The architectural design of High Periphery is like a castle in size. It's made of pure gold, and when morning comes and the sun hits the academy, it shines.
From afar, it looks plain and well-polished, but up close, there are intricate arts and passages in ancient writing style engraved on the gold. You could say High Periphery is like a book.
And now, you can see the two trainees, Agysmal and Erewhen, each carrying a bucket of water and holding a mop. Due to their rule infraction, they were given a fitting punishment, which is to clean the entire corner of a large room with nothing but a large winged eye statue.
The statue is floating but not moving, and it seems to be watching the two disciplined students every move.
''It's your fault we're here cleaning,'' Erewhen pointed out to Agysmal, who was quietly mopping the floor littered with ink.
''Instead of complaining, you should just do your job properly so we can finish quickly,'' Agysmal replied.
"I can clean the whole room by myself, but when you're here, it kills my motivation. It's annoying."
"Honestly, I'd rather you do all the work because I prefer sleeping over cleaning, but since we're both punished, we both need to work, so you should cooperate."
"Are you lecturing me on what I should do?"
"Absolutely. Why? Are you going to fight back?"
Erewhen rinsed his mop in the bucket, but suddenly swung it at Agysmal, trying to get Agysmal to pick up his bucket and throw it back at him.
Just as the two were about to get into a fight, they felt a sudden shock of electricity in their bodies. When they turned to look at the large eye staring at them, it gave them a terrifying sensation.
It was just a statue, but they had a strong notion that it was more than just a statue - it was a potent entity. Before they knew it, they found themselves weightless and unable to move their bodies. They uncontrollably opened their mouths, and suddenly the black ink scattered around the room began to move like bacterias.
Both of them felt a lancinating pain in their stomachs as they were forced to swallow the ink. The taste was unlike anything they had ever experienced - bitter, metallic, chemical-like, acrid, and pungent. They were forced to ingest the ink until their stomachs were bloated.
Their stomachs swelled until they burst, and ink spewed out. The room was gradually filling up with ink, and it now resembled an aquarium with swirling water. As Agysmal swam around to avoid being sucked into the whirlpool, the ginormous eye that was the cause of this surreal phenomenon simply floated above them.
Due to the strength of the whirlpool, Agysmal was eventually sucked in until he reached the bottom. Since he was now at the bottom of what seemed like an ocean of black ink, he couldn't see anything. While calculating his breathing, he could still feel the taste of the ink and the pain in his stomach, but Agysmal mustered up his strength until his Musk emerged.
He swam upwards, but a different scene greeted him. He found himself in the midst of a stormy ocean, with fierce and massive waves. There were also wrecked boats and pirate ships tangled together.
When a strong wave crashed against him, he was sent back to the bottom, but this time it wasn't ink - he was in water. He saw Erewhen, who was drowning and unconscious, so he decided to swim and save him.
When Erewhen regained consciousness, the first thing that greeted him was the bright sunlight and the Seagulps flying in the sky. He squinted as he stood up and saw Agysmal gazing into the distance - at the ocean that had been turbulent last night but was now calm.
"Where are we?" Erewhen asked. Agysmal simply turned to him, seemingly nonchalant but feeling a bit relieved that Erewhen had finally woken up.
"I don't know," Agysmal replied. "But that giant eye is the reason we're here in the middle of the ocean." Erewhen opened his panel and pressed the map to try and locate their position, but it wouldn't give him any details and the system kept erroring.
"Looks like we'll have trouble getting back to the High Periphery." Erewhen said irksomely. "It seems we're on suspension."
Agysmal was holding back his anger and wanted to lambast Erewhen, blaming him for their situation, but he chose to calm down instead, knowing it wouldn't do any good and might even trigger Erewhen's anger, leading to worse punishment. He didn't want to acknowledge or talk to him for now.
They were now on a somewhat damaged but still rideable paddle steamer. Agysmal was on one side while Erewhen was on the opposite side. Both didn't want to talk to each other for several hours, until night fell and a new day arrived.
Agysmal thought the paddle steamer's progress would improve, but they seemed stuck in the middle of the ocean. They couldn't find the silhouette of an island. Moreover, his stomach was growling. He hadn't eaten since yesterday.
He removed his shirt and pants, leaving only his undergarment. He jumped into the water, hoping to catch some edible Meadow Feral, but after several attempts, he didn't catch anything. Feeling hopeless, Agysmal lay down on the steamer's floor with his wet body. He was also panting despite feeling hungry. He saw Erewhen's scowling face standing beside him, and Erewhen tossed a piece of bread at him.
Holding the sourdough bread, Agysmal stood up while following Erewhen's retreating figure with his eyes. This time, Agysmal didn't want his ego to get the better of him and refused to reject what his rival was offering.
"Thanks for the bread," he said.
"Don't thank me. I consider you a rival, but I don't want you to die of hunger. There are other ways for you to die, and it all depends on my hands." Erewhen sat down on the floor and ate again. "If you forget, we can store things in our panels: food, clothes, medicine. If we end up in a place with scarce supplies for survival, at least we'll have something to get from our panels with just one press."
"I forgot to store food," Agysmal replied. "I gave away my first-week incentive, but I don't regret giving it to someone," he added, referring to Lotuslush.
"You gave, but are you sure the person you gave to will return the favor when they're able?" Erewhen shook his head, amused by Agysmal's selflessness.
"When I give, I don't expect anything in return."
"Would you still think that way if I hadn't given you bread? When your stomach is empty, and you're feeling helpless and hopeless, pessimistic thoughts creep in, and you start blaming the people you once helped for your pitiful situation. Trust me, you'll look for something in return when all you have is resentment."
"It's better for me to die of hunger thinking I made someone happy than to die regretting that those I genuinely helped couldn't return the favor."
"If that happens, then I'll spit on your grave."
Agysmal continued eating and preferred to fill his stomach rather than engage in a debate with Erewhen. Several hours passed, and even at the peak of the sun, they still hadn't spotted an island where they could evacuate.
Night fell, bringing strong rain and lightning, accompanied by rising and crashing waves. Despite their differences, the two decided to put aside their disagreements until the weather calmed down, and the sky transformed into a beautiful sight, composed of a glowing moon and glistening stars.
Agysmal's mind was playing among the stars, but he suddenly felt a pang of sadness as he remembered his family. Whenever his parents weren't busy, they would have camping trips in the garden outside the castle. It was a chance for them to bond as a family, sharing stories about their lives, problems, and insights.
His younger sibling loved stargazing, and Revictor was interested in astrology. That's why Agysmal felt so sad now, missing those moments with his family, especially his youngest brother.
"Someday, I'll be the first member of the family to go to space," Revictor said, lying down and pretending to pick stars from the sky and putting them in his pocket.
Revaliant smiled. "What will you do in space, besides collecting stars?"
"I'll plant many trees so there will be even more stars," the child replied innocently. "I'll be a forester, Big Sis will marry a prince from another continent, and you, Big Bro, will be the king of Lovelrinth."
"Even if you didn't achieve your dream, Revictor, I'll fulfill the dream you have for me," Agysmal said to himself with determination.
As the night deepened, he suddenly saw something glowing from above. It looked like shooting stars, but he stood up abruptly, and Erewhen also rose from his lying position.
These weren't shooting stars where you could make wishes; instead, two members of Vitamins were flying. They were heading west.