This afternoon the atmosphere at City Hall seemed much more crowded than usual. Today was the coronation day of the Callister Academy's top-level swordsman. There were about five people standing at the altar, waiting for their coronation.
Callister Academy was one of the leading academies in the Empire. Most of the top-level Swordsman were graduates of the academy. Only talented people could graduate from the academy.
The coronation this time was given by the academy's 10th generation top Swordsman, Riana Abelard. Beautiful silver hair, orange eyes that always looked sharp and cold. An aura filled with authority, that was Riana.
Riana stepped to the altar, and she gave the badges and swords to the five people in turn. After the coronation session was over, the entire audience clapped and cheered loudly.
"Now our country has more savety than any other country, right?" One of the man asked his friend standing next to him.
"You're right. I feel more savety. Hahaha!" They both laughed happily.
Everyone there looked very happy, except for Zeha who had been wearing with a sad expression. Zeha was a former student of Callister Academy, but he couldn't handle any magic. He also didn't understand how he passed the entrance exam. At that time he thought that studying at the academy would be able to make him a great one, but it turned out that during the five years he spent in school, he could not learn any magic. In the end, he was expelled from the academy.
"All the swordsmans in this country is really talented!"
"Talented, huh?"
Zeha didn't blame that statement. He admitted it, that everyone other than him had great talent to become a top-level Swordsman. Whereas he was just a fake swordsman who happened to have abundant mana capacity.
Magic.
An extraordinary ability given to humans. However, not everyone can possess them. Whether someone's magic is great or not can be known through their mana capacity. The more mana you have, the more magic you can generate. Usually those who have a lot of mana capacity are nobles.
But Zeha's case was different. He was not a nobleman, but only the son of a fisherman. He also didn't really understand why he could have abundant mana capacity, while his parents didn't have it.
Although it was only a momentary pleasure before Zeha accepted the fact that his magic could not develop.
The academy stated that Zeha was suffering from a mana block disease. Although it was just an assumption as a form of transition since they didn't know what problem Zeha was actually suffering from.
"Hey boy, do you have any money?"
An old woman suddenly held Zeha's left hand to restrain. As a result, Zeha was surprised and immediately looked around.
"Oh, grandma. What's wrong?"
"Boy, I'm hungry."
"Huh?"
Zeha didn't know what was going on, but it was clear that now he needed to give her food. They both ended up at a bakery not far from where they met. Zeha bought quite a lot of bread for the grandma. The grandma ate all the bread, she looked very hungry.
"Eat slowly, grandma," Zeha said.
The grandma ignored Zeha's words and continued to eat quickly until the bread was finished.
"I spent 20 silver for this bread. I think I'll diet tonight." Zeha couldn't help but smile as he didn't have enough money.
"Thank you, boy. You're so kind." The grandma smiled so sweetly that it warmed Zeha's heart.
"That's okay, grandma."
"Since you gave me bread, I'll give you a reward."
"You want to give me a reward?" Zeha's gaze changed when he heard her words. He clearly didn't believe her because he knew she was a penniless beggar.
"Your gaze somehow makes me upset," said the grandma. Hearing the grandmother's words, Zeha could only chuckle in shame.
"You can't develop your magic at all, right?" she asked.
When he heard that sentence, Zeha's smile faded, his eyes rounded and sharpened. "How could you know that?!"
"If you want to know, then come to this place. I'll be waiting for you," said the grandma as she handed Zeha a rectangular piece of paper.
Zeha looked at the paper for a long time before he took it. He read the text on the paper again with a furrowed brow.
"Isn't this in the southern region?"
"That's right. Go there, and I'll give you a nice reward."
Zeha looked at the paper again, carefully reading the address on it.
"But, Grandma. I have to work---" Turning around, Zeha was startled by the grandma's figure, which suddenly disappeared without a trace. Even he couldn't sense her presence.
Zeha turned his face left and right to look for her, but strangely he still found her.
"What the hell is she?" For some reason his whole body suddenly got goosebumps.
________ _____ __
Zeha was on his way to the inn. Today he somehow felt like he had met an extraordinary person. he was pretty sure that the grandma wasn't a beggar.
"Hey, loser!"
Zeha's stopped abruptly when someone called out to him. He hated to admit it, but the students at the academy called him a loser. Because of his inability to master magic, he was often bullied by bratty students. One of them was the man who called him earlier, Ryu Giriand.
"Hey, loser! Didn't you hear me? I called you, damn it," said Ryu - standing in a small alley with two of his friends.
Zeha gave him a short glance, then replied in a cold tone. "What's wrong? I'm busy."
Ryu's temper immediately rose when he saw Zeha's attitude that seemed cold and arrogant to him. "You bastard!"
Ryu reached out his right hand. "Come here, bastard!"
"Ugh!" Suddenly, Zeha's body was lifted up. Zeha held his throat area as if he was being strangled by something. Seconds later, his body moved on its own - toward Ryu.
Ryu immediately grabbed Zeha's neck and slammed her body against the wall.
"Kuagh!" Zeha was trying to release the grip on his neck, but he was having a hard time because Ryu was using telekinesis magic to control his body.
"Die, you little bastard!"
Zeha could not fight back because he had no magic. As a result, he could only use his physical strength to escape. Although it was very impossible to do.
"Beg me for mercy if you still want to live," Ryu said accompanied by a smirk.
"Kugh!" Zeha's left hand trembled terribly. He was trying to move his left hand. Although it took a long time, he finally succeeded. Zeha raised his middle finger at Ryu in response to his offer earlier.
Ryu was clearly irritated. The aura he exuded changed drastically to become so tense.
"Bastard...! I'll kill you...!"