*Boom*
A loud explosion sounded from the hill. The sound was so loud that it spread from the hill towards the academy, causing a commotion among the students
"What was that? Is it another monster rampage?'
"Come on man. Don't jinx things like that. We haven't even recovered from the last one"
"I see it! It's at the open field on the hill" a student pointed toward the hill where the dark clouds were gathering
"To cause that phenomenon, someone should be undergoing a demi-god strength trial"
"A demi-god strength trial? And it's even with lightning?!"
"What?! Lightning?!"
"Um sir, isn't that the…" Ajax turned towards the hill
"Yup, it should be them. I guess the concealment array broke" Mr. Iason nodded
The news of the human demi-god with the lightning element instantly spread across the academy like wild fire
"Mr. Zissis, what is this news I hear about a human containing the lightning element advancing to be a demi-god right under my nose?" Mr. Philippos, the dean of the academy, said to the man standing before him
"I don't know. Maybe you should ask Stylianos or Iason" Mr. Zissis creased his forehead
"Anyways, that doesn't matter right now. I want you to keep a tight lid on this. The cardinal families must not hear of it" Mr. Philippos said
"I'll try my best. But I'm not making any promises" Mr. Zissis said before walking away
…
"Uh, which of you is the fastest?" Mr. Stylianos asked
"That should be Aster" Andrian said
"Okay. Take this, go and buy…"
"I take it back. My mistake. Send Aella" Andrian said, cutting off Mr. Stylianos
"Aster is going to kill you" Tana chuckled
"You slow turtle! Do you mean I have a low social intelligence?!" Aster yelled at Andrian
"Who do you think you're calling a slow turtle, you slow-witted dumbass" Andrian face contorted into that of anger
"You want some?" Aster cracked his knuckles as lightning began to flicker around him
"Oh, I'm gonna give you a hard time" Dark energy began to seep out of Andrian
"Knock it off you two" Aella knocked their head, sending them both to the ground
"*Sigh* Whoever is going should buy some masks with this at the central market" Mr. Stylianos brought out some money
"I'll go" Aella took the money and disappeared
"You, don't think this is over yet" Aster picked himself up from the ground while staring at Andrian
…
Meanwhile, although the academy tried their beast to keep a tight lid don the information about the demi-god, the was still no match for the information network of the cardinal families.
"Sir, our source at ace academy said a human is advancing to become a demi-god. Also, he or she is undergoing the lightning trial" a young man reported to his boss. it was evident that the boss was the lord of one of the four cardinal families because of the number of bodyguards situated around him
"A demi-god undergoing the lightning trial?" the boss furrowed his brows.
As lightning was considered the strongest Nature element after nature, any magus that underwent a lightning strength trial and came out successful was deemed to be very strong. Since the supposed human is advancing to becoming a demi-god, he or she is going to be explicitly strong. That is why everyone was going nuts at the mention of the lightning trial
"Hmm. Take some men with you and meet up with him to recruit him. Make sure he comes back with you" The boss ordered "He belongs to the North"
At the South, East and West, the same thing occurred
"A demi-god!! Fast, gather the elite squad to recruit him. Make sure he follows you"
"Sir, if he doesn't comply?"
"Isn't it obvious? You kill him. Now go"
"Yes sir"
…
~Am I supposed to worry about that? ~ Orpheus stared at the lightning looming down on him
"Um, can you guys help me out? Even if it's just a little?" Orpheus stared at the two blades in his hands
The blades began to shine in a faint light as though they understood him but it seemed it was already too late
*Boom*
"Orpheus! Hang in there!" Tana yelled
"He's not moving" Andrian muttered
"Shit! I'm going over there" Aster tried to teleport but was stopped by someone's voice
"You're still alive, aren't you? Let's just believe in him" the voice said
"Aella, why'd you come back so fast?" Andrian turned to Aella
"Humans are so dumb." Aella began to narrate her ordeal "I went to the shop and saw a sign that said; 'Animal masks – Yours to take.' So, I walked into the shop and picked five masks and walked away"
"Oh no. I think sending her was a big mistake" Andrian muttered
"All of a sudden, I saw ten guys throwing spells at me while pursuing me which made me to use my fastest speed to get here" Aella said
"Let's not worry about that. At least, her face wasn't seen" Mr. Stylianos said "Did you get the masks?"
"Yep" Aella brought out five masks from her coat
"Okay, put them on and stay on standby"
"Get lost you motherf***ing son of a b*tch!!" Orpheus yelled
"Wow. He withstood that one" Sirius stared at Orpheus in admiration"
"Sirius, we have to go now. You'll send the orders to the others through telepathy" Mr. Stylianos said in a hushed tone
"This is why I told you to learn telepathy but you said it was useless" Sirius muttered
"Did you say something?"
"No, I didn't" Sirius forced a laugh
"Let's go"
*Bang*
"Whoa! Is nature trying to kill me?" Orpheus stared at the crater behind him before turning to the sky
Giving no time for Orpheus to rest once more, a yellow lightning shot out from the sky towards Orpheus
"Wrong choice" Orpheus grinned as the twin daggers turned into two familiar crossbows. The crossbows shot ten arrows made of the dark element before the lightning could gain any distance to Orpheus
He then took out his chained blades and swung them at the lightning, creating a black sword wave that flew behind the arrows
*Darkness Slash
The ten arrows hit the lightning one after the other and began to chip away its energy until only little was left. After that, the remaining energy of the lightning collided with the dark sword wave that followed the arrows before disappearing completely
"Hehehe. Bring it on" Orpheus laughed as two axes appeared in his hands
…
…
"it seems the families caught a whiff of the information and have immediately dispatched men to the field" Mr. Zissis told Mr. Philippos
"It seems we have no choice then. Gather some men and go over there to negotiate with them. If it becomes non-negotiable… you fight" Mr. Philippos said
"Going against the cardinal families is like going on a kamikaze operation. We don't even know if the hidden one will show up" Mr. Zissis protested
"Does it look like we have a choice? Losing this demi-god will be like losing the future if Ace Academy. It is also hard for me" Mr. Philippos held his head in his hands "You know what? If it is a battle you cannot win, retreat. That will be all for now"
"Okay" Mr. Zissis walked away
"If fate wills it, this academy will have ten demi-gods, making it a major powerhouse. If not, I'll have to accept it that way" Mr. Philippos muttered
…
"Let us set camp here. We'll move immediately after the last strike of lightning" a man addressed about 30 magi behind him
"Yes sir"
"Matt, pick five magi of the dark element and go to the magus advancing. Once his trial is over, send a messenger to us" the man said to Matt, a high-level advanced magus
"Yes sir" he saluted before melting into his shadow
"That demi-god belongs to us, the East family" the man muttered with a smug smile on his face
…
"Whew! It's remaining four more lightning strikes" Orpheus said while panting slightly "You know, it funny how the remaining four elements coincides with the elements of the four guardian be… oh shit!"
Thunder began to rumble once more before a streak of white lightning shot towards Orpheus.
~Is it possible to give up this trial? I feel like that lightning is going to transform into… ~ His eyes went wide with shock as the lightning transformed into four white tigers with electricity sizzling around them
"Must you listen to every word I say?!" Orpheus yelled while staring at the sky
[Stop complaining and fight. I feel like you'll get something good out of this]
~How the hell am I supposed to fight? It's like fighting four Aellas at once ~
[I don't know. You can fight fire with fore or something like that]
~Hmm. Fight fire with fire. Okay, got it ~ Orpheus transformed the two axes in his hands into two scythes with lightning flickering on them
"Come at me if you have the balls" he joined the scythes at the hilt, forming a two-bladed scythe
*Roar*
The four tigers roared as they ran towards Orpheus, surrounding him on both sides. One of the tigers pounced on Orpheus, swiping a paw at him while carrying a wind turbulence. The paw was so fast that it disturbed the space around it
"Let's fight fire with fire. Come on!!" Orpheus yelled as another tiger opposite him swiped its paw
[Teleport! Now!]
Shadow teleport!
Orpheus disappeared and appeared a distance away from the two tigers
*Boom*
The paws of the two tigers clashed, creating a massive shockwave that blew Orpheus away. Orpheus stood up with bruises all over his body and pointed his scythe at the four tigers before him
The white part of the two-bladed scythe began to glow as he raised it up before performing a vertical slash, releasing a sword wave towards the beasts. The sword waves split up into eight waves after closing the distance between it and the beasts
The tigers gave Orpheus a mocking stare before waving their paws, releasing sword waves of their own towards the eight sword waves
The waves the emerged from the beasts' paws met with Orpheus' sword waves and cancelled each other out.
~The hell! ~ Orpheus stared at the scene before him with wide eyes
[Orpheus, the opposite of Chaos slash!]
~What do you mean 'the opposite of chaos slash? Oh, that ~ Orpheus gripped tightly on the scythe before swinging the white part horizontally, launching a circular sword wave that expanded as it got closer to the targets
Seeing the sword wave, the tigers began to ram into each other before merging with a flash of lightning. A second later, a large tiger made of lightning stood before Orpheus, who stared at the newly formed tiger with dread in his eyes.
"Well, shit" Orpheus muttered