiring and painful," Aefia replied, her voice tinged with a mix of exhaustion and thrill. After their conversation, she sat alone in a quiet corner, far from the eyes of others, to access her system.
With a hint of trepidation, she opened her health and stats menu.
[Name: Aefia
Health: 250 HP
Strength: 5%]
Her eyes scanned the skills and the improvements needed, the stakes of her situation looming over her. Unlocking at least ten percent strength felt critical to her survival against a Phase Two beast, but she knew that victory would come at a cost—injuries were inevitable.
Aefia fixated on her current goal: obtaining the 'Fast Forward' skill. The thought of facing ten beasts simultaneously would be bad for her health and she understood that frequent battles would only draw the mentors' further suspicion towards her. She already had their attention on her, she couldn't afford another misstep, especially with her most wanted 'Elemental Absorption' skill at stake.
Determined to push those worries aside for the moment, she closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. But suddenly, the wall vanished from her back, and she felt herself free fall into darkness.
***
When she opened her eyes, she stared at the sky. It was a vibrant and starry night sky that was deep blue above and transitioned to green and then to purple by the time it touched the horizon.
Her head was pounding as if it had been hit by a bat, and she decided to sit up. Her vision was slightly blurred and her dizziness was increasing. She shook her head and felt drops of liquid falling down the back of her head.
She turned around to face the ground where she was lying. It was a solid rocky ground that resembled that from Roman times. They were bricks laid down with cement, and grass could be seen growing out of the gaps. Right where her head was, a huge splat of thick red liquid stained the ground.
Aefia touched it and realized it was blood. She then touched her head which was also covered in blood. She came to the conclusion that she had fallen from quite a height to hit her head hard enough to bleed. It seems to me that I have mistakenly entered yet another world.
She tried to activate her system and her 'Infographics' skill. None of them worked. With no hope, she wiped her forehead with her sleeve, leaving red stains on her sleeve.
The blood from her head had already damaged the collar and shoulders of her white dress, so she didn't mind ruining it further. Her cloak, on the other hand, was still intact.
Since she was in another world, she had to keep her cloak on. In any case, the long hood would help her secure her identity. She scanned her surroundings first.
To her left and right were ruined and partially damaged buildings and structures. It was a mystical and ancient scene. It was another one of those fantasy worlds she had read. It was from a book she had quite recently read.
Aefia looked straight. She stared at a pavilion which was emitting a very bright pink-white light. She walked towards the pavilion. The closer she got, the better she could see.
The pavilion had large, weathered stone columns with hallows in between running from top to bottom, holding up a roof made of cement and gold, with complex writings carved on it. The columns were heavily draped in vines and greenery, which framed the central view.
At the centre of the pavilion was a stone altar, richly decorated with gold and silver, resting on a series of worn stone steps, also overgrown with moss and green foliage.
On top of the stone altar was the brilliant glow, floating on its own. It was an object that seemed to be trapping a huge number of things into a small place.
She reached the top of the stone steps and took a closer look at the spherical object. She could hear murmurs from around her but she couldn't use her skills to decode what was being said.
Aefia tried to touch the object, but when she reached out, she was blocked by an invisible glass-like feeling. Invisible glass? There is such a thing? But why is this brightly glowing object the only lively thing from around here? I have been in Nikoan and nothing like this had ever happened.
I was just resting against a wall, and the next second I was falling through a void. Then I appeared in this world with an injury that can't be taken care of if I don't have a medical aid box around me.
All of a sudden, the happenings combined are telling me that someone teleported me to this world to lead me to this object. And I can't even interact with it.
In a moment, the spherical object sent a wave of bright light in every direction. Aefia stepped back in time for another wave to erupt and was sent away. After three waves of lights were sent, a cry sounded from behind Aefia.
She turned around with her hood over her face, covering all the way to her chin. The hood still allowed her to see the creature with horns and holding an axe before charging in Aefia's direction.
Aefia took out her pistol, which was filled with spirit-grade bullets, and aimed at the creature.