Chapter 274
Chapter 274
The next evening, Kyon, in the guise of another person, met with two old friends in a secluded place. One of them was irresistible Marina, who looked surprisingly cheerful and happy. There was a sparkle in her eye that could not be hidden. The second guest was Flitz, who had lost his image of a decrepit skeleton covered with skin. He had become Franz, a blond, handsome young man.
Kyon caught the gleam of happiness in Flitz’s eyes. A soft breeze ruffled his blond hair. His elegant white suit accentuated his lean physique and added to his image of a charming, handsome gentleman from a foreign noble family.
Flitz owed his youth and beauty to Synergy, placed in placebo pills that Kyon had given to him after escaping from the palace. When Flitz turned twenty years younger and witnessed Kyon’s stunning victory in the tournament, he didn’t hesitate to agree to his terms. According to Lovr, Flitz had to become his servant for an indefinite period of time, and at the end of the service, his seed would be restored… A few days after Flitz accepted the terms, he found himself in a totally new body.
«I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude to you, Kyon…» – Even when Marina disappeared, Flitz tried not to show his emotions, but now he could not help it. – «You have given me a new life, a chance to achieve an almost impossible dream! I promise to serve you faithfully and honestly…» – He got down on one knee and bowed his head.
Kyon glanced at Marina. If Flitz dreamed of making her a child, he was a complete idiot for bowing to another man in front of the woman he loved. Anyway, Flitz streamed 10% of the light to the nucleus! It was totally worth rejuvenating him. Too bad it would never work with other old geezers.
«Get up.»
Flitz stood up. – «Tell me what to do.»
«From now on, your name is Franz. Forget about Flitz. The mere sound of the name pisses me off.»
Kyon gave this order for a reason. Marina associated the old man, his cruel deeds, and their bitter past with that name. Changing his name and appearance would give her a new perspective. She would start from scratch with a completely different person.
Franz nodded obediently.
«First of all, give me all the secret ID codes of the Stone family.»
Franz was surprised to hear this. He hesitated for a moment and then bowed his head. – «All right…»
The Stone formation was protected against forgery. It was a special ID code that only a select few knew about. Each rank had its own code. The practitioner could feel it in their soul and say with confidence that the formation was real. Each formation rank had a different code. If Kyon had it, he could create a slew of fake Stone patriarchs or pure-blood descendants.
When he got what he wanted, Kyon moved on to the next order. – «As soon as you get home, take this unique body destruction pill.» – He took out the expensive little ball that he had bought at the auction.
«But I have cultivated this body for a hundred years! I have invested so much time and effort, and now it has to be destroyed!? Besides, I will lose at least a stage of cultivation, if not three!» – Franz said indignantly and immediately regretted it.
«If I see this defiance in your eyes ever again, I won’t let you off easy. And you know too well that skipping the rejuvenation pills will turn you back into a half-alive skeleton.» – Kyon lied. – «Your life is in my hands. You have accepted my terms, and there’s no way back. I can order you to gouge your eye out, and you will do it!»
«I am sorry… I will obey… It’s so difficult for me to get used to the role of a servant. I am used to leading and giving orders, which gained me some respect, after all.» – Franz hastened to justify himself and took the pill. He had always been willful and headstrong, and now he had to lose his freedom, perhaps for a very long time. But his youth and bright future were totally worth it! He had made his decision, so he had to learn a little humility.
«When you destroy the unique body and have some rest, take the Dragon God pill.» – Kyon took out a little ball covered with black scales that had an aura of antiquity. The requirement for its cultivation was to have a 100-year-old soul, which was ideal for young Flitz who had preserved his old soul.
Franz took the pill with trembling hands. The explosive energy was raging inside it! He could swear that he was holding at least an A ranking body. Where did Kyon get it? Franz had a whole new respect for the boy.
«And the last order: get ready to go to Cernos!»
…
The very next day, about 50 smartly dressed readers entered the central Boston library over different periods of time. Former representatives of the poor and the middle classes, who had never had access to this prestigious library, were now the fourth-ranking Stones! Their status had significantly upgraded. It was like a former slave in the mine had suddenly become a domestic servant in the aristocratic household.
Each of them had four formations applied by Kyon. The fourth-ranking formation on their wrists indicated their belonging to the Stone family. They also had three formations on the forehead: visual, auditory, and subjugating ones. The signal from the three formations was processed in Synergy cloud. Roughly speaking, the slaves were Kyon’s eyes, ears, and hands. They had no combat potential, but they were an ideal resource for performing routine tasks. Their task was to flip through stacks of books in the months to come.
Lovr had time to read all the books in the elite section of the library only, where pure-blood descendants were allowed, but the devil is in the detail. He was going to learn a lot of new and useful things when he thoroughly studied the entire library. It was the first significant advantage of having Flitz as his servant. Without Flitz, he wouldn’t have had a chance to use the ID code. The Stone family, of course, would never know about their fake members. They were not mentioned in the documents, nor were they tracked in the center.
…
A week had passed since the tournament ended.
Today, the most prestigious school in the kingdom held an annual entrance examination. Young people under the age of 20 could try their luck after paying a symbolic fee of 1000 spheres.
A thousand spheres was nothing for some, but for the majority of the population, it was a lot of money. For example, 10,000 spheres of the base phase was enough to buy a medium-sized house on the outskirts of the Stones’ estate. An average peasant earned about a thousand spheres a year, and the beggars could live on a single sphere a whole week (after changing it to coppers). Anyway, the attempt to enter the school could be rather expensive, even for a middle-class family. The school offered financial grants for those who had the highest entrance exam scores, but those were exceptionally rare. The rest had to rely on their parents for money.
All young people of the kingdom dreamed of getting to Cernos because the school offered the best educational programme and the most eminent masters. Representatives of many influential organizations regularly visited Cernos, all of them could be an excellent start for their future career. The school was famous for well-equipped modern training rooms with the densest energy concentration in the entire kingdom. It also had a good system for rewarding good work with techniques from the rich Grand heritage. The students took part in local tournaments and other numerous events that brightened up the working days.
Many dreamed of enrolling in Cernos, but only a few succeeded. More than 90 percent of the applicants got rejected from their dream school, and this despite the fact that the most talented youth after several years of preparation came here to try their luck.
The school was located not far from Boston. The gigantic walls of the capital city could be seen on the horizon. The territory of Cernos was tens of square kilometers, fenced with high walls and signal barriers. It goes without saying that troublemakers were not favored there.
It was an early grey morning when several thousand young people crowded in front of the school building, waiting for the test to begin. The exam was to start in a few minutes, and the applicants were getting all antsy.
«Damn it! Even watching the goddess’s messenger at the tournament, I was less worried as I am now! What will happen at the test? My anxiety is killing me!» – Sam cracked his knuckles and turned to his friend.
«There’s no reason to worry.»
«No reason? Look around, almost everyone here is pale, muttering something under their breath! They say that nine out of ten fail the exam, and I can feel it in my gut that I’m going to fail… Damn, my father will beat the shit out of me!»
Alex patted his friend encouragingly on the shoulder, a confident smile playing upon his lips. – «Take it easy and keep your shit to yourself. Don’t worry about things you can’t control. It’s a waste of energy. Take a deep breath! We are pure-blood descendants of the Grand family! The sky’s the limit for us! My brother is the third most powerful student in Cernos, and my father is an honorable elder! Even if we shit on the examiner’s table, we’ll pass anyway! Ha ha!» – Alex laughed carelessly.
Girls and boys standing nearby and eavesdropping on this conversation had an overwhelming reverence for the pure-blood descendants of the imperial family. Their status was comparable to the elders of the Stone family, or even higher! They were feared and respected. Any conflict with them could turn into a real disaster. There were no obstacles and barriers for the elite of the Grands in the Iron Throne. Making friends with them could turn life in Cernos into paradise. However, none of those present was in a hurry to approach the friends. They were cautious but ready to seize an opportunity to kowtow to the Grands or prove themselves worthy of their attention…
«It’s not convincing.» – Sam grunted glumly.
«Have you ever wondered why half of the students in Cernos come from the Grand family?»
«No, why?»
Alex came closer and whispered to his friend:
«Because it’s our school! De jure and de facto! The Grands founded it hundreds of years ago. But it’s more than that. The Grands are more talented and smarter than all this lowlife scum. I mean the top thirty students of the school are Grands, and small wonder, royal blood flows in our veins, after all! The rest is garbage. They get accepted to school so that we wouldn’t go at each other but blow off steam at them. It’s Cernos policy to make the Grands happy. Did you know that according to an ancient, unspoken tradition, each of us should have three slaves? But hush, the plebs can’t know about this, or they will rebel. You were lucky to be born into the Grand family, so, relax and enjoy your life. Seek pleasure and avoid pain, and you will never regret anything.» – He finished his inspirational speech with great self-confidence and poise. In the kingdom that belonged to his family, the golden elite, the boy felt like a phoenix among the pigeons.
«I see… I’m still worried, though. I guess I will pass the talent test. As for the knowledge test…»
«Cheer up, buddy. Focus your attention on the beauties from other families. Check out the way they look at us. You can have any of these girls, but choose wisely! They will want something in return, hehe.» – Alex flashed a dirty smile. He was at the age when the head controlled the body, but it wasn’t the one on his shoulders. He craved bawdy adventures.
Meanwhile, a hideous young man, to put it mildly, quietly entered the waiting area. His face was a real work of art, created by gods who favored everything repulsive and disgusting. If there was magic that turned ugliness into its antipode, he would be the most handsome guy in the world.