Everyone gasped as the footage cut off. The lounge descended into excited mumblings.

"What was that?"

Sasha asked, her voice hushed.

"A domain lord… I think."

Evélyne responded, her gaze fixed on the person who brought up the hologram.

"What?! It was bigger than the entire manor! Is that what you had to fight when you went on your trip, Mistress?"

Lucas suppressed a laugh. Evélyne turned her attention to the Beastkin as she explained,

"No, Sasha. I fought Lucas, remember?"

Sasha furrowed her brows as she looked at Lucas. After a few moments, clarity dawned in her eyes as she spoke, a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Hehehe, I remember now. I don't know why my memory is so bad."

Lucas and Evélyne frowned at this. Taking a step closer to Sasha, Evélyne placed a large hand on her head and began stroking her hair.

"It's fine, Sasha. It doesn't matter if you forget things. Don't strain yourself, okay?"

Sasha nodded softly as she enjoyed Evélyne's hand. After petting her for a bit, Evélyne let go and began walking toward the red-haired Prismari, the crowd parting easily. Her towering figure drew the gazes of everyone.

"Hello."

She said to the Prismari.

Looking up at her in surprise, he stammered out,

"H-hello?"

"Could you tell me how you got that recording?"

"Oh, it's from the Mindscape."

"Mindscape?"

"Yeah? You're not synced in?"

He asked in genuine surprise, bordering on shock.

The question just confused the tall beauty further. With a shake of her head, she said,

"I am not synced into the Mindscape, as I don't know what that is to begin with."

The Prismari blinked. His irises glowed as he came to a realization.

"You don't have a Synap at all?"

Evélyne shook her head yet again. The Prismari was stunned and simply stared at her face. Other nearby Prismari students were confused as well.

"Is there something on my face?"

Evélyne asked flatly.

The redhead blushed as he said,

"No… I'm just surprised, and you look… very beautiful."

Evélyne smiled faintly. "Thank you. Can you tell me how to get videos like that?"

"Well… you need a Synap to connect to the Mindscape, then you can access them with your mind. To get a Synap, you need to be registered as a Prismari… Wait! You're not a Prismari?"

As he exclaimed in confusion, Evélyne placed a hand on her chin. With a pensive look, she said,

"Yes, I'm not. Thank you for sharing."

With that, she left the confused young adult alone.

"What did you ask him, Mistress?"

"I just wanted to know how he got access to that video. Apparently, it's something only the Prismari can access."

"Oh..."

"What class should we go to next? I was thinking Science. It should have something about Runes, right?"

Lucas suggested after a few seconds of silence.

"Sounds good, Lucas. Let's go."

As they walked, Evélyne said,

"I'm still quite surprised you can't use tools inscribed with Runes but you can use Runes inscribed into your flesh without any adverse effects."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Sasha nodded repeatedly.

"Yeah, Sir Lucas, why does your Spirit energy blow things up?"

Lucas scratched his head with an awkward smile.

"I have no clue, Sasha."

Sasha's tail whipped in a slow rhythm as she thought with narrowed eyes.

"Then how come you use Runes on your body and not blow up?"

With a helpless smile, Lucas looked down at the Rune on his fist as he explained,

"I didn't think it through that much, and I did blow myself up initially. I just saw other creatures using Runes and blew myself up a bunch of times to make it work."

Evélyne looked at him, perplexed, while Sasha just stared in amazement.

"You should have killed yourself in one of those explosions. The fact that you're still here… is unbelievable, frankly."

Lucas chuckled awkwardly as they walked and talked.

"But it still works out, right? And why are you bringing this up now?"

Evélyne looked at Lucas. Her expression dimmed imperceptibly as she said,

"I… felt like you would be more open to a conversation about yourself now rather than earlier... If I'm overstepping, I apologize."

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

'What's this weird girl on about? Why tie me with a slave contract and treat me with respect? Does she actually not see how she can just force me to say anything?'

Even though his mind cycled through such thoughts, he smirked as he continued.

"It's fine, Evélyne. I don't know anything about Runes, and no one reacted to me using them the way I do, so I thought it was normal."

Evélyne's expression relaxed as she explained further, her voice as neutral as always.

"That's because Mother probably knows things far beyond what I do, which shades what she considers possible. Or she might very well not think much of it, as you said."

She paused, then added,

"From my perspective, using Runes on your flesh is like telling the World to use you as a conduit for whatever your Runes describe. So, no matter how you 'word' it or control your energy, you would just turn yourself into a living bomb at best…"

Lucas's eyes brightened at Evélyne's slight frown.

"So I'm an anomaly in that regard?"

"…Yes, very much so."

They continued walking and talking as minutes ticked by, mostly reflecting on the video and the squad in it. In no time, they found themselves at one of the Science halls.

Within the aperture was a sleek, high-ceilinged lab designed with symmetry and cooperation in mind. Fifteen circular, open-air workstations were evenly spaced throughout the room, each large enough to accommodate two students. Their smooth black surfaces bore no visible Runes.

At each station, two distinct sets of tools were arranged. One side was stocked with fine, crystalline spirit-measurement devices; the other held spirit-forged clamps, scrapers, and weighted chisels for Rune shaping.

Overhead, thin hexagonal panels emitted a soft white light, while the walls—crafted from a fusion of polished stone and semi-reflective alloy—displayed simple runic scripts that adjusted based on the lab's current lesson. Thin mist vents in the corners of the room kept the air cool and fresh.

A wide holoscreen hovered silently at one end of the lab for instructor use, while the opposite end held locked cabinets of reagents and sensitive components. Each workstation was backed by a small upright panel where students could input data or review synchronized theory.

Despite the clean lines and advanced equipment, there was an undercurrent of potential chaos. Everything about the lab said: Hands-on learning begins now.

The trio calmly stepped in and looked around. There were barely any students inside, and a life-like hologram stood at the head of the room. Having memorized how Science classes were supposed to go, Lucas turned to Evélyne with a smile.

"Rock, paper, scissors for who gets to sit with Sasha?"

Evélyne just looked at his prepared hands flatly while Sasha's tail wagged rapidly as she held back her laugh.

"See you when class is over, Lucas."

With that, she grabbed Sasha's hand and found a station for them. Lucas chuckled.

"See you later, Evélyne."

His tail swished lazily behind him as he scoured the occupied stations, his pupil now a wispy white flame.

'Hmm… let's see who looks interesting… oh.'

His attention was caught by a pink-haired Prismari. What drew his focus was the unusual nature of her Spirit energy. Unlike everyone else's, it seemed to cycle back into her core. Watching the pink, misty energy shift from flame-like projections to jolts of electricity also intrigued him.

'And we have a winner.'

He walked over to her with a confident stride, drawing the gazes of the few people just walking in. When he got to her station, he smiled brightly as he asked, "Hey, do you mind sharing your station?"

The girl didn't respond, humming with her eyes closed. Lucas raised his voice slightly and reiterated his question to no avail. With a sigh, he reached out and—

"Ahhh!"

The woman screamed as she shot out of her chair.

Lucas reached out with his tail instinctively and caught her.

"Are you okay?"

The woman got to her feet gingerly as Lucas supported her. She looked down at his tail, then to his face before stammering out,

"Y-You're a Beastkin?"

"Yep. So can I share this station with you? I asked before, but you didn't seem to hear me." Lucas spoke as he retracted his tail.

"Oh… sorry about that. I was just listening to some music and got drawn in."

Lucas raised an eyebrow at this.

'Oh, they have music here? I forgot to check the library.'

The woman misunderstood his raised eyebrow and blushed.

"I just really like the song, okay? And yes, you can sit with me."

"Thanks…"

"Virallan Sparkk."

"Thanks, Vira. I'm Lucas Maverick, by the way. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"What are you using to listen to your music?"

Virallan looked at him like he'd been dropped on his head as a child before realization struck her.

"I use my Synap. You guys don't have them, right?"

"Yeah. What is a Synap exactly? It seems quite useful."

Virallan's eyes brightened as she began explaining,

"Synaps are a very cool piece of tech. They help us connect our minds in vast networks and have literally innumerable other functions."

Her expression dimmed slightly.

"Too bad taking apart one is illegal, though, so there's no way to know exactly how it works."

Lucas's expression became contemplative.

"And you guys are okay with sharing your minds with others?"

Virallan raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? For us, working together is what made it possible for our species to survive for so long. Synaps just emphasize our greatest strength. Without them, we would be nothing."

Lucas kept silent at this. He knew there was a big problem with Virallan's view, but who was he to judge when he knew almost nothing about their situation?

"I see," he nodded. "So what else can it do?"

Brushing aside the implications of the Synap tech, Lucas tried to learn more about it. They spoke for about five minutes before the class filled. The hologram came online. It was a life-like hologram of green haired Prismari woman dressed in flowing white and blue robes. Taking in the room, she nodded before speaking, her delicate voice audible to the entire class.

"Now, let's begin."

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