Celeste lifted one foot into the air, and did a small hop, causing her to suddenly levitate in front of me. She was now floating, and her body was slowly but surely becoming transparent again.

She was actively turning herself back into her spirit form. The transformation was simple, yet I had no clue what was going on behind the scenes. How did she do this?

"Hold the dagger in your hand, out toward me," she said. I followed her command and gently clenched the dagger, presenting it to her. Suddenly she began to spin around, before diving headfirst into the blade of the dagger, inhabiting it.

"Oof..."

"Are you okay?" I asked. Celeste seemed uncomfortable.

"I'm fine, it's just a little bit cramped in here. This dagger is much smaller than your sword, and I'm a tall spirit, I'm more suited for longer blades. But it'll work for now."

"Hide me somewhere where I won't be found when you leave tonight, okay?" she said, as the dagger began to pulse with the same energy as my sword. To be honest, her presence within the dagger had increased its weight. I was unaware that spirits had mass in their spectral form.

"I will. If we get caught though, it's all your fault."

"We won't get caught unless you do something stupid," she replied, ceasing communications with me.

"Even if we are caught, I'm still blaming you," I said, to which I received no reply. Though the dagger began to heat up slightly, Celeste was probably annoyed at my comment.

I looked to the ceiling at the burned-out light bulb. I would need to replace it sometime soon or else my room would be dark at night. Luckily for me, there was a box of spare bulbs in my room, probably there in case this situation was to happen.

I grabbed a bulb from the box, moved a chair underneath the light, and changed it. As soon as I screwed the new bulb in, my room was illuminated once again. This new light was much brighter than the one that preceded it. I moved the chair back and put the box of bulbs back in the cabinet from where I grabbed them.

I rested for the next half hour until it was time to dry my laundry. I returned to the laundry room and tossed the shirt into a drying mechanism. In this world, we used compressed air that had been heated significantly to dry our clothes. Prior to this, people just hung their clothes outside. Technology was surely advancing.

I returned to my room and finished organizing my belongings for the next hour or so. When the evening arrived, I packed my things and prepared to make my way to the examination building, which was where the meet and greet was scheduled to be held. My laundry had finished drying, and I put it away.

"Celeste, are you there? I'm going to leave now, I'm hiding you in my pants, don't make it weird." I said. Celeste scoffed at me.

"Ugh, just don't let me get caught," she said. Her adamance in attending this event piqued my interest, and I inquired her on the matter.

"Why do you want to sneak in anyways? What are you trying to do?" I asked.

"There's going to be numerous faculty at this event. If possible, I want to try and listen in on any secret conversations they may be having with each other. Today's events were unprecedented, surely people will be talking about them for months, years even."

"Are you really that skeptical of Eritoakademi's staff? They're the top school in the country for learning how to fight demons, why do you think some scandal is happening behind the scenes?" I asked in refutation.

"A school of this caliber doesn't just "mess up" to this degree. I just want to see if I can figure anything out for myself. Trust me, Hachiro," she replied.

I had no choice but to trust her. Celeste was my sword spirit after all, and was filled with vast libraries of knowledge and intuition. The time to head to the event was drawing near, I kept my sword on my bed, and snuck the dagger into my pants. I made sure it was well hidden. I closed my window, had a drink of water, and opened the door.

I left my room, locked the door behind me, and exited the building. When I walked outside, there was practically nobody around. Where was everyone? Surely they were aware of the meet and greet, right? I continued walking, past the fountain and through the many outdoor corridors that encapsulated the campus.

"Celeste, where do you think everyone went?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm sensing a very large presence of life a few hundred meters ahead though, maybe everybody is already there?"

"If that's the case, then they arrived super early, as the event isn't scheduled to take place for another 20 minutes," I said, picking up my pace slightly.

"I'd be willing to bet some people didn't go home and instead chose to remain in a large group in case an unusual were to attack. Walking alone like you are is dangerous, especially after what transpired today."

"Maybe...but how often is it that an unusual would strike on campus? Wouldn't that be counterintuitive for them? There are so many extraordinary individuals here."

"You'd be surprised, Hachiro..." said Celeste.

After walking for a few more minutes, I made it back to the examination building. The medical tents that once existed were now gone, and so were the bodies. The caution tape was still posted around the perimeter of the examination area, though. There was an eerie vibe to the entire area, almost as if hundreds of spirits were all calling out at once...

"Hey, there's the people you were looking for, turns out they already showed up," said Celeste.

She was correct in her life form assessment from earlier, as there were dozens of people here. Everybody wanted to show up early, and it was I who had ended up being late, despite the event not starting officially for another 10 minutes. I stopped at the entrance to the building and was greeted with a chilly breeze brushing past me.

I looked to the roof of the building, and there were people standing up there. They were armed with swords and wearing black uniforms. Were they guards of some sort? Or were they students?

"Hey, Celeste, who are those people up there?" I asked.

"Those are probably students hired to pose as guards for this event in case an unusual were to come out of the shadows and attack. It's a big event, danger is naturally a concern."

"I see...they really upped the security significantly from the other day. When I arrived here, there was nobody stationed anywhere, and all of the doors and areas seemed to be unlocked."

"Well, when you have a mass murder take place, it's only natural that security would be the utmost priority for future events."

I walked into the building and immediately noticed large tables set up with numerous different kinds of food and drink, as well as groups of people surrounding them, each taking their own personal picks. Kage and Akisada were no where to be found. I walked over to the table and gazed at the wild assortment of food.

There were sandwiches and fruits and chips and desserts and anything one could wish for. There were also many different types of drinks. Besides just water, they had different juices and soft drinks. We called soft drinks "Nitros" in this world. I was starving, considering I had fought and killed a demon earlier.

I picked up a sandwich and put it on a small plate that I grabbed from a stack. I grabbed a few chips, some fruit, and a Nitro. There were other people around me doing the same. There were people who I could immediately tell were powerful, and there were others who I could tell were relatively weak.

"Hey, Hachiro, which Nitro do you think I should have?" asked Celeste. She had exited my dagger without me knowing, and assumed a physical form beside me. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she was disguised in different clothes. She took a bite out of a sandwich and looked me in the eyes.

"CEL-" she covered my mouth with her hand.

"Don't yell my name idiot! I'm blending in with the crowd. Nobody here will know I'm a spirit unless they snuck their spirit in as well." she said, releasing me from her grasp.

"Okay, I trust you, just please be careful," I said. Celeste took another bite of her sandwich and cracked open a Raspberry Nitro. She took a sip from it and exhaled sharply. Raspberry was one of the best flavors.

"Trust me, I'll be okay. I'm going to go try to spy on the faculty, I know where their meeting room is. In the meantime, you should look around and see if you can meet anybody! It's a good idea to form a team of people early so that you can work together with others more effectively.

Celeste gave me a pat on the back before leaving. To be honest, she did an excellent job blending in with the crowd, though she was tall, meaning she naturally stuck out among the other girls. As long as nobody became suspicious of her, we'd be okay. I decided to look for a spot to sit down and eat, I was famished.

I found an open seat near a window and claimed it. I began eating and immediately started to feel much better. I opened my Nitro, which was flavored cherry, and sipped from it. The exquisite taste and sudden blast of acidic delight flooded my tastebuds, and I sharply exhaled as I was filled with a sudden burst of energy.

"Cherry, that's my favorite flavor," said a voice. I looked up and noticed a girl had sat down in front of me. She was wearing a white hoodie and had cream-colored hair. Her eyes were bichromatic, her left eye being blue and her right red. She also had a Cherry Nitro.

"Mine too, I'm glad somebody here has good taste," I said, chuckling. She laughed at me before taking a bite of a banana.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl.

"My name is Momoka, and I'm a mage, but I'm not very good...don't judge me, please."