Animulus, The Ticket To The Top

ANGEL AUBREY CRIMSON crossed the gates of Sky High Academy with her best friend, Azule. She was worried about the letter of PSYCHE University. She had accepted it and already sent a confirmation letter to the school. And yet, she felt uneasy.

Her mind was telling her that something bad would happen if she transfers to PSYCHE University.

She told herself that nothing bad would happen. Yet, her mind just keeps drifting off to somewhere, far away from where she is now, her hands tied and a magical potion trying to make its way into her mouth.

She blinks a few times. Now, what was that? She thought. It was too vivid to be call daydreaming or hallucination.

"Aubrey?" called her friend, Azule. "Aubrey? Slearth calling to Aubrey, hello? Are you listening?"

"Y-Yes?" Aubrey snapped back, "Did I miss something?"

"Nothing, but your mind does. Did you forget that today, PSYCHE University will announce the list of participants for the ranking quest?" Azule told her.

"Participants?" she asked, "Is that so?"

Azule nodded, "Shall we see who's going to be our enemies? You know, just like before we start attending this university?" She nodded with a grin, "That sounds good."

"Eh? This is going to be interesting... Ms. Amnalia's true color is showing up. Maybe you two would like to be included on the list of my preys. Shall I take the pleasure of killing you first, Ms. Crimson? Or, maybe Ms. Amnalia, what do you think?" A voice interrupted.

The two girls turned to see who made the comment.

A girl of average height was leaning on the nearest wall from the gates. She has long straight black hair, fair skin, and a beautiful face. Most of all, she was wearing the same uniform as the two. She was giving off the aura of a queen—proud, fierce, and it seems as she can see through everything like nothing could pass her gaze or everything is inferior under her gaze.

For Aubrey, it feels as though there is a snake around her neck that will tighten and eventually kill her once she does something that the girl standing before her wouldn't like. This made her break cold sweat. Moreover, she was playing a knife in her hands.

Aubrey thinks that it was probably her weapon, the infamous Nalee. It is a handy knife made of crystal, with the colors of black and dark blue. It said to leave traces of crystal in wounds which adds numbness to the body part making it in a shock state. Some said that a cool burning sensation was felt when scratched with it. But well-known to all, the rumor about Nalee that states no one had ever survived once stricken by it.

"What do you want, Danica?" Aubrey asked.

"Danica? The Danica? The famous Danica?" Azule asked her disbelievingly.

"Yes, the Danica Rook. The only daughter and heiress of one of the most powerful and wealthy families of slayers, the Rook Family Household." She explained to her and turned once again to Danica, "So, what do you want?" she repeated.

"Nothing, just murmuring some offers to the two of you. So, what do you think?" Danica answered her.

"And what do you think our answer will be? Are you not in your right mind right now?" Azule retorted back to Danica.

"Don't, Azule. Let's just go." She told her friend. Azule nodded and they both walked away from the scene.

"I wasn't kidding you know, Ms. Crimson. You should be ready; you're on the top of the list. You're my first prey, the sacrificial lamb." Danica murmured behind their backs.

Back to where Aubrey was, "What do you think of that girl?" Azule asked her. "What Danica? Well, we should probably be careful about her. People of her standing would do anything to defend and protect their honor even if that means dirtying their hands behind the scenes." She answered her friend.

Azule just shrugged.

***

Aubrey and Azule reached the public announcement plaza and found a lot of people there. They are students just like them and are waiting for the list.

Azule found some familiar faces and excuse herself, Aubrey was left all alone. Suddenly, a ray of light passed and hundreds of fairies flew in from all directions. These fairies started writing on the air. In a matter of minutes, hundreds of names were already written on the air. After the thousandth name was written, an image appeared in the very middle of the plaza.

This got everyone's attention and all eyes were on it.

"Congratulations, dear students and future slayers! I am Hiral Lonee, an SS-rank slayer and the representative of Mr. Gian Hades, the head of PSYCHE University. In his name, I declare all the names written on the air as students of PSYCHE University. The list of rules, school materials needed, and the warnings will be given to you promptly." The image, Mr. Lonee said.

At that very moment, handbooks appeared and each student received one. Aubrey was no exception.

She turned the pages slowly and found her name printed in gold color on the top right corner of every page. She closed the book and returned her attention to the man who introduced himself as Mr. Lonee.

"As you can see, your names were printed on every page of your handbooks. I know very well that most students do not read their handbooks and don't even care about it. But, at our school, a game in which lives were on the line will start. Everything that happens inside the university is nothing but a game, a game to choose the next generation of the most powerful slayers. So, as an advice from me, better take great care of your handbooks. The reason? That's because your handbooks represent your participation in the game. It's like a ticket, a ticket that represents your very life. It is called Animulus, the owner's very life. Call it your heart, your soul, or whatever you wanna call it, but take good care of it. This public announcement is made just to warn you about that single thing. Better not take it lightly for once lose or destroyed, you're dead. No but's." Mr. Lonee said with a serious tone. "But, don't lose hope, that's just the basic of the basics. It is made of your own mana and your element is entangled with it. If you happen to die, your Animulus will automatically self-destruct. Your name will be crossed out of the student's records and your body won't be able to leave the university's premises. You'll be buried in the university's cemetery." he goes on.

It raises some comments from the crowd. Aubrey simply ignored them and listen to every word the announcer was saying. It is better for her to listen than complain. In this kind of situation, complaining won't do much.

"Element, the so-called magical powers inside us will vanish if you lose or destroy the Animulus. I've been meaning to say to you all, once your element vanishes, you'll be just like the land people, weak and powerless. That's the absolute punishment of PSYCHE University and it is approved by the empire." Mr. Lonee continued.

Aubrey thinks that it was too great and it is worse than dying. But, chickening out would be too shameful and cowardly for a slayer aiming for the top.

"This has been way too long for an official announcement, am I right? Then, I will say a few more words and end it. The start of the class is on the first day of March, but I expect that all of you will arrive at the university a week earlier. You will be notified of the other announcements at the school. Now, students of school term 2045-2046, once again, congratulations and welcome to PSYCHE University!" Mr. Lonee concluded and vanished.

Everyone was left confused. Most of them cannot utter a single word or are stuttering. Azule tap Aubrey from the back, "What do you think?" she asked her.

"What do I think? Well, that is... " Aubrey said but failed to answer.

Azule sighed.

"I guess this official announcement was made to give us a very important hint for the ranking quest," Azule said.

Aubrey just nodded, her mind is totally confused.

She was wondering how a small book, the Animulus, could be important enough to become her greatest weakness. She hasn't tried reading a handbook for the last 5 years of her school life. And now, more important than reading its contents, now she has to protect it. She remembered losing all her previous handbooks in mere weeks after receiving them.

She can't understand what the handbook had to do with the game. That aside, why does losing it means dropping out of the game? It all made no sense to her.

She was snapped back to reality when Azule tapped her strongly. She groaned, "What was that for?"

"Yes, yes, I know you're not listening to what I'm saying. Let's just go back; I have some pressing matters I need to attend to." Azule ignored her and walked.

When she noticed that Aubrey is not following, she turned to her and said firmly, "It's a very important and urgent matter."

Aubrey just shrugged and followed her.

Azule always escorts Aubrey home to make sure that she went home safe and sound. Aubrey was grateful to her for that because she's scared of being alone even for a second. That is the reason why she takes a friendly character.

When they reached her house, Azule immediately said good-bye and walked in a rush. Her friend's actions baffled her. She wasn't like that in the past. She thought that something happened at home.

Aubrey just shrugged and entered her house.

***

[ February 26, 2045 | Friday ]

"Dear Aubrey, please go to PSYCHE University without me. I just had a bit of a problem but I promise I'll be there before the start of the class so don't worry about me. I'll meet you there. From your best friend, Azule." Aubrey read aloud.