WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 3

When I woke up the next morning, I had a kink in my neck, my back was sore, it felt like my internal organs had been grilled over an open fire, and my backside was soaking wet and covered in mud. Of course, when I opened my eyes and discovered that I was still underneath the tree I’d been hiding in the night before, I realized why I felt this way.

My body groaned in complaint as I crawled out from underneath the tree. A loud cracking noise echoed within the small forested area as I twisted my back and stretched my arms. Ugh, my body felt like crap.

After using Spiritual Perception to scan the area, I discovered that no one was present and began making my way back to Nevaria. It was time to leave. I would have to slip past the guards at the gate, who might be suspicious if they saw a young man covered in mud walking into the city, but I was positive I could do it.

The morning sun rose over my head as I walked back into the city proper.

***

Kari sat at a long table that could easily seat a dozen people. She was currently the only person present, but she knew that her mom, dads, and brothers would arrive at some point. Well, her brothers would probably show up, but it was anyone’s guess as to whether her parents would, given how busy they were. Her mom might even already be working.

A bowl of porridge with freshly cut fruit sat before her, which she stirred absently with her spoon. The scent of the fruits mixed with the honey used to sweeten the porridge. However, even though she usually loved this smell, her thoughts were somewhere else.

She was thinking about that strange Spiritual Power from the other night. It had woken her up in the middle of the night when she felt its Spiritual Pressure, an intense and powerful but not frightening sensation. Something about it seemed so familiar. Yet no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why this was the case. What was it about that strange Spiritual Power that called to her so?

The doors into the dining room suddenly opened and three people walked in.

First to enter was a young man who was two years her senior. At 18 years-old, this young man was about two heads taller than her, had spiky brown hair, and bright blue eyes. The red tunic he wore hid his broad shoulders and powerful chest. Unlike the other two, his eyes possessed the sort of bright arrogance and cockiness that only men who had yet to truly reach maturity possessed.

The other two who entered were older than the first boy, being 23 and 25 years-old respectively. The younger of the two had long red hair that was tied into a ponytail, green eyes, and a smattering of freckles. Last and eldest of the three was a tall man with dark brown hair, a stern face that appeared to have been huen from stone, and the broad shoulders of a warrior. He had a cross scar on his left cheek. Kari didn’t know how he’d gotten it. He never told her.

“Oh! It’s our little sis!” the youngest of the trio exclaimed. Kari grimaced when he directed a condescending smile in her direction. “What are you doing out of your room? Don’t you like to hole yourself up in there like a turtle hiding in its shell?”

Kari twitched as she resisted the slight urge to smack this boy.

“You shouldn’t tease your younger sister, Geirolf,” said the second eldest boy.

Geirolf shrugged. “You’re only defending her because you haven’t been around recently, Mikkel. If you’d seen how mopey she was over this silly talk of marriage, you would understand why I’m talking this way.”

While Geirolf spoke with Mikkel, the eldest of the three quietly walked into the room and sat down at the end of the table. Kari bit her lip as she looked at her eldest brother. Should she say something? She knew a greeting would be polite, but he always frightened her with his chilly demeanor and stoic silence. It felt like anything she said would offend him.

“You should not let this matter bother you,” the eldest said at last.

“E-Elder Brother Earland?” she stuttered.

Earland said nothing more as the door to the kitchen opened and a woman dressed in a white tunic with a black bodice walked out. The woman was pushing a tray that had several bowls of porridge on it. Seeing this woman also caused the other two brothers to take notice and sit down as well.

As her three brothers were served breakfast, Kari tried to finish her meal in a manner that was quick but didn’t seem hurried. She didn’t mind Mikkel. However, she wasn’t comfortable around Earland and didn’t really like Geirolf. While she did her best to eat swiftly without making it look like she was eating fast to leave, the youngest of her brothers began talking again.

“I can’t believe we didn’t find anything about that strange Spiritual Power last night,” he complained, causing her to perk up just a bit. “You’d think someone with that much power wouldn’t just disappear, right?”

Kari slowed her eating to listen despite wanting to leave quickly.

“It is hard to believe that someone releasing so much power could just vanish into thin air like that,” Mikkel admitted as a bowl of porridge was set in front of him. “However, I think I am more interested in finding out what that person was thinking. It’s strange. Why release all that Spiritual Power? Was he trying to get someone’s attention? If so, why vanish like that? I don’t understand what the purpose was.”

“Maybe they didn’t have a purpose,” Geirolf said. “They might not even be human, you know.”

“They were,” Earland said quietly.

The two brothers and even Kari turned to look at him. The oldest among them was quietly eating his porridge, his expression so calm it appeared cold. His dark eyes contained very little emotion.

“They were what?” asked Geirolf.

“Human,” Earland said. “The person who released that Spiritual Power last night was human. What’s more, the power they unleashed was on par with Mother. I do not know who it was or what they were hoping to accomplish, but you two had better pray they don’t have any malevolence toward the Astralia Royal Family.”

A long pause caused a thick tension to spread around the table. Kari glanced at Earland as she finished off her porridge. Meanwhile, Geirolf and Mikkel had gained tense expressions as though they weren’t sure what to make of their brother’s statement.

“Whatever,” Geirolf said at last. “If that person ever shows up again, I’ll introduce him to the tip of my blade.”

Earland just shrugged as if to say he’d done all he could and wouldn’t speak anymore.

Now that she was done eating, Kari grabbed her bowl and utensils, walked into the kitchen, and set them in the counter for their maid to wash. She smiled at the woman who served her family as their chef.

“Thank you for breakfast,” she said. “It was very tasty.”

Her chef, a middle-aged woman with dark hair that had several streaks of gray, smiled back. “You’re welcome, Miss.”

Returning to her bedroom, Kari walked into her closet and grabbed her sandals.

I think I will visit the library today, she said to herself as she slipped them on.

***

After washing myself off with a wet cloth, I changed into a new set of clothes. My brown pants were rough as they rubbed against my skin, and the off-white shirt was several sizes too large. That said, my brown tunic hid the shirt well enough that no one would even realize this. Since I only had one pair of footwear, I was forced to wear the muddy boots from last night. I did my best to wipe them off. However, cleaning them of all the dried mud was a difficult task without the proper cleaning agents and materials.

Once I was dressed, I headed to the library. I wasn’t working today. I checked the schedule to make sure of that, but the library was the place that would allow me to think the best. On the way there, I bought a loaf of bread for breakfast, which cost me 10 Valis. Consequently, this nearly emptied my coin purse.

I could not stop myself from sighing. I almost cried when I spent the last bit of money I had on parchment, a quill, and some ink at the nearest general store. Now carrying what I needed, I finished my journey.

Ms. Nadine was there to greet me when I entered the library. She crossed her arms when she saw me come in and raised a single eyebrow.

“What the heck are you doing here, Eryk? You don’t work today.”

I gave her a helpless smile. “I need a place where I can think, so I decided to head here.”

Although my response was quite good, Ms. Nadine frowned at me as she crossed her arms. “A place to think? Can’t you do that at home?”

“I could, but I prefer being surrounded by books.”

She sighed. “You always were a little too obsessed with reading. Fine. Fine. Just don’t disturb any of the people who are actually here to study.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m not you.”

“Since when did you become so witty?” asked Ms. Nadine as she narrowed her eyes at me.

“Since never.”

Ms. Nadine huffed at me before getting back to work, and I traveled up to the stairs.

I didn’t know if Ms. Nadine was suspicious of how I was acting. She seemed to realize that something was different about me, but she obviously couldn’t put her finger on it. To be honest, I think that was because I couldn’t remember how I used to act when I was younger. What kind of person was I before Nevaria had been destroyed? I could barely remember what I had been like before the Demon Beast Invasion.

The second floor wasn’t much different from the first floor; there were still numerous bookshelves filled with books, and in between the shelves were a number of tables. There were about six tables in all. I couldn’t see anyone sitting at these tables. The first floor had most of the nonfiction books, so people had a tendency to stay down stairs.

I sat down at the nearest table and placed the parchment, ink, and quill down as well. I didn’t uncap the ink bottle yet. Before that, I needed to think about everything I had to do.

My first goal was simple: Stop the Demon Beast Invasion. While I had no idea what prompted the Demon Beast’s to invade Nevaria, I at least had a basic solution to accomplish this. I needed to gain strength. If I could gain the strength I had at the peak of my power, slaying a few hundred thousand Demon Beasts shouldn’t be too difficult.

Saying that, gaining strength wouldn’t be a simple matter. I would have to find a quiet place where I could train. It would be preferable if this place had a large waterfall, which would greatly increase the speed of my training. Second, I needed to buy an alchemy set and quite a few ingredients. Last but not least, I would also need to have custom made weighted clothes to help train my body.

In short, I needed money before I could do anything else.

Reaching deep into my memories, I thought of the few ways I could earn money fast. There were several ways to earn money.

The first was the slay Demon Beasts and sell their monster cores to a trader or an alchemist. The second was to find a valuable treasure in the ruins located inside the Demon Beast Mountain Range and sell it at the Auction House. The third was to fight in the underground arena. All three of these required a lot of strength… which I currently lacked. Not only was my body weak right now, but I couldn’t control my Spiritual Power either.

Speaking of, it seemed I was not as strong now as I had been when I was an adult. My Spiritual Power was only around a tenth of what it was before getting thrown back in time. I guess that going back in time required a sacrifice of some sort, or maybe my body simply couldn’t handle that much Spiritual Power and released it. I really didn’t know. It wasn’t like anyone had ever traveled through time before—not to the best of my knowledge.

Outside of these three methods, there was only one other method I could think of to earn money, and that was to sell a Spiritual Technique to a noble family or the Spiritualist Academy. This one was probably the safest bet.

I had a number of powerful techniques that I doubted the Spiritualist Academy would have, especially since I created most of these myself despite having no use for them. Not only could I not use Spiritual Techniques like most people, but a lot of the techniques I had created weren’t even for my elements. I made them as theoretical exercises to expand my knowledge.

My elements were lightning and water… and light, but the light element came from my wife, not me. She had bequeathed to me as she lay dying in my arms. I wasn’t even sure if I could use the light element anymore.

Well, most people couldn’t use that element. Light and darkness were the two rarest elements on the entire continent, nevermind the isolated Nevaria. In fact, only my wife and her mother had affinities for the light element.

Finally popping the ink bottle open, I spread the parchment across the table, dipped my quill into the ink, and began writing.

Spiritual Techniques were created by writing down a set of instructions using Runes and infusing the parchment with Spiritual Power. Runes were letters derived from an ancient runic alphabet that had existed since long ago. It was not a human language, however. In fact, Runes weren’t even a language of this world. They had been taught to us by a race from Niðavellir known as the Dweorg.

It was actually fortunate that I had exhausted so much of my Spiritual Power last night. This allowed me to control it far more easily, though channeling my Spiritual Power hurt. It caused that sensation of being grilled from the inside out to course through my body all over again. Despite this, I forced myself to keep infusing Spiritual Power into my quill as I wrote.

Different Runes had different meanings, and by combining those meanings together in the form of sentences, a person was able to create Spiritual Techniques, which could be learned by people who know how to use Spiritual Perception—an ocular technique that was normally activated upon blinking. Of course, this was just one of the many uses for Runes.

When I finished writing the technique, I set the quill down and stretched my arms. A groan escaped my mouth. The feeling of my muscles being stretched hurt, but the relief I felt when I relaxed made it all better.

I studied the scroll I had written the technique on. It was glowing a light blue, but the glow soon faded after my Spiritual Power became infused with the parchment. There were over six dozen Runes written on the parchment. That was four lines worth of Runes. This technique wasn’t my most impressive. I’d been asked by many to create Spiritual Techniques, and this particular one had been created for a friend who wanted an A-rank Spiritual Technique that didn’t require a lot of movement to activate. That said, I think it would be enough to fetch a good price if I sold it to the Spiritualist Academy.

With a soft sigh, I rolled the parchment up, tied it with a string around the middle, and stood up. I had just made my way over to the staircase when I was forced to stop because someone had walked up at the same time that I was about to walk down.

My breath caught in my throat.

She carried herself with an incredible amount of elegance and grace. Blond hair that appeared to have been spun from gold framed a porcelain face that had just a hint of redness on her cheeks, making it look like she had a near permanent blush. She had a small button nose, wide blue eyes, and soft pink lips.

Currently dressed in a simple white gown that was tied together with a golden cord and a light purple cloak thrown over it, I could not see much of her figure. However, even with the cloak in the way, the swell of her chest remained visible. It probably helped that she was holding a book to her chest. The act caused her breasts to push against the book.

I found myself frozen as she walked up the steps, the soles of her sandals thumping lightly against the wooden stairs. She reached the top while I was trying to get my head on straight. A slight pricking feeling stung my eyes as I watched this elegant girl stop in front of me when she realized there was someone blocking her path.

She and I stared at each other for the longest time. Her eyes held a glint of concern as she looked at my face.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a soft, polite voice.

“Huh?” I replied in what must have been the dumbest manner possible.

“You’re crying,” she said.

“I am?” I reached up and brushed a finger underneath my right eye. When I looked at the droplet of water on my finger, I realized that she was right. I quickly dried my eyes and tried not to feel embarrassed. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Something just stung my eyes. I think I got some dust in them. Some of these books are a bit musty.”

“That does happen from time to time,” she said with a polite but reserved smile.

Once I had finished drying my tears, I planned on stepping aside to let her pass. As much as I wanted to speak with her, right now wasn’t the best time, especially since I was getting emotional. She didn’t even know who I was and would probably think I was weird. I didn’t want to frighten her off.

However, just as I was about to step aside, I recognized the book she was holding to her chest.

“Isn’t that The Tale of Anderil?” I asked.

At my question, her eyes lit up just a bit. “Do you know it?”

I nodded. “It’s one of my favorites. A young man leaves his home village.”

“He journeys across the land,” she continued for me.

“Exploring ruins,” I picked up where she left off.

“Confronting danger,” she added.

“All for the sake of quenching is undying thirst for adventure,” she and I finished together.

“This is also one of my favorite books,” she admitted with a smile, and this time, her smile was a bit less reserved and a bit more genuine. She tilted her head. Long hair like strands of liquid gold scintillated in the light as they shifted against her back and shoulders. “Do you mind if I ask what other books you’ve read?”

“I think the more appropriate question to ask is what books haven’t I read?” I asked before I began listing off several of my favorites—well, my favorites before the Demon Beast Invasion. I was honestly surprised I could remember all of them.

The more I spoke, the brighter her face became, until it was so bright I could have sworn it was outshining the Sun.

“Those are all some of my favorites,” she said with a wistful sigh. “I actually own quite a few of those, but some of them I can only read here.”

“I have seen you around here often,” I admitted.

“Do you also come here a lot?” she asked.

I gave her a wry grin. “Well, I do work here, so it is hard for me not to come here a lot.”

“OH!” Her mouth formed a pretty O-shape. “Now that you mention it, I have seen you returning books to shelves before. I’m so sorry. I’m usually very distracted when I come here, so I don’t often pay much attention to my surroundings.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. I wanted to stay longer and talk with her, but I knew that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to sell this technique scroll before the Spiritualist Academy closed and would have to wait until tomorrow. What’s more, I knew that she was here to read and even the reason why. It would be bad form if I held her up. “Anyway, I am pretty sure you came here to read, so I’ll leave you to it.”

“Oh… okay,” she said, and her shoulders slumped just a bit.

A slight sense boldness flashed in my eyes when I saw that. “If I see you here again, would you mind if I came up and spoke with you? It would be nice to talk with someone about the books I’m reading.”

The light came back to her eyes. “Yes, I would like that very much.”

I smiled. “I’m Eryk, by the way. Eryk Veiger.”

“My name is Kari… just Kari.” Her lips curved into a delicate and breathtaking smile. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Eryk.”

“Likewise.”

I moved aside and allowed Kari to pass. Her smiled brightened a bit more before she turned her head and wandered further into the second story, sat down at a table, and began quietly reading. She did glance at me a bit more, though.

I knew why she hadn’t told me her last name, but I didn’t feel too bad. I was sure she thought I would kowtow to her if she’d mentioned she was the daughter of Empress Hilda.

Walking back down the stairs, I felt a slight sense of irritation on my back, like a gnat had landed there. However, it was more of a metaphysical sense rather than a purely physical one. Someone was glaring at me.

I soon discovered that it was actually multiple someones. There were quite a few young men ranging in age from their early to late teens sitting at various tables, and all of them were staring at me like I had just murdered their ancestors. What an annoying feeling.

Just as I was about to confront those young men around my age, Ms Nadine stepped up to me. She eyed me for a moment before snorting.

“I never would have imagined you could act so bold.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Nothing.” She waved her hand in an airy manner while holding a stack of books in the other hand. “Did you have a pleasant conversation?”

“I did actually.” I narrowed my eyes. “Were you eavesdropping on us?”

She released another snort. “Don’t be stupid. No one was eavesdropping on you. The two of you were just so loud that everyone heard it.”

“Is that so?” I glanced at the glaring young men. Having finally realized why these people were glaring at me, I could only shake my head. “Some people should mind their own business.”

Ms. Nadine raised an eyebrow at my words, but she didn’t say anything and instead told me it would be best if I left. It seemed all the glaring and unwarranted hatred being rained on me was killing the library’s good vibes.

Well, it wasn’t like I had any intention of staying anyway.

***

My heart was still pounding in my chest as I walked through the busy streets of Nevaria toward the Spiritualist Academy. I don’t think I was prepared to see Kari again so soon. The relief at seeing her alive caused an emotional anguish that tore at my heart, turning into an almost physical pain. It felt like my heart was trying to break out of my ribcage.

Shaking my head, I used a simple breathing technique to quell my emotional turmoil.

The Spiritualist Academy was the largest structure within Nevaria, even bigger than the Imperial Royal Palace that sat on the flattened mountain. It was made entirely of stone and resembled a massive fortress. Numerous spires were arrayed around the academy, each one big enough that it would take at least fifty people to wrap around them. While the spires pierced the sky, the largest feature of this academy was obviously the massive castle, which spread across a large ground.

Anyone could enter the Spiritual Academy. After walking through the front gate, I traveled down a long path situated inside of a sprawling garden filled with colorful blossoms. I didn’t stop and admire the flowers, however. I was there on a mission.

The massive doors to enter the academy were already opened, so I walked inside and looked around. I was inside of a large entrance hall. The stone floor spread out before me. There were numerous doors and several staircases leading to who knew where. Having never been here when people actually inhabited it, I was unsure of what to do.

Fortunately, it seemed there was someone situated nearby whose purpose was to help people like me.

“Excuse me, Miss. Are you looking to enroll in the Spiritualist Academy?” a pretty but plain woman with brown hair asked me with a smile. “I’m sorry. You appear to be a little too old to enroll now. We generally only allow people to enroll when they are between the ages of 12 and 14 years old.”

My right eye twitched. “Okay. First of all, I am not a ‘miss’. I’m a man. I’d appreciate if you could not get my gender mixed up.”

“Oh, my. I’m so sorry, Mister.” The woman held a hand to her mouth in shock.

“Secondly, I’m not here to enroll.” I continued talking, trying to stay on topic. “I recently acquired a scroll that contains what I believe is a Spiritual Technique. I know the Spiritualist Academy has an interest in that kind of stuff, so I came here to have it evaluated and, if possible, I would like to sell it.”

“A Spiritual Technique Scroll?” The woman’s eyes widened in surprise, but she admirably masked it with a quick smile. “In that case, why don’t you wait here for just a moment? I’ll need to get one of the academy elders. I do not have enough knowledge to even begin evaluating a Spiritual Technique Scroll.”

“I understand. I’ll wait right here,” I said.

“Thank you.”

As the woman walked off at a brisk pace, I wandered over to the nearest wall, crossed my arms, and leaned against it. There weren’t that many people within this hall. Someone would occasionally walked out from one of the adjacent doors or come down from the stairs on the other side of the room. Every time someone did walk into the entrance hall, they would stare at me like I was a curiosity. However, no one bothered coming up to me.

Finally, the woman arrived with someone in tow. An old man wearing an extravagant mauve tunic walked behind her. He was carrying a staff, had a slightly ruddy face, and a large, bulbous nose. His all white hair was receding and made him look even older. However, with Spiritual Perception, I could sense this man’s strength. Spiritual Power flowed through his body, and while it wasn’t what I would consider strong, it would be more than enough to take down a C-rank Demon Beast.

I carefully used Masking to hide myself from the perception of others as I pushed off the wall and greeted the two.

“My name is Infile Duendas. I have been told that you have gotten your hands on a Spiritual Technique Scroll,” the old man introduced himself.

“Yes.” I removed the scroll from the sleeve of my tunic. “This is it right here.”

“May I see it?” Infile held out his hand.

I placed the scroll on the man’s outstretched hand, pulling back as he proceeded to study the scroll.

Most scrolls look very old, with faded and worn parchment. I had purposefully bought parchment that was older than usual to make it seem like it was older than it really was. As the man studied the exterior, he seemed to notice its lack of age, but his eyes also widened slightly as he picked up something else too.

“There is indeed a powerful Spiritual Signature on this scroll,” he determined. “Whether or not this is actually a Spiritual Technique has yet to be determined. Do you mind if I take a look inside?”

I gestured at him. “Feel free.”

Nodding, the man undid the cord tying it together and unfurled the scroll. I observed him as he studied the contents, watching as his eyes slowly widened, until it looked like they couldn’t widen anymore. I frowned at how shocked he seemed. However, I wasn’t given enough time to respond before he rolled the scroll back up and looked at me.

“This is indeed a Spiritual Technique Scroll,” he said, his voice unable to contain his excitement. “What’s more, it appears to be quite powerful. I would like to have the Headmaster take a look at this scroll to determine its true value. Would you mind following me?”

“I don’t mind,” I said after a moment’s thought.

“Then follow me.”

I followed the man as he turned around and wandered up a set of stairs. They were different from the one he came through. The stairs wound around the outerwall like a spiral, and after we reached a certain point, he exited through a door that led into a large hallway.

There currently weren’t any classes today, so the hall was fairly empty. If there were classes, then Kari would not have been at the library. I remember her telling me that she, like many other children of noble lineage, had attended the standard four years at this academy starting when she was 14 years-old.

I was eventually led to a large door. It didn’t look different from the other doors outside of its size. Infile knocked on the door once.

“Who is it?” a wizened voice asked from the other side.

“It’s Infile.” The old man glanced at me. “I have a young man who has a rather unique Spiritual Technique Scroll that he would like to have evaluated and exchanged.”

A moment of silence.

“Come in.”

Opening the door, Infile allowed me to proceed him inside. The room on the other side looked smaller than it actually was, but I think that was because of all the objects littering it. A skeleton of an avian Demon Beast hung from the ceiling. There were a number of bookshelves filled to bursting with tomes. In the center of the room was something that looked like a fountain. The clear liquid inside bubbled and rippled as though it was alive.

In the very back of this room was a man who looked even older than Infile. His ancient face was covered in wrinkles and framed by shock white hair. While I couldn’t see all of him because he was sitting, his tunic was pitch black but laced with golden designs. He appeared to have been pouring over a book, but he looked up when the two of us entered, revealing a pair of watery blue eyes behind rimless glasses and a long beard.

His eyes landed on Infile, but then they swept toward me. I sensed him using Spiritual Perception to probe me. I was very glad I had already used Masking to hide my presence.

“What is this about a Spiritual Technique Scroll?” asked the old man, his eyes returning to Infile.

“Here it is.” Infile stepped forward and set the scroll on the desk next to the various nicknacks that littered it. “It seems to be very powerful, but unfortunately, it is a little too advanced for me to accurately evaluate it.”

The Headmaster frowned as he looked at the scroll. He reached out with an old, withered hand, grabbing the scrolling and unfurling it.

I stood back as he set the scroll on the book he’d been reading and poured over it, his brow furrowing. After another moment, he let out a shocked exclamation.

“What is it?” asked Infile.

The Headmaster took a deep breath. “This is indeed the Spiritual Technique Scroll to a powerful technique. It appears to be an A-rank Spiritual Lightning Technique.”

“A-an A-rank Spiritual Lightning Technique?!” Infile squawked, his eyes growing almost impossibly wide.

“Young man, where did you get this?” The Headmaster turned his eyes on me, blinking several times. I once more felt his Spiritual Perception glancing me over. It felt a lot like someone had cracked an egg over my head.

“While I was going through some old items my family left behind, I found this scroll sealed inside of a chest,” I made up a lie on the spot.

“A family technique, is it?” The Headmaster mumbled softly. “Tell me, what family do you belong to?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m an orphan. The chest was just something that’s always been in my possession. I assume it came from my family.”

The Headmaster frowned at my words as though trying to detect a lie. Meanwhile, I was trying to find out what the big deal was. An A-rank technique was powerful, certainly, but the Brave Vesperia Sect I created back in Midgard had plenty of A-rank techniques available. Granted, I had created most of those techniques myself by basing them off my own elemental manipulation, but surely this academy also had plenty of techniques…

Right?

“Well, whatever the case may be, this is indeed a powerful Spiritual Technique Scroll,” the Headmaster said. “I am assuming you want to exchange it for valis?”

“Business hasn’t been good lately, so I have been trying to think of a way I could earn some extra valis,” I admitted.

The Headmaster glanced at the technique again, and then looked back at me. He steepled his fingers together and placed his elbows on the desk.

“Given how powerful this technique is, I am willing to pay 60,000 valis for it.”

“6-60,000 valis?!” Infile looked ready to faint.

I considered how much that was. A single loaf of bread cost 10 valis. If I were to take this number as the standard for a loaf of bread, then it meant my room probably cost about 30 to 40 times more. That was about 400 valis a month. That meant it was enough to pay my rent for 150 months. There were nine months in a year, so I could live off this much for about 11 or 12 years.

After calculating the numbers in my head, I nodded. “I think that sounds good.”

“Then we have a deal.” The Headmaster reached into a drawer and pulled out a large bag that jingled as he set it on the desk. I wondered what this man was doing with a bag of valis just lying around like that, but then he began pulling platinum coins out of the bag.

“Could I get at least some of those in gold and silver coins?” I asked suddenly. “Platinum coins are hard to use for everyday spending.”

The Headmaster paused before nodding. “Certainly, how about I exchange two of these platinum coins for gold and silver? That means you’d get ten gold coins and one hundred silver coins.”

“That should be good. Thank you.”

I remained respectful as the man took out 58 platinum coins, which equaled about 58,000 valis, and then withdrew that money bag and took out another two bags. From each of them, he withdrew 10 gold and 100 silver coins respectively. Then he handed them to me, and I placed them inside of my coin purse, which was strapped across my shoulder.

With my coin purse now much fatter and much happier, I thanked the two men for their help and left the Headmaster’s office.

***

Infile watched the door as it closed behind the young man, and then turned to the older man sitting behind the desk.

“Headmaster…”

The Headmaster raised a hand. “I know what you are going to say, but the money I just spent on this technique is well worth it. You know how valuable Spiritual Techniques are. Even C and B-rank Spiritual Techniques can cost as many as 20,000 to 30,000 valis. An A-rank Spiritual Technique is nearly twice as powerful and a hundred times more rare than a B-rank. Only the Three Heavenly Families and the Astralia Royal Family have techniques of this rank. What’s more…”

“What’s more?” Infile inquired.

“No, nevermind.” The Headmaster shook his head. “In either event, please make sure to have someone keep an eye on that young man if possible. He says he is an orphan, but with a technique like this, he must come from a very prominent background. Perhaps his lineage can even be dated back to a family from before the Great Catastrophe.”

Infile was startled when he heard this, but he quickly nodded his head. “I understand. If at all possible, I will find someone who can keep an eye on him, Headmaster.”

***

It was night by the time I arrived back home. The matter of selling my Spiritual Technique took longer than I expected. Shutting the door behind me, I pried off my boots, pulled off my shirt, and then undid my belt and slid out of my pants. I left each article of clothing on the floor. I was too tired to pick them up.

Falling face first onto the hard mattress of my bed, I winced as I realized that this wasn’t my bed back when Kari and I had formed Brave Vesperia, or even the one when we joined the Explorer’s Guild—our first sect. My nose felt like it had just been smashed against a rock.

I rolled over and tried to get comfortable. It was easier said than done. As I shut my eyes, I thought about all the things I needed to buy: An alchemy set, a bathtub, medicinal ingredients, weighted clothes for training, a map of Nevaria… there was so much I needed to get. Tomorrow was going to be even longer than today.

Well, at least I had gotten to see Kari again. That had been nice.