***
A Short While Later
Quinn stood at the top of a long escalator that headed down, pointing a small flashlight that lit up the entire path below.
As stated in the information package provided by the Academy, this route headed deep, leading to the shops that welcod all arrivals from nearby tro stations.
"So? All clear?"
She looked behind, eyeing the approaching Reaper, then shrugged her shoulders.
"Just a few small boulders we have to jump over, nothing major."
Elijah nodded at her, then gestured for the other in their cohort to move up.
Soft steps resounded, and once they neared the light, their faces were seen, revealing themselves to be Aria and Junior.
"Let's go then! I'm dying to test out this new ability!"
"I wish! Got two skills instead, I need to rank up for my next one."
Their excitent was understandable, as they had finally received their rewards.
And it was from Emir no less, for their results in the first month of the Academy. Those who hadn't reached the limit had gotten the next ability in their path.
Each one was inside an implant injection like the Skill Implant, imdiately inputting the Ability Path in their minds, though rough and unperfected.
So opted to not use it, as it was generally better for the user to learn the Ability Path manually, inching closer to Path Optimization as they would learn the intricacies firsthand and much more quickly at that, but most preferred the convenience.
Aria had received {Thorn Volley} which allowed her to do actual direct damage.
She desperately needed it since it was the first ability that allowed her a certain degree of swift lethality.
Junior received two of the three skills Emir had demonstrated to them, {Guardian Combat System} and {Bind Arts.}
He wasn't given an ability since he had reached the maximum for his rank, which was four. "Heard your friend can heal now."
"Yep, that girl is finally useful. I bet if she was assigned to our cohort she'd say how she wouldn't mind if so of us get injured or sothing."
"True true~."
Right, their pointless chatter was true; Ava had received the third ability for her Zenith Warden specialization, {Aetheric Heal.}
While she did have the ability path already, she didn't bother unlocking it, waiting until she saved up enough Academy credits for the implant.
She could have obtained the implant through less-than-legal ans, as many in her circle did.
After all, laws were nothing but words to people like them.
But this was different.
This was Ava, not soone else.
Her reckless personality would inevitably catch up to her, and she'd be exposed, dragging her family's corruption into the light.
Michael Nguyen knew this and, for the first ti in her life, had put his foot down, telling her
no.
She had to get the implant through the Academy-the only legal option left to her.
But now, she had gotten it for free, no need to save up or use her hard-earned credits.
It was only natural that she was excited.
Ava and the other two weren't the only ones thrilled, however.
Most of the students had received an ability, and those who put in extra effort were rewarded with a significant amount of AUC.
For many, this was more than just progress-it was a step closer to survival.
Elijah had unlocked the fourth ability on his path, {Death Mark.}
Quinn anwhile had just gotten sixty AUC, but that was in public, a cover.
In private, her sponsor had granted her two new abilities: {Aetheric Shield} and {Aether Blast,} unlocking the first three that Emir himself had once wielded when he was on the path of an Aetheric Duelist.
It was obvious why the prince had given her the abilities that way.
Quinn trusted her sponsor wholeheartedly-so much so that she would have willingly died for him if asked.
And while she was just as excited as the others, perhaps even more so, she forced herself to remain calm.
Following the directions of the one person she considered her true support, she focused on blending in, trying to engage with the rest of the group, even though she didn't want to.
"Hopefully not. Let's go; I'll take the lead."
No one complained and let Quinn walk in front with an assault rifle in hand, leading them down the escalator.
It didn't take them more than a minute to reach what used to be the first underground floor. The place was relatively clean, the ceramic tiles on the ground almost in perfect condition, as well as the ceiling, where ventilation vents seed to be in one piece.
It was only uninhabited, dusty, with a few weird items dropped here and there, half eaten.
Without comnt or pause, they walked through the passage, heading further in, and the closer they walked, the more vibrations they felt from the ground beneath them as if it were gyrating, experiencing a small earthquake.
They silently looked at each other, expecting a monster, and then held their weapons close, slowly moving forward while holding a 1-2-1 formation.
Continuing through the passage, ti slowly passed and tension began to increase in the group as they hadn't t a single monster, not even a whiff of one.
They almost felt exhausted, their breaths coming in heavily, even though their bodies did nothing but walk.
Elijah was the only one who had acted normally, but as he saw them get worse, he finally intervened, deeming it too unsafe for them to continue:
"Everyone stop."
Still breathing hard, they looked at him, quickly noticing the contrast between them.
The boy had experience with dives, they already knew, and that was confird to them now.
In his eyes, they must've looked funny, exhausted due to how their emotions weighed them
down, literally.
But he didn't tease them for their trepidation.
He knew exactly how they felt, he had gone through it before.
In fact, he was doing much worse when he first dove with the family, afraid of letting them down while also afraid of the ruin itself.
"We won't last if you continue like this. Calm down. I'm the Spotter and if I don't show a monster on your radar, then there isn't one. If you continue being tense, your minds will
fry..."
He paused for a mont then looked at Quinn.
While she faired better than the two girls as her ntal fortitude was much higher, she still
was affected:
"Especially you. You're at the lead, we can't have you ss up. Unlike last ti, there's no one here to protect you. Understand?"
That last part was a lie, but Emir told Elijah to make it seem that this was the case.
He needed them to have a genuine dive experience, even if they went through an incredibly traumatic experience, sothing way worse than anything they had experienced before,
which he was sure they would.
It was for their own good.
And well, he needed them to follow what they did in the 'novel,' because it would be easier to
protect them from Templar.
This cohort composition was on purpose as well; after all, Ava, Max, Sofia, and Arthur would undergo major character developnt in this ruin, and Emir didn't want those changed four
to interrupt that.
"...Fine."
Quinn took a couple of deep breaths, then breathed out, calming her nerves.
The others did the sa, and soon they were on the move again.
The shaking continued, but they paid it no mind and focused on their surroundings.
Eventually, they arrived at the shopping section of the tro, where large shops lined both
the left and right sides of the passage.
There, in the nearest shop to them, they saw a large, expensive dress, red in color, brightly
contrasting against the dull surroundings.
"Follow ! That relic has to be expensive."
Quinn instantly straight-lined towards that shop, pausing her steps near the larger corner
glass panel that displayed the dress.
She then began looking around left and right, searching for the entrance, Aria and Junior did
the sa at the back, excitedly looking around.
"Guess you useless being in the lead brought us so luck!"
"Hahaha! We're gonna get a lot of AUC for this!"
As they searched all over the place like maddened monkeys, Elijah looked at them with a
pitiful face, barely holding back a smirk from showing.
He rembered this exact scene as it happened to him long ago, only that Lyra was there and
she showed him the truth.
It seed like it was his turn to take on her mantle.
Elijah stepped next to the dress and tapped twice on the glass window.
A bright dot appeared at the bottom; he tapped that, and the dress turned from a realistic 3D
hologram to a 2D one.
The others, still searching, eventually glanced back, and when they did, they looked at Elijah with a confused look, demanding an explanation, one that he provided with a smile: "It's how they advertised things in the old world. This hologram has pseudo-stereoscopic viewing tech. Don't ask what that ans, all I know is that it's better than the hologram
tech we use in terminals."
Aria clicked her tongue.
"You should've told then! That was so embarrassing."
He chuckled.
"It's fine. Sa happened to . I've heard that it's a common trick experienced hunters use
every ti a newbie joins them."
Junior laughed alongside his friend, patting his back as he rejoined the formation.
"Good thing we got you here then, eh?"
"Of course, others would beg to be in their cohort, you know~."
Aria showed her tongue.
"Bleh, don't lie to yourself; no one wants a Reaper..."
Looking away, she added:
"I-Its only us that accept you."
Elijah shook his head, a smile still on his face, then turned to Quinn, the last to approach.
Her eyes showed disappointnt appearing as if she truly had wanted that dress.
Relative to the others in the cohort, she had barely any credits to spend on such extravagant
things, so she thought that she had finally caught a lucky break. Besides, the dress was beautiful, she would kill to wear sothing like it.
However, those thoughts quickly receded, and she began leading the cohort again, walking
slowly in between the shops.
After passing a few that also had no entrances, they saw one in the distance with glass doors,
obvious from the handles on them.
On the outside, Manquins were placed behind glass panels, each with a different outfit.
Quinn looked at Elijah, asking the obvious, and he nodded.
They headed there, more calm head this ti around, and stopped at the door.
She reached out to grab the handle but couldn't, as the two doors swung open by themselves,
allowing them in.
"Let's go."
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