1378 Her Identity
Varian prepared himself for the mission as he stepped into the space gate.
Unlike normal teleportations, the movements through space gate weren't spntaneous.
When they stepped in, instead of directly stepping out in the exit, their surroundings seemed to flash white and black for a moment.
They were pushed by an invisible force, which pushed them from one end to another.
"This is the lab?"
As his vision cleared, Varian found himself standing in a world that resembled primitive earth in the era of dinosaurs.
Because there were actually huge creatures roaming around with imputiny in the forest that stretched endlessly.
Wouldn't a laboratory that's the most advanced of the kingdom have a sci-fi feel? Sleek metallic buildings, floating roads, shining robots.
These were the things he expected. But the laboratory was very different from his expectations.
"Follow me. We don't have all day." Zara Woz moved her heels and walked on a small rough road made in the middle of the forest.
Given te presence of a road, it seemed that other people did exist here.
Some of the curious creatures watched them from the distance as they passed through the forest.
They were primeival in the sense their bloodlines were the first of their kind. As someone familiar with the life power, Varian could tell that these creatures were what one could call the 'Ancestral' species.
Meaning, they didn't have any predecessor race. They were the first of their kind. Interestingly, their bloodlines could mutate and evolve given proper circumstances, leading to new races that could be very different from their own.
'Apes and humans, huh. But I wonder if devas had a hand in our evolution.'
If he asked Oob, he might find some things. Varian wasn't a believer of conspiracy theories, but sometimes, he wondered how the hell did humans come from fricking apes?!
After a few minutes of quick walk, the forest ended and a seemingly endless plain of green, blue and purple began.
In the middle of that plain was a huge complex stretching for tens of thousands of miles. No, it must be even larger than that.
Varian calculated that if this thing was placed on Earth's moon, it'd occupy half of the surface area.
"Seriously?"
But it was still underwhelming for the students who came here. The buildings were very bland looking and even seemed rusty.
Was this really the famed laboratory or was the academy messing with them, trying to dupe them with an imposter?
The students had some wild suspicions. But the one with the greatest suspicion was Varian himself.
He glanced at Aurora and his fists clenched.
'So she wanted to bring me to a fake lab and get my hopes crushed? Is she expecting me to lash out now?'
On the other hand, Aurora, the only student who didn't show any peculiar reaction to the display of the buildings, gestured to Varian with a bright smile.
"Can you sense it? There are so many powerful auras inside!"
The words she innocously were misunderstood by Varian.
'So you're threatening me to surrender myself and not even try escaping?'
His expression hardened and he calculated his options. Killing a peak rank 9 was beyond his strength but he wondered if he could use the power of slivers and stun her momentarily.
Then perhaps it'd give him an opportunity to escape using Hortus. As for them trying to track down Hortus, he'd have to quickly erase the traces. It might or might work, but that's only path that seemed feasible now.
"They are waiting for you." Zara Woz pursed her lips and her figure flashed forward, as if she was never standing in front of them in the first place.
The students quickly followed.
The complex, though vast, was very plain.
But it's not so simple.
There were a few security guards dozing off in front of the entrance. They looked very casual, old men with long beards, bad clothes that showed their terrible fashion sense and an overall sense of laziness.
They looked like the type of security guards who would continue their sleep even if the apartment they're guarding gets robbed clean.
The students thought more or less the same about these people.
But Varian's eyebrows twitched.
[Peak Rank 8]
[Low Rank 9]
'What the fuck? Why do powerhouses always pick jobs like these? Do they want to hide their strength and play the underdog?'
As expected, Zara Woz frowned at these security guards with utter disgust.
She had come here long ago with a team and didn't have to face this. But when she had to do this humiliating job, even these old foggies were doing something like this.
She took as an insult and raised her hand.
"Hey, you!" Her sharp voice sounded like thunder.
But the old men continued to sleep as if they weren't bothered in the slightest.
"Old bastard!"
A whip appeared in Zara's hand and she attacked without hesitation.
Aurora leaned in close to Varian and whispered. "That woman doesn't like to dirty her hands. So, she's using a whip. Usually, she's good at spear. What a pretentious chick."
Varian raised an eyebrow at her comment.
So, Aurora was a faculty at the academy, huh. Or maybe someone like a visiting professor?
It wouldn't make sense for her to know such details otherwise. And her opinion of a 'pretentious chick' wouldn't come without spending some time with that woman.
At least from what he observed so far, Aurora, despite loving chaos, was good at reading people.
'She can't be a regular faculty.'
The whole kingdom had just three peak rank 9s. The King, the Martial Saint and the Dean.
If there's a fourth peak rank 9, that figure had to be in the army or in the capital. No way the trump card of the kingdom would be wandering around in the academy.
'So a visiting faculty…'
Varian's eyes flashed and the thick materials containing information of all members in the last 2,000 years of the academy flashed in his mind. Thanks to his soul path, he had a memory that surpassed all normal standards.
Like the best search engine, his brain quickly narrowed down the candidates fulfilling the critieran of: Visiting faculty + Peak rank 9.
There was none.
Pursing his lips, Varian thought a bit more.
It wouldn't make sense for a peak rank 9 to visit a kingdom's academy. But there's one beside him.
'If she's registered as high rank 9 and became peak rank 9 later on…'
With that changed parameter, three people were filtered.
[Star Lord Xinjue]
[Ice Master Yanel]
[Miss Calamity Aurora]
"…"
Varian wanted to slap himself. Of course, it's gonna be her. Who else? He felt stupid for not figuring out her identity even though he already saw her once.
The first two guys were currently in the border areas, fulfilling their roles in the army.
Only the third candidate was free. She was so free that she appeared in a backwater Duchy and stayed there playing the lord of an auction house!
'She's the type of woman who'd stalk the infiltrator of the academy for fun. I have no doubts about that.'
Varian's gaze towards Isadora changed. He was still very wary of her sabotaging his mission.
But if he had to face the worst case scenario, he had a new card. He could spin a story based on how he saw through her true identity and try securing himself another route of escape.
While he figured this out after some serious thiking, Zara Woz kept beating the security men.
But as minutes passed and they still lay there sleeping, even a woman as arrogant as Zara realized something was off.
There wasn't a single wound mark on the old men. Heck, even their worn out clothes had no signs of being torn.
'Wait, wait, wait, I used my full power but the furniture is still intact. There were no shockwaves, forget earthquakes. I know this world is strengthed but seriously…and the building, even though such a destructive power was released arm's length away from the entrance, there isn't a single scratch on the walls.'
Zara's legs wobbled and she directly knelt. "Please forgive my actions! I am truly sorry!"
Only then did the old men yawn and open their eyes, as if they were really just sleeping.
The students opened their mouths in awe and admiration.
Varian and Miss Calamity glanced at each other before they looked at the old men with contempt.
Was it really appropriate for them to do this at their age? Cheap show offs!
"Ow, someone beat me so hard. My legs are hurting!" The thinner one groaned.
"I-I am sorry!" Zara apologized.
"Show me how sorry you are!" He placed his stick-like legs on the table.
Biting her lip, the woman started massasing his leg like a maid.
"Oh, my other leg too!"
Going a step further, the old guy placed his leg on her shoulder.
"…"
Zara's eyes shot up with hatred before she sighed deeply and massaged that leg too.
Miss Calamity looked at her in contempt. 'When you destroy your mentality like that, there's no way you can grow strong. It's not a coincidence you were unable to recover your power.'
And then she turned to Varian, her eyes gleaming with curiousity. 'But this guy…his eyes tell me he already has a plan to escape if something goes wrong. Would you look at that? A warrior who dares to esacpe from the clutches of Miss Calamity? Hahahaha!'
Unaware that his plan was already exposed, Varian entered the lab with his fellow students an hour after Zara's 'punishment'.
