Maragmus Lee didn't say anything, he simply continued to stare at the floor with his head down.
{I lost to the aura of a brat who had just awakened?....Me?...He gave me a warning?}
His ego had taken a major hit from Blaze's actions. Even more so, since the other guild leaders were present.
The other two however, didn't look at him with ridicule. No, they couldn't to be more precise. This was because, they were well aware that if they had made one wrong move; it would been them in Maragmus' place instead.
The three who were usually at each other's throats, at this moment just silently analysed their situation without casting a glance at each other.
Blaze patted Frore's back gently and Frore understood what Blaze wanted him to do. He hesitatingly loosed his hold on Blaze's waist. Blaze held his back with one arm and lifted him slightly of the ground, as if he was carrying a bag of fruits.Then they both disappeared into thin air.
----
Blaze had used "walking on air" to arrive at the front door of the association building and slowly let Frore down on the ground.
He could gone straight home without anyone noticing but of course, who in their right mind would let a chance at free publicity slip through their hands. Right?
Blaze took a tissue from his inventory and cleaned the sweat beads off of Frore's forehead, which had formed when he was trying to resist Maragmus' aura.
The people at the reception hall who had seen Frore and Blaze arrive there out of nowhere didn't have much of a reaction as they thought Blaze had teleported there or had used some other high-ranking skill. As it was standard for a S-rank's power and skills to be extra ordinary. It didn't provoke their interest, but it wasn't as if no one was looking at them.
There were many pairs of eyes looking at Blaze with envy and jealousy. That was to be expected though, as he was the first person in the world to have 'raised' his rank to S; rather than being naturally awakened with it. Blaze ignored them and continued to wipe Frore's face, but Frore had different thoughts as he sensed those gazes directed at Blaze.
{More people with negative emotions towards Blaze. Our enemies keep on increasing. I could not do anything to help Blaze earlier and they even used me as his weakness. To share his burdens, I have to get stronger.}
Even though Blaze could not read his mind, he could still guess what Frore might be thinking from his Blank expression.
Blaze had a great understanding of Frore's mindset, especially since Frore had not darkened and had yet to lose his innocence completely. His understanding had only increased since he started living together with him and became his 'teacher'.
He placed his palm with the tissue on Frore's cheek and said with a serious expression, " You don't need to worry about those guild leaders from before. Your growth rate is already exceptional, no need to push yourself. People like those, I can easily deal with them. Just focus on your daily training, don't think about any unnecessary stuff."
Blaze threw the tissue in his hand in the bin with perfect aim, without looking at it and Frore's eyes opened slightly wide with shock as he listened to Blaze's words.
Blaze chuckled a little while looking at his expression.
"If you are wondering whether I just read your mind, I did not. I can just tell certain things as your mentor, so believe me when I say that you can easily surpass those people with half a year of regular training."
{Of course, it's not only because of training but also because, unless some major changes occur; you would have acquired three elements by then. But you don't need to know that right now.}
Frore nodded his head.
"Now, do you remember what I told you about dealing with the reporters?"
".... Yes."
Frore was a bit embarrassed from getting his thoughts exposed so easily, by Blaze. But he liked it very much whenever Blaze smiled or laughed at his actions, because he could somehow tell that Blaze genuinely smiled only at him; at the others it was more like a formality so, he just let it go.
Frore chose to listen to Blaze and abandoned the thought of increasing the difficulty level of his training by several fold.
----
In the director's office.
Blaze had lifted his aura and disappeared with Frore in his embrace.
Sirus, who was glued to the floor because of Blaze's aura felt like a tank had just rolled on him and shakily stood up while feeling dizzy.
Hikaru and Louis had already reached a conclusion about their positions by then.
{If he decides to open a guild, it will become the top guild of the empire in no time. If that happens, he will become a tough opponent to beat.}
{He is not someone we can easily mess with. I would prefer to not make an enemy out of him.}
They had these thoughts respectively.
Maragmus was only blinded by the feelings of getting revenge and as such, he did not think much about his situation.
{This...humiliation. You will pay for it, you little bastard!}
This was the only thought in his head.
----
As soon as Blaze and Frore pushed open the door, they were bombarded with reporters taking their pictures and asking them various questions.
A female reporter pointed her mic towards Blaze and asked, "Mary for 'Aswalt Daily'. Mr. Blaze, I would like to congratulate you on becoming the 10th S-ranked hunter of the Empire. Have you already decided on which guild you would be joining?"
Blaze calmly replied.
"Thank you and no, I won't be joining any of the three top guilds."
Anther reporter asked, "Can you provide us with a reason?"
"Yes, certainly. It's because I have already thought of establishing my own guild."