Arcane Era-Chapter 38: Night Before

Nighttime descended upon the Ak’ashi Guild, and the three friends found themselves out late again. It wasn’t very late, unlike last time, and they were already finished with their meal in the restaurant.

The only thing holding them up was the very serious conversation they were having.

"The exams begin tomorrow, and honestly... I didn’t think you guys would be able to get used to your Instruments in time." Kaycee said, his excited voice barely contained in their private corner.

"Yeah, it’s surprising how easy it is."

"I mean, mine is pretty simple to use, so I guess that helped."

Kaycee nodded as he looked at them. "I don’t think I have much to say about Liyah’s use of her Armament. And for Theo, you’re also pretty solid, though I think you expend too much Ne’sh to activate your Armament whenever you want to use it."

"Really? I didn’t notice."

"Well, I did." He sighed. "At first, I thought it was a calibration problem, but I checked and the Ne’sh you expend is way more than what is required to unleash the Armament’s Arcane Abilities."

"I see..." Theo mumbled, unsure of what to do with the information.

It wasn’t like he could put a cap on his Ne’sh flow. Anytime he wanted to use it—whether for refilling Armaments, or activating an Arcane Instrument, his energy simply flowed out of him like an unobstructed river.

He didn’t know of any way to slow down his release rate—at least, not instantly.

"I think it’s fine for now, though. I mean, your Armaments are barely Standard Grade, so their Arcane Abilities don’t require a lot of Ne’sh to activate. Plus, you have an abundance of Ne’sh to spare, so it shouldn’t be a problem." Kaycee smiled, returning his gaze to Liyah. "As for you, I’m glad Theo was able to help out with making more batteries for your Armament. We have more than enough to last you the combat rounds, but since you’re only allowed to bring in registered Armaments to the stage, you can only use the six batteries in the blaster per round."

"When did you even register the Armaments?" Liyah asked.

"The same day I finished making them. Honestly, that was the most stressful part of the whole thing, and honestly... the paperwork was crazy." Once Kaycee said this, Theo and Liyah were both curious about the costs and simultaneously asked follow-up questions to that effect.

"It wasn’t as expensive as I thought. Perhaps it’s because the Oculus Diviner pretty much detected them to be very low in value and classified as Junk-Grade with a few barely reaching Standard Grade."

"Still, that had to be expensive."

"Normally, it would. I even thought I would have to take a loan, since I really wanted to surprise you guys, but apparently there was a limited time offer for free registration which was open to those taking the Evaluation Exams."

"So you didn’t pay a dime?"

"I didn’t pay a dime!" Kaycee beamed. "The offer only extends to Junk and Standard Grade Armaments, though. Anything higher, and cha-ching!"

"That makes sense. They’re trying to encourage the use of Armaments in the Exams, but don’t want powerful ones to be at play. I wouldn’t be surprised if the price for registering in the other categories have increased for a limited time." Theo said, hands on his chin.

"Oh, yeah! You’re actually correct, Theo. How did you guess it so accurately?"

The boy shrugged in response to Kaycee’s question, passing it off as basic deduction and nothing more. In response, both Kaycee and Liyah began to mention Theo’s incredible abilities beyond just physical aptitude, but he quickly brushed them aside by changing the focus.

"I think you’re more impressive, Kaycee." He said plainly. "You’re not as adept at us at combat, but you beat us in practically every other department—especially your knowledge on Arcane Instruments and Arcane Abilities, especially how they interact with Ne’sh. I think you’re actually a genius."

"Pfft! No I’m not. Anyone could know what I know if they studied Armaments as much as I do."

"Really? People spend their whole lives researching Armaments, you know? Other than rare exceptions like the Supreme Lord of the Stars, who most likely even had an Armament to help her, most experienced researchers are old men. And they all have one or two powerful Armaments that aid in their research." Liyah added. "I think, for your age, you’ve done exceptionally well for yourself. I might have to agree with Theo about the whole ’genius’ thing, and I don’t use that word loosely."

"You guys..."

Kaycee tried to hide the smile on his face, but it was too obvious, so he covered it with both hands and groaned in both happiness and embarrassment.

"Not only do you have sharp observational skills, but I believe you have some degree of photographic memory, which explains how you can learn things so quickly. Honestly, it’s just the application you suck at, but if you keep training at this rate, then..." Theo kept praising Kaycee, causing him to bury his face deeper into his palm.

This caused Liyah to laugh, almost until her entire face turned red, which ultimately turned the tides against her. The moment both boys noticed the ’tomato face,’ they switched roles and began to laugh at the embarrassed Liyah.

Right as they were enjoying this moment, a familiar voice echoed in the room that instantly caused Theo to fall silent.

"So noisy..."

The instant he heard this, his focus split off from his friends and he saw a young man slowly walk into the room, walking past the group as he searched for a place to sit in the vast restaurant. His purple hair danced as he walked smoothly, and his elegant suit displayed his opulence. Even if one wanted to ignore him, such a task would be impossible with his handsome face and gentlemanly charms.

"It’s you... Arlet." Theo muttered as his eyes met the boy, who slowed down his pace the moment he heard his name.

"You remember my name?" Arlet asked, his eyes narrowed. "Strange... I can’t seem to recall yours."

"It’s Theo!"

"Theo, huh? Noted."

The boy resumed walking, almost as if he couldn’t care less about the interaction he just had with Theo. Not only did he refuse to acknowledge the rest of the group, but he kept his eyes up ahead as he adjusted his glasses.

"Wait!"

Arlet froze once again, his brows raised as he slowly turned back to see Theo now on his feet.

"I just want to let you know that next time will be different."

"Agreed." He responded curtly. "I won’t be holding back like I did back then."

A wry smile formed on Theo’s face as soon as he heard that. "I would imagine so. But your tone implies that your not holding back would play an important role in our next fight."

"Won’t it?"

"We’ll see..." Theo didn’t want to say much. Rather than make declarations and promises, he preferred to put his money where his mouth was by proving himself through action. There was little need for anything else.

"I look forward to your performance, then."

After giving his dry response, Arlet walked away while hearing Theo collapse back to his seat.

A small, barely noticeable smile formed on his face at that point.

The same smile was on Theo’s face.

"You good, Theo?" Kaycee asked, worried about his friend who hadn’t said a word since he exchanged a few with the passing Arlet.

"Of course!" Theo answered. "I just can’t wait for tomorrow!"

"Me too!" Liyah answered.

"I’m a little nervous about my performance, but... fingers crossed, I suppose."

All three of them made one final cheer as they all rose to their feet and clasped their hands together. Passing the exams was only the beginning for them achieving their goals, and they all wished each other the best.

... If only all wishes came true.