"And that's the end of things that happened during my shift in Ethereos.", Alice concluded the report she compiled and gave it to Zephyrus.
"It must've been a harrowing ordeal for you two.", he said, accepting the report, "Especially you Alice. You had to go to Ethereos right after your overseas mission.", he looked apologetically at the head of the Night Family.
She just smiled, "It's okay, Cardinal. I've faced worse things."
Zephyrus looked worried, "Is the branch family giving you a hard time?"
Alice sighed, "It's hard work monitoring them. I have a bad feeling that they are planning something."
"Better be careful.", he advised her.
"Thanks, Headmaster."
He leaned back in his chair, "Please refer to me as Cardinal.", he reminded her with a sigh. "Anyway, you said your Squad and the adventurers with you sensed a powerful presence?"
Alice nodded, "Yes. One adventurer said it felt like a god had descended into Ethereos."
"A god huh.", Zephyrus's thoughts went to Vanessa. She is the only divine being he currently knows. Maybe it's one of the other survivors of the Second Celestial War. He is going to have to ask the Vampire Queen about that.
He looked at Jade, "Have you experienced a similar experience while in Ethereos?"
She shook her head, "Nope. The only powerful presence I had felt during my shift was yours when you visited back then."
"Well. You are not wrong about that." Zephyrus shrugged but felt good about himself inside. They proceeded to have a casual conversation for a few minutes when Alice suddenly perked up.
"I feel something powerful.', she looked at Zephyrus. "Headmaster. You said there are about 5 students in the academy with the Darkness attribute and only one of them is on par with a Vice Captain."
He nodded, "Yeah. I said that. It's Jason Kain."
Having the Light attribute herself, Alice is more sensitive to Darkness than to the other attributes and can easily detect a Darkness user and determine their strength.
"Then why am I sensing a second and more powerful user of Darkness?", her eyes glowed as she tried to find out more.
No sooner had she said it when they felt a powerful burst of magia and that too right near them.
"What is that?", Jade asked as she and Alice rushed to the window behind Zephyrus as he remained seated and sighed. He knew who it was.
"Looks like somebody is having a rather intense duel in Training Hall 12.", he mused. The two Captains looked back at him, "I didn't know you had such powerful students.", Jade remarked.
"I can sense Jason Kain.", Alice said, her eyes glowing, "But the one he's facing is incredibly powerful."
"Captain level? Probably an instructor.", Jade said.
There are instructors in Cardinal Academy who are on the same level as the strongest Captains in the Knights. One great example would be Marcus Leslie.
Alice shook her head, "No. This is far more powerful.", she paused before continuing, "Almost the level of a Cardinal."
Jade looked at Zephyrus, her thoughts went to Virgil, the masked assistant of the Cardinal. He is the only one she can think of whose power is close to a Cardinal.
She hasn't told anyone about him, fully knowing the impact it would have and the Headmaster knows about it. But he can't keep Virgil a secret forever.
She has a feeling that the next conference of the Council where the Family Heads and Cardinals are summoned would be because of the mysterious masked warlock.
"Is it the new instructor of Special Class A I heard about?", Alice asked Zephyrus who nodded.
"Yes. Your uncle met him a few months back."
"Uncle John spoke about him. He said Seventeen looked similar to Arthur."
Jade smirked, "You sure he isn't a long-lost cousin of yours?"
Alice shook her head, "Oh no. I've verified it. We don't have any lost relatives. I hope."
"Why don't we go say hi?", Zephyrus stood up, "Besides, you two were planning on meeting Seventeen and Ruth while paying a visit to Arthur and Gray right?"
They nodded, "Yeah. We planned things like that. We are also interested in Seventeen."
"Oh? You've never met him and your guys are interested? Seventeen must be a lucky guy to gain the interest of you two. Well, I am not surprised. He is, after all, the most handsome guy in Cardinal Academy."
Alice and Jade just stared at him, not amused by his words. "Shall we get going?", the latter suggested.
Zephyrus nodded and sighed, "Kids these days have no respect for their superiors.", he muttered.
*******
Jason is in serious trouble.
He can't find any openings on his opponent as they clashed in the training hall, shattering the floor. His appendages of Darkness are now a blur as they furiously worked together to bring down the opponent.
Jason is giving his all in the duel but it is not enough.
"Not faltering are we, Jason?", Seventeen asked calmly as he continued his attacks. He swung his sword at Jason's side which he blocked with Lilith, the black sword humming and glowing with power.
He grinned, "Oh no. No way I will falter.", his eyes glowed as he tapped into his powers. Another thing that makes Darkness and Light different from the other attributes is that the only limit they have is the one imposed by their wielders.
To put it in a nutshell, Light and Darkness are virtually limitless.
The air became heavy and the magia particles in the surrounding started going crazy with the amount of darkness being released by Jason.
Seventeen narrowed his eyes. Not only at the increasing power of Jason but he felt three powerful presences approaching the hall, one of them being the Headmaster.
'Looks like our little duel has caught his attention.'
(I think you should wrap this up.)
'Yeah.', Seventeen looked at Jason grinning and getting stronger by the minute. Nyx wasn't budging and he could hear a faint laughing emanating from Lilith.
"Are you sure you can control this?", he asked the young man facing him, darkness flooding out in waves from the contact of their blades.
Jason chuckled nervously, "I doubt it but this is fun."
Seventeen felt a familiar flutter in his chest. It was the same excitement he felt when he fought against Vicaris. He grinned, "You're right. This is fun!"
"You are indeed the strongest in the academy but power is not the only thing that is important.", Seventeen folded his ring finger and reached out his palm on Jason's chest. "You also have to be smart."
"Huh?", Jason was confused at first but then his eyes widened when he realized what was going to happen.
"Oh shi-"
{Code Cancel}
The darkness surrounding Jason dissipated and his Black Arms disintegrated into magia particles. Lilith the black sword stopped glowing and the faint laughter ceased. He was blown back by the force of the attack.
Jason smiled, "Looks like this is my loss. I never stood a chance against you."
Seventeen smiled back, "That's not true. You did catch me by surprise.", he retracted Nyx and directed Air magia into his fist. {Air Code: Tempest Fist}
He punched Jason in the torso, knocking his breath out, and launched him into the wall of the training hall, shattering it in the process.
"Oops. Looks like I put too much power into it.", Seventeen exhaled. He then realized the damage their duel caused.
"This doesn't look pretty at all.", he remarked as he looked at the ravaged interior of Training Hall 12. The floor has been shattered and the walls were crumbling, revealing the cracked and broken magia crystals falling off. The ceiling was cracked and there is a hole in the middle letting in a beam of sunlight inside.
'I hope the Headmaster would not ask me to pay for the damages.'
(Last time I checked, the academy does cover the cost of maintaining the training halls. So I doubt you will have to be worried about paying for them.)
'Phew.', Seventeen sighed with relief and walked over to where Jason was lying under some rubble.
"Hey, Jason. Are you there? I hope you haven't died.", he called over. The rubble shifted and Jason slowly emerged from it, coughing and wheezing, "Damn that was harsh."
Seventeen chuckled, "But you said to go all out."
"All out? Sir, that was you holding back. I would be dead if you went all out."
"Anyway.", he dusted his clothes and got off the rubble pile with the help of Seventeen, and looked back at the wall he had crashed into, the only thing he can see is the cracked magia crystals at the place of impact.
"The maintenance warlocks will be having a particularly bad day with this training hall.", he quipped. Seventeen rubbed his head, "I now feel bad for them."
As they were talking the doors of the training hall opened and Zephyrus entered followed by two beautiful young women, one of whom Seventeen recognized.
"Just what in Arkenstein's name happened here?", the Headmaster looked around the destroyed and sighed, "Did you choose this Training Hall knowing fully well that my office is next door?"
"I wonder about that.", Seventeen feigned innocence.
"Oh you little-", Zephyrus stopped and rubbed his forehead to ease a headache that just formed. He looked at the battered Jason, "Are you, alright kid?"
The young man grinned and gave a thumbs up, "I'm fine Headmaster. Just a few cracked ribs and two broken fingers.", he showed his other hand with his ring and middle fingers facing the wrong direction.
"That is the opposite of being fine!"
Zephyrus pointed at the door, "You better go to the infirmary for treatment young man."
"I'm seriously fine. This is nothing compared to the time I got my arm cut off.", Jason waved his hand in front of him.
"JASON!", the headmaster crossed his arms with a frown.
The young Kain rolled his eyes, "Fine.", he then grabbed Seventeen's hand, "Let's have another duel at a later time.", he said excitedly.
"Sure. I'll be looking forward.", the instructor nodded with a smile. Jason then bowed his head to the Headmaster and the young women and exited the hall, whistling a famous song as he went to the infirmary.
"I apologize to make you both witness that.", he sighed and turned to the newcomers. The young woman with golden hair and grey eyes just shook her head with a smile, "It's fine Headmaster. He is exactly what I heard. A true enigma."
The one with red eyes and white hair just laughed, "He is really awesome. I would love to have him in my squad."
"We'll see about that.", the former replied calmly and nodded her head towards Seventeen, "Shouldn't we introduce ourselves?"
"Ah yes.", Zephyrus turned around and waved to Seventeen, "Our special guests have arrived."
Seventeen smiled, "I realized.", he walked over to them and bowed his head, "It is an honor to meet you both, Lady Alice Night and Lady Jade Aria."
"No need to bow your head.", Alice said and extended her arm, "We have heard a lot about you and it is our honor to finally meet you, instructor Seventeen."
Seventeen shook her's and Jade's arm warmly. He noticed Alice staring at him. "Lady Alice?"
She quickly snapped back from her trance, her face a bit flushed, "Oh I am sorry. You do look like my brother."
He laughed, "Arthur said the same thing to me when we first met. The world has a lot of interesting coincidences."
He nodded in the direction of the entrance.
"I presume the both of you are free? How about we depart for the Special Class A dorm? Let's talk on the way."