《Path of Evil》 Chapter 001 - The beginning of the road. ???: ¡°You must know that there are three fundamental rules that determine one¡¯s place in the world. Those being, wealth, power and status. As you know, you hold only small amounts of these fundamentals compared to the other nobles, your lands are small, your army is weak, and your gold coffers are tiny. Even so, this does not prevent you from gaining more in this world.¡± Our tutor continued to drone on about various political advances and positions that could better my family¡¯s name. I sat silently, tuning out the lecture that was repeated for the past week. I could only stare out the window, watching the birds fly. My siblings on the other hand were thoroughly engulfed by the lesson, despite the tutor¡¯s monotonous tones. Tutor: ¡°As such, the best positions you can hope for are ministers serving directly under the royal crest or perhaps a high-class military position preferably commanding large swaths of men to their deaths, however, you¡¯d need to exercise your magical abilities to at least mediocre levels in order for that position. All right, that¡¯s it for now, remember you have a test tomorrow so make sure you go over the material I assigned make sure you study, the material will mirror that on the entrance exams for the MCBA. Oh, and Aenios, meet me in the gardens when you can.¡± With that, the tutor collected his papers, stuffed them in his bag and walked out, forced grace in his steps. I dislike his attitude, his arrogance towards the name of a noble. Despite his awful manners, he¡¯s very well off with many heirs to rich merchants and nobles begging for his guidance. He¡¯s only here due to my father¡¯s connections, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t bother with a family as small as ours. I¡¯m Aenios Lumos, and I hate the way my life is currently. To the common folk, we live worlds apart, never having to work. Yet in the upper-class society, we are nothing more than bottom feeders, picking up lands and titles wherever we can. Our land only covers 10 meager villages, no full-fledged towns, no trade routes and no valuable resources. Because of this, the amount of gold we have is minuscule compared to the other houses. Like our tutor said, our army is dismal, just a few villagers with armor strapped on to them, no training and no discipline. Our only redeeming factor is the name we carry. It comes from our mother, the second daughter of a powerful line of mages. Our father was only a savvy business man before he met her, with no name or magic to speak of. He only had wealth, something the Lumos line needed. My brother¡¯s and sister¡¯s don¡¯t seem to understand the fate of our family, its course straight down into the underlands. I don¡¯t think my parents understand either, out of the seven of us, only I have enough foresight to see our inevitable doom. Sighing I grab my materials and leave the room. My aforementioned brothers and sisters working away at the texts handed out by our tutor. I close the gaudy wooden door behind me. It¡¯s become a habit, closing doors. I don¡¯t know where it stemmed from though. I started to walk down the stone halls, curtains full of dust, corners filled with cobwebs. Seriously, the maids don¡¯t try at all. It infuriates me, all of this. The only thing I can admire about my birthplace is its construction. It was built similarly to a fortress, perhaps that was its original purpose, nevertheless, its defense capabilities and strategic positioning inside a mountain pass won my admiration. It still doesn¡¯t do anything to help the problems that will arrive in the future, although, it might be useful if a war breaks out. Thankfully, tensions between our kingdom, the kingdom of Gan and the kingdom of Cat have been rising. A war would certainly get rid some of the nobles that have been infatuated with peace for a long 57 years. I move quickly down the corridors, making tight turns that don¡¯t waste time. I pride myself in being efficient, even in the way I walk. The only decorations in the inner walls are pots with common flowers growing from them and paintings of great men and women from my mother¡¯s side of the family. I had never asked but I¡¯m pretty sure father was orphaned, as such, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be finding any pictures of my ancestors from that side of the family. The walk to the gardens from the library is possibly the longest walk throughout the building. My tutor knows this and specifically chose the gardens as its mostly empty except for the gardener who appears every few days. He must be preparing some bothersome lecture about my future. I understand he pities me, but this special treatment is exhausting. If it weren¡¯t for father, I wouldn¡¯t even show up at his classes. I begin to near my destination as I can see light pour through the doorway. The garden doesn¡¯t have a door, another annoyance as it provides assassins an easy entrance into our home. Though, it doesn¡¯t matter currently as our family barely qualifies as a target for assassination. There, standing in the middle of the garden is my tutor. Wistfully looking at the flowers, smiling. He raises his head when he realizes I was there. Taking off his glasses and revealing his blood red eyes. Tutor: ¡°Aenios¡­¡± Aenios: ¡°Why did you call me?¡± I cut straight to the point. He often draws out difficult and heavy conversations by preluding to his topic before actually expressing his opinion. My dialogue showed an immediate reaction. He turned around, his hands folded behind his back, glasses clutched tightly. Tutor: ¡°Aenios, do you know my name?¡± Unfortunately, it proved ineffective in advancing this talk. Aenios: ¡°Ignial.¡± I reply with a single word, brief, efficient but not what he was looking for. Ignial: ¡°My full name Aenios.¡± He turned around again, those red eyes boring into my soul. I could sense the regrets he¡¯s built up over his life, and I could feel how he could see his younger self in my person. I guess I have to finish this conversation if I want to continue today. Aenios: ¡°Ignial of the family Infernus.¡± The name made him tense up despite him asking me to say it. What an obvious immaturity present in an adult. The name still holds meaning for him, despite his attempts to build an immunity to it. He sighed, I could feel the depression. Ignial: ¡°Yes. Infernus¡­ I assume you know of my past. You are a careful young boy after all, I remember you investigating my background. You wouldn¡¯t let a man you never knew before waltz right into your home. That¡¯s just how you are.¡± I purposely revealed information about my investigation to give you a clear message. ¡®I don¡¯t trust you.¡¯ I thought the offense would drive you away in a fit of anger, all it did though was win your respect.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ignial: ¡°Then you know of how I was banished from my family, and my name taken from me? You know of my ambitions and how I drove my family to greatness only to give them enough power to kick me out.¡± I nod. Of course I know, it was the most amusing thing I had heard of in ages. A young boy finds his family name in ruins, then sets out to fix it but in doing so, earned the distrust of his friends and family who eventually couldn¡¯t tolerate his aspirations anymore and banished him. His mistake was giving his family the power he accumulated without having them realize what he was doing. Ignial took a few steps closer. Ignial: ¡°You¡¯re a brilliant boy, with a mind that could challenge even the greatest intellectual pioneers of our time but in you I see the same man I once was. Full of hopes for your family and with the capabilities for making those dreams come true. I know you must think that this talk is useless, but I can only redeem my past mistakes by preventing you from making the same ones. I¡¯m not asking that you give up, I¡¯m only telling you to be careful.¡± One, I do think this talk is useless. Two, I definitely won¡¯t make the same mistakes as you did and Three, you brought me out to the gardens and waste ten minutes in a repetitive conversation only to tell me to ¡®be careful¡¯?! This is why I dislike this man. Who does he think he¡¯s talking to? I¡¯m Aenios Lumos, the most capable person in the continent and he treats me as a child who needs to be taught what is right and what is wrong. I smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Ignial, as your student I¡¯ve learned not only about our world, but lessons about life. At least enough to keep me from making drastic decisions too soon. Ignial chuckles, the smile on his face no longer being forced and the regret in his eyes disappearing. Ignial: ¡°Of course, I should have expected as much from a boy as intelligent as you. Oh, that doesn¡¯t mean you shouldn¡¯t study for the test tomorrow, your entrance exams into the MCBA are next week and despite your overwhelming amount of brainpower, even you can¡¯t slack off!¡± His previous, standoffish attitude returned. Honestly, I prefer this one over the gloomy teacher. He wastes less time. Aenios: ¡°I¡¯ve already reviewed all the content you¡¯ve given me and I¡¯m preparing to go over the material from today. I¡¯ll be fine. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll mess up my studies for the exam.¡± This was one thing I wasn¡¯t lying about. The MCBA is where my journey to improve my social standing in the world starts. It¡¯s the most prestigious school in the kingdom and perhaps the country. Its famous for its courses that cover and extend on almost every position in upper-class society. Princes and princesses from other kingdoms travel to ours just to enter. As such, its an unspoken rule to send your children to the MCBA unless you want your family name to decline into poverty. If I fail at the entrance exam, my life would subsequently right then and there. Ignial: ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about the material Aenios.¡± Ignial¡¯s sudden dialogue broke my train of thought. Ignial: ¡°You are undoubtedly one of the most god-blessed beings to come into existence.¡± Thank you. Ignial: ¡°Having the light element, being gifted with enormous intelligence and vast amounts of mana¡­ even being blessed by an angel!¡± I know I¡¯m intelligent. I feel as if you¡¯ve repeated it five times in the last 15 minutes. Ignial: ¡°But, we both know that won¡¯t be enough. Your strange magical condition, its detrimental to your success. Not being able to cast offensive magic has never been heard of before and being able to swing a sword well won¡¯t be enough to help you. Once the second part begins, the practical exam, every student there that knows of your condition will jump on you straight away. For them, your easy points. You need something else other than your natural gifts in order to pass.¡± Despite his repetitive form of teaching from before, this is the first time he¡¯s actually given advice that¡¯s correct. Of course, I already knew of the trouble I would face in the second part of the exam. Yes, the great Aenios Lumos, despite all my perfections, cannot cast offensive magic. Why? The reason is unknown, but because of that, my supportive spells have become tenfold stronger, its also granted me new abilities, ones that haven¡¯t been seen in this world yet. In some ways, it¡¯s a great advantage, which is how I like to see it. Other people though can only look at me with pity or a plan that can be used to take advantage of me. Why Ignial thinks this is a problem? Well, the second-half of the exam is mostly an all-out brawl where future students have to pummel each other for points, each student you beat senseless awards you ten points, in order to pass, you must have at least 50 points. Other than that, you gain points for each second you¡¯re not knocked out. The brawl lasts for 2 minutes, killing is obviously not allowed. Oh and almost every major diplomatic power in our country will be watching, just to let the students relax with the knowledge that their parents are there. My elder brother and sister have already passed the exam with apparently amazing results and have been living in the school dormitory ever since. We barely hear from them. Their excuse? ¡®There¡¯s too much schoolwork.¡¯ Something in which I seriously doubt. This year is my turn. Honestly, if it was so easy for my siblings, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard for me either. Compared to mine, their mana pools are tiny ponds in front of a vast ocean. While my ability to combat enemies is still abysmal, I always have a trick up my sleeve. That trick being the ability to pair up with one of the other contestants. I just need to find someone with powerful offensive capabilities where in which, I can support them from behind. All I need to do is get 50 points after all, just 50 seconds of survival. Even if that doesn¡¯t work, if somehow, I can¡¯t win over someone with my charisma or in the unbelievable situation where someone is able to beat someone who I am supporting, I always have my trump card, although, I would prefer not to use it so easily during the exam. My goal is to stand out as little as possible, and to remain invisible inside the school to allow me to carry out my plans in private. Besides, I¡¯m not totally defenseless. I assume a demonstration is in order. I extend my hand outward, and a chain of light, coil bound to coil emerged from my palm, wrapping around a nearby tree. Aenios: ¡°I¡¯ll be fine Ignial. I promise that I¡¯ll get through the exam. I don¡¯t need a brilliant score, I just need to survive 50 seconds.¡± I talk with confidence in my voice, reassuring Ignial. Relief washed over his face. Just being around me is like a therapeutic session, my natural charisma can win and calm anyone, and reading the mood is too easy. I know when to speak and when to listen. Truly, I could not get more perfect. Ignial: ¡°Alright. I can tell that you believe in yourself, and that in turn, allows me to believe in you. However, I still want to do something to help¡­¡± He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a marble-sized orb with almost perfect-spherical properties. It glowed brightly, almost like a miniature sun. I recognized it on sight. Aenios: ¡°Is that?¡± I was stopped short by the lack of words in my brain, my mouth agape. Unbelievable, how did he get this? Ignial: ¡°Yes, a sunstone. I heard legends of how these things fall from the sky and of how they can greatly increase the magical prowess of a light user. I found it on the way to your estate. It was like destiny was calling out to me¡­ and you.¡± He put the sunstone in my hands, I felt a warm heat radiate from its core. I could already feel its power coursing through me, as if Lumios himself was watching me. I severely doubted this man before. Perhaps he still has use to me. Even if I¡¯m corrupt on the inside, I still have certain morals. This means I¡¯m debt to him, something I can payback when I wish. For now, I won¡¯t harm him. For now¡­ Aenios: ¡°Thank you¡­ so much! This is an amazing gift!¡± I bow in a respectful manner. This was usually how one would show gratitude towards an elder. If I had done anything less, my image that I worked to build over years would shatter. Ignial: ¡°Now, relax. Enjoy the rest of today. If you need help on the test, or perhaps with your exam, I¡¯ll be in the library, your siblings still need a little more help. Otherwise, I suggest testing your newfound strength in the forest. Around this time of year, the monsters that usually inhabit it are dormant, so it should be safe. Do take some guards along though, it would be trouble some if the son of my good friend got injured because of me.¡± He winked before returning inside. I exhale loudly after confirming he wasn''t nearby. Finally... he¡¯s gone. I hold up the sunstone, it shimmered in the rays of the actual sun. Though, waiting through that conversation was definitely worth it. I seems I¡¯ve acquired a rare item. One that will probably help me for a long time coming, or perhaps I pawn it off at the nearest jeweler for a good sum of money. Who knows? I¡¯ll do what I must in order to make my plans succeed. No matter the cost. No matter the pain. I will prevail. Chapter 002 - Strange Happenings. A shimmering chain of light emerged from the darkness in the forest. Wrapping itself around the horns of a deer-like creature. A single tug from the chains, and the beast fell to the ground, more chains emerging, wrapping around the legs and torso of the poor animal. A young boy, holding the chains emerged from the darkness. His eyes and hair, gold and white respectively, his clothes matching his brilliantly coloured facial features. White robes similar to those priests would wear, trimmed with gold and silver reflected any light rays that managed to pierce the balcony of the trees, giving him the illusion that he was glowing. Perhaps he was. Aenios: ¡°Amazing¡­¡± He murmured to himself. ¡°This sunstone is amazing!¡± The boy held up a glowing marble which seemed to absorb nearby moonlight. A twisted and wicked grin appeared on his face. Aenios: ¡°The chains I create, their stronger, tougher. I can feel it. I can extend them even farther, and my control over them is phenomenal! Despite it being so dark, I still feel as if the sun were shining right now! Truly, this sunstone is the perfect accessory for the perfect being.¡± The boy gleefully exclaimed his thoughts outloud in the forest. The forest, being infamous for its enormous amounts of monsters. The boy knew this, and despite the obvious danger, he continued to exclaim his excitement in a loud, arrogant voice. Finally, his actions gave way to consequence as a deep, primal growl echoed throughout the nearby area. The bound deer was quickly filled with fear, and started trashing violently, trying to escape its bindings. Aenios: ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± The chains around the deer uncoiled, and the deer bounced off in the direction away from the growl, only to be smacked to the ground by a large paw, covered in fur similar to metal. Two hulking figures emerged from the surrounding trees. A thick silver coat covered their massive size, red eyes that glowed in the dark. Pitch black claws adorning each limb. Truly, a mass of muscle and claw, this was definitely one of the top predators that lived in this vast forest. Despite the appearance of these two beasts, the young boy¡¯s expression was almost unfazed. His only expression that portrayed anything more than delight was confusion. Aenios: ¡°Bismuth bears? But¡­ they aren¡¯t supposed to be out at this time. They should be hibernating¡­.¡± His words started to trail off as he continued to talk to himself again. The bears eyed the boy wearily. They¡¯ve seen humans in the past and they¡¯ve seen magic in the past as well. Both of them didn¡¯t fair well for the beasts whose heavy armor and sharp claws were meant for defending against physical attacks. However, Aenios showed no signs of aggression and that seemingly put the bears at rest. There was no need to fight after they had already caught their prey. Aenios had other plans. Aenios: ¡°You know, now that I think about it, these bears are supposed to be super tough, aren¡¯t they?¡± Large swathes of bloodlust started to roll of Aenios, invisible to the untrained eyes, obvious to a being whose entire life depended on primal instinct. The bears immediately took an aggressive position, snarling and roaring at Aenios. Aenios: ¡°Interesting. Instead of running away, they instead decided to fight? Well¡­¡± Hundreds of glowing chains erupted from his hands while his body started to float off the ground. ¡°I¡¯ll show them what it means to fight a mage.¡± --- Bears, Bismuth bears. Supposedly one of the forests top predators. Their hides sell for a lot! The thick fur is made out of a substance like iron and is a very versatile material used in many expensive armors only the richest could afford. I could make a small amount of gold if I sold them off, though, it would draw more attention to me, having extra gold in order for my plans could be useful¡­ The bears growled once more, returning me to the realm of reality. Of course, I have to kill them first, don¡¯t I? I started to float closer, chains rising up and crashing down into the ground in a threatening display. These chains provide my only form of offense despite my inability to cast spells meant to attack. The reason must be because they originate from a summoning spell. I¡¯m thankful that I stumbled upon their power, if I hadn¡¯t, I would truly be left defenseless. With each inch I drew closer, the bears took one step back, the holes left in the ground were meant as a clear demonstration of power. However, the they could not back off forever, and the time to make a choice was soon approaching. If they continued to walk backwards, they would face me and a cliffside edge. At that point, it would already be to late to run. I¡¯m sure they understand that. I stop. I know what I¡¯m doing is wrong. So, as recompense, I¡¯ll give them a chance to live. I chuckle to myself. I must say, it sounds quite devious. The bears look at me, the carcass and the cliff that would mean certain doom for a creature of their size. It seems they chose their fate. They charged at me, the most foolish thing they could have done. For this, offense, I will bring the ultimate punishment, death! My chains rose up simultaneously. Like hundreds of arrows raining down, they struck the bears with incredible force, piercing their hides with ease and binding them to the floor. I was taken aback. Was this my power? The power of the sunstone? I look at the marble that still glowed brightly in my hands. No. It can¡¯t be. Somethings wrong. I¡¯ve heard so many tales of these beasts, so many stories of their overwhelming strength and bravery in the face of magic. I respected these things. If this is what they truly are, weak fragile creatures, then I don¡¯t think I can accept that. I descended towards the ground, I no longer needed to show my superiority. I¡¯ve already proven my dominance. I walked up to the bears, who were evidently, unable to move. They struggled as I grew near, their resistance only drawing more silver blood from their wounds. My chains didn¡¯t wrap around the poor creatures, it went straight through. I started to examine them. I noticed it almost instantaneously. Their hide¡­ it was severely weakened. No wonder why my chains went straight through them. They should have the consistency of metal! I¡¯ve heard about this before. When food becomes scarce, the bears become unable to support their powerful hides and return to a more ancestral behavior. Relying on scavenging and foraging to regain their weight. The reasons for this are usually due to another, more powerful predator entering the scene. This is where I get stumped. The balance in the forest had been maintained for centuries. The bears were unable to outcompete the other three predators and vice versa. They were unable to completely push each other out of the forest due to their individual strengths. So why now has the balance suddenly been upset. Why now, are these bears so skittish? I realized they were exuding odd behaviors when I met them, but I didn¡¯t think it was abnormal. The bears almost never go out in pairs, and they almost never back off from a human, yet, they saw my magic and were clearly scared of something and despite all of that, despite their fear, they continued to fight me for the dead deer. They must have been starving¡­ I looked into one of its eyes. The red glow didn¡¯t look so bestial anymore, it look more like a desperate animal, one that had its home disrupted by an unknown force. It was only trying to feed itself, yet I mercilessly threatened the thing in its frenzied state. It didn¡¯t mean any harm. I almost felt mercy for the beast¡­ I lifted the dead deer in front of the bears and released my chains. The wounds I dealt may have been painful, but they would heal over time and with enough food. I started to walk away and the bears, after feeling the bloodlust from me disappear, finally calmed down and started eating¡­This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. They were only two seconds into their meal before my glowing chains pierced their skulls, their bodies dropping to the floor. I almost felt mercy, but showing any form aggression towards me is punishable by death, an execution I decided to carry out. Their deaths were not in vain though. They managed to give me useful information. Besides, their corpses will bring bountiful food for the smaller creatures in the forest, and provide vital nutrients for the plant life. I might have done a good thing in killing them. For now, I think I should retire back to my bed. I look up. The moon was already high in the sky at this point. I could feel my energy slowly draining as exhaustion and the power of night took hold of me body. I¡¯m tired. I walk back, weary. Flying takes too much energy and risks the chance that someone can see me. Flying is an ability that should be exclusive to those with wings or affinities the air element. I still haven¡¯t revealed that I have that ability as well. House Lumos, still sitting on its cliffside view, was easy to see, even through the thick leaf roof, making it extremely easy to navigate through the forest, I already know which direction I need to go. As I approach the castle, the guards posted outside rush up to me, expressing concern, worry and fear. Guard #1: ¡°Young master Aenios! Where were you? Your mother was furious when she learned of your sudden disappearance! Especially during the night! She threatened to burn the entire forest!¡± Ah, sounds like her. She can be a bit eccentric at times, coupled with the fact that her magic happens to be extremely powerful, she happens to be rather scary when she¡¯s angry. I¡¯m afraid of her, despite me being her son. It¡¯s thanks to her my magic is so powerful though, or rather her blood. Aenios: ¡°My apologies, I was merely testing a gift I received today, in preparation for my upcoming test.¡± I reveal the golden marble in my hands. The guards stood, mouths agape. This object really does bring that type of reaction. I smile as I remember earlier today, when I had first received it. Their expressions mirrored mine. They saluted and wordlessly guided me back to the castle. I think they understand. No¡­ I¡¯m sure of it. We walked side by side up the mountain pathway, returning to home. As we were approaching the gate, I silently nudged the guards and nodded in the direction of the back entrance. They understood what I meant, and we walked towards it. Only to be stopped dead in our tracks by a thundering crash that came from the top of the building. Lighting arcing throughout the sky, as a ball of plasma and anger dropped, right in front of us. A twitching smile appeared from the smoking crater in the ground. Oh no. This was the situation I wanted to avoid. Mother: ¡°Aenios Lumos. You have 1 minute to explain what you were doing outside at this time of night, in the forest filled with dangerous monsters.¡± Her voice and tone were clear. She was going to zap me if I couldn¡¯t come up with a good reason, and she wasn¡¯t going to hold back because she knew how powerful my shield was. She¡¯s one of the only people I know who can break my shield. Thankfully, I won¡¯t be incurring any shocks today. Confidently, I open my hand, revealing the glowing orb inside. Her face remained unchanged though. Mother: ¡°Where did you get that?¡± Getting straight to the point, I respected that about her. Perhaps I inherited her good qualities. Aenios: ¡°Ignial gave it to me, he found it on the road up here and decided it was fate.¡± I gave a proper response with just a little bit added on. Hopefully, it¡¯ll help her understand¡­ Mother: ¡°And? How does a sunstone permit you from disobeying my orders to stay inside the castle when it gets dark?¡± Yup, as tough a negotiator as ever. I don¡¯t really have a counterargument which means I need to make my escape now. Bending the meager amounts of light around me, I¡¯m pretty sure I disappeared from sight. My evidence being that the guards were frantically looking around. Once I did that, I quickly run to the front entrance of the estate. I thought I was going to get away this time before another ball of lightning exploded in front of me. If I hadn¡¯t activated my shield, I would have been knocked unconscious. My mother walked up towards me. I run over what I had done wrong in this scenario, but I couldn¡¯t find any reason for me being caught here. How did she see through my invisibility? Mother: ¡°Trying to run away?¡± Yes. I was. I hardened my shield in preparation for the blast but instead a soft smile appeared on her face. Okay. Something is off. Mother: ¡°You need to listen to me Aenios. I know you feel jealous of your brother¡¯s and sister¡¯s freedom, but this is for your own good. You¡¯re a light elemental, just being awake during the night drains you quickly, not only that, but you can¡¯t cast offensive magic. I don¡¯t think you understand that you can die if you aren¡¯t careful. I¡¯m only worried for your safety.¡± Touching. Two sentimental speeches in one day is probably a bit too much for someone like me. I nod politely and thank Mother for always watching over me, before hurriedly walking inside, trying to maintain posture while fleeing. To be honest, I expected her to launch her lightning at me anyways as ¡°punishment¡± but she didn¡¯t. She only continued to smile as I walked inside, before turning to the guards and whispering something to them. I didn¡¯t care though. This was the first time I got away with something against the rules without being blasted at least once. It was a momentous occasion and marked my full independence from my mother who is still attached to me, more so than any of my siblings, despite me being the middle child. I walked into my room and flopped onto the bed. One of the benefits of being nobility are the comfy beds. I was absorbed in the soft folds and mounds of blankets. I prefer my bed softer than anyone else in my family. What¡¯s comfortable for me is suffocating for them. My younger sister once tried to sleep on my bed, only to find that she sunk in too far and started to burn it in fear. I wasn¡¯t too happy about that. Especially since it was her request. I shouldn¡¯t be thinking right now. I need to sink into my bed and relax. I could feel the blankets and pillows around me and I felt my conscious slowly drift away. --- When I awoke, I quickly advanced through my morning routine and hygiene before walking into the library. There, Ignial sat waiting, scribbling something down in his book. Ignial: ¡°Ah, Aenios. Your awake early today. I expected you to take a longer rest considering how late you were out last night.¡± Aenios: ¡°I wanted to quickly finish the test. I¡¯ve got an entire day planned.¡± Ignial: ¡°Are you sure you can handle this test? It¡¯s harder than the last few, it also covers material we haven¡¯t talked about in this unit, but rather, material in past units. Show me how much you¡¯ve studied.¡± With a smirk, he handed me the test which took the form of ten pieces of paper, ink forming questions on either side. To be honest, I haven¡¯t studied at all. I remember the content quite easily and applying what I¡¯ve learned is simple. I finished the pages in almost 10 minutes. The test mostly consisted of political issues and briefly touched subjects from past lessons. The bulk of the time was used writing the answers. I handed in the test to Ignial, who was clearly disappointed. Most of his tests end up like this. At first, he thought I was mocking him. I still am in a way. That was when the door opened and my two younger siblings burst through. Amelia Lumos, 12 years old and the youngest. She burst in with a smile. Because she¡¯s the youngest and had virtually no worries growing up, she grew up spoiled but strangely attached to the rest of us. The other one was Arder Lumos, 13 years old. He¡¯s quite devoted to his studies and magic. Constantly improving both even in his spare time. I feel he compares himself to me and our elder brother and a sense of inferiority was growing on him. It¡¯s pretty good for his future though. This devotion would carry him far. In short, both of them are extremely annoying. Amelia constantly bothering me, asking to play and Arder asking questions related to Ignial¡¯s lessons. As usual, I had my smile on. These two are my toughest challenges. They force me to maintain this caring elder brother image on top of me acting perfect although that isn¡¯t too hard. I need to exit this situation with efficiency. Arder: ¡°Aenios, do you know the king of the kingdom of Cat? Why. Just why. Is this how you greet your older brother?! I can only smile. Aenios: ¡°It¡¯s Queen Felin of course. The kingdom hasn¡¯t had a king in almost 127 years.¡± Arder: ¡°Tsk¡± I heard him curse under his breath. That cheeky little brat. You think you could get me with something that simple? Or maybe he was using me to help him with the test today. The various kings and queens would appear on the test. Amelia: ¡°Aenios!¡± Amelia rushed up and jumped. Jets of flame extending from her hands. The force was more than enough to knock me over on the floor. I could feel the air leave my lungs. That didn¡¯t stop me from hearing Arder snicker in the background. Amelia: ¡°Hey, hey! You wanna go play after the test?¡± Of course. That¡¯s all she¡¯ll talk about. Playing. I don¡¯t have time to play, if I did, the entire world would be under my control and I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about a potential assassin among my servant population. Aenios: ¡°I¡¯m sorry Amelia, but I have plans this afternoon. How about later?¡± She visibly frowns and starts to pout. I ignore it. I lift her up off my chest and put her back down on the floor. Amelia: ¡°That¡¯s what you always say¡­¡± Her eyes start to well up and she started to look close to tears. God damnit. I¡¯m going to be blamed if she starts to cry and father won¡¯t be too happy about that. He¡¯ll probably give me all his tax work as punishment and that is the least efficient path I can take. I need to fix this, now! I start patting her head and shushing her. ¡°Alright, alright. I''ll play with you. But not today. How about tomorrow?¡± The tears disappear from her face and she hugs me. Amelia: ¡°Yes!¡± She runs into the room, much more happy than before. I exit, closing the doors behind me, much more angry than before. She tricked me. While its admirable, I consider it a great offense to take advantage of the situation against my favor. I angrily storm down the halls, but return to my classic demeanor when I pass a guard. At least I¡¯m free for the rest of today. Now it''s finally time to investigate the happenings in forest. Chapter 003 - The strongest. I start walking down the pathway heading towards the forest. My sword, which I almost never bring out, was firmly tucked into my belt. But this time, I¡¯m not going in alone. By me are two guards, forced to come along by my mother. This very readily interrupts my plan for today. I expected to go in alone, find whatever could outcompete the bismuth bear and subdue it. Now, I have to maintain my weak and fragile act. That means the killing would be left to my guards. It¡¯s unfortunate. I caused this situation myself. In order to create a persona that could not be suspected hated or suspected as a criminal, I had to hide the many magics that continued to make me powerful, portraying this weak being who can only support others from a distance was the only way I could get away with large crimes. We enter the forest, I plan to lose them in the sea of trees so I can roam freely without having to worry about being revealed. If that doesn¡¯t work, I might as well just kill them. I wouldn¡¯t be my first time taking a life and it sure won¡¯t be my last. It sounds extreme but its actually one of the best options to keep someone quiet. Asking them politely almost never works, especially if your hiding something evil, bartering always runs the risk of them double-crossing you and forcefully silencing them only leads to contempt which will surely come to bite me back. However, killing someone fixes all of these problems. You won¡¯t need them to trust you, they won¡¯t betray you, won¡¯t hate you, they won¡¯t talk. It¡¯s just silence. The easiest solution. Not the one I want to take right now though, covering up the killings afterwards is annoying. I¡¯d rather just kill when I know there won¡¯t be consequences. Aenios: ¡°What¡¯s that over there?¡± I point into a dark area of the forest; both my guards turn towards the area. Right after, I bend the light around my once more, becoming an invisible entity, before running off in the direction we came from. The guards aren¡¯t the brightest, them only being villagers until recently and they don¡¯t have the ability to listen to my footsteps. My escape was clean. Guard #1: ¡°Young master? Aenios?¡± I hear them call out in the distance, too far away from me to ever catch up. I couldn¡¯t resist giving a little chuckle. They were so stupid, so weak, it was hilarious. They were supposed to protect me? I would consider that an insult. After I walked a good enough distance, I disabled my invisibility, it takes a lot of control to use it and I¡¯m barely able to cast other spells while its active. I¡¯ve maintained my appearance as a weakling for sixteen long years but that image will almost definitely change in the MCBA entrance exams. I will no doubt have to use a bit more power than I used publicly ever before. This year should have some powerful students entering, students that will be with me for every year I¡¯m in the school. Despite me breaking that image I worked so hard to create, it has its merits. Firstly, I won¡¯t be treated like a second-rate mage. If they realize I can fight too, they might not want to pick a fight with me. Secondly, I can gain recognition. Why does the school gather all the political powers in the country? It¡¯s actually more of a grouping of judges watching the students battle skills and intelligence under pressure. The better you do in the entrance exam, the better your opportunities in life will be. Lastly, it will help me blend in. Similar to the first point, if I appear too weak, I will most positively stand out, not something I want. If I display an average amount of fighting prowess however, I¡¯ll be looked over as just another among the many. It took nearly ten minutes before I returned to the location of the dead bears. Their corpses rotting and already full of maggots. Various animal marks covered the bodies, seems like something tried to eat it before it decided it couldn¡¯t or something else chased it away. The most obvious feature is that the bears seem to have had their skin removed by a careful blade, this was human work, without a doubt. I¡¯ve heard of poachers that often frequent this forest for the animals that live here, but I didn¡¯t expect that dead corpses would be in their strike range too. More because the organs have weakened qualities and wouldn¡¯t fetch a decent price in the market rather than me assuming those savages have morals. It truly is a dog eat dog world out here, past civilization. Well¡­ where to start? My goal is to try and find whatever scared the bears out of their dominant position here in this quadrant of the forest. So, to accomplish that, I need to find where they came from. That should be my first step. I look at the ground which was buried with multiple footprints. That wasn¡¯t going to work. I tried to remember where the bears came from and remembered them stepping out of the shadows somewhere north from my current position. I looked around the bushes and wild growth that surrounded this little grass clearing before finding those big, heavy paw prints that clearly belonged to the bears. The strokes were wide, they must have bolted here after smelling the prey. A few trees cut down around the area, but I didn¡¯t pay it any mind. Loggers come into the forest almost every day. Lumber is always in demand, but not limited in supply. I followed their footsteps. When I looked up, trying to find a possible landmark, I saw the large mountain that lay in the middle of the forest and due to the bears footprints leading to that area, I can safely assume that¡¯s where they came from, and that there, I would find whatever drove them out from here. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a beast anymore. It could be man, after seeing the work those poachers put in or maybe, something that¡¯s not alive¡­ Fearing the possible natural disasters that could have occurred, I continued the way towards the mountain, taking the shortest path through the undergrowth, which also happened to be the path the bears took. It seems like they were running away from something rather than chasing prey. They would use more stealthy tactics if that were the case. I had a bad feeling in my chest, something my confidence in myself brushed aside. But with each step closer, the more impactful the feeling grew. I wouldn¡¯t have doubts though. If I had doubts over a small issue like this, then what would happen if I were to carry out my plan? I would second-guess myself the entire way and that will surely lead to my downfall. After nearly an hour of long walking, I had reached my destination, a large cave opening in the middle of the mountain. The footprints ended there. I assumed this was the bears¡¯ home. Was. I saw something that shouldn¡¯t belong in a bear cave. Two humans standing guard outside. Well, not two humans, rather one human and one demiman. Half human and half beast, more violent and chaotic than us humans. They were only recently accepted into society but most of the humans look down upon them with hate, mostly due to us having such uneasy relations with their kingdom, the kingdom of Cat. This one seemed to be a cross between a human and a dog. Races and racism aside, they were standing guard outside the cave, spears in their hand and leather armor. It doesn¡¯t seem like these guys were very wealthy and they surely don¡¯t have any permits from us to live here. Their clothing too was dirty and ragged, something you¡¯d find on a beggar or a criminal. In other words, they were bandits. Bandits are one of the biggest problems in the country currently. Huge criminal organizations have been threatening to upset the balance between the crown and the common folk. If a rebellion happens and the rebellion fighters win, then the entire government system will fill and those criminal organizations will rule over the broken remains of the Gan kingdom while the nobles and royalty will lose everything. The ensuing chaos afterwards would probably lead to another, more stable kingdom swooping in and claiming the land, removing the bandit lords from their brief but luxurious stay as royalty. This has happened in the past a couple of times, kingdoms stage revolts to weaken or dismantle their enemies before preying on their weakened state. Wherever bandits were, chaos followed, and I wasn¡¯t going to let bandits just stroll into our territory, probably the most valuable territory we own, and claim it for themselves. I could just walk back and inform my parents, but that won¡¯t give them the punishments they deserve. No. They will meet my justice. My justice and my verdict. I am judge, jury and execution here. I reapply my cloak of light, the rays bending around my body, rendering me invisible. For now, I assume every bandit has the training of a royal guard and can hear my footsteps, so from now on, I will be as careful as I can. It¡¯s difficult, but I force myself to levitate off the ground while maintaining my invisibility and I slowly float towards the cave. It wasn¡¯t long before I could actually hear what the guards were saying. Deciding it could be useful information, I waited instead of charging in metaphorically of course. Human Bandit: ¡°I heard the scouting party found two dead bismuth bears just lying in the middle of the forest. They had circular holes in their limbs and head that went straight through them, sounds pretty creepy doesn¡¯t it?¡± I think I found my poachers. And creepy? What a rude thing to say. Anthromorphic Bandit: ¡°Yeah right, a circular hole straight through a bismuth bear¡¯s skull? You know how hard that is to believe right? Their fur is as tough as armour, the only way that¡¯s possible is if the bear just sat down and let someone drill a hole into their heads.¡± He had a point, that¡¯s what I assumed I would have to do as well. Human Bandit: ¡°No you dumbass. The fur was weakened. Apparently, they haven¡¯t been eating much.¡± Anthromorphic Bandit: ¡°Course, were the ones eating all their food!¡± After that, the dogman let out a hearty laugh. The human trying to shut him up. Then another man walked out. Much larger than the other two and wearing a decent looking attire. Two short swords were tucked into scabbards on his belt and two long swords on his back. He had a nasty glare and both the guards stopped talking the moment he exited the cave. I can only assume who he was in this place. Bandit Captain: ¡°You two better shut the fuck up before some kid stumbles upon our operations and tells the big man. If that happens, were all screwed. You understand?¡± He leaned over the dogman whose tail and ears were drooping despite his best attempts to stand as straight as he could. Anthromorphic Bandit: ¡°Yes sir!¡± Almost like a real dog, so obedient. Perhaps I should make my personal guard completely out of dogmen. Thoughts for the future. For now, retribution must be delivered. After the captain walked back in, I followed him, far above the two guards, almost touching the cave ceiling. I was surprised at what I found. Some huge construction had been going on. The cave, with its smooth, flat walls was dug out by the bandits. Using magic, I¡¯d assume. Lumber from the forest was used to build a large wall, two trunks thick that spanned the entire length of the cave. Two towers, half dug into the rock enclosed either side of the barricade made the structure look like a wooden castle wall. Guards walked atop the building with arrows nocked in their bows, ready to fire. This stopped looking like a riffraff of bandits and more like a campaign to undermine our rule in the forest. The bandit captain approached the gate which used a pulley system of logs to open. The guards quickly moved the gates open and let the captain in.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I simply floated over but I was still impressed. This was an amazing defensive structure. If it were stone, it would make this place a fortress. Huge armies would be useless here, and it could always be expanded further into or below the mountain making this one of the most coveted offensive and defensive positions during war. Being able to store tons of supplies and withstand sieges while also doubling as a stop for an army marching onward. It was beautiful. These bandits had someone very smart leading them, someone who found this place before me. Yesterday, I hadn¡¯t even known about the mountain. It always blended in with the mountain range that surrounded our lands. Behind the wall looked like a makeshift village. The walls here were more natural, but still extended, nevertheless. Wooden huts extended from the walls of the cave, propped up on stilts made form long pieces of lumber. While disorganized, it allowed a lot of space, building up tended to do that, and left the big ¡®road¡¯ in the middle of everything empty. The captain walked straight through the camp, headed towards what I could guess was his quarters. A single stone arch, built into the back wall of the cave with an iron door. I flew right up behind him. If he was going to open it up, he was going to close it as well. While fighting this entire camp isn¡¯t impossible for me, I will surely leave witnesses. If I cut the head of the snake off first though, the body will stop functioning. That was the plan at least. Like I suspected, he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and opened the door, I rushed in before he turned around and locked it. The inside of his room couldn¡¯t be compared to the filth that was outside. It was simple except it wasn¡¯t messy. Something you don¡¯t see with bandits. It consisted of a bookcase, a desk, a bed and a pile of gold in the corner. The room was fairly large leaving lots of empty space that could be filled up with more items. The bandit captain went straight for his desk and entered his chair. He started writing something right away. I think the time was right to reveal myself. I landed on the floor with a soft thud. His head instantly jerked up. Bandit Captain: ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± He got up from his seat and pulled out two blades, made out of a blood-red crystal I recognized. It¡¯s name, blood crystals which should have been pretty obvious but that¡¯s not what¡¯s important. Those things have antimagic capabilities, destroying magic on touch if its too weak or dampening the effects. The only downside is that it slowly drains away at the mana of mages that are near it, permanently. This also means it was no downside if your unable to cast magic in the first place. So this was what drove those bears away huh? I released my spell, revealing myself to the captain. His eyes went wide after seeing my appear from nowhere. Bandit Captain: ¡°Teleportation? That¡¯s impossible, that ability died out with the thunder clan. Who are you?!¡± I smiled. Aenios: ¡°You¡¯re right about that captain. It wasn¡¯t teleportation. However, I¡¯m not inclined to give you anymore information than I need to.¡± He snarled. Bandit Captain: ¡°You seem cocky kid. Probably means you think you can take me on in a fight. You see what these are? They will ruin your future if I strike you even once. You seem like you have a lot of promise and I¡¯m not so reckless to jump into every fight that comes my way. How about a deal. You leave right now and promise not to tell anyone about this place, and I promise that my men and I won¡¯t kill you. Understand?¡± My smile grew wider, the captain becoming visibly distressed. Aenios: ¡°Your offer isn¡¯t appealing at all. Besides, why should I run when I can kill you in a matter of seconds?¡± The chains emerge from my hands and a translucent shield appears around me. The captain took one look at the chains and his eyes grew wider than they were already. Bandit Captain: ¡°You were the one who left those bears in the forest.¡± I couldn¡¯t contain my excitement. I had never had an opponent this smart before! My past previous kills have mostly been animals, petty criminals and peasants nobody would care about. In front of me would be my first real challenge. This was going to be fun. Aenios: ¡°That¡¯s correct captain. My chains bore through their skulls like a dagger through flesh. Only this time, my opponent isn¡¯t wearing any armour.¡± He looked at me, then steeled himself. The fear I felt from him disappeared entirely. An impressive trick, being able to remove fear from yourself. I don¡¯t need it though, there is nothing I fear. Bandit Captain: ¡°Heh, your funny kid. Your magic spooked me at first, but now I can see you¡¯re just a little boy. You really think you can win a one on one fight? Fine, lets assume you can beat me, but do you realize where we are? We¡¯re in a bandit camp, out there are my underlings who would literally die for a chance to grab some of this gold I have piled up here. Without me, they would still be beggars on the street. They know they don¡¯t have any chance without me, unlike you nobles. I say one word, and they¡¯ll all come rushing to my aid.¡± Aenios: ¡°Very true captain, but did you forget that you locked the door?¡± The captain shook his head. Bandit Captain: ¡°I don¡¯t need to open the door when one of the mages out there can open a hole through the earth. How do you think we cleaned up this cave so much?¡± Okay. That¡¯s enough. This is getting annoying. I came here to kill a few people, not waste my time in a needless argument. Aenios: ¡°Enough. I say we finish this now. You can¡¯t come waltzing in on my lands just because you think you can. By doing so, you¡¯ve incurred my wrath and are exempt from the laws of the kingdom. From now on, your verdict belongs to me.¡± I start to glow brighter as I release more mana, I start to float once more and my chains bury into the solid rock. Every time one impales itself in the earth, the captain winces a little bit. I could feel him getting cornered and saw his muscles tense up, was he really going to make the first move? Bandit Captain: ¡°GRAAAAH!¡± He rushed at me, short swords at the ready. He was going to try and finish this in one shot. Hilarious, he can surely try! Aenios: ¡°Captain, captain, I didn¡¯t think you were this foolish.¡± My chains extended from my hands, every single one of them aimed directly at him. This was probably the end. There¡¯s no way he could possibly block this attack. Alas, it was only the first one. The chains would have surely destroyed his body, if it weren¡¯t for those swords. He wielded them with some respectable swordsmanship. Cutting each chain faster than I could see. I kept summoning more chains but he kept cutting them. How? How was this possible? I should have infused enough energy into the chains so that the blood crystal couldn¡¯t destroy it, so how is he cutting through all of them. Each arm was like a whirlwind of death, destroying my chains the moment they got too close. If he gets near me then¡­! I start to back up and summon even more chains, each one being cut off from the end, dragging themselves back into my hands and shooting back out again. Then, he slashed at me. Finally getting into range, he attacked me with a powerful downward swing. I was launched to the other side of the room. My shield only barely holding together as a large crack formed down the middle. Bandit Captain: ¡°Hahaha, that was so pathetic. I bet you¡¯re wondering why I was able to destroy your chains like that. Let me tell you. I wasn¡¯t hitting the links themselves, I was hitting the place they connected together! Let me guess. This the first time someone manage to land a blow. Hahaha.¡± I couldn¡¯t manage to form a smile. I was actually hit. By a disgusting bandit? Even if I wasn¡¯t physically wounded, he actually managed to hit my shield. I felt anger consume me as I raised my right hand upwards, a glowing rune appeared and the entire room was filled with light, the Captain shielding his eyes. Aenios, the brilliant One: ¡°I, Aenios, call upon the ancient spirits of order, the guardian, the executioner and the lady of faith. Come to me and smite my enemies, by my judgement, they shall be executed!¡± I chant the words, anger consuming my rational train of thought. I pulled out my final trump card, the one I should have kept until the last moment but instead, I used it on a simple bandit. I will come to regret my decisions later, but for now, I will enjoy watching this man suffer. From behind me, three portals formed, flooding the room with even more light. From the first came a man in a full suit of silver armour. He held no sword or spear, instead he held a shield, depicted on which a great battle. His must striking feature being the pure beautiful wings that sprouted from his back. From the second portal came a woman in a similar fashion as him. Two wings emerged from her back but her attire was entirely different. She wore white robes instead of any type of armour. In one hand she carried a golden scale, in the other, a sword made out of a glowing metal. Her eyes were covered by a large cloth and her hair seemed to be made out of gold. From the last portal emerged another woman with stark contrasts from the other two. Her skin was an olive colour, her hair a deep black and her eyes a beautiful gold. She wore dark robes and carried a crooked scythe with a simple wooden handle and a sinister edge. From her back emerged not white, but black wings, almost like a raven¡¯s. Judgement: ¡°Eh? Where am I? Oh. Hi Aenios.¡± The woman draped in black turned to Aenios and started talking without stop. Aenios visibly rolled his eyes. When the light slowly faded away the captain could finally open his eyes. He dropped one of his swords in disbelief. Bandit Captain: ¡°Are those¡­ fucking angels?¡± Judgement: ¡°Hey! We¡¯re kind of like people too you know!¡± The black angel turned to the Bandit who stopped talking under her gaze. Her golden eyes glowed, her appearance shimmered making her seem more ethereal than corporeal. Purity: ¡°Why have you summoned us Aenios?¡± The armoured angel spoke with a soft tone, instead of the sudden outburst the black angel had. Aenios: ¡°I¡­I need you to kill this man.¡± I hesitated in my speech, evidence of my shaky demeanor. I couldn¡¯t just say outright that I had gave into emotion and made a mistake. I can¡¯t make mistakes and if I ever stop believing that, I¡¯ll lose all self-worth. Fortunately, just my words are enough to explain the angels. Each one preparing their own battle stance respectively. Well, this is good enough. Aenios: ¡°Make him feel pain.¡± The man plunged both his swords in the ground and drawing his other two in an attempt to block the magic, but the might of man doesn¡¯t compare with that of the heavens. Three beams of holy energy washed over his form, the blood crystals shattering under the sheer magic pressure. I could faintly hear his screams over the roar of the magic that was drowning him. Perhaps summoning the angels wasn¡¯t a bad idea after all. It was over almost as soon as it started. The bandit captain lay there in a puddle of his own blood. I could hear the interior of the bandit fortress mobilizing, it seems they finally noticed the bright lights and sounds of battle coming from inside their boss¡¯s quarters. Aenios: ¡°Thank you. I can handle it from here.¡± Purity: ¡°I can sense hostility from nearby mortals. Do you require us to eliminate them?¡± I considered his suggestion. But I politely declined. I have a better idea. Purity and Mercy bowed, while Judgement waved goodbye. The portals reopening and their shapes slowly disappearing into the blinding light. I approached the bandit captain, who incredibly, was still alive. It must have been courtesy of angels. I picked him up by the neck right before several bandits broke down the iron door. Moments afterward, the stone walls came down. All of them were shocked to see their leader in my grasp. They drew their weapons in a threatening display. ¡°Wh-who are you?¡± Their legs were shaking, and their eyes darting all around the room which had been bleached of all colour by the waves of light that had emerged from the previous battle. The group was nothing more than disorganized. Bowmen in the front, swordsmen at the back. The only person who really drew my attention was an older woman, who was holding a sword, pretending the mana coming from her was invisible. Like the captain from before, I saw the fear in their eyes, and I saw it disappear as they fully examined me. The fear replaced by confusion. I dropped the captain to the floor, restoring my shield and chains sprouting from my palms. I¡¯ll end this battle before they can react. With a single mental command, I send the chains soaring at them, wrapping around every single bandit that had dared to face me and with the few remaining, pierced the stomach of the mage that was so conspicuously disguised. I lifted her dead body above the other bandits, having it slowly float in front of each of their faces. I assumed this was their only mage. The fear returned into their eyes. They realized who the superior being was here. They struggled in my grasp, some gave up and dropped their weapons, others continued to try and fight. Swords desperately trying to break my chains and arrows trying to pierce my shield. Neither advance would come to avail their situation. There were around twenty men bound in my chains, everyone else too afraid to come closer despite their friends being in peril. I could chain them up, but its nice to create that divide among the bandits, or rather, reveal how trustworthy their allies really are. Now, for a bit more¡­ demonstration. My chains slowly crawled up their body until they were wrapped around every single one of their necks. The bandits dropped all their weapons and desperately tried to claw at the chains as their throats were slowly crushed. The other men were simply too afraid to move, unable to run, unable to look away. Bandit: ¡°P-Ple..ase st..opp.¡± One of them managed to get a few words out, before his body lost all resistance. Either he was unconscious, or dead. Either way worked for me but I couldn¡¯t let the rest of them die this way. I only had so much time and I had a showy-er punishment in mind. I raised my right hand and with a single, swift motion, closed it into a fist. The chains suddenly tightened, and every single bandit head popped off in a glorious display of bloody gore. The bodies fell to the floor spewing blood in all directions. Any blood that flew towards me was simply blocked by my shield. I can¡¯t have my clothes getting dirty after all. Some of the bandits behind them tried to run, I killed those ones, nothing fancy though. Just a chain through the heart. The rest of them stopped trying to run away. If you want to teach something, its better to give people a lesson through a visual presentation. That¡¯s what I find the most successful anyway. I think they are sufficiently scared. It¡¯s time to start. Aenios: ¡°Your captain, he tried to fight me. Now, he¡¯s a writhing pile of meat that¡¯s barely alive. Your friends, they tried to fight me. Now they are headless corpses whose remains you can see right before you and if you try to fight me¡­¡± I recalled every chain an pointed it directly at the captain. The result was a large bloodstain that covered the entire room. All the bandits that remained, went down on their knees, their weapons falling from their hands. No words were said. Dominance was established. I own this fortress now. Aenios: ¡°Good. You understand. Now, let¡¯s begin.¡± Status Update #1 Firstly, this is not a chapter. If you came here hoping for the next part, this isn''t it. For those who are still here, this is basically my excuse for not posting a chapter in 8 days. To put it simply, when I was writing, my comp crashed and for some reason, my auto save didn''t work. Maybe 2000 words of content was gone and I just didn''t have the willpower to keep writing.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. However, I got into writing again and should post the next chapter tomorrow so that''s good news. Now that I''m done begging for forgiveness, it''s time to get onto a little more serious matters. I wanted to do a weekly release cycle. The thing is, I don''t know which day I should upload my chapters. I want to post the chpaters when I can get the most views. If you could leave in the comments, the msot common times you browse RRL that''d be great. That''s pretty much it. New chapter out tomorrow and (hopefully) a solid release schedule next week. Thanks for reading! Chapter 004 - Lying, Lies and Liars I was walking back home happy, having accomplished a great victory for myself. Just a few hours ago, I had completely taken control of a very powerful fortress from enemy hands. The keyword here being ¡°I¡±. The fortress is mine. Not my family¡¯s. It¡¯s mine. They don¡¯t know about it despite it being in their land. The fortress is mine, and it will stay that way until my parents find a trail of corpses leading back to the gates. As I said before, the fortress was manned by enemy hands, more specifically bandits. Bandits, the very same group that was disrupting the power scales in the kingdom. When I found them hiding in my future territory, I was furious. However, now I see it more as a boon. I didn¡¯t kill all of them. No, I left some alive and inside the fortress. Usually that means I abandoned the fortress. That would be true if they weren¡¯t under my control. See, loyalty is hard to come by. You can obtain in one of three ways. Social bonds, material goods or, my favourite, fear. Long story short, I confirmed their loyalty to me. I had them remove their tattoos that signified they were apart of the bandits. I didn¡¯t help them though. They had to do it by themselves, with a knife. I¡¯m not that malicious, I wouldn¡¯t make them spend days tearing their skin off. No, I let them use their weapons. I needed to get them to work after all. You see, the bandits had uncovered a large reservoir of blood crystals inside that mountain, something my family had never known, despite this land being in our territory (or rather my mother¡¯s family¡¯s territory) since the establishment of their lands. I should have assumed as much because of the various huts in the walls, which I assumed were for housing but also doubled as mineshafts. It also made sense why the captain had those weapons and why there was so much gold in his room. It was a costly, but worthwhile operation and if the bandits had completed their mission, they would have left theses lands truly desolate and gained thousands of new powerful weapons against mages which were the kingdom¡¯s main force. Unfortunately for them, I happened to stumble across their little operation and because their plans coincided with mine, I had to shut it down. Now, under my control, they will send messages to their bandit lords, pretending that everything is well while all the rewards they are supposed to be reaping go towards me. Eventually, this won¡¯t continue to fool them, and they will send men over here to investigate but I don¡¯t need to worry about that now. Currently, the bandits are now my slaves. Working day and night, mining those crystals. They are self-sufficient as well. They hunt in the woods by themselves for food. With their self-sufficiency, I wouldn¡¯t need to check up on them for days, maybe even months. That gives me time to settle other matters, however, it also gives them time to plan an escape. So, I left a little something behind to make sure they don¡¯t try and run away. My trump card to be exact. Two of them. I can guarantee that they won¡¯t be gaining their freedom any time soon. I could have also left one of my angels but that¡¯s just overkill. No need to make them religious. I reached the edge of the forest, oblivious to the world around me. I could hear a ¡°There he is!¡± in the distance. I paid it no attention. I just continued to walk forward. I then found myself surrounded by guards and it was only then was I brought back into this world. Guard #1: ¡°Aenios! You¡¯re all right!¡± Of course, I¡¯m all right. No one¡­ Nothing in this part of the country can even stand a chance fighting against me! Unless you count those above the clouds but that could technically be called another domain. Arrogance aside, the guards looked awfully worried, as I know, worry is contagious. I started to ponder all the reasons why they would be worried in the first place. Guard #2: ¡°Today is your play-date with young miss Amelia!¡± Ah. Yes. I guess I had gotten wrapped up in my recent winnings a little too much. Hmm¡­ lets see, what¡¯s a good excuse? I rushed to the fortress without a moments delay. My sister carried the element of fire. Fire was always correlated with passion and anger. My sister embodies both and represents the element more than anyone. That and her magic power is very strong as well. Since I was running, I got to her room very quick. I didn¡¯t realize it was her room until I saw her in it. Let¡¯s just say, it was more than a little disfigured. Scorch marks covered the walls, the windows were tinted black and all the furniture was burned to dust. Even her favourite bed was gone. There she was, crying in the middle of all the carnage. Every time she let out a whine, another burst of flame would extend from her body and smash into a nearby surface. She doesn¡¯t lack control of her powers. She has very good mana manipulation. This wasn¡¯t a child¡¯s temper tantrum either. She¡¯s only two years younger than me. Two years and she¡¯d have to take the entrance exam for the MCBA as well. I rushed towards her, where many bolts of flame started to fire towards me. I instinctively put up a shield and I easily block all of her attacks. The nerve! To think you would actually strike your older brother? Sometimes, I feel this persona I created only holds me down. But I can¡¯t break it now. The firebolts get stronger as I get closer to her, each one coming closer to breaking my shield. The guards do nothing but watch from outside the room. Hopefully, they won¡¯t do that if an assassin with powerful magic comes along. Just as my shield is about to break, I reach the middle and start rubbing her head. She immediately stops crying and a smile forms on her face. Cheeky little¡­ Amelia: ¡°Aenios! Your late.¡± Her tone sounded happy for the first half, then dropped to a threatening demeanor. I have a high tolerance for things, but I¡¯m really starting to lose patience with her. If she wasn¡¯t family¡­ no, if her death wasn¡¯t a problem for me, then I would have killed her a long time ago. But her dying will only ruin my plans. Her presence in this family is that of the youngest child. Her attention seeking behaviors are only natural, although they are sometimes a little too eccentric. Aenios: ¡°Amelia, I had only gone out to find you a gift.¡± Her eyes started to sparkle after I said that. She¡¯s materialistic, like me. She¡¯s actually very similar to me in a lot of ways. A fake persona, manipulative behaviors¡­ she¡¯s only missing a cruel heart. If she was willing to go to the extremes I am willing to do, then she would have made a perfect replacement. That and if she was chosen. Aenios: ¡°I found this when I was traversing the forest. It was lying there, in the middle of a small pond. Be careful with it.¡± I unveil a small piece of bloodstone. I had delicately wrapped it in silk as it was the only material I had when I decided to take some back home. No one but me and the bandits know about the bloodstone mine. So, as it stands, bloodstone is still an extremely valuable material. Her reaction of absolute joy wasn¡¯t unfounded. Aenios: ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± Amelia nodded, her eyes fixated on the glittering gem. I don¡¯t think anyone could pull her away from this expensive piece of rock. Aenios: ¡°Then you know simply touching it can ruin your future? Make sure you keep it in this silk at all times. Otherwise, you might find yourself manaless.¡± She quickly grasped it from my hands and placed it on window sill. The rays of light seemed to be absorbed as they got close, but it only made the gem glow brighter.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. You¡¯d expect someone like her to be clumsy, but she was meticulously careful when moving it to the table, despite her rush. Maybe she thought I would take it back or something. Aenios: ¡°Your happy now?¡± She turned around and smiled. ¡°Yes!¡± Aenios: ¡°Great.¡± I turned around as well and started to leave. Ah, a job well done. Amelia: ¡°Where are you going? We sill haven¡¯t had our play date. You promised me!¡± I groaned. I walked back into the room. What a waste of a perfectly good material. I was hoping if I gave something like that to her, she would be too absorbed to annoy me. I guess not. I was going to study it too! Now I lost both that and precious time. I could only brood internally as I suffered through hours of boring, endless chatter. --- A few days had passed since my unlucky encounter with my sister and the entrance exams were only a day away. Seeing as I had time, I decided it was time to go check on the bandit camp. These past few days were purely me training my abilities. Of course, my abilities are as strong as it gets, but that¡¯s if I¡¯m not pretending to be weak. Controlling how much mana you put into a spell is unbelievably hard. At least for me. My family seems to be able to do it just fine. I guess this is the curse of having too much power. Being able to contain it all. Anyway. I left, this time without guards as I had convinced my mother that I wouldn¡¯t go far into the forest and that I would always come back before sundown. She was tough to argue against, she¡¯s stubborn but I prevailed in the end. My natural charisma is very high after all. The walk through the forest was brief, I didn¡¯t take any detours, nor did I stop to torture woodland creatures. I walked straight the to cave. Aenios: ¡°Ah, just the way I left it.¡± Two ten-foot humanoid creatures made out of light stood in front of the entrance, guarding it. As I approached they started to kneel before me. I don¡¯t remember these things being able to talk, or make sound for that matter, but they are very reliable and are clearly stronger than any creature here in this forest. Including those bandits, I entered the cave, happy to see that progress was going well. The slaves¡­ bandits were mining relentlessly. Large piles of blood crystals were forming around the cave. As I walked closer, I could see sideways glances, faces full of fear and resentment look my way. Those glares only fuel my ego. They will me with joy. There was only one man who wasn¡¯t working. He wore better clothing and had an intricate pair of glasses. Instead of mining like the others, he was yelling at the other bandits. I approached him, curious to see his excuse for his absence of work ethic. Bandit Coordinator: ¡°Ah, hello Master Aenios.¡± My eyes went wide. I immediately released my chains which wrapped around him before he could react. Aenios: ¡°How do you know my name?!¡± The bandit only chuckled, despite the chains crushing his lungs and neck. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket. Looking over it, I recognized it as the bandit¡¯s secret message system. I recognized the insignia after looking through the bandit captain¡¯s notes. Bandit Coordinator: ¡°D-don¡¯t *cough* worry. I-I¡¯d never betray someone as strong as you.¡± I don¡¯t usually fall for flattery, but I could sense no lies behind his voice. It seems he was being truthful. Being such a great liar myself, I can tell when one isn¡¯t being completely honest. I released him from my grasp. He fell to the floor gasping for breath. Aenios: ¡°I assume you took it upon yourself to organize this mess?¡± He popped back up and adjusted the glasses on his face. He seemed knowledgeable, at least more than the rest of the human filth in this cave. Bandit Coordinator: ¡°Yes! When I had arrived, I was kidnapped by your two friends out there and when I saw the dire status of this operation, I used my intelligence to fix it up a little. The filth was starving because there was no order to how they hunted. They left when they wanted and came back when they got food. Your two friends weren¡¯t very happy with that and killed those who were gone too long. We know because some of the hunters saw the bodies out there.¡± It seems the sentinels are doing their job properly, but what about this man? He does seem useful. Aenios: ¡°So tell me, where did you come from and why are you here?¡± Bandit Coordinator: ¡°Of course, I forgot the introductions. My name is Albert Weber. I came from a nearby bandit establishment to check up on the progress of the blood crystal mine. Of course, when I arrived, I was more than a little shocked to see the light sentinels out front and me. The rest happened as I had explained.¡± So he was also a part of the bandits? Interesting. It seems I can get some useful information out of him. I can also confirm that he¡¯s extremely bookwise. Not many can name those sentinels and even fewer from a criminal gang. Aenios: ¡°And what of this ¡°organization¡± you¡¯re doing. How exactly did you convince these ingrates to follow you?¡± Bandit Coordinator: ¡°Its very simple. I just overpowered them. No one here is very strong, at least compared to the members of our organization and for the operation, well that was simple. I set priorities and followed them out. These men don¡¯t do well without a leader, they¡¯re too stupid to know how to care for themselves and too greedy to work together for their own benefit.¡± Bandit Coordinator: ¡°Take the food situation for example. Your sentinels would hunt down any bandits gone too long. The bandits would walk out and die because of their sloppy tactics. So I told them to go out together, ever single bandit hunting and returning before the limit ended. Even if one couldn¡¯t find any food, the rest would have collected some fruits or hunted some animals in the meantime, meaning there was always food for all the bandits, sometimes extra. The extra going to a food storage in preparation for winter or a possible siege. Maybe both!¡± He talked quickly, his words perfectly pronounced despite the speed they were flying out of his mouth. He was learned, and his teacher wasn¡¯t some commoner. His education was high class, I wonder how he ended up in the bandits in the first place. I opened my mouth to speak. Wonderful. So I imagine that things are running smoothly under your command? Bandit Coordinator: ¡°To the best of my ability, of course, your intelligence and plans would far surpass whatever I¡¯ve done thus far.¡± Smart and a suck-up. A lethal combo. This man is very useful. I don¡¯t know how many times I¡¯ve internally praised his intelligence or usefulness but its only because of how perfect he seems to be. There¡¯s only one last question I have for him. Something that confuses even me. Aenios: ¡°Why? Why are you so servile towards me? You¡¯ve never even met me.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Let me tell you something about myself young master. I follow strength, wherever it may take me. Strength and ambition. That¡¯s how I ended up with the bandits, I found someone worth following with dreams full of hope. I would have followed them till the end of my days, until I heard of you. I had not seen you, but through whispers and talk, I began to admire you. A noble boy, someone who wields phenomenal power at his age, able to subdue an entire band of bandits, someone who could summon powerful giants who literally glow. I knew that I would find no other being stronger than you. You will be my master, from now and until eternity. That is, until I find someone stronger.¡± He words hammered the nail in the coffin. I¡¯ve never had someone praise me so¡­ wonderfully! I was bought over. I needn¡¯t need to worry about his trust. It seems that I¡¯ve gained an extremely powerful ally today. Someone who will be by my side in my conquests. I had never experienced this before. Someone I could fully trust. I don¡¯t know why. His story is sketchy, and he literally said if he found someone stronger, he would abandon me, but I was still ecstatic. For years now, I¡¯ve maintained this horrible fa?ade of mine, unable to show my true self because there was no one I knew I could place my full confidence in. No person at least¡­ Maybe I¡¯m overreacting, but ruler knows this one dogma of becoming a leader. ¡®He who can place his full trust in any one man is he who can conquer the world.¡¯ Aenios: ¡°Alfred Weber. Your fanatical ideals and bizarre ways of looking at the world have truly impressed me. I name you overseer of Bloodstone Fortress. I know even in its horrible condition, you can fulfill the name I bestowed upon you.¡± Alfred bowed down. ¡°For my master.¡± With a satisfied smile I left. I started to hover, with confidence I could trust him. I watched him wave and smile as I flew back over the wall. As soon as I was far away from the fortress I threw up. Oh god that encounter was disgusting. The things he made me say¡­ well, not say exactly, but think. Yes. That man, I don¡¯t understand how but he read my mind while we were talking. At first, I was suspicious. How did he exactly know my name? Obviously, he would be given information of the lords who ruled over the lands here but how did he know that I was the person who summoned these things. Well, before I summoned my chains. The bandits ¡®rumors¡¯ while descriptive still wouldn¡¯t allow him to have enough information to peg me as the almighty being I am. That wasn¡¯t enough for me to investigate my suspicions, so I carried on. Then, there was another incident. ¡°Filth.¡± I had used that word in my conscious thoughts to describe the bandits. Lo and behold, the moment after, he had used that word in sentence. Awfully strange wording for a man who called the bandits BANDITS for the rest of our conversation. It was then I decided to test him. I opened my mouth to speak but let no words come out. Instead, I ¡®thought¡¯ what I wanted to say and sure enough, he responded with a proper answer. A tricky fellow but he really isn¡¯t anything comparable to me. However many times he lied to me, I can still make use of him, especially when he thinks he¡¯s controlling me. I won¡¯t let his expertise go to waste. I just have to make sure I don¡¯t give him enough freedom. Otherwise, he might slink his way out of my grasp. For now, I should be fine. I like to deal with potential problems when they occur, worrying about the future will only ruin the plans I¡¯ve set out. For now, I should return and sleep. Because tomorrow, I take my entrance exam. Chapter 005 - The Exam (Part 1) I strode down my halls, my pace brisk, my body light, my feet quick. I could feel the impatience fill me up with vigor, I kept turning the sunstone in my hands, the movements bringing me an outlet to the excitement building up inside me. The first stage of my plan was about to commence in just a few hours. Today was the day of the exam. The seneschal walked towards me, dressed in fine blacks and whites. His appearance organized, simple and upright. Behind him were two guards, no, two knights. Full plate armor covered their bodies and the crest of our house imbedded on their chests. Seneschal: ¡°It¡¯s time young master.¡± I stopped and began my walk towards the entrance. The two large doors being slowly opened by the guards by their sides. There, centered perfectly with the doors and the road, sat a carriage. Two white horses were tethered to the front, decorated with golden armor. Intricate carvings covering the surface. Today was the day to show your power, your wealth and your connections, to display them to the rest of the world and compete for the position of the most powerful house. All the noble families in the kingdom of Gan are attending, as well as noble families from other kingdoms and countries even if their children weren¡¯t enrolled. The most esteemed guest however will be the kingdom¡¯s very own crown family whose son will be attending the MCBA alongside me. Everything was so perfect. There was only one more obstacle, the exam itself. I took my place inside the carriage and I was greeted by the smiling faces of my parents. My mother was dressed in unusual attire for this day. Hey clothes much more flashy than before. Father took a more toned-down approach. It was all business for him, even this event. Mother: ¡°Aenios. I want you to know that we will always be behind you, even now.¡± Uncertainty was spread across her face. Anyone could tell what she was thinking. Worry. However, her words only annoyed me. I need no pity, rather, they should place more expectations on me. This kind of treatment should be for the waste of resources that our country loves to hoard. Not someone like me, someone with a goal. I nodded, putting an end to the conversation with a quick, brief note. Today, I wasn¡¯t allowed to respond with pleasantries, my usual demeanor was to be replaced with a poker face. Father looked over, his smile almost goofy looking. That too annoyed me. Father: ¡°Son, when you pass, I¡¯ll give you your own village to govern. I know you¡¯ve been asking for one since you were little, but now I think the time is right. Especially after all those lessons with Ignial.¡± Aenios: ¡°Thank you.¡± I made sure that he knew I acknowledged him with words. I made no other emotions apparent. Despite my unbreakable mask, the emotions underneath kept building up. Excitement, joy, greed. I could feel them driving my mana around my body. My own village to govern. I had wanted that ever since I knew what a village entailed. I was seven when I first asked for it. Now, nine years later my request was finally going to be fulfilled. Everything is so perfect. The rest of the ride was filled with only silence. No more conversations occurred in the two hours it took to travel from the estate to the academy. I only stared out the window and sat inside my head, with my own thoughts. Strangely enough, I felt no stress. I felt as if there was no way today could go wrong. I¡¯ve built up so much confidence that I can¡¯t feel worried. For me, the carriage ride was short. The events barely memorable, the scenery barely passable. I walked out of the carriage and walked towards the large gathering of children my age. All sixteen-year-old¡¯s looking for their chance to secure their future. The carriage took off behind me and I was sure they were taking a different road that lead to the spectators stand. Right now, all these students are equals. No matter race, strength or social standing, we all stand here as peers and common rivals. I assumed that was the reason why the academy made the upper-class stand in a clustered group out on the dirt. If there was another excuse, it wouldn¡¯t be acceptable. Right now, I¡¯m barely holding in my disgust for the situation. I stood by the treeline, away from the crowd which covered the main gate to the academy. The academy itself was actually something to admire. Tall stone pillars dotted the landscape on the way here, but the actual building outclassed anything I¡¯ve ever seen. Even the king¡¯s palace. It was a gigantic marble structure, pillars and walls criss-crossing, almost bundled together but still pleasing to look at. Gold and silver traced each wall, each barista and each tower top and all of it exuding great amounts of magical energy. I could feel the mana lines that this place was built upon. Massive amounts of mana escaped from underneath us and into our surroundings. The wildlife here looked just as impressive, the overflowing mana is almost definitely the cause. To put it simply, everything was shiny, and I liked that. I felt as if my clothing was the correct pick for today. The usual white and gold robes were replaced with something a bit more eccentric. The same white fabric remained with the exception of large gold and silver embroidery covering my entire body. Honestly, it was heavy, but it made a good impression. From where I was standing, I could see almost everyone who had gathered. It was mostly a bunch of extras, no one worth mentioning however, there were a few who stood out. The first was a tall muscular boy who literally stood out from the rest of the crowd. He was probably eight feet tall and an equally disproportionate weapon lied on his back. The second was a girl¡­ probably. She stood out for the complete opposite reasons. She was around four feet tall. A dark cloak covered most of her body except for her hands and arms which were gloved and lined with metal plating. Beside her was a boy, who looked extremely average but had something that set him out far behind the rest of the children here. I could sense huge pools of mana inside of him. Large ones, nothing comparable to mine but still extremely huge. I had already long mastered the art of hiding my mana signature, so for my enemies, I only have as much mana as I want them to think. It should still be fine for him though, I can only see his mana due to another unique trait granted to me and if you weren¡¯t born with the ability to see mana wells, then you¡¯d have to cast the spell, something only top-class mages know how to do. Lastly there was another girl, who, no matter how hard I tried, I could not see any mana. Her clothes looked fancy, even by my standards and she seemed respectable, but I could tell that there was something seriously wrong here. No living creature can be devoid of mana, not even the undead. Whatever she is, I can¡¯t just ignore her. I quickly cast a spell. No flick of my hand, no muttering, just a simple mental command. Only the slightest bit of mana was taken from my well, it was completely untraceable. In that moment, a translucent golden eye appeared above the crowd, high above in the sky. This was my celestial eye. It¡¯s similar to a scrying orb with the exception that it can¡¯t be detected by anything except for a celestial being. That and it can cast spells. Right now, I¡¯m seeing the same location through three different eyes. It¡¯s a useful ability, one of my more powerful ones as well. I almost never use it because I never needed it. Right now, I can tell that it will be very useful. The eye can move through objects and creatures but cannot see through or out of them and just like my eyes it has truesight. It needs no light to see. Saying that, it¡¯s more of a sensation than a visual image. If I were to try and explain it, it wouldn¡¯t help. At maximum, I can have seven of these things floating around and that¡¯s not because they drain mana from me, no, I can recover mana faster than they can take from me. It¡¯s because any more puts greats strains on my mind. Looking from ten directions at once just gives me a headache. All of them can act independently from me and can directly transmit information no matter where they are in the world. The spells they can cast though are arguably my weakest ones, I¡¯m not complaining though. However, it would be nice if I could have an offensive spell these little guys could cast. I waited only a little bit longer before an important figure arrived. Being dropped off from a pure gold carriage was the heir to the Brigal Family. The next in line to be the Duke, Lucannon Brigal. He stepped out, arrogance covering his body like thick sticky ooze. His hair shot up, sparks surrounding his presence, little bolts of lightning bouncing in a 5ft. radius of him. One poor animal got too close and a large lightning bolt came down from a nearby cloud and turned the creature into ash. The rest of the students took a step back when he came close. That cocky smile of his was both intimidating to the boys and charming to the girls. Fortunately for me, he was a social butterfly and walked straight past me and into the crowd where he immediately started a conversation with a group of girls. Typical. Even on a day as important as this he acts with his loose, playboy self. And to think, I had to associate with him for twelve long years. In noble society, it¡¯s important to build relationships and so, minor social gatherings became common place. It was back then when I first met him, a shy boy who would always hide behind his older sister. Because his sister and mine were good friends, we were expected to get along too, which we did, because I have amazing social skills. That and three members of my family shared his element as well. He was tolerable at first, but when his sister died, he¡¯s been acting aloof ever since. Honestly, it¡¯s a pain. This act where he starts seducing women is just to fill up that void left behind when his sister died. While I was lost in my thoughts, I could see a large lightning bolt come arcing towards me. I instinctively put up a shield. Thank goodness this wasn¡¯t my mother¡¯s bolt. Oh wait¡­ Lucannon: ¡°Aenios! My best bro! How¡¯s it holding up, I haven¡¯t seen you in the past few weeks. Where you¡¯ve been? Have you seen this place, its crazy? The girls here are hot too, well, most of them anyway. Aren¡¯t you excited, today¡¯s the day. Hey man, why aren¡¯t you talking?¡± My fragile smile started to crack but I somehow managed to keep it placed strictly on my face. Lucannon Brigal. He wore bright yellow clothing that conducted electricity very well. Evidence by the lightning everywhere around him. I could already feel eyes boring down on me. This guy is a trouble magnet. Aenios: ¡°Luke, don¡¯t you think you should be a little more¡­ calm?¡± I tried to subtly tell him to shut up. He didn¡¯t. Lucannon: ¡°Come on! Live a little! This is the day we get to show how strong we are!¡± To emphasize his point, he extended both his hands and two large bolts came striking down beside him. As well as another pile of ash. I sighed. Lucannon: ¡°Oops. It¡¯s okay though, the animals here breed super quick, killing one or two won¡¯t hurt right?¡± He chuckled, waiting for my response. I just shook my head in disappointment. He hasn¡¯t changed since I started avoiding him. Saying I was sick or leaving when he¡¯d usually arrive. Everyone needs a break from Lucannon. The fact that I managed to survive so long for twelve years should be praise worthy. Lucannon nudged me and point towards the road. ¡°Hey man, check it out.¡± As I looked forward, I could see multiple carriages approach, surrounded by guards and beasts alike, all organized in neat lines. Meticulously crafted armaments, armor and weapons were carried towards the school, everything covered in heavy metal. There was no flashy golds or silvers. No. Instead, it was all iron and copper, or similarly common and hardy metals. The most defining feature was the crest that was emblazoned on every single craft in the line. It was the royal crest of the iron king. All eyes were directed at the carriages and as a single carriage door opened, every person in the area bowed, including myself. There, standing with a consuming presence and an aura of leadership could only be one person. Julius Bismarck Gannan, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Gan. He took a few steps close before gesturing for us to stand. Instantaneously, everyone did.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Without a word, the long line of men left the road and receded into the background. Most of the students were unsure on what to do. So, to break that tension was my good friend Lucannon who casually walked up to Julius and put his arm around him. Lucannon: ¡°Julie! How¡¯s it going!¡± A couple of chuckles emerged from the crowd and a loud groan from Julius. In situations like these, Lucannon can come in handy. The tension lifted, and conversations continued, much louder and brighter than from before. There was one person acting suspicious though. Lucannon dragged Julius over. Aenios: ¡°My liege.¡± I kneeled once again. Julius smiled. ¡°Aenios, if anyone needed to kneel, it would need to be Luke. I wouldn¡¯t mind if you stopped kneeling entirely.¡± Lucannon put on a hurt look, exaggeration covering his entire face. Lucannon: ¡°Why me?¡± Julius laughed. Despite his words, the two of them are close. Rather, the three of us are very close. Aenios, Julius and Lucannon. The immortal trio. That day, when I had met Lucannon, was also the same day I met Julius. Because of my social skills, we had become good friends and our relationship has only ever improved since. Back then I didn¡¯t understand how important this friendship would become. I had only wanted to get away with eating more desert. Julius: ¡°How have you been Aenios? I haven¡¯t seen you in weeks.¡± Lucannon: ¡°That¡¯s what I said!¡± Aenios: ¡°Certain events had lead me to be¡­ preoccupied. It¡¯s not a concern now and you won¡¯t have to worry about any sudden disappearances from me anymore. I¡¯ll be here after all, with all of you.¡± Both Julius and Lucannon¡¯s expressions changed. It was more solemn, more serious. I didn¡¯t understand what had caused the change in mood, but I knew it was something I had said. Julius: ¡°Aenios. Haven¡¯t you heard? They changed the examination process.¡± The news was like a dagger coming from behind. I never heard of a change, though I shouldn¡¯t expect much as all I heard of the exam was from my siblings already in the school. This shouldn¡¯t change anything. My plans will still be the same, only the way to complete this first step was replaced. This can¡¯t be too bad. Aenios: ¡°Can you explain?¡± Lucannon: ¡°Well, I came over one day to tell you about it but you weren¡¯t there and every time I came after you were sick, so I told one of your servants instead. Didn¡¯t want to bother you when you were recovering y¡¯know? Also, didn¡¯t you get a letter?¡± That¡¯s strange, any of the servants would immediately tell me about such important news. Aenios: ¡°Which one? Can you give me a description?¡± Lucannon: ¡°Sure. She was pretty young, maybe two years younger than you and she dressed up pretty fancy too. She was also very rude after I mentioned you. Wonder why?¡± Oh no. That¡¯s no servant. That¡¯s Amelia. Aenios: ¡°¡­ did you happen to visit on the fifth day of Legius?¡± Lucannon: ¡°The exact date! Were you avoiding me or something?¡± The sarcasm was heavy in his voice but I could feel the slightest bit of inquisitiveness. That didn¡¯t matter right now though. What matters is that Amelia received the message and either forgot to tell me or outright kept it to herself because I had a playdate with her. I let out a sigh. Even if Amelia answered him, even if she said she was a servant, even if she was the first one at the door, how could Lucannon be so dumb as to let her trick him? Aenios: ¡°Lucannon¡­ that wasn¡¯t a servant. That was my sister.¡± Lucannon gave me a blank stare with that happy-go-lucky grin of his. ¡°You have two sisters?¡± Julius: ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter now. Aenios, let me explain. Nothing from the exam changed, we still have our test and the mock battle.¡± Aenios: ¡°Then what¡¯s changed about the exam?¡± Julius: ¡°Ranking. And the amount of participants.¡± He paused for a moment before continuing. He does this quite often when explaining something, to help those understand his words completely. Julius: ¡°Firstly, all two thousand students will be placed in a single arena. You still need 50 points to pass but that should no longer be your goal because now, the amount of points you have directly correlates to your standing inside the school. A grade is split up into seven classes. S, A, B, C, D, E and F. Their names are important. Simply put, getting only 50 points gets you enrolled but places you in Class F where the weakest students tend to stay.¡± I understood what he was saying, I heard it loud and clear, but I still couldn¡¯t believe it. Suddenly, my goal of surviving 50 seconds before forfeiting is no longer a viable solution. If I¡¯m to maintain my family¡¯s appearance, nay, my own reputation, I have to be placed in class S. I can¡¯t do anything less. Aenios: ¡°How many points do you need for Class S?¡± Julius shook his head. ¡°600. 600 points. There is an upside though. Every point on your exam counts towards your total. I know you¡¯re able to easily get 100% but I¡¯m worried. Even if you survive the entire two minutes, your total will only be 220. That¡¯s only enough for class E.¡± I lost my footing for a moment. My plans¡­ ruined. I can no longer survive. I can¡¯t¡­ Lucannon: ¡°Hey, Julius. Aren¡¯t you forgetting something?¡± Julius looked at Lucannon, a confused look on his face. Lucannon: ¡°Really? Did I remember something you forgot? Wow. That¡¯s a first. Aenios! There was a change to the practical exam, its only minor though. After the two minutes pass then the remaining students are placed into a tiny arena where they duke it out till the end. Every knock-out is worth an entire 50 points and there¡¯s no time limit but there¡¯s something better.¡± Lucannon paused as well, but not for the same reasons as Julius. He paused for dramatic effect despite it¡¯s uselessness in this situation. Lucannon: ¡°The last man standing, that is, the person who is able to beat everyone else is automatically awarded 10000 points!¡± Aenios: ¡°That seems a little bit much. Why so many points?¡± In my mind, the excess amount of points made no sense to me, it was simply a big number that held no value. Why not just give the final survivor 500 points? It would save the same purpose. Lucannon: ¡°Yeah, it is a bit much but its necessary if you want to win the prize!¡± A prize? For the entrance exam? Lucannon: ¡°I bet you¡¯re like ¡®What¡¯s the prize Luke?¡¯. Hehe, well, I¡¯ll tell ya. You know how the forest surrounding the academy is full of monsters right?¡± I nod. I seem to understand where he his going with this. Monsters are a huge linchpin in our society. They pull our carriages, power the industry and do hard manual labour where human strength isn¡¯t enough. Other than that, monsters are deeply embedded in our religion. They said that long ago, humans and beasts were partners, having fought together against a great evil that had spread across the world. Sharing an unbreakable bond with each other, we beat back said evil and restored peace to the world. It¡¯s a common bedtime story for children. The stories of heroes chosen by god fighting alongside beasts chosen by god. I¡¯ve heard it over and over again, among the noble society. The practice of bonding with a monster has slowly started decaying over time. The strongest monsters were always hunted or captured, leaving only the weaker, mindless monsters. These monsters were never worth bonding with, I don¡¯t think they even contain the ability to bond in the first place. The practice only continues in the academy where monster hunting is outlawed. Oh wait¡­ Lucannon: ¡°Yup. The student who comes out on top is judged strong enough by the teachers and is allowed to climb the Dragon¡¯s Mountain where the strongest beasts live. Every other student is banned from climbing up there.¡± Of course. There it is. Dragon¡¯s Mountain, the place where humans first met their bestial counter parts. The place where every known leyline intersects. The place so sacred that the ten greatest mages created a vast range of defences and fortresses to guard it. A place later repurposed into the MCBA. This explains a lot, but it doesn¡¯t answer my question. Aenios: ¡°So why so many points? Also, what about the other grades?¡± Lucannon: ¡°Oh. The other grades are unaffected but every grade after ours gets Uh¡­ bragging rights? Don¡¯t ask me, the student council was the ones to change the system.¡± Aenios: ¡°I see.¡± I understand now. I don¡¯t need any explanation. The questions from why the change was made so suddenly and why the system became so skewed makes sense. Julius: ¡°That¡¯s the gist of it. You got a plan for the exam?¡± Lucannon grin expanded. ¡°Blast everything away! That should be enough for at least A class right?¡± Julius face-palmed as Lucannon laughed outloud. His plan¡­ wasn¡¯t a plan but it should work for him anyway. Lucannon is excellent at sending wave after wave of high damage bursts, great for wiping out small fry and taking down big targets. This big gathering of students really puts Lucannon at an advantage. His bad match-ups lie with people who can withstand his damage or, someone like Julius. Julius¡¯s element is metal. Julius places very defensively, most of his magic is defensive but the few damaging spells he has are extremely dangerous. I once tried to measure what my weaknesses were. While I definitely lack a strong constitution, I virtually have no weaknesses. My defensive and supportive abilities are top-tier. I¡¯m easily able to withstand any blow from any matter of creature due to my shields. That¡¯s not all though. My offensive capabilities lie solely in my summoning magic, and how well I can support my summons and outlasting me isn¡¯t an option either. My mana pools are enormous and I regenerate mana faster than I can spend it. All-in-all, the only way to beat me is to take away one of my magics. Either my supportive or my summoning. If either of those leave me, I¡¯ll be helpless. Fortunately, no one in the country can do that, at least I haven¡¯t met anyway with those powers yet. Lucannon: ¡°You don¡¯t think it¡¯s good. What about you Julius? How you gonna get into S class? I know you¡¯re aiming for it.¡± Julius: ¡°I actually have a plan, unlike you, even if it is simple. My main goal is to survive the first round, then destroy the weakened enemies in the second round when they¡¯re worth more to defeat.¡± Lucannon: ¡°Didn¡¯t you forget about the second round, now suddenly it¡¯s in your plan?¡± Julius: ¡°I-I had already planned this out¡­ I just¡­ forgot¡­ right¡­ now¡­¡± Julius was staggering with his words. He was feeling a lot of shame and guilt. Something unbecoming of a future king. He¡¯s with friends though and his back his turned to his people. Although, I can see a certain someone looking in our direction, I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be a problem. Aenios: ¡°Julius, tell me of your family. It¡¯s been some time as you said. When¡¯s the last time I visited your home?¡± I decided to help the suffering monarch out. There was no way someone who grew up becoming a king could admit he forgot something. That¡¯s admitting he made a mistake, something you can¡¯t do when people follow your every word. It would be fine if he didn¡¯t care but Julius had a soft-heart. Another unbecoming trait. This is why I was able to easily befriend these unfortunate souls. Their minds are simple, just like their lives. Julius smiled. He understood the act of kindness I just delivered and opened his mouth to speak before a large gasp emerged from the crowd. Julius stopped half-way in his words and looked towards where a mass of students were pointing. There, flying just above the sun was a feminine figure, seemingly glowing with two wings sprouting from her back. Even I was astonished at the sight. I¡¯m sure, everyone¡¯s first thoughts were ¡°An Angel.¡±. She descended near the crowd, very gracefully landing. Her golden wings folded behind her. Her clothing consisted of a large iron and gold suit of armour, thin and close fitting to her body. I could tell it was nothing to be taken lightly though. Strapped to her back was a golden spear, also glowing. It¡¯s point seemed to cut the air around it. To top it all of was the existence of three glowing gemstones, two of which were as big as fists. These ones were jutting out of her shoulder plates. The last gemstone was carved into the middle of the spearhead, shining brightly. Those were sunstones, the sheer size and brightness would already make them as valuable as national treasures. Priceless, precious stones. I ran through the possibilities in my head. Who and what was she. There was no way she was an angel, that¡¯s impossible, angel¡¯s never look this young. She¡¯s around our age and besides, what would an angel be doing here? Finally, I had landed on the idea that she was a golden Aarakocra that just so happened to be a light elemental and looked awfully like Victory, one of the seven archangels. Judgement and Purity always talked about her and her appearance. Just about everyone, including our prince stared in awe of her. I was stuck trying to figure out an excuse that would explain her angelic appearance. Then, like always, Lucannon was here to break the tension. Lucannon: ¡°Woah, we get a hot babe like that enrolling in our school? She looks like an angel!¡± This time, the heavy air remained as the girl turned her head and glared at Lucannon, who couldn¡¯t say a word afterwards. This time, it was Julius¡¯s turn to make an attempt. Julius approached her and did a bow. ¡°Julius Bismarck Gannan, crown prince to the throne. Fair lady, what is your name?¡± Julius took the gentleman approach which seemed to work far better than Lucannon¡¯s. The girl lifted her head and extended her hand in response, Julius then kneel and kissed her hand, the lips didn¡¯t touch her gauntlet though. It¡¯s a gesture of respect or courtesy. Something I never quite fully understood. The girl opened her mouth to speak, everyone was hanging on her jaw, her words were the top priority for those around her. More than anything, it was her presence of perfection that left everyone¡¯s eyes stuck on her celestial form. Well, three eyes weren¡¯t watching her. The manaless girl could only stare at the prince, both her eyes fixated on him while my third eye watched everything from above, directed at that strange girl. Then, she spoke. ¡°My name is Luciana Luella Francis. It is a pleasure to meet your my liege.¡± Rumors started to spread throughout the crowd and I could pick up on all of them. ???: ¡°Francis¡­ isn¡¯t that the name of the head priest? You know, the one in charge of the temple to Lumios?¡± ???: ¡°Did he have a daughter? She looks like an angel though¡­ do you think?¡± ???: ¡°A half angel? Does that mean Francis and an angel¡­ uh. Nevermind.¡± The words kept flowing before a spark of insight hit me. I remembered an old ritual exclusive for light elementals in which a mortal being could make contact with a servant of light. The consequences of failing was death, but not pleasantly, however, if successful, the being could become the vessel for one of the angels. I¡¯ve heard of some minor angels choosing humans but never an archangel. So, I¡¯m sticking to my theory that she¡¯s a golden Aarakocra. After the brief introduction, Julius and Luciana started talking, she took a few glances around before I noticed her staring into the sky. To everyone else it would seem she was simply admiring that open blue, but to me I could tell she was definitely looking at something. My orb. Her eyes went wide when she saw it and started looking around. I quickly decreased my mana signature to a mere fraction of what it was before, and I deactivated my orb, sending it back to wherever they come from. Her eyes just brushed passed me. They lingered on that boy for a moment before continuing to look through the crowd. She looked back up at the sky one more time after finding nothing only to see that the orb was gone. Luciana: ¡°I knew I could feel the presence of a powerful being of light¡­¡± Her words were faint and I¡¯m not even sure if Julius heard them, but I could tell what she was saying. Because she was talking about me. I could no longer ignore the fact that she had undergone the ritual and succeeded in becoming the embodiment of an archangel. She is a celestial being, there was no other way she could see my orb. It seems I have my work cut out for me. I can no longer simply survive in the exam, but I also have to defeat my enemies if I¡¯m to maintain my own self-confidence while not revealing too much power in which case, little miss angel finds out what I can really do. My life just got a whole lot harder. Chapter 006 - The Exam (Part 2) The rest of the wait was filled with meaningless talk. The only topics were about Julius or Luciana both of whom made a spectacular entrance with a bit of drama afterward. I went about greeting noble children of higher standing, introducing myself and generally making connections that could come in handy in the future. Lucannon was busy introducing himself to all the young ladies while Julius was being created by the other noble houses. A good bit of fun and jokes were thrown around, the mood was very light. Everyone was taking but I could feel the underlying tension that spread throughout the crowd. Not everyone was going to make it into the academy, not everyone would make it into the class they wanted. For now, these light pleasantries only barely held back the horrible viciousness from bubbling out. Everyone here was an enemy, on the battlefield you shouldn¡¯t expect mercy. So when the gates started to rumble and pull open, the chatter died down and all eyes faced forward. For most of the people here, its do or die. Their future¡¯s depend on getting into the academy, and from what I hear, getting into the upper classes. I had seen a lot of weaker students appear, commoners were also more plentiful. Higher tier magics are usually married into noble families leaving the commoners usually with less powerful magics to spread. The gates slowly came to a halt when they reached the white marble walls and standing, perfectly centered and straight was a man. He wore a single spectacle and carried a book under his arm. His clothes looked very mundane, perhaps belonging to a librarian of such. Overall, he looked fit to be a bookkeeper back at home, he was very organized, a trait they seem to share. That¡¯s what the other students assumed at least. A few snickers and crude remarks spread throughout the crowd. The man probably didn¡¯t hear or didn¡¯t care because his face showed no signs of movement. I could tell though, he was no simple librarian. His magical power was unbelievable. I could see the mana around him, it danced and moved, something I had never seen before. It was then when I noticed his left hand. Covered in a clean, white glove, it was slowly moving back and forth, the mana around him following his finger like a conductor with his orchestra. Glancing over the crowd, I could only see a few students who noticed as much as I did. I could count them on one hand. Julius and Luciana weren¡¯t just show monkeys. I could see them following the mana in the air. The librarian was watching them very closely as well. Other than them, the only other two that noticed this was the boy who had tons of mana and the manaless girl. Both of which I couldn¡¯t get the chance to introduce myself to. I pretended that I couldn¡¯t see the mana, I could see the librarian studying the crowd, looking for people. I could only assume he was testing the student¡¯s abilities. His eyes focus on all four of those who were able to see his wonderous display, myself excluded. After maybe five minutes of standing in silence, his hands dropped and the mana stopped as well, returning to its liquid-like state, floating in the air. Librarian: ¡°As you all know, you select few hundred or so have been invited to¡­ participate in the academy¡¯s exam. Whether your invitation came from one of our staff or through your own power, congratulations, this will probably be the farthest you¡¯ll get.¡± He turned around, arms extended to both sides of his body as if he was presenting the academy to us. His words spread a chill over the crowd, each student rhythmically shuddering, one after the other. Librarian: ¡°Once you walk through these gates, you will be teleported to a random location in the arena. Once the portal opens, the exam will being. You¡¯ll have two minutes to defeat as many other students as you can. After that¡¯s done, the second trial will begin. I hope you remember the rules because I¡¯m not going to say anything further than this.¡± He turned around once more, a glint in his eye and a twisted smirk on his face made him look truly villainous. The long introduction was made to scare the meek off and inspire the brave. I could only find it bothersome and long. I maintained that serious expression I was supposed to have though. Librarian: ¡°Oh and one more thing. If you decide to cheat, you will be publicly humiliated in front of your family and millions of other noble families, including the king. We will know if you decide to gain an unfair advantage over your peers using some underhanded means. Trust me, I¡¯m waiting for someone to screw up like this. It¡¯s me who gets to dish out the punishment after all.¡± His smile grew wider and a few of the students froze completely. Seems like his intimidation technique wasn¡¯t that bad. Nothing compared to actually killing a comrade though. I find that works much better. Librarian: ¡°You may begin entering the gate in three¡­ two¡­. One¡­ now!¡± The gate suddenly started to shift and a large portal opened up. Plenty of students rushed into the portal, their eyes frantic. There was no pushing though, it was unusually organized. The influence of the librarian perhaps. Only a few students stayed behind though, the same group as before. The most powerful students didn¡¯t bother rushing in, they must have had the same plan as me. Wait until the second part of the exam. There was no point in rushing in head first, unless you were Lucannon who had a clear advantage in doing as such. No, if you waited until the second part, then all the students left will be worth 50 points, the easiest way to scoring points just opened up. As well as the fact that you won¡¯t have to spend energy fighting in the first round, saving your strength to eliminate as many students in the second round. Although, my plan just goes a tiny bit further. I plan to steal as many points as I can. Delivering the final blows on enemies, running around and avoiding as much attention as possible. That way, scoring 600 points should be easy. It should be easy¡­ The librarian¡¯s eyes shifted back and forth between the students who remained. While Julius seemed to want to stay longer, I decided it was best to head out, don¡¯t need to grab anymore attention from the librarian. But before I left, I created a celestial eye, deep inside the woods, far away from Luciana¡¯s eyes. Then, I took a step inside. I was immediately hit with a huge amount of force as the gate transferred my body to some, unknown location. When I opened my eyes, I saw bolts of lightning, blasts of fire and all sorts of iconic elemental attacks flying all around me. I quickly made myself invisible and placed a shield on myself. I backed away from the fighting and released my invisibility when I felt no other presences near me. I took a moment to fully gather my surroundings. It seems like I¡¯m inside a forest right now however, there were traces of other elements all around, it seemed to be made to be an equal playing field for all the students. The sounds of battle continued without stop, stray spells flying towards my direction were all stopped by my shield. So far, I haven¡¯t gained the attention of anyone yet. I took this time to study the other students, watching them intently. I saw the large student again. When I took a closer look at him, I saw unnatural hair growth, all of it tipped with frost. He walked around the battlefield, smacking students away, often leaving them unconscious or paralyzed. He had far gone above the amount of points needed to gain entry, but he had no signs of stopping. While I watched him with my body, I continued watching the group that remained in front of the gate with my eye. It was slightly difficult trying to see through all the trees, but I had found a good enough location for me to watch. Most of the students had left and only three remained. Julius, Luciana and the boy with the large amount of mana. The librarian also stood watching, his eyes unmoving from their location. There seemed to be a conversation running between the four. I couldn¡¯t hear it though, I don¡¯t have any celestial ears. I saw the librarian nod and magical energy start to flow around the three, the mana started to swirl around them in chaotic and odd shapes. This was often a sign of offensive magic which baffled me. They were fighting without going in the arena? Suddenly, the gate flew forward, gobbling all three of them leaving just the librarian with his beautiful displays of mana control. He closed his gloved hand and the portal closed. He took one last look around, before he glared at my celestial eye, before returning to the gate. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was an actual celestial being or if he just felt the presence of someone looking at him or not. Either way, I knew I didn¡¯t want to fight this man without the aid of my summons. Moments after the gate had swallowed the trio, a large burst echoed outward before I started to feel that swirling vortex motion teleportation produced again. Counting the time that had passed, it did seem that 2 minutes had gone by. It seems the students would be fighting in a new arena. With that, all of the students were teleported into a new area. This time, it seemed to be a colosseum with the spectators being the noble families of the country. Battle started before we were even teleported with Julius, Luciana and the boy with lots of mana fighting already, I saw Lucannon here as well though he looked quite beat up. I could sigh as thousands of spells started to fly around the arena. It¡¯s time to begin my plan. --- Around one-hundred students total had made it into the arena. That was 5000 points in total and only 12 S class positions available for people who had Aenios¡¯s idea. The battle was intense, 100 of the most powerful students in a tiny space like this started to fire without thinking, the first few moments of the battle were filled with huge explosions, loud noises and the cries of defeated students. The few seconds afterwards were filled with silence as only fourteen students remained after the initial wave of attacks. Most of the other students lay groaning on the floor. A boy with sharp features and flashy clothes made the first move. Lucannon blasted his way through five more weakened students, gaining a total of 250 points. A single scorched line appeared from where he was, running through the poor students. A large *ding* could be heard from above, labelling the remaining students left and their points. It seemed to be a magical projection on a flat surface far above the arena, several mages in hoods surrounding it. It showed the faces, names and points of the surviving students. The four at the top of the list were, in order, Julius with nine-hundred points, Luciana with eight-hundred fifty points, Magna with eight hundred points and Lucannon with seven-hundred forty points. All of the students took time to observe the list before all eyes lay on the top four, who were the only ones who qualified for S class, all the other students had around four-hundred to five-hundred points. No one moved for quite some time before one student dressed in reds rushed up to Lucannon, a flaming sword in his hands. His eyes started to glow a bright yellow and his body started to flame just like his body. His body burned with bright flames and an inferno started to form around him. He had taken two steps before a massive thunderbolt emerging from Lucannon¡¯s extended arm smashed into him, leaving a cloud of dust as his body was flung across the arena. Flashes of light briefly appeared in the dust cloud before the unconscious body of the flaming student was left. The crowd, as usual, was quiet. In the upper-class society, no aberrant behavior was allowed. This did not stop the nobles from silently cheering for their children. The stadium was filled with eager anticipation, even if their child had already lost, everyone was waiting to see who would win the battle. The simple nobles watched for enjoyment, the smartest of the upper-class used this as a way to identify potential allies¡­ or dangerous enemies. Thirteen students remained and another stand-still emerged. A single thought stayed in their minds. Whoever moved first would get knocked out. In the middle of the arena stood the top four, Luciana, Julius, Lucannon and Magna and surrounding them were the other students, creating a large circle of eight students.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Minutes passed of this seemingly endless staring contest until a couple of nods from the outer circle alerted the attention of the middle four, who not only had to worry about the outer students, but about the students in their circle as well, there were no allies after all. The outer students started to shift before they simultaneously leaped into action, two of each striking one of the inner four. The battle had lasted maybe only one-minute, large clouds of dust appeared as magic flew and students knocked unconscious. At the start of the battle, the outer students seemed like they were going to win. Even if they weren¡¯t as strong as the middle four, they were still some of the most powerful mages and their power together could definitely overpower the middle four. Hope had blossomed in the hearts of those students, before one of the students, who was fighting Luciana, suddenly blasted away his partner. Knocking her unconscious. The traitorous student in question, had a tall but lithe figure, dark circles underneath his eyes and a large black cloak covering his entire body. A cruel smile had appeared on his face as the look of despair appeared on her partner¡¯s face. Another update appeared on the projection above. At six-hundred and ten points appeared the cruel face the hooded student, his position in S-class was secured. The name beside it, Anatos had drawn the attention of the crowd and the outer students in the arena. This was where the battle started to turn. The four in the middle used this opportunity to instantly wipe out one of the students. Lucannon summoned a huge lightning bolt similar to the previous one except it had a blue colour. Julius drew his sword, and with a single slash, blasted other students backwards. Luciana pointed her spear forward, and a beam of brilliant golden light bathed over Anatos, who fell to his knees after the ray ended, lastly, Magna, the boy with immense mana pools, started to gather more energy around him before a large rumbling filled the arena as numerous trees started to sprout from the ground, knocking up both of the students he was fighting and disrupting all of the fighting in the arena. The battle between the inner and outer students ended quickly afterwards. Each of the inner students, systematically defeating the other students using quick, successive attacks that didn¡¯t let any form of weakness show. Luciana, who had already defeated her enemies, only watched the others fight. Whether she was upholding the warriors code, or restoring her energy, it didn¡¯t matter. In the end, four students remained, barely visible in the between the leaves of the trees. Lucannon chuckled. Out of the four, he was the most beaten up, his clothes tattered and his movements slow and heavy. Lucannon: ¡°Well, it looks like my chances of winning are gone and I don¡¯t really feel like getting beat up so¡­ I forfeit.¡± As Lucannon said that, his form started to shimmer before he completely disappeared from the arena. His portrait on the projection turned grey, indicating his defeat. All that was left now were the top three students. The positions were the same, they defeated the same number of students after all. There was no standstill this time. Only a few words of recognition shared before they jumped into battle, taking advantage of each other¡¯s weakened states. From a bystander¡¯s standpoint, it seemed like anyone¡¯s win, but for someone who was watching, the outcome seemed to be clear. The three combatants had shown most of their strength, and even if they had something under their sleeve, it shouldn¡¯t have as much impact this late into the battle. Going over all three, Luciana was sure to be the winner. In terms of fire power and defence, Julius comes out on top. However, Luciana has the element of light whereas Julius¡¯s element is metal. While this doesn¡¯t seem like much, it matters a lot when considering the environment these three are fighting in. Mana is generally neutral but is greatly affected by the things around it. Oceans have a lot of mana with an affinity for water, making water elementals stronger, their spells more powerful and the amount of energy consumed is reduced. Every element has an opposing element, fire for ice, earth with air, light with darkness. Metal¡¯s opposite is Nature. Mana with an opposite affinity is much harder to use and only brings negative effects. If the affinity is strong enough, the mana could even start to drain away at opposing elements because mana is like anything else in the universe. Water, protons, electrons, molecules, mana seeks balance, using the opposing affinities to neutralize it. So, when Magna created that forest, Julius was suddenly left at a disadvantage, not only because Magna is stronger in the forest, but because Julius became weaker as well. By this way of thinking, and assuming that they attack each other without making alliances, Julius should be the first to fall. Normally this means that Magna should be the winner, but those watching the fight from the beginning know better. This comes from the fact that Luciana comes second in terms of strength and defence, but also carries many supportive abilities and can draw on mana with an affinity for light, simply by flying above the trees. This versatility is very common among light elementals, often leaving them to be all-rounded and in a situation like this, with varying power levels, those with the most options come out on top. Based on the fights that have been occurring, Magna has a lower power level than both of them, him being the lowest out of the three and taking the longest time to defeat the outer students. Even if he is more powerful in the forest, Luciana, from what was observed, could easily duel Magna, and after his defeat, Luciana would become the winner. Most of the crowd was sure that the battle would fair that way. However, they lacked an ability that the highest tier of nobles, and the four students in the arena had. The ability to sense mana. As soon as the courtesies were exchanged, both Julius and Luciana attacked Magna at once. Julius ran towards him, cutting down trees as he passed them while Luciana blasted him from afar. The blinding ray of light and the forward slashes from Julius left most of the arena covered in dust. Large gasps emerged from the crowd as the sudden alliance had formed between the two. All of the crowd was sitting on the edge of their seats, still maintaining their regal appearances however. When the dust cleared, the forest was completely gone, and all three figures remained standing. That came as a shock to most of the crowd. They figured that Magna would have no chance from the incoming onslaught, but that wasn¡¯t the half of it. Along with Magna standing upright, he seemed unharmed, not a scratch anywhere on his body. The biggest shock came when the crowd looked at Julius and Luciana. Luciana had various dents and scratches on her armor, a few vines hanging off. Julius however was in the most dismal state. His armor had been almost crushed, the heavy iron plating had been ripped apart, underneath lay a torn chainmail and a bleeding wound situated around his chest. He was on one knee, his sword plunged in the ground. His form moved up and down as he breathed heavily before finally collapsing. His body shimmered just like Lucannon¡¯s before disappearing as well. Magna and Luciana. The two students looked each other in the eyes. Magna was smiling, it was full of confidence. Luciana however had a stoic, serious face, one that had not changed since her arrival to the academy gates. The crowd had no time to process what had happened before Luciana rushed up to Magna, her golden wings completely stretched out behind her. Her golden spear extended out before her, she flew at incredible speeds towards Magna, who couldn¡¯t even dodge. A few trees sprouted up, in a feeble attempt to block the attack. Luciana only slashed upwards and Magna was sent flying, the trees having absorbed most of the impact were nothing more than shreds of plant fibre now. Unrelenting, Luciana pointed her spear at Magna once again, the brilliant golden light emerged, and his form seemed like a black outline in all of the light pouring outward. She continued the beam of light while walking closer, various small plants and flowers bloomed to try and slow her approach, but she crushed them all underfoot. Finally, she reached melee range with Magna, and looked upwards to the mages surrounding the magical projection. When they nodded, Luciana plunged her spear deep into Magna¡¯s shoulder, a large brilliant light expanded outward, blinding everyone around momentarily before vision returned. Magna, even after all that, had still clutched onto the spear. That confident smile returned to his face and before Luciana could react, Magna suddenly leapt up with the point of the spear still embedded in his shoulder and plucking a flower seemingly harmless. With a single action, he presented the flower to Luciana, taking a gentleman¡¯s stance. A strange orange gas emerged, and Luciana fell down. Her portrait turning grey on the projection. Her form, like all the others, vanished from the stage. Magna, beaten and tired as he was, dragged himself to the middle of the arena and with his good arm, brought a fist towards the sky. The crowd cheered and Magna himself let a gentle smile of relief fill his face. For that one moment, he had let down his guard, for he had finally won. At least, that¡¯s what he thought. It was at that moment when a single chain, constructed out of brilliant light had whacked him in the side of the head. He slumped down to the ground and his portrait turned grey, indicating his defeat. Now, the one left standing was a boy dressed in golds and silvers. Looking up at the projection screen, his face was displayed in first. Aenios Lumos, 10600 points. There were no words, no cheers, just absolute silence. --- I had been running around the arena, trying to knock out people in the second round, but every time I did as much, someone else would secure the knock out. I was so incredibly annoyed I almost let my mana signature go. I would dash into invisibility and out whenever I felt as if someone was close to finding me. I used the ability sparsely because it was another ability I wanted to keep secret, knowledge is power and the less my enemies know about me, the better. I spent so much time trying to conceal myself that most of the students had been defeated, leaving only the strongest. I sighed in exasperation. It was going to be incredibly difficult to defeat eight students now. Especially since there were only thirteen students left, myself excluded. Then, that one guy, the flaming one ran straight into Lucannon, probably the most stupid decision he could take. Lucannon has the strongest single target attack I¡¯ve seen so far. Lucannon sent out his blast and the boy flew backwards. Perfect. Before he lost consciousness, I smacked him with my chains, using the cover of the dust to hide my presence. I had no time for extravagant attacks, I needed efficiency, and however crude ¡°smacking¡± sounds, it was the most efficient way to attack. It seems I¡¯d been forgotten, despite my portrait being on the large magic screen that floated above the arena, everyone was only looking at the top four, them being the only ones in S class. I was at the bottom, with only 250 points. That worked to my advantage though because I was still unnoticed by both the crowd and the combatants. Only the hooded figures around the projection seemed to realize that there was a student missing. Then, the second battle began between the remaining twelve students, myself excluded of course. Luciana had unfortunately defeated both Anatos and Aqua, the girl she was fighting. Thankfully, I had managed to defeat the other six students, using the chaos and the forest as cover. Now, only five remained. I was sure some people in the crowd had noticed there was a student missing but no one in the arena noticed. Lucannon gave that quick speech before he disappeared, leaving those three. The battle they fought was intense. I have to admit, if one of them fought me, I would have a tough time fighting them. I mean, without my summons. I haven¡¯t seen anyone capable of defeating even one of my angels. Especially Judgement, despite her behavior, she¡¯s extremely powerful. The battle ended very quickly, with people¡¯s expectations being thrown out of the window. I knew that it would end like this but that¡¯s only because I could naturally see how much mana the boy had. I think his name was Magna, I don¡¯t really care but it might be good to remember it. Finally, there was only him left. Me too, but that didn¡¯t matter yet. He dragged himself to the middle of the arena and left his guard down. Suddenly, I realised I had two options. I could forfeit and allow him to have his glory or I could knock him out with a cheap-shot. I had to weigh the options in that short amount of time. If I forfeited, I would be playing towards my persona more, upholding my extremely nice demeanor and maintaining the ability to blend myself in with the masses of weaker students, however, it¡¯s benefits ended there. Knocking him out brought me into the S class, allowed me access to the mountains which might be useful for plans involving the academy and allowed me to keep my pride. I knocked him out. There was no decision needed. My portrait rose to the top and my points had updated. 50 more points for knocking him out and 10 000 points for being the last student standing. The cheers that had come from the ignorant in the crowd had completely gone. Leaving only the silent nods of those who had noticed me in the leader boards. They had expected this outcome simply because they realized something wasn¡¯t right. The silence that had persisted for so long was replaced by rumors as my form started to shimmer and my perception of the world starting to twist. Suddenly, I was in a different room. It was very quaint and tidy. Bookshelves lined the walls, books lining their shelves. A single glass window filled one wall, allowing a gentle light to flow in. The floor was wooden with a large rectangular carpet spread across the floor. A single wooden table was placed near the back of the room, three chairs surrounding it. One tucked in and two in front. Sitting in the singular chair was a woman, wearing bizarre clothes that were straight and grey in manor, almost like a butler¡¯s. Small, square glasses were placed on her nose and ears, her attire in its whole was almost satirical. I could tell that she wasn¡¯t wearing those clothes as a joke though, so I made no comment about them. She beckoned me closer and mentioned for me to take a seat. I did so. I had no reason not to. I could barely sense any mana anywhere hear, most of it coming from the room. She herself had almost no mana and I could sense no physical traps nearby. I also knew that she could not detect my mana signature and that she had no idea who I really was by her commanding, superior position. Square Lady: ¡°Hello¡­¡± She quickly looked down at some papers spread neatly over her desk. ¡°Hello Aenios. It seems that you complet¡­ survived the entrance exam. I won¡¯t bother to introduce myself because I have no need to, for you, I¡¯m the vice principal, Ms. Bofard. You¡¯re here because you won and because of that, I have to congratulate you, however, I don¡¯t feel like I should, so you are dismissed. The written exam is tomorrow, here¡¯s your map for the school, follow it to your dorm room and goodbye.¡± She quickly handed me a frail looking piece of parchment before a magical force opened the door and pushed me out. Well. It seems I have made someone angry. I¡¯ll be sure to brutally kill her if I ever find her alone in a place where no one can find her body. Until then, I guess I have to bear with the enmity. Other than that, I found her oddly interesting, especially her ability to spew out so many words in such a small amount of time. I look down at the piece of paper, various arrows and symbols appeared and disappeared. Large swathes of mana flew in and out of the flimsy slip. I only sighed as I started walking forward. Maybe I should have forfeited after all. I had the feeling I hadn¡¯t seen the repercussions the school had to offer just yet. Until then, I¡¯ll continue to justify my reasoning, even if it caused some major damage to my plans. Chapter 007 - Settling In Chapter 7 I¡¯m¡­ lost. I¡¯m hopelessly lost. The academy halls are all mirrors of each other, everything so perfectly symmetrical, even the tiniest mistake on the wall is matched by the other halls. There¡¯s no doubt that magic is being used here, but still! This is going too far! I don¡¯t even know if I walked past the vice-principal¡¯s office yet. The supposed map doesn¡¯t help either. Its completely blank! That woman definitely has it out for me, I probably embarrassed her by ranking higher than her son or something. I think I¡¯ve been wandering these halls for at least an hour, I can¡¯t really tell but I know it''s around night right now because it¡¯s pitch black outside. The occasional window shows no sign of light, the school is just bathed in darkness. That¡¯s a given though, there isn¡¯t any civilization anywhere near here, only the academy and the ever-looming threat of a monster attack. I kept walking down the shiny marble halls, carefully observing them using the lanterns that lined the walls. It was about the only thing I could appreciate about the school. The design materials are just excellent! Gold, silver and marble are all extremely difficult to enchant with magic, but somehow, the academy was able to do it. All three materials are natural anti-magic weapons, using them to harbour magic is simply genius! I don¡¯t know how it works though, I can¡¯t see the through walls after all. The tiles were square in design, rows upon rows of beautiful, intricate patterns had been etched in every single tile, each one then plated with a beautiful coat of gold and silver. I could feel strong magic coming from it, even I might not even be able to dent this floor. The walls were more simple but carried the same amount of grace in their design. Golden arcs on top silver and marble coats surrounded me, only stopping their pattern to elegantly dance around windows and doors, which also happened to be plated in gold, the doors themselves however were made out of a exquisite wood which I can only assume came from the forest itself. It wasn¡¯t just the the building that was impressive. Even the mana in the building was refined. Mana in its natural state is almost like a goo-like substance. Crude, sticky and overall disgusting. The mana in the school however, it was almost like a river, like mana straight from a ley line. It was smooth, clear, clean and powerful, students who can¡¯t produce their own mana can still be successful due to the very nature of the school. Honestly, if a civilization was built here, taking the continent would be an easy task but having such a powerful place of learning, perhaps it outweighs world conquest. As I continued to marvel in the schools beauty, a huge fluctuation in the mana startled me. The mana started to move erratically, not as messy as an offensive spell, but uncultured nevertheless. Suddenly, the tiles on the floor started to flip over, the beautiful white marble switched with a pitch black that seemed to absorb all light. It was like a wave of shadow that swept right past me, extinguishing the lanterns as it passed. Now, I was left in total darkness, while still being completely lost. Due to my eyes, I haven¡¯t lost any vision, however, the lack of light is still a disadvantage. The mana around me no longer has a affinity to light, rather, it has an affinity for darkness now. Of course, that barely affects me, I use my own mana after all. I continue walking down the halls. I¡¯m so tired. I feel my body become slow and my eyes start to close. Thankfully, I saw a shape come running down the hall which woke me up quickly. I could see legs however, I heard no noise. The creature continued to run down the hall, directly towards me. It¡¯s clearly a creature of darkness, what I don¡¯t know is if it is a friend or foe. Usually, the decision is easy to make, however, the Academy has many quirks, Dark Elementals, no matter how despicable they are, are still accepted. Again, the creature saved me from making a choice. When it got closer, I could feel the the flow of mana gather around it, and I could see a disgusting blob of mana build around its arms. That was an offensive spell and there were only two creatures in this section of the school. Me and it. Yeah, it was clearly trying to attack me. Alright, I¡¯m not going to mess around with this thing. I¡¯m just going to give it the most painful end possible. I start to gather my mana inside me, slowly building it up and wait for the creature to get closer. I love pretending to be weak. It¡¯s so fun in situations like these! I could see the thing grin and raise its arms to strike. I decided that now was a good moment and I unleashed my mana outward, my mana, being so pure, emerges as light, the entire hall brightened with a luminescent glow, the creature squealed as the pure light mana seeped into him, seeking to destroy the darkness his body harboured. His skin started to sizzle and now that he was squirming on the ground, I could get a better look at him. He seemed humanoid, however, his skin consisted entirely of a disgusting, viscous oil-like substance that oozed off him as he moved. His limbs ended in horribly twisted claws and talons, the horror of it further amplified by the fact that he had three legs and arms, a twisted amalgamation that only filled me with disgust. High-pitched screams emerged from the holes my mana delivered before his body completely rotted away, leaving only bones and a small glowing talisman in the middle. I stopped the flow of mana and picked up the trinket. Examining it closely, it seemed to belong to a noble, evidence by the inscription on the back. Judging from the number of skeletons that was inside its body, it¡¯s safe to assume that it wasn¡¯t his. I placed the necklace back down. I had no need for it, besides, I need to leave now. I could feel several pressences coming down every hall, no doubt teachers and students worrying about those horrible screams. Oh god that thing was disgusting. Good thing I gave it a proper end for its miserable existence. I hope it felt lots of pain before it died. I moved the light around me and began to walk down the hall with the most students coming down it. More students usually means dorms right? Skillfully dodging rushing students, I managed to find two doors, one with males walking in and out, and one with females. Students I mean. Finally! I hid behind a corridor and disabled my invisibility. I walked out, feeling quite proud of my accomplishment and walked into the male door. Inside, I saw ten other doors, one for each of the elements obviously. I briskly walked towards the glowing door and walked inside, again. I was instantly felt the rays of sunlight fall on my weary body. My dreary eyes could slightly open again. The room was a large dome that could easily fit thousands of people, the amount of people inside barely filled two-percent of the space. The entire outer edge of the floor was a large walkway, rooms lining the walls beside them. Inside the circle created by the walkway, were two biomes. A hot, arid desert and a very pleasant meadow where most of the students seemed to be. Either sleeping under the comfortable rays or playing with the various creatures that filled the room¡­ wait. I looked up, and I was shocked¡­ for a moment. When I looked up, I saw the sun, however, after looking a bit more, I could see its core and the magic it emitted, something I could never do with the real sun. While impressive, it''s nothing compared to the feats I¡¯m capable of. However, a portable sun would be very nice. I would love to find the person who made this. Already, I¡¯ve seen two different magics I¡¯ve never seen before. Coming to this school was the correct choice. As I observed the room some more, I could feel mana start to gather around me, rather, around the piece of paper I was still holding for some reason. I picked it up and the numbers 221 were displayed on its surface. Wow, this thing actually works? Wait, its magic too? That¡¯s strange, I couldn¡¯t feel any residue mana surrounding it. The magician who made this must have been very refined. This school keeps getting more and more interesting. I walked along the outer edge of the room, each door conveniently had a corresponding number. The number 221 made a lot more sense now. I watched the center of the room as I walked by, I was curious of the animals that they let in. The first thing I noticed were the glowing, floating, bloated balls of light, maybe as big as an ant. They swarmed the students that were awake, I could see them feeding off of the mana they emitted, the students didn¡¯t seem to mind though, I think they even enjoyed the company. Wisps. I reduced my mana output to zero. Those things are attracted to light, the stronger you are, the more pure our mana and therefore, the more of those things start to cling to you. They usually stay very high above the clouds and follow the sun around the sky, which is why they are very rare. Here however, there exists no darkness, at least I hope, so I can understand why these wisps would decide to stay here instead of returning to the sun. If I let out even the slightest bit of mana, those things would swarm me endlessly. Sure, there may be a lot already around the kids right now, but I can see the presence of countless wisps, all surrounding the pseudo-sun. Other than the wisps, the only other creature I recognized was the unilope. A rabbit-like creature with a few oddities. One, their eyes were completely white. Two, their fur was very long and three, they had a single horn growing out of their forehead. This horn also happens to be a great conduit for mana, combine that with the larger intelligence of the species and you have one of the only monster races that can actively cast magic. I stayed very far away from those things. They are well loved by the populace but I can¡¯t stand them. Their magic is so hideous that I can¡¯t even bear to look at one. The way they contort and abuse the mana¡­ it''s horrible. I noticed the eyes of the students as I walked by. Most of them would smile and wave and I would respond in kind, others would whisper, not bothering to look me in the eyes, which was strange. Light elementals are extremely social and kind, so to see this behaviour from them, its almost worrying. It makes sense though. I did come first in the exam, there were bound to be rumors about me.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. I reached the room labeled 221. The doorknob seemed to glow in my presence, I could tell that I had reached my destination. I opened the knob and walked in. I felt a huge surge of relief wash over me. My legs began to shake and I quickly looked for something to lie down on. I don¡¯t do well without rest, because of my amazing qualities, I never truly relied on my body for daily activities. I opened the first room on my left, inside I saw a bed and I rushed over to it, collapsed on top and went to sleep. --- I was awoken by the sound of chattering outside my room. Groaning, I lifted myself off my bed. Aenios: ¡°Wait!¡± I just slept in an unknown room! I swiftly got up and began scouring the room. The room had a classic and elegant feel, like it was made for nobles. I was grateful for that, I could never forgive myself if I slept in some dirty unkempt closet. The decor was simplistic but blended well with the room around it, it was clearly meant to be adaptive. To be used to emphasize whatever design the student wanted. A bed, drawer, table and window, that was all that was in the room currently. I looked over them, looking for hidden magic in the form of displaced mana. Thankfully, I found none. I sighed when I knew I could relax. My main worry was if I saw straight lines of mana. These straight lines only appear when observatory magic is being used, scrying, enhanced senses and so on fall under this category. The straight line represents the information line passed through the mana. My celestial orbs don¡¯t have this trait however due to the unique nature of their magic. The only magic present in the room was embedded deep into the walls, protective magic, something that wards off external sources of mana as well as physical forces. Now that I cleared this room, it was time to check the next. I walked outside the door, which I had unfortunately left open in my rush to find somewhere to rest. There was no observatory magic being used outside the room, it seemed the rooms was mostly magic free. There were four rooms total, something I find quite acceptable. One bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and an extended room containing living space and a dining area. The decoration matched the theme from the bedroom, simplistic and adaptive whilst being stylish by itself. Truly constructed for versatility. The most intriguing part was the dining table. Placed upon it was a neat little breakfast. It seemed to be some eggs, cooked white, covered by small amounts of mozzarella served with a glass of milk. The creatures they came from I had no idea however, I could find no trace of magic nor could I visibly see any poisons. Assuming that poisoning students on the first day wasn¡¯t a great business strategy, I took a bite from the completely white meal. Astonishingly, the food was quite delicious. I sat down and began to eat. This room, and the food. They¡¯re very good. I took this time to think over past events, my life had rapidly accelerated during these two days, while there have been some downsides, and some minor annoyances, it was mostly positive and my plans remain relatively unchanged. The school is only a front afterall. Getting into it was the only problem, now, I can focus on other things, like the slow annexation of my neighbouring lords and thanes. I sighed in delight as I finished my meal. The moment I did, some mana began to conjure directly in front of the table. I stood up, alarmed. The mana seemed to be forming a portal, a clear sign of summoning magic. I summoned my chains, preparing for a fight but I was surprised to see a simple unseen servant emerge from the portal apparition. It payed me no heed, picked up my dishes and briskly floated towards the kitchen wear I could hear the washing of said dishes. So that¡¯s who prepared my meal? A skilled servant indeed. I went to the bathroom after I was fully calm and prepared for the rest of the day. The academy uniform was laid down inside, and I prepared for the day, going through basic hygienic procedures. It wasn¡¯t until I walked out of the bathroom that I noticed an odd, yellow coloured ball of fluff. It seems that a wisp had managed to find its way in my room and began feeding off of my mana. However annoyed I was that the wisp took advantage of my rest-deprived state and ate my mana as I slept, it didn¡¯t matter now and would serve as a lesson to me for the future. This room was already full of my personal mana, which I must have released subconsciously during my rest. The overload of hyper-pure mana seems to have affected the wisp greatly as its natural colour has turned something closer to rays of sunlight. A pale yellow. That and it has doubled in size, greatly out weighing its brethren. I guess this is what happens when wisps eat too much mana. Whatever. I opened the door to my room and made sure none of my mana could flood outward. Releasing no mana myself, I closed the room, and began to walk towards a large group of Light elementals. I could see plenty of groups form around the main area, and I could hear the same words come from the groups. I walked over to a random group, gave a quick little greeting and asked what everyone was talking about. The student barely managed to explain it to me despite the numerous amount of words he used. He rambled on and on about a monster that was hiding in the school and how the monster was finally killed. Basically, he depicted the events from last night. That wasn¡¯t the main part of the conversation though. The topic of discussion was the person who killed the monster. Apparently, the monster died simply from being in his presence, no offensive magic was found, the hero that killed the monster was probably a photomancer that could rival even the strongest of magical beasts. The gist of his long speech? I was now a mystery. Benefits? None. Deficits? Now Luciana has even more reason to try and continue searching the school and I have to be even more careful with my powers. My main goal was to try and blend in, but that¡¯s becoming increasingly more difficult as time passes on. I predict sneaking out of school will become more and more tedious. This is vital towards my plans however. I tried to change the topic and asked them about the school. My social skills proved superior and we began talking about the school, how different it was and a bunch of other useless small talk. It wasn¡¯t until long into the conversation that some useful information popped up. As I know, today was the day for the written exam, I was completely prepared but I had no idea where it was. This eventually spiralled into a brief instructional lesson on how to use the map. Something I was neglected during my introduction to the school. The map also functions as a guide, informing me of my next class and reminding me of important dates. An important device for a successful student life. Thanking them and saying my goodbyes, I left the group and using my newfound knowledge, found my way through the winding halls with a lot less difficulty. The morning was full of students walking down the halls, chatting, experimenting, casting magic and sometimes even fighting. The fights are short however due to marble gargoyles phasing through the walls and breaking up the fight. Large constructs made out of a material that deflects magic, pretty hard to continue whatever petty argument when those things are staring you down. The amount of fighting that occurs is simply unordinary. It''s a given though, so many conflicting ideals and abilities packed in this tiny place, it¡¯s a miracle that the school hasn¡¯t crumbled already. None of that matters though, the squabbles of peasants aren¡¯t of concern currently. Passing through the crowd, following the map, I was eventually lead to a large hall with many doors on the sides, Students walked in but did not walk back out. I think this is the exam room. I walked over to the door the map lead me to. I could not see any students walk in or out. I guess this was where I was to write the test? I walked in. Inside lay only one desk sitting in the middle of the room. Placed on top was a large stack of papers, a pen and an ink well. I sat down, and waited. Was I supposed to start? I had no idea. There was no one else in the room except for me. I could see observatory magic all across the room, their attentions directly focused on me and my paper. I could tell this was to prevent cheating but it might have been a little overboard. I decided to get up and explore the room more while I waited for the test to begin, or someone to tell me that I could begin the test. I walked all around the room. It was sparsely decorated. A blackboard remained at the back, three windows were all that illuminated the room and the desk in the middle was all that truly defined the room. If it were not for the constant streams of mana, I would have already fallen asleep. A few minutes passed before I remembered that the exam doesn¡¯t start until a set time. I guess I rushed here in my excitement of finally getting a handle on how this school works. I went to open up the door but found that it was locked. Okay¡­ I guess this was also for preventing students from cheating? I quickly grew bored and sat down in the chair and waited. I didn¡¯t want to touch the tests lest I find myself in a situation where starting the test before instructed to is considered cheating. I don¡¯t know how long I waited before something finally happened. I was really close to dozing off. The door opened and a single man still wearing his spectacle, walked in. The librarian approached me and stood in front of my desk. His eye observed the room as he walked in before settling on me. Librarian: ¡°I will be your overseer for this exam. You will be granted one hour to complete the written exam. Failure will result in immediate expulsion. Upon completion, you will be allowed to return to your dorms or visit your class and acquaint yourself with your future homeroom teacher, you classmates and the room itself. When you are ready, you may begin.¡± Needing no more words, I flipped over the test and began. While unsettling having someone watch over me, I had nothing to fear. I pride myself in my intellect, even more so than my magical prowess. I completed the first page in nearly a minute. I could see the confusion in the librarian¡¯s eyes as I sped so quickly through the test. Ten minutes later, I had finished. The librarian was astonished and looked over the papers, dumbfounded. He returned the papers to the desk and looked at me closely. Librarian: ¡°Did you use magic to cheat on this test?¡± His eyes glowed as he spoke. The mana around him looked like observatory magic, but I didn¡¯t know what kind. But again, I had nothing to fear. Aenios: ¡°I used no magic, Sir.¡± Humbly and confidently, I replied. The librarian looked even more confused. He looked back at the test and shook his head in disbelief before returning to his usual demeanor. Librairan: ¡°Seeing that you¡¯ve completed your exam, you may return to your dorm or continue to your class. The choice is yours.¡± I didn¡¯t like those choices. Both seemed like useless options to me, a waste of time that could be used to advance myself and my position. Aenios: ¡°Is it possible if I can explore the city? Using up the rest of the day just sitting inside the school seems like such a waste¡­¡± The librarian looked sternly at me. Finally, he gave in and accepted. ¡°You may go, however, you must be back before the sun sets and make sure you do come back. If you get lost all blame falls on me. So make sure you come back on time and don¡¯t go too far away from the school.¡± Success! I thanked him and walked out. The halls were completely devoid of students my grade, only those from the upper grades remained in the halls. They paid me no mind so I returned their attitude. I walked to the front of the school before exiting those massive doors. Integration and disguise? Complete. Now it was time for scheming and uprooting. Chapter 008 - From my View I walked outside the school and breathed in the midday air, slightly heated by the blazing sun above. Ah¡­ how I hate nature. I started walking down the path out of the forest. This place, dragon¡¯s mountain. It¡¯s not exactly a mountain is it? It¡¯s more like a forest begin surrounded by a mountain range with only one natural entrance and exit. Obviously, the mages were not so dumb to randomly name this place the dragon¡¯s mountain without a singular mountain being the focus point for the area, so the reason as to why they named it the dragon¡¯s mountain is very intriguing. That¡¯s a mystery for another day however. Once I was far enough from the school, far enough away from the observatory magic floating around the grounds, I walked into the forest. The capital isn¡¯t that far away from the academy, in fact, it¡¯s the closet major population center. It makes sense that our capital is so close to this place of power. Despite its distance from the academy, I refused to humiliate myself and walk all the way there. I needed the tiniest bit of class and prestige, I didn¡¯t need much, just a bit. Walking even deeper into the forest, I could no longer see outward. Perfect. I decided that here was the perfect place. ¡°Come to me, noble steed, spirit of the sun, serve me with your legs, your hooves and your life!¡± A portal had opened in the dark forest as a beautiful glowing horse emerged from the portal. It wore bright iron armour and its skin was a pure white. By its sides lay two wings, tucked gently against the armor. I can¡¯t show my ability to fly to the public, however, the same doesn¡¯t go towards my beasts. I mount the pegasus and with a snort, it flew high up into the air, darting past the trees and straight into the clouds. When I was young, I had openly summoned a pegasus in front of all my family members. They were shocked by the sudden appearance of the mythical beast and how well it got along with me. It¡¯s common knowledge in my family that I can summon such a creature. I have no doubt that the information spread outward already. There is no point hiding the fact any longer. I confidently ride the beast across the forest and over the mountains and there, not even ten minutes away, lay the imperial capital of the kingdom of Gan. A huge stone wall surrounded a massive expanse of land, most of it flat plains and hills rolling up and down the landscape. Battlements lined the walls, giving ranged cover for those on top. Ballistae armed and primed in between the ramparts were aimed high up into the sky, while cannons, hidden in small holes in the walls remained pointed at the ground. Gan was very heavily defended compared to the other kingdoms. This is mostly because the kingdom encompasses a large amount of ley lines. The mana attracts dangerous beasts and monsters like insects to a flame. The defenses weren¡¯t for an eventuality, they were a necessity. As I approached the wall, I flew closer to the ground, making sure I didn¡¯t get myself shot down by those ballistae. They were made to shoot down magical beasts. A single, powerful shot created to kill or break the wings of flying creatures. An ingenious creation made by a madman. Aerial superiority often decided a battle. Losing the ballistae meant losing entirely. As I approached the kingdom walls, I could see a large line formed in front of the only gate to the kingdom. In it were various peasants and the such, each one talking with a guard before walking into the gates or being prevented from entering. I walked closer to the line and a guard had rushed up to me personally. It¡¯s kind of hard to miss a flying horse. His attire consisted of solid steel armor with a black iron chainmail underneath. It was very reminiscent of Julius¡¯s guards except it carried more prestige. The reason for this was solely because of Julius. He wanted his personal guards to be powerful but not look the part. Guard: ¡°Ah, Aenios. I¡¯m sorry for all this trouble in front of the gate, let me escort you through.¡± The guard, whom I¡¯ve never seen before, easily recognized me and started to lead me past the village folk. Their eyes looked up before returning to their feet as my gaze met theirs. Another guard rushed towards my horse and tried to harness it. He got kicked hard in the gut when he attempted. Aenios: ¡°Sorry about that, Pegasus is very shy around people he doesn¡¯t know. He also doesn¡¯t like being harnessed. Don¡¯t worry, I promise he won¡¯t be running around the streets.¡± The guard very readily apologized to me¡­ and my horse before rushing back to whatever position he came from. I continued the walk forward. The villagers eyes lifted up again but they weren¡¯t looking at me this time. Their eyes were stuck on the pegasus. This is probably their first time seeing such a rare creature, and probably their last. I wouldn¡¯t blame them, however, I can only imagine their filthy eyes staining the coat of the horse. The horse reveled in the attention, snorting with arrogance. Ugh, just like Judgement amongst mortals. When we approached the gate, the guards quickly hurried to open the large metal bars. I heard a large *crank* and more sounds of machinery as the barred gates began to recede into the walls. I took one last look at the line before continuing to walk. As I was about to enter the capital, a small old lady walked up to me and tugged my robe. A dirty brown stain in the shape of her fingers remained as she released her hand. FLITH! The guard, looking at my robe and the woman, took action by jabbing her with the blunt side of his spear. The woman fell backward, clutching her stomach in pain. The line of commoners gasped and even some of the guards looked distressed. Steel Gate Guard: ¡°How dare you even touch a nobleman¡¯s clothing! You insolent swine! We¡¯ve already told you, get out of here! Don¡¯t cause trouble ever again!¡± I let a small smile emerge as the guard attacked the woman, but alas, I cannot savor her misery right now. My appearance as the good samaritan must remain. I approached the guard, and place a single hand on his shoulder, his rage subsiding quickly, afterwards, I approached the woman who was writhing on the ground. With a single spell, I healed her of her pain and her wound as well as removing the dirt from myself and her clothes. Despite the ease of the task, touching me is still a crime, one that is punishable by death. But once again, I remind myself of the greater good and my own anger is contained. I extended a single hand outward and the old woman graciously accepted it. I guess now was as good as a time as ever to inquiry about the line. I¡¯ve never seen something like this, despite my numerous visits to Gan¡¯s capital. Aenios: ¡°Tell me, why is there a line here? These people, why are they waiting to enter the city?¡± The guard sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, I should have explained this to you. Recently, there have been quite a few bandits popping up in the capital. They¡¯ve been causing havoc, ruining businesses and taking away from the economy but more importantly, they are undermining the royal name.¡± This was certainly news to me. This was indeed something to worry about, however, I feel that he¡¯s not quite done. Steel Gate Guard: ¡°There is another thing. A recent raid on a bandit hideout lead to the identities of their conspirators. Some of which happened to be from the kingdom of Cat, Catalonia.¡± He leaned closer to me and whispered the rest of what he had to say.Stolen story; please report. Steel Gate Guard: ¡°The higher-ups are saying that Catalonia is sending spies into our kingdom in preparation of an invasion. Tensions have been high after the border disagreements and the Cat¡¯s aren¡¯t known for remaining peaceful. Thankfully, we have their children attending the MCBA alongside you. As long as they remain in Gan lands, they won¡¯t dare declare war.¡± He leaned back and began walking towards the gate. ¡°Because of that, we have to talk precaution and the king¡¯s advisors have suggested a border check, this lead to that and here we are.¡± He threw out his arms, referring to the gate, the guards and the line of men and women waiting to get inside the safe capital walls. Aenios: ¡°And this woman, what about her?¡± I looked back to the decrepit old creature that stood behind me. Disgusting, ugh. Steel Gate Guard: ¡°Well¡­ the minister of finance heard of the check and decided an entrance fee was a great way to¡­ let¡¯s just say you can¡¯t get in without a fee.¡± Aenios: ¡°And this fee, how much is it?¡± The guard looked terrified as I asked that. ¡°It¡¯s only a silver but please don¡¯t worry yourself! You¡¯re an extremely valuable friend to our prince, asking you to pay such a minor amount just to get in the city would be an insult!¡± I smiled gently and placed five gold coins in the guard¡¯s hands. ¡°This is for the next five-hundred people looking for entrance into the capital. This new law, it will do nothing more than decrease the wealth of the city. I hope at least the people can find some solace in the fact that the guards are working hard to uphold the law.¡± The men and women in the line started to cheer as they heard my words. The guard stood still, speechless before gulping and getting back to work. The old woman smiled with her broken disgusting absolutely nasty teeth before the entire line rushed through the gates. The guards barely managing to keep them in check. Aenios: ¡°Please do keep in mind that a security check must be done. Don¡¯t make this hard for the guards, charity does not mean complete freedom. Please form an organized line!¡± Once again, a line formed and the guards sighed in exasperation. The guard I was talking to nodded and I nodded back before he escorted me into the walls. I mounted the horse once again and waved goodbye to the guard and the villagers, before I commanded the beast to quickly trot along the road which extended from the gate all the way to the loud, bustling center of the huge expanse of land that made up the capital of Gan. --- I picked up my pick and slammed it back down. Up and down, up and down. The red crystals glowed with power, or maybe anti-power? I had no idea. I quit school. Exhausted, I sat down to take a small break, looking back at the pile of crystals behind me, I decided it was time to call it quits for today. I walked over to my little hut. A shabby wooden room built into the stone wall that kept us all in. It did nothing to keep out the harsh cold that blew in from outside. I lay down on my deerskin, something I won in a gamble. It was the only thing that prevented me from sleeping on the freezing rock beneath me. As I lay shivering on top of the hide, gnawing on its edges to trick my empty stomach that I had already eaten. I was afraid to close my eyes but eventually, sleep befell me and I returned to those horrible nightmares. I was just a boy when my village was raided by bandits. They killed my parents, took me and my sister. I was ten back then. She was twelve. It was only two more years before they took her somewhere else and I never saw her again. Growing up was hard. I was constantly abused by the other bandits, made to work like a dog for mere scraps. I tried to steal some more food once. I didn¡¯t get a meal for weeks. It wasn¡¯t until I was sixteen before my life started to turn around. I was chosen to form a new squadron with someone high up in the ¡°organization¡±. As if it was something that sophisticated. We were just bandits. Anyway, someone high up had decided to create a new team, and I was needed. I quickly accepted the offer, thankful for the opportunity to get away from that hellhole that was the bandit base. It was there where I met my real family. It was a small team, just me and five others. Elli, Li, Mark, Belle and Captain. At first, I was terrified of Captain. He almost never spoke, was always serious and never told us his name, even till date but after a few missions with him, I began to understand the small changes in his expression. When he was angry, when he was happy. I could even tell his meager attempts at making a joke. He taught me how to fight, and in return, I taught him how to talk. It was fun, he was like a father to me. Over the years, our group came together closer. We told each other things, things about our past, things we never told anyone about before. Mark was a beggar up until the Captain found him on the streets. Li was a slave before Captain ransacked the noble¡¯s mansion. Belle was used as stress-relief and Elli¡­ she was just like my sister. A little girl taken from her family. We bonded and shared moments together. We survived through everything. There was nothing we couldn¡¯t do. We were invincible. Until we met him. It was two years ago when everything changed for the worst. I was walking up and down the halls with Elli, anxious. Captain was called in for an important meeting and it didn¡¯t help that both of us were worrywarts. When Captain walked out we bombarded him with questions. His only reply was that cocky grin of his and a few words. ¡°I¡¯m getting promoted!¡± The next couple of days were filled with celebration. Captain was drinking non-stop, Belle was showing off her magic, Li and Mark were off looking for a good woman to share the night with while me and Elli realized our true feelings for each other. Those were the happiest moments of my life. So why? Why does God have to take away everything good from me? A few more years passed and we did some missions before Captain was tasked with something from the head of the entire operation. By that time, me and Elli were already having our first child. Captain told us that I could stay behind and be with Elli, but neither of us could accept leaving Captain to go alone. I said my last goodbyes to Elli before departing with Captain, not even asking where we were going or what we were doing. This was my biggest mistake. We were shipped off, away from the capital to some noble¡¯s land. Spies from another kingdom had found vast amounts of blood crystals here. Enough to cover one-hundred thousand men in armor made of the stuff. This was probably the biggest mission we had ever taken and by far the most important one. Our task was simple. Just to oversee the mining operation and make sure we weren¡¯t found out and for an entire year, I lived in this rotten cave, away from my family, away from my daughter. Mark, Li and Belle all had no family back at home, they had no ties. It was probably why they died with Captain. That boy, he came out of nowhere. It was a summer evening when I saw a bright flash of light come from Captain¡¯s room. This wasn¡¯t his prank or joke. This was something else. It wasn¡¯t until I heard his screaming did I rush over and tell Belle and the others. Mark and Li broke down the door while Belle removed the stone walls. We were astonished to see what was inside. There stood a single boy, clutching Captain¡¯s neck in his hands. At this point, there was no chance of winning was there? I tried to give an order to attack but it was already too late. Those chains, they ran straight through Belle and killed her instantly. I screamed in desperation to attack that damned KID! But¡­ but nothing worked. The arrows just bounced off and the swords couldn¡¯t even get close. Tears were welling up in my eyes, but he¡­ no¡­ that monster wasn¡¯t done. Those horrible chains snaked around half of the men, some gave up. Others kept fighting. Nothing worked. Then he slowly crushed their necks and I could only watch as both Mark and Li struggled against their slow death. Li: ¡°P-Ple..ase st..opp.¡± Those were his last words before the chains rapidly closed and their heads flew off their bodies, the blood of my comrades landing in my agape mouth. Li¡¯s head landed right in front of me, the desperation in his eyes, the pain he felt, forever petrified in with his last breath. Oh god why? Why did we come here? Some of the bandits began to run. I told them to stop¡­ but¡­ they died too. The Monster: ¡°Your captain, he tried to fight me. Now, he¡¯s a writhing pile of meat that¡¯s barely alive. Your friends, they tried to fight me. Now they are headless corpses whose remains you can see right before you and if you try to fight me¡­¡± Finally, he pointed the chains at Captain. My eyes went wide and I wanted to scream for him to stop before I got a noticed a weak, cocky grin on his face. Memories of my Captain rushed back to me. Of course! He was invincible and this was some kind of trick or maybe a training drill. He was probably going to yell at us for being cowards after this was done. Bell, Mark and Li were probably somewhere, hiding in the camp! A faint bit of hope emerged and materialized into a smile on my face. I could tell, everything was going to be alright. Then, he exploded. The rest of my body that wasn¡¯t dirtied was then covered in blood. The smile on my face refused to move. I-It¡¯s the captain. Of course he¡¯ll have something up his sleeve. He¡¯ll probably pop out from behind the bookcase and yell surprise! He always was a joker¡­ Ha¡­ haha¡­ hahahah. He¡¯s dead isn¡¯t he? The Monster: ¡°Good. You understand. Now, let¡¯s begin.¡± I gasped as I opened my eyes to daylight and the sounds of picks hitting stone. I grabbed a nearby rock and added a line to my cave. I looked at the two giant golems of light standing outside the cave, preventing anyone from exiting. I open a small letter from my pocket, the contents are unimportant, I only look at the top and the bottom. ¡°Dear Jyld¡­ From, Elli¡±. This won¡¯t stop me. I will escape. I will get back to my family and I will avenge my family. Chapter 009 - Capital I rode the beast toward the city and when I was halfway there, I desummoned it, and pulled out some commoners¡¯ clothes from my bag. Making sure there was nobody looking of course, which was hard considering how all of this land were flat plains and hills. The clothes were simple, pale cloth and brown leather with a large hood to cover my¡­ expensive features. I looked up in my new disguise at the towering city. Ah, yes. The capital city of Gan, Ironworks. A massive city that still has room to expand due to their unique style of building. There¡¯s lots of space in the walled area, however, the original king of Gan decided to break the rules of architecture made millennia ago and started building up, instead of sideways. The result were houses, homes, shops and barracks all being stacked up on each other, seemingly climbing endlessly into the sky. It was for that reason that the space inside the walls were so empty and why there seemed to be a single metal tower that touched the clouds from far away. Lost in my thoughts, I continued toward the city quickly, before reaching the main entrance. Thousands of people bustled around, working, playing, indulging. The city was busy, chaotic, messy, sporadic. The first time I came here, I hated it. I hated the unorganized sprawl, I hated the buildings that look like children''s blocks. I hated the people who rule over it; and I still do. But for the first time in my life, I can actually appreciate it. There is a reason why bandits are so powerful in the region. Simply because they can hide themselves in plain sight, or rather, in the capital. The odd buildings create a perfect environment for productivity as well as an easy place to hide unsavoury or straight-out illegal activities. I¡¯m here because I have some unsavoury business to take care of. Just two days ago, I had found a bandit camp in my family¡¯s territory. They had set it up in order to mine the vast amount of blood crystals there, a powerful weapon against mages, the most influential force in the world. The bandits were comprised of poor folk, poor folk usually don¡¯t have magic because simply having magic elevates your status. If given enough time, they could have used the blood crystals to start a revolt¡­ and their chance of victory would be high. Luckily for the kingdom, I had found them shortly after the operation had commenced. At that point, they had already invested enough resources to make a crude wood wall. The production of which is harder than it sounds. Taking over the camp was easy enough, I even got a few slaves. The hard part was trying to keep it hidden, from the bandits and my parents. The bandits eventually sent someone to check out the camp after I had captured it. The man who showed up was devious, but his loyalties lay in power so I put him in charge. No one could best me in power after all. I sent him a letter the other day, the reply was worrying. The bandits had sent more men to investigate the lack of crystals in their coffers. My sentinels were able to deal with them with ease but the fact that they are sending men in the first place is bad. If they keep sending men, eventually, they¡¯ll know something has gone wrong and they¡¯ll start to investigate. It won¡¯t be long after they find the camp¡¯s loyalties have switched and they try to attack the camp. I could easily defeat them but the fight might draw attention from the nobles of the land, namely, my parents. If they found the blood crystal mine, they would direct the profits towards my family, leaving me with a portion of the amount I would receive if it¡¯s under my control. With this in mind, I have three goals for the city. The first is to find a dealer to sell these crystals. I can¡¯t make money if I don¡¯t sell after all.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The second is to find the bandits and eradicate them. Which should be simple enough and the third goal. Well, that¡¯s going to be hard. I need a base inside the city and like the bandit¡¯s, I plan to stage a revolt as well, however, the revolt must be in my favour. With this in mind, there is only one option for me¡­ I¡¯m going to become a cult leader! I¡¯ll sway the minds of the common folk, prey upon their fears, weaknesses and desires and slowly consume the city in a false religion with me as their god! It sounds ambitious but I know I have the skill to complete the task. The problem is, I have to do this, manage school as well as the blood crystal mines (or fortress, whatever it is) and make sure that my identities in all three are separate. The task? Gruelling, even for me. Time is my biggest enemy and I don¡¯t have access to someone who can give me more. So for now, I do everything one at a time. I look up, I¡¯m already deep inside the city, the tall metal buildings make sure I understand where I am. I look past them, specifically, at the sky. The sun is starting to fall. It was around midday when I left. I assume its afternoon now. I look back towards my path. The bustling from before was gone, replaced with the silent despair of the poor, ambling across the streets in the darkness. If it weren¡¯t for these clothes, I would be jumped. Right now, I¡¯m in the slums. A desolate place where the unfortunate, poor and unlawful go to conduct their business. These people encompass sixty percent of the city¡¯s population, but they mostly stay inside their homes, hiding from the truths of the world. These were the people my cult would prey on. Their weak minds are easy to bend and they¡¯ll cling to any social group that makes them feel safe. Ah, such are the stupidities of man. I continue walking. The farther I walk, the more dark my surroundings become. I guess this is a good enough spot. I look around, looking for a dark alleyway that was sure to harbour broken criminals. There were plenty of good options but there was only one ratty, disgusting alleyway that criminals like to hang out in. I put a thin shield around me, it wasn¡¯t strong but it was enough to keep the filth from touching me. I make it too strong and it glows too bright. I walked into the hall of trash. Masses of garbage piled high beside me. Without nature to let them naturally decay, they sat here, rotting, giving an excellent source of nutrients to the evil pests of this world. ???: ¡°Well, well, well. Look who we have here boys!¡± A man wearing a cowl, a town cape and militia armour walked out from behind one of the heaps. Following him were men dressed similarly, both in front and behind me. ???: ¡°Seems like you¡¯re not from around here buddy. Say, mind flipping that hood up?¡± Now, I just need to use my brilliant performance skills. I vigorously shake my head in defiance, portraying a weak and scared child. Goon #1: ¡°H-heh. Hey boss! I don¡¯t think this kid is listening! Want us to teach ¡®em a lesson?¡± The man smiles, a perverted look on his face. Ugh, the lengths I go towards for my own sake. I need to treat myself better. Goon #2: ¡°He¡¯s pretty short¡­ maybe it really is a kid. Could it be a girl, a boy?¡± The man licks his lips, lust burning in his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t really care.¡± Julius, the depravity of your citizens. This is disgusting. The men started to walk closer and closer. I think it was time to start talking now, not for long. Just need to confirm something. Aenios: ¡°Wait! You get any closer and I¡¯ll scream!¡± I lift off my hood and the Goon¡¯s gasp in shock. Goon #2: ¡°So it is a kid! Hehe! We¡¯re going to have fun tonight pretty boy!¡± Goon Leader: ¡°Go ahead, scream all you want. No one''s going to come for you, no one can see us, hear us, find us. You¡¯re all alone¡­¡± He starts laughing maniacally. ¡°And after my men have their way with you, were going to sell your pretty little face off to the highest bidder. Who knows what kind of debauchery you¡¯ll meet on your travels, who can tell, who can tell. You¡¯ll think back to this day and wonder why you ever walked down this alley, the day where your life went all wrong!¡± I could see several of the men become erect from the words of their leader. Oh god, I¡¯m going to be sick. But that¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll take out these emotions on the scum of this world. Aenios: ¡°No one can hear us eh? Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHA! YOU THINK I¡¯M ALONE?¡± My chains flash into existence and grab hold of several of his men, leaving only him, dumbfounded. A cruel smile formed on my mouth as the current scenario started to seep into his mind. Aenios: ¡°It¡¯s you who¡¯s alone.¡± Chapter 010 - An in-depth experience. It was a small room, quaint and homely. A circular carpet covered the wood floor, bookshelves lined the walls. A small couch sat underneath a square window, the only source of light for the room. Three figures stood in the small space. The first was a well-dressed man wearing something akin to a butler''s attire. Neat, tidy. That was the impression he gave off. But underneath his glasses hid empty eyes. Devoid of life, emotion. The second was a woman. She wore smart clothes and stood absolutely straight, they stood side by side, a comparison was easy to make. Neat, tidy, stern. That was the impression she gave off. At least this time, she hid no empty vessel behind fancy fabrics. The last was a short man dressed in long, blue robes, white and yellow stars covering the surface of the blue. He wore a hat of a similar fashion, a circular, long, pointed hat with the same design. Underneath the hat lay a face full of kindness and wisdom, with a long, gray beard holding onto his chin. The two were talking in a sophisticated manner, their words quiet but loud enough to be perceived as anger. The one man simply sat on the couch, smiling as the angry words were directed at him. Librarian: ¡°This year is already a mess. The student council¡¯s decision to introduce this new system was too hasty, rushed even. It¡¯s unlike them to do this, and it''s unlike you to let this happen.¡± The librarian was pacing back and forth, though his eyes were unmoving from the strange old man. Ms. Bofard: ¡°Principal, do you understand the consequences of what happened yesterday? A boy who can¡¯t fight had achieved the honour of entering the S class but not only that, he came first in the practical exam! Do you know how much unrest this will cause, how many students would be angered? How many noble families looking for vengeance? This is a nightmare! Never before has the school seen such a predicament such as this. Never!¡± The old man only smiled and nodded along with their words until he was given the chance to speak. ¡°Charles, Mary. I know you¡¯re upset, but the rules are rules. We gave the student council freedom and power, they used it justly. The rules were set in place and the boy succeed fairly. While there are some questions I still have, I could find no evidence that he was cheating. The boy played fair, and even if he didn¡¯t, that means his own skill surpasses mine.¡± Ms. Bofard: ¡°But that¡¯s absurd!¡± Principal: ¡°Then you have your answer. I value not our social standing but the validity of the school. You should know this by now.¡± The two were silent as the Principal spoke. His words were true and despite their frustration, there was nothing they could do about it. The principal stood up and put his hands on their shoulders in a comforting manner. The old, callous hands were reliable and the two sank felt their worries slowly seep out from their shoulders. Principal: ¡°You may not have noticed it yet but he is quite remarkable. Able to hide his mana signature at such a young age, the ability of invisibility and other powers I have no idea about. There is more to the child than you think. But it was his personality that shone the brightest. I could feel endless kindness and compassion flow out of him, the people around him find themselves addicted to his person. Give it a few more days, he might surprise you.¡± The two nodded and the Principal smile widened. ¡°Come now, let¡¯s drink some tea. Charles, can you prepare some Earl White?¡± --- Aenios: *achoo* I stood up after I felt a sneeze coming. Strange, there shouldn¡¯t be any dust in this place. All the blood would have sucked it up. I look back down at my handy work. The corpses of the nasty men ay strewn on the alley floor. Skin flayed and rats eating the delicious insides. All while they remained alive, screaming, screaming for help. Screaming for it to stop. Begging for death. I wouldn¡¯t give that to them though. As they reached the brink of death, I healed them, gave more flesh for the rats to eat their fill, more flesh for the flies to lay eggs, more flesh for the maggots to crawl around in. Their muscles are all tunnels now, tunnels for parasites both big and small. Their boss stood in front of them, watching their suffering, the tears in their eyes, their broken minds, bodies and spirits. I could tell that he was completely under my control. Aenios: ¡°You know, you were right. No one came after all! That¡¯s pretty impressive considering how much your men screamed.¡± Goon #1: ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡± It seems one of the rats crawled inside his body. It was warm, soft and full of food. A great place to build a nest. The boss had already soiled himself countless times but it seems he still had some left in him. If it weren¡¯t for my condition, I think I would have already passed out from the smell. Aenios: ¡°I¡¯m a decent person. I¡¯m merciful. I have to let you know that I¡¯m killing you, I can¡¯t really let you go after meeting me. The ¡°real¡± me anyway. How you want to die however, that¡¯s up to you. We can spend a few more hours like this - ¡° I point at the squirming men on the ground. ¡°Or, I can give you a quick death, you won¡¯t feel pain and you won¡¯t suffer. It¡¯s your choice.¡± The man wasn¡¯t chained, nor was he bound. He simply sat there the entire time, unable to move due to fear. Finally, he started to show signs of life. Boss: ¡°K-Kill me quick. P-Please¡­ I don¡¯t want to die like them¡­¡± Goon #2: ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaAaaAaaaaaAAa..AA.a¡­.aA...Aa¡­.¡± A faint smile started to appear on his face as his body was finally going to give way and he would begin his descent to hell. I can¡¯t let that happen though. With a simple *snap*, his body regenerates and his mind becomes whole again. The screaming continues. Aenios: ¡°Okay! You¡¯ll get your wish¡­ after I get mine. You see, I¡¯m looking for something. Two things actually. The first is a certain bandit organization, ever heard of them? I heard they were hiding around here somewhere. The second thing is a black market. One exists doesn¡¯t it? I mean, where else were you going to sell your slaves? The man¡¯s eyes go wide as I give him my request. He looks around frantically, desperation covering his face, worry taking over his body and fear running through his veins. ¡°No¡­ NO! I CAN¡¯T! THEY¡¯LL KILL ME!¡± I sigh. I don¡¯t think he understands his situation, or maybe the mention of ¡°them¡± made him forget his place. To remind him, I dangle him upside down the swarm of rats and flies, they jump and try to bite and gnaw his face, his body winces as a defensive reaction. Aenios: ¡°I¡¯m already going to kill you remember? I¡¯m giving you the option of eternal torture or blissful nothingness. It¡¯s your choice.¡± I put the man back down on the piles of garbage. He covers his head and hides in a ball. I wait five minutes. He pokes his head out in order to confirm if I was still there. I was. Finally, he accepted his fate and uncurled, looking straight up at me. His eyes not once looking at his screaming comrades on the floor. Boss: ¡°Okay¡­ you win. I¡¯ll tell you what I know.¡± I smile brightly, my shield visibly glows brighter and presence seems more inviting. I could see him being consumed by the light before shaking his head and reminding him of the situation he was in. ¡°As far as I know, the bandits you¡¯re talking about. They¡¯re called the Semblance. Their leader was apparently from the royal family who was kicked out and made to live on the streets. That wa ten years ago. In that time, he gained a following from the people who were dissatisfied with their lives right now. The organization¡¯s pretty big.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I listen intently, my shield glowing brighter. ¡°Go on! Tell me more!¡± Goony Baboony: ¡°Ah... yeah. Their base is somewhere around here, I don¡¯t know where it is, I never liked them in the first place but if you want to find them, you gotta ask how to join their organization. Eventually, someone will say ¡®This is a waste of time¡¯ and walk off. You gotta follow that guy. He¡¯ll lead you to their recruitment program.¡± Aenios: ¡°Mhm, Mhm, anything else?¡± Goony Baboony: ¡°The black market, they also run the place. If you don¡¯t want to join their ranks, then going through the black market to find them is the only other way.¡± Aenios: ¡°I see. So how do I find the black market.¡± Goony Baboony: ¡°That one¡¯s easy. Just keep walking around until you find a poster that says ¡®black market¡¯. Follow it and you¡¯ll eventually find you way down there. The entrance changes every day, so it¡¯s pretty much up to luck.¡± He smiled. His voice, despite the emotional state he was in before, was now calm, even happy. This is the effect I have on people. My emotions are contagious, even towards my enemies. I smiled back. ¡°Are you ready to die now?¡± Goony Baboony: ¡°Strangely, I am. Thank you. This is the first time I¡¯ve ever felt true happiness.¡± He closed his eyes and spread his arms outward. True to my word, I gave him a quick, clean death. My chains pierced his heart in an instant and his body fell down, back to the scum it came from. At this point, most of his men were dead, the last one alive was on the verge of death, not even my magic could save him at that point. With success filling me up with confidence, I turned invisible and flew high above the city. Going up, up, up until I was past the clouds, until it was hard to breath. ¡°Today was a good day.¡± I thought to myself. Then I began my descent back down, returning to the filth below. Then, I began walking, walking out of the city, past the flat hills, the wall, the forest, mountains and back into the school, where, standing at the front gate was the Librarian, the same look in his eyes as I last saw him. Librarian: ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re on time? That¡¯s strange. Students are more rebellious thatn that...¡± I smiled, I couldn¡¯t stop smiling, I was happy. Even the setting sun seemed to shine brightly as I smiled. Woodland creatures emerged from the forest and gathered at the forest edge, attracted by the strange charisma that filled the space. The librarian himself was sucked in momentarily before gathering himself. ¡°I suppose you kept your promise.¡± I laughed. ¡°Of course!¡± Librarian: ¡°W-Well, let me escort you back to your room. Please don¡¯t tell any of the other teachers about this. Especially Ms. Bofard. She can be¡­ difficult at times.¡± Aenios: ¡°Rest assured, I won¡¯t tell a soul.¡± We walked back into the school silently, the halls were emptied and the rooms dark. When I reached halfway, I thanked him and left. My presence illuminating the halls. Yes, today was a good day. I walked back to my room, trying to contain my joy. For tomorrow, my plans would finally begin. --- That boy¡­ was he wearing commoners¡¯ clothes? I walked back in silence, surrounded by darkness. Yes, the darkness that people fear, is one of my closest friends. So why. Why was someone like me, so infatuated with that boy? It made no sense. The animals too, they left the safety of their forest, without care for the predators and prey that surrounded them, they came just to gaze at him. The Principal was right, I felt like I was being drawn in. This¡­ is not good. I walked down the halls, my steps orderly, exact and mediated. However, my face was scrunched up into a ball that portrayed only frustration. That boy can¡¯t be real. He must have used magic on me. There was no other way I could fall for human charms. So why? I continued walking. There was no magic on me. So why? He¡¯s so much younger than me. So why? *GROWL* I stopped in my tracks and looked behind me. I could see a black humanoid creature with bladed arms standing in the distance. My face bore a twisted smile. Looks like I found my punching bag. --- I was lying down in my bed. The room was comfortable, filled with luxury. Something the church never had. Father told us to live with the simplest of things. All of this¡­ flamboyance, a commoner would find themselves never wanting to leave. I find myself uncomfortable. The room is too big, I feel vulnerable. There were too many doors, too many doors to watch for enemies. I am Lucianna Luella Francis. At least, that¡¯s what I assume. I was born to the church and taken in by father. Whether father is my real father matters not. He loves me and my sisters equally and we all love him back. However, we could not grow up spoiled, not when the church is under constant threat from the people. Stories of religion being used to manipulate others have circulated throughout the kingdom, many followers have stopped showing up, doubting the necessity for religion in the first place. ¡°If we have god come down so often, then what¡¯s the point of praising him when he¡¯s in the clouds?¡± This corrupt mindset has spread across the populace like wildfire. The church had never seen worse days. The people don¡¯t understand that the church doesn¡¯t exist to serve god, it exists to enforce his will. Oh Lumios, grant us your mercy, forgive your children in this world. A dangerous threat is coming, something that threatens to tip the very balance of the world. Father¡¯s visions tell us as much. His dreams are all filled with agony. A monster in human form, tearing apart bodies, limb by limb, followed by an evil army of his servants. The battle, he says, will come in ten years¡¯ time. Until then, we have time to prepare. The church used to be stronger, but now, our army consists of only one million men, something father says won¡¯t be enough for the oncoming battle. Our army, despite the prejudice we receive, is unbiased. All manners of creatures are allowed to join, as long as they believe in the greater good. No matter you element, no matter your race, the church will be there for you. It is, after all, in service to all ten gods, discrimination would be in direct violation of their wills. Every night, father would wake up in a cold sweat, go back to sleep and wake up again, repeating the process over and over. In the morning however, he stands so tall, standing in front of the crowds every day. Only I could see his suffering. So, to lessen his burden, I left in search of powerful mages to bolster our strength. Unfortunately, it meant coming here. Father often told me of the academy when I was younger, but I didn¡¯t care. The church was my home, and the nuns were all the teachers I would ever need. As long as I could help him and the church, I was happy. When I finally came of age however, this predicament happened. Now, somehow, I find myself here, in this lonely, dark room. Father said it would be good for my future. I don¡¯t care. I wasn¡¯t doing this for myself, I was doing this for the church, my home. I sat up, unable to sleep. My thoughts buzzing in my head. I closed my eyes, I knew one person I could rely on. When I open my eyes again, I find myself standing on a cloud, high above the world and my earthly burdens. There, standing in front of me, looking ever so glorious was Victory, my patron and my closest ally. Victory: ¡°Luciana. Having trouble sleeping?¡± I nod, she walks over to me and pats my head. ¡°Dear girl. Come now, tell me what¡¯s bothering you.¡± I look up, I never knew my mother, but as far as I can remember, Victory was always there for me. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± I lied. The look in her face¡­ she could tell that easily. Victory: ¡°Let me tell you a story. It was back before the world was born, back when us angels fought against the corruption that threatened to consume the gods. Lumios, at the time, was still so very weak. He had just created us after all. But this isn¡¯t about him, it was about my sister, Virtue.¡± I listened closely. ¡°Virtue was never strong, but her strengths lay elsewhere. She was the first to kill a demon, to taint her weapon in their blood. She bore the first sin so the rest of us could fight. She would lead us into battle, and she never looked back, her presence was almost golden.¡± What? That¡¯s not right. Luciana: ¡°But¡­ don¡¯t you lead the angels in battle?¡± Victory smiled gently. ¡°That was¡­ later. Unfortunately, even Virtue wasn¡¯t immune to the whispers of the void. With her every sin, she felt the hold of the void grow stronger on her mind. She was barely stable. We were winning the battle however. Her sacrifices weren¡¯t in vain. The portal to the purple god was near. If we were able to fight our way through the hordes of monsters, we could finally seal it.¡± She shook her head in sadness. ¡°She and three of the other archangels decided to finish it once and for all. We were going to sneak past the monsters and seal the portal for good. The plan was going well¡­ then, one the minor angels turned purple. He had lead us into a trap, monsters came flooding in from the space around us and¡­¡± Victory became silent. I had never seen her like this before. ¡°Mercy was attacked, the monster had gouged out her eyes and her body lay on the floor, unmoving. Virtue couldn¡¯t handle the situation and the sins that had been building up in her finally emerged. She jumped into the portal and sealed it from the inside, her mind had already broken. Mercy was fine, but Virtue¡­ she was gone forever.¡± Victory grabbed my shoulders and looked directly at me. She looked at me with stern eyes. ¡°Listen, don¡¯t keep your burdens to yourself. No one can support themselves forever. Even if you can¡¯t share them with me, tell someone. Anyone. Please. Don¡¯t end up like Virtue, don¡¯t blame yourself.¡± I walked closer and embraced Victory in a hug. ¡°Of course. Don¡¯t worry Victory, I won¡¯t end up like Virtue.¡± I smiled in an attempt to reassure her. She smiled back. I closed my eyes and left myself in that warm embrace. When I opened them again, I was back in that dark room. It just wasn¡¯t lonely anymore. Chapter 011 - Hate I started to stir in my bed, today¡­ what day was today? I get up, the pure pristine white room greets my eyes. A lovely sight. Then, I heard an annoying buzzing. Beside me was the wisp, the only non-white thing in my room. It stuck out like a sore thumb, its yellow light truly infuriated me. Guess it¡¯s time to get rid of the thing huh? I get up, a menacing aura surrounding me. The wisp, feeling the bloodlust, quickly flew away, into another room. I followed. We ran around the room for a good five minutes before I finally cornered it. Haha! Now you di- *Knock Knock* I groan and make my way to the door. The wisp flew away, passing through the walls of the building. The wisp got lucky this time, however, if I ever see it again, I¡¯m going to make sure it gets an express delivery straight to the clouds! I open the door and I¡¯m met with another dorm member. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m just going around making sure everyone is awake and on time for our classes! Just a reminder, they start in thirty minutes!¡± A strange girl wearing the schools uniform said this. Ugh. Aenios: ¡°Oh no! I must have overslept, thank you, truly!¡± I close the door and sigh. Classes huh? I proceed with my morning activities. The breakfast today was a plain piece of bread with milk and pale cereal. My favourite. After everything was ready, I head out. Already, there were tons of students outside, the socialization had already begun. I looked around and found the group I was with before, I walked over to them. Something felt off though. When I arrived at the group, they all looked at me, their faces strange, like they were hiding something. Student #1: ¡°Ah¡­ hi¡­¡± Aenios: ¡°Hello! Is there something wrong?¡± The students looked at each other. ¡°Uh, we¡­ we were just going to head to class, see you around.¡± They smiled awkwardly and left. Huh¡­ that¡¯s strange¡­ Yeah right. They¡¯re clearly avoiding me. They weren¡¯t even that good at lying either. The nerve! However, when I look around, lots of the students were staring at me, not like before. They were, nervous almost. No¡­ they were¡­ sorry? Their voices were much more quiet than before, careful, distant. Whatever, the semantics of weaklings don¡¯t bother me. I leave the dorms and emerge in the halls of the school. They were full too, and talking normally. I was relieved to see that not everything changed. ???: ¡°Hey! Aenios is here!¡± I heard a loud whisper and suddenly the halls went silent. All eyes turned my direction. My face only expressed confusion and ignorance. I walked up, smiling, greeting every stranger I met, they all expressed an inability to react and only responded with simple gestures. Outside, I looked clueless. Aenios: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t everyone be in class by now?¡± But, inside, my brain was boiling. They¡­ they¡¯re avoiding me? What for? What did I do? Did they learn about my powers? Did they learn about my misdeeds? Why else would Luciana follow me?! My mind racked the possibilities, trying to grasp the situation. My answer came sooner than I thought. The group of students, who only parted for me, parted for one other. The green-haired boy from the tournament. The one I smacked. Things are falling into place, just need him to confirm it for me. Just need him to confirm his death wish. Magna: ¡°Aenios! I just wanted to congratulate you on your victory in the exam!¡± Behind him followed other students from the exam, the second half. ¡°Us other final contenders just had to come visit the one who beat all of us. Right guys?¡± The people behind him only sneered at me. Ha! They¡¯re holding a grudge? That¡¯s it? So they didn¡¯t find out about me. I smiled. Thank god. Well, time to play along I guess. Aenios: ¡°Oh, thank you very much but me winning was just luck. I just stayed in the back and hid until I found a chance.¡± My smile started to draw in the people around, but the anger seething from Magna drowned my influence. Magna: ¡°I know.¡± Magna spoke through gritted teeth. At this point he wasn¡¯t even trying to hide his anger. The people around us started to back off. I of course, have to play true to my character and play the super-nice, absent-minded idiot who would walk into danger. That¡¯s who I am on the outside. I approach Magna, extending a hand and smiling. ¡°It was a good match!¡± I rub it in his face further, however, he can¡¯t see the malicious smile behind the mask. His rage blinded him. He smacked away my hand and walked away, furious. The other exam members following him. Magna: ¡°See you in class.¡± The crowds filled in after he left and the silence resumed. That felt¡­ good? Huh, never knew bragging could feel so awesome! Of course, this is just going to strengthen his anger for me but I don¡¯t really care. I can break him whenever I want. I pull out my map and skip happily toward my class. As I got further and further toward my destination, the amount of students decreased more and more, the students that remained were always stronger than the ones before. The rooms must be sorted alphabetically huh? But why does S class have to be so far away? I silently complain to myself as I enter the two large doors. Inside, I saw six desks. Six desks for the only six students in class S. Luccanon, Julius, Luciana, Magna, Anatos and me, the star pupil. Strangely enough, no one was inside the class. Luciana, was just outside, still watching me. Huh. I figured that class would have started about now. Didn¡¯t that girl say it would start in 30 minutes? I figure that the teacher should be here at least, even if the students are late. Then, Magna entered, with his lackeys behind him. One of them appeared to be that strange girl from the morning. More pieces started to fall in place. Oh¡­ Ha. Well played Magna. Even I couldn¡¯t see the hate behind that girl¡¯s eyes. Magna: ¡°We meet again. Aenios, you, out of everyone who participated, you were the won to come first in the exam. You, the one without offensive spells. Doesn¡¯t that strange to you?¡± Observatory magic filled the room. This room was being closely monitored. It wouldn¡¯t be long before I teacher noticed and came rushing down, I would only have to stall till then and using my magic is out of the question. I can¡¯t risk my identity being found out.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Aenios: ¡°I know¡­ you must all feel angry. You all worked so hard and I.... I just took it away from you. If you must know, I didn¡¯t cheat. I only hid in the back. If¡­ if I were to do it again, I would have forfeited before the second round, I never wanted this hate.¡± I look down, sullen-faced. The people gathered around Magna, they start to loosen their fists and I could feel their anger slowly subsidize. Magna himself however, the anger seemed to form a demon around him, his mana signature was wild and tainted a horrible colour. There was no calming him down. Magna looked around at the people behind him, who were losing the will to go with his plan. ¡°You, don¡¯t try to trick us with petty words.¡± But why not? Magna: ¡°The fact that you admitted to us, that you didn¡¯t cheat. That¡¯s more infuriating than anything. You, you never should have won. You have no strength, no power. You¡¯re weak! I can tell, you have barely any mana leaving you right now, you¡¯re weak!¡± Able to sense mana signatures eh? That¡¯s pretty good for a kid your age. Oh wait. The other students clenched their fists tighter, nodding along with him. His words didn¡¯t convince them, it was his passionate anger. Ah, damn. I hate the passionate types. If only everyone were dead on the inside. It would be so much easier like that. Magna: ¡°Even now, you¡¯re mocking us. You smile like nothing happened. YOU FUCKING IDIOT. OUR LIVES DEPENDED ON THAT FIGHT. THESE PEOPLE, THEY FOUGHT HARD. I FOUGHT HARDER. THEY WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED ME WINNING. NOT YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO? YOU HID. YOU HID IN THE DUST. YOU HID AND WAITED. YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF HONOUR. NO, YOU¡¯RE JUST A PARASITE. FOREVER WORTHLESS. YOUR PARENTS MUST HAVE BEEN SO DISAPPOINTED WHEN THEY FOUND OUT ABOUT YOUR TRUE WORTH. YOU ABSOLUTELY DISGUST ME.¡± I can only look down. Well, not really. I can look wherever I want, it''s just that if I want to maintain my outer personality, I have to continue looking down. Aenios: ¡°I-I¡¯m sor-¡± Magna: ¡°YOU THINK I WANT YOUR APOLOGY? YOU SELF-ABSORBED BASTARD.¡± He starts panting, his voice rough and sore, his eyes bloodshot, his ego egged on by the trash behind him. Then, he calms down, his emotions disappear, almost instantly. The anger that had ravaged his face, was replaced with a horrible smile and a cruel intent behind his eyes. Magna: ¡°There is something you can do for us however.¡± He approaches, menacingly. His malicious intent is obvious. This situation could quickly escalate into something worse if I let this happen. Thankfully, I don¡¯t need to do anything. The doors burst open and Luciana walks into the room. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?!¡± The other kids back off and Magna stood unmoving, speechless. I put on a smile and walk up to her. ¡°Hello Luciana! We were just talking about the written exam.¡± I said a blatant lie. She knew I was lying, but since she burst in here to protect me, she couldn¡¯t say anything. The other kids walked out of the room. Unsure if they should be glaring at me menacingly or if they should continue with the charade I made. They were obviously confused as to why I helped them. Luciana is the daughter of the head priest. If she had reported them to the teachers, there would have been severe repercussions. Magna was the last to leave, his face was blank as he walked past Luciana. I could feel his guilt from where I was standing. He felt bad? There was no way he could feel bad about beating me up. Maybe¡­ maybe he felt bad because Luciana saw him? Strange¡­ I smiled. ¡°Class is starting soon, isn¡¯t it?¡± Luciana, who continued to glare at the students who left nodded her head. ¡°Yes, we should take probably sit down.¡± And so we did. We sat and waited for the class to start. --- I woke up early in the morning. Watching the sun rise always helped me think. I looked out the window and I could feel something horrible was going to happen. I didn¡¯t get a message, a premonition or a dream. It was just a feeling, ¡°something horrible is going to happen¡± it said. I cleaned up as quickly as I could and I exited my room. Other students had already started to form groups and talk. When I walked up, groups naturally formed around me. Girl #1: ¡°Hey, Luciana? It¡¯s pretty early huh?¡± Girl #2: ¡°Luciana! How was your exam! I probably failed mine.¡± Boy #1: ¡°Lu-Luciana¡­ ho- hi there!¡± The large groups were natural for the social butterflies that were light elementals. I would usually enjoy listening to their conversation, but today, something was off. It was from the corner of my eye that I saw a girl walk up to one of the doors. I remembered her from the exam, she was one of the students Magna had fought. I don¡¯t remember that being her room. 221, who lives there? Then, a face I couldn¡¯t forget walked out. It was Aenios, the boy who beat Magna and won the exam. When I saw him, I was filled with disgust. He shouldn¡¯t have won. That¡¯s all I could think. Magna was the one who beat me, not him. Magna fought hard, not him. I couldn¡¯t help but watch the two talk for only a mere moment, before he closed the door hurriedly. He came out in his uniform and walked over to one of the groups, who, strangely enough, backed away from him. That¡¯s odd. Large groups are natural for the social butterflies that are light elementals¡­ so why are they rejecting him. I ask the girl beside me what was happening. Every group Aenios visited turned him away. Girl #1: ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? Magna was so furious about the results that he told everyone in the first grade to ignore him. He threatened to ruin our lives if we didn¡¯t comply. At the time, we couldn¡¯t say anything. He had the backing of the class A students as well as some of the teachers! I just really don¡¯t want to get into any trouble so I agreed.¡± This is not good. The students would obviously harbour anger but the teachers as well? This is madness. ¡°When was this?¡± Girl #1: ¡°Yesterday. Apparently, Aenios left the building and returned later. Magna used that as an opportunity.¡± I looked at Aenios. The blissfully ignorant smile on his face, that beautiful aura around him. Oh no¡­ something bad was going to happen. If I need to, I will intervene. I watch as he exits the light dorms. I follow, I need to see what''s happening. Girl #1: ¡°Hey, wait, Luciana? Where are you going?¡± The halls were silent. All eyes were on him. Then, Magna came, followed by some class A students. I look around, looking for god¡¯s divine eye. I saw it before, but now¡­ its not here. This was¡­ a bad omen. Magna and Aenios start to talk. Aenios was so brilliantly lost in the clouds, he couldn¡¯t feel the anger Magna directed towards him, nor could he understand the current situation. Their conversation ended quickly, with Magna stomping away. Magna¡­ where was that honour I saw on the battlefield? What were you planning to do? Aenios continued down the halls, where less and less students stood. I kept far back, just watching. I couldn¡¯t let him be aware of my presence. Finally, he approached our class. What was he doing here? Classes aren¡¯t for another hour! Then I saw Magna, followed by class A students walk down the hall. This was¡­ this was¡­ something horrible was going to happen, I could tell, I could tell, I need to do som- No you don¡¯t. Sit down and keep watching,Francis. These¡­ these were someone else''s thoughts. Despite the invasive messages in my mind, I couldn''t disobey. Not that they were forcing me, its because I agreed with them, at least a part of me. Magna closed the door. I couldn¡¯t see what was happening inside, so I used a scrying orb. One time use items, extremely expensive, but¡­ Aenios¡­ apologized. Magna blew up. He tried to apologize again. Magna grew angrier. Then, I could feel an evil taint surround him. I knew, that I could wait no longer. I burst through the door. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?!¡± I tried to impersonate Father when he was angry. It seemed to work well enough. Magna and his lackeys stood in absolute silence. Unable to move, unable to talk. Then, Aenios walked up to me. ¡°Hello Luciana! We were just talking about the written exam.¡± I stood there, staring at him. Why¡­. why did he try and protect these savages? Magna was clearly going to attack him and with the teachers disapproving of his status here in the school, Magna would have gotten away with it. The A-class students left silently, I glared at them as they walked through the door, I hope their guilt corrected their ways, they were only manipulated by Magna after all. Magna was the last to leave. I locked eyes with him, his head didn¡¯t look up. I wanted to give him a tirade, I wanted to send him to the teacher, attacking an unarmed student, especially someone like Aenios¡­ that¡¯s despicable. Aenios: ¡°Class is starting soon, isn¡¯t it?¡± I continued to glare at Magna even as the door closed. ¡°Yes, we should take probably sit down.¡± He took a seat in the corner, I sat down right beside him. I felt so much anger. How could Magna do something like that and why isn¡¯t Aenios doing anything about it. I didn¡¯t understand anything. There is one thing I know however. I won''t let any injustice manifest itself in this school. Status Update #3 Well, it looks like I''m back. In the same day nonetheless. It''s me, the authors name you cant remember because I didn''t add spaces! So guys, I rewrote chapter 11 and I''m planning to delete chapter 11.5 because it''s no longer needed. 11.5 was really just to save face on 11, but now that I rewrote it, its just unessecary. Yeah, so that''s what I''m going to do with the chapters, but enough about that boring stuff, lets go onto the story. As you know, I''m a relatively new author, don''t got much experience (as far as you know) and this story is my first. It was simple at first, built on the singular idea of a true evil protaganist, something I''ve never seen (probably because I never looked hard enough). I wrote this story, because I felt the frustration of finally finding a good evil story to read and then half-way through, he turns out to be some backwater anti-hero.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. When I write these things, I never look over them. Why? I''m lazy, leave me alone. However, it doesn''t mean I don''t care what comes out. I want you to see Aenios for the true evil little bastard that he is. My writing just doesn''t reflect my will sometimes. So, in order to find what works the best, I want to ask you, the readers, what your favourite moment was (so far). I''ll take suggestions and feedback and turn recreate the writing style that you find the best. It''s been 2 months (I think more but I don''t know) since Path of Evil started and I couldn''t be happier with how its developing. TLDR? None of this matters, go back to watching Boku No Pico.