Aether bit his nail, with his back turned from the Professor he did his best to calm himself. A single second was all it took for his plans of survival in the world to be destroyed. 'I need to come up with another plan quickly.' He took a deep breath and tried to align all the facts he had gathered about himself so far. He was a child of the Frenzel family born with no abilities. From what he had seen so far, it looked as if his family wanted to make sure his existence was hidden from the spotlight. Yet, despite the tarnish his birth had given the Frenzel name, he was still sent to an academy that was notorious for students dying.
'It seems my family wanted me dead, but didn't want to do it themselves.'
He bit his nail again, chewing at what little nail was left. He may have only been in this world for a day, but with what he had read and what he had experienced, he was starting to get the gist of things.
'This world relies on power. The more powerful one is, the higher their status. Being part of the famed Frenzel family gives me some leverage, but without any abilities it means nothing.' He glanced back at the now dull orb. 'There has to be something I'm missing. If the people without abilities before me survived long enough to have their names recorded, then they must have found another way to survive, but how?'
He looked at his reflection in the orb. He touched his cheek, smiling slightly. 'Ah that could work, but would it be enough?' Power came in multiple forms. One didn't have to have strength to kill to have power. People often forget that beauty is one of the world's simplest forms of survival.
All the main characters in the novel had extremely good looks in some shape or form. It was stated that the Princes were able to simply smile in one's direction and most people would fall to their whims, but they weren't the only ones with renowned beauty.
The Frenzel household gained fame because of the power gifted from the spirit their ancestor had helped, but that wasn't the only thing they were gifted. Although not as well known as the other gift, the spirit had also gifted them with beauty. Though that beauty was deemed untouchable due to their vicious nature. Yet, he wasn't untouchable.
He could make this work, but beauty was not everything. Yes, having good looks could take him far, but what about the rest of the way. What else could he offer?
'Ah,' he smiled, 'Connections.' A lot of people were trying to attain connection with the Frenzels, but had no chance because their children were deemed unapproachable, but what if one was approachable? 'Although I have no abilities, they could see me as a gateway into the Frenzel household.'
He absentmindedly played with a strand of his hair, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'Although, that doesn't mean it won't be superficial. I know that everyone who tries to gain my favor will only be doing so in order to reach my siblings and the moment they accomplish that they would have no trouble backstabbing me, hell, they could even kill me.'
He hummed as he continued to sort through his thoughts. Beauty and connections, although good, would still not be enough.
A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. The Professor dragged him out of the door and down the long hallway. He wouldn't have been concerned if they weren't passing by the courtyard that connected the three buildings and were currently heading to the furthest building, the university!
"Where are we going?" He asked with a calm voice, though inside he was cursing up a storm as he tried to think of ways to get out of this safely.
"Were you not listening?" The Professor frowned at him, "Look, I haven' met someone as intelligent as you in, well, ever. So, here's the deal. I want you to take my advanced class." Aether raised an eyebrow at that.
Intelligence. He hadn't thought about that. The problem on the board was easy for him to solve, but the Professor- a Professor who was supposed to be intelligent- wasn't able to solve it. 'Could the intelligence in this world really be that low?' He shook his head. They were not intelligent per say. After all, they were capable of coming up with complex war strategies and even had a complex political system. Yet, it all came back down to the fact that the Professor couldn't solve the simple math problem. Maybe, just maybe, the people of this world are not intelligent when it comes to mathematics? If that was the case, he could use this to an advantage.
"I-I don't think I'm suitable for such a class." Aether looked away feigning distress. Although he wanted to see if his theory was correct, he couldn't just waltz into the university building and see. If anything goes wrong he could die. He could only look away and silently hope that his distress would make the Professor realize that he didn't want to go.
Much to his disdain, the Professor laughed at his expression and patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, not a lot of people get to take my class, so you'll have nothing to really worry about. Oh! And if anyone even thinks of hurting you while you're in my class," His smile fell and with a dark look in his eyes he added, "well lets just say they won't live to see the next sunrise."
"Not what I wanted to hear, but I'll have to work with it for now.' As much as he didn't want to go to the university this Professor obviously wouldn't allow him not to, but he could work with this. He didn't miss the subtle way the Professor said he would protect him while in his class. The important part was 'in his class'. So, what would happen when he left? Obviously he would die, so he would need to use his intelligence in order to get the Professor to walk him back to his office or even better to the front of the academy after class.
He lowered his head and smirked, 'That won't be hard.'
Aether quickly masked his sly smirk. He glanced up at the Professor through the pieces of hair that were falling in front of his face. He smiled shyly and nodded his head. "Thank you Professor! I will try my hardest to not let you down!"
The Professor's smile twitched and he mumbled as he gazed at Aether, "Are you sure you're a Frenzel? Ah! Here we are." The Professor barged into the class that immediately went from loud to dead silent.
Dragging Aether by the arm, he didn't give Aether enough time to look around the classroom to see who he was dealing with, before he sat him down in the front row directly in the middle. A large book was slammed right in front of him and a pen and paper were placed at his side.
"Alright, let's start. Open your books to page 347, we will be discussing…"
Aether could feel the many eyes bearing holes into the back of his head, but for now he ignored them. Aether opened his book to page 347. His eyebrows furrowed at the simple equations that littered the page. He flipped through the pages and then skipped to the next chapter, waiting for when the equations would become complex, but he never came upon them.
As shocked as he was to see the simple math equations on the pages, he couldn't help but smile. His theory was correct. He found his way to survive.
He glanced back up at the Professor who was diligently writing the equations on the board while explaining how to solve it. The other students sitting next to him were focusing hard on the board. It was almost laughable. He couldn't believe that the world the author had created was this far behind in mathematical equations.
He grabbed his pen and got to work. It was time to show this Professor what he was capable of.
He was so focused on finishing the equations that he didn't notice when the class had ended nor did he notice when the Professor was leaning over him watching him as he solved one equation after another.
"I can't believe this!" The students that had been grabbing their things to leave were shocked by the Professor's sudden outburst and all stopped to stare at Aether. Aether cringed internally at the attention, but on the outside he gave a sheepish smile.
"They were just so fun to solve, that I couldn't stop myself. Sorry for going past what we had learned for the day." he said sweetly, showing the solved equations on the page.
The Professor's eyes light up. "Amazing. You come with me!" The Professor slammed the book cose and pushed it into Aether's hands. Before he knew it, he was being ushered to the door, but before he could leave with the Professor another hand reached out and grabbed Aether roughly by the arm, pulling him away from the Professor.
Aether turned to face the person, but was surprised to be met with a face similar to his. Of course not all that similar. The man was older and taller, his build was more muscular, but the short silver hair and blood red eyes that were glaring down at him reminded Aether that he wasn't the only Frenzel that attended the Royal Academy.
Leon Frenzel. A man known for his brutality on the battlefield. At the age of twelve he had gone to war with his father and single-handedly brought down over a thousand soldiers. His unique ability was one to be feared and his temper was another thing to avoid. Not much was said about Leon Frenzel in the novel other than a basic description of his personality and why he had been so famous, but meeting him up close like this, Aether knew why this man stood out amongst others. The killing intent coming off him in waves made Aether's face turn pale. He began to tremble lightly, but the hold on his arm was so firm that his arm couldn't even move, let alone tremble.
The students around them quickly fled, a for sure warning that whatever Leon was going to do, it wasn't going to end well.
"What are you doing here?" Leon seethed. His grip tightened and Aether gasped out in pain. 'What the hell was wrong with this guy? Doesn't he realize that my arm is going to break!'
The Professor, who had been watching the whole ordeal with great interest, stepped skillfully between the two, detaching Leon's hand from Aether's arm in the process. With a scowl the Professor crossed his hands and bared his teeth at Leon.
"It seems the personality of the Frenzel's gets worse with every generation. Dare I say that you're worse than your father. Pah, absolutely horrible." The Professor spit at Leon's feet before glancing back at Aether who was rubbing his now bruised arm.
Leon did not move at the insult, instead he smirked and scoffed at the Professor. The Professor visibly bristled, but otherwise made no move.
"At least one of you Frenzel's is different." The Professor mumbled just loud enough for the two of them to hear. "Now if you would so kindly leave, I have business with your dear brother." The Professor smiled triumphantly as he ushered Aether once again towards the door, but Leon was far from done.
"What business do you have with him?"
"Oh?" The Professor looked back, a gleam in his eye. He leaned in and whispered, "And here I thought that he was invisible to you." The Professor gave Leon a knowing look and the killing intent from before grew in waves around Leon.
Aether grew even paler and scooted away from both of them, ready to dart out the door any moment.
"What business do you have with him?" Leon was growing more agitated as the Professor dodged his question again and again.
"Wow. You don't know, do you?" The Professor's smile became one of a crazed man as he looked Leon dead in the eyes. "You have lived under the same roof as him for your entire life and yet you're telling me you don't know? Oh, how curiously wonderful." The Professor lightly patted Leon's cheek twice.
Leon growled and smacked the Professor's hand away. His eyes flickered to Aether and Aether flinched under the cold glare. Quickly he tried to hide behind the Professor's back, but it was too late. Whatever Leon had wanted to see, he saw, and nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted.
He used his unique ability. It was too fast for Aether to comprehend. One moment he was safe behind the Professor, but after he blinked, the Professor was a bloody mess against the smashed wall. The book he had been holding was now in Leons hands as he flipped through each page with narrowed eyes.
"Um…" Aether didn't know what to say. Leon gazed at him, slammed the book shut, shoved it in his bag and roughly grabbed Aether by the arm again. This time he was sure he heard a crack.
Students and Professors were watching the event in confusion, as Leon dragged Aether out of the building and towards the gates where an extravagant carriage was waiting for them.
A young man with dark purple hair and bright purple eyes stepped out of the carriage and bowed. Leon paid the man no mind and pushed Aether into the carriage, following after him and slamming the door closed. He crossed his arms and leaned back, completely ignoring Aether.
"Back to the house. I want a meeting with my father immediately." Leon said.
"Understood." The purple haired man called from the front of the carriage and with a sudden jolt, the carriage was moving.
Aether sat silently in a corner, trying his best to blend in with the wall. Being alone in a carriage with Leon Frenzel was something he had never wanted to experience.
The suffocation was overwhelming.