Maven, Alex, and Erick couldn't answer Zefer. They were left speechless by his question, attitude, and how he voiced such only added to their concerns. It was true; Maven was worried that Zefer might one day end up killing someone or getting himself killed. Alex feared that Zefer would misuse his power, which was why he wanted to get to know the boy more and try to steer him in the right direction. As for Erick...
...Well, now he was terrified of Zefer.
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Name: Erick Halls
Mana Pool: 410
Level: 3
Rank: C-
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Class: Wind Specialist
Coins: 2590
Affinity: None
Status: Healthy
Stats-
Strength: 15
Endurance: 14
Agility: 13
Wisdom: 16
Intelligence: 41
Luck: 0
Charm: 10
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Erick was by no means a weakling. He was stronger than the first-years and even Simon Gutter, but his combined stats were no match against Zefer's stats. The fact that the system didn't block things behind question marks showed that he was someone Zefer could defeat.
Nevertheless, Erick was now afraid of Zefer, not because of Zefer's question, but because he knew Erick's full name and said it with confidence. Perhaps no one else seemed to notice, or maybe they were too focused on Zefer's question, but Erick didn't miss it.
"How does he know my full name? Did Maven ever tell him about me? No, I don't think she did, but then why? I'm a third-year, I don't have any classes with him since he is first-year, so what's going on here?" Erick couldn't understand how Zefer knew his full name. Of course, he couldn't. No one knew about Zefer's system or what he was capable of.
"Well, then, looks like I'm done here." Zefer turned around since he gained no answer, but Alex stopped him by taking hold of his shoulder just before he could leave. "Zefer, wait!" Alex remarked to get his attention as quickly as possible.
"No." Zefer retorted as he pulled his shoulder from Alex's grasp and made his way towards the door, but before he could take another step further, a massive gust of wind circled him, surrounding him and keeping him from moving onward.
"Erick!?" Maven was surprised at the sudden surge of magic that she looked towards Erick. Even Alex was forced back since the vortex of wind was sharp enough to cut his finger, which it had done. Alex glanced towards Erick, "What are you doing?" He asked as he held his hand and used the bottom of his shirt to keep the blood from dripping on the floor.
"How do you know my name!?" Erick inquired with panic in his voice. Something told him that he shouldn't let this boy leave this room without answering. Something didn't sit right inside of him with Zefer. It wasn't the tragedy he went through or that he killed people. Not even the events yesterday were part of it. It was something else, something he couldn't put into words.
Maven and Alex were shocked when they heard Erick's question. At first, they felt like it shouldn't have mattered if Zefer knew who Erick was, but then it hit them. Erick was a third-year, and Zefer a first-year. They should have no connection at all, even more so since there was no reason for them to interact. Even if Zefer knew Erick's first name, how did he know Erick's last name?
When they recalled Zefer's question, they remembered just how confident Zefer said it, as if he knew Erick's name the entire time. Alex didn't even know Erick, let know his name until just now. On the other hand, Maven felt something inside of her tell that there was something more going on with Zefer than he was showing.
Zefer reached for the vortex that engulfed him and tried to press through it, but as he did, he felt a sharp back at the tips of his fingers, which caused him to pull his hand back. His expression became sour as he looked at the wound on his hand, then at the vortex.
"So... you bring me here and trap me. For your question, everyone knows who Maven's boyfriend is. After all, she is the Student Body President. Do you know how many times I hear your name floating around among jealous guys?" Zefer retorted with venom in his voice, showing he was not happy.
When Zefer gave Erick an answer, Alex felt stupid for not realizing it, but that's because he never paid much attention to the gossip of others. As for Maven, she released a heavy sigh out of exhaustion since she wasn't unaware of the affections of others. It was annoying to deal with, and she always felt like she should take a more forceful action when they never took no for an answer.
On the other hand, Erick still had that uneasy feeling in his gut, as if Zefer was lying or that there was something more, but Zefer's remark was an answer and one that made sense. So, he couldn't keep Zefer, even if he wanted to. A sigh escaped his lips, and he stopped supplying Mana to the Vortex, which caused the winds to die out.
Zefer shook his head and continued towards the door since he did not give these people any more time. None of them stopped him since they were still in their thoughts, and of course, Maven felt like she needed to talk with Erick. When Alex came out of his thoughts, he realized Zefer was gone and just sighed with defeat before returning to his classroom.
"Master, is what you said true?" Ina asked innocently inside of his head, wondering if what he said about the gossip thing was true.
"No. I made that up. I am sure his name has floated around here and there, though. Regardless, It made for a good lie. Now then, I've wasted enough time with that nonsense. Next time I'll just slit their throats..." Zefer's final words would have come as a surprise to Ina, but they didn't. It was the effects of the Rune of Destruction. The thirst for destruction was beginning to take its toll since Zefer had yet to destroy anything.
Ina, of course, said nothing and just kept silent as Zefer made his way towards a storeroom for various tools and other appliances. Once he arrived, he opened the door, turned around, closed it, and locked it.
"What the hell took you so long, Zefer! You were the one who called me her--" Karrin was about to complain about how Zefer made her wait, but he seemed to shut her up with an aggressive kiss. Karrin didn't break from it but instead seemed to fall into submission over time, and then one thing led to another.
An hour passed before they were finished. The room's smell filled with sexual scents as Zefer put his clothing back on, not caring for Karrin, who laid on to the ground out of breath in the nude with an arm covering her eyes. Her entire body glistened with sweat as she tried to catch her breath.
"Wow... where did that come from? That wasn't like last time... Is he having sex with other girls?" Karrin thought to herself as she moved her arm to see Zefer already leaving. "Wait.... wha? AGAIN!?" Karrin exclaimed with a whine before deciding to get up and get dressed. "Ugh... asshole." She complained.
"I'm late to class, but there is no helping it." Zefer remarked.
"Why not skip your afternoon classes and head to the gym to workout, master?" Ina asked since she didn't see any reason for Zefer to return to class.
"Hm... you got a point. I've already completed two parts of my [Daily Quest]. I can knock out the last at the gym and then head home for the cultivation part." Zefer agreed with Ina's suggestion and did just that, but just as he entered the gym, he found a blast of wind pushing him further into the gym.
It came from his blind spot behind him, so he didn't see it, which caused him to go flying into the center of the gym. Zefer growled low, wondering who hit him with such magic, but he saw it was none other than Ruth Gutter when he looked up.
"This guy again? Does he have a hard on for you or something? Like, I feel like there is some kind of secret crush he has on you or something." Ina said with an annoyed tone of voice since Ruth was beginning to piss her off.
"Zefer... Zefer... Zefer... Zefer..." Ruth repeated Zefer's name as he approached him with a disturbing grin. The doors behind him closed as a group of students began to enter the room. The group was none other than Ruth's cronies, with a few second and third-year students in the mix.
Ruth's gibbering self only seemed to make Ina's remark appear true; however, Zefer didn't care about that. He glared at Ruth, rather tired of these games as he got off the ground. "I'm going to kill you." Zefer said although it was internally.