Dream Of A Different Tomorrow

Only after waking up the next day did Nathan realize how awkward his answer had been the day before.

"What was I even saying?" he murmured to himself as he struggled out of bed. "I should have at least said something more realistic…"

He quickly tidied his bed and sat down at his table. Among the entire house, Nathan's room was undeniably the cleanest—it was almost as if it belonged to a completely different world.

The Modernson family had many peculiar habits, one of which was skipping breakfast.

If other families in Lostburg chose not to eat breakfast, it was likely because they couldn't afford it. For the Modernsons, it was the opposite: lunch and dinner were enough to keep them full and energized, so neither Nathan nor Eric could be bothered to cook in the morning.

Nathan's days were simple and relaxing. He spent his mornings coming up with stories to tell his audience in the afternoons. Evenings were his free time. Eric didn't care when Nathan came home, so he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted.

Since his lecture on elemental traits had been interrupted the previous day, Nathan decided to continue the story and expand on it a bit more. The seven elements were theoretically equal, with none being superior to the others. However, their roles in everyday life and combat varied slightly. For instance, light and darkness elements lacked direct combat capabilities but were incredibly useful for general tasks or specialized supportive missions.

If someone was fortunate enough to possess multiple elemental traits, the combination of those traits became crucial. For example, individuals with both fire and wind elements excelled in combat because the two elements synergized well. In contrast, those with fire and water elements faced challenges in harmonizing their powers.

Eric had been the one to teach Nathan all of this. While it wasn't exactly top-secret knowledge, it was still rare for an ordinary citizen of Lostburg to know such details.

Nathan knew the material by heart. He figured he'd improvise with more examples later during his storytelling.

Just as he was pondering how to pass the time, he noticed something outside his window. When he looked closer, he saw a person flying in midair—heading straight for him.

The sight caused quite a stir in the street below. It was rare to see anyone flying in Lostburg, as only those proficient in wind Rune Arts could do so.

As the man approached, Nathan quickly shut his window in an attempt to block him out. He had never seen the man before, and the idea of someone wielding Rune Arts flying toward his room seemed highly suspicious.

He expected the man to crash into the window, resulting in a comical mishap. But instead, a bright light suddenly radiated from the man, forcing Nathan to shield his eyes.

When the light subsided, Nathan opened his eyes to find the man gone. Outside his window lay a fancy letter and an equally extravagant package of clothing.

"What the hell was that?" Nathan muttered, furrowing his brows. He opened the window to retrieve the letter and the package. "Imperial Rune Arts Academy of Runalond? Huh?" he read aloud, confusion etched on his face.

Without hesitation, he tore the letter open, his hands trembling slightly. For some reason, he felt an unfamiliar sense of excitement.

As he unfolded the letter, he saw a short paragraph surrounded by intricate, unfamiliar patterns.

"Dear Nathan Modernson,

You have been accepted into the Imperial Rune Arts Academy of Runalond. After careful consideration and analysis of your background, it has been decided that you will enter the academy as a Representative Student.

Congratulations and welcome.

Principal's Signature: Nox."

Nathan scanned these words over and over, the expressions on his face tensing with every repeat. Finally, he couldn't hold back his laughter and carelessly threw the letter onto his bed.

"Hahaha, very funny indeed," he shook his head slightly and turned to look at the package of uniform. "Best prank I've ever seen this year. I should try to replicate this somehow."

It wasn't that Nathan was unconfident in himself—he was certain that his family were not native citizens of Lostburg. But this invitation letter was simply way too absurd to believe.

The Imperial Rune Arts Academy of Runalond was indisputably the most prestigious Rune Arts Academy in the entire realm of Runalond. It wasn't even close; there was a sizable gap between it and the second place.

Almost every single influential person across the kingdom was a student of this academy, including the king as well as the first seat of the Rune Arts Federation, two of the most powerful figures in the current Runalond.

The Rune Arts Federation possessed the most promising Rune Artists across the kingdom. Unlike the royal family or other clans, the federation chose the seven strongest Rune Artists as their leaders, who mutually decided the future of Rune Arts and the organisation. These leaders were titled the "Supreme Seven Seats," 

Including the first seat, the other top six seats of the Rune Arts Federation all were graduates of the Imperial Rune Arts Academy of Runalond. Fundamentally, the seven strongest Rune Artists in Runalond all belonged to the academy. Every single leader of the Rune Arts Federation could not have reached their position without it.

The enrollment entry of this school was exceptionally high. There were only two possible methods:

One: Children that originate from the strongest of the strongest clans—their families' influence was so great that they were practically a small kingdom on their own. These students wore white uniforms and were considered representative students. Throughout history, the number of representative students in a year has never exceeded ten.

Two: Anyone who made a notable difference to the kingdom's development could earn a position for their children to be invited. This was the only way ordinary citizens and small aristocratic families could enter the academy, and even if they did, they were considered normal students and wore blue uniforms.

Even though no one strictly made the rules that normal students had to serve the representative students, most of them did so just to earn favour from people who would eventually control the course of history.

Being enrolled in the Imperial Rune Arts Academy of Runalond as a representative student? Nathan Modernson knew exactly what that meant.

It meant that one sentence from his family could directly influence the entire kingdom's reign. It meant that his family was so powerful that it was immeasurable with money alone. It meant that he was one of the most influential people in his year.

Possible? Not at all in Nathan's eyes.

But out of curiosity, he still ripped the package open to examine the uniform.

"Wow, they put in some good effort into this prank!" Nathan complimented as he felt the smooth fabric of the fancy uniform. Though mostly white, the edges and particular patterns printed on the shirt were fancy jewellery that Nathan couldn't even name.

The more Nathan examined it, the more suspicious he became. He grabbed the letter back up from his bed and scanned it again, his eyes shifting from the uniform to the letter, the letter to the uniform, and then from the uniform to the letter again.

He didn't know how much he repeated this process, but eventually, a peculiar thought crept into Nathan's brain.

"There is no way this is for real, is it?"