Chapter 223: Domination's New Look
"Oh wow," Stark was surprised she responded this quick, "Must mean she was really worried, but oh well."
To be honest, Stark was mostly focused on fighting and getting stronger, so romantic relationships were something who didn't pass through his head even once.
Whether in his past life as an accountant or this one, who would him anyway?
And so after ten minutes of just waiting, the overwhelming crimson aura not disappearing once, and even Stark not knowing how to remove it...
~VROOM~
A beautiful luxury car painted in red appeared before him.
Some classifiers even stopped pointing at him and filming his appearance to check out the car, as it was a beast that would probably cost a fortune.
"What the hell happened to you?" Lana had a weirded out expression as she lowered the windows, confused how Stark could end up like this.
"Stuff," Stark was actually surprised she was able to recognize him even though his appearance should be hidden by the aura, but oh well, a stalker always recognizes their target, don't they?
"Anyway, just get in, we have things to talk about," Lana patted the seat beside hers, and Stark got inside the car, a cute smile on her face as she didn't look scared of Stark one bit in comparison to all the others.
"Thanks."
And so just like them, both of then drove off, toward Stark's hotel room as he instructed the blonde-haired girl.
***
(20 minutes later)
The ride was just Lana talking about what she did during those three weeks, while Stark remained silent, too tired to even engage in the conversation.
And Lana clearly noticed it as she noticed his eyes were slowly closing, although he was trying not to fall asleep.
"Here we are," she parked herself in an empty spot.
"Anyway, thanks," Stark was grateful, and he got out of the car.
But...
~TUT, TUT~
Lana also left, locking the car behind her.
"What?" he titled his head.
"I'll just stay a bit, I did say I wanted to talk about something, right? If you read my messages you should know about it," Lana raised her eyebrows, absolutely confident Stark hadn't read any of them.
"Huh..." Stark scratched his head, "Yeah... just come up."
They reached his hotel room rather quickly, and Stark was thankful he had paid for a full month stay, otherwise it would have probably been taken by someone else.
"Nothing much," Stark opened the door and welcomed Lana in, he was still tired but if she wanted to say something important, then he would need to listen.
Not wasting a single second, he jumped and laid on the bed, his face staring at the ceiling, yet his body still surrounded with that crimson aura.
"Anyway, I'll be quick," Lana pulled out her phone and tapped a few times on it, before pointing the screen at Stark.
And on it was written…
[Rift Conqueror Academy Entrance Ceremony Cooldown: 3 days]
"…!" Stark's eyes widened, he had literally completely forgotten about it, his thoughts only filled with the idea of finally resting after going through that trial.
"Yeah, as you may know, the academy is in the capital, which is the most powerful part of the entirety of Fellarburg as it regroups all the guilds and classifiers that truly make a difference, meaning that we'll need to go move there," she said casually as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"…" Stark just stared at her as she explained.
"My father has already recommended you and paid for the tuition fee, meaning you should have received an email containing all the information, anyway, I already got a train scheduled to move me to the capital as it will take a few hours to reach it," she smiled, "Oh and, don't tell it to anyone, but I heard anyone who is late by even a single minute to the ceremony will be instantly expelled, truly harsh huh…"
"Huh…" Stark's face was slowly darkening, at least more than it already had.
"…" Lana stared at him for a second, before letting out a giant laugh, "Hahaahahha~ I knew you would know nothing, It's just like you," she wiped one of her eyes with one of her fingers, "Don't worry, I also got you a train ticket!"
"Oh!" he almost wanted to jump and hug her, but being tried and in this form made it kind of hard, "Thanks!"
Stark had the habit of checking his emails since he was an accountant before, so he would have surely figured it out, but the [Domination] trial had put him to sleep for three weeks, meaning he couldn't know anything.
"Anyway, I'll let you rest, make sure not oversleep as I'll come pick you up tomorrow," she gently waved at Stark as she headed toward the exit, peeking her beautiful face out of the door right before closing it, "See you later, Stark."
"Cya," she was cute, but Stark just wanted to sleep, as so as soon as she closed the door…
~FWISH, SLAM~
He immediately fell asleep, not able to contain it the dizziness in his head anymore.
***
~FWISH~
"…" Stark opened his eyes, and once he got up, "Ah shit, here we go again."
He was yet again in the black void again.
And obviously, before him were [Alchemist] and… huh, what?
[Alchemist] was there in his white robe and holding his potions.
But…
[Domination], even though he was weird, looked different than usual.
He still had that giant smile on his face, one that was evil, much like the [Superior Clone], but… instead of his body being completely made out of crimson aura, his pupils had a golden cross in them, and strands of holy aura could be seen in his figure.
"New look," Stark smiled.
"You could say that," [Domination] responded.
The reason was obvious: [Domination] had merged with [Exorcist], meaning that they became one, although it seemed like [Domination]'s personality completely ruled out [Exorcist], fragments of his holy aura and power being the only thing left.
In the end, it didn't matter, as it meant less annoying doppelgängers to speak to.
"Good work," Alchemist clapped his hands together.
"I do agree," Domination nodded.
It was the first time they actually praised Stark instead of blatantly insulting him or criticizing what he was doing.
"But…" Domination's expression darkened, "It is not over."
"Remember you're starting your life inside that rift conqueror academy or whatever, be ready to fight things possibly even stronger than the warden," Alchemist shrugged.
"…" Stark nodded.
And then…
""Get up, then, dumbass,"" both Alchemist and Domination (Exorcist) spoke, pointing at the sky.
And when Stark looked up, he saw a giant demon, one that looked very similar to EGO.
"It's time for things to get real," Domination snapped his fingers, and both of them, as well as the demon, disappeared.
And just like that, Stark's consciousness began to fade as well.
He knew that what they said was true: the Rift Conqueror Academy regrouped people that were over level 125, meaning that they some would potentially be able to fight back against Warden, if not beat him.
And… he would have to join this academy, and fight his way to the top to survive as the passing rate for JUST the first year is less than 5%.
Just how bad could this school be…?
Well… he was about to find out.
That it was true hell as well.