Nightmare Mythos

"Ugh…"

Weakly walking while trying to remove the funny thoughts inside his head, Cesar forced himself back on the right track once he realized he was getting sidetracked. Leaving the workshop behind, he finally snapped.

"That arrogant instructor. Now, he's at the bottom of my list, only second to Syros," Cesar sighed as he remembered the five classes he'll be having today, all specialized classes.

He then placed himself in a stop station and awaited a cab to pass by as he started muttering on his own, "Next class is Syros, that old man… After that sneaky old man is Iso, one of my most liked instructors teaching me. Up next is two instructors I'll be meeting for the first time,"

Cesar sighed, "Monday would've been my not-so-free tight schedule if not for the fact that aside from Hans', every class is two hours each time. Sigh, what a bummer indeed,"

Finally, a cab saw him at the station and went for him. Cesar didn't waste time greeting the person and demanded respectfully.

"Academy, third gate."

The cab driver nodded before slowly driving Cesar to the location he mentioned since the Silver Sky Dojo was near the third gate of the Academy.

…

Syros never failed Cesar at all as they remained the task he ordered him to do on Friday since Cesar was nowhere close to accomplishing it. He had fun messing with him even though that was indeed the learning his instructor was going to give him.

Worse of all, he had to suck up this distraction and humiliation he was receiving from the old man since by the end of it, the frustration will lead him to nowhere.

Who knows if there's a benefit through all this? Well, it's clearly being clear-headed in a fight as his course suggested but there were still lingering doubts that stayed on his mind no matter how many times he convinced himself that there was something to benefit from all of this.

What if Syros was just making fun of him because he was bored?

These thoughts were all quashed, however, at least momentarily, when Cesar went to Iso's class and continued their usual class as usual.

The Cleansing Course became his personal favorite not only because Iso was very easy to talk to but also because his teaching was mostly beneficial to him. If not for it, he wouldn't have been able to use his essence to practice his artificial fire.

He felt really refreshed every time Iso taught him more about this method. It makes his unstable Soul at least bearable.

However, it wasn't really a solution.

The more every second and day slipped by his hands, his chance of surviving his unknown condition was becoming truer.

'Soon… With the banquet opening as an opportunity to venture out, I can solve this problem in no time. I just had to pinpoint a place, travel around, and finally finish this once and for all,'

The course ended very fast even though two hours had already passed. Currently, he was heading toward his fourth class for today which is located in the Academy and must be that way since it is slightly dangerous amongst the rest.

The place had to be heavily secured and had to be watched out for most of the time since people might just become stupid enough to pull off ridiculous stunts that might as well endanger the whole academy as a whole.

Finally, after walking through the big premises of the Academy, Cesar finally came to his destination.

[Lab 9]

Entering the lab, Cesar was met with two guards who stopped on his way. They asked in a strict tone.

"Name and purpose?"

He answered, "Cesar Sparrow. I'm here to attend a class for ma'am Rina. I think she's inside,"

The guard looked at each other and one of the guys went to his table and grabbed a notebook that foreseen the schedule for the current class. Once they pinpointed the time currently and assessed that there was a sole class meant for Cesar Sparrow that had been decreed by the Academy itself, they didn't contain him from the outside any longer.

One of the guards began to lead him inside.

One of the guards that led him inside warned, "I'm sure you've been in the labs, Sparrow. I'm also sure that you knew the risks if you ever did something dumb. Not long ago, some idiot first-year touched a normal-looking liquid without the consent of the teacher. What happened? Well, his hand just evaporated and he was forced to be expelled from the Academy since a defect like that isn't required for the harsh training of the Academy,"

The guard paused, "This is just one of the recent accidents that happened in the labs so be mindful of the signs plastered everywhere, okay? If there's a sign that no touching, definitely not do it. In fact, if you see something in the lab, just don't touch anything and tread forward,"

Cesar mused inwardly, 'How caring for a guard.'

After passing through countless tempered glass, cabinets that are protected with very thick mirrors, and signs that signal and warn people to avoid ever touching them accidentally.

"Here you go, Sparrow. This is the room you'll be meeting with your instructor. She's already waiting inside,"

Cesar thanked the guard who led him here even though he could do it himself, but because there are real troublemakers that make a job harder, a bit of precaution is still needed.

Cesar opened the door on his front and his gaze easily and swiftly fixated on the woman in a coat, holding a bubbling liquid from his hand. Wearing eyewear on her left eye, with thick gloves to assist the things she was holding, Cesar's instructor, Rina shifted her gaze at him.

"Sparrow?"

Cesar nodded, "It is me, ma'am Rina,"

Rina had a strange smile on her face, more like insanity, as she replied, "Isn't this beautiful?"

Rina slightly tilted her cup that was enough to see the revolting contents inside. Everything just felt wrong about it, the smell and the image almost made him puke.

Cesar had to cover his nose and give his honest opinions, "Nahh, there's no way that is beautiful! It's horrendous! Disgusting!"