Stars See Me [Interstellar] | Chapter 12 | A Covenant of the Soul | Novela.app

“Thank you very much, Principal.” Twenty minutes later, Lei Ting spoke with sincere gravity as he came downstairs, freshly showered and changed into clean clothes. The Principal sat with her legs crossed in a hovering chair that was, theoretically, prohibited from indoor use. She let out a sharp “Ha!”—a sound that reminded Lei Ting of a villager from a certain pixelated building game he vaguely remembered. “Don’t be in such a—rush—to thank me,” the Principal said. “In truth, your ability hasn’t been fully deciphered yet... whether it is truly ‘Metal Manipulation’ is still a matter of debate.” Lei Ting paused. He felt his ability was a straightforward case of metal manipulation, but if the Principal said otherwise, there had to be a reason for it. Back in the hangar, he had triggered a massive explosion. The core energy intensity of that blast had nearly tripped the ‘Pacific’s’ security sensors; it was a mere half-second away from broadcasting a hostile attack warning to the entire crew of the *Sun*. Fortunately, the explosion had been contained within an extremely narrow radius, and the Principal had moved swiftly to cancel the automated response command the Pacific was processing. In theory, had the shockwave of that explosion spread, it might have even caused a sympathetic detonation in the power cores of nearby ships currently undergoing maintenance. But in that moment, the white-haired man had acted. Lei Ting’s eyes flickered. He recalled the silent man remaining in the hangar and the overwhelming red radiance that had erupted from him. Within that radiance, even the heat generated by the explosion failed to spread more than two meters. The projectiles flying out of the smoke and blinding light were filtered, their kinetic energy drained until they spun a few times in mid-air and fell before Lei Ting and the Principal. However, the specific metal Lei Ting had targeted was caught by his own power, drifting to his side enveloped in golden mist. The test had concluded with Lei Ting obtaining two metals: osmium and chromium. And then... then he had come back to take a shower. There was no helping it. Although the Principal’s protection had been timely, the ‘high-risk’ method was indeed quite hazardous. Lei Ting, having stood close to confirm the item’s position, had been unable to escape being covered in dust. As for why the explosion had been so intense... Metals were not all as stable as common steel. There were metals in this world that required only a slight vibration to trigger a violent explosion. For such items kept at a fixed angle within a sealed canister, an ordinary person might have to consider how to open the jar or disrupt the internal stability—pondering a hundred procedural steps, weighing countless possibilities, and risking their life on a ‘trial and error’ basis. But Lei Ting was different. He only needed to touch it directly. It was as simple as putting an elephant in a refrigerator. Then the elephant exploded. At the cost of its own destruction and sending everything else in the fridge flying, the elephant had traded itself for a beautiful new weapon. Now, say thank you to the elephant. “Indeed, your power seems to be ‘Metal Manipulation’... but what else?” The Principal smiled. “There is another characteristic when your power is released. Have you forgotten?” “You mean...” Lei Ting frowned. “...The golden light?” “Yes. The golden light. That is a manifestation of the ‘Energy-type’ trait: ‘Visualized Energy Release.’” As the Principal spoke, she led the way in a certain direction. “Much like my red light—I call that stuff the ‘Blood of Gomorrah’...” Lei Ting followed her through the quiet, empty campus. As he listened to her words, his brow furrowed deeper. *Her* red light? Wasn’t that light released by the white-haired man? “...It is a power belonging to the ‘Energy-type.’ Its effects are quite diverse. You see, I can move before your eyes as if teleporting, and I can also constrain energy I don’t wish to pass within a specific range...” As the Principal spoke, she noticed Lei Ting’s confused expression. A quick thought realized what he was thinking. “Oh, it’s like this. My relationship with him is very close. The two of us...” She stopped the forward momentum of her chair in front of Lei Ting, her cerulean eyes emitting a faint blue glow. Then, she closed her eyes with a smile. Her head suddenly slumped, and her entire body pitched forward. Just as Lei Ting instinctively reached out to catch her, she vanished into the air with a *whoosh*, dispersing like a mist of blue flames. In the seat where she had just been, a handsome figure emerged from the void, sitting upright in the chair. Snow-white hair drifted slightly in the breeze of the air circulation system. Under Lei Ting’s astonished gaze, the white-haired man sat before him. He opened eyes with irises as crimson as blood. His expression was cold, the corners of his mouth turned down. In a deep voice, he said, “...Are one and the same.” “...” Lei Ting: “..................” Fine. Consider his horizons broadened. You interstellar people certainly know how to live. He slowly raised a hand to wipe his face, forcing himself to quickly accept this reality. “...Then, how should I address ‘you’?” The white-haired man shook his head slowly and solemnly. “There is no need for doubt,” he said. “Both she and I are your ‘Principal.’” ...Alright then. Lei Ting’s lip twitched. To be fair, observing at such close range, he suddenly realized: this white-haired ‘Principal’ wasn’t actually exceptionally handsome in features, but he seemed to possess a certain quality that made one think ‘he looks good’ at first glance... But just as he thought this, the stunning sense of ‘beauty’ radiating from the white-haired Principal suddenly faded rapidly. Soon, there was only an ordinary white-haired young man with regular features before him—and this sense of being ‘regular and ordinary’ was exactly the first impression the black-haired Principal had given him. Lei Ting’s pupils shook with shock. “...Oh, you noticed it,” the white-haired Principal said. “As expected of a ‘Double S.’” “Noticed... what?” Lei Ting asked cautiously. If this question had been put to the black-haired Principal, she certainly would have given him an answer. But now, the white-haired Principal said nothing. He simply rode his hovering chair in silence, leading Lei Ting into another elevator. This time, the elevator went straight down, arriving in a hidden space. Then, a hand holding a data pad was extended toward Lei Ting. When Lei Ting looked over, he found the person in the chair had changed back into the black-haired female Principal. At this moment, a mesmerizing sense of ‘beauty’ flowed from her—a feeling so intoxicating it felt like the ‘true essence of beauty’ itself... But within three seconds of Lei Ting seeing her, that sense of beauty dissipated once more. “Take a look at this,” she said with a beaming smile. Lei Ting looked down. What had been handed to him was a contract. After a moment’s thought, he took the data pad and began to browse through it. The contract was straightforward, with no convoluted language or clauses related to money or material goods. If he signed this contract, the academy would begin providing him with special training outside of normal classes—as a Double S-rank esper seed, the treatment he would receive was naturally different from that of ordinary people. Aside from the tuition waivers and other benefits already granted to A-ranks and above, this contract included terms such as scientific team training, exploration of the essence of his abilities, development of potential without overdrawing his future, and the provision that all his needs during training would be met with the highest federal-level service, with all expenses covered by the academy... and so on. The document was written so enticingly that the benefits were staggering. However, this caused Lei Ting to instinctively frown, because he could not find a single point that benefited the academy itself. “Why?” he asked, his question lacking context. The Principal naturally understood his meaning. She laughed. “I have my own selfish motives as well—look at the end.” Lei Ting flipped to the last page and finally found what he was required to give in return. “...Within fifty years after graduation, if the academy or the *Sun* encounters an external crisis, I must step in to help?” Lei Ting paused. “Only this?” “Only this. But this is the most important thing,” the Principal said softly. “You are not responsible for the academy’s internal affairs, nor do you need to watch over it, let alone protect any specific individual... but when the ‘Academy’ faces a crisis of life and death, you must intervene, and you must prioritize the protection of the student body.” “If I have the ability, I would do that even without you saying so,” Lei Ting said solemnly. “But if that’s the case, this is too unfair to the academy.” “No, it is very fair.” The Principal smiled, a hint of maternal affection hidden in her gaze. “You are my student, child,” she said. “A good student with a great future. Are you not?” Lei Ting knew clearly that she was bestowing a great favor upon him, but he could not refuse, nor was there any need to. The four years he would spend in this school would influence his entire life; he was well aware of that. Though he didn't know why his ‘character’ would blacken into a ‘villain boss’ in the future, Lei Ting wanted to do his best to prevent such a future from happening. Furthermore, there was the revenge he might face in a year, and... he always felt as though some far-reaching and widespread catastrophic event was looming in the future. If he wanted to preserve himself and the things he cared about in such an event, he needed power, connections, and everything he could grasp in his hands. “Alright.” Without another word, Lei Ting moved to sign the contract. “No. There’s no need,” the Principal said. Smiling, she took back the offline data pad. Under his bewildered gaze, she used a streak of blue fire to physically incinerate it along with the data it carried. “This contract is not suitable to be left on any medium that might be discovered by others... and it would be best if you didn’t tell anyone about that last part. Just say I wanted to groom you.” The black-haired Principal spoke thus. Then, a blue flame ignited simultaneously across her and her vehicle. “An ordinary contract holds no binding power between espers. Therefore, you must remember your promise and the decision you made in that moment.” She began to fade into the air. “What I believe in has never been a contract, but your heart and soul.” Lei Ting watched the dissipating figure with a sense of loss. After a moment, he slowly turned around and looked toward the other side of the space—which wasn't crowded, but was otherwise empty—at a single, massive mirror. “...You should come out now,” he said. “A word of advice: if you want protective suits to be effective in front of me... then don't put any metal components inside them.” ***