When he opened the door, Aunt was stripping celery. The middle-aged woman turned to see Lu Mingfei and what he was carrying, and her eyes went as wide as eggs. Yet all she managed to stammer out was a feeble, "Mingfei, you're home. The groceries... just put them on the floor. Go rest in your room."
"Aunt, I got accepted into a United States school, Cassell College. My flight is in three days. It's the school Chu Zihang attends," Lu Mingfei said evenly. "I was just at the interview."
Aunt had wanted to say something after the first part, but once she heard Chu Zihang's name, she fell silent.
Lu Mingfei returned to his room. There was another message on his computer from Nono, but this time it wasn't an invitation to play a game. It was an invitation to dinner.
Chapter 5: A gift
After Uncle returned, Aunt pulled him into the kitchen to talk. Even through two walls, Lu Mingfei heard every word.
"Look, Lu Mingfei bought all this at noon. He even bought Xiaoshuohui for Lu Mingze." Aunt kept her voice very low.
"What's wrong with that?" Uncle said. "I told you Mingfei was a good kid. He's just growing up, isn't he?"
"Tsk, I'm telling you, you didn't see him when he came home. He told me he'd been accepted into Chu Zihang's school like he couldn't care less," Aunt continued.
"That's good news," Uncle said, sounding pleased. "It means those few hundred dollars we spent on application fees weren't wasted."
"Why aren't you getting it? Don't you think Lu Mingfei's been acting strange these past few days?" Aunt's voice grew grave. "I've heard some people act exactly like this before they kill themselves. Quiet people become warm and outgoing, repressed people start acting wild, and they splurge on things. They don't show a single warning sign before the suicide. Then, once that burst of enthusiasm passes, they go back to their old selves and kill themselves! Don't you think Mingfei's lying to us? Chu Zihang was last year's top student. How could Lu Mingfei get accepted that easily? And he didn't look excited or happy at all. When the day comes for him to leave for school..."
Uncle sucked in a breath and fell silent for a long time. "Should I go sound him out?"
Before long, there was a knock on Lu Mingfei's door. Uncle came in. "Mingfei, have you been under much pressure at school lately?"
Rather helpless, Lu Mingfei spent quite some time getting him to leave.
He opened his chat app. A few hours earlier, he had turned down Nono's dinner invitation. She had introduced herself as a third-year student at Cassell College and a member of Professor Guderian's admissions team, calling herself his senior and inviting him out for a meal.
Lu Mingfei had been planning to find a blacksmith on Earth the next day and buy a weapon that suited him, so he had mercilessly refused.
Now he opened the chat window and sent another reply. "I'll accept the dinner invitation. Please let Professor Guderian know that my family would like to meet a teacher from the college."
He hadn't called Professor Guderian. If he pulled out that phone, Aunt would probably take it as immediate confirmation of her theory that he was splurging before committing suicide.
A moment later, Nono's big-faced cat avatar began flashing.
"Then let's have dinner the evening after tomorrow. But come to the Regent Hotel tomorrow. Someone asked me to bring you a gift."
Lu Mingfei asked no further questions. His reply was succinct: "All right."
Seeing the brief reply, Nono tried to construct a psychological profile of the boy on the other side of the screen, but her profiling ability seemed to have run into a wall that didn't exist. Every detail from before pointed to a sensitive, timid boy, yet the boy in reality had turned down his senior's invitation and repeatedly searched for bladed weapons online. It was as though this loser had become a born killer overnight. She frowned. "Can awakening dragon blood really change someone this completely?"
In another chat window, a message from someone called Sonic interrupted her thoughts. "Well? Did the S-rank accept the gift and the invitation?"
"He accepted. Didn't ask why, didn't say thanks, didn't even care what the gift was."
"I don't need thanks either." Sonic sent over a video. "This is the pinned forum post tonight. Someone with eyes like that is destined to stand on the same level as Chu Zihang and me. If Chu Zihang needed a weapon, I'd give him one too."
"I'll go meet him tomorrow. His classmates' interviews happen to be tomorrow too." Nono had already watched the video. It was mission footage the head paparazzo of the News Department had acquired from somewhere, filmed from Ye Sheng's perspective. Through the camera, that boy had bared his fangs for just a few seconds, looking like a cold, indifferent monarch or a demon from hell.
The next day, at the Regent Hotel.
Cassell College, the United States college that had accepted Chu Zihang, had sent Shilan High School sixteen interview invitations in total. All the prominent students in Lu Mingfei's class were there, including Chen Wenwen, Su Xiaoqiang, Zhao Menghua, and Liu Miaomiao. Those sixteen were practically the finest young people in the entire senior year, yet not one of them whispered to another. Partly, they didn't want to leave a bad impression on the interviewers just beyond the wall. The other reason was the girl sitting in the lounge opposite them.
The girl wore casual clothes: running shoes, jeans, a white tank top, and a blue vertically striped shirt, with a baseball cap on her head. Her tall figure sank into a leather massage chair as her bright eyes swept idly over them. Even when she met someone's gaze, it felt as though there was no room in her eyes for anyone at all.
She really was a girl as proud as the sun.
More importantly, she was also part of Cassell College's admissions staff. Some of the boys couldn't help imagining it: entering Chu Zihang's school, becoming the stars of their year, going to the United States, and finding a campus full of long-legged senior girls. The future seemed so radiant it practically shone with sunlight.
Just then, Lu Mingfei finally arrived. His taxi driver had gotten into an argument with someone staging an accident for compensation, and he had nearly been dragged to the police station as a witness.
This was Lu Mingfei's second visit to the luxury hotel, and he knew his way around. He declined the attendant's offer to guide him and took the elevator to the executive floor.
First, he noticed his high school classmates seated along a row of chairs. Then he saw the red-haired girl waving to him. Presumably, she was Nono. Her hair color was unusual; it didn't look dyed.
Lu Mingfei thought of the goddess Marika's divine counterpart-red-haired Radagon. The golden-haired goddess and the red-haired king were both consorts and one being.
He met his classmates' eyes across the room and waved in greeting, then followed Nono to a tea lounge. Plants surrounded it on all sides, enclosing a small, private space.
Naturally, he didn't see the somewhat stupefied expressions of several of his classmates, or their stiff answering waves.
"Was that Lu Mingfei?"
"I think so..."
Sitting opposite Nono, Lu Mingfei also took a moment to study the striking, languid girl. "I'm Lu Mingfei. Hello."
"You can call me Nono." Nono kept scanning him up and down, leaving him a little puzzled.
"Is something wrong with your eyes?" Lu Mingfei asked bluntly.
Nono pursed her lips and withdrew her gaze. "I was just checking whether you had backward-bending joints or wings or something."
"I'm an ordinary human," Lu Mingfei explained, then immediately added, "Let's get to the point. You invited me here, so whatever you want to know-or if this is still part of your assessment-please begin."
"Why are you in such a hurry? Can't a senior just meet her junior?" Nono wrinkled her delicate nose, but she still picked up the solid black briefcase beside her seat, set it on the dark glass coffee table, and gently pushed it toward Lu Mingfei.
The briefcase's combination lock had been left unlocked. Lu Mingfei lightly flipped the latches, and the case opened with a click. For an instant, cold air rushed into his face, but the chill vanished just as quickly, like an illusion. An antique-looking longsword lay quietly in the center. Even through the air, its keen edges gave a faint sense of stinging pain.
Chapter 6: Classmates
Lu Mingfei's hand gently brushed over the blade. It was a Han Octagonal Sword, its center a dark blue-green and its sharp edges a snowy silver. The hilt was made of an unidentified black metal and showed heavy wear. Its scabbard was brand-new and modern in style, a piece of black-lacquered wooden craftsmanship carved with unpainted reliefs.
"A replica sword. Its name is Red Skies," Nono explained.
"This is a rather valuable gift for someone you've never met." Lu Mingfei sensed an active power within it, some kind of enhancement to the metal. It resembled weapons given Keen or Heavy affinities with the Whetstone Knife in the Lands Between. He didn't know how difficult it was on Earth to give weapons power through such "affinities," but this certainly wasn't something you could find everywhere.
"To the person giving it, it's nothing," Nono said casually. "This is just his way of showing how much he admires you."
Realization dawned on Lu Mingfei. He closed the briefcase and looked straight into Nono's eyes. "So I'm the only one who hasn't met the other party? How long have you been monitoring me? That includes my shopping-site search history, doesn't it?"
"Norma can monitor practically everything online. It's not specifically aimed at you." Nono spread her hands. "This mission involved you, so we pulled up your information. That's all."
Lu Mingfei nodded, accepting the explanation, and continued, "Is there anything else? If you and your friend want something in exchange for this sword, I'll do my best. To be honest, I really do need a sword like this."
"I told you, he admires you." Nono shrugged. "If anything, should he ever face you in the future, he'd rather you didn't hold back because of this gift."
Lu Mingfei pictured an awkward, melodramatic person, but said nothing more about it. "Thank him for me."
A Tarnished never turned down a freebie.
He picked up the briefcase. Once he confirmed that, aside from delivering the gift, Nono really had invited him merely to meet him, he stood, turned a full 360 degrees, and left the little space within the hall.
Nono leaned back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. "That loser really evolved overnight..."
"Is Liu Miaomiao here?" Ye Sheng opened the conference room door, still wearing that dark green uniform.
"Here!" Liu Miaomiao stood, her expression tense.
"Please come in for your interview." Ye Sheng gave her a gentle smile.
Liu Miaomiao entered the conference room, and Ye Sheng closed the door from outside. The remaining fifteen students all stared at him, so none of them noticed Lu Mingfei reappearing with the black briefcase.
"Hey, junior." Ye Sheng waved in greeting. "If you're free this afternoon, stay here. Professor Guderian said he'd like to see you as soon as he gets off the plane."
Lu Mingfei had intended to refuse, but then he glanced at the familiar faces beside him, each wearing a different expression, and considered it.
He actually had nothing to do at the moment. Until he signed the physical documents and confidentiality agreement with Professor Guderian, he couldn't gain access to Cassell College's true secret knowledge.
As for training, he had spent this time trying to familiarize himself with the power inside him. He had discovered that, powerful as it was, it could only strengthen his body. No matter what he tried, he couldn't channel it into any reality-affecting "art," whether sorcery or incantation. In the Lands Between, using incantations, sorceries, or even the laws themselves required a powerful mind. He suspected something had gone wrong with his mental power, and that this was connected to Earth's power, which resembled the Crucible but wasn't the Crucible. He could only analyze and investigate it after entering Cassell College.
So before going to Cassell College, the only thing he had left to do was find a weapon. And now he already had a suitable weapon in his hands.
Back in the Lands Between, Lu Mingfei had also had idle moments as a Tarnished, usually after defeating a powerful foe or traveling a long distance. He would camp near the warm glow of grace with the girl named Melina. Later, Melina died, and Lu Mingfei rarely rested anymore.
At that moment, a shadow lingering near the Church of Elleh-the starting point of the Elden Lord's journey-suddenly surfaced in Lu Mingfei's mind. Perhaps he could take a brief rest over the next two days.
"All right, as long as I won't interrupt your interviews." Lu Mingfei nodded in agreement.
He entered the conference room with Ye Sheng and sat in a chair to one side.
Every interviewee seemed distracted by Lu Mingfei, especially Liu Miaomiao. She was already falling apart over interviewer Jude Jiqu's bizarre questions, wondering whether these questions about aliens and superpowers were deliberately meant to mess with her.
Then she saw Lu Mingfei enter with the other interviewer and sit to one side to listen.
This has to be a dream...
Liu Miaomiao gave up completely. She raised her hand to withdraw.
Lu Mingfei carefully studied each of his classmates. Nearly half of what had once been his world was here. The other half was in the family home where he boarded.
Once everyone had finished their interviews, Jude Jiqu was organizing the applicants' files when Nono pushed the door open and walked in.
"Hey, S-rank. A few of your classmates seem to be waiting for you." She pointed outside.
"All right." Lu Mingfei stood and headed for the door.
As he passed shoulder to shoulder with Nono, she said quietly, "Before you sign the confidentiality agreement, you still have a chance."
Lu Mingfei frowned, but Nono passed him without looking back, her sterling-silver four-leaf-clover pendant swaying slightly.
He opened the door. Chen Wenwen, Zhao Menghua, and Su Xiaoqiang hadn't left. All three were members of the literature club.
"Lu Mingfei!" Su Xiaoqiang called. Her eyes roamed over him as though she were examining a monster.
"Were you waiting for me?" Lu Mingfei asked.
"Of course. Lu Mingfei, do you know someone at Cassell College?" Zhao Menghua refused to believe Lu Mingfei had been accepted into Chu Zihang's school. His question carried the implication that Lu Mingfei might have gotten in through improper channels.
"You could say that." Thinking of the principal who might have been monitoring him all along, Lu Mingfei nodded.
"So have you already been accepted?" Chen Wenwen asked the question they cared about most.
"My flight's the day after tomorrow," Lu Mingfei answered succinctly.
The three fell silent. In the end, Chen Wenwen spoke first. "We're planning to hold one last literature club activity tomorrow, as a farewell gathering. Do you have time to come?"
"Just let me know when you have a time and place." Lu Mingfei smiled.
The three fell silent again. All of them felt that the boy before them was a little unfamiliar. He carried himself with confidence, behaved gently, and was impeccably polite. He didn't seem like an ordinary high school student, much less the hopeless slacker he had been even two days earlier. He was practically another Chu Zihang, that shadow hanging over all of Shilan High School's elite.
Was Cassell College some monster school devoted to producing Chu Zihangs? Even a loser who got in through connections could become an elite overnight.
Then Lu Mingfei politely explained that he still had something to do. After a hurried goodbye, the three classmates left the Regent Hotel.
Lu Mingfei turned back and saw Nono leaning against the open doorway, watching him without expression.
Chapter 7: A movie
At around three in the afternoon, Professor Guderian arrived at the Regent Hotel. Travel-worn, he pushed the door open, and his gaze immediately locked onto Lu Mingfei.