Chapter 196: Mark

Words : 1588 Updated : Oct 14th, 2025

Somewhere else in the Academy at almost the same time. A stunning female cadet dressed in the first year colours calmly strutted down a well lighted hallway. There were no doors or windows or the like, the long passage was completely empty and devoid of anyone else. Only the paced clanking of her feet bounced off emptily against the blank white walls, a series of ceiling lights lighting the path forward. A dazzling cascade of shimmering light purple hair swayed gently behind her back, the bangs sliding to cradle the sides of her petite oval face. She had soft, white, unblemished skin, rosy with the touch of enviable health and vitality. Her round eyes were deep, amethysts and expressive. Those who stared into them were often seemed to be lulled into a dream, a control and enchantment beyond them. There was something particularly even more special and mysterious about them — the deep, bright violet eyes glowed with the swirling of illusionary stars deep inside them. It was like a whole dark and resplendent starry night was carved from the skies and stuffed into their depths. As she stared forward at anyone, it was like a whole different world invited from beyond her mere gaze. A 'gaze' that could see true anything, full of mystique and the allure of the mysterious. Cadet number 10, Alice Al'Rowan walked straight forward with the immaculate face of a doll, strange twinkling stars spinning in her amethyst gem coloured eyes. Her face was still, and her expression was calm and unreadable, carrying an unmistakable grace to it. Usually, a smile was always attributed to this face by the many who knew her. But with no one else present currently, besides herself, Alice's lips remained settled and neutral. She only stared forward and continued to silently walk down the isolated passageway devoid of any other presence. It was a special unit building on campus located on the Eastern wing which represented the Academy's Research district of the Research Department. As for the reasons Alice was found here, nobody knew, just like what she was possibly thinking. As Alice walked, her footsteps brought her closer to one of the first doors she had run into down the white hallway. It just so happened at the moment Alice was about passing by to continue forward indifferently, the door to the room pushed open and a certain person stepped out, breathing a deep sigh as he did. Alice's feet involuntarily came to a stop in her position, her enchanting violet eyes shooting towards the familiar figure and widening in pleasant suprise. "Alex...what are you doing all the way here?" It was Alexander, with a hair full of fluffy white, he turned, finally registering Alice's equally unexpected presence. Alexander blinked then revealed a pleasant smile as he greeted her. "Ah, i was still called back today to answer some even more questions about the Dungeon Incident and go through some other procedures they said was entirely necessary." He replied to Alice's question, heaving a tired sigh. Alice blinked, her eyes rising an intensity brighter curiously as she gazed at the young man. Something... something was different about him, it seemed. As Alice's star-weaved eyes twinkled meaningfully, the edges of her lips curled as she stared at Alex. "Oh. I'm here for business related to my Stigma instead. You know how it is, i get all this appointments fixed every now and then, but i wasn't expecting to run into you in such an unlikely place. And they are still putting you through more interrogations and systems even now?" Alice blinked as she asked genuinely. Alexander shrugged. "More like tests." "Tests?" Alice blinked again. At that point, Alexander's eyes became more serious before speaking. "I don't really understand it but, they say since Nico— a Demon was allegedly involved in the Dungeon Incident there are some even more stricter measures that needed to be taken for the cadets and victims involved that survived. Something about Demons being able to mark a target as a Vessel with a Cursed technique for their revival. I'm not sure." Alice's eyes shimmered again, this time with the same weight of seriousness in Alexander's. She seemed to have a better comprehension and more knowledge than Alexander did and didn't hesitate to share. "Demons are a race who specialise in dealing with Curses and Corruption. Just like Magic and Arts for Awakened, they possess Cursed Techniques of their own. And one of their most powerful Cursed Techniques that makes the Demon Race all the more hateful and sinister deals with placing a special type of 'Curse Mark' on a Target upon their death. This allows them to return back to life in the body of the target as a vessel, slowly overtime." She looked directly into Alexander's eyes and briefly explained before looking away. Alexander felt his breath hitch as he heard all that. His blood boiled in his veins as something intimidating threatened to burst out of his body in a rage. Alice noticed the contorted expression on Alexander's face as he fought back against his innate hatred and repulsion against Demons, which she knew he had, and continued. "The Academy likely wants to have control over all variables to prevent another tragedy within its walls again from happening by making sure none of the Cadets who survived the Incident haven't been Marked, that explains why you're here. But you might not be the only one after all. "I see." After a while, Alexander calmed down, his boiling blood settling as he better understood what was happening. That meant all the surviving Cadets from the Dark Castle would also undergo this same process to ensure none of them might be the next Vessel housing the return of Zets of Misery. Sweeping another fathomless glance across Alexander with her mysterious eyes, Alice smiled with reassurance. "You seem fine." If there was something wrong, she could usually 'see' these things. Hearing such good news, Alexander's smile returned, and he gingerly nodded. "Yup." *** Sometime later, Victor finally returned back to his dorm room after reeling from the shock of his discovery. It was still quite early and the day was still long, but Victor already had a pulsing headache from everything. He felt he needed a good, long sleep, despite that was all he had been doing for the last couple of weeks. Usually, to clear his mind, Victor would have visited the Training facilities and shoot some arrows, or throw some javelins, but due to obvious reasons, he couldn't, and wasn't allowed to do that. So he decided to take the Doctor's advice and hit the sack instead. Maybe he would be able to better assimilate everything once he woke up. But first, he decided he should take a relaxing bath first, although it was still early. That way, he should be able to sleep even more easily. 'Oh yeah. I almost forgot due to everything that has happened since i woke up. I still haven't checked my rewards from finishing the Quest.' Victor thought, half absent-mindedly a he peeled off his clothes like an extra layer of skin in the bathroom before dipping himself lethargically in the tub full of water. It was hard to do so with his left arm as restricted as he was, so Victor, with annoyance, ripped off the vast and bandages forcefully, letting his left arm finally dangled loosely and freely to breathe. The truth was , due to the perks of his body tempered in an Aether geyser for a few weeks in the past, Victor's physical body and metabolism was slightly more robust and stronger than others of his rank, so his wounds often healed a little earlier. He also had the technique Meta thought him that allowed him to increase the speed of recovery by a small amount by engaging his Ether in a specific manner. And as such Victor was considerably more healed than he had let on at the clinic. He was still far from 100%, especially his left arm, but he was more fit and alive now than anyone thought. His left arm was still in almost shambles though; the mangled flesh and surface skin had more or less healed, leaving a ghastly twisted scar that made his whole arm look like it had been boiled in oil. The muscles, ligaments, joints and bones were still a few from healing completely, and it went without saying that his left arm which was as if all blood had been sapped out of it, pale and greatly scared, was far leaner and thinner than his right. The muscle density had greatly diminished throughout the whole time, making one hand appear far larger than the other. He did, after all, cause his entire arm to explode. It was a miracle the whole limb didn't blow off his shoulder even. It was both comical and unsettling actually. If it weren't for the thick layers of bandages and the cast often covering it, the difference in the size and mangled appearance of both his arms were painfully obvious to anyone who looked. But no one had, yet. Except Victor. That was also why no had yet to see the small, black mysterious mark that had appeared at the center of his palm ever since he returned from Dark Castle.

Chapter 196: Mark

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