Crack...!
Aestrea let out a soft grunt as he glanced down at the trembling remains of the Void Lich.
"A curse that consumes mana, huh?" Aestrea muttered, looking down on the quivering remnants of the Void Lich.
He brushed his fingers against its ribcage as if teasing the skeleton, and then, a cold whisper flew from his mouth.
"Perish."
SWOOOP!
Mana began to gather in Aestrea's palm, swirling in a concentrated ball as he gently pressed it against the skeleton's ribs.
Crack...!
The moment his hand made contact, the bones cracked again, shattering into thousands of tiny pieces.
And just as the last fragments shattered, a faint trickle of void energy slipped from the wreckage.
Aestrea wasted no time—he summoned a small ball of high-density mana, trapping the tiny stream of void energy inside it.
"This should be enough," he spoke calmly as he nodded to himself before turning away.
Zeva appeared at his side, eyes wide with curiosity.
She didn't waste a second.
"What do you need void energy for?" she asked with an excited tone.
"Hey, hey, come on, tell me!" she urged, a playful grin on her face.
"Come on, don't be shy..."
But, despite her consecutive questions, Aestrea ignored her completely as he stepped through the exit gate, emerging back into the academy's plaza.
"Ah... Aestrea!"
A familiar voice called out, and Aestrea turned to see Lucas striding toward him, a mischievous smile splattered on his face.
Before Aestrea could say anything, Lucas threw an arm over his shoulder with a grin.
"Do you perhaps... like Rose?"
"Huh?"
Aestrea blinked as his eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"What do you mean?" he asked straight away.
"Hehe," Lucas grinned slightly, before leaning closer and then whispering to Aestrea, "Don't think I didn't see you wrapping your hands over her waist."
'Ah, that...'
Since Lucas had seen his actions, Aestrea sighed softly, then gave a faint, almost teasing smile to him.
"Mayhaps."
Lucas just grinned at his words.
He withdrew his arm and extended his hand:
"Alright, I didn't really get a chance to introduce myself properly. I'm Lucas Heartstone. I hope we get along well."
Looking at his stretched hand, Aestrea smiled lightly, before shooking it.
"The name's Aestrea Moon."
Shaking his hands, Lucas couldn't help but frown as Aestrea mentioned his name. It wasn't a noble name or even a known name for commoners.
However, looking at the small panel in front of him, Lucas kept a small smile on his lips.
[Main Quest #7—
Make Aestrea ####'s favorability reach 50 points.
• Current Favorability: 23 [↑UP]
Kill more than 200 middle-ranking demon beasts. (Completed)
Kill more than 50 high-ranking demon beasts. (Completed)
Kill a single named Demon Beast. (Completed)
Stop the awakening of one of the Seven Demon Generals.
Time Remaining: 16 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 32 seconds.
Rewards: ???]
Lucas had no idea why the system insisted on increasing Aestrea's favorability, but it was clear he had to do it nonetheless.
However, the last part of the quest—stopping one of the Seven Demon Generals—was probably the real reason Aestrea's favorability needed to rise.
With his strength, Aestrea would be a huge help for him.
Flick!
At that moment, the Headmistress, Eleonora, snapped her fingers, catching everyone's attention.
She smiled warmly as she addressed the students in the plaza.
"Alright! Great job, everyone! Your results from today's dungeon test are much better than I expected," Eleonora said, her eyes twinkling with pride.
"I'll be announcing the results now, from the lowest to the best." she smiled as her gaze swept through the students.
A small sheet of paper appeared in her hand, and she scanned it briefly before continuing.
"First up… Violet didn't participate due to her duties as Student Council President, so her grade will be postponed."
The crowd shifted a little, waiting for the next announcement.
"So, we have... Adrien's Group, Rating: B-!"
Eleonora announced, her eyes scanning Adrien's team. "You all did a fantastic job healing the injured and supporting your teammates while battling the Void Skeletons. Well done!"
Hearing their grade, everyone cheered up because it meant that the lowest grade was B-, so they all had excellent grades!
"Then… Marcus's group! Rating: B-!" she continued.
"Just like Adrien's group, your teamwork was excellent, and you all did well keeping the Void Skeletons distracted while others dealt damage."
The students in Marcus's group high-fived each other, proud of their performance.
"Now, Evan's group! Rating: B+!" Eleonora said, nodding at Evan's team.
"You all worked very well together, having great team chemistry, especially when you all managed to grab the Void Lich's attention. Not to mention, you took down quite a huge amount of monsters before the dungeon turned red."
"Let's go!"
Unlike the other groups, Evan's group started cheering loudly to themselves, full of enthusiasm and excitement due to their high grade.
"Now for Ella's group… Rating: A+!" Eleonora smiled, a proud glint in her eyes.
"You all wiped out a ton of monsters, and when the dungeon turned red, you led the other students to victory. Special shout-out to Ella and Lucas for delivering the final blow to the Void Lich, Iris for her amazing healing, and Maya for her heavy damage output. Great job, everyone!" she started clapping, and so did the other students.
Ella and Lucas exchanged a quick, knowing look, while Iris tried to calm Maya, who was jumping with excitement.
"And finally..." she continued, and everyone's eyes suddenly widened.
They had thought that Ella's group had gotten the best grade, but it seemed that they didn't.
"Aestrea alone, Rating..." she paused, looking directly at Aestrea who was leaning against a marble-made pillar.
Everyone's gaze had turned to him.
"Rating: S, Perfect Marks." she declared, her lips curving into a faint smile.
Immediately, everyone exchanged glances and hurriedly turned to the Headmistress, trying to get the reason why Aestrea was the one who got perfect marks.
"Alone, the student Aestrea gave Rose his mana reserves, and dealt invisible damages to the Void Lich so in the last moment, Lucas's sword could pierce through its stomach."
"Additionally, when everyone left the dungeon, Aestrea stayed, remembering the hidden ability of the Void Lich which was the ability to resurrect."
"Along with that, the Void Lich had also placed a curse on every student, and Aestrea made sure to completely kill the Void Lich and also destroy the curse."
"Therefore... he's the only student that deserves perfect marks."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone turned their gazes toward Aestrea, and the looks on their faces completely changed to admiration.
They were arrogant, yeah, but they knew that the only way to break a curse was to either use extremely expensive materials or kill its conjurer.
But Aestrea had done it without asking for any credit, and instead, acted alone, looking out for everyone.
"No wonder the classmates from his academy like him so much..."
"Yeah... he seems like a scary guy, but inside, he seems soft."
"And he doesn't want attention for anything he does."
They all started seeing him in a new light.
Slowly but surely, Aestrea's reputation within the academy was starting to change.
"Aestrea..."
A hand was placed on Aestrea's shoulder, and hearing that familiar voice, Aestrea's face twitched slightly.
He slowly turned around, and Zeva's close face came into his view.
"Let's fight." she declared, looking fiercely at him.
She had already been quiet enough, letting the headmistress declare the student's grade, but now, she couldn't herself anymore.
Aestrea had a monstrous talent, and just in a few hours of fighting against him, he had improved a ton, and now could even make her sweat!
His fighting instinct had improved a lot just in that small amount of time!
"Another time," he replied.
But Zeva wasn't having it.
"No, it has to be now."
"Why?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Because I'm thoroughly excited."
Zeva spoke aloud as if it was the normal thing to do.
Aestrea instantly froze up at her words.
Phewww...
Seeing their interaction, the students that were a few meters away from them, couldn't help but whistle at them, clearly making them seem like a couple.
'This bitc—!'
"COME ON!"
Zeva grabbed Aestrea's arm, swinging it directly at the sky, sending him upwards. Then, she jumped, unsheathed out her sword, and swung it directly at Aestrea's black.
But before her sword could even make contact...
Flash!
Aestrea vanished in the blink of an eye, disappearing from her line of sight entirely.
"Huh?" Zeva's eyes darted around, looking in the direction that Aestrea had disappeared.
"Ugh...!"
Suddenly, Aestrea found himself in a very different position.
His head was now planted between the Headmistress's breasts, and she was gently caressing his head with a soft smile on her face.
"Not now Zeva, I need to talk with this cute boy."
She winked at Zeva before both of them vanished, leaving the students completely speechless and shocked by her actions towards Aestrea.
They knew that Eleonora was a battle junkie and easily gets interested in someone with a huge potential...
But this... this was different.
The Headmistress never acted like this, not in front of everyone.
Immediately, the students started talking with each other, trying to figure out the reason why Eleonora acted that way towards Aestrea.
However, between them...
A white-haired lady, clenched her fists tightly, her deep blue eyes trembling as they locked on the spot where Aestrea had just been.
'Why...?' Ella bit her lip in agony.
She hadn't even realized until now, but Aestrea had always surrounded himself with female friends—lots of them, really.
There was Mia and Maria from his academy, whom Aestrea seemed to have a really close relationship with.
Then there was Zeva who despite meeting Aestrea just a few hours ago, had already got attached to him, or more precisely, to his talent.
But what if those feelings of pure admiration for his talent, turned into something more? Ella couldn't really compete with someone as straightforward as Zeva.
Not to mention that dating professors isn't something that the academy condemns.
Well, Zeva was safe for now, even if her words proved otherwise.
But even though there were these close friendships, none of them ever felt like that kind of relationship.
None of them seemed to be something more than just friends.
At least, that's how it had seemed—until today.
But now...
Now, seeing Eleonora, the Headmistress, of all people—someone who was practically a legend in the academy—acting the way she did with Aestrea, something clicked inside her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was losing her grip on something she hadn't even realized she wanted.
Ella knew that she liked Aestrea, no, she loved him.
From the first moment, they met when she was weaker and Aestrea, in his hidden identity, saved her without breaking a sweat, to when they finally faced each other in the academy's competition.
She already knew her true feelings towards him, but she didn't know how to deal with them. When she approached Aestrea, she could feel her cheeks flushing slightly, and just by hearing his voice, her knees would start wobbling.
The truth is... that he is her first-ever love.
Just after he saved her, she immediately spent her resources as a princess to discover his true identity.
And when she did so, her eyes brightened in sheer happiness. So, she started to try and learn more about him.
By learning what he likes to do, what is his favorite food, and things like that!
The only problem for her was his friendship with Mia and Maria. But now, even more people were starting to notice him.
And that feeling threatened her; she could feel a knot in her stomach, the jealousy creeping up even though she didn't want to admit it to herself.
She was the first one to discover him, so why... why are other women starting to get interested in him after he truly revealed his power?
'WHY?!'
Ella pondered.
She had gripped her fists so tightly that even blood seeped out of them.
"E-Ella... are you okay?" Iris stuttered, frowning as she noticed Ella's darkened face.
"I'm fine."
An extremely cold tone was blurted out as Ella turned her back to Iris.
"I'm going to my dorm." she added, walking away from them.
Looking at her leaving back, Iris couldn't help but mumble to herself.
"What happened to her...?"