Elias stepped out of the Hover Car together with Lizzy, Valerie already walking ahead of them into a very massive, beautiful estate.
Holding Lizzy by the hand, Elias looked around him curiously.
The estate was large, like really, ridiculously large. Compared to the other buildings around it, it had a kind of distinct architectural style, like something caught midway between dystopian and modern design.
The lobby inside was mostly empty, save for a middle-aged woman who sat behind a partition, polishing her fingernails. On her desk was a little stationary humanoid construct, its eyes flashing a pale blue and its head continuously swinging about.
She raised her face to look at Valerie, who was walking up to her, sitting up straight as her expression turned serious.
By the time Elias reached Valerie, he was just in time to hear their conversation.
"I want the key to Room 23 at the D Wing. It was already prepared for an Elias Verdan by my Master, Mr Ferborn Ashford."
The receptionist turned to the construct on her desk. Numerous lines of text flashed across its surface, before its robotic voice resounded outward.
"Positive. Found in records."
The woman nodded, raising a set of keys before asking again, her eyes turning from Valerie to look at him.
"I need his ID, if you don't mind."
Elias placed it on the table before she finished talking, watching as she tilted her head skeptically.
"Unawakened?"
Elias shook his head. "It hasn't been updated."
She nodded again, handing over the set of keys and his ID back to him. "You should update it as soon as possible to avoid complications. This estate is for awakened individuals currently training to enter the Academy, and having your ID information is something the professors take very seriously."
Elias furrowed his eyebrows, clicking his tongue. "I will keep that in mind, thank you."
Elias followed beside Valerie as they continued their journey through the lobby. Lizzy bounced restlessly as she swung his arms around. Elias knew her well enough to tell that she wanted to play.
Patting her on the head while watching her humph grumpily under her breath, he turned to Valerie and asked, his voice curious.
"So all those guys at the cafeteria live here? In this estate?"
Valerie nodded, her eyes sparkling. "Yeah, but living here at the estate has its own rules."
She pointed over to a section of the passage branching off in the opposite direction.
"Over there is the A Wing. It's where the strong guys like those three you met, and some other unique individuals that Concordia Labs has judged to possess a lot of potential. Their apartments come with personal training rooms and are really, really cozy."
She pointed to another section of the passage. "That's the B Wing. Not as advanced as the A Wing, but still kinda close. The C Wing is kinda average, for those that aren't exceptional but not too bad either."
She continued, her voice embarrassed now as she motioned to the direction they were headed. "The D Wing…"
Elias rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, it's where the suckers and weaklings usually end up, right?"
She puffed her cheeks. "Master doesn't have much influence, or at least not enough to get the rest of those oldies to consider putting you at the C Wing. He had to call in a few favors to even get you a spot at the D Wing, so this is simply the best he could do. To advance higher, you would have to prove yourself instead."
Elias didn't reply, choosing to hold back his words so he wouldn't end up sounding like some ungrateful person. And he was grateful, really, even if Mr Ferborn's motivation for doing all of this wasn't without its own selfish intentions.
But honestly, it was kind of irritating having to keep getting underestimated like this. He could tell that one of the reasons he was being pushed to the D Wing was the fact that everyone still assumed he had defective strings, making him less than qualified to even be here in the first place.
While Elias had been keen on keeping a low profile, he was starting to rethink the whole thing. For one, he had already thrashed Damon Frey Wergon, a Scion from a Noble House who was a whole stage higher than him.
Every teenager at that train was going to rant about it, and he was pretty damn sure some of them would even exaggerate the entire thing.
One way or the other, he was going to get quite popular, or at least popular enough to draw the curious stares of some powerful people towards him. And the ire of a very, very offended Baron house…
Elias had known it at the time, but he would still repeat the same thing all over again if given the chance.
So was keeping a low profile still the best possible path for him?
Elias clicked his tongue. He would think about all this later. For now, he would handle things one step at a time.
He felt Lizzy pull his hand, raising his face to look at her pouting expression, her hand reaching for his hair.
"Biggy, I… I want to ruffle it!"
Elias nearly slapped a hand on his face. This little rascal can't just stay quiet without throwing a tantrum.
"Use your hands for something else for once. Maybe clench it into a fist or just put it in your pocket."
"Hiccup," her eyes turned teary, gearing up for what promised to be a very loud, spectacular meltdown.
Elias sighed, resigning himself. "Fine…"
By the time they reached his apartment, Lizzy was sitting on his shoulders, dragging fistfuls of his hair while giggling above him.
Elyndra appeared the moment both he and Valerie got to the door, cheering Lizzy on even though the girl couldn't hear.
"Hey, drag this spot a little harder. No, not like that. Stop going too soft on him!"
Elias ignored the two of them, turning the key in the lock before it clicked open. Valerie pushed the door, jogging inside with both her hands behind her back.
Elias stepped inside, looking around him curiously.
The place was far better than he expected, at least for an apartment in the so-called D Wing. The sitting room was lit up from numerous table lamps resting on desks or high marble surfaces, with two blue cushions right at the center separated by a glass table. The walls were a shiny blue, like hardened crystal. There was a shelf, a flower vase, and a large TV fixed smoothly into the walls.
The kitchen was joined with the sitting room, taking a small section of it. He turned his eyes, looking toward an open doorway where he could see the bedroom, its design just like that of the sitting room save for the bed against the wall, dressed in clean linen and lacking any extravagant decoration.
Elias couldn't help but click his tongue. 'Tsk, this apartment is many times better than our home back in Arvenelle, and it's supposed to be the lowest quality. These guys sure have exquisite taste.'
"That should be all, Junior Brother," Valerie said, turning to him while exhaling heavily. Then she pouted, her eyes turning to Lizzy who was still making a mess of his hair right above him.
"No one apart from you is allowed in this apartment, so your sister can't stay with you. I will give you both some space to talk but… but after that she will have to come with me, humph!"
Elias raised an eyebrow. Is it just him, or does she come off as a little bit jealous? Maybe it was just his imagination.
But Elias didn't contest it. After all, he knew he was in no position to take care of Lizzy by himself. Trying not to wince as she pulled his hair again with a giggle, he brought her down from his shoulders and flicked her on the forehead.
She rubbed her head, looking at him with a wronged expression.
"You should learn to start behaving like a proper lady, little ruffian."
"Bleh!" She stuck her tiny tongue out at him, before pouting her lips and folding her arms, turning her face away from him in a little fit.
Nodding at Valerie, Elias began to lead the little princess toward the balcony. Beyond them, the landscape spread outward in all directions, showing the wonderful outline of Concordia Labs and the sprawling dimension.
Elias shut the balcony doors, bending his knees just enough that his face was now at the same level as Lizzy.
The little girl was strangely quiet now, waiting for him to speak.
Elias scratched his hair.
"Right, where do I even start…"