Mysterious, sharp eyes looked at William, and a quite hefty man was hiding behind the twisting space, wearing a black cloak. Powerful men definitely had their auras, though this was not all about it, or aura, or bodies.

  Richards was a mere Butler, the so-called lesser Walker in terms of powerful potential. They were still supportive enough, and everyone recognized their importance to society. In some cases, they were even immensely influential because their entire focus was on a very different principle than wreaking havoc and brutally murdering Darks.

  William looked at this cloaked man, whose face and glinting eyes answered for him, yet didn't give him the right to do everything.

  “Eh... What is this? How come there is someone and.. nobody?” William blurted out, almost falling from his chair. He caught the table and stabilized his voice, recalling that people had been here before.

  “That is not important. I am even sure you recognize me. Mi-Yung's little problem. We haven't interacted yet, but I sure know who you are.” Richards stated without any shame.

  “A cloaked figure in today's age? I guess I haven't seen everything before... in a way.” William added without courtesy or care to who this person might be.

  This left Richards a bit depressed, and he figured he should be more cautious about his image. He wore cloaks because he liked this style, and his Emblem was a great fit for it as well. Not as if it was that obvious.

  He shouldn't need such clothes to function, though he adored the stories from the comics ever since he was a teen. So he ended up loving the cloaks very much and claimed they were necessary.

  Looking a little mysterious, shaded by a hood, and medieval, it went ahead with style for his general Class, which had lofty powers and a myriad of mysteries. However, for the sake of choices, outfits mattered. There were Walkers who had non-combatant styles, yet their Emblem was still everything. There was almost no equipment fitting for everyone.

  “I am here for a small discussion. Without Kaufman, of course.” Richards described his reason for appearing like a ghost before William.

  “I... see no Kaufman. Sure. Go on. I am curious about what this is about. Why does Kaufman's departure even matter?” William said, and relaxed a little because he was getting more comfortable dealing with these things. With plentiful experiences against Mi-Yung to boot, he didn't fear this man or his words.

  “Oh?” Richarrds flickered his cloak, leaning forward, resting his crossed palms on his chin. “What does Kafuman mean to you?”

  “Who knows...” William coughed, pulling a card from his pocket.

  Richards didn't forget about this point, yet it was a point that was way out of his hands. Whatever this thing was about, it wasn't something he could touch. Heidi didn't matter either, and the Assembly and the Academy overlooked such little squabbles.

  But was it too little, or too late?

  “Interesting card, isn't it?” he asked.

  William started to play with it and nodded. “Kaufman gave it to me.”

  “I know.”

  “I wonder why. Are you his friend... sir?”

  “Richards, and no. Kaufman is not anyone's friend. As for myself, I am a representative of the Emblem Academy's interests and one of its flanks. One which is of a certain regime, I might add. It is unlike the other sides of the Academy. Do you know something about the Academy, young Gale?” Richards asked, speaking with purposefully chosen words and ideas. Many weeks passed towards this point until he finally revealed himself in this building.

  “Academy? That is... a difficult subject. Mi-Yung didn't talk about it often because of something. She is careful about a lot of things, so I probably know why, yes?” William frowned and glanced at the card and the man at the same time.

  “Even still, this card shouldn't stop you, or anyone. Emblem Academy is something you must understand. I am sure that stories and rumors mark it as interesting. Every Walker respects us.”

  “Is that so? I've been told I shouldn't take advantage of this card too much. It was a brief comment made by very clever people, I think. I am stupid, you know.”

  Richards almost laughed, but instead of it, he frowned and seemed furious to make a point. “I've been watching you, boy... For a long, long time.”

  “Must've been boring,” William said, grabbing a bottle to take a sip. Then, he offered it to him, which Richards refused like a stern teacher.

  “Sure. I know a few little things about the Academy, sir. But its internal structure, these... flanks and politics are not it. The library doesn't have detailed reports about it, or I haven't found them yet. I am planning to look deeper into the following few days.”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Here? You are on the upper floors. The most crucial place in this building! It has plenty of materials regarding the Academy and private, or curious studies that... well, some people from the Academy don't like them. They stunk of spies, politics, problems.”

  “Might I ask why it is even a problem?” William dug deeper, wondering what this person even whined about.

  “The Academy is the most private and greatest force of humanity!” Richards suddenly got up, shouting menacingly like a fanatic, and pushed his chair to the opposite side of the room. His clock flared up as he put his arms up. Fortunately, there was nobody else besides them.

  William sighed, hiding his eyes from yet another fanatic, or was it just another case of lunacy? “Sure. That means this library's secrets are...?”

  “Unsightly!”

  “May I ask where they are?”

  Richards's voice and face faltered. He glanced down, found yet another chair, and sat down. Spreading his palms to the table, he pulled no further cards as he looked at this kid. “You want to know secrets. The Academy is wild. Crazy good.”

  “Really? Where?” William asked in feigned ignorance and a bit of a try to dig for more information.

  “Don't tell me used your full pass for basic effects only!?” Richards demanded as if he couldn't believe it himself.

  “I am not saying that.”

  “...” Richards looked at him with doubts and awareness that it was indeed the case. For a while, he observed this kid for Kaufman alone, but that changed on several levels since then. He knew there were pointless worries, but how many of them mattered if this was about Gales?

  Someone from the Academy would really want this kid, and then, there were those who wanted to meet the casualty of fallout.

  Which was half the reason Richards was here, involved with this kid who knew nothing about their world. He came from Outside, out of that woman, and interest wasn't much of a shocker to anyone. He looked just like any other kid who might die dreadful deaths, yet it was also not very good.

  That name was still his, however, and he was alive. The Emblem was strange, and Kaufman had a high opinion of him. Even without those things, Richards would get involved for the sake of the Academy and his masters, regardless of... well, Kaufman was there and he was a big deal. He was there before Richards, and Mi-Yung was another matter altogether.

  “I looked around, alright?” William said as he looked at his dubious face. “Why should I bother myself with problems or rules if that's what others argue about and don't care about? I don't care. Kaufman troubled me. Then left. He even attacked... or tested me for nothing. I don't care about the pain, but things are different now. What do you want, sir?”

  “Don't jump to conclusions, boy. Kaufman has his reason. You don't have the right to understand them at all. In fact, it was beneficial to you because Kaufman is no simple piece of the First Generation. He was a Paramount! He is the former High Pillar! He is the great builder of dozens of generations and created paths for countless lands.”

  “I don't know what any of that means. He looks like an old man with odd fashion sense. Oh, and some mental issues, but that is rather normal, I guess. You don't look any better, but at least you aren't old.”

  Richard's eyes widened, and his neck pulsed. Did that kid just talked shit about a fashion?!

  “Oh... I reckon you don't know what you are talking about...”

  “I don't. I don't judge it because I don't.” William said shamelessly.

  “What benefits are there to gain from pain alone? What about words, or sensible torture to flow that matter? If there is something worth the effort, I say it is worth respecting. You don't get it!”

  “I still don't like it. Makes my skin and voice crawl...” William reckoned and hugged his arms over his chest. For reasons unknown, he felt very confident around this person and experienced no pressure, shame, or conflict of interest.

  Perhaps that was what growth was about, or he had become like this after dealing with Mi-Yung for weeks or encountering Old Dream in his dreams?

  Richards leaned back on his chair and pulled his hood down. Fully revealing his face came off as a quick reminder that he was pissed off. Then, he massaged his temples as if he had given up on life itself.

  “I am done with this topic, boy. For the reason of my step to the Reality, can you at least guess what I am here for?”

  “What's up with people expecting answers to questions I don't know? I don't know you. What sort of answers do you want?” William asked and stood his ground against this man, who came here looking for nothing. That frustrated William, since everything he had said so far came across as noteworthy because of the Academy's involvement.

  William was very curious about that place because of his mother, and that was the sole reason he was trying to understand this man right now. He planned to take every such opportunity with care, and if someone from that place arrived before him, why not try his best to talk about it?

  So far, William wasn't sure how to approach this situation and asked questions that should first point to this Walker, and then, he would move on to something else. Maybe playing dumb was stupid.

  “Try to answer it anyway,” Richards demanded, face bored, and space quivered around him within its emptiness.

  William grabbed his notebook and opened it to one of the many pages. “Academy is recruiting young Walkers all the time, but unlike Divisions of the Federation, their stakes are higher, and expectations are like a moon. The recruitment is private and takes place within the Academy Grounds. Their reasons run deeper, and the Examination itself isn't as important as their recruits' results and talents. Still, the Forced Awakenings is far greater than to pass it as a joke. They have worked with the Federation for decades and select the best recruits from every Examination, as most youths desire to attend the Academy. It is the best place, according to many generations. However, it isn't a law. They could take care of any Walker at any Rank and let them grow and become a better version of themselves. That is the vision of the creator, Alan Fain. Recruits could come from anywhere as long as they are acceptable. Is that fine?” William took out his guesses after a few moments of reading.

  He knew this wasn't everything, but it was a harsh reality of how the Academy handled recruitment. They could choose, ignore, break, and work with almost anything, and many organizations didn't like that.

  Richards was somewhat depressed after his little play, so he gave up pretending to be dumb.

  “Exactly... The Academy is careful and unique, so it takes great recruits and pushes them first before accepting.” Richards said in a dull tone, nodding to himself as he massaged his face.

  “And?”

  “Are you Interested in joining the Academy?”