(Julius Argenti POV)
Weeks passed, and all I did for the summer holidays was relax and train. Occasionally I would drop by SUITE to help with some work as they were short-staffed and even took an assassination mission.
The target was a few criminals with the best only being D rank which I swiftly disposed of. Recently there have been fewer low-rank mages leading gangs and committing crimes.
SUITE and the government have been on a witch hunt, killing all these mages. To protect themselves, these mages seek shelter in more prominent organisations such as Vision and Ataxia.
Also, these organisations have been rapidly assimilating even mages who don't want to join them giving them an ultimatum of either death or subservience.
This makes our job both harder and easier. It is easier because fewer crimes are occurring but harder. After all, when they do occur, they are on a bigger scale with a higher risk of civilian casualties. They are also much harder to find.
On one Saturday morning, my sleep was interrupted by the sound of Amina whining. I quickly got up to see what the fuss is about.
"Noooo, I don't wanna go!"
"Amina you're not a baby. Stop whining. We have the same conversation every year and you still end up going. I don't like either, but it's mandatory."
This was the first time I have seen Amina act like a child. Whatever function they were going to, she definitely hated it.
"You could also take Julius."
Umbra noticed me eavesdropping from behind the door and pulled me into the conversation.
"Where are we going anyway?"
"To the end of year party for the nobles. All nobles have to attend."
Amina spat out the words with a disgusted look on her face.
"That doesn't seem so bad."
"NO! It's the worst. It's full of arrogant with a superiority complex because of their bloodline. They believe they are superior to everyone else."
"The only nobles you've met are in sector A. They don't bully any of the 'commoners' because they cannot afford to. If they have time to do that, they are better off training. But sector B down, the noble love to bully others."
"Then I don't want to come."
"You should, Julius. You'll eventually have to deal with the nobles when you become an S rank. It's better to learn earlier."
Umbra stare made it so I couldn't refuse. When he insisted on something, there was no backing out of it. Amina was the same in that regard. I sighed as I prepared for the worst.
***
That evening, we arrived at the venue dressed to the nines. We had to wear formal aristocratic clothing. It was extremely uncomfortable and difficult to move in.
I, along we the rest of the Moria family confidently entered the building.
As soon I entered, I felt like I was hit by a sledgehammer. I tried to manipulate mana in my body but it was responding dozens of times slower than normal.
Manipulating the mana in the atmosphere was practically impossible. I felt like I lost a limb when my mana sensing was suddenly cut off. I tried to hide the pain I felt.
"This building is being protected by a mana disrupter. It disturbs the mana in the atmosphere and slows all manipulation of mana. This function has thousands of mages. It's a precautionary measure."
Umbra immediately noticed me wince.
"Then why does it hurt so much?"
"It's probably because you have far better mana-sensing abilities than your rank. You don't have the corresponding power to resist the effects."
Eventually, the pain lessened as I got used to not being able to 'see' with mana. We took a seat at our reserved table which was near the front because of our importance.
Usually, in crowded events like this, I could easily detect the relative power levels of most people there, but not being able to do so put me on edge.
I saw noble children our age mingling around the snack table while chatting with each other. Though you could theoretically sit in the corner and do nothing, if you didn't want to be an outcast with no friends, it was better to start networking.
It was important for nobles to have allies. They could lift some pressure off you if you don't satisfy the requirements of being noble for a short while. The were many other benefits as well.
Amina reluctantly got up and started socialising. The Moria was one of, if not the most prominent noble family of this generation, surpassing even the 15 royals.
They had the most S ranks in a single family being 3 while also having an extremely talented next generation.
However, the Moria family didn't have many allies as it was a relatively young family that only started from Umbra Moria himself and didn't have deep roots.
As we walked, we were interrupted by a young man. He seemed to be our age, if not slightly younger.
"Miss Amina, may I speak with you privately? I am Micheal Simmons."
He may have a dazzling smile, but I could read his ill intentions from a thousand miles away.
"No."
Amina gave a short curt reply before walking along. This noble must've never been rejected like this before as I saw his eye twitching.
He wore extremely fancy clothes adorned with expensive jewellery. He must have been from a prominent noble family.
To his credit, he didn't immediately lash out. Though, Amina's identity was extremely sensitive and attacking her was the same as attacking the Moria family.
"Miss Amina I insist. I'm sure we could have an engaging conversation. I would love to get to know a mage as talented as yourself. You don't need to bother with a commoner like him."
He sure has an eloquent way of speaking. He must've noticed from my mannerisms that I wasn't a noble.
I could feel Amina inwardly raging. She couldn't hurt him either as the party was also from a prominent noble family. It has existed for centuries with 2 S ranks currently in its ranks.
"See what I have to deal with?"
Amina whispered in my ear. Micheal was constantly harassing Amina and I knew she was about to snap.
I tried to scare him off with my {Haki} but thanks to the mana disrupter, it didn't work. As I tried to think of a way to get rid of him, an idea quickly popped into my mind.
"Why don't you use {Ruler's Haki} to send him away? It might work."
I soon as I mentioned it to Amina, she had a thoughtful expression on her before immediately attempting to do so.
An invisible pressure enveloped him and Micheal instantly became docile. He looked at Amina full of admiration.
"Go away."
With Amina speaking those two words, the persistent noble was immediately sent away.
As we got to the buffet to get some food, we noticed many nobles swarming around two people.