Next day, Kyle didn't see Nine in the classroom. He frowned and became a little worried.
After the classes, he skipped the training session together with Alec and Carcel. The three of them went to Nine's dorm.
Kyle gazed at the two individuals standing behind him and knocked on Nine's door for the second time today. The first time was in the morning but because no one opened the door he left it alone.
He waited for a minute and knocked on the door again but didn't receive any response.
"Don't tell me he went out again?"
He sighed and looked at the duo standing behind him.
Alec shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe... It's possible. Anyway, now that Nine isn't present we are free for the day. What are you going to do?"
Kyle looked back at Nine's dorm with a serious expression.
"I am going to the library for a while."
"Huh?"
Alec and Carcel both looked at each other. Kyle did go to the library frequently for some reason but for the past week he stopped, so they thought maybe he won't go there again.
"Alright. Then we are leaving, if you are free you can see us in the second-year students building. I heard they are trading some stuff with the juniors."
Alec said and left the building with Carcel. Kyle looked at their backs for a while, he once again knocked on Nine door.
"Huh... He was sick where did he go in such a condition?"
He shook his head and went to the library with Bia. When he stepped inside, he saw the familiar old Librarian who gave him a nod.
As he walked through the rows of bookshelves, he felt someone was staring at him from behind. Kyle frowned and looked back only to see the new woman who was assigned as an assistant to the librarian.
She was wearing a light blue robe and he could see glasses on her deep eyes but she wasn't looking at Kyle thought she was busy sorting some books on a nearby bookshelf.
'Did I make a mistake?'
He grumbled inwardly at how paranoid he was and was going to brush the matter when Bia's voice resounded inside his mind.
-'She was staring at your back.'
'Huh?'
Kyle's feet stopped for a moment and he blinked a few times.
'She was?...'
He gazed at the woman again this time with a serious expression. He had been coming to the library for a few months now and sometimes he would feel someone was staring at him.
-'Yes, she turned away the moment you look back.'
Bia yawned and flapped her wings while sitting on Kyle's head but her eyes were sharp as she gazed at the woman.
Kyle gave a side long glance to the woman who seemed too busy with the books and after noting her strange behavior, he entered the secret room with Bia.
Bia flew around the familiar room with a bored expression before sitting on the only table present in the middle of the room.
On the other hand, Kyle sat down on a chair and picked up one of the books present on the table. The book was thick and filled with complicated symbols but he read through each symbol with ease.
Under the guidance of Elder Han, Kyle has achieved a lot in Arrays within a short amount of time. Even Han was shocked at his improvements because Kyle was very fast at picking up things and his learning was basically out of the chart.
There were seven stages of Array mastery.
1_Begginer
2_Novice
3_Intermediate
4_Advance
5_Expert
6_Master
7_Grandmaster
When Elder Han suddenly disappeared, Kyle had reached intermediate mastery in Arrays. He gazed at the pile of books present on the table.
"I think I will be done with these books within two months. Maybe I will reach advanced mastery before the Academies tournament."
A smile appeared at the corner of his lips. The books were quite hard even for him but after he started learning seriously he liked this profession.
Kyle thought trailed off for a second as he thought of a silly scenario.
In a large forest, he was surrounded by hundreds of monsters but he stood tall and just waved his hand sprinkling mana stones everywhere. Instantly a high-rank defensive Array appeared around him. In the end, the monsters weren't even able to touch him as he easily killed them with another high-grade offensive Array.
The battle was won and he didn't even use an ounce of mana! How good it would be!
Bia narrowed her gaze at Kyle's face. He was wearing a strange evil smile for some reason.
-'Kyle..?'
"Huh?"
-'You okay?'
Kyle blinked and pinched his nose bridge with an embarrassed smile.
"I am fine."
...
Meanwhile, inside Vice Principal George's office. He frowned as he looked at the brown-haired youth sitting in front of his work table.
"So you are saying I need to increase the security around the Academy?"
Nine wore a grave expression as he looked at George.
"Yes, I think something bad is going to happen!"
George scoffed. He knew Nine identity as a Prince but he didn't expect to hear such bullshit. Just who would dare to attack the Academy in his presence? After Ratric he was one of the strongest in the Kingdom. Also, the nearby Kingdoms weren't idiot enough to send their elites to barge into the Academy because no one wanted to make Ratric their enemy.
He picked up some papers from nearby and started reading while pointing at the exit.
"Okay. I heard you, you can leave now."
Nine looked at the pointed finger and sighed while massaging his temples like an old man. He had been trying to talk with George for a while now but the latter didn't seem to believe him.
'It's not unexpected. He didn't know about my Inherited ability.'
"Alright but even if you can't increase the security please keep an eye on the students to avoid any future danger!"
He stood up with a serious expression and left the room.
George looked at Nine fading image and his frown deepened.
"This brat! Why is he suddenly stressing about the Academy security? Did someone from his Kingdom want to attack the Academy?"
"Anyway, it's better to be cautious. I will ask the Elders to guard the kids for a while."
He sighed and started reading the papers.
...
After the sudden news about the Academies tournament was released by the King himself, all the Academies present within Kingdom Escalante started preparing for the tournament with full power because the King promised to reward the top 200 students himself.
The public also heard about the news and was excited because something like this never happened before but their excitement died down when they found out the Academies tournament would be held in a secret place, away from their eyes to avoid all types of mischief and hidden danger.
A lot of nobles voiced their opinions in front of the King because even they were forbidden to know the tournament location.
In the end, the King ordered to record the whole tournament inside the video crystals. After the tournament, the crystals would be sold to everyone who wished to see the student's performance in the tournament.
After one month passed, a total of 86 Academies registered for the tournament. Each Academy was informed to bring thirty elite students, ten students from each year.
Inside a luxurious room filled with various types of beautiful antiques. The room was painted white and a large bookshelf filled with documents was present on the left.
A huge brown curtain was floating behind a golden-haired man who sat on a chair embedded with gems. He placed his hand on the table present in front of himself with a frown.
Two tall individuals wearing golden uniforms were kneeling in front of the sitting man as they told him the news they received a few moments ago.
"Your majesty. We have checked the information it's true."
The golden-haired man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties sighed as he waved his hand to dismiss the guards.
After the guards left he took out a communication Crystal for the ring present on his middle finger and envelope the Crystal with mana, seemingly trying to contact someone.
A few moments passed when the Crystal finally lit up showing a projection of an old individual who was sitting on a grassy field.
"Ratric?"
The old individual gazed at the golden-haired man with a polite smile. The man was none other than the King of Kingdom Escalante.
"Your majesty, why did you call me so suddenly?"
The King looked at the old man with narrowed eyes.
"I just received a report about that student of yours what was the name again? Kyle was it?"
A confused expression appeared on Ratric face as he waited for the King to finish his sentence.
"You said he only had (B)-Rank talent but in the report I received his talent isn't (B)-Rank?"
"At first it was fine because he only had a beast that had a legendary talent. There was no way he should be able to nurture the beast with his strength that's why no one was willing to take any risk but now with his actual talent being (SS)-Rank, the old foggies are becoming too greedy."
Ratric frowned as he heard the news.
"I had no idea about this."
He said with a sigh but the King looked too serious.
"It's okay. Ask George to protect that Kid for a while and send him to the 'Secret Realm' with Alec and Carcel. I believe the three of them will give us a lot of surprises in th future."
