Solaris

The clock turned back to before Mo Bai entered the Infirmary.

"So, Lynae, is this person from outside the Academy too, like Mo Bai?"

N.A.N.A. gave Rover a kindly look.

Though she was a robot, her creator had clearly given her plenty of emotional modules, making her seem especially approachable.

"No. Rover is about to enroll. She just hasn't received her Tacet Disc yet. Oh, Ms. N.A.N.A., could you examine her too?"

Lynae introduced Rover to N.A.N.A.

But when she turned, she noticed Rover seemed lost in thought.

"Rover?"

"Hm? Sorry, I was thinking about something."

Only after Lynae's gentle prompt did Rover come back to herself.

She had been thinking about the Cursed Energy Mo Bai had displayed on their way here.

Its frequency had fluctuated in an unusual way, and it intrigued her.

More importantly, he had lied earlier.

She had lost her memory herself, so she could tell Mo Bai did not act like someone with amnesia.

That did not mean she was hostile toward him. He might have lied, but his eyes had looked much like hers when she first woke up in this world.

Lost.

So, after N.A.N.A. examined her, Rover went to the Infirmary alone. That was how she came to answer the question for Mo Bai.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Doctor Lu showed no surprise at Rover's answer. He slowly rose and walked toward her.

"But those are matters for later. Right now, both you and Mo Bai are injured patients. Here, all you need to think about is recovering."

Doctor Lu gave Rover a small smile as he spoke.

Mo Bai thought he was every bit a doctor. His manner alone put people at ease.

After speaking, Doctor Lu glanced at Mo Bai again.

For an instant, Mo Bai felt he was no longer the gentle doctor from a moment ago.

Thankfully, the feeling lasted only an instant, like a trick of the mind.

"Well, there's nothing seriously wrong with you either, Rover." After looking Rover over, Doctor Lu checked the report again.

"A Threnodian of the Black Shores... With you recommending him, and with the two of you having driven off the Voidworm, Mo Bai should have no trouble entering the Academy alongside you."

Doctor Lu ended on an encouraging note.

"Now, neither of you has any serious injuries. Next comes a little nagging from me, Lu Hess."

The man named Lu Hess set down the report and smiled warmly.

"Unless there are special circumstances or you have protection, don't go provoking things like Voidworms. Plenty of students have been hurt trying to collect data on them."

Lu Hess glanced at the other students in the Infirmary.

Some of the students he looked at turned away guiltily.

After all, being held up as a cautionary example was hardly an honor.

"If you feel unwell later, physically or mentally, you can come find me here. I'm always around. Oh, right."

At that, Lu Hess rummaged through the pouch at his waist and took out two things.

Candies.

"Consider these a welcome gift. It's just a little something from me." Smiling, he offered the candies to Rover and Mo Bai.

"Mm."

"Thank you."

Neither of them refused his kindness. They ate the candies right there.

They were very sweet, just the thing for patients who had been through an ordeal.

Lu Hess said no more. When N.A.N.A. told him another patient had arrived, he turned to leave.

Tap.

But at the last moment, he stopped and said softly,

"Welcome back."

Tap. Tap.

Mo Bai noticed Rover's pupils contract at Doctor Lu's words.

Did they know each other?

At least Mo Bai was sure the doctor's last words had not been meant for him.

He did not ask. Instead, he went with Rover to find Lynae, who was sitting on a chair in the waiting area.

"Well?! How did it go?! Nothing serious, right?!"

As soon as Lynae saw them come out together, she sprang up from her chair and asked anxiously.

Mo Bai and Rover both smiled. Mo Bai waved his now-healed arm at her.

"Phew, that's good. Oh, right, Mo Bai, you're not a student here. What are you going to do..."

"It's fine. I've already recommended Mo Bai for admission to the Academy."

As Lynae worried about Mo Bai's future, Rover explained on his behalf.

Mo Bai also noticed that, as Rover spoke, she picked up the high-tech gourd hanging at the back of her waist.

"I see! Then I won't worry. Hehe, now I'll have two new friends at the Academy~" Lynae sighed in relief and smiled.

The three left the Infirmary together and followed Lynae to the teachers' office to handle their enrollment.

According to her, only after receiving something called a "Tacet Disc" would they officially become students of Star Torch Academy.

A Tacet Disc served much like a student ID.

Perhaps because she had made two new friends, Lynae skipped along in front, humming to herself.

Behind her, though, Rover noticed something.

Mo Bai looked troubled.

"Something on your mind?"

Mo Bai instinctively wanted to say it was nothing, but he knew he could not keep everything bottled up.

Now that he was in this world, he needed someone to help him understand it.

"Well, there's a lot I don't know about this world. I did lose my memory, after all."

So Mo Bai fell back on the excuse he had used before.

Rover did not call him out. Instead, she began telling him about this world called Solaris.

From her explanation, Mo Bai learned that everything in this world was made of [frequencies], and that the key to how all things functioned lay in their patterns and vibrations.

In this world's terms, his shadow technique worked by adjusting the frequency at which shadows vibrated, changing their properties.

As she explained, Rover kept watching Mo Bai's expression.

In the end, she concluded that he truly knew nothing about this world, just as she had known nothing at first.

"I've been listening from up ahead. Mo Bai, you're not an alien, are you?" Lynae suddenly turned around and struck an exaggerated pose.

Mo Bai's eye twitched at the question.

During Rover's explanation, he had learned that this world also had people like him who could use "superpowers."

They were called [Resonators].

By resonating with a particular object, a living being, or even an orally passed-down legend, they gained the ability to adjust the world's frequencies, producing strange effects such as burning, freezing, and healing.

But people like them had one obvious physical difference from ordinary people.

It was the tattoo-like mark on their skin called a Resonance Mark.

Mo Bai's mind raced as he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for his companions.