Chapter Eighteen: His Presence
Class had been as usual, the students of Class 11-B had bored looks as they repeated after the language teacher.
Suddenly, the air around them became heavy and a girl at the next class screamed. A cold feeling engulfed the students and they shivered in their seats.
An SSS-Rank Mage was in their midst and as usual, the presence was highly intimidating especially to those of lower ranks or essence. Layla knew the feeling all too well and couldn't move in her seat.
Alexandria Feloncia sprung to his feet, looking outside the door. There must be a reason the Mage let his presence affect them this much.
"Excuse me!" He said to the language teacher, that already hid under the table. Outside his door, the presence became denser and Alexandria stopped, looking towards Sir Zenith's office.
"Alez! Let's go!" He yelled inside the class.
Alez gave him a look. The 'don't bring me into this' look but Alexandria left the door before Alez could say the words.
Alexandria marched towards the office, a string of sparks cackled around his form and lessened the effect the intimidating presence had on him.
"S-Class is… even more powerful…. than I thought." He reached the door and struggled to knock. "We don't… deserve such… a teacher!... Sir Zen—"
A loud crashing sound drowned his voice and it sounded like tornadoes crashing on a metallic object, wringing and twisting it. Alexandria fell back, but Alez held him up. "Be steady!"
They opened the door when they felt the slightest relief, but their teacher was gone. The screams of the security guard confirmed that the metallic object that had been damaged was the proud gate of Gaden High.
Alexandria fell to the ground when his legs gave up on him. Alez did the same even if he didn't feel so weak.
They both tried to regulate their quick breaths but the fear remained. The fear that the news would get to the media and bring public eyes towards the school.
The crazy part would be if Anti-Mage organizations send hate to Sir Zenith and other mages for not caring about the students' safety, as if the students weren't also mages. They used every chance they got.
"Look." Alez pointed at four bands on the table. "Your older brother used these, doesn't he?" He searched for a writing on the metallic bands. "These are the real deal too. They're not fake."
Alexandria's head was down as he thought of all the problems this will cause. "Sir Zenith obviously left to handle something important. Removing four bands, he's probably at SSS-Rank now."
Alez shuddered unconsciously as he heard that. The presence of an SSS-Rank could override the brain of a D-Rank Mage and lower if they had low stamina. Thankfully, the D-Ranks in their class didn't have low stamina.
Sir Zenith's office was at the end of the hall so the damage would only reach Class 11-B, Class 11-A, and Class 10. Those classes would have D-Rank Mages but with good stamina that could save their brain.
The girl that shouted early might be an unlucky case of having low stamina. Thankfully, having her brain overridden wouldn't kill her, she'd only pass out.
Alez left the ground, and stretched a hand for Alexandria to leave the ground. Alexandria didn't budge, staring outside the window.
Alez sighed, walking towards the door. "You are acting like he ran away. Let's go back to class."
"If I was his apprentice, we'd have done this together." Alexandria suddenly said.
Alez gritted his teeth. Was that what he should be concerned about? "I'm out of here, dumbass!"
Alexandria sighed and quickly followed him. He had a plan, a plan that could possibly make sure Sir Zenith would be allowed to keep working at Gaden High, but he needed the other students to agree to it.
***
Zenith glanced at his wristwatch for the nth time and kept on walking, he had realized the size of the wind he created had grown to be a minor disaster level. It wasn't a wind anymore but a tornado, but he barely knew the difference. As long as it did what he wanted it for.
"I might've gotten used to being S-Rank that I didn't notice I created something like that." He clicked his tongue and turned down another street.
He'd just call his agency and tell them to repair the damages done. Easy. A mage mostly left damages, they weren't heroes who cared for public opinion.
He reached a street, and didn't find any other person. The first two streets had been like that with no one around. The villain must've controlled the civilians to another place.
"He seems quite nice to want to have a showdown with me, if he doesn't want any other person suffer for it." Zenith slowly lost interest.
Could it be a case of Mages trying to challenge him only to see the difference between them and an SSSSS-Rank Mage? He wouldn't be coming to them in his SSSSS-Rank form so they'd have to make do with this.
Mages were something else, controlling others away just to have fun. Zenith smirked. That's the fun life, when one had power, the powerless just had to play their game.
Using Ultra Vision again, he searched for the Dark Mage again, he easily found them, the only other person with an impressive presence around there. He strolled to the open space surrounded by buildings and waited.
In front of him stood a large abandoned building which stunk with blood. An assassin's coven, it looked like one. This Dark Mage must be really shady and possibly out for his life.
"I don't like the ungrateful." He rolled his sleeves. "I sacrifice half my life for the war and we conquer, yet ungrateful fools pay you to kill me and you accept?"
A lady jumped down the roof, a scythe reflected the sun and hid part of their face from Zenith's view, not that he cared.
"And you are even from another realm." He noted, seeing her unique skin color and white hair.
That belonged to an indigenous tribe of a similar realm to theirs. They were one of the first ones to accept magic and train those interested in the art.
The lady smirked, tilting her head and moving it from the sun's reflection. She had crimson eyes with a slim face and soft looking lips. She appreciated that the prodigy's first opinion of her wasn't her gender but her race, which she didn't want to see as negative.
"You are quick to assume that I am here to kill you, but you are right that I am an assassin." She pulled her scythe from her back and stuck it to the ground.
It had a curvy silver blade attached to a metallic shiny black robe that stood at six feet.
Zenith found the weapon impressive and remembered his weaponry stash back at his agency. "So what do you want with me if it's not to attempt killing me?"