"Hello, Marc."

The entire hall was spacious and scanty. There were maybe a handful of people moving about, heading from one destination to another. There was a waiting area with chairs aligned side by side that currently held no applicant.

The receptionist was a lady so young that Melmarc could've sworn she was a student. It was interesting because he was beginning to think that simple duties like the receptionist duty on this side of the school were outsourced to students. Knowing that the school actually offered job opportunities to students within the confines of the school explained this phenomenon.

Still, in all things present, the slight smattering of voices that filled the air, the people moving up and down trying to get from one point to another, and Pelumi standing right next to him, Melmarc's entire attention remained on Patience.

He wasn't sure what to say as she looked at him. She had a challenge in her eyes, daring him to speak, to say something.

Melmarc opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Hi," Pelumi said, holding her hand out to Patience for a handshake. "I'm Pelumi."

Patience nodded, smiling as she shook Pelumi's hand. "Patience," she said before releasing her hand. "I remember you. You were the [Invoker] during the combat test. The one that managed to summon their familiar before the match was over."

"There were two of us, actually," Pelumi corrected. "Nate was faster."

Patience nodded as if she was trying to remember but couldn't.

"Sorry about that," she said in the end. "I must've missed a lot of details since I was busy stewing in the corner from my loss."

"Everyone lost to Devin," Pelumi said, shrugging. "Personally, I was afraid of running into him."

Patience chuckled a little then poked a thumb at Melmarc. "Everybody but this guy."

"Yeah." The words came out of Pelumi very slowly.

Patience leaned in conspiratorially, then blocked Melmarc's view of her mouth with a raised hand. "Wanna know a secret?"

Pelumi smiled happily, then proceeded to lean in, nodding vigorously.

"I always thought he was something of an overgrown wuss," Patience said.

Dissonant.

Patience glanced at him very briefly. "Maybe not a wuss," she said, eyes softening just a little. "More like the big dude who sees a fight and kind of thinks of running first."

Pelumi had a shocked look on her face. She looked at Melmarc, confused, before returning her attention to Patience.

"Really?" she asked.

Patience nodded. "When I first met him, he was shorter than he is now, still tall, though, don't get me wrong. He's probably added like five… maybe six inches since the first time I saw him. But back then he looked like a nerd."

"I don't… I don't see it," Pelumi said.

Patience shrugged. "Then maybe it's just me. I was friends with a lot of bad people so that might've distorted my view of things. My point is, I couldn't believe my eyes when his reckless brother was the one that had to stop him."

"Ark isn't reckless," Melmarc said, finding his voice.

Patience paused, then stood to her full height. "He speaks."

That annoyed Melmarc a little.

Pelumi frowned at Patience. "That's not very nice."

"He knows what he did," Patience said, unbothered.

"Still doesn't make it nice," Pelumi repeated, then took an intentional step back.

Patience eyed the action, took in the increased distance that now existed between the two of them. She sighed, as if suddenly tired.

"I'm sorry," she said. "We've gotten off to the wrong foot. I'm not the best company when I'm in a bad mood. And I will admit to being in a bad mood."

Pelumi nodded but didn't say anything. Her expression didn't change.

"Alright then." Patience looked from Pelumi to Melmarc, then nodded. "Have a good day."

She moved to walk around them but Melmarc moved to intercept her, getting in her way. Patience stopped, frowned at him.

"May I be allowed to leave?" she asked through gritted teeth.

I'm annoying her, Melmarc noted, but didn't move.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry," he said, instead. "For everything."

"Everything is not an offense, Marc," Patience pointed out. "When guys say they are sorry for everything, it's because they don't know what they did and they are not sorry. Everything is just a blanket word used for just in case situations."

Melmarc didn't need to think about it to know that it wasn't what he was doing. Still, he reminded himself that he was the one who had offended her. Like her name, he needed to be patient.

"What are you sorry for, Melmarc?" Patience repeated.

Careful, he thought, remembering something that Ninra had told him once about dealing with a girl that was angry with him. When your crime has not already been established, be careful what crimes you admit to.

Melmarc had never needed to use that piece of advice until now, but he had been witness to Ark's continuous use of it.

"I should've told you that I was in Fallen High," he said, trying to not sound extremely careful about it.

Pelumi gave him a surprised look for a moment.

Patience looked like it was not enough. "What else?"

Melmarc thought about it for a moment. Had he done something else? Was it about the fight? Or was it about not saying hello when he saw her? Did it have something to do with the fact that he was chatting with her when he was in Grace Hall and still didn't tell her that he was in Grace Hall?

What was the possibility that…

He brought his thoughts to a halt immediately. When a crime has not been established, be very careful what you admit to.

To Pelumi, he nodded very slowly. "Yes. I'm sorry for doing that. It was not fair of me."

"It was not fair of you?" Patience repeated.

He nodded.

Patience pressed her lips into a thin line that was not quite a frown. A long silence settled between the both of them. Melmarc wasn't sure if Pelumi was still caught up in it. Regardless, he waited.

In the end, Patience broke the silence.

"I'm sorry I blocked you," she said. "I'm just not used to… what you did. I thought we were friends and that… I just thought you were beginning to think of me as a friend and not some celebrity's kid that's trying to talk to you."

Melmarc was already shaking his head as she spoke. "I didn't think of you as a celebrity's kid that was trying to talk to me."

Patience smiled. "Then what did you think of me as?"

"I didn't," he answered honestly.

Pelumi grimaced beside him. It was all he needed to know that it was the wrong answer.

"You didn't think of me?" Patience asked. Her voice seemed uncertain, as if it was supposed to be hard but she was trying to make it soft.

"I just…" Melmarc wasn't sure how to fix everything. "I had a very terrible mentorship program, which wasn't as terrible as I make it sound. Then it has just been a roller coaster since I got back."

"Not as terrible as you make it sound?" Pelumi asked, flabbergasted. "You fell in a portal, Marc. You got trapped."

Just like that, the entire atmosphere changed.

Patience's jaw dropped. "You were trapped in a portal?"

"It wasn't for that long."

"At least two weeks," Pelumi disagreed. "Why are you trying to make it sound like it's not a big deal?"

Melmarc wasn't trying to make it sound like it was not a big deal. He really didn't think it was a big deal.

"Because I don't think it was," he told her.

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He almost sighed in relief when he sensed no dissonance.

Pelumi groaned in annoyance. "I heard the rumors after you came back, Marc."

"What rumors?"

"Wait." Patience raised a hand. "My brother heard rumors about a kid who got trapped in a portal and some people went to save him. It was unsanctioned." She looked around as if someone might be listening, then lowered her voice. "At least two of the Delvers died."

Jude and Claire. Melmarc couldn't forget their names.

"Was that it?" Patience asked, eyes softening. "Was that you?"

Pelumi looked at Melmarc, waiting patiently for his answer. She had known that Delvers had come for him, what she hadn't known was that some of those Delvers had died. Knowing that he had been in a situation where actual Delvers had died gave his experience a greater depth to Pelumi.

He could see it in her eyes.

Melmarc pressed his lips into a thin line, held his tongue lest he say the wrong thing. After a very quick moment of thought, he realized a simple truth. There was no right answer.

He looked Patience in the eyes, held her gaze. "Do you forgive me?"

She paused, seemingly startled.

"Sorry, what?" she managed to say.

"I asked for your forgiveness," Melmarc clarified. "What I did to you was wrong. It was unfair, regardless of what happened to me." He took a step closer to her. He felt her stiffen suddenly, felt her breath seize. "Do you forgive me?"

"I… uhm…" Patience swallowed. "I forgive you."

This was good. He had the upper hand, it seemed. Perhaps it was time to press his advantage.

"Will you unblock me?" he asked.

Patience nodded. "I'll unblock you."

Melmarc took a deep breath and took an intentional step back. "Thank you."

Patience nodded, cheeks reddening just a little. Then she darted around them. She was out the door before Melmarc even had the chance to look back.

Melmarc brows furrowed.

"Wow."

He turned to look at Pelumi at the sound of her voice. Pelumi had an intrigued look on her face.

"You know what?" she said.

Melmarc had no idea. "What?"

"I think she likes you."

Even though he doubted it, Melmarc was beginning to learn that sometimes, he was wrong in situations just like this.

"I think she's embarrassed because I got too close."

Pelumi cocked a brow, then shrugged. "Maybe."

Dissonant.

…

The rest of their business in the administrative block moved seamlessly. Melmarc got a few glances from the few students that he did not recognize. He wondered if it was due to his popularity from the plane incident or what he had done to Devin or the very brief encounter with Patience, her being the daughter of the famous [Dragon Knight] and all that.

After a quick chat with the receptionist who was, in fact, a final year student, it turned out that Pelumi's business led her to a different section of the administrative block. His business, however, was different.

"Melmarc Lockwood," he told the girl when she was done directing Pelumi. "I have a probationary admission and was advised to stop by the administrative building."

The girl paused for a moment before picking up the phone beside her.

"Melmarc Lockwood is here to meet you, sir," she said into it. She paused for a moment before speaking again. "Right away, sir."

When she placed the phone back down, she looked at Melmarc and said, "Take the elevator to floor three. And walk into office two."

Melmarc and Pelumi shared a confused look before he answered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," the girl said with a smile, then pointed in a direction. "The elevator is that way."

Melmarc and Pelumi thanked her and turned away.

"Aren't you the lucky one," Pelumi said as they headed for the elevator. "I get to go to a different part of the building and wait. They've just been waiting for you to come."

"I was directed to an office," Melmarc pointed out when they got to the elevator and he called it down with a push of a button. "I might still get there and wait."

Pelumi rolled her eyes.

"Anyway…" she walked backwards, away from him. "I'll let you know when I finish, and you let me know when you finish. That way we can walk back together."

Melmarc nodded as the elevator doors opened with a ding, then got inside it. "Got it."

"Don't forget your brother's food," Pelumi added. It was the last thing she said before the doors closed.

The elevator ride was quiet. There was no elevator music to set any type of mood. The elevator stopped at no point in time, and no one joined him. In fact, the ride seemed a little too long, considering he was only going up to the third floor.

He stepped out when the elevator came to a stop and the door opened.

Around him, the hallway welcomed him into a backdrop of wooden brown walls and floor. There were pictureless frames on the walls as if they were nothing but placeholders for when the school decided on what pictures to put up.

Melmarc took the hallway in as he walked, tracking the doors by the numbers on them. The numbers on the doors to his left rose with each door, while they descended to his right. He found the closest door to him bearing the number fifteen.

Strolling down the hallway, it did not take him long before he got to door number two. He knocked quietly, waited for a response which came from a man's voice, before opening the door and stepping in.

Inside, he paused.

The first thing he noticed was how large the office was. Brown walls and a beige wooden floor, it was larger than his entire room in Grace Hall. The second thing he noticed was how dimly lit the room was. Vast as it was, and without windows, it looked as if whoever designed it had failed to put in enough light bulbs to illuminate the entire room.

The furniture was the last detail of the room he noted. On the opposite end of the room was a long table, two chairs for guests, and a man sitting on the other side of the table. That was all.

Minimalist was an understatement to the furnishing.

"Mr. Lockwood," the man said. It was not a question.

Still, Melmarc nodded as he walked in. "Yes, sir."

"Oh, please, no sir here." The man got up as Melmarc entered, gesturing to one of the chairs present. "Please have a sit. You can call me Okoro, but just for today's meeting."

Melmarc sat down, a little nervous.

Okoro was a man of average height and athletic build that showed through his white tee and blue tie. If Melmarc was to guess at his class, he would go with something more agility based.

With a dark complexion, he guessed that Okoro had some African heritage in him, if he was not completely African. Oddly, though, the man had grey eyes.

Melmarc was about to ask himself if it was polished when he remembered his final interview and how the mana particles in the atmosphere had clung to the hair of the man who looked like he had modified his hair.

The mana particles did not cling to Okoro's eyes. That was interesting. Melmarc didn't know of anyone with dark skin and grey eyes. Then again, maybe the combination was just uncommon not impossible.

"So," Okoro sat down, smoothening his tie with one hand, "what can I do for you, Mr. Lockwood?"

"I got an email that…" Melmarc's words trailed off when slight wrinkles appeared above Okoro's brows, and he saw the man's pupils visibly dilate. "Is everything alright?"

Okoro nodded very slowly. "Yes. Sorry. Just kind of sat down wrong."

Dissonant.

"Please," Okoro gestured to him. "Continue."

Melmarc hesitated. Every dissonance is not a lie that concerns you.

"I got an email telling me that I am on probationary admission," Melmarc said simply. "I just came to confirm the reason. What exactly does it entail?"

"The criteria to satisfy your probation were not stated in the email?" Okoro asked.

Melmarc shook his head. "They were not."

"That is odd—"

Dissonant.

"—They were supposed to—"

Dissonant.

Okoro sighed as if he was not happy with having to fix someone else's problem, then touched the table with a casual gesture.

Melmarc watched the top of the table light up, turning into a screen.

"Let me just look into this," Okoro told him, fingers tapping away at the table top.

As he tapped away, to Melmarc's intrigue, the table top turned black. Judging by the fact that Okoro was still tapping away, he was the only one who could no longer see what was happening.

He wondered what principles guided that as well as how many [Crafter]s had come together to create the table as well as their ranks.

Another thing he wondered as Okoro typed away was if Okoro was just a casual liar or if he was lying because the school required him to lie for them on this matter.

"Ah, here it is," Okoro muttered, looking at something that Melmarc could not see.

Okoro scratched his jaw before continuing. "So, we reviewed your tests and have come to the conclusion that your psychological aptitude might be… problematic for the other students."

"Psychological aptitude?" Melmarc asked, unsure of what they were talking about.

"Our [Telepath] had some side effects working with you," Okoro clarified. "And while you have done nothing wrong, we have decided to see how you fair with other students during your first six months with us. Given, you are already aware that there are also those with the [Telepath] class in the school. And children aren't the best at following rules. We simply want to see if we have the required skill to teach you how to best control your psychological aptitude in the even that you do not already know how to."

Melmarc could understand the caution, even if it didn't really seem fair. It sounded like he was being punished for other children's inability to control themselves and obey the rules.

"Also," Okoro continued, "Another criteria to satisfy your probation involves a display of one of your skills as a [Faker]. Please know that this criteria is completely optional. I am supposed to inform you of it. Whether you agree to display it or not, it will fulfil said criteria."

Melmarc shrugged. It wasn't as if his skills were going to be a secret from the school forever since he had plans of joining the combat team.

"May I ask why?" he said, seeking some level of clarification. He wouldn't mind knowing why they had singled him out… if they had singled only him out.

"In the beginning of the test, one of your skills actually achieved the impossible by deactivating an item that was not supposed to be able to be deactivated, if that makes sense?"

[Secrecy], Melmarc thought, remembering the events of the test. He had used it on the thing that had been making the students weak.

"Is that the skill you want me to display?" he asked.

Okoro nodded. "Yes, that is the skill. I, personally, am also interested in the skill that helps you mimic skills, if you don't mind. This does not have anything to do with your relationship with the school. It is entirely my personal curiosity."

With no dissonance, Melmarc didn't see why not.

"It's not really a visible skill, though," he told Okoro.

Okoro shook his head. "That will not be a problem. I just want to watch you activate it."

Melmarc shrugged, taking in a deep breath before complying.

[You have used skill Knowledge is Power]

The skill burst out of him, a wave of mana, reaching out like an expanding dome. Melmarc thought of cutting off the reach of the skill so as not to interrupt those in the other offices. Before he could, he felt something like a weight against the skill.

Was Okoro somehow fighting the skill back. With that in mind, Melmarc forced the skill to run its entire course, only for the weight to disappear.

The wave of mana burst forth. The skill extended beyond the office walls. When it went through Okoro, the man did not react. It wasn't until its return that the man gave a reaction.

The wave of mana passed through Okoro on its return and the man's eyes widened in shock. Melmarc wondered if there was some touch of horror in that shock as he got a new notification.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is concluded.]

[All stats are increased by +1.5.]

[Life forms detected: 1.]

[You have received 1 Potential buffs.]

[Eye of The Unseen](Mastery -13.00%)

The Gifted sees all things. The universe hides nothing from them, should they be strong enough.

…

Congratulations!

Base mastery is at 30%

[Knowledge is Power (Mastery 30.11%)(33.11%)].

Would you like to upgrade your skill or acquire a new skill?

[Y/N]

Please know that you can renege on this decision.

What the hell?

Melmarc knew that he hadn't been checking his skill growth judiciously because he simply wasn't, but he hadn't expected this so soon. Had his mastery growth somehow increased?

At this rate, he would have to check on his other skills and how far they'd gone.

What was the requirement of a rank up again? He asked himself. The answer came to him easily. To upgrade from one rank to the next, a Gifted needed to get one of their skills to a hundred percent mastery.

A small smile almost touched his lips. At this rate, A-rank didn't look so far away to him. He could probably do it in a year. Two at the most.

Remembering where he was, he pulled himself from his thought, deciding to answer the upgrade or acquisition question when he got back to Grace Hall, and returned his attention to Okoro.

He opened his mouth, only for the words to die in his throat at what he saw.

Okoro sat where he was, pale from fear, eyes wide as saucers. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. But that was not what silenced Melmarc. It was the indicator above his head.

Grey, it read:

[Chinedu Frank Okoro(Sage)(SS)].

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