After the spar which, predictably, ended in Alastor's victory, the others were feeling quite happy, as Alicia healed them.
Not because of their injuries and loss, but because the gap between them and Alastor wasn't as overwhelming as before.
Alastor complimented their growth, "You have all become much stronger than before. Quite commendable."
Amber hissed while Alicia healed her broken arm, "And even then it wasn't enough to take you down. Fuck, are you even human?"
Karna and Alastor shared a look, before returning to their task.
While they walked back to the cafeteria, a little child that evidently did not belong in the Academy ran up to them. Alastor felt the string of mana leading out from the kid's cranium, but aside from that, there was no indication that the child was just a construct.
From the looks, to the behaviour, even the speech, everything matched that of a child as Amber gushed over the kid, while Alicia looked at Amber with pity.
"I believe I should introduce myself to the little one as well, yes?" Alastor said.
Amber turned and presented the struggling child to Alastor, who promptly took his head off with a backhand, leaving a headless corpse squirting blood form it's neck, and a very traumatized Amber.
"W-Why?" Amber asked, as she looked at the child's cooling body.
Her question was answered soon, as the child's twitching corpse suddenly glowed gold and was revealed to be made of pure mana.
Alicia finally told her, "It's Illia's hobby. She likes mimicking life a bit too much. Says it's her form of training at the same time."
Amber complained to Alastor, "You didn't have to do that so abruptly!"
Alastor chided her, "For a rogue, your perception and will could use some work."
Amber said angrily, "Besides, what sort of creepy hobby is that?! Why can't she just...I don't know, knit sweaters and stuff? Heck, I like cooking, why doesn't she try that?"
Alicia asked, "You like cooking?"
"Yeah. It takes my mind off the fountains of blood and replaces them with fountains of ketchup." Amber explained.
"What, don't act as if none of you have hobbies?"
Axel was the first to reply, "Oh, I'll say mine first! I like watching Alastor accomplish his goals and helping him!"
Alastor crept further away from Axel as Alicia answered, "The only hobbies allowed to me were painting, piano, poetry, sculpting, dancing, chess, hunting, as well as-"
"A can go next!" Amber interrupted Alicia's incoming list of hobbies.
A scratched his head before replying, "Uhhhh, mountain....."
"Climbing?" Amber offered.
"...punching. And kicking too."
Amber shook her head as she muttered, "I'm surrounded by freaks."
"It is therapeutic!"
Karna went next, "I like watching butterflies."
Tori's hobby was directly demonstrated, as three spiders crawled out form his sleeve, "I was inspired by the person we fought last year. I am now cultivating a thousand strong group of spiders in my room."
Now, the only one left was Alastor.
"Me?...Strange. I never considered getting one."
Everyone else paused. Alicia said, "Then how do you deal with the stress?"
Alastor replied calmly, "I don't have any stress. Life is perfect as it is, and I intend to keep it that way."
Finally having something to do, Amber decided, "Alright everyone, let's get Alastor a hobby as well!"
A round of agreements, and a questioning look from Alastor arose.
Alicia brought her suggestion first, "This is my personal grand piano. Try playing something by ear."
Alastor played the piano, better than a newbie would at least, but still had an expression of discontent.
"Next up, cooking!" Amber brought everyone to her room for this attempt.
Alastor again ended up making food that was quite good, but did not find any joy in the activity itself.
The attempts continued, with Alastor even trying out mountain punching and kicking, to no avail.
"Well this was a spectacular failure. How is it that you're good at everything, but enjoy nothing?" Amber said exasperatedly as she balanced on string of mana, the rest of them walking under her.
Alastor sighed, "Nothing was interesting enough."
Axel, who hadn't given a suggestion till now, finally spoke up. "How about gardening? Maybe it'll be more fun than last year? Plus, you can't tell if it's something you enjoy, until the right time comes around."
Alastor nodded, "I'll try that too."
...............................................................................
Julian was in the classroom, when they received the news. A classmate of theirs, had gone missing.
It was suspected to be another demon attack. If the culprit wasn't found in another 3 days, a request would be made to the Gods to send at least a Third Heaven God specializing in Seeking.
Julian looked at his classmates as he pondered, 'That day, when he disappeared, he was going to confess to Senior Dana, the third year. He only told this to Rietta, Nexus, me, and.....Roland. But could Roland really be that kind of person? He seems so nice, and even now, he's concerned about Barry's disappearance.'
'No, I'll wait longer before coming to a conclusion.'
Julian was knocked out of his reverie as Rietta knocked on his head, "Anybody in there? I've been calling you for the past two minutes!"
Nexus commented snidely from behind them, "Let him be, he got his brains knocked out by the Baron."
Julian retorted, "And you must have lost your backbone, right? Considering how much of a wimp you are."
'On second thought, Nexus should be put back on the list of suspects.'
As Julian left the classroom, deep in thought, he bumped into a familiar form.
"Senior Alastor!"
Alastor smiled gently at the younger boy, "Julian, was it? It seems you're the top ranker for the freshmen. It's an impressive feat."
"Of course not Senior, it's still nothing compared to your achievements in your first year." Julian truly respected Alastor, seeing him as someone to look up to. He was convinced that feeling of danger he felt during their first meeting was just due to him being that much weaker.
"You seem quite troubled." Alastor said casually as they walked together.
Julian hesitated for a moment before answering, "One of our classmates, Barry Demore, has gone missing. If the culprit isn't found in three days, the Academy is going to treat this like another demon attack and bring in at least a Third Level God specializing in identification."
Alastor acted perfectly calm, "I see. And it seems you suspect someone who seems to be the complete opposite of what you would expect?"
A bit embarrased at having his thoughts read so openly, Julian nodded, "He's a popular guy, and seems to be a very good person. In fact, I think this is just me being envious of him on a deeper level. There's no way he's like that. He's the most arete individual I've met."
"Is that so?" Alastor mused out loud.
He felt a familiar flare of mana, and told Julian, "It seems I am needed elswhere. I'll be leaving now."
"But remember, kid. There is no such thing as a perfect being in this world."
'Other than me.'