On the first floor of the school library, a student sat on a chair as she flipped to the final pages of her book.
Liz closed the book in front of her as a sigh escaped her mouth. She was exhausted from having to read all day for the upcoming exams.
She hadn't even seen her friends all day because she had remained in the library.
The library floor was almost empty as she was one of the two students present. The second was a senior a few meters away from her.
"I should go out now."
Rumble.
As if in agreement, Liz's stomach rumbled.
It didn't take an extra second before she rose from the chair, the book in her hand as she headed to the bookshelf to return it.
She thought for a moment before choosing. "The main cafeteria it is."
The main cafeteria stood close to the dorms as it was where most of the people lived. Even the teachers' quarters were close by.
As she made her way there, she met students also heading there.
At first, it seemed normal until she arrived and met an abundance of students trying to get inside.
There wasn't any announcement about a high-ranking mage visiting the school nor was there news of a royalty visiting.
As she made her way inside, she heard a call.
"Liz!"
"Hey! Liz!"
Liz quickly turned to see who was calling her name and was surprised by who she saw.
"Weren't you with them?" The new person asked.
"Oh, my lady, it's you."
"By them, do you mean Seth and Taro?" Liz asked.
"Yes, them." Raela nodded her head.
"I haven't seen them today," Liz answered, her eyes still dancing around, looking for answers to why students were abnormally gathered here.
"I see. I thought you were with them." Raela replied, her eyes also moving around the students.
"Excuse me my lady, but what's with the gathering?"
"It's only right you're confused since you weren't with them," Raela answered, walking closer to the entrance with Liz following behind her.
"Apparently, Seth had purchased food worth over four thousand gold coins along with Taro and then paid for others as well."
"Those we see here are those who heard of it and want to partake in the free food event." Raela replied. She had been here a couple of minutes before Liz arrived so she had made her findings.
"Where did he get that much only to waste it on food!?" Liz exclaimed, genuinely stunned by what she had just heard.
'Damn it! They ate without me!' Those were her inner thoughts as she followed behind Raela. The students paved the way for Raela as she made her way into the cafeteria.
"Excuse me…" Raela arrived in front of the counter, planning to ask about what had happened.
"What would you like to order?" The lady answered.
"Pardon?"
"Hey, stop holding up the line." Someone yelled from behind.
"Gimme a minute, will you?" Raela yelled back at the person who had just spoken up.
When those behind saw who was at the front, the queue went silent. They intended to give her what she required as respect for her position.
"I just wanted to know if my brother, Seth, really spent four thousand gold coins here." Raela asked the lady.
"He spent four thousand five hundred before leaving over an hour ago." The lady replied, correcting the statement. She had been the one to attend to Seth.
"How did he pay such a huge amount?" Raela asked, looking for proof.
"I don't know but he didn't pay physically. He showed a card issued only by the principal. All items gotten by the card are to be paid by the principal."
"Oh, I see now. The black card issued by the principal." Raela nodded.
'He gets one and the first thing he does is spend so stupendously on food?' Raela asked angrily.
'I might have to teach him some manners.' She turned to leave the line.
"My lady, could you give me a minute, I'm hungry and I don't think I can hold it any longer." Liz voiced out before Raela could move further.
A sigh escaped Raela's mouth. "Fine. I haven't eaten either and since it's free food, courtesy of my little brother, let's order."
She turned back to face the lady at the counter.
♠♠♠♠♠
"Achoo!"
Seth sneezed as he worked out inside his training room.
It would take Raiden another hour to get here as Seth had arrived very early for a reason.
The food he had eaten was something gotten from special creatures. Creatures that could utilize mana. Mana beasts.
Their meat could store mana and eating such regularly could increase the quantity and quality of one's mana, especially at the beginning stages.
Seth planned to use this as an excuse to level up. He would alter his seal so his mana level would only be at Class Two now.
If the principal asked how it happened, he could as well just say it was a combination of the pressure from the Reaper's case along with the excess mana in the food he consumed without any knowledge.
There would be no suspicion as there are instances of both happening in the past.
There were people who rose by a class after facing a very life-threatening situation as well as others who rose to the next class from just eating the meat of high-class mana beasts.
He had tweaked the seals so they could only provide him power and mana slightly higher than an average Class Two mage.
All he had to do now was act like he was training and getting used to the new mana level and upgrade it to his body.
"I think I'll have to go out soon. I've been stuck acting like a weakling for far too long. Although it's fun and a great experience, it's tiring and makes it a bit hard to adjust to my full power immediately after I switch."
He had to come up with a solution, an excuse as to why he wanted to leave the institute for a while. That would take a while since he could only do so after the upcoming exams.
"The principal might choke on his saliva when he finds out I spent that much on food. Even he doesn't get to eat that much except when he probably visits the royal family or welcomes a very important guest."
Seth had a proud smile on his face as he wasn't even aware Raiden had appeared.
"What's with the wicked smile?"
Seth's smile vanished as he turned around to see his teacher who had just entered.
"I didn't let my guard down but I didn't notice your arrival. How come?" Seth asked, rather impressed by Raiden's action of concealment.
Well, it was a given that a Class Two mage wouldn't be able to sense the concealed arrival of any mage of a higher class.
Was Seth a Class Two mage?
At the moment, yes, he was. Although he was an anomaly for any other Class Two, he remained one.
"You don't expect to sense a concealed me while you're still a Class…"
That's when Raiden noticed the change in his student's body.
"You've leveled up. Congratulations." He said with a grin and a clap of his hands.
"Thanks. With this, I'm a step closer to beating you." Seth said proudly.
"The next step might cost a few months or years though." Raiden chuckled.
"How did you achieve it?" He asked curiously. He wanted to know how Seth had arrived at Class Two even before his fifteenth birthday, something only one other person in history had done.