Miss Caryla, the ever-present beautiful and elegant maiden is known to be practically an untouchable queen whose standards are higher than the sky. To actually not outright reject Robert was far more than any other young man could say.
Even other youths from Star Families failed to impress Miss Caryla. But then again, none of those youths managed to the Advanced Mage test or enter the Small Success stage of a Noble Mage Art.
But all these other gossip, rumors, and thoughts were ignored by Ervin. He perfectly blended into the crowd. Nobody there could ever notice the increasingly strange smile widening on his lips. 'Everything is going along just perfectly.'
It was at this time, that a change could be felt through the air.
Quite literally, a chill began to crawl up people's spines. Many voices and conversations began to die down at a rapid pace. All eyes snapped onto the entrance of the field.
The two big doors swung open. Stepping into the large field were two people who took everyone's breath away.
One was a man radiating a supremely unfathomable presence. He was powerful, exuding a momentum not a single person across the entire field could resist. In society, he stood seemingly like a king above all others.
Next to him was a maiden with a near identical supreme presence. She was just barely less intense than the unfathomable man, but nobody across the field could ever notice.
This beautiful maiden similarly stood at the top of all society. A queen that not a single person can even think of resisting.
In the Age Of Mages, powerful figures like this man and woman were the true leaders of society. The people who laid down the law and provided order for everyone under them.
The man was the principal of the standard academy. And the woman was the vice principal.
Both of them wore matching, luxurious robes depicting exotic symbols of magic that nobody there could possibly understand. Only the principal and vice principal could understand them.
With the attention solely on them, the vice principal brilliantly smiled. Her powerful voice echoed across the entire field. "I am so glad to be standing in front of the new Mages of tomorrow. To be a Mage is a reasonability needed all across society. We all expect for you...."
It was during this time of the Vice Principal's speech that Ervin began to tune her out completely. He heard the same spiel once and never needed to hear it again. Never once did anything they had to say interest him.
But what did highly intrigue him was the promised meeting between Robert and Carly. Shivers tingled up his spine for what was going to go down later today.
...
Hours quickly passed.
The Mage graduation ceremony didn't take too long. After the Vice-principal and principal's speeches, the crowd of students and even elders were genuinely moved.
They could feel the burning passion to serve society swirl through their souls. That moving atmosphere transferred over to when the graduates' families began to show up.
Many parent Mages and mortal parents could not be more proud of their children's crowning achievements.
Most who didn't have parents either had relatives or close friends that brought them into their families.
Others, such as the case with Ervin, did not have any relatives, parents, or friends of families. They were completely alone, secluded from the lively atmosphere of graduation.
Some were genuinely disheartened or even depressed at their loneliness. Others felt a fuel of determination to make a massive change in their lives.
For Ervin?
He cared little about being alone. There was one simple goal he had in mind when the ceremony finally ended. A goal that will further his overall dream of pursuing the Magical depths.
Hours later it was at this time that Ervin was seemingly walking some random sidewalk.
The sidewalk in question was coated in a rich blue paint that almost seemed like a glittering radiant light.
It wasn't just the sidewalk, but the buildings, stores, apartment complexes, rich houses and all of the sorts were gleaming in a fantastical magic light.
This was one but of the many benefits of the power of Magical energy. Magic made it possible to effortlessly clean up the dirt on the roads, turned anything ordinary into a beautiful sight, and even made the air feel far more refreshing than if one were outside the city.
Cars made from different kinds of magical sources flew about, and people who exuded noble temperament walked about in fancy groups and beautiful magical robes.
Ervin was still wearing the Mage graduate robe and graduate badge. The average person looked on in faint awe while other Mages had more interest in him than the average person.
None of what was going on around him could distract Ervin's attention. Where he was walking was actually parallel to another sidewalk a young man was walking down.
This young man in question was the exact same earnest Mage graduate that asked out Miss Carly, Robert.
Robert held an unstoppable smile as he confidently strolled down the radiant blue street. Nothing in the world could break down his confidence.
After months of extreme hard work, it was finally being paid off!
It even made him lower his guard just a bit, enough to not feel the usual tension when walking down the streets.
However, the tension wasn't entirely needed. The Mage graduate robe on him clearly indicates that he's now an Early Stage Novice Mage. No Non-Mage, no matter how desperate they are, would ever mess with a rookie Early Novice Mage.
With a few twists and turns, instead of making it to his noble home, Robert walked down a secluded street in this neighborhood.
Rarely anyone was in this section of the area, and the ones who were there quickly went back to the main street.
Robert took to this street and ended up in front of some sort of facility that was still clean from magic. But obviously hasn't been taken over by some sort of company yet.
Now being a Mage graduate, Robert didn't have to carefully sneak into this abandoned facility. Mages are given far more general permissions for what they stand for and represent society as a whole.
But even still, Robert used a specific secret entrance for old nostalgic sake. He was inside the facility without anyone noticing him going in.
The lone street only had a few passing people walking down, but many simply chose to ignore the abandoned facility.
Many except for one other Mage graduate.
Ervin walked right up to where Robert used the secret entrance to get in. He first searched around to make sure they were truly secluded. Once he saw that he was, he started his plan.
Instead of doing the exact same thing, Ervin closed his eyes.
His mind entered a state of complete focus. Once focusing, his mind began to feel ethereal, practically mystical sensations.
These kinds of sensations cannot be drawn from the ordinary parts of the human body. Instead, Ervin was focusing on the Magical Veins running through his body, linking his mind to the bottom part of his body, exactly where his Magical Core is located.
The moment Ervin had awakened his red-color Core, he already stepped into the Novice Mage realm.
But even before that, Ervin went beyond what was taught on the fundamentals of how to manipulate the Magical energy within their Magical Veins.
Ervin used days and nights to understand the feel of how to flow Mana throughout his body. He studied the sensation he felt when using his soul force, no matter how tiring it was.
With his red core awakened, Ervin not only had a greater supply of Mana to use, but he also had an easier time controlling his Mana, flowing it through his body and stimulating the ability deep within his genes!
Ervin, among all his peers, studied Mana control to an insane degree. His talent wasn't the best. Yet his sheer dedication to Mana learning allowed him to already have considerable control over his Mana.
He managed to flow his Mana deep into his blood, touching upon a specific point in just a couple of seconds.
'Complete Invisibility!'
Mana flooded Ervin's entire body!
Instead of a bright light show, a change engulfed every part of Ervin's body. His head, torso, arms, legs, everything about his physical body seemingly vanished!
Nobody could see Ervin nor could those with advanced Magical Senses even detect Ervin's life aura.
This was a specifically some Mages have. The power of an Innate ability.
Some of the luckier Mages' genes would allow them to use Mana to stimulate an inert ability or skill within their blood.
The process to even have the possibility of gaining an Innate ability is long and complicated. Ervin at least knows it had to do with the type of Mages the parents are along with a variety of other factors far too advanced for him at this time.
What Ervin focused on was the fact that Complete Invisibility was one of the best Innate abilities he could ever hope for.
Under his Complete Invisibility state, Ervin made zero noise as he perfectly phased right through the blocked-off door!
Complete Invisibility truly means an innate mastery over the magic of invisibility.
While Ervin could not fly, he had the innate control over when he wanted to phase his body through solid objects and make himself tangible. He's able to keep his invisible state while still touching solid objects!
The control was natural to him, as if was simply flexing a different muscle in his body.
Naturally, the trade-off was the fact that Ervin could only maintain this state for merely two minutes as of now. And this only counted if Ervin was staying still.
Moving, attacking or even using another Magical Art would severely drain him, shortening those two minutes into only seconds!
Time was of the essence.
Once he made it inside, Ervin was treated to an abandoned facility site.
Several floors were filled with nothing besides the remnants left behind of old technology. Scraps of these technologies still faintly glowed from a fading insignia symbol inscribed on it.
The magic technology was quite a wonder, being able to retain some sort of power even after a considerable amount of time.
Ervin didn't focus on this. He instead watched Robert climb up one of the remaining ladders to the second floor.
There, on this side of the floor was a beautifully, elegant maiden waiting for Robert to climb up.
At that moment, Ervin moved swiftly. His natural body was quite fit from his own training regime to become a Mage.
Upon Robert reaching the 2nd floor, it was easy for him to dash to the same ladder and quickly climb up.
Before anything could start, Ervin swiftly dashed straight towards a pillar near Robert and Miss Caryla. His two minutes were now drained to one minute with all that movement.
But to keep hold of this form for as long as possible, Ervin quickly took out a small blue vial from his pocket and ingested its content. Even under his invisible stage, Ervin could still touch whatever is on his body though the use of Mana.
He manipulated his Complete Invisibility to intake the vial while also making sure to keep his feet invisible to not leave behind any footprints and to keep his magical aura completely concealed.
The blue vial cost a tremendous sum of money. He had to give up so many paychecks for several of these things. It was expensive, yet with the Mana liquid seeping into his Magical Space, his depleted Magical Energy reserves were rapidly replaced.
As he drained the Mana vial, Ervin was still close enough to actually hear the conversation.
It was at the same time that Robert managed to reach up to Caryla. A wry smile curled his lips as he was sure he would've got here first. "I just never understand how you're always faster than me."
"That's a secret you're far away from ever figuring out." Caryla's blossoming smile was much more beautiful within here.
She began to let herself relax, let the tension in her body flow away as she talked with Robert. Such a sensation was always something she appreciated she could actually feel it from being around Robert.
Robert shook his head with a short chuckle. Afterward, he took a deep breath, the same earnest expression glowing on his face.
He spoke in the most sincere, honest tone he could possibly muster up. "Caryla, never a day goes by where I don't think of our promise. From this day onwards, I promise to be the best Enforcer our city ever had. For my own sake, your sake, and everyone else sake."
Caryla faintly trembled for a moment. Swells of emotions flowed through her mind. She couldn't stop herself. Her body moved on its own as she took Robert's hands into her own.
Pure, blossoming joy flowed out of her voice as she said, "Robert...I had always known-"
But her words would never be finished.
Right at the very moment she grabbed Robert's hands, Ervin made his move!
He greatly strained his Magical Core with his soul force, causing both his Complete Invisibility state to surge to its peak along with activating another mysterious power in his magical space.
Mana circulated through Ervin's body in a very specific way. It made a circulation that perfectly flowed into every corner of Ervin's internal body.
The power of this Mana circulation crazily amplified Ervin's body to inhuman levels!
There was no hesitation in any of Ervin's actions. He did not care about being some good guy or care in the slightest that he was what many others considered to be a villain or bad guy. All on his mind was accomplishing his goal.
In his amplified invisible state, he was already upon the duo before Caryla could finish her thoughts.
The knife in Ervin's hand was the only thing that became visible. With a force superior to even the most peak physically powerful human without Mana, the knife flashed a terrifying cold light of death!
The knife slashed out in two quick successions, so fast that it was simply impossible for the unaware Novice Mage Caryla and Robert to see.
'Chi!'
Two sprays of blood splashed out!
"A-" Muffled groans couldn't even properly give a horrified shriek.
Overwhelming pain, so much pain that it nearly shut down their minds assaulted Robert and Caryla's minds.
A horrific, gaping bloody hole was now sprayed out on their throats!