The ceremony was exhausting. The nobles, who had paid no attention to Aaran before, rushed to greet him once he got the necklace.
Since Igor made Aaran his disciple, they couldn't ignore him anymore. After all, the necklaces were provided based on one's potential. Igor must've known sothing they didn't.
Now, they wanted to know all about Aaran.
Unfortunately, their interest didn't grant results. Aaran only had Analeis to talk on his behalf, and he knew nothing worth ntioning about him.
Technically, she knew nothing about the Aurelia household at all.
Faced with the questioning crowd, Analeis did what Amara had told her to. She grabbed Aaran and left.
To think mother already knew about it.
Aaran smiled, staring at the necklace.
He expected to receive the obsidian necklace, but he wasn't certain. Including his current life, Igor had given him the necklace five tis. Till now, Aaran did not know why Igor gave him the necklace. But he was thankful for his luck.
Just then, Analeis entered the room carrying a suitcase and a teddy. The academy had returned his clothes after inspection.
It was a benefit of being Igor's student. Half the rule did not apply to him.
That's why Aaran had his things returned to him.
"…that's the last of it," Analeis sighed, slumping into a chair. "What's so special about that necklace? You've been staring at it for hours now."
"Nothing," Aaran replied, pocketing the necklace. "It's my first achievent in this life. That's all."
"My sanity will chip away if you keep talking like an old man."
At first, Analeis didn't find Aaran strange. Her clan barely had any children, so she didn't know how kids acted. But after seeing the other nobles, she knew Aaran was too mature for his age.
She had even asked him about it. But Aaran gaslighted her into silence.
And now she had another question. Yet again, Aaran didn't answer her.
There's no need to tell her about it.
The necklace was special and had so enchantnts on it. It could report the students' location to their teachers. Another enchantnt made it impossible to take it off.
But the most important function was to plant seeds of absolute loyalty in their minds. Over ti, these seeds will sprout and birth a loyalist for the empire to exploit.
That's why Aaran had hypnotized himself, shutting his mind from falling for such tricks. It also gave him ti to undo the other enchantnts and install new ones, thanks to the charm store.
The necklace was useless to him, but the Obsidian wasn't.
[You know what the crystal is?]
Aaran nodded in reply.
In Elysium, Obsidian was a relic that was said to transcend life itself. According to the legend, it was a material created from the clash of pure divinity and absolute darkness.
However, over billions of years, the material had lost its power. It was nothing more than a shiny trinket. Sothing valuable only as a collector's item.
No one in Elysium knew its true value. That's why it was used as a rare crystal to give to a student.
But that doesn't an it can't be used.
There was a simple thod to reawaken the crystal. By feeding it what it desired. Naly, divinity and darkness.
But there was a problem.
Even if Aaran fed it all of Dread's darkness, it wouldn't make any difference. To make things worse, he'd also need an equal amount of divinity to awaken the crystal.
While he could provide darkness over ti as a necromancer, gaining or imparting divinity into the crystal would be difficult.
[Relics, boy. We can use them.]
That's what I had in mind.
Relics. The gift from an unknown ancient civilization.
In over two centuries of his life, Aaran couldn't find the source of these relics. All he knew was the temples worshipped them as a gift from the divine.
But getting hands on such relics wasn't easy.
First, they were scattered all around the world. Second, the temples would be pissed if soone other than a priest handled them and last, sacrificing a relic for its divinity was an arduous task.
However, the reward was equally enticing.
After all, an awakened crystal could summon a fragnt of a god… or if he was lucky, he could summon a god themself. As much as Aaran hated them, they'd be of great help in the apocalypse.
But it was all a long shot.
For now, it was better to focus on himself. As he gets stronger, things would slowly fall into place. But to gain that strength, he needed sothing.
Aaran put on a pitiful expression and waited. Sure enough, a notification appeared before him. It was a quest, exactly what he wanted.
Ha!
Not wanting Aaran to remain idle, they gave him a quest.
[You've received a new quest!]
[Quest na: Dream walking.]
[Quest type: Dungeon.]
[Task: Go to sleep and clear the dungeon.]
[Reward: An authority.]
"I'm heading to sleep."
Aaran announced and left before Analeis could say anything.
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