A Lifes Journey

"Ffffffffm ahhhhh, the air smells so good up here." This fresh smell of the clean air is absolutely intoxicating.

My heart is beating so fast.

Standing on the blue roof of the tower that was just beside the iron entry gate into the 'Science and History' academy's grounds I looked into the void underneath.

The feeling of my nose going a little numb, the fumes of my breath, the burning sensation freezing my face, the bright, almost blinding darkness of the night.

It was all such a thrill, it makes me wanna just jump!

And jump I did.

The tower was about 50 meters tall I'd say which made everything just so much better, I closed my eyes and activated my Seal.

The word meaning 'Darkness' in a language that has long since been forgotten flashed in my brain as if trying to describe the scenery around me.

It took less than a second after activating my Seal to 'sink' into the darkness around me, as my entire body felt as if enveloped in some warm blanket made of mud that swallowed my entire being.

If it weren't for the fact that I could still hear myself thinking, I would've doubted my own existence, ironically enough.

Ahhh, this familiar feeling, how I missed it.

After a very, VERY long 1 tenth of a second, a small spot of a shadow on the floor spat me out.

Inside of the academy's territory the ground seems so… rough, the stone was seemingly smooth from afar but looking at it closely, it was really rough, almost spikey.

Wearing my Slayer uniform gave me confidence in just wandering aimlessly to get a feel for the place's groundwork, scouting is always important before missions.

My deep black hoodie was somewhat of a hindrance to my vision as I almost fell after missing the small height difference between the rough stoney area and what seemed to be a dry mud field the size of something like 3 dorm houses.

After reaching a road made out of actual smooth, grey-ish marble, the entry to the main school building was right in front of me. A tall but somewhat disproportionately narrow door in the shape of an arrow head, colored some hue of gray with a tinge of green to it, or at least so it seemed in the darkness of the night.

Using my Seal again I just entered the building through a shadow under one of the windows near the entry door.

Searching for the principal's office is the easy part. I didn't even plan on getting this far today, convinced there will be guards in this place. I didn't even bother planning beyond getting a feel for the school's yard…

Choosing to try and finish the mission tonight is probably somewhat impulsive but, the thrill in all of this is too much, I don't wanna leave yet, let's find the principal's office and try to get this document thingy my accursed new god had asked for.

Thinking of how I would've built the school, helped me decide to start in the middle.

The school's eerily quiet. Hallways were sorta like a triangle which meant that the most important room would be on the second floor in the middle, or so I thought.

Ironically enough, the very last door - which is the very first I skipped - is also the one I needed. Why am I not surprised…

Whatever, at least I'm here, but who even puts the principal's office basically at the school's entrance. How ridiculous. Is this how schools are built? Isn't the principal like the… warlord or something?

This is way too easy though, is this a set-up? I find it hard to believe as there's just no point, they know enough about me to send me to jail easily or at least ruin my life here for sure, right?

Maybe the academy's principal is that confident in his hiding place for the documents? Maybe he's just dumb?

Too many uncertainties, this is so fun!

Well, the door is unlocked, the table with purple legs is right in the middle of the office, am I crazy or is this a trap? I'm not taking any chances, although I absolutely want to.

One of the first things Kiyoko taught me was to be thorough, I'll try to get more information out of my 'unknown' employer before risking getting caught red-handed in something like that.

Getting out of the academy is simple enough using my Seal, but I want a bit of a challenge so let's wing it.

Of course my Seal is known in the kingdom as the Seal of an infamous assassin as well, so let's keep Seal usage to a minimum while working.

Since I also used Sy today in school, it's better to not use any of that either.

With my mind set on getting back to my dorm without being seen, I ran by the mud field until reaching the wall that faces my dorm block, I leaped into the air as high as possible and barely reached a bump on the wall to start climbing.

Climbing this wall wasn't much of a challenge, but it was a long process, this wall is fucking high.

After running for a bit, I arrived at the edge of the wall. An unbelievable urge to throw myself off of it filled me with adrenalin.

Breathing in deeply made time slow down for a second as my lungs felt tingly from the cool air.

I felt extremely calm.

The wall was about 7 or so meters high plus around 5 for the hill it was on top of.

Jumping down was easy enough even without my Seal, but I need the rest of my route home planned.

It wouldn't be hard as my pre-planning was impeccable, of course.

"As you jump down a few meters or so, just know your body could distribute the shock better if you let your knees buckle a bit and then roll forward, you'll transfer the shock dealt to your body into force. Forward momentum, you know? Though do make sure to use your shoulder as you roll so you don't injure yourself." My old colleague's advice sounded very clear all of a sudden.

Thanks, Snoopsi!

Even though I did stick the landing quite well, the height was probably too much. My knees felt a bit shaky.

After carefully making my way using the darkness as cover - which wasn't so difficult even without my Seal - I finally reached the small wooden box behind building B-1 where my normal clothes were hidden.

As I was changing clothes a distant noise from behind excited me, I'm ready to kill any witness in order to save my skin. Turning around, it disappointed me to see a cat walking by, near a piece of wood that looked like a tree that lost its life to mother nature after getting hit by lightning.

Instead of going back home, maybe looking around this huge city is a better option. I heard the academy city has a bunch of leisure institutes for all the pathetic losers living here.

Kiyoko gave me about 2 gold coins worth of silver, that should be more than enough for me.

As I was arriving at the city's square after a bit of walking, a realization dawned on me, my money is not here… How could I forget something so simple, I'm usually so calm and thorough.

Whatever, I'll just look around for now, see what they offer here.

♪"… Di-da-di ho the Dirk collapsed to death!"♪ a cheerful song along with a loud laughter were coming from the distance - I'm guessing there's a tavern here.

Standing there at the edge of the square, seeing how the atmosphere was incredibly care-free and cheerful. How boring.

Another realization hit me, SOMEONE MIGHT TALK TO ME.

Should I join in? probably not.

The amazing smell blessing my nose of what I assumed to be roasted Bilzar meat made me drool lustfully.

How did they get Bilzar meat so far away from the northern wilderness?

"Did you hear? they brought some Bilzar duckling piglets from the north, it is said they can live off of just a small pond with fish."

I remember a conversation with Snoops again. This guy always knew everything.

The sweetness and tenderness of the meat, just like a tomato. It flooded my mouth.

Its natural taste of a chicken marinated in tomatoes made it so you don't even need seasoning.

Memories of my times in the wilderness flooded in as I tried to suppress them not wanting to remember some of the more… unpleasant ones.

While looking at the square, still debating whether I should go look around even without any money, a tap on my shoulder jerked me back to reality.

"Hello" the unfamiliar - but very much pleasant - voice of the highest ranking member of my class made me wanna dive into the nearest shadow "Your name was Lifes, right? I'm Chloe, can we talk?" Why me?!

'Firsts', give me strength.