Eleven's Ghost

Chapter 31: The Nano Graduate

The medics took YayiS. Shams glanced around. “Where did he go?! He was here just now.”

“The evil man took him!” Cherry peeked from behind a desk. “Chewwy… Chewwy isn’t stwonk enough! Chewwy is sowwy!”

Shams picked him up and hugged him. “It’s okay. Thank you.”

He frowned, seeing blood on the floor. He followed the trails and saw a door half-open. He heard gasps before looking inside. He saw Iblis pinned against the wall by the masked man, the latter peeling his skin off. “Who gave you permission to talk to your son, huh?”

He pulled his hair and pushed him down to the floor. Iblis threw up blood, his eyes closing.  He whined in pain as a dagger pierced his heart.

“You already paid back all of your kills, and this is the new record. Prepare yourself.”

He stood up and left the room. Shams then sneaked inside and sat next to Iblis as he gasped in pain. He pulled the dagger out. Iblis clung to his arm, breathing his son’s name. Shams nodded. “He’s safe. The medics already took him.”

Iblis gasped a last time before his body relaxed in Shams’s hold, leaning backwards.

“He died.”

Shams glanced behind and saw Malik.

“Go back to the dorm. I will handle the rest.”

“But… Yayis is looking for him…”

“Go back.” Malik walked past him and stood in front of the lifeless Iblis.

Shams nodded slowly and left the library. It was already night time. He ran back to the dorm and reached the inner gate five minutes to ten. He glanced behind for a few minutes and saw Maine standing on one of the buildings. She grinned and waved at him.

“Don’t forget to do your homework!” She laughed and jumped off the rooftop.

He walked inside and found Yayis waiting for him anxiously. He gasped, seeing Shams. “You’re here!” He hugged him tightly. “I was about to go look for you.” He stared at him, worried. “Don’t make me so anxious, please. I can’t handle this.”

Shams hugged him back. “I was with your father. Malik showed up later and said he would take care of things.”

“W-We don’t need to…” Yayis rested a hand on his mouth and gazed down thoughtfully. “Let’s just focus on studying for now. We don’t need to think about dad a lot.”

“Ah…” Shams smiled faintly. “As you wish. All right.”

They glanced behind, hearing the front door open. Janne walked inside. He gazed up and saw them. He looked back down and walked past them without saying anything. Shams took his arm. “Wait!”

Janne glanced at him and remained silent. Shams smiled faintly. “Um… L-Let’s talk a bit.”

“About…?” Janne looked away, feeling awkward as well. “You probably know what I did by now. You probably hate me,” he whispered.

“No! I don’t know anything!”

Janne shook his head. “It’s okay. You don’t need to be nice.” He returned the smile. “You helped me today. Thanks. I won’t be a burden for you anymore.”

“Don’t… say that.”

“Are you coming?” Janne asked, “I will cook.” He had a small glimmer in his eyes. Shams’s eyes widened slightly, and he looked down. “Ah. I… I live with Yayis now… I moved.”

The glimmer faded from Janne’s eyes, and his smile softened slightly. “That’s a good decision.” He walked towards the elevator. “Good night.”

Shams bit his lower lip and glanced at Yayis. “I made a mistake, didn’t I?”

Yayis shut his eyelids and took a deep breath. “I don’t know…”

Shams held his hand and pulled him towards the stairs. “Come on. Let’s go to the room. I’m feeling a bit tired.”

They returned to their room and found Hajar there. He smiled at them. “Aren’t we late? Where have you been?!”

“The library,” Shams started. “But most of the people there were seniors. We didn’t fit in.”

Hajar shrugged. “It’s okay! There are good resources in the library even for first year students. If you like, I can show you around.”

“That would be very helpful,” Yayis said, “But I have a question right now.”

Hajar nodded. “Which is?”

“How does the system work here? How many grades are there? I heard there are grades, ranks and classes. It seemed too confusing.”

Hajar laughed. “It’s okay! You’re not obliged to understand that since day one. To be honest, I only understood the system in second grade. There’s no rush, really. It won’t affect your studies in any way,” he paused, “If you absolutely insist, I can tell you about it.”

Yayis nodded. “Even a few highlights are enough. I feel a bit lost right now.”

“All right then, sit down!”

Hajar clapped his hands. “The grades are a bit numerous over here, so don’t worry about memorizing the labels. There are eight grades in total. Introductory: it contains two grades. Elementary: it contains four grades.  Beginner: it contains eight years. Advanced: It contains sixteen years. Hardcore: it contains thirty-two years. Gate: it contains sixty-four years. Deepwater: it contains one hundred and twenty-eight years. Finally, nano: it contains two hundred and fifty-six years.”

Yayis stared at him with round eyes. “That’s… five hundred and ten years of studying… A-Are you joking?!”

“The first four steps are mandatory,” Hajar explained, “All students are expected to study for the first thirty years and graduate as advanced students. If the student wants to study further and go hardcore, they need to sit for a special exam. From that point on, passing from every grade to the other gets more and more challenging. There’s also an exam at every grade. You need an exam to pass from advanced to hardcore, from hardcore to gate, from gate to deepwater and from deepwater to nano.”

“I-Is there even someone who finished all those?” Shams smiled nervously. “It seems impossible.”

“The truth is that the last two grades weren’t there. Deepwater and nano didn’t exist…” Hajar started, “At least before one man showed up and finished all the grades. He was about to leave the academy, claiming that he had nothing else left to learn. Then, the administration made the deepwater grade. He finished it and asked for more. Then, they made nano. They expected him to ask for more, but he didn’t. He was the only one who graduated as a nano student. Almost nobody after him managed to reach nano and come out alive or sane. Most people go in as a challenge, but they lose. However, he paved the way for ten more nano graduates who graduated not long after him.”

Shams frowned. “Who… is this man? He seems amazing! He shouldn’t be human.”

“That’s where you’re mistaken,” Hajar laughed, “He’s human all right, fully so!” He clapped. “His name is Ihdaachar. You must have heard about him, right? Everyone in the academy knows about him.”