26 - Gates [3]

The system had come in clutch for me.

Right on time!

I clenched my fist and punched the air in celebration.

If I didn’t receive this reward, I couldn’t predict what would happen when I went inside the gate.

It might end up in a disaster that would have spiraled out of control.

I just kept imagining a scenario where the worst had happened before any help would make it to de-escalate the situation.

[Carafe of Essence]

[Description: A serving of pure, condensed Essence. Drinking from the content of this glass increases your Essence by 10%. Essence gained from drinking is not replenished once depleted.]

I massaged my chin in thought, analyzing this item. ’So it’s a one time thing. Hmm.’

Whether or not it was, that didn’t matter right now.

The most important was the fact that he can use it to my advantage during the gate exercise. That was more than enough for me.

At least I could use my newly acquired ability without dropping almost dead like a sickly child after a hectic work.

The [Carafe of Essence] should serve me for now but that still wasn’t the long term plan.

Bran, on the other end, was yet to give me feedback on how things are going with the craftsmen.

With a thought, the glass container filled with Essence manifested in the hand and I gulped it in one go.

Taking the carafe from my mouth, I examined it briefly.

"Essence actually tastes good."

I didn’t expect to be sweet. Things like this in web novels were never sweet, nor did they come with pleasant experiences after taking them.

Shortly after, I felt even more rejuvenated as though I was bathing in a pool of fresh energy.

It was a soothingly warm feeling that I don’t think I will be forgetting in a while.

Raising my hands, I examined them.

I couldn’t objectively check how much Essence I had now without drawing attention to myself but I could feel it inside of me.

It was like an instinct. It was natural to me.

I knew, for a fact, that there was an improvement.

I cracked my knuckles, a feeling of youthful exuberance taking over me as I walked out of the restroom.

It was almost time for the rendezvous with Professor Kenivale. So, instead of returning to class, I headed straight to the Ivory Fountain just like I had told Wendy and Bran that I would do.

****

We were all gathered at the Ivory Fountain.

Though we had been there on time, Professor Kenivale had arrived before us... and he wasn’t alone.

Standing behind him were four other individuals, also professors of the Ivory Academy.

I recognized each and every one of them, after all.

Despite being under the sun, Professor Kenivale felt no threat or need to hide himself.

Such restrictions placed on vampires in the books and shows that I came across back on Earth did not apply here.

The sun, garlic or holy water did not kill them just like that.

The vampire stepped forward, coming even closer to us.

"Now that you are all present, I will start the briefing."

He reached for the inner pocket of his coat and took out a pair of folded sheets of paper, unfurling it as he spoke to us.

"Considering your total number, you will be divided into five separate groups of seven for this task. Take this to be your first official mission with regards to challenging gates."

The professor turned back to the other professors and gestured towards them. "They will be supervising the teams for this along with me. The gates we are entering are level 0 to 1. So, do your best."

"""Yes, Professor!"""

The chorus thundered with excitement.

After having used the half hour grace to ready ourselves, many were now feeling much more confident in their capabilities.

"Those who will be going with Professor Vivian..."

The vampire went ahead to start calling our names while placing us under a particular professor out of the five of them.

After a few minutes, we were seven left and Professor Kenivale was yet to assign any final years to himself.

Some of my classmates, as usual, wanted to protest what they believed was an unfair pairing but even then they knew better than that.

Professor Kenivale had done this intentionally to prevent situations where those lacking in skills hide behind the talented ones, creating an illusion that they can fend for themselves.

Such things don’t work in the real world.

"The rest of you will go with me. Good luck to everybody."

The five teams departed, each one going their own way and about their plans of challenging their assigned gates.

We followed the professor overseeing us like sheep with a shepherd, heading towards the academy’s transport chain area.

From the looks of it, every arrangement had been made, seeing how it appeared like they were expecting us.

In-charge of these chains of vehicles in this part of the academy was a bald man.

He was robust and looked to be in his early fifties.

"Good day to you, Professor Kenny."

"Good day to you too, Velham. Are we set?"

Velham smiled and nodded with confidence. "Of course. We are always ready, remember?"

Professor Kenivale extended a handshake to the bald man.

"Thank you for coming through, Velham. Even on short notice."

"Hahaha!" The man burst into laughter, patting his stomach and leaving the vampire a bit stunned.

"We are ready whenever you are," he said to the professor, turning around to return to the vehicle he was attending to.

"We would appreciate it if we could leave now. If you don’t mind that is..."

"That’s fine then," Velham responded.

The older man looked around, making eye contact with his underlings who were hanging around.

With a head gesture, they understood what Velham wanted and came to them.

Giving them clear instructions, they bowed in respect to Velham before proceeding to lead us to where we would get on a means of transportation.

"This way please..."