Chapter 8: Photon Core Part 2

[Principal: I talked to her about Athena's Institute proposition, but she said that she won't leave him here. *A wide grin was on his face*]

[???: The Alliance Council has already decided to move her to Athena's Institute.]

[Principal: The Alliance Council can bark as much as they want; it's her decision to follow or not. Or do you seriously want to 'force' a UHigh/UHigh Hybrid against her wishes? You know the Alliance's rules, and with her capabilities, if she wishes to join the Crimson Empire, the consequences will be on you...]

[???: Heran's Principal! Are you threatening me?]

[Principal: Oh, no, of course not. I'm just wildly hypothesizing aloud.]

[???#2: We need her in Athena. The black scorpion incident showed that Heran is not an appropriate place; it can't safeguard her. Besides, I don't know what the big commotion is about. Just let the 'powerless' one join Athena.]

[???: What are you talking about?! Athena is an all-girls school!]

[???#2: Though it's true that Athena's student body is entirely made up of schoolgirls, as Athena's Headmistress, I do not recall our Institute having such a rule that forbids accepting boys. Isn't that right, Heran's Combat School Principal?]

[Principal: Hmm...]

[???: Wait, wait, what do you mean, Headmistress? You know Heran's Principal?]

[Headmistress: Hmm, if my memory serves me correctly, roughly 700 years ago, Athena also had one male student enrolled... Didn't it, Heran's Principal?]

[Principal: ... I see... Yes, I do seem to recall such a rumor.]

[Headmistress: But of course, the difference was that the boy from 700 years ago was an outstanding genius, so outstanding that our Institute broke its tradition at that time to procure him.]

[Principal: ...]

[Headmistress: Too bad, after his great contribution to defeating the Elzeath Empire, he was severely wounded in the decisive battle and... passed away. Right? Principal?]

[Principal: ... Seems like it.]

[???: ...]

[Headmistress: Oh, also, with the arrival of the White Wolf Princess, our Institute will need higher security. I'd love to hire a high-Power person. Can you introduce someone to me, Principal?]

[Principal: ... No, I'm afraid I don't have that many connections...]

[Headmistress: Too bad. As the head of an elite school, you should have worked on that. Ah! I just remembered someone. He will be perfect...]

[Principal: ... "I have a really bad feeling about this."]

[Headmistress: A Ranker.]

[???: A Ranker?! Wow! Who is he?]

[Headmistress: Haha, his name is not known at all, but I know his capability very well.]

[Principal: ... "No... No... No..."]

[Headmistress: Coincidentally, he has the same name as that war hero we talked about, haha.]

[Principal: Haha~ Such a coincidence... "This old hag..."]

[Headmistress: Well, Mr. Mistglan also owes me a favor, so he won't be able to refuse. Luckily, a position of a teacher was recently opened~ Coincidences~]

[Principal: ... May I know what happened to the previous teacher?]

[Headmistress: Oh, Mr. Edwing won the lottery and suddenly decided to retire.]

[Principal: ... So lucky... "AS IF THAT HAPPENED!"]

[Headmistress: Right~ That reminds me, I heard a rumor that you, dear Principal, decided to retire from Heran.]

[Principal: Yeah. I... I also won the lottery...]

[???: ... "Headmistress sure is scary... And who would have known... *realization -> shudder* I-I raised my voice at a Ranker... *cold sweat*"]

***

Two days had passed since the day of the aptitude test.

The truth was that the night before that day, Marc decided to explore his Photon Core. As usual, being a genius when it came to magic sense, he instantly arrived at a conclusion.

Everything was WRONG.

If he compared it to a room, then that room was full of trash. He immediately got to work and threw it all away. That’s how his crystal core lost most of its value, and the main reason his result showed a beautiful 1st LST. What he noticed was the 'purity' of nano-photons, and he only collected the most 'pure' nano-photons. After one night of meditation, he gathered a bit of those extremely pure particles, which made the aptitude flow triple—imagine a disk made of water flowing towards the center; with increased speed, it got compressed, thus becoming thinner and covering less space, resulting in a lower aptitude output...

[--Lily--: I said low key, but I never knew that Lord Marcdrak would go this far for me! Fufu~]

[--Marc--: Hm... *He did it because he felt an urge to; it was just a side effect, but he wisely chose to keep silent*]

In fact, two days later, his core was already close to 2nd LST, but his potential power right now was comparable to a Mid-Tier subclass! But of course, no one was interested in measuring the 'powerless' one. The real hot topic right now was the White Wolf Princess, who had just broken through and achieved 1st HST.

[Mersa: Aaan~]

[Vorst: ... Aaa... *nom nom nom*]

That's right, at this very moment, young Vorst was being fed by Mer-chan, while all of the boys in the surroundings were throwing death glares at him. But the green-eyed boy sat there unfazed.

[Mersa: Vor-chan, why did you bring three lunch packs?]

[Vorst: Mer-chan, as boys grow, they need to eat more.]

[Mersa: Oh? Though the lunches for boys are already bigger anyway...]

In fact, the method Marc was using to absorb the pure nano-photons was very energy inefficient. It would cast away millions of particles that were sucked in at high speed, only allowing one or two among them to 'enter.' It was a slow growth in the beginning but boasted an exponential curve!! As his core grew, the attraction power of it would grow multiple times compared to a normal core. He also asked Mersa about it, but it seemed like only he was capable of recognizing the purity...

[Vorst: ... Actually, I really liked it when Mer-chan fed me, so I bought more.]

[--Lily--: Lies~~]

[--Calla--: Half-truth, I'd say.]

[Mersa: *Blush* A-ah! *Blush level 2* I-I see... Then let me help you with a second one! Aaan~]

Glares from the surroundings also leveled up!

***

**[Time: That day, late at night.]**

Marc was sitting on the bed with a relaxed expression. He had just finished using the runic system to set up an automatic filtering system. With it, he wouldn't need to concentrate on absorbing the nano-photons. It was a very handy method; however, that method also used the nano-photons to secure, maintain, and nourish itself—right now, it was actively limiting his actual nano-photon pool by more than 95%. Of course, as his core grew, the ratio would decrease, but right now...

He tried to sleep, but somehow he couldn't fall into slumber. His body needed it, was tired, and was also at an age where sleep was essential for its development. But he couldn't... Actually, in the past three days, he hadn't been able to get a second of sleep... Since coming to this world... That was bad...

His body was already refusing to move, he felt the paralysis taking over, but his mind stayed sharp as ever... Remember, how did you sleep in the past 40,000 years? Damn, there was nothing in particular... What was different?!

[--Lily--: Can't sleep?]

Marc immediately showed himself in the throne room. With a sigh, he sat down among the violet cushions.

[--Marc--: I don't get it. What's wrong...]

[--Lily--: I can show you what's wrong.]

With a bewitching smile, the redhead maintained eye contact. For a while, he found himself hopelessly immersed in the depths of those azure eyes.

[--Marc--: This is not a time for jokes, Lily.]

[--Lily--: I'm not joking...]

As she said that, her hands moved towards her dress. Bit by bit, she undid it...

[--Marc--: Lily? Loki...]

Several days ago, Calla had moved the girls to their respective rooms, so right now he was sitting alone in the middle of the throne room. On all fours, with the movement similar to a cougar sneaking towards its prey, she closed in on Marc.

At first, he wanted to rebuke her, but somehow... His movements dulled...

[--Lily--: Fufu~ Seems like Lord Marcdrak didn't notice it himself, but he is no longer able to sleep alone anymore...]

Now he wanted to refute such a ridiculous claim, but seeing his mind in this state... he simply had to accept it.

[--Lily--: Though young boys are not my type, I'll provide service since it's Lord Marcdrak.]

Saying that, she finally reached him, and as

she extended her arms to hug him, her dress completely fell off.

[--Lily--: Such thin arms... You need to start building some muscles, Marc. I miss old Marc's embrace...]

[--Marc--: Duly noted... Yaaaaawn...]

[--Lily--: Marc, there are no curses here...]

[--Marc--: ...]

[--Lily--: In this world, you can become anything. There is no need for you to be a Demon Emperor anymore... Nor be bound by that contract... Nor...]

[--Marc--: Lily... I was never forced. It was my decision to do it all, thus my duty to oversee it to the end.]

[--Lily--: But in this world, you can become anything. You can even become a Hero! No... I'll make a Hero out of you!]

Marc looked at her eyes full of doubt... Sleepiness was overcoming him.

[--Lily--: Can I?]

[--Marc--: Yawn~ Just do as you please.]

[--Lily--: Hehe.]

And while watching Lily's sweet smile, his consciousness cut off.