Registration

As they continued down the long, winding staircase, the group listened quietly to Abarran's occasional pieces of information.

The end of the stairs still wasn't in sight, but Mortis remained calm and attentive. In his eyes, knowledge was power and the more you knew, the better your chances of survival.

"Our Myriad Demons Academy is divided into several main areas," Abarran began.

"You've already seen the Great Hall. But aside from that, there are classrooms, dormitories, private training rooms, laboratories, a dining hall, an artificial garden, and a few other important places."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"As for the exact layout, you'll understand soon enough. But before that, we're heading to the administration area. There, we'll register the bracelets I handed out to each of you earlier. And after that, each of you will get to choose your mentor."

He glanced back over his shoulder and added, "Once your bracelet is registered in the academy's system, it'll serve as both your identification and your wallet for contribution points. Pretty much everything around here works through those bracelets, so don't ever lose them."

A few students exchanged wary looks.

"Of course," Abarran said with a slight smirk, "if you do lose it, we can issue a new one and disable the old one. But that's a hassle, for both you and the academy. So just… don't lose it, if you can."

After what felt like an eternity of descending, the group finally reached a point where were a side door that led off to the side. They entered one of them and walked until they stopped in front of a large, wooden door.

Abarran pointed to it with a flat expression. "This is the administration room. Hopefully, none of you will ever need to come back here again, because if you do it means that you lost your bracelet."

Mortis stared at the door. There was some kind of writing etched into the wood, probably spelling "Administration", but it was in a language completely unfamiliar to him. Even the memories of the previous Mortis didn't recognize it.

Abarran let out a sigh and said, "Let's get this over with. The sooner we finish these annoying procedures, the sooner I can get back to my experiments."

He pushed the door open.

"Ohh… Abarran? Another batch of fresh meat?" came an aged voice from inside the room.

An old man sat behind a cluttered desk, his hand moving slowly as he scribbled something onto a parchment with a feathered quill. Ink bottles, parchments, and half-finished documents were piled high on every corner of the desk.

The man's appearance was… striking. His hair and beard were both completely gray, matching the dull tone of his eyes. But what truly made him stand out were the deep, sunken wrinkles covering his entire face. He looked more like a withered corpse than a living man. If he hadn't moved or if he lacked that beard, Mortis could have easily mistaken him for a mummified corpse pulled straight from a tomb.

The administration room itself was surprisingly spacious, at least, at first glance. But nearly every inch of that space was taken up by towering bookshelves stuffed with files, scrolls, books, crystal balls and other things. There were also scattered crystal balls, academy-issued bracelets, and other strange artifacts lying around in piles. It was a miracle there was even enough room for them to stand.

"Yeah," Abarran replied flatly, stepping inside.

He then pointed toward two of the students. "Except for those two—Valthor and Jareth. You already know them."

The old man gave a brief nod and didn't say anything further. His gaze shifted to the rest of the group, scanning each of them slowly with his pale eyes.

He passed over most of them without a pause, until his eyes briefly paused on Vanessa.

Then, they stopped completely on Mortis.

"Hmm… looks like you brought some good seed this time, Abarran. Not bad. You'll get a bonus."

"Of course. I'm already happily looking forward to it," Abarran replied with a faint smirk. "But what I'm looking forward to even more is finishing this as quickly as possible and getting back to my research."

"That won't be a problem," the old man replied casually. "We can handle the rest without you. You're free to go."

He paused, then added with a curious glance, "By the way… interested in taking one of them as your student?"

Abarran was already turning to leave, but he stopped mid-step and turned back.

"A student, huh?" He scanned the group briefly before pointing at a young man. "You there. What's your name?"

The boy stepped forward and gave a respectful bow. "Thane, sir."

"Would you like to have me as your mentor?"

Thane had already seen a glimpse of Abarran's terrifying strength and didn't hesitate. He bowed again, deeper this time. "It would be my utmost honor, Professor."

"Good. Then go to old man Varek, activate your bracelet, and write my name into the contract as your mentor. I'll wait here."

"Yes, sir!" Thane responded quickly and hurried over to the desk, where the old man Varek guided him through the process. He then handed the bracelet to the old man Varek and let him to activated it, and then signed the contract for his selection of mentor.

Once it was done, Thane happily returned to Abarran, and the two of them left together without another word.

"Lucky little bastards," Varek muttered with a mocking grin as the door closed behind them.

The remaining students exchanged uneasy glances, clearly confused. After a moment of hesitation, one of them finally spoke up, voice trembling slightly.

"Um… sir? What do you mean by that?"

Varek let out a dry chuckle and leaned back in his creaking chair. "It's simple, really. Everyone who's been here for a while already knows what kind of Magus Abarran is. The man is obsessed with his research about spells, souls and all other things. And there are no better subjects to do his experiments on than living, breathing mortals and Magus Apprentices."

A few students gasped.

"Of course, most of the time, he sticks to low-tier prisoners or animals. But once he progresses more in his research…" Varek shrugged. "Well… then it's time to do some tests also on the Magus Apprentices."

The old man narrowed his eyes and gave them a grim smile. "So yeah. That friend of yours who just left? He's as good as dead. You've seen him for the last time."

A heavy silence fell over the room. Several students turned pale, their earlier excitement now replaced by dread.

Only Mortis remained still, his expression unreadable. He had already suspected something like this. After all, what are better subjects for testing magic meant to destroy Magi… than other Magi or something close to it?

Varek clapped his hands together, breaking the silence.

"Well then, now that Abarran's part is done, let's get back to business."

His voice drew everyone's attention again.

"Since all of you have either paid the entrance fee or qualified through your aptitude tests, there's no need to go over that. We can skip straight to the next part."

He gestured toward the desk.

"Form a line. One by one, you'll come up here to activate your academy's bracelet and officially choose your mentor. Don't dawdle, we don't have all day."

The students hesitated for a brief moment, then slowly began forming a line.