Shadow Author

Chapter 16 1.5

?Walking through the halls toward the dorm many thoughts swirled through my mind. Ideas on how to handle upcoming and future situations played out.

I knew I had to be prepared for any and everything. If I took one wrong step or messed with someone I shouldn't I could ruin it all.

As of right now, I had a huge advantage since I knew what would happen in the future. But with every change, I made something that would inadvertently be affected.

It was the butterfly effect I was worried about. Due to the attention, I brought to the loophole with individual training rooms a part of another chapter would most definitely be changed.

I let out a deep sigh as there was so much resting on my shoulders.

As newer plans formed I continued on my walk and I eventually made it to my destination.

Behind the main campus of the school where all the classrooms were, was the dorms.

There were two building connections by a single elevated channel. The building on the left was for the girls while the building on the right was for the boys.

Heading to the right I arrived in front of a door that was locked and had a bunch of magic runes inscribed on it.

I immediately pulled out my watch and tapped it on the flat screen that was beside the door.

There was enough space for the watch and as soon as the two made contact a clicking sound rang out and the door opened.

The watch was used as a sort of identification card. Since it contained all our information it was the easiest way to identify who was who.

Each watch was strapped on the arm of a student and they couldn't be removed without the principal doing so.

There were also a bunch of applications on the watches as well as restrictions.

The apps were extremely important and made life much easier as some calculated training programs, study resources, and more such as the ability to talk with the system.

The system is artificial intelligence made of magic that runs through the school. It was the same thing Elijah used to start the call with me.

Although there were apps that helped us, the school made sure to monitor the watches closely.

Restrictions were implemented to make sure there were no chances of cheating.

I wasn't too familiar with how it worked since I glossed over it in the book to make sure there were no loose ends. But it wouldn't affect my plans so I had no intention of learning about it.

Besides, it was now apparent that the app that randomly downloaded on my watch could bypass the system. Otherwise, a ping would have gone off and the technology department would be alerted.

Since this hasn't happened I knew I had free unrestrained access to the app that included the ability to ask the information section for knowledge.

As soon as my watch touched the screen my name and rank appeared. After confirming my identity the screen turned green and a clicking sound rang out.

From there I opened the door and entered the building.

The ground floor was decorated in a modern style. There were a bunch of windows and the building was overall very spacious. Had it been earlier in the day the sun would have lit up the home. However, it was quite late into the afternoon and therefore the LED lights were on.

The first floor didn't have any rooms and was used as a space for the students to meet and hang out. There was also an area off to the side for people to eat. Although most people ordered food for their rooms.

Walking through the building I made my way to the elevator which was located in the center. Once I arrived I pressed the button and I didn't have to wait long for the doors to open.

-ding

Entering the elevator there was nothing special about it. There was enough room for around five people to fit. Luckily no one else was riding and I could keep to myself.

Turning my attention to the panel on the left side of the elevator there were a bunch of buttons correlating to the floors.

Fortunately, my watch also told me which room was mine, or else I would have had to embarrassingly ask one of the staff.

Pressing the fourth button I stood still while the elevator rose and eventually came to a stop.

-ding

Once the doors opened up I ventured out to see a long hallway. Down the hall was a bunch of numbered rooms that increased in value.

I only had to walk a couple of seconds past a few doors before I arrived in front of my room.

It looked just like all the others from the outside; the only difference was the number etched into the door.

"D8."

Seeing that the number matched what was on my watch I looked for a way to get in. However, there was no place to scan my watch like there was outside of the building.

Nervously I decided to just open the door and wish for the best. If an alarm rang out I would just have to come up with an excuse.

Luckily my worries were for naught and there were no problems entering the room.

This made me think there was some sort of scanner that identified who I was without needing to use my watch. That or every door was unlocked but I highly doubted it.

Closing the door behind me I entered the pretty ordinary room. It was about 300 square feet and came with all the necessities. There was a single twin-sized bed, a bathroom that had a toilet, shower, and sink, along with a kitchen that included an oven and refrigerator.

Overall I was fairly satisfied. If I had to compare it back to earth I'd say it was an average four-star inn.

Before getting myself situated I decided to take a quick shower.

After doing so I exited the bathroom and took a closer look at the room. There were a couple of decorations that the previous Lucas left behind. I wasn't all too interested in what they were but I figured I would take a look as it would give me some insight into the person I was now becoming.

Next to the bed was a nightstand that had the majority of the supplies the last Lucas had.

Resting on top of it were a couple of textbooks that he had probably been studying. Unfortunately, they were of no use to me so I tossed them in the trash before continuing my search.

Next to where the books were was a different book that had a soft cover. At first, I thought it was another textbook but I quickly discarded those thoughts when I opened the first page to see some handwriting. It was a journal.

I wasn't sure how I felt reading about someone else and their own personal thoughts. But I gave up when I realized that I was now that person. Reading the diary would only help me better understand who Lucas was.

However, before I decided to see, I wanted to finish my search.

The only other things on the nightstand were a clock and a lamp.

Next, I opened one of the two drawers under the stand. In the first drawer, there was a wallet, pair of keys, video games, chapstick, and a black box.

I ignored the video games and grabbed the wallet to see if there was anything of interest. However, there was only a couple hundred ZAR which was the currency of this world.

Along with the money was an old crinkled photo that was of a young boy next to his two parents. I was quickly able to deduce that the young boy was a younger version of Lucas or rather myself.

The boy in the picture had short straight black hair, sharp red eyes that seemed full of joy, a smiling face that was without worries, and a young structure that made me think the child was around five years old.

Next to the child on the right side was his father. Like the boy, the father had black hair however his was much shorter and wasn't curly. He had a buzz cut. His eyes were bright green which reflected the color of the grass under him. He also had a smile on his face however upon looking closer there seemed to be a look of… regret.

On the left side of the boy was his mother. Unlike her husband and her son her beauty was unmatched. In fact if not for mom and dad being written on the back of the photo I would have never believed the woman to be the mother. She was far too beautiful.

She had long dark brown curly hair that went down her back that nearly reached her waist. Her eyes were a mesmerizing blue that resembled a sapphire. As I stared into her eyes I got lost in them for a few seconds before I came to my senses.

Her face was without flaws, her body was that of a model's, had she been on earth I had no doubt she would be famous.

However, just like her husband the smile on her face had a deeper meaning it seemed… sad.

I examined the photo for a couple more seconds afterward but eventually put the wallet down where it once was.