OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 514 Stupid Quinn

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Ava spotted Aria that night in the hallway and trudged over.

"Still at it, huh?"

The girl nodded at her, barely managing a tired smile.

"Aren't we all?"

Ava laughed, though it sounded rough.

"Yep. It's like he planned this to see if he could break us."

"Oh, he totally did." Junior chimed in as he joined them.

"That third cycle? It's a death trap. The twists are ridiculous—I almost killed myself a few hours ago."

Ava giggled, treating a brush with death like a normal pastime.

"Same. Was this close to chucking my notes into the trash, but I didn't want to bother having someone get them back for me... they'd be dirty too—Anyways you guys saw that monkey anywhere?"

They both shook their head in response, knowing exactly she meant by "monkey."

Clicking her tongue, Ava kicked the ground, annoyance obvious on her face.

"Guess he already quit... the hell did I expect?"

Then with another click of her tongue, she turned around only to see Sofia in the distance, sitting next to Quinn.

They were at the farthest corner, each of them facing a different direction, not wanting to even accidentally glance at the other.

"...And when did that happen? Don't those guys hate each other?"

Junior shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

"Don't ask me, I don't know how you girls operate."

As the Knight went further down the hall, Aria got close to Ava and whispered:

"But maybe—"

11:51

Ava cut her off:

"You think Sofia will help us out?"

Ava chuckled.

"That selfish bitch? Fuck no, she only helps out with the useless stuff, like sword training or whatever."

"But maybe—"

Ava cut her off:

"No maybes. Sofia is by the books, you know her. And why are you ignoring my question? Doesn't seeing them so chummy like that look suspicious to you?"

Like Junior of a few seconds ago, Aria shrugged her shoulders.

"Not really. I only saw them together when it's about E-Emir. And besides, she's only sitting next to Quinn to use her as a shield. Poor girl is ignored by everyone in the class."

After nodding at most of her words, Ava gave Aria a knowing look, which made her blush and look away.

"Humph!"

Neither of the two needed to talk to understand what Ava was getting at, especially not with the stutter making it so obvious.

"You're still—"

"Y-Yes! Now shut up."

Things went the other way around, as Aria cut off Ava this time, planting her hands over her mouth.

Her loud scream and sudden action had everyone in the training hall looking up at them with glares. Ones that spoke of their extreme annoyance. Ava gave them the middle finger while Aria quickly pushed her along, internally begging to get out of there, too embarrassed. As soon as they left, those who remained simply ignored what happened and continued what they were doing, with some of them muttering under their breaths phrases that went along the lines of: "Come on, just work."

"Why does it keep falling apart?"

"It's like he made this just to mess with us…"

"Dammit... I'm barely past the first loop."

"The Aether just... snaps every time."

"This's driving me nuts."

Hearing each other, they all chuckled, even the two cold girls, though theirs were a lot quieter, a laugh that somehow made them feel bitter.

Though, no matter what they said, they all knew they were sticking with it.

Each of them wanted to be the one who didn't give up, who saw it through to the end.

Time could only tell, but judging by the established trend, most of them weren't about to even make it through tomorrow. ...They didn't.

By the end of the fourth day, only a handful of students remained.

At this point, there was no casual talking anywhere in the Academy—everyone who remained was too deep into their own problems.

Faces were pale, eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, and conversations were reduced to mumbles and exhausted waves.

By the fifth night, most who still went after the crown survived on quick naps and an endless supply of energy supplements.

As Celestials of the first Major rank, sleep wasn't all that needed, but when against this?

Oh, their brains were dying just to get a single moment of rest.

Sofia and Elijah were the worst of them.

They could barely keep their eyes open, heads foggy as they re-attempted this over and over. But their pride wouldn't let them show their progress yet.

Every time they saw a fellow first year in the class, with that same tired, determined look in their eyes, it fueled them, a reminder of why they were doing this.

They would beat them, and win Emir's pride. They, not anyone else.

Exhausting days went by, and the final night eventually arrived.

To the brave and stupid few, it had arrived in a flash, but to most, they had reached in it in a few seconds, which after second thought, wasn't much of a difference. By the time school time neared a close, the deadline with it, only three of them were left.

Elijah, Quinn, and Sofia.

Aria, Ava, and Junior had submitted earlier today, while Max, as previously assumed by Ava, had submitted on the third day. After them, the Reaper had gone first, followed by the Aetheric Duelist, but even then, when only a few minutes remained, the Ranger was nowhere to be seen. That was until the final minute arrived.

Sofia had finally shown up on the tenth floor, heading to Emir's office. It was late, and the hall was empty, as nearly all the professors had gone back home.

She glanced up as she reached the door, readying herself, but just as she took a deep breath, the door opened and a figure stepped out.

That figure was Quinn.

Sofia's mood immediately slumped, and she glared at her with obvious hatred.

Quinn ignored her though, and left without a response, not even questioning why she had such a heightened reaction compared to the usual scoff or dismissal.

She didn't know, she wouldn't dare believe it, but right that moment, Quinn showed a small smile on her face. The girl, who supposedly hated Emir to the core, questioning and challenging him at every moment she could, was now smiling because of him.

Sofia felt annoyed by that.

She simply loathed such a display of hypocrisy.

"Stupid Quinn."

With those words, she steeled herself, ran a hand through her hair, flicked some behind her ear, and walked through the door.

Inside, Emir's office was calm and neatly organized, just like always, but her attention immediately went to the machine sitting beside his desk.

It was a large, polished device with a single, clear Aether core at its center, pulsing faintly.

Right in front of the core was a hand entrance—an empty slot, perfectly sized for her palm.

"Good evening, Sofia."

Emir greeted her, looking up from his desk.

"Cutting it close, aren't we?"

"..."

She gave him a short nod. Emir chuckled, his eyes softening a bit.

"I expected nothing less. Honestly, I thought you'd be one of the last few to submit, but not the very last."

She looked at him for a while and then said: "I needed to be the best."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you're here now, almost failed you."

He casually motioned toward the machine.

"Place your hand in the slot. The Core will read your input, tracking the Ability Path through your body and sending the data over to my terminal."

Taking a deep breath, Sofia walked over to the machine, her heartbeat picking up slightly as she extended her hand.

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The cool metal of the entrance greeted her fingers, and she let her Aether flow into it.

Once it fully connected, acting as the continuation of her body, her internal system, she began, this time, using the least amount of Aether she could. An amount way below the required input. It was the exact opposite of what a Celestial did when activating an ability, which was why it worked so well. Emir smiled as he noticed that, satisfied that his expectations had been met.

He didn't need to see the rest to know that Sofia understood the Ability Path.

And indeed she did, though, with hiccups here and there, she managed to recreate the Path.

She felt her Aether align like never before, perhaps because she was in front of him, but that wasn't on her mind at that moment.

Sofia was in complete focus, and in less than one whole minute, the last bits of the initial Aether reached her fingertips with a smoothness she'd never experienced before.

The feeling was exhilarating like she was on cloud nine.

But then, before she could internally celebrate, a long flickering sword made out of nothing but Aether appeared, originating from her free palm.

She stiffened, not understanding what was happening, and silently watched as it floated high up in the air.

The sword was weak, barely visible, a jumble of different colored whites, but even then, this was perhaps the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

It was as if it was the clearest of shimmering glass, reflecting light in millions of ways, and causing a kaleidoscope of colors to appear, some even forming rainbows.

The students called the Ability Path itself a piece of art, but if they had seen this... then they wouldn't know what art even was.

Slowly, the sword began to dissipate, and Sofia, wanting to keep alive for a little while longer, let out more of her Aether.

It was useless.

She had momentarily forgotten that this wasn't an ability, but simply a result of her circulating Aether in a specific pattern, that formed whatever this was. Stiffly shaking her head in embarrassment, she finally looked at Emir, the one who created this very art piece. "Nicely done."

Emir nodded at her as he watched what remained of the Aether dissipate into the air.

"You've discovered the little secret I made, Sofia. I'm proud of you."

She, trying to appear unfazed, stepped back from the machine.

"Thank you."

Emir turned to his terminal, reviewing the data quietly.

"I look forward to seeing what this yields for you. Good work."

As he continued typing, engrossed in his terminal, she stole a last glance at him.

For a brief second, a small smile crept across her face—just a hint of satisfaction, pride, and maybe a little relief.

Without another word, she slipped out of his office, her heart lighter as she closed the door behind her.