The young lion man in front of the group of 9 other high-class students, after hearing the last comment spoken by a young girl who was seated with her legs outside one of the windows from the collapsed tower, his face turned vehement as he pointed his finger at her, his aura bursting out violently,
“You wench! If not for that foolish outsider, Yuri, your Daluz family would have been already exterminated!”
“And? You can’t sleep at night because of how well I’m doing? Please~, cry me a river, would you?”
The young girl swung her bare legs freely with a defying smile on her face while looking at the group of 10 people. She was wearing a short, red noble dress with black boots and dark gloves. Her hair was undulating to her shoulders with a reddish-purple color, while her sharp eyes had a deep blue color. She was a dragoon but, in comparison with other dragoons, her body was rather petite, even though she was well developed.
Even the other four bellow couldn’t help but feel conflicted by her words.
The young man was unable to hold his anger any longer and bellowed furiously,
“On them! Make these foolish Low-class idiots learn of the high-class might!”
Two young boys from the low-class immediately took a fighting-stance, their faces troubled as they knew good enough that no matter how hard they would try, getting out victorious from this would be nothing short from a miracle. Heck, getting out from this without being crippled would be the true miracle, anything more is but a dream.
“Damn! Oy bitch! At least get your big ass down here and help us against this crap you started! And you, pyro-woman! Let loose already! If they get their hands on us we’re all dead!”
One from the two youngsters that prepared to fight shouted annoyed. His clothes were those of a normal medieval citizen, with what seemed to be a fang hanging by his neck, one iron earring on his left ear, and with a punkish haircut, his sides being cut short while the middle letting out a quite long but messy black spiky hair. His sharp turquoise eyes glared fiercely like a wolf at the upcoming youngsters, a blue aura emanating from his boy.
“We do need some help here! S***! I still don’t get it! Why won’t you let loose of that power again?!”
The other bearman youngster in quite the similar clothing asked urgently, his wild short curly brown hair dancing in the wind while his firm and urgent bright-brownish eyes observed how the group was getting closer and closer by the second.
The group was already right in front of them and the two already started using some basic martial-arts moves that were easily intercepted by the others.
“S***. We don’t even need to do anything.”
“Yeah. Let’s just leave Graves take out the trash.”
“Agreed.”
Seeing how the two low-class youngsters already had a hard time with just one of their own, the others finally remembered against whom they ganged on and simply stepped back, having fun while viewing the show with a sneer.
“Hmph! You can’t even amuse me.”
The lion youngster from before was able to handle the brown-haired and black-haired on his own, his powers being of an Intermediate Great Fighter, while the other two being only of Initiate Energy Fighter and Intermediate Energy Fighter respectively.
“ROAGH!”
The bearman youngster started to feel more and more frustrated as his every strike was being blocked only with one hand from the high-class student in front of him, roaring and extending his aura to its limits, charging up one good fist and unleashing it to its full power.
“Ho~h?”
“Woah?”
The lionman seemed surprised for a moment but still blocked the punch with quite some ease, making the black haired punk take a step back from the strong shockwave.
“Ease there, little dog.”
“Grrr~!”
-CRACK! SNAP!-
The youngster’s face distorted in pain as his fist was being crushed by the high-class young lionman. Although his bones were close to breaking, he refused to give in and scream or kneel, staring daggers and growling instead.
“You arrogant little s***. Get down!”
-POW!-
“Woah! Damn! Haha~!”
“Right in the face!”
“Oho~! Hey Graves, how could you let an Intermediate Energy Fighter land one on you just like that?”
The bystanders’ exclaimed and laughed after seeing how the black-haired punk just landed a good one right in the face of the one named Graves, a string of blood falling from his nose.
“Oy d******. Who said you can grab him? Let go now.”
His bestial turquoise eyes shone threateningly as he prepared his other fist for another strike.
“You two little beast don’t know your places-!”
-POW!-
This time the bearman youngster freed his own hand by landing a solid fist right in his left cheek, making this time for another string of blood to flow down a corner of his mouth.
““Uuuh~! He got you!””
The other high-class students exclaimed together with a laugh as they couldn’t help but sneer at Graves for letting two weaklings land two strikes on his face already.
With a sharp glare, the bearman youngster said furiously while opening and closing his harmed fist,
“Underestimate this little beast and you’ll find yourself bitten by the neck, fool.”
His comment was the last drop that filled the cup, having Graves’ aura explode and making the two Spirit Fighter take a few steps back.
-RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE-
Even pebbles on the ground started to roll away from around his feet, his bluish-light aura making the air vibrate around him.
“H-he’s at the peak of Great Fighter! Damn, what should we do?!”
John, a young wildcat boy with smooth, greyish hair and black eyes in peasant clothing stood nervously in a guarding stance in front of a young hooded girl that was wearing a thick black cloak, from underneath, being visible only a few dark-blue hairs. While the wildcat boy’s tensed body was trembling from the strong pressure, the girl felt her chest burning as she struggled on even standing up.
“Rosy! Please, get a hold of yourself!”
The grey-haired youngster hastily tried to protect her with his own barely Intermediate disciple aura, feeling how his back was turning hotter from the aura emanated by the hooded girl.
“I… can’t… breathe…”
The hooded girl fell on her knees while holding onto her chest in pain. The next moment, a cool air enveloped her, giving her the possibility to recover at least just a little bit.
“Here. See if this helps.”
“Miss Daluz! Thank you!”
The dragoon girl from before jumped outside the window and landed lightly with the help of a pale of wind, enveloping the kneeling Rosy in a moist bluish aura with the element of water. Although she wasn’t yet aware of what this girl was able to do, seeing how she was in pain, she couldn’t simply stay behind and watch.
“Guh!”
“Gah!”
Suddenly the two defending students from before were sent flying on both sides of John, having them crash on the ground, each with one rib broken and sweating profoundly after having their chi deviated.
“You insects sure have guts.”
John was now facing the high-class lionman, his knees almost giving in from the pressure. The one in front of him was with two whole power-ranks above him, almost three. Still not losing conscious after having half of his aura also protect the girl behind him was a wonder.
His face was drained of all blood while his tense muscles felt like breaking from the pressure. The pain alone made him wish to scream aloud, but once he did so his protecting aura would collapse and he’ll immediately lose consciousness. Standing by a string, with his remaining powers John opened his mouth, a trembling voice resounding weakly,
“P-p-please… f-f-forgive… u-us… y-young l-l-lord…”
Seeing him still stand and begging for forgiveness in place of his colleagues made the high-class student smirk amused,
“Forgive you? Well, maybe if you would bow down on your knees and beg some more, I might consider.”
Hearing this, John forced his body to do just that. He was a peasant with barely any rights. Having to bow down to nobles was nothing new as his own parents taught him to always have his head lowered and not cause troubles.
“S***…! Oy, shrimp… Don’t you dare… f******… kneel. You hear me?!”
The punkish student tried to get up while breathing for some air, his blood-shot eyes staring hatefully at John who was ready to bow down in their place.
“He’s right… Don’t you lower your head… in our name…”
The bearman student also tried to speak as he was covering his rib-area in pain, trying to get up.
“… I… have no choice…”
Glancing once again at the hooded girl, John couldn’t help but feel shameful and extremely embarrassed for showing such a side in front of her. He knew that if the student in front of him would release his full power right here and now, he would collapse in the next moment while the girl would lose control of herself, unleashing powers beyond her control and harm herself again.
“I beg you, young master. Please forgive us…”
John bowed to the ground and begged once again, making the other two guys and even the purple-haired girl to scoff at him in contempt. However, John didn’t mind them as he already knew where he was standing.
I’m but a peasant who got here only because my family sacrificed everything to let me inside this school. Normally, I shouldn’t even be here, so of course other nobles wouldn’t be able to understand what poverty and humility truly means…
The lionman, seeing him actually kneeling down with his forehead almost touching the ground, him together with the other 9 students burst out in laughter and jeers, making the low-class to feel incredibly embarrassed and ashamed.
“Why won’t you guys take after this trash?! He’s the best example of how the low-class should behave! Hahaha~!”
“Yeah! Oy pleb, you’re doing well, hahaha~! Like this maybe you’ll be able to advance to a toilet cleaner of our high-class dormitories!”
“Invite your classmates as well! Surely they’ll want to come too~!”
The two from the ground trembled in shame while the Daluz girl got up to leave, unable to take in this ridicule anymore. The girl from the ground breathed out relieved as the scorching heat inside her calmed down, but what happened next made her blood boil instantly.
“GAAH!”
“As if I’d forgive you bastards!”
““?!””
Graves suddenly stepped hard onto John’s head, smashing his face on the earth and making him bleed from his nose and mouth. The others from Low-class froze in place at this act of cruelty, however the one who spoke out first was the kneeling Rosy,
“S-stop it! That’s enough!”
Her gentle voice resounded out with a tone of urgency and even anger. Hearing her actually shout at him, Graves became more annoyed and his aura suddenly burst out violently.
“Huh? And who the hell are you to order me, bitch?!”
The strong aura sent the weak John flying backwards, even further away than the two Spirit Fighters, reaching at the feet of the Daluz girl, making her feel a cold wind after seeing his bloody face. Right after, a strong heat struck her and the other two, having them all take a few steps away from Rosy.
“Y-you… Why won’t you just leave me alone!”
Rosy’s cloak was suddenly engulfed in blue flames, quickly turning it into ashes and scorching the earth everywhere around her as a small vortex of blue flames surrounded the girl. After the cloak was destroyed, Rosy appeared in a red fire-resistant leather armor, with dark-blue eyes and dark-blue hair. What attracted everyone’s attention were the many scars made from burns that appeared everywhere on her body: neck, arms, face, and most probably on other parts that at the moment were covered by the leather armor. Her face was twisted from pain, but her frustration was even stronger as she controlled the wild flames everywhere around her to strike at the group of 10 students in a wild manner.
“Leave, just leave!”
“Pfft, you think the flames of an Initiate Great Fighter could harm me-“
Graves tried to simply block the few arrows but the moment his hand made contact with them, ugly burning marks appeared everywhere on his arm, making him feel excruciating pain.
“GYAAHH~!!! It hurts! O-oy! Help me!”
Graves shouted out for the others and everyone turned serious. They heard before some weird rumors about there being a girl who used blue flames, but while her flames’ power was ridiculously strong, her control over them was laughable.
“Go! Is just one bitch!”
“We can take care of her easily!”
“Hoaah~!”
The other nine high-class youngsters rushed forward, all of them releasing their full powers at the same time. 9 other Great-Fighters released their auras simultaneously, making for Rosy to feel pressured. But rather than feel pained from the pressure, what made her grove in pain were the flames that made her unable to breathe, now slowly starting to burn her own skin as well. However, seeing even more people rush at them, Rosy was unable to back down and released even more power, combating the strong auras on her own.
“W-woah?! She’s suddenly a Core Warrior?!”
Everyone exclaimed shocked and halted their advance, feeling like retreating.
“LEAVE!”
Rosy shouted once again as her sufferings turned for the worst, releasing unconsciously a strong wave of flames in all directions.
“Woah, hey!”
“Careful!”
“We must leave, quick!”
The two low-class boys hastily retreated and the dragoon girl quickly grabbed a hold of the unconscious John then jumped high in the air, rushing atop the collapsed tower.
“Run! Run!”
“These flames ain’t simple! We gotta retreat!”
“S***, f***, oh mama!”
…
Everyone quickly retreated and the entire courtyard of the F-tower was now burning in blue flames. Seeing how everyone left, Rosy wished to extinguish the flames, but she observed how her own powers weren’t listening to her.
W-why… why am I cursed with these flames? Please… stop already… it hurts…
The girl collapsed on the ground as the flames slowly consumed her, but then a cool and healing aura enveloped her, completely extinguishing the flames and also healing her new wounds. Tired, she tried to open her eyes and see who was saving her, but her dry eyes were unable to focus as only a silhouette appeared in front. Unable to see, she still forced her dry vocal cords to make some sound, parting the dry and cracked lips into making some words,
“W-..who…?”
“You will find out soon, little Miss. For now, take a rest. You’ve done enough.”
A calm, neutral, and unknown voice resounded, making her think that maybe a teacher finally came to put an end to all of this. Unable to think anymore, the girl fell unconscious, letting the cool yet relaxing healing aura to envelop her.
.
While healing and calming down the injured girl, Shen took her in his arms and walked toward the tower.
“Who are you…? And what will you do to her?”
The purple-haired dragoon appeared first and asked suspiciously, examining both Shen and Sabin who just appeared beside her. After observing the flames finally dying down from atop the tower, the girl hastily got down to check how was Rosy doing, only to see two strangers pick her up and take her toward the tower. Of course she would look at them suspiciously. But neither Shen nor Sabin could mind her at the moment, talking between themselves in a calm manner.
“Took care of them?”
“They won’t be able to get up from bed for the next week. Damn, brats these days sure are frightening.”
“They’re quite close to your age. And you call them frightening?”
“Pfft. What’s the importance of age when for them every year was for granted while I had to fight for each day?”
“No comment on that.”
The two continued forward and brushed past the girl, ignoring her completely. Then Sabin felt his jacked grabbed from behind, making him look confused at the dragoon. With a naughty expression Sabin asked,
“What’s up, girly? Fell for me?”
“If I say yes, would you tell me who you are and what you are going to do with her?”
“Eh?”
Seeing her smile so nonchalantly and hearing her question, Sabin was somewhat left baffled, never in his wildest dreams was he expecting for such an answer at his provocations. Even Shen was surprised but he simply smiled then said,
“You will find out soon. For now just bring back that one atop the tower. His injuries are not severe, but he must also be treated.”
W-who is he? He already knows about us?… Maybe he’s the rumored low-class teacher?
The girl seemed surprised at first but then did as told, still knowing too little things about these two. For now, all she could tell was that the two of them were no older than 20, one of them had the abilities of an assassin while the other one those of a healer like herself. Even so, she was unable to tell their power-rank, thinking that they must be at least Great Warriors.
Ten minutes later, both Rosy and John were fully healed on their beds, their rooms being right beside each other. The rooms circular because of the tower’s form, but being collapsed, two walls, the floor, and the ceiling had the corners rounded like a wheel, while only two walls were flat but round, having windows on two directions, on the ceiling and even on the floor, the two unnecessary windows being covered with planks of wood. All in all, it looked like the homes of some refuged people, with barely any furniture besides a bed and two chairs, together with one tall wardrobe. One could say that this place was humble enough to be used by a hermit at this point.
““…””
The trio of two boys and one girl stood on the hallway as Shen and Sabin finally finished taking care of the two students.
“Alright. The cat-brat’s injuries should recover in no time. His aura is kind of weak now, but he’ll recover with some training.”
“The girl’s injuries were quite severe but I was able to heal them without much difficulty. However, something else attracted my attention…”
“Huh? What is it?”
As the two of them talked on their own, not minding the three, the punkish youngster couldn’t hold it any longer and started asking questions that were stuck on his mind for a while now,
“Alright now sorry for disturbing your little chatting but mind telling us who the hell are you two and what are ya doing here? If you don’t know already, this is the all so legendary Low-class dormitories, the F-tower. By how young you seem to be, you two must be students, right? Are you some kind of losers to take part in the Low-class as well? Or just some newbies that got in the wrong place?”
“…”
Sabin felt like teaching him some manners, but Shen opened his mouth before he could take any action.
“I’m in the right place and, in a way, you can say that I’m a loser as well, seeing how I got no teaching blessing.”
“Huh?”
The punk stared baffled and the others also looked surprised at him. The bearman asked confused as he looked at Shen somewhat troubled,
“So to say, you will be our teacher from now on? I don’t understand. Why would anyone accept to teach in the Low-class?”
The answer then came from the dragoon girl, her eyes turning sharp while staring at Shen,
“Isn’t it clear? He said that he failed to achieve the blessing, that means God Kaveh must’ve seen the wicked intentions in his heart. Or else why would he not get the blessing? As for why he still became a Low-class priest to teach us, he must have some hidden reasons. Am I right? Teacher?”
Shen couldn’t help smirking at her comment, making the others raise their guards up around him. The two of them then simply walked away, Shen leaving the tower while saying,
“I have but one reason to be here, and that is to teach you lot parts of what I know. Tomorrow in the morning whoever wants to actually learn something, come at the F-area for the basics. Inform your two colleagues when they’ll wake up. We’ll make the introductions in the same day. See ya.”
“Are you trying to dodge the question?”
“Yeah, you runnin’ or something?”
The girl asked once again and the other two backed her with suspicion.
Hearing them, Shen stopped on his tracks and glanced back, his eyes looking extremely bored such making the three to feel quite ridiculous.
“I said it before and I’ll repeat myself: I have but one reason to be here, and that is to teach you lot parts of what I know. Whenever you trust me as a villainous person or as a normal teacher, it has nothing to do with me. I will teach you lot about magic and martial arts in my own way, while you lot can either take me into consideration or ignore me completely. Whenever you wish to grow stronger or remain weak depends on yourselves.”
“Huh?!”
Hearing his last sentence, the bearman’s muscles tensed up while the young man exclaimed surprised. They already lost hope of growing stronger the moment they fell into this class. Thinking that such a chance appeared once again, they couldn’t help but feel excited even if it meant to form a pact with the devil.
After Shen and Sabin left, the girl immediately commented,
“I don’t trust them.”
“…I get what you mean, but…”
The bearman felt conflicted and couldn’t help feeling like another chance of growing stronger won’t appear anytime soon now. The black-haired student also felt the same as he clenched his fists hard enough to turn white. Seeing this, the girl indifferently turned to leave,
“Well, whatever. I won’t go tomorrow. You two are free to become his puppets. Who knows, maybe he’ll actually just take you guys for fools and have his fun with you.”
“Bitch! If you don’t wish to come, then keep your mouth shut! Before talking s*** about us, don’t forget you’re only a fallen noble!”
“Hah! I don’t need to hear that from the son of a Baron’s dog.”
Hearing her comment, the young man’s aura erupted and turned with a fist right toward her face. Feeling the strong bloodlust, the girl also turned but was too late to block the strike, his fist already reaching close to her face.
“…Huh?”
The bearman reacted in time and blocked the fist with quite some difficulty, the girl freezing in place after feeling the strong wind pressure flutter her hair backwards, seeing his knuckles right in front of her eyes. Although she was stronger than the black haired student, already reaching Great Fighter herself, Aaron was known for his ruthlessness and ferocity, making for his every strike unpredictable as long as you’re not completely focused. However, the bearman was still able to block it, mainly because his awareness was much higher after training himself till collapsing for numerous times by now.
