As Grey confidently addressed the class, Wendy Sherville, a vivacious girl known for her fascination with capturing moments on her camera, could no longer hold her curiosity.
She had a question for Grey.
"You're around the same age as us, and yet I've been hearing stories about you since we were kids – the child prodigy from the NewGate clan, born with the aura of the Azure Emperor and developing over five magic techniques before you were twelve!"
A casual smirk played at the corners of Grey's lips as Wendy finished speaking.
He idly picked at his ear as he listened to her, then extracted his pinky finger, blowing off the wax that was on the tip.
"Yeah, that's pretty much true," Grey replied nonchalantly.
Wendy's eyes widened with eager anticipation as she fired off another question, "So, what's your magic rank now? I've heard rumors, but I want to hear it from you."
Shortly after, hushed murmurs started spreading across the room.
"How high do you think his magic rank will be...?"
"Pretty high if he's the child prodigy."
"It shouldn't be any higher than Sera or Olivia, they have one of the highest magic ranks that's attainable for a student."
"Aren't a few other girls in that category too?"
"Wait, really?"
With a casual shrug, Grey let out a chuckle and answered, "Well, I'm actually a Titan-ranked mage."
The casual response was met with stunned silence, before everyone in the class collectively blurted out, "What?!"
For clarity,
There were 7 magic rankings that a mage could attain. These ranks determined the strength and abilities of the mages.
In ascending order of difficulty they were:
Tiger Rank, Wolf Rank, Eagle Rank, Phoenix Rank, Dragon Rank, Titan Rank and God Rank.
The difference in scale, mana consumption, and complexity varied greatly between all these divisions. Initially, a mage's rank was determined by their mana capacity but then "refinement" became a thing. It had to deal with how refined one's magic technique was irregardless of their mana capacity, and as a result, the ranks focused mainly on two things: Mana Capacity and Quality of the Magic Technique.
In Lyronia Magic Academy, students progressed from classes 1 to 3 (final year).
A student in class 1 was usually a Tiger to Wolf-ranked mage.
A student in class 2 was usually a Wolf to Eagle-ranked mage.
And finally, at class 3 you were expected to be either an Eagle-ranked mage who was at the pinnacle of his discipline or in the inaugral stages of being a Phoenix-ranked mage.
The academy didn't demand much as they knew not everyone could cross into the Boundary of the Revered Three.
The Boundary of the Revered Three were the three highest ranks (God, Titan and Dragon) in the ranking system.
Anyone who managed to cross here were referred to as "Mystic Paragons".
Wendy, struggling to keep her excitement in check, managed to weakly lift her camera to take a photograph of Grey, the lens trembling in her hands.
But before she could capture the moment, Grey smirked and continued, "Technically, I'm a God-ranked mage."
"Huh?" Velkris said.
Grey lifted out a finger. "If I were to fight a God-ranked mage..." his smirk turned into a grin. "I'd win."
The revelation elicited an uproar from the class, disbelief struck their faces.
"He's so sure of himself!"exclaimed a student from the back.
Another said, "That son of a bitch looked so cool when he said that!"
"I wish I was him..."
Others exchanged incredulous glances.
Meanwhile,
Wendy, who was still bewildered by Grey's words, lifted her camera once again, continuously snapping pictures of Grey.
The flash was so relentless that Grey had to shut his eyes momentarily to block it.
Chuckling at her fervor, he interjected, "Hey, hold on a sec, Wendy. That's enough for now!"
However, Wendy was completely unaware that she was taking photographs.
She was lost; the fact that someone her age was already a Mystic Paragon was astounding.
Grey slid his hands into his pockets.
The murmurs about his extraordinary magical rank continued to buzz around the room.
'Jeez, anything will surprise these guys...'
Grey may have thought of this as them overreacting, but they had every right to.
Some magic users (mages) would never even be able to hit Phoenix Rank even at the age of 30 (the age where their magic power would hit its peak) as there were a lot of factors to be considered. One factor that was a general rule of thumb when selecting rank was genes. Because of that, Grey who had genes was basically born to be the strongest in his clan.
As such, he was a Phoenix-ranked mage the moment he crawled out of his mother's womb.
Suddenly, Velkris, the class instructor and an esteemed mage himself, rose from his seat.
"Alright class, that's enough of that... We have a lot of things to cover for this term's curriculum, so we need to start as early as possible."
Adjusting his glasses, he made his way over to Grey, placing a hand on the young student's shoulder.
In response, Grey's eyes widened, and in an unexpected turn of events, he tightened his grip around Velkris's face, catching everyone off guard.
"I'll kill you," Grey murmured under his breath.
His abrupt action sent gasps rippling through the class.
However, just as quickly as it had started, Grey hesitated, casting a quick glance around the room, his expression faltering.
Realizing his outburst, Grey promptly released his hold on Velkris.
He couldn't tell what had gotten into him.
"I'm sorry; I didn't get enough sleep," Grey muttered, a flash of regret crossing his face.
To the astonishment of the class, Velkris remained unperturbed, a nervous chuckle escaping him.
"I wouldn't stand a chance if you really wanted to do me in," Velkris remarked.
Up close, he recognized Grey's formidable strength.
Clearing his throat, he continued, "Apology accepted, Mister NewGate. How about finding a place to sit, huh?"
"Right, yeah, I'll do that," Grey replied, straightening himself.
As Grey scanned the room, his gaze froze.
'No! No! No! There's no way this is her class, it doesn't make any sense! What the hell is she doing here?!'
At the back corner of the right side of the classroom, Olivia sat composed, adjusting her camcorder, oblivious to the commotion.
It was now evident...
All the while the other students shouted at the top of their voice out of surprise for Grey's magic rank she was conserved.
There was still that bored, unentertained look in her eyes.
'Wait a minute, I do recall her saying she was in class 2-A when she introduced herself... Damn it! Why does it have to be her, I m... Wait a minute, why am I complaining like I'm gonna be obligated to talk with her, if anything, the closest we'll come to communicating is if I asked her for a pen.'
He then looked at the number of students in the class.
'And that... Doesn't seem likely.'
Meanwhile,
In the opposite rear corner, Elsinia flashed a radiant grin and waved at Grey, indicating an empty seat in front of her.
Grey stood motionless, contemplating his options.
There were a few open seats in the class, so he had about four choices in total.
'Elsinia looks like she's the best option.'
A sigh escaped the young man's breath.
No one had to tell him, it was going to be a stressful semester.
But his time in the school had only just begun.
Grey adjusted his backpack on one shoulder and walked over to go join Elsinia in the rear corner where she was seated.
The class instructor watched as Grey moved, he remained seated on his chair as he briefly recalled the tight grip Grey fixed on his face.
'That kid...'
Velkris adjusted his glasses and smiled.
His spectacles were already in bad shape from Grey's actions earlier.
However, he was truly not angry... just intrigued.
"This'll be an interesting school year," he muttered to himself.