Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 75 - Checkmate

Previously:

After kidnapping Kiel, just as Dusk Rose was about to reach the Muni exit, he ran into Elaru Wayvin. Dusk Rose pretends to be an examinee from the same group as Kiel, and makes Elaru shake his poisoned hand. Elaru offers to show him the way to the infirmary and goes with them. However, after a while, she faints. Dusk Rose catches her body. Elaru Wayvin uses this to launch a sneak attack on Dusk, incapacitating him. Dusk pretends to be innocent, hoping that he could stall for time or catch her off guard. Elaru however, easily reveals his plans.

* * *

Elaru smirked and sneaked her hand inside the pocket of Dusk Rose's jacket. She pulled out a round badge with number 1385 on it. Dusk Rose's entrance exam pass.

"I see, I see. So, you were just an innocent examinee in Kiel's group...but wait...Kiel's number is 5642. How is it that number 1385 and 5642 are in the same group?" Elaru Wayvin grinned widely.

Dusk's innocent smile froze. Since the groups were formed by taking 20 people with adjacent numbers, he couldn't be in Kiel's group!

How did she know I placed my exam pass in that pocket?!

The numbers on the exam pass were written with a signature ink, which acted as glue for mana. If one swept their mana sense over the badge, the large difference in density of mana inside the ink and the remainder of the badge would make it look like the numbers were glowing. The whole purpose of it was so that anyone could easily discern what numbers were written on the badge.

Naturally, Dusk Rose was aware of this fact, so he specifically wrapped his Mind around the pass to prevent the Minds of others from being able to touch the badge, and therefore detect it.

Since he was cautious to conceal the badge, it shouldn't have been picked up by Elaru's or anyone else's mana sense.

How could he have known that no amount of effort could conceal his badge from Elaru's Aethernea of Sight? Those numbers glowed so clearly to her she could easily read them from a mile away.

Dusk didn't dwell on it, it might have been a lucky guess for all he knew. He still smiled innocently, refusing to admit defeat. "Did I say that I am in his group? What I meant was that our classrooms were right next to each other."

Elaru burst out into a fit of giggles. "Your classroom is not even in the Blue Quarters. It's in the White Quarters. And your timeslot is in the afternoon!"

Dusk Rose couldn't keep his face straight anymore. He gaped like a fish out of the water. "How do you know that?!"

Elaru's smile grew. "I saw it this morning when I checked my own timeslot."

Dusk Rose ground his teeth. "Of course. Blasted Eidetic memory."

Etezza family was a family of intelligence agents trading in information. Having a good memory was an important prerequisite for the job. Every one of them went through specific training making their memory much better than memories of other people. However, even within the Etezza family, very few managed to train their memory to the perfection of what mortal minds would allow.

The memory of mortals, no matter how "flawless" wasn't actually perfect. Not every single thing they see would stay imprinted in their mind. One still had to concentrate on things to remember them. Possessing Eidetic memory only meant that one had the ability to remember images clearly if they concentrated on them. However, since Elaru paid attention to remember her own and Kiel's timeslot, everything else she saw while she was checking the timeslot stayed imprinted into her memory as well.