He said it in a casual tone but in his mind, he was quite saddened by the fact. Although not having an element made him considerably weaker than his peers in terms of magic, he didn't specialize in magic anyway, and that didn't mean he couldn't use basic spells either.
Although he had come to terms with the ay things were in his head, to everyone else in the room this was quite a big shock. 9/10 people are born with an elemental affinity and very rarely someone may be born with 2. Although not having an element doesn't mean one can't use magic, it limits the range of magic they can use.
Seeing this as a chance to finally cut in, Akai who hadn't had the chance to speak ever since Owen started ignoring him for the 'commoner', burst out laughing as loud as he could.
Owen and the boy in front of him jumped slightly by the sudden outburst of noise.
"No wonder you're speaking to that freak like an equal, you're just as bad as him! Having an element is essential in the path to becoming the strongest! Why are you even here! You'd do much better at farming or some lower-class job like that if you can't even use an element! Haha!"
The blue-haired youth had finally had enough of Akai and raised his hands once more to reveal a web of lightning as he pounced towards Akai, his hands coated in lightning. But, before he could get anywhere, he felt something on his shoulder weighing him down and stopping him from moving.
He turned around to see Owen's defeated smile as he shook his head. He was about to retort but after seeing Owen's face turn cold he clicked his tongue and turned away from Akai.
Although Akai hadn't expected to be rushed and saved like that, he still cast his fireball at frightening speed, although smaller and weaker than the previous one he was still ready to intercept the lightning mage. But after watching Owen stop the boy he had a weird feeling. His hairs stood on end and a cold chill was sent flying down his spine like a gush of water. He hadn't known when but, his body suddenly felt cold and he found it difficult to move as freely. He subconsciously poured more magic into his fireball out of fear.
He looked down to see the source of this feeling was Owen. Owen was looking at him with a cold glare, in the depths of his bright silver eyes, a sharp glint of red flashed in his iris'. After a short amount of time he looked away from Akai and back to the boy who had moved beside him, his expression disappearing immediately as if it had never existed.
Akai on the other hand was frozen like a statue as he stared at Owen's back. He didn't know what that feeling was but he definitely didn't want to feel it again. He felt like the whole world had frozen and he was alone in an endless void with Owen in front of him. Behind Owen was the giant head of a lion that looked like it would pounce at any given moment. Owen's silver eyes resembled the sharp tip of a dagger as they were the only source of light in this endless void.
When Owen looked away everything immediately returned to normal, only the physiological effect remained in Akai's mind. He grit his teeth and balled his hands into fists as he looked down at the ground to hide his terrified expression. He could hide his face but he couldn't stop his body from trembling madly.
This shocked Obe and made him feel a trace of fear and reverence towards Owen. Not only had a simple glare from Owen made the proud, high, and might Akai look down. It had also made Akai tremble like a lost cub.
'I've never seen Akai lower his head to anyone but his father and his older brother! Even in front of his seniors, he would look them dead in the eye instead of lowering his head!'
…Strong. That's all that Obe could think of Owen after this event.
On the other hand, Akai who was trembling madly was raging inside.
'I can't believe that a common place like him could make me feel such fear! And those eyes! They were almost like… like Big brothers.'
He clicked his tongue as he thought about his elder brother's cold and disappointed gaze. No matter what he did, his elder brother would always give him those derogatory eyes. He recalled the day he had first made a fireball. He was so excited to show it to his brother but when he did he had lost control and the fireball increased in size and went flying toward his brother. If not for the bodyguards at the time, the fireball would have hit his brother's face and disfigured him. The bodyguard on the other hand had lost his whole right arm to the flames.
He was only 6 at the time but ever since then, his elder brother would always treat him like he was an embarrassment and became better than him in every aspect. There was an unmovable wall placed between the two.
Akai's nails almost dug into his skin.
'If father ever found out that a nobody like this who doesn't even wield an element made me feel this way…'
He couldn't even continue his train of thought as a shiver went down his spine once more and he shuddered at the thought.
On the other side of the room, Owen was talking peacefully with Hu Tao, the blue-haired youth, and it seemed like they were getting along quite well.
For the rest of the night, Owen and Hu Tao had formed a bond with one other and Akai hadn't spoken a word since Owen's glare.
Owen almost didn't sleep at night as he stared at the ceiling in a dream-like state picturing his parents all night. This was a common thing to him and his caretakers had even called him a vampire because of it when he was younger, he would spend the day sleeping and at night he would go out and train with his sword until late when he would daydream about his parents.
Owen's parents had died when he was one so he couldn't remember their faces, he had to use pictures to find out what his parents looked like, problem was, his parents hated having their pictures taken, they only had 2 pictures in their house. One was the picture of their wedding day and the other was a picture of them holding the small baby Owen.
'Mom, Dad… I made it to the military. I promise you that I'll work hard and become stronger, when I do ill make sure that everyone knows our family name!'
With that thought, Owen's consciousness finally faded and he had fallen asleep.
Unfortunately for him, this wasn't his house, it was the military. And in the military, they got up very early in the morning to start classes. Owen had fallen asleep at four in the morning, but as soon as it hit six a loud alarm woke him up.
'Oh for crying out loud.'