When Mervin heard that, his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Shang was also quite surprised. "The dean wants to see me?" he asked.
Soran nodded. "Follow me," he said as he turned around.
Shang looked at Mervin, but Mervin only shrugged. "I wanted to show you where you can deliver the
corpse to, but I might as well do that for you now. I will add the contribution points to your emblem
when you get it."
Shang nodded. He guessed that the emblem Mervin referred to was probably some form of
identification, simr to the ID cards inpanies on Earth.
Shang handed the Beast Sack over to Mervin and followed Soran.
Soran led Shang to the side of a hallway and up some flights of stairs.
"Why does the dean want to see me? Is that normal for new students?" Shang asked.
"I don''t know, and no," Soran said. "Usually, It''s either the other Vice-Dean that wees the new
students or me. The dean doesn''te into contact with students much."
Some seconds of silence passed as they climbed up another flight of stairs.
"So, am I part of the academy now?" Shang asked.
"That''s up to the dean," Soran answered. "I gave him the report, but before he gave his okay, he told
me to bring you to him."
Shang didn''t answer as his brows furrowed.
Why would the dean want to meet him?
Sure, Shang had great instincts, but Soran and Mervin were acting like this was something unusual. If it
were normal for talented students to meet the dean, they wouldn''t have acted in such a manner.
When they reached the fifth floor, the highest floor, the two of them went back to the hallway.
"This floor is reserved for the teachers," Soran exined. "Students are forbidden from essing this
floor without being apanied by a teacher."
Shang looked around, and he noticed that there were not that many doors. He guessed that the rooms
beyond the doors were probably rather sizable.
The two of them walked to the big gates at the end of the hallway and stopped before them.
"Come in," someone said from beyond the door. Shang thought that the voice sounded like the voice of
a middle-aged man. The voice reminded him of one of the managers Shang had been under in his
career as a fighter back on Earth.
"Go in," Soran said, gesturing to the door with his head.
Shang looked at the door with a frown.
He had no idea why someone like the dean wanted to meet him, but it was suspicious.
However, even if the dean had some ulterior motives, there was nothing Shang could do. No one but
the three of them was currently around, and if they wanted to do something to him, they wouldn''t need
to put on such an act.
So eventually, Shang took a deep breath and opened one of the two doors as he stepped into the
room.
When Shang saw the room, the first word that came to his mind was simple. There was only a table
and a chair in the room. A ck spear stood at the corner of the room, but it obviously didn''t belong
here.
That was it.
It looked almost like an interrogation room.
Was this truly the dean''s office?
Shang could also get a clear look at the dean for the first time, and the first word that came to his mind
when seeing the dean was general.
The dean looked exactly like one would imagine a general in a medieval movie to look like.
He wore a fitting ck suit of armor. There were no great designs or anything on the suit of armor, but it
gave off a feeling of experience, time, and status.
As for the dean himself, he was a middle-aged man. He had long ck hair that went past his
shoulders, and he had one of these beards that circled his mouth. Shang didn''t know how they were
called.
The dean currently had a stack of papers in front of him, and Shang noticed that these were the papers
Soran had prepared while interviewing Shang.
"Please close the door," the dean said without looking up from the papers.
Shang noticed that he was still keeping the door open, and he quickly closed it.
After Shang closed the door, some kind of small statue appeared in the dean''s right hand. The dean
put the statue onto a circled part of his table, and the circle around that part suddenly began shining in
a white light.
When that happened, Shang felt that the density of Mana was decreasing inside the room.
Just like Duke Whirlwind, the dean was absorbing a ton of Mana from his surroundings. However, there
was no new Mana entering the room.
"That is an Istion Magic Circle," the deanmented. "It serves as protection against Scouting,
Scrying, and Inquisition Magic. As long as a High Mage isn''t directly trying to listen in on us from
beyond the door, no one is going to hear anything we will be discussing in here."
"Please, sit down," the dean said, lightly gesturing to an empty spot in front of the table.
SHING!
A chair appeared at that spot.
Shang was still uncertain, but he followed the dean''s instructions and sat down.
After some seconds, the dean put the papers to the side and looked at Shang with his azure eyes.
For some reason, Shang felt that the dean''s gaze held a deep meaning. It was almost like the dean
knew something important about Shang.
After looking at Shang for a bit, the dean''s eyes wandered toward Shang''s sword.
When the dean''s gaze went towards Shang''s sword, Shang felt his sword shake for some reason,
which made him more nervous.
Up to now, the sword had only shaken if there was danger present.
"Put your sword on the table," the dean said.
Shang''s frown intensified.
Had the dean noticed that his sword wasn''t as simple as it appeared?
Nevertheless, Shangplied. There was nothing he could do anyway.
Shang took out his sword and ced it on the table.
The sword began to shake more and more, and for some reason, Shang felt like he had betrayed his
sword. Up to now, it had only shaken when there was danger, and judging by the intensity of the
shaking, the sword probably sensed life-threatening danger right now.
"You seem surprised," the deanmented.
Shang threw a look at the dean, but he didn''t answer.
"It seems like there are a lot of things you don''t know," the dean said. Then, he gestured towards the
shaking sword with his head. "Watch."
Shang wasn''t sure what the dean meant, but he looked at his sword.
Crk. Crk.
The shaking became more rhythmic, and the sword moved a slight bit to the side.
Crk. Crk.
The sword moved faster and faster, but it still moved rtively slowly.
Shang looked with surprise at his sword. It was moving in one specific direction, and that direction
wasn''t him. It also wasn''t the dean.
Shang looked at the spear in the corner of the room.
Why was his sword trying to get to the spear in the corner?
When Shang looked back at his sword, he noticed that it was about to fall from the table.
But then, something in Shang''s peripheral vision moved. Shang looked over, and his eyes widened.
The spear was hovering!
The spear slowly flew to the sword, and the shaking of the sword intensified as the spear approached
it.
ck!
Then, the sword leaped forward and touched the spear, and as soon as it did, it was like they became
inseparable. It was like they were maized to each other.
The spear floated back to the corner of the room with the sword andnded again.
"What''s happening?" Shang asked.
"Teaching," the dean said as he looked at the two weapons with a mncholic expression. "I still
remember when I was in your position. I had just been here for maybe a year."
Shang felt like the dean wasn''t referring to this Zone or this country.
This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org.
"Time passes so fast," the dean said with a sigh. "Seems like I''ve fulfilled my purpose in his eyes."
For a second, Shang became confused, but his eyes widened when his mind connected the dots.
"So, you''re the new one, huh?" the dean asked as he looked at Shang.
"Anything interesting happentely on Earth?"