"look at this, what a sleeping beauty," a sarcastic remark came from apollo as he arrived at nero''s cell. there, sleeping in a stone bed with chains and magic apparatus to keep him alive, was nahezda''s former king, nero.

    "jeremiah, what''s keeping him from waking up?"

    [currently creator it seems nero puts his mind in a deep slumber before the emperor caught him. this i believe is not typical magic we can just cancel, if we made a mistake we might accidentally kill him]

    "that is not really threatening i don''t mind killing him, but i wonder if veritas might be afraid in this state"

    [how about the authority of mystics, wont it be safer to use?]

    "right i should have thought of that"

    apollo was about to approach not until a presence made him look back. "apollo i think i already warned you about this moving alone plan of yours"

    alicia appeared and immediately lock her gaze at her friend.

    "i just need answers" he reason but alicia just shook her head as if denying apollo''s words.no?v(el)b\\jnn

    "you can''t touch nero apollo, augustus use the power of excalibur to protect him, touch him with any power and the blessings from the sword will react"

    "ugh" apollo suddenly groan remembering how he almost die fighting against a base excalibur.

    [i didn''t sense that creator i apologize]

    "there is an artifact here that is why you didn''t sense the power of the sword" alicia said answering the question that was apollo about to ask.

    "damn it waste my time here" he just said before teleporting back to the academy.

    alicia followed but before she does she made sure no one will know that the two of them was there.

    "seriously apollo if it weren''t for alya i wont be able to find you"

    the sun was raising from the east and the stars began to disappear as the day began to start. alicia and apollo arrive at their dorms however as soon as they went down the stairs a group of people began to attract their attention.

    "we have visitors?" apollo wonder knowing it was rare for someone to visit them especially at such early hour.

    "it seems they are from the upper years"

    "did you base it from their mana level?"

    "nope i just read the amount of time their soul has even living here, and base from that i can get their age"

    "so how old are they?"

    "you know we did made a promise to know what happened to them, after we end everything, after our lives are no longer in peril. we want to know why they gave up, you did read thier notes. something must have happened"

    mckenzie''s explanation brought forth a memory when they are inside the hidden shrine. how they admire the courage of their predecessors and how they felt pain of those who gave up. a single batch that only left notes of encouragement so that the next who will follows them don''t fall on their fate.

    at that time they couldn''t spare a thought of investigating the matter due to their own issues but now it seems the opportunity has finally arrived.

    "so are we gonna join or what?" arabella asked knowing the date of the party will arrive shortly.

    "i honestly don''t like going into crowded places" matilda said knowing every time she saw a huge crowd of people she only remembers when the monastery attacked their island. it seems even when their enemies gone, the scars they inflicted still haunts the victims.

    "same i don''t like loud places either, i heard they will hire some famous dj to make the party more entertaining" samael added matilda''s words because he have the same reason as her. sometimes when they hear a specific noise it would trigger a certain reaction from them that usually doesn''t end well. so to make it sure it doesn''t happen it probably best for them not to join the party.

    "i am in, i think i can join!" alya remark since she has a feeling something will happen at the acquaintance party.

    "well that is one who else wants to join?"

    apollo continue to ask then blair and mckenzie raise their hand showing their intention to attend.

    "any more hands?"

    "we actually had plans so we won''t be able to join the senior''s acquaintance party"

    "what do you mean by other plans vesta?"

    "actually apollo their are still some first years who are wary of the seniors so instead of joining the party they wanted to have a sleep over at the nearby forest. well some of them call this a nearby camping sleep but that is the gist of the thing we will do"

    apollo understand that since they had become quite close to the other class even before the suicide incident.

    "i don''t see any wrong with that but who else will be there with you?"

    "that would be agnes, jillian, me , niko, aaron, keith and braiden, while casper will remain with matilda and samael"

    "i see how about you arabella what do you plan to do?"

    "i actually wanna stay here, i hate crowded places"

    "i see that is understandable so the only people who will joined the party is mem alicia and alya while you guys will go on your plans"

    "yes that is how it is" your next chapter awaits on empire

    then as apollo clear out the ones who will join him alicia came with the list of participants on each event for the festival.

    "sigh, why does this academy have so much event to hold" she mutters while handing out the event schedule and mechanics to her classmates.

    the main reason for the academy''s abundant event and suspension is for the students to relaxed. the aster academy have lots of records of suicidal students that although it was never revealed to public the school tried its best to lessen the pressure on the students. that is why they created events where they can relax and vent their frustration. they also tried to lessen their school work in order for them to have more time for themselves and friends. for years this kind of system works until the recent incident happened, were it isn''t pressure or stress from school work that drove the student to such unfortunate decision but instead their own classmates. bullying both physically and verbally, it was to the degree that the life of someone was consider as meaningless. even with their efforts the academy failed to see that it wasn''t just the work that drove students to the edge—it was the people around them. it was the way classmates whispered insults, turned backs, and turned pain into a game. the way that making fun of others became a prank that can be brush off by saying shallow words. if the academy coutjust see that deep within the lessons from the books, painful whispers and insults became a deadly battle that some could fight off alone.