Aeron POV
As I stepped into the classroom, a few stares drifted towards me before returning to their conversations.
The classroom was shaped as a university hall, but each seat had a floating blue screen.
I seated myself one away from the back row. It was 8:50 a.m., and the class was nearly filled. Naturally, no one sat on my row.
Friends could be made after I reached my goal.
As I was about to breeze the net, a sight caused my brows to furrow; the Golden Trio walked in together.
The class paused and froze at the sight.
'If I am in a class with them, this means...'
A loud laugh blasted through the door. Lux and Xavier walked in laughing with tears in their eyes.
'Coincidence or fate, how was I placed in this class?'
All five sat near the front on the same row, with Celeste welcoming Lux and Xavier.
I was beyond confused.
'I suppose it will be easier for me to 'improve' them.'
As the time neared 9, a click-clack of heels silenced the room. Sighing, I lifted my head up from my arms before burrowing my eyes into my hands.
Brian was meant to be the teacher and not this woman.
'I should have just fallen asleep to the aura.'
A headache began to form.
These changes were gigantic, as the vice principal would have to do a mission later on; would Brian take her place?
They were similar in power levels, but I wasn't sure.
I said I wouldn't regret it, yet problems have spawned straight after one another because of me.
The boys in the class stared at her, befuddled by her beauty.
Once she settled down, a sharp but melodious voice pierced the classroom.
''For those who may not know me, I was your vice principal but am now your teacher. You may address me as Miss Havelock. This year's cohort seems to be unique, and I have been tasked with making each and every one of you worthy to wear the Lionize uniform."
Her black eyes landed on me when she emphasized 'each'. That was not a good sign.
She took the register and said our names in rank order, with mine being the last. I answered with a flat,
''Here''
Out of the corner of my eyes, both Lux and Xavier looked at me with wide eyes.
'Must be the quest'
They told each other everything, even about the system.
Red eyes also turned to glance at me, which was followed by the curious Celeste and Adrian. Near the front, a strawberry blonde also gave a side glance before looking away.
No one else looked but the people who did all spelled trouble.
The lecture began. I already knew everything.
I laid my head on my arms and began to drift into the sleep I had missed.
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Xavier Granger POV
'That was THE Aeron Araxys? Rank 883? System, are you sure?'
'Yes'
The system only replied to me if it was about him. He looked so... normal.
Everything about him screamed weak as I watched him place his head down to rest.
It was the first class, yet he was already like that. He was surely going to be called out.
The vice principal was also someone I had to form a good relationship with.
She was known to be strict and unfeeling to anyone.
So I waited and waited for Aeron to be called out.
'Perhaps he is too low-ranked to be noticed?'
'Most likely,' I thought.
The class would last for 2 hours, and we would have 3 different classes per day.
As we closed in to the end of the lesson with 30 minutes left, Aeron lifted his head and rubbed his eyes.
The sharp voice sounded.
"Aeron Araxys"
His flat voice replied, "Present."
"Since you seemed to pay plenty of attention to the lesson, inform me of the difference between aura and mana."
'Everyone knew this.'
The difference was that mana existed everywhere and was present in the world, but aura was built from our presence and how we thought.
'He sure is lucky. Maybe that's why the system told me to focus on him: luck.
'No, it is not host'
'You only reply if it's about him.'
The silence continued for a moment before his monotonous voice answered.
"The nature of the world's aura is called mana. The world forms it for humans and living beings to use. Everyone has mana, as we are all beings of the world. We can all manipulate it to either a bad or decent extent. Mana changes color and usage according to our nature as the world allows it."
"Whereas aura has to be created by our souls. Aura is the formation from our soul traits, and the color and power depend on experiences we have obtained throughout our lives."
'Soul traits and the world what??' I raised my eyebrows in amusement.
A few snickers sounded across the classroom. Souls were quite a unique and barely covered subject, so it was often dismissed as supernatural.
The world being an actual person seemed absurd.
'According to him, wouldn't we all be able to create worlds if we were powerful enough?'
'Yes, host, but no one has reached that level as creation here is based on the world.'
'Demons invade to use your world to improve theirs, increasing the cap of their ranks and world.'
I looked over at Miss Havelock, and she stared at Aeron before opening her perfect lips.
"That is correct, Aeron. We will learn about it in more depth in the in the next lesson. We will also learn about each of your affinities tomorrow.''
A few more eyes drifted over to the average boy in surprise while mockery turned into silence and excitement at the teacher's words about affinities.
"That will be the end of this lesson."
The next lesson was physical training.
There I would see Aeron Araxys in action.
I clenched my fist in excitement.
'Rank 833'
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Aeron POV
As my classmates left the class, I grabbed Miss Havelock's attention.
"Yes, Aeron. Any problems"
"I can become your 'private' student if you can give me something in return."
Her eyes narrowed. And a heavy pressure descended and it kept growing.
"My will is not a charity nor a gift you can play around with Aeron Araxys."
I activated Poker's Gaze.
The pressure turned into nothing, and she frowned as I poured mana into it, creating a mental pressure on her.
My senses became sharper, and my emotions turned silent.
"Nor do I think it is Miss Havelock."
Despite addressing her as such, I treated her on the same level as myself.
The room turned colder slightly as I felt shards of ice form around me.
"I need privacy, a room to train my swords, my Daishō."
I still felt nothing as I said those words.
Her aura retracted, and she spoke with less intent.
"Of course, you will get one if you become my student. You should have started with that, and this wouldn't have been necessary."
My eyes examined her expression.
She seemed truthful.
I took off my mask as I looked at her.
"You are not surprised I dual-wield?"
"I did expect a different weapon, but not to this extent."
She continued and sighed.
"Dual wielding is a close path, and I am against you treading it."
I ignored her. Nothing anyone said would convince me against it.
If a path was closed, I would be the one to open it.
My grey eyes kept examining her black ones, trying to find any strings of lies and deceit.
All I saw was a growing concern and slight apprehension.
"Don't worry about me."
I put on my mask, turned off Poker's gaze, and said in a flat tone.
"See you next class, Miss—no, sorry, Master."
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Clara Havelock POV
As he left the classroom, I stood there with my thoughts swirling.
That skill was different.
Dangerous and different.
Without it, I could see yearning in his eyes, but with it, I could see nothing. It was as if the world had become worthless to him.
Even I could feel the danger from them. The mental pressure could disable ranks up to C ranks if he used it like that.
I felt a need to listen and answer his words in that state, and his eyes kept luring me in.
'Dangerous.'
Moreover, wielding the daishō was akin to walking a path to suicide.
'Did his previous master not tell him?'
It was only powerful if controlled properly.
Now I had a reason to keep an eye on him, as he was my student.
In his defence, the idea of him becoming my disciple contained a certain appeal to it.
It felt like a good choice, but he was certainly a risk to others.
'I will keep it a secret.'
'For now.'
My eyes glinted in determination as I headed to the gym.
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Xavier Granger POV
'I wonder what he stayed behind for. Any ideas system?'
There was no response.
When I got to the gym, Miss Havelock was already there, standing, waiting.
'As expected of an A+'
Everyone was here, Aeron too.
"Run for the whole lesson with or without abilities. Your choice. If you stop, you can leave the academy."
Everyone groaned and started running straight away. I kept a close eye on the 'target' as we began to run.
As if sensing my intentions, he looked at me too before looking away and running.
He jogged at an average pace, not falling too far behind, but it certainly wasn't anything noticeable.
Me, Lux, and others had already lapped him a couple of times, but his pace never faltered.
Eventually, some students couldn't carry on, so I took it upon myself to assist them. I piggybacked 2 people for about a lap, letting them rest before swapping with someone else.
Lux and the trio also began to help others, with the exception of Valencia.
An hour had passed yet he still ran in silence, neither tired nor breaking a sweat.
He didn't assist anyone and only focused on maintaining a good pace.
'Don't antagonize him, host'
'If he can help, he should help; what reason do you need?'
'You will regret this; please stop.'
I chose not to listen and jogged next to him.
I even kindly approached him,
"Yo Aeron, what's up?"
A flat voice replied, "I am fine, and you?"
"Good. Aeron, since you seem to be jogging at a decent pace, why don't you help out the others with us?"
Silence.
"We are all classmates, and we should aim to assist each other."
I said firmly. Looking at his face, he seemed to be thinking about something.
"Why?"
"What do you mean, why?"
'Host!'
"I mean, we are all of the same class, and we should always help others and have good morals. You know?"
I could feel a few eyes on us, and even the vice principal seemed to be listening.
Aeron kept running without a response as he seemed to be contemplating.
As I was about to break the silence, he replied,
"If there was a demon behind them, I am sure everyone here would be able to run for two hours."
"Perhaps, but right now they can't, so you might as well help."
"If I help now, will they help me in the future?"
"That is not the point. I and the others do it out of kindness."
"I am not you nor the others."
"You can gain their respect and favor."
"The favor won't save my life in front of a duke-ranked demon."
I kept my emotions intact, pushing down the irritation that began to form.
"That's not the point. I meant it's not that hard to be kind if you can afford it."
He sighed and muttered, "It's useless to explain something to a person who already holds a conclusion."
"What?" I questioned. His words were needlessly harsh, which ticked me off.
"Simply put, my opinions are different than yours, and you should respect them."
I was feeling quite annoyed. I wanted to try to change his ideology, but the quest rang in my mind.
"Useless people are not improved by giving them the impression that they are useful, Xavier."
I felt mockery in his words as he jogged a little faster to get away from me.
I caught up and grabbed his shoulder.
Only his shoulder wasn't there.
It was an afterimage.
I prepared for an attack, but he didn't do anything.
Black lightning appeared for a second as he appeared further down the track, still running as if there were no disturbance.
Lux chased and also tried to grab him, and the same thing happened.
A monotonous voice that made me flinch appeared next to my ear.
"Please refrain from touching me. I won't tolerate a third time."
Lux's deep voice sounded
"We are not looking for a fight mate; we just want you to help if you are capable."
His hand reached for Aeron's shoulders.
Before I could warn him, flashes of violet, gold, and black streamed past my eyes.
Celeste formed a golden shield around Lux.
Valencia nocked a glowing purple arrow on her bow.
Aeron was in the middle of a kick with a purple arrow in his hand.
Black lightning and petals from his leg were clashing with the golden shield.
I stood there, still and unmoving.
'This was not my intention.'
Valencia and Celeste both had serious expressions on their faces.
Lux was surprised and sat on the floor, bewildered.
However, Aeron's empty eyes were on Lux.
He was expressionless, completely unnerved by the arrow and magic spell trained on him.
I was about to diffuse the situation, but Aeron twitched. Everyone else, including me, tensed. I was about to draw my sword.
In a flat voice, he said,
"Please stop disturbing me. Thanks."
And he carried on jogging as if nothing had happened.
Whispers and stares began, but the sight of Miss Havelock with a register in her hand made the class start to jog again.
The class soon started jogging, and me and Lux thanked the archer and mage for their help.
Valencia said nothing, continuing to stare at Aeron's back, but Celeste smiled and said,
"We are all friends here; no need for the tension."
I glanced at Adrian, who seemed tense for some reason, but when he met my eyes, he smiled a polite smile and apologized for not being there, as he was quite far when the situation unraveled.
'Do not antagonize Aeron, host. I warned you.'
Miss Havelock seems unbothered by it all, still typing away at her watch screen.
I sighed in relief.
He was fast.
Very fast.
Fast to the point, I couldn't even catch his movement.
'If those two didn't help in time...'
That was no low ranker.
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Aeron POV
'I couldn't pierce Celeste's mana shield.'
Those were the thoughts that stormed my mind during lunch.
There were no excuses for my lack of strength.
I sat on the bench thinking while continuously refining my mana. My intelligence had finally increased by 0.1, but it felt too slow.
The next class was alchemy. Robots did the mixing and ingredient gathering, but the mana circles had to be created by humans.
As I walked to the alchemy division, a few classmates also walked by, giving stares of curiosity.
'The hero would be the hero after all.'
I didn't mind his antiques as they were anticipated, but I wouldn't be a pushover for his words like others.
He did have a C-ranked skill called 'Silver Tongue' which he tried, but it seemed ineffective.
'Did it act like a curse?'
The strong aroma of mint and multiple herbs overwhelmed my senses as I got closer to my classroom. Potions in this world were also ranked like battle arts, but they only went from I-V, with V being the rarest and hardest to brew.
Potions didn't act like mana or health potions. They required mana to activate, which could be from others too. They served like buffs, but since support classes were rare and expensive, potions were created instead.
A Tier V health potion would probably keep you regenerating even if all your limbs were cut off at the price of mana, so an A-rank wouldn't be able to use it due to lack of mana unless they used their life force as payment.
For poisons, antidotes existed as a separate branch of alchemy: medicine. I was immune, so it didn't matter much, but I would learn some basic ones just in case.
I entered the laboratory. Everything was made of glass, and robots were stationed behind every desk. The professor was known as Mr. Watkins, Paul Watkins.
His hair stuck outwards like an electrified scientist and he had thick glasses. The most noticeable thing was his height, a staggering 7'2 looming over us like a shadow.
"Welcome. Welcome. Welcome." He spoke quickly.
Paul started the lesson immediately.
Our first potion was called Tracker's Scent. It was easy, and my success rate was 97%, but I threw away all of them, keeping it at 30%, just below average. I didn't plan to exceed in the subject, but it was good to be aware.
Valencia was 'first' with 78%, but often her eyes seemed to glare at me.
Her attention had been on me a lot these days.
I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing.
'Does she know I am throwing them away?' If she did, the teacher would know, and I expected it.
Watkins seemed crazy, but he was smart and powerful—a B-rank. He most likely knew I had a reason for hiding and didn't pry, and the fact that my new master most likely warned him.
The 2 hours passed quickly.
As class ended, I left the classroom abruptly, hiding my thirst to train.
I was going to get my new training room.
Miss Havelock claimed she was busy and left me to my own devices.
I followed my watch to my new 'home'.
The area was silent, and it was rather far, but it was a cheap price to pay for privacy. It seemed close to her quarters. The surroundings grew colder, matching her affinity.
I stood in front of the room, and the doors opened automatically.
Highest-grade mana chambers.
Gravity chambers.
Practice ground with dummies.
'I might need to move here...'
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_Aeron Araxys_
Bloodline: Araxys (chained)
Description: A yearning for freedom
Rank cap: EX
Rank E--->E+
Str: 3.2 {E+} (+0.2)
Agi: 4 {E+} (+0.1)
Int:3.1 {E} (+0.1)
Luc: 26 {A-}
Dex:3.2 {E} (+0.2)
Per:5.5 {D-}
Cha: 15 {C+} (+5)
Charm: A+~S [growing]
(Stats are double the shown number due to Vanity of Binded.)
Talent: Gambler's Luck{SSS}, Binded Saviour {EX}
Skills: All language, Pain endurance {73%} passive, Cool Mind {C}, Poker's Gaze {A}, Gambler's Instinct {A} passive, Saviour's Halo{SS}, Energy Lord {EX} passive,
Vanity of the Binded{???}
Battle art: Unarmed plum combat {I} 56%
FP: 2953--->3461 (+300 Different teacher +108 Adrian's Envy +100 Watkin's intrigue)
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'Adrian's Envy?'