There are two recognized academics. Regis Academy accepts people from all over the universe with talent as the only condition, except for the AVALOR, a world ruled by dragons. They have their own educational system and strict roles; they never share their techniques with others—it's their bloodline secret and pride.
Regis Academy is a flying island the size of a country located in the middle of the sea surrounded by mountains from all directions; it's not a dangerous area.
Apart from the middle area school property, all other places on top of the mountains around are residential areas where people do live, but the prices are legendarily expensive, first because of REGIS Academy, of course, and the fact that it welcomes royals. Most royal families have at least a big residence nearby since the academy has a dorm system; sleeping outside without previous notice is not allowed.
But second and most importantly, the mountain area covers a huge amount of high-purity mana stones under it; actually, it's safer if we say that half the mountains are made of mana stones, which makes cultivation a lot easier, and since it can't be removed from the ground, in short, it's impossible for someone to take a home nearby—that is, for generations to come.
"When my brother said he got a house, I never expected it to be near here...I honestly thought nobody could buy a house in this area...I've got to say he definitely has the means."
Serenity was walking down a mountain road after leaving her brother's villa on top of the mountain.
She stopped walking suddenly, staring at the vast sea. On such a cloudy day, the waves were so high and the wind was so strong. She kept staring at the sunset till it was finally blocked by the dark clouds, and rain slowly started to pour bit by bit.
"Guess it really is raining ..huh…"
The sound of the falling rain pouring her sorrow, with every drop of water a painful memory echoes through her mind. She removed her glasses, facing the sky above, slowly closing her eyes. At that point, this rain felt like more than just some drops falling gently on her face but more like the silent tears she dares not shed...
'That incident ten years ago left a huge scar on my family...to think for over a decade I had no idea they had gone through such things to get me back...no wonder she called me a weak human. I guess I really missed out on a lot of things these past years. This feels totally wrong.'
Her thoughts resembled the weather around her; she just wished this rain could wash away her misery...till she suddenly stopped feeling the rain on her face. She heard a deep, calm voice and slowly opened her eyes. Looking beside her, it was Ash.
"It's okay now."
The man in black was holding an umbrella, shielding her from the heavy rain. A moment of silence covered the mood between the two till Serenity gave him a wronged, blank look, saying,
"You heard them too, didn't you?!"
"..."
'The silent treatment, huh...guess in this situation it's best if he said nothing.' She took a deep breath before she said to him,
"Can you please do me a favor…?"
"That depends on what kind of favor."
He gave her such a steady answer, making her smile gently at him while the look in her eyes was full of pain. She took out a small box from her pocket and said to him,
"Just hold onto this for me."
She placed it open on his free hand. The box was actually empty. Is she going to put something in it? He thought, but what she did next shocked him.
Serenity looked up, pulled her eyelids wide open using her thumb and index finger, and then placed her middle finger at the center of her lens directly.
Lightning started coming from her eyes, catching her finger. She immediately pulled her hand away and closed her eye.
Not understanding what she was doing, Ash quietly watched her. In her hand was a small, flat, rounded circle that looked like it was made of glass; she placed it into the box in his hand and repeated the same process again with her left eye.
"That actually came out of you?" Ash asked.
"Don't worry, it's just a magical artifact; it works just fine, giving the illusion of a healthy eye."
She said and skillfully placed the second piece of glass in the box, then she closed it, fixing it in his hand.
"Why are you giving me this?"
"Just hold onto it for me for a while."
After saying that, Serenity bent on her knees, unzipping her black heels and walking barefoot from under the umbrella back into the rain. She started turning in circles as if she was dancing under the rain; only when she opened her eyes did he finally see.
"Your eyes?!"
The shock from seeing her white pupils blending perfectly with the gloomy scene and the falling rain dripping on her eyes ceased to be anything but tears dropping from her lifeless eyes. He never expected to encounter such a thing; it was nothing but painful to see her smile under the heavy rain in her own world, but what shocked him more was what she said next.
"Do my eyes look that scary?!"
"…why are you asking?!"
"You see those pieces of glass in your hand? That's a magical artifact that took, let's see, maybe three years to be finished. My grandmas, who absolutely hate each other, for the first time in their long history joined hands just so they could finish this artifact to allow me, their blind granddaughter, to see this world, and it worked, but not the way they thought... These magical eyes they gave me can work twenty-four hours a day, but only three of them can I see."
"Maybe you didn't really need it, so you just kept quiet about it?"
When Ash said those words, a thin, knowing smirk curled her lips, and she coldly said,
"I knew it ... you did feel it back then?"
"Haah"
Ashe placed the box in his dimensional sack and advanced towards Serenity, tilting his umbrella towards her.
"You made it so obvious it's hard to pretend not to know."
"But you're wrong…" The smile on her face faded as she recalled her memories. "Because of my situation, I spent my time as a kid in the celestial realm. People there always labeled me as a disgrace an existence that shouldn't exist since no one really approved of my parents' relationship. Living in the celestial realm meant bearing all their frustration, I am a curse and that I should die , hearing those words were the normal....i sometimes wonder was staying there really for my good? Was there really no other way?....i don't know is the scars that time left on my soul"
Hearing her words, mocking her past.... herself his chest felt tight as he thought ,'how Ironic ;what you think is good for someone doesn't necessarily mean they need it....you're not the person so how could you possibly tell ?!.'
Ash tightly held her in his arms, whispering in her ears, "Everything is okay now...you're safe here."
Serenity tried to push him away, but he held on to her even stronger.
"Don't act like you know how it feels...you have no idea how those people treated me while my grandma was gone?!"
"I do...believe me, I do...in more ways than you think."
His words gave her a strange feeling; for the first time in so long, she started crying her heart out, leaning on his shoulders, holding his warm hug tightly. In his warm hug, she felt as if nothing mattered anymore; she just wanted someone to listen to her silent cries.
"I know...I actually know how much they suffered because of me, but...that doesn't mean I never suffered myself...I pretend it's okay nothing happened but i actually hated it...hated when they assumed I was okay, hated when they thought I didn't need someone to care and just left me there for over three years, assuming I was safe. Well, I am alive, but I am not okay."
"Three years—I have spent a whole three years under pressure and deep humiliation in the celestial realm. None of them ever thought of sparing me a single glance...that's why...that's why ten years ago when I was forced into seclusion, I didn't think twice before doing so. Deep down, I actually wanted them to care for me just as a normal person, not a curse, but why...why is it that by doing that, I feel like I have lost something very important along the way?"
'The darling of both the Alkana and Voldemort actually felt like this...guess when they ignored the beginning, they unintentionally spoiled the end. ' Ash rested his left hand on the back of her head, calmly comforting her. ''You owe them nothing...you're born special yourself; you don't need to be like anyone. All you need is to be yourself, a star they envy but can never reach.''
'A star, huh?' She bit her lips hard; they bled. Ash, who smelled it, gently let go and wiped the blood from her mouth. Seeing her barefoot, he really felt uncomfortable; he raised her hand and tightly closed her palm on his umbrella's handle.
"Just cry if you feel like it ... Why hurt yourself?"
"It's not like I don't want to, but I can't...I've always been like that."
Those words were unexpected. He paused for a moment there, then he knelt on the wet ground, placing her hand on his shoulder. He personally placed her shoes for her, saying,
"Why don't you just say that your tears are just too precious?"
"You're a smooth talker."
"Not at all; I am being truthful."
"You said I am a star, but have you ever seen a blind star?...If not a smooth talker, then what? Oh, and you still didn't answer me...aren't my eyes scary?"
Ash said without hesitation, "The moon."
"Huh?!"
"Isn't the moon a blind star , even though it's blind it shines brighter than anyother under the night sky "
His words took her off guard; she couldn't help but laugh at his words: "Pfft...hahahaha...You're a big liar. Saying I am a star is one thing, but saying I am the moon—you have gone too far."
"Not at all; your eyes do shine as beautifully...at least when it comes to scary eyes, I am way ahead of you."
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing...come on, let's get out of here."
He reached out to hold her hands tightly as all the negative emotions seemed to fade away. The heavy rain that seemed like it was never going to end stopped, and as the night sky appeared, he walked her away without words, just walking...
An hour later Ash suddenly stopped walking and asked,
"So where are we going?"
"The academy…why?"
"I don't know the way."
Serenity stood her ground, trying to process what she just heard.
"Huh?"
"I am bad with directions."
"Huh?!" She was absolutely dumbfounded by his iconic answer, "Oh... you were lost when we first met... it was so obvious... Why didn't you remind me?"
"..."
As she stayed silent, not knowing what to say, hearing no response, she pulled his hand, saying,
"Do you happen to have a phone with you?"
"No, I didn't bring mine, and you?"
"Mine is dead."
Ash looked around them searching for anything useful but found nothing.
"Nothing around us seems to be helpful either."
"Then ask someone if there was an herbal shop nearby."
"No need for that...there's one right across the street, but what's that for..."
"Let's go there first, then talk later."
"Okay, but first…"
Ash put his hoodie on and placed her glasses back on and covered her eyes with her hair, then he took her tightly held hand.
"There are a lot of people ahead of us. Hold onto me tightly and don't let go no matter what."
He started moving between people, but since the road was so crowded, people were bumping into each other, and one of them bumped into Serenity, disturbing her balance. She almost fell if Ash hadn't pulled her hand in time.
"Are you okay?"
"I...I am fine."
They kept walking, but Serenity couldn't forget what just happened. When he bumped into her, she definitely felt something familiar in his pocket, a butterfly mark appeared on the palm of her right hand, and the next second a crystal butterfly came out from the mark, disappearing among the crowd.
"We're here ... but why exactly did we come here?"
"..."
'What's wrong with her?' Hearing no response, Ash turned at her, wondering why she suddenly became so calm. Seeing her so deep in thought, he looked around him and saw an empty seat. He helped her sit on it. Looking around them, he felt anything but comfortable.
"Those people's gaze feels quite disgusting."
"The area at this mountain base has a place full of bandits and illegal activities...my brother's villa is on top of the mountain. If we wanted to reach the academy, we needed to go inside the mountain, not outside. You didn't take any turns, did you? I never expected getting lost would end up in this place...how can someone be really this awful with directions?"
"No comment...but how did you know we are at such a place?"
"No matter who you are, the way you look at someone determines how you see him, and along the way, those people's gazes weren't exactly innocent... full of greed and lust. For that many people with such traits to gather in one place, it only means we're at the abandoned city."
He started mocking Regis for allowing such a place to exist: "To think such a place exists that nearby from the academy...this is actually a huge scam...but your senses are no joke for real."
"Stop with the sarcasm; not everyone is like you...full of old rules."
He didn't know if he should take her words as a compliment or an insult, so he just let go. "Is that so...sometimes knowing too much isn't exactly a good thing."
"Back to you, some knowledge is forced on people ... they just have no choice but to know."
Ash kept staring at the woman in front of him, a complete mystery. He was absolutely curious about her, thinking, "Interesting."