n

n

n

nThe young man hand long dark hair tied up into a large bun on his head. He had a full beard. If not for the smooth skin without any sight of ageing or wrinkles, no one would believe that he is a young man. The took in his hand is just a metallic stick with a handle and a sharp tip.

nHe navigated that sharp tip through the inscription arrays as it glowed.

nAt the same time his eyes are glowing as he focused on it.

nThe only thing that wasn't glowing is the puppet. However in his vision, the puppet had the brightest glow. The intricate web of inscribed formations made by Sam are all visible to him. However he couldn't identify their nodes directly and he certainly cannot see what is beyond those inscriptions.

nThe young man is not disappointed though. After trying to bypass one of the junctions Sam laid down, he deactivated his eye technique and stored the puppet away.

nHe laid down on the rock and looked at the clear blue sky.

n*SIGH*

nHe sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

nAnother failure. However, he is still not dejected. He still believed that he can bypass it.

n

"Until tomorrow.

"

nHe muttered and started taking a nap.

nBack in the Olympian region.

nThe intervention of Icarus did trigger the reaction Sam expected. The deans, particularly the Dean of the Zeus Academy is ready to take some serious measures to prevent something like this from happening.

nOne of the actions was pushing his research teams to speed up the cracking of the puppets. He needs to find out the secrets behind the hub, before he decides to take any actions.

nAt the same time, many people were dispatched from the Zeus Academy to start an investigation to find out who is behind the hub. The real identity of joker and how they came cross Icarus.

nOf course, similar things happened in other academies.

nWhile things are like this, Icarus took the opportunity to create more drama for the Zeus Academy. One of the measures was to spread the news of the puppets that fought Raios. The news spread like wildfire with the hub's amplification.

nAt the same time, there are several witnesses who claimed that they saw the red spheres appearing in thin air, in the sky above the city before the fight happened.

nSo, the Dean has to send someone else to investigate it.

nHowever, no matter how much they tried they don't have any results. After all, for all they knew the spheres appeared out of nowhere, fight happened and the puppets disappeared.

nThey don't have a clue.

nFor that reason, the focus was placed on Raios once again.

nDean called him to the office.

n

"So, what was the pocket dimension like?

"

nDean asked.

nRaios gulped nervously and answered.

n

"It was like any other pocket dimension. The only difference was the competition format and the prize distribution. The difficulty is quite high.

"

n

"Is that so? Then how come you won?

"

nThe Dean didn't have any filter. Raios was dumbfounded. Frozen on the spot. The Dean's gaze urged him to respond. Raios calmed himself down with deep breaths and spoke.

n

"I don't know, Sir. But I want to attribute most of my victory to my luck. I managed to take advantage of the several loopholes within the formations. If one looked deeply enough, they don't even have to brute force through those formations.

nI just lucked out in finding those holes and escaping the formations one by one.

"

n

"Do you really want me to believe that? Or do you really believe that you are so lucky to the point the heaven's chosen that are all over the place in this city and the realm are not as lucky as you.

"

nIf Sam saw this, he would for sure be surprised a bit. Dean of Zeus Academy is actually a bit odd for an Olympian follower in a general sense. He always took the welfare of his students into his own hands. Once in a while he obviously succumbs to the pressure of the community.

nHowever, he was always responsible and he never with his own words put down a student.

nBut this day, he did exactly that.

nSince the start, he repeatedly dismissed any of Raios' ability and constantly humiliated him with his words. Even when Raios swallowed his pride and agreed that this might have been a luck factor, the Dean didn't leave him be.

nHe even found a way to take the dignity away from that.

nIt is **ed up.

n

"I don't know, sir. From what I heard, all the heaven's chosen you spoke of walked in the same path together and they encountered each other in the early rounds. They were focused on their own dick measuring contests instead of victory in the pocket dimension.

nThat is why, they damaged each other and dragged each other down.

nMy victory might seem like a small thing to you and the Zeus Academy, however only I knew that I almost died in everyone round except for the first. I always had to push myself harder to get past it and reach the next round.

nI still believe that luck played a huge factor. And I also believe, I wasn't the only lucky one. The rest, including the heaven's chosen might have being blessed the same opportunities. However, I might be the only one that managed to use that luck for my own development.

"

nDean stayed silent for a moment and took a huge gulp of the wine.

nAfter that, he looked the crystal glass that showed a faint reflection of his own.

n

"So, what about the puppet? Can I see it?

"

nRaios nodded and waved his hand. The puppet appeared from the ring that was bound to him.

nDean stood up and examined the puppet. He placed his arm and injected his energy to examine it. However…

n

"ARGH..

"

nRaios felt a sharp pain in his head, disturbing the Dean's vision.

nDean frowned. He knew what the sign for that is. When someone had a soul bound artefact of a weapon that has a spirit of its own, the owner must give the permission if someone wants to check it out.

nOwner should allow the consciousness of the puppet spirit to stop resisting. Or the soul of the person will also face pain due to resistance.

nThat was what Raios felt at that moment.

nThe Dean needs Raios' permission to take a look at the puppet. Of course, he has another way. But that would destroy Raios' soul and might even trap that soul deep into the spirit of the puppet. His soul would just merge with the spirit and his body would soon die, without proper treatment.

nDean sked Raios' permission and examined the puppet. Through his vision all he could see was the intricate mechanisms that made up the whole puppet. He hasn't seen such novel usage of metal before.

nThe intricate and delicate mechanisms made him feel like a child witnessing something new for the first time.

nBut of course, he understood little of it.

nOnly with his high level senses, he understood a bit about the location of the power source and also the output of that power source.

nBut that is all.

nThe rest, he could sense but couldn't understand.

nBut he did notice one mechanism and upon some further prodding, he managed to understand what it is.

nIt is the fusion between the puppet and the cultivator.

n

"What exactly did the three puppets say to you after you were attacked?

"

n

"They talked something about finding me, the person who bound to the puppet, they also talked about how they need to eliminate me and bring the puppet back somewhere.

nHowever, I managed to win.

nI wouldn't even call it a win. I basically triggered their code for retreat. That is all.

"

n

"When you fused with the puppet, did you get anything out of it? Anything at all, that we could use to track down the people behind it?

"

nAt that moment, Raios started scratching his head.

nFor one moment he felt like he knew the answer to the question, but it isn't coming to his tongue. He just couldn't figure out how to say it loud.

nSeeing his struggle, the Dean decided to let him go.

n

"Alright. Go back for now. But collaborate with the puppet branch. I need to understand how these things work.

"

n

"Okay Sir.

"

n

"Right now, there is only four days for the next pocket dimension. Make sure that you can prove that your first victory is not a complete fluke.

"

nRaios left after that.

nDean turned around to slump in his chair. But at this moment, as assistant barged in and said.

n

"S…Sir.

"

n

"What happened?

"

n

"Your hearing has been moved up. We need to get there this afternoon.

"

n

"Moved up? Why?

"

n

"I don't know, Sir. All I can telling you is that you need to be there and it could have been a consequence of your latest reactions.

"

n

n