Chapter 17: Bait

Rayleigh remembered who Cassandra Moon was; the first person he had ever used the system’s Identity Scan on, and it had happened by accident.

He also remembered how beautiful and kind she had been to him. That kind of treatment wasn’t something he got from many people. Most Runers looked down on non-Runers without a second thought, but she had been different, knowing fully who he was.

Still, her superficial act of kindness wasn’t going to stop him from taking what she had.

’A document that important ought to be kept somewhere extremely safe. Her office, perhaps,’ Rayleigh thought.

Making his way through the academy grounds was easier than he expected, thanks to the fact that the place was completely empty. No students were walking around; they were all in their dorm rooms.

No teachers either, and certainly not a single Silver Corp agent in sight.

High-rise buildings stood in rows all around him, each one built for a different year of students. First years had their own building, all the way up to fourth years, each one shaped around whatever training they needed most.

Further ahead, Rayleigh spotted the training hall, a massive dome-shaped structure with reinforced walls, built to survive whatever the students inside could throw at each other.

A few meters past that were rows of training arenas, sectioned off by tall fences, each one scorched or dented in different places from years of sparring.

At the far end of the grounds was the widest structure in the academy.

It was a wide-open arena built for the yearly competitions between Runers, where the strongest students from every year fought for a ranking that would decide their futures.

Rayleigh could have been a part of all this. He could have trained in that gym, fought in that arena, chased a rank like everyone else, but he wasn’t.

Life never gave him the chance.

He pushed the thought aside and turned his attention to a building set apart from all the rest.

It rose higher than anything else on the grounds, built entirely from thick glass that shimmered faintly under the moonlight.

Rayleigh guessed the glass had to be a few inches thick, built to survive attacks that would tear through normal walls.

Floating near the very middle of the building was a glowing orb that pulsed steadily with a soft blue light.

’An energy barrier. Smart!’

It made sense to place the barrier’s core inside the Silver Tower. It was the most heavily guarded building on the grounds, making it the smartest place to protect the whole academy at once.

If the barrier was here, Cassandra Moon’s office had to be here too.

Rayleigh crept toward the tower, keeping close to the shadows cast by the buildings around him. A side entrance near the back stood unguarded, likely reserved for staff.

He slipped through it quietly, careful not to make a sound.

Inside, the tower was just as quiet as the grounds outside. Long white hallways stretched in every direction, lit by soft ceiling lights.

Rayleigh moved quickly, yet carefully, checking every door he passed.

’Her office should be somewhere near the top. High-ranking Runers like her don’t work on the ground floor.’

He found a stairwell and climbed, floor after floor, until he reached the top level. A row of offices lined the hallway, each one marked with a nameplate beside the door.

He scanned each one until his eyes landed on the one he was looking for.

[Cassandra Moon]

None of the doors had any sort of encrypted lock on them. They just possessed an old-fashioned doorknob.

"Weird," Rayleigh commented as he carefully twisted the handle.

With a soft click, the door opened.

Rayleigh stepped inside and shut the door behind him just as quietly.

The office was neat, almost too neat, with a desk pushed against the far wall and a large window overlooking the training grounds below.

He didn’t waste time admiring the view.

His eyes swept the room until they landed on a safe built into the wall behind the desk. Its surface was covered by a small glowing keypad and what looked like a scanner for something else entirely.

Rayleigh suddenly remembered the device Elias had given to him. He dipped his hand into his pocket and yanked it out.

"Okay," Rayleigh muttered. "What do I do? Wave this magic wand and make a wish?"

Rayleigh’s eyes searched the safe until he found a port where the pen-shaped device fit perfectly.

The keypad glitched for a few seconds, then an unlocking mechanism sounded from the safe as the safe door popped open.

There wasn’t much inside, except for a few small items he didn’t care about and one folder, thick and sealed, marked with a red stamp across the front.

[CLASSIFIED]

’This has to be it.’

He picked it up carefully, flipping it open just enough to confirm what was inside.

’This is it! The information in this folder will lead to wherever those systems are!’

The ARS ignited in Rayleigh’s vision.

►[ Item identified: Classified File ]

►[ Would you like to store this item in your inventory? Y/N ]

"Inventory?" Rayleigh raised a brow. He remembered unlocking a new tab called Inventory, but he hadn’t had the time to check it out.

►[ Inventory. Lv 1 ]

►[ You can only store two items in your inventory at a time ]

"Yes. I don’t see why not."

The file suddenly vanished from his hand in a soft shimmer of light, tucked away somewhere he couldn’t see but knew was there.

He closed the safe, making sure it looked untouched, then slipped back out of the office and shut the door behind him.

As he made his way back down the stairwell, a strange thought crossed his mind.

"That was too easy."

"You’re right."

Rayleigh halted in his stride.

Someone was standing behind him.

’Why didn’t I sense a presence? You don’t need Rune powers for that.’

Turning around slowly, Rayleigh’s eyes landed on a woman.

Her red hair floated in the air above her shoulders, dancing in rhythm with the vibration around her.

►[ WARNING: Hostile Rune Human detected ]

The system didn’t need to warn Rayleigh about the Silvered agent before him. Her stance alone was enough; it was antagonizing, something Rayleigh knew he should be wary of.

He could almost feel the pressure pouring from her.

She wasn’t smiling.

"It was far too easy because I made it so."

Her gaze dropped to the ground where Rayleigh stood.

"I’m just glad you took the bait."

Before Rayleigh could even think of reacting, a strong force erupted from the floor beneath him, shooting his body toward the ceiling like a cannon.

Rayleigh’s body hadn’t even gotten the chance to land when another force slammed into his chest mid-air, sending his body flying through a window of the Silver Tower.