Dr. Arias sat in his office, leaning back on his chair as he talked on the phone, legs on his desk. Dr. Arias asked, "So, what do you plan to do with him?"
"Our next moves had long since been planned out before this, Cain. It is for that reason that I had expected us to not talk for a few more months. His arrival will throw quite a big wrench in them."
"That goes for both us and the opponent Gianna." He smiled as he added, "Depending on how we play this, he could very well become a trump card."
She growled slowly. "I assume this is why you chose to support him so much?'
"Naturally." He smirked, "You know our only other option would be to make him disappear. That's a waste of good talent, don't you think?"
The voice sighed, "You're right, but at the same time we also can't risk letting him run free at this point." The voice went silent as she began to think, "Very well, you said he is 20 years old, correct?"
"Yes. I made sure to confirm it myself."
"Very well." She could be heard clacking away at a computer, "You can send him here. Will anyone else come with him? I need to ensure it's on record."
"Yes. Dr. Nara will be sent with him as well."
Headmaster Ekronis could be heard typing away at a computer. "It says she is his personal doctor. Someone to report back to you, perhaps?"
Dr. Arias smugly asked her, "Of course. Would you trust your reports yourself? I need to ensure I am getting correct reports back."
"Bastard. I'll allow it." She clicked away at her computer once again, "She should be just young enough. It would be annoying if I had to place her as nontraditional." She told him, "I would recommend you send them immediately. Ray Vallia never got the education of this world. I must ensure he at least knows the basics of a Dreamer's abilities."
"Understood." He moved over to his computer and logged in, moving into Ray's profile. "He will be released tomorrow. I will provide transportation."
"Very well." She seemed to remember something, "Don't try to pull something…"
Returning to his less serious persona, he muttered, "I will pretend I did not hear that."
Ray was not having a good time. The hospital had openly available public computers, but with limitations. "Damn it. No luck." He still could not find a way to access very many specific details on the world he was in. Little more than relatively bare outlines for world events could be found on this world's internet. A far cry from what could be found in his old world's online archives. "If only I knew hacking techniques that functioned on this world's websites."
"Huh? Hacking?" Dr. Nara asked what he meant by that as she appeared behind him.
"Oh, nothing. You shouldn't worry about it." He looked at her, "You're here to tell me something. You might as well say it now."
"Oh, right! Hehe." She got serious, "Dr. Arias said that he wants to meet with us immediately. Uh, and from the sounds of it, I think it's urgent."
"So he's making his move." If his guess was correct and Dr. Arias knew way more about him than he led on. He would need to meet with Ray eventually. After all, for some unknown reason the doctor was fixated on him even though Ray couldn't figure out why. His best guess was that the doctor was using him as some sort of investment. For what…well, that was the question.
The doctor had at this point provided him with all the basic necessities. However, even with that, it wouldn't be enough. He still had no real money, a home or a job. It was only logical to assume the doctor would still do something to fix that issue. After all, an investment that lacked the legs to stand on to grow in value would be a very stupid move.
Making their way through the hospital complex, they took an elevator to the top floor where the doctor's office was presumably located. He looked at Dr. Nara's movements. "Are you nervous?"
She explained, "The top floor is exclusively for Dr. Arias to use. I've never been there before."
I see. The complex was split into interconnected buildings with only one having 11 floors. The others only had 10. From what he had heard from other doctors, the entirety of this building's 11th floor functioned as Dr. Arias' personal office space. As for what he did with so much space, that much was unknown to everyone but the doctor himself.
The two made their way through the empty hallway before finally seeing a large door labeled Dr. Arias Office. Ray walked over to it and tried to knock. Before he could though, the door opened on its own. There, the two finally got to look at his office.
It was not what would be expected from one such as Dr. Arias. Inside was a small, darkly lit room that used just the glowing magical wires that functioned as power sources to light up the cramped, stuffy environment. Off to either side of the room were large bookshelves holding books of various scientific fields ranging from the expected medical books to technology. Then, smack dab in the center of the room, there was Dr. Arias' desk where the mysterious doctor silently sat in his chair, hanging over a desk filled with who knows how many small objects of dubious use. Ray looked off to the side. Was that a slinky hanging off the left edge?
The appearance he gave off was oddly a bit eerie. There was another source of illumination other than the magical wires. His computer. Although it only lit up half of Dr. Arias' face as it was to his side. The rest was completely obscured from sight.
The duo silently entered the room as the door closed behind him. Ray thought about how it looked like they were walking into a deathtrap. Dr. Arias answered his internal question with a mischievous smirk, "This is no deathtrap, Ray Vallia. Merely my preferred environment for my studies."
Ray deadpanned, "You use your hospital director's office as a study chamber?'
"Of course. Where else would I work to increase my knowledge of this world?"
"Your home," Ray suggested.
Dr. Arias explained, "I have no home. I have no need for one." So this doctor lived in the hospital he ran? It was like this man's whole being was designed specifically to be impossible to read. Dr. Arias laughed, "I shall take that as a compliment."
"Right." Ray moved past that, "So. Why did you call us here? I assume you have one."
Dr. Arias smirked before he explained, "I want to offer you an opportunity."
Ray looked at him with a look of suspicion, "What kind of opportunity?"
Dr. Arias explained, "Regarding your test scores. It appears that you have extraordinary potential. Not only physically but mentally." Ray thought back to the day before. The day after his encounter with Dianna, Dr. Nara arrived telling him he was to be given a test meant to test his mental acuity. Dr. Arias announced, "A perfect score on every exam outside of the magic knowledge exam. Impressive, Ray. That would make you the first person in well over 5 years to score that high on the Ekronis Military Academy entrance exams. Quite impressive, I must say."
Ekronis Military Academy. That name caught his attention. While it was officially nothing more than a college, it was more accurate to call it a pseudo nation. Legally, it was recognized as a part of the Yiris Empire. However, due to being led by the leader of the mage tower, Gianna Ekronis, and its campus space officially taking up the entirety of Ekronis Island, which was larger than all of Yolan, it effectively held similar power to entire nations. It wasn't even a secret that Emperor Yiris didn't actually have the ability to control the headmaster completely.
It was strange all things considered. Why the mage tower chose to build a college of all things around itself was unknown. It was just known that sometime after magically teleporting from the south portion of the Kingdom of Marianas to Ekronis Island it was just suddenly announced the tower would build one. Ray pointed out, "You put emphasis on that college's name. Tell me why it matters here."
"Well, aren't you a serious one?" He chuckled, "To cut to the chase, I am offering the both of you a full ride scholarship to Ekronis Military Academy."
While Ray was caught a bit off guard by this, out of the two, Dr. Nara was the most shocked. "What!? A-Are you serious!?"
The doctor smirked, "I am completely serious."
Dr. Nara was shaking a bit. Ray asked him, "Why?" That was the question. Ekronis was renowned for being the top just…facility of this world. Beyond just education, it was linked to the mage tower, the leader in magical research. He once again glared at the doctor. For him to have the ability to offer this, he would need direct connections. Even royal families struggled to get their children to be accepted in. Why was he going this far?
Dr. Arias rested his hand on his chin and spoke, answering his internal question, "I am interested in you, Ray. You and I both know you aren't a normal person." Ray glared at him. He was definitely talking about his status as an otherworlder. "To keep it just between the two of us, it is no exaggeration to say you are the most exceptional person to appear in this world since Hero Leon 750 years ago."
Dr. Arias got up while keeping his hand on his chin, now posed like the thinker. "I believe investing in your future is the correct choice, so, I'm willing to use my voice to offer you this opportunity." Ray turned to Dr. Nara, still struggling to get her bearings after the sudden offer. "Dr. Nara's reaction to this should be more than enough to explain how generous I'm being, you know."
Generous? Ray looked at the doctor, "You have your own agenda. Don't think I don't know that."
Dr. Arias informed him, "I am well aware." He leaned forward, "But do you seriously think you have the power to say no in this situation?"
Ray grunted in frustration. He didn't. He had nothing in this world. All things considered, a full ride scholarship, one that would last for 5 years in this world, was his only real option to give him the time to get on his feet. Not to mention graduating would ensure a job immediately. "Damn it." This doctor had him by the balls, "Fine. I accept your offer." He told him, "But, you're going to ask for reports from this doctor. That is why you're sending her."
"That much was probably obvious." He turned to speak to her, "Although I will say, you are someone that has the potential to succeed in that school." That seemed to snap her back out of her daze. Dr. Arias' eyes softened an almost imperceptible amount. "I have no doubts that you will succeed there."
Ray sighed at this. "You know I am going to ensure information is censored from you when she sends reports," he warned.
Dr. Arias smirked, "I am well aware. I can piece together what actually happened through your filters. If you completely change the messages or stop them altogether, I'll just revoke your scholarship. I'll just think of your filters as fun puzzles to work through."
"I assume you'll provide transportation."
Dr. Arias nodded, "There will be a driver coming to pick you up by 2 pm tomorrow. You are free to bring Dr. Nara with you to the pickup point."
He questioned, "What about her possessions? Or family?" He didn't have any but it was clear that this doctor would have her own life.
Dr. Nara cut in, "Oh, yes, I need to bring my stuff!"
Dr. Arias explained, "Why yes, of course. I made sure to look into your situation my dear." The mystery doctor turned to look at Ray. "Dr. Nara's family lives in Jeremas. She lives alone." He turned back to Dr. Nara, "As for possessions, I can have them sent to you separately. You need only confirm. The center of Ekronis Academy is made up of the primary campus and a city filled with homes that function as a combination of student and tower researcher housing. I assure you, your belongings will fit."
"I see." Just based on that, he could tell the doctor had likely already come up with fixes for all possible issues. But that only led him to ask one more thing as he realized something. "Wait, I have a question." Dr. Nara was a doctor. "How old is Dr. Nara?"
Dr. Nara seemed off put by the sudden question. Dr. Arias smiled, "I believe she turns 21 this year."
"What?" He turned to the little doctor. "You're already a doctor!?" He looked to his side as Dr. Nara turned red. She didn't know how to react.
Dr. Arias smiled, "Impressive, correct? I assigned her to you because of her brilliance."
"Are you saying you had already planned this from before I had woken up?"
Dr. Arias leaned back and stretched, "Yes. I will give you the right to know how I knew this when I deem it so. What Dianna told you is true."
Walking back behind his desk and sitting down, he motioned Ray to leave. "Anyways, with that said, that will be it for now. Oh, and one last thing." He raised a finger. "Seeing as you do not have experience with magic, I negotiated the opportunity for you to train before the next semester. Your invitation for a pre-semester magical training course should arrive at your door when you get there."
"I understand." He motioned for the little doctor to follow him as he turned to walk out. He raised his middle finger upwards behind him as he left. "I'll come see you again 'when the time comes,' Cain," he said in an openly sarcastic tone.
Dr. Arias gave him a smile, "I look forward to it."
Ray walked down the hall for a few seconds before finally turning to Dr. Nara. "So, that news hit you hard, right? You seem overwhelmed."
She flinched as she thought back. "Oh…yeah."
"Any reason as to why?" He inquired.
She stopped as she thought about something. "It's just…I actually wanted to go there before."
"So you got rejected then?" She spoke like she had already attempted to make it in.
"Uh…" She looked down, "Yes." Tears made their way down her face, "I tried…really hard you know. It's just…Jeremas. It's a holy kingdom, and I'm a doctor."
Ray Valia pieced the rest together. There was a limited number of entrants per year, and only a certain amount per kingdom was allowed in. Holy magic was very full of healing spells. Competing with abundant numbers of healing magic users, even a gifted doctor would face steep competition. That wasn't to say healing magic surpassed doctors.
Doctors could treat things healing magic couldn't. For example, genetic diseases, along with strangely enough being the cheap healing option in this world. They still had their place. However, healing magic was hard to find outside of Jeremas. If Ekronis Academy wanted doctors, it was likely they would pull from other countries instead of Jeremas to ensure the healers weren't denied. It would be a way to have their cake and eat it too with a good number of both doctors and healers in the academy. Dr. Nara was out of luck in Jeremas.
Dr. Nara sniffled, "I was rejected." She looked down, "Jeremas isn't very well funded for higher education. Most of its money goes to the church and even then, my family doesn't have much money to fund college. Ekronis Academy was my only option."
"But, you still have a medical license." He noted. "How do you have one if you have no education?"
"Oh, I do." She confirmed. "I just got it from Dr. Arias and not from education." She explained, "Dr. Arias is recognized by the world powers. If he says someone's a doctor, they recognize it. That's not to say I am practicing without proper education. Dr. Arias provided me and a few others with his own course. I studied under it for a few years. I never actually got to meet him though. It was mostly indirect. He had other teachers work for him."
Ray thought back to the book he was given. As odd as the doctor was, he had a strange magical method to give someone a flawless educational course. That much he knew off the book. It didn't surprise him that Dr. Nara reached professional levels just off of Dr. Arias' indirect teaching
But…he thought back to the look Dr. Arias gave the little doctor. There was definitely more to it. "You were really talented then? I'm assuming that much was necessary for Dr. Arias to give you a chance."
She nodded before explaining solemnly, "From what he said in his first contact with me, I was already on the level of a real doctor in terms of medical knowledge. But…it wasn't enough."
"Impressive," he muttered. "So even that wasn't enough to get in? Talk about harsh." He realized something. "Wait, if being a doctor is such a disadvantage in Jeremas, why did you go that route? You could have become something else if you're really as smart as you're saying you are."
She flinched. "Uh…well, I don't have potential to be a fighter…and doctors are paid more than the other scholarly professions."
He deadpanned as she looked away. "I see."
She tried to get his attention as he walked away, "Wait! It's not what you think! You see, I…"
"I've heard enough," he said, smirking.
"You're so mean!" Luckily, she didn't see Ray's smile as he turned away. Dr. Nara didn't realize it that day, but that shock had immediately knocked her out of the sadness that she was feeling mere moments before. But of course, Ray would never say that.
Ray looked ahead again after he stopped smiling as Dr. Nara kept trying to explain why she needed the money. His life for the next 5 years was now set in stone. He would go to Ekronis Academy. However, that didn't mean everything was settled. Dr. Arias was sending him there for a reason. By the time he was out of there, he would make sure he knew why.