There was even a time when Francis tried to take Azrael's feeding money from him, but Azrael had fought back seriously that day because he knew that he would starve without that feeding money, and Francis left after a teacher showed up while laughing that Azrael was acting like a cornered rat.
Azrael hated that bastard, but without the backing of any major pantheon and the lack of support from the teachers in the school, there was nothing Azrael could do. Reporting to the authority was only going to make things difficult for Azrael since he knew that most of those in power did not like demigods under Thanatos. They would rather take the side of a demigod under Posidon than him.
But that doesn't mean that Azrael was just going to allow Francis to do whatever he wanted. All this time, Azrael had overlooked Francis' actions because they hadn't been detrimental to him beyond superficial things. Azrael didn't like most of the students in the school, so even if they were all ignoring him, he didn't care, and he continued his education as normal. The only time that Francis really tried to harm Azrael by taking his money for meals, Azrael fought back, and Francis learned that there were limits to what Azrael would take.
Azrael knew that it was likely that Francis was not going to stop his actions even though he was now in high school. That's how bullies worked. They weren't content unless they felt like they were trampling over someone else, and Francis was a typical example of a fucking bully.
Azrael just ignored the bastard as he turned around to face the podium again.
"Azrael Mortis! What are you doing? I've called your name three times now!"
Azrael felt his eyes widen as Francesca shouted into the mic in anger, and Azrael quickly started to make his way up to the stage. The mutters and murmurs from the crowd followed Azrael as he passed, and Azrael couldn't help but hear what some of them were saying.
"That's him, right, the Rogue King?"
"Yeah, they said he had the same physical score as the other Kings in the last test."
"Isn't he a child of darkness? What in the world are they thinking? They're going to allow him to stay in school with the rest of us?"
"Yeah, a child of Thanatos can't stay with normal demigods? It's too bad though. He's quite handsome."
"Yeah, and he's strong too. There was a time he started a fight with Francis and almost beat him up because of some change. I heard Francis was just trying to borrow a couple of dollars, and Azrael almost went mad!"
"Nah, you don't need to worry about him doing anything to you! He's harmless! Didn't you hear? He might have amazing physical stats, but that's all."
"What do you mean that's all – wait, you mean he doesn't have one?"
"Exactly. His God Aspect is nonexistent! He's just a fucking muscled beast with no divine Power!"
Chuckles started to filter through the crowd as someone shouted this with mirth, and Azrael tuned them out once more as he continued up to the stage. Azrael had mastered the art of tuning out things he did not want to hear because so many people had been talking behind his back all this while, and it was that same ability that made him not hear Francesca when she called on him.
Azrael turned to Francesca when he got to the stage and apologized for spacing out, and Francesca huffed before she glared at him.
"Come to my office later today. You're already spacing out at your age. What will happen when you get older and you're tasked with protecting others? You will learn to pay attention when I'm done with you. Now go!"
The other students snickered even louder after hearing that Azrael was going to be punished, and Azrael didn't show any reaction to their actions as he just walked up to the globe and put his hand on top of it.
As the glow increased, Azrael's mind raced with various thoughts.
Firstly, Azrael wondered what exactly was the point of all this. It was no secret to everyone that he didn't have a God Aspect, so why in the world were the school authorities making him go through with this? Azrael had already written three letters to the headmaster earlier, telling him that he did not want to be present at the examination of potential because he didn't think it was going to help him, and the headmaster had written back on all three occasions telling Azrael that it was a tradition and must be done.
Even if Azrael had a high potential like Sunny or Jane, what was going to be the point? It wasn't like Azrael had any God Aspect that he could cultivate using the essence he would absorb from the divine beasts. It would just end up with Azrael absorbing essence and then allowing the essence to filter out of his core without ever being used. It was so stupid.
The light dimmed from the ball, and the entire hall went silent as they waited for the speaker at the side to speak. At first, there was no sound from the speaker, and Azrael felt his brow furrow in confusion as he stared at it and wondered if he had no potential as well, but then the speaker came to life and shouted to the hall.
[EX Rank]!!
"…"
"…"
"…"
...
Mortal Rank: D Rank [55/105]
Divine Potential: EX Rank [100% Divine Mana Absorption]
God Aspect: Null
God Aspect Rank: Null
...
Azrael stared at his system tab in shock once he heard what his potential was.
EX Rank? Did he hear that right?
Azrael couldn't even react to it at first. He was just stuck in a state of stunned silence as he tried to understand what this meant.
Was this some sort of cruel joke?
Was the world trying to fuck with him right now?
The silence of the hall was a harrowing reminder of just how extraordinary Azrael's potential was. The EX potential was the highest potential a demigod could possess. It meant that a demigod could absorb eighty to a hundred percent of the Divine Essence in the Daemons that they killed. It was like giving first-class fuel to a first-class car!
But this, it was too cruel.
What was the point of having such amazing potential when there was no God Aspect to use it with!?
Azrael's hand tightened into a fist in anger, and he grit his teeth so hard that he thought they might break. The crowd behind Azrael started to slowly whisper.
"Did I hear that right? It said EX?"
"Holy shit. Have we ever seen one of those before?"
"A child of darkness getting an EX potential. Isn't he going to become a demon lord when he gets older?"
"Ha! A demon lord my ass! I think it's fucking hilarious. He has an EX Potential, but no God Aspect! What the hell is he going to use it for!? Helping kid cross the road!?"
The person who had spoken last was Francis and once he said this, the lackeys around him started to laugh loudly at his joke. It wasn't long before all the other students in the hall started a chuckle as well and it increased in volume until everyone in the hall was laughing loudly at the thought of Azrael's bad luck!