Chapter 20: Into the virtual scene
As for the readers who witnessed the spectacle: some had already passed out, some curled into a ball paralyzed by fear, others simply stared dazedly at the enfolded situation.
Ciel, and his gang were in the last category.
He found it hard to compute such a level of power, even though he was now within a literal forest of thorns, Ciel found that power humbling.
He closed his eyes, allowing the scene of Blair winking at him, the sudden pause of time, and the golden light that descended on everything to digest within him.
Aurelie looked around before ordering in a calm voice:
"To all remaining readers of my dome, you are to return to your rooms and are not allowed to leave until further notice. And also, to those that suffered significant psychological effects, seek out a psychiatrist and get yourself treated as well. You never know when you will be sent to a scene, so always remember to keep yourself in tip top shape.
Her words echoed in the air and in no less than a few minutes, the young readers slowly left the training room, while navigating through the Sudden forest of thorns. Some headed for their rooms, others to the psychiatrist.
Ckel's eyes remained locked on the thorny cocoon of vines that contained Blair. His lips were dry, his legs quivering, a smile suddenly curled up on his face while a faint sound echoed in his ears;
{Your unique name trembles in excitement!}
"Let's go. I think we might not see Blair for a while. " Seth, who managed to recover, expressed his opinion.
"Yes." Ciel exhaled as he spoke, "He would probably be locked up for a certain amount of time."
"Hmm?" Seth brows rose, his eyes narrowed into a look of perplexity.
"No. He would be taken to a doctor to see if any problems are in his body. So we won't likely see him again for a while."
Ciel glanced at Seth who stood on his right, " You're right. That's what I meant." A smile rose on his face.
But then, he realized another set of people hadn't spoken for a while. Turning his head swiftly, Ciel looked around for Micheal and Circe. However, after a few minutes, he concluded that they might have already left.
Dressed in a black military uniform and a jet black jacket above it all, Ciel glanced at the cocoon of thorns for an extra minute, before finally exiting the training room - Seth closely behind him.
...…
The rest of the day went without a hitch. Luckily the event that transpired in the training room was enough to quiet the male dormitory. So in all, Ciel had an amazing sleep.
The next day, although Ciel tried to remain as invisible as possible, as readers would occasionally glance at him.
Some recalled him as the liar who stole Miss Aurelia's jacket. Others, as the bastard that was getting up and close with the Magister. And just recently, "A woman stealing maniac" was added to his list of nicknames. This one was attributed to Circe suddenly getting close to him.
All and all, Ciel was receiving this message all day:
{Your unique name trembles in excitement!}
So he wasn't really bothered with what they said. In fact he enjoyed it.
Right now he was in the middle of engineering class, even though Ciel hasn't yet grasped why engineering is necessary within the scenes or Elysium for that matter.
"Not necessarily, the power of the dwarfin shield can not be so easily controlled by using the angled mirror to split the light within its reactor. In the best case scenario, you would simply trigger the internal defense bugs and be chewed to death."
Well not exactly engineering, ciel was currently in a class featuring the mechanical knowledge of certain races within Elysium. Since if a reader wanted to survive within the world of stories, he would likely at some point pick up a job; engineering was an option.
Ciel stared at the instructor as she went on and on about something called a q9 reactor. At this point, Ciel was lost in his own world. His face simply feigning the expression of attention.
"Ding-Ding!"
"Oh? It seems like my time is over.. Well, see you next time."
Parking up her stuff, the engineering instructor smiled and left the class..
Ciel didn't grasp much knowledge about the instructor, except that she was apparently just an apprentice rank. But despite that, it seemed like her ability was strong enough to bridge most gaps between her and Magisters.
Although not in her early years, she still had a charming visage. Her complexion was as fair as well polished jade, with beauty, elegance and grace that could only be achieved through years of maturity and training. Her curled brown hair was tied to a bum. Her expression which always seems to smile carried a hidden charm that affected the eyes of anyone who looked at her. She was like a mother looking at her kids.
Leaving the engineering class, Ciel casually went back to his room to get changed. The next class was Scene simulation, a new course that came with its own clothes which are hand delivered to readers in their dormitories.
Ciel was quite excited for this class - his childish nature taking control over his enthusiasm. This is because the next class utilized special Virtual reality equipment to simulate a battle ground. It was something Ciel had always heard about, however the limitations of his finances didn't allow him to enjoy such things.
That is until now.
Taking off the basic black uniform, Ciel opened a small black suitcase that had the logo of a hand wrapped in chains while at the same time holding a sword. It was the logo of the library, which supposedly represented humanity's desire to fight, while at the same time slaves to the web.
The suitcase contained a tight black skin suit. And truthfully, Ciel struggled a significant amount while putting it on.
It wrapped him in its uncomfortable embrace, his nether region experiencing a significant grasping. His muscles and joints greatly restricted, causing him to wobble whenever he tried to move.
He looked more like a penguin each time he took a step.
Thankfully, he wasn't the only one that was forced to wear such things; the entire first years of his class were too. Even Seth had to strain considerably to not walk like a clown.
Arriving inside the VR room, Ciel noticed almost everyone who walked like penguins, a soft chuckle emanating from his lips.
Due to the fact that both genders wore tight suits, the girls were separated from the boys in another VR room. Ciel for moment imagined what Blair would say at such a moment:
"No! Unity is always wise. This is simply unfair!"
Looking at the instructor that walked into the Large hall filled with special pods, the tall man with slicked black hair, and a sharp gaze looked at the readers before him, his face harboring a slight gentle smile. He had a tablet on his hands, one which he occasionally called out to check off attendance.
After the initial attendance check, the instructor directed the readers to their pods.
Typing a few commands on the screen next to each pod, he instructed them to enter.
"Sinbad shadow, please move to capsule 59"
Hearing his "name", Ciel turned to Seth who had a casual look on his face. With a nod, he left for his designated capsule.
Ignoring the now usual remarks, which contained words like: 'Thief', 'Liar.' or the occasional 'Whore.'
Ciel didn't have a problem with most of the names he was called. However, calling him a whore was something else. After all, the only person that should bear that name was Blair.
He finally entered the pod. Adjusting the helmet on his head, Ciel partially laid still on the coffin-like capsule, awaiting the instructor's words.
"Let us begin. In one ... .two... ..three ...."
"Beep."
The last sound Ciel heard was the beeping of the capsule. Before his vision suddenly wrapped.
.....
[Processing Reader information…]
[Psychoanalysis:.... Check.]
[Genetic Data test….Check.]
[Loading time….47%.... 61%..... 80%..... 94%.....]
[Reader information loaded]
Gradually the world around him lit up, revealing a pure white room.
Looking around, Ciel spotted a couple of readers.
Waiting a couple of minutes, realizing nobody was showing up, he casually moved to the group ahead.
There were a total of four people excluding Ciel in the waiting white room.
Seeing Ciel moving closer to them, a reader took the initiative to greet first.
"Apprentice rank, August Paul, nice to meet you."
The first person named August Paul was a rather short fellow, with black receding hair and brown eyes, with a somewhat gentle temperament.
"Apprentice rank Eleanor Tiva."
"Apprentice rank James Fray."
"Apprentice rank Louis Wilton."
Ciel at this moment, had a slight ponder.
'Where apprentice' really that common? How is it that everyone I meet is one?'
Following August, the brown-haired girl who stood proudly greeted Ciel. She had a vibrant air, like a peacock who couldn't stop herself from showcasing. Her tone was prideful and almost demeaning to whoever she was talking to. She sort of reminds Ciel of a female version of Micheal.
After Eleanor, was the blonde haired male youth with golden rimmed glasses and perfectly slicked hair. It seemed like he was copying the instructor at the VR class. He had a scholarly temperament, like a person who had not seen the light of day through anything but a book.
Lastly was Louis, who had plain black hair, a plain face, expression, deposition and everything else. He truly looked like nothing worth remembering..
Extending his hand, Ciel presented himself to the rest.
"Student rank, sinbad shadow."
...
It took a couple of seconds for the rest to grasp what Ciel had said before completely losing all interest in him.
Shrugging at their reaction, Ciel inwardly understood their sudden actions. He was after all a mere student among apprentices, there was an obvious divide that couldn't be easily breached. He was basically akin to cannon fodder in the team.
"Useless trash."
The first to speak up was Louis. Which surprised Ciel. He had expected Eleanor to speak first based on her temperament, but damn, it ended up being the very person he judged as plain.
Raising his eyes, Ciel had a smile, as if unbothered by what Louis had said.
"Here I thought the rumors weren't true. Turns out you're just a complete garbage." Louis bombarded with insults.
Ciel stared for a couple more seconds, before suddenly a book he once read flashed before his eyes. A fictional book that takes place in a Victoria era fantasy.
A smile curled in his face as he casually raised his shoulders.
"Oh my word! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth."
"What? What did you just say?" Louis' eyes sparkled with an illusory blue hue.
However, at that moment, disrupting the built tension was a loud voice which echoed from all sides.
[If you can hear me say Check]
"Check"
"Check"
"Check"
"Check"
"Check"
[Alright it seems everyone is ready. Okay, listen attentively as I will now explain the rules.]
[Since this is the first time most fo you have entered a virtual world, today's class will be on the lighter side]
[The people around you will be your teammates in the upcoming exercise. So endeavor to work together.]
[The exercise is modeled after a scene that has already been cleared by a reader. It is used due to its unique terrain and different monsters.]
[Your job is to eliminate the monster who holds a total of 20 cores. However, you can also substitute by eliminating other monsters till you gather enough cores.]
[This scene Is called: The world gone beautiful. So I will give you 3 minutes to discuss your plans. But remember, the faster you clear the scene, the higher your ranking for the class.]
[Best of luck.]
....
[Oh right, I forgot something. The last group will automatically fail this class and will be expelled.]
After that last announcement, it seemed that everyone immediately collaborated to glare at Ciel. But he still couldn't care less. He was bothered by something else; the last part.
'How can failure in a single class constitute expulsion? The library never did things like that. Which means….' Ciel's eyes flashed with an epiphany.
'This is probably an act to sow the desire to win. Competition does bring out the best in people.'
"Hey trash."
Snapping Ciel from his thoughts was the annoyed voice of Louis.
"Just you wait, once this is over, I will make you bleed." His lips curled with a maniacal grin.
"Alright." Ciel casually responded.
He wasn't really scared of Louis. And this wasn't because of some pride. No, Ciel had already seen true strength and he knew how it felt, and frankly from this person, he didn't get a whiff of that.
So whatever Louis could do, would not pose any threat to him.
A few minutes later, the instructor's voice echoed in the white room.
[Alright! The simulation is ready]
[It will start in 3… 2….1]
Ciel suddenly heard the familiar female voice,
{Welcome to the World gone beautiful… prepare yourself reader.}
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone