Arcane Academy: The Divine Extraction Legacy

Lotus, an ethereal presence bound to the girl, showed a faint smile on her face.

'She must be glad to see another Dark Spirit…' Denise thought.

"Indeed, it would be fascinating to meet him..." Lotus answered.

Denise's eyes sparkled after hearing this. Without any hesitation, she scanned the bustling crowd, searching for any signs of Vale's group.

Soon, she chuckled mischievously as she swiftly left her seat in the audience to meet Vale.

"He will definitely be surprised to see me here. Hehehe..." Denise thought to herself, aware that her appearance had changed significantly. She knew that Kyle, who now has the name Vale, would probably still recognize her, but she was eager to see his reaction.

However, as Denise attempted to approach Vale, she was unexpectedly blocked by a few individuals from the Holy Arts Faction. It seemed that they had noticed she was a Dark Art Practitioner and were determined to prevent her from getting too close to the participants of the event.

"Stay right there..." one of the guards sternly commanded.

"You're not allowed to get closer to the Princess." another added, eyeing Denise suspiciously. "Especially a Dark Arcanist like you." a third person chimed in, their tone filled with disdain.

These three guards seemed to be observing her all this time. There was no way they just happened to block her path.

Denise felt frustration welling up within her, wanting to argue and explain herself.

However, she quickly realized that arguing would only delay her chances of meeting Vale. Suddenly, she spotted Vale's group preparing to leave the area.

They had already received the reward from the competition, and there was no point staying here.

Realizing the urgency of the situation, Denise made a split-second decision to back off and find an alternative way to meet Vale.

"Hey! Where are you going?" One of the guards shouted as she saw Denise escaping.

They began to follow her, suspicious of her intentions.

"So annoying..." Denise muttered under her breath, picking up her pace as she moved hastily through the crowd.

Denise contemplated using her Dark Arts to lose the pursuing guards, but she knew it would only escalate the situation. Just as she was about to lose hope, she remembered her faithful Dark Spirit, Lotus.

"Lotus!" Denise called out, her voice filled with urgency and determination. She knew she had to find a way to lose the guards.

"Don't kill them…"

She entrusted her Dark Spirit with the task of dealing with the guards while she sought an opportunity to meet Vale on her own terms. In any case, the Dark Spirit doesn't trigger any form of fluctuations like Dark Arcanists when using their abilities.

Their actions are challenging to detect, so she was sure that Lotus could deal with this matter silently.

As Lotus took action, Denise seized the moment and slipped away, carefully maneuvering through the crowd.

She knew that time was of the essence, and she had to find Vale before the guards caught up with her.

***

In the meantime, Vale gazed at the rewards they had received for achieving first place. Along with the 200 points for the Academy Rankings, each of them was given a Peak-Grade Spirit Pearl.

The pearls had a mesmerizing mix of purple and green hues, and they shimmered with a captivating shine.

As Vale examined the reward, his expression remained distant, as if he wasn't entirely satisfied.

Crystal, noticing his demeanor, asked him curiously…"This should be awesome! This can help us add one Spirit Strand to our bodies as long as we have less than 40 Spirit Strands. This is a great item. Why do you look like that?"

Vale wryly smiled after hearing this.

He understood the value of the Peak-Grade Spirit Pearl to other Practitioners. The opportunity to add a Spirit Strand to their bodies without any negative effects was incredibly rare. It was a chance to increase their Spirit Strands, regardless of whether they had reached the limit of their innate potential or not.

Crystal's question was interrupted by Maya, who interjected, "What else could be the reason? This means Vale's Spirit Strands are already over forty..."

Maya's words surprised the others, causing even the senior student accompanying them to be taken aback. The realization that Vale possessed such a high number of Spirit Strands was surprising to everyone present.

"Is that true?!"

"Wait… How was that even possible?"

"Is the rumor true about you being a Half-Spirit true?"

"Indeed… That rumor wasn't as unbelievable as I thought."

Vale didn't want to make a big fuss about it, so he simply smiled at their reactions. However, amidst the conversation, he suddenly felt a familiar aura nearby. His instincts kicked in, alerting him to the presence of someone he probably knew.

"Senior," Vale addressed the senior student, "since we don't have any more competitions today, I'll be looking around. I'll return to the hotel once I'm finished."

"Wait! Where are you going? You can't do that… You have to move in group." The senior student said as he tried stopping Vale.

"This won't take long!" Vale said as he used his Lightspeed Spell to leave the place.

Maya and the others were quite surprised to see Vale being so urgent. He probably has some reason so they decided to cover for their friend.

"It's fine, Senior Gabbi… Vale probably saw a family member."

"Our next competition will be tomorrow afternoon, so we have plenty of time."

"I heard that the fifth-year's duel tournaments would start later today. Should we watch them first?"

Senior Gabbi could only sigh as he heard Maya and the others' words. In any case, he couldn't leave them to chase for Vale, so he decided to just go with the group and hope that Vale would return in time.

***

'Is that a Dark Spirit?' Vale mused.

His curiosity had been piqued, and he felt compelled to investigate the source of the familiar aura…

'Yvaine… Are you feeling this?' Vale asked the Dark Spirit inside his Shadow.

"Yes… I can also feel the presence of the Abyss around us. Be careful…"