The Over-Break System

POV: Cynrik

“I don’t mean to intimidate you, but of the Students who have come through our halls, in the last 50 years, we have seen a failure rate of 92% when it comes to the Tier-3 Advancement.”

“Huh, 92%? Why so many?” Playing dumb, Cynrik asked; meanwhile, his mind whirled on all cylinders.

‘Tobs, I thought you said Tier-3 only had a 75% failure rate. Is there something wrong with how the Academy handles Evolutions?’

“Yes, you heard me right, 92%. We have never been able to figure out the reasoning. All our Staff who are on retainer to become Chaperones follow the proper guidelines handed down by the CSH. Yet, of all the Academies, we have the highest failure rate, with the second highest being Quest Combat Academy at 77%.”

‘FUCK ME! Tobs, Scan the Aether Capsule and report any anomalies to me this instant! If you find any irregularities, I want to know about it before I step into that fucking sarcophagus.’

-On it, running initial scanning protocols. The time remaining until the Scan is complete is 15 minutes; please hold off on continuing your Advancement until you hear back from me.-

“Somethings not right, Professor Morningdale; why is the drop-out rate so high?” Knowing he needed to buy time for Tobs to find out what was wrong, Cynrik decided to stall.

“I mean, according to the information I got in the library, there should only be a maximum of 75% failure; for it to spike up to 92%, there must be some external interference causing it to increase.” Bringing his left hand to his chin in contemplation, Cynrik mused.

“I agree; however, I have been present for numerous Advancements, and of the over 40 I have chaperoned, only two have passed. To be honest, I have no idea what the reason is, but I do have my suspicions.” Sitting back in her recliner, Professor Morningdale retrieved a water bottle and took a sip.

“Pray to tell?” Cynrik replied with his left eyebrow raised.

“Well, in the beginning, I believed it had something to do with the student resources. But after rigorous testing, I found that not to be the case, so I moved on to my next theory, the purity of the Mana being absorbed.”

Glancing around the room at the thin mist of Mana left over after his absorption with his [Mana Sight], Cynrik quickly ruled that out option.

“At the end of my investigation, since most of the Mana is used up in the Evolution Process, my results were inconclusive.” As she spoke, Professor Morningdale’s eyes turned a soft Golden color before returning to their normal blue.

This sudden shift in eye color didn’t escape Cynrik’s observation, but he let it go after assuming it had to be some kind of skill similar to his ocular one.

“During the last hour, I have been watching the flow of Mana and saw nothing wrong with the purity, so I suppose I can finally rule that theory out completely, which brings me to my third hypothesis, the Chain Breaking Formation. Although I am no expert in runes, inscriptions, or Formations, I do have some knowledge about them. Even so, I am far out of my zone of expertise and cannot scrutinize the Formation you just used.”

“I would have noticed something wrong with the Formation. Even if it is something way out of my ballpark, when it comes to Mana flow and Control, I am pretty well versed and would like to say I am second only to you in that aspect. There were no inconsistencies with the flow or purity of the Mana I absorbed. So we can rule the Chain Breaking Formation out of the equation.” Pacing back and forth as he spoke, Cynrik glanced at the runic Formation on the ground.

‘Tobs, when you are done with checking the Aether Capsule, double check the circle as well.’ He thought before tossing it to the back of his mind to free up mental processing power.

-There is no need; the Chain Breaking Formation is perfectly written, optimized, and running above peak efficiency; it is not the issue. The initial Scan has been completed, moving on to an in-depth analysis of the Aether Capsule. Please place your hand on the device to allow me access to it.-

‘Copy,’ mentally nodding his head, Cynrik walked over to the Aether Capsule and acted as if he wanted to examine it closely while placing his hand firmly on the stone exterior of the sarcophagus.

“That leaves only two options, the first being this room and the infinite runic inscriptions painting the walls, ceiling, and floor, or the Aether Capsule,” Cynrik said to break the silence.

“You are on the same wavelength as me, student Ivar. Investigations into all the rooms on Floor B-22 showed zero inconsistencies; every room was flawless regarding its inscriptions.” Getting up and standing on the opposite side of the Aether Capsule of Cynrik, Professor Morningdale too began examining the device’s exterior.

Cynrik’s eyes rapidly flicked as he investigated it top to bottom before looking at Professor Morningdale.

“Professor, how do I open it? I am not seeing anything wrong on the device’s exterior, so maybe something is wrong with its internals.”

“To open an Aether Capsule, all you need to do is place your palm on the circular pattern and infuse a small amount of Mana into it; the device will take over from there.” Smiling, Professor Morningdale did her job as a chaperone and advised Cynrik, who followed her instructions.

TSSSS clunk.

Expelling a burst of compressed air and emitting a gear-like clunking noise, the Aether Capsule opened up, revealing a squishy pale grey memory foam bed.

“Hm, it looks like the internal part of a normal VR Capsule, interesting.” Cynrik mused as he examined the hatch and where he would soon be lying down.

“Indeed, apart from the shell of the Aether Capsule, it’s almost the same as a standard VR Capsule, the only difference being the material it is crafted from and the intricate runes coating the shell.” Walking around the open hatch and standing beside Cynrik, Professor Morningdale narrated the sights he was witnessing.

“What you are saying is technologically speaking, the Aether Capsule and VR Capsule are identical; if that is the case, then that means….” Cynrik’s voice trailed off as he brought out a tool kit from his inventory, dropped to the ground, rolled on his back, and crawled under the Aether Capsule, which sat a meter and a half above the ground.

“Ssttt STUDENT IVAR! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Professor Morningdale yelled when she noticed Cynrik’s tools and how he had gone under the device without warning.

“Don’t you dare start taking the Aether Capsule apart, it is the most expensive piece of technology on Campus, and if you break it, there is no way you could afford a new one. That is to say, we would even be able to get our hands on a replacement.”

“Don’t panic, Professor; I have done this a hundred times on the VR Capsules in my dorm, don’t forget I am an Engineer by trade; tinkering with something of this level shouldn’t give me too many issues. Plus, I only plan on doing a simple diagnostic exam to be sure everything is running smoothly.” Fighting back the urge to laugh at how frantic Professor Morningdale was acting, Cynrik’s hands expertly went to work as he located a small box where the Central Processing Unit (CPU) was housed.

‘Tobs status report.’ Cynrik requested from his AI as he picked the lock to the component box with his tool kit and opened it.

-I am currently compiling the available data; I can tell you right off the bat that there is something wrong with the Aether Capsule, but I will need to sort through the results to find out what it is.-

‘Gotcha, I don’t know who made this thing, but the craftsmanship inside the Components box is amateur at best; it’s a rats nest of cabling.’ Cynrik complained as he went about untangling the spaghetti of wires.’

For the next five minutes, Cynrik organized the cabling so that he could get to work when Tobs was finished with the investigation, while Professor Morningdale nervously paced the room while muttering to herself.

-Analysis Scan complete, Cynrik, stop what you are doing.-

Cynrik’s hands paused mid-motion hearing her warning, and he froze, waiting for what she would say next.

-It’s not a hardware issue; it’s a software one. I have already alerted the CSH. In response to the support ticket I created, I have been given temporary access to the Non-Over-Break host’s systems. I have observed that Gabriella Sanford, Benjamin Sanford, and Melody Garland have yet to finish reaching the 50% mark of their Advancement.-

-Next, I reached out to Brance and Selene, who are nearly finished with the first half of their Evolution. I informed them of the situation, explaining that neither should get into the Aether Capsule until they received my acknowledgment.-

‘Excellent work, Tobs! Is there anything I need to do?’ Pleased with Tobs’ quick thinking, Cynrik withdrew his hands from the Aether Capsule and waited.

-Yes, there is; I need you to locate and destroy a micro-sized dongle housed within the Component box. The CSH will handle the rest.-

‘Eh? What are you talking about? I didn’t see any dongles; how big is the thing?’ Squinting and staring through the untangled wires, Cynrik failed to locate anything remotely resembling a dongle in the 60 cm-sized (23.6 inches) components box.

-Don’t bother trying to find it without [Mana Sight]. The dongle is too tiny to be seen by the naked eye. I will guide you, so follow my instructions, and you will be able to find it. I only have a rough idea of its location, so I am counting on you to discover its exact location.-

—

Meanwhile, as Cynrik set about looking for the dongle hidden in the component box, across the Campus in his home, Norik, disguised as Professor Constantine, abruptly jumped to his feet from the comfort of a plush couch and had to control his rage.

“Who FUCKING DARES TO MESS WITH MY ACADEMY AND THE STUDENTS UNDER MY PROTECTION!” Gritting his teeth as he controlled his Mana from spilling out, a furious glint flashed through Norik’s eyes as he read through the messages coming through in real-time directly from the CSH.

Retrieving his cane from his inventory and quickly changing into his robes, Norik looked in the direction of the Headmaster’s tower and underground through the planet’s surface.

In an instant, three things happened; the first was all the Chaperones, his son included, were knocked out cold, along with Gabby, Benny, and Melody, next he sent a mental transmission to Cynrik, Brance and Selene before teleporting into Cynrik’s room.

Even if every room meant for Evolution Advancement was sealed off from the outside world, it was too easy for someone of Norik’s strength to bypass all the save guards and appear on Floor B-22 with a simple thought.