Three days after the expedition to the Whispering Roots Dungeon, life at Arcadia Academy seed to have returned to normal.
Or at least to the kind of normal that existed around Kael Veyron.
Which ant it wasn’t normal at all.
"Did you hear?"
"They say he defeated an Ancient Guardian."
"They say the cat did it."
"They say the most popular girl in the academy cooks for him."
"The last one just makes jealous."
Kael quickened his pace down the hallway.
"Why do they keep talking about ?"
Luna walked beside him.
"Because you’re famous."
"I didn’t want to be famous."
"That’s what all famous people say."
"I an it."
"So did they."
Kael sighed and smiled.
"Well, maybe a little — but only for the money."
Ever since the dungeon, everything had gotten worse.
The rumors.
The stares.
The questions.
Even so upperclassn were starting to recognize him.
It was horrible.
Absolutely horrible.
The Fat King walked behind them.
With the dignity of an emperor.
And the speed of a sleepy potato.
"ow."
"Yes.
You’re the one to bla for all of this."
Slap.
"OW!"
Luna laughed.
"You deserved that."
"I don’t even know how he understands when I insult him."
"Probably because you do it a lot."
While they argued, a small crowd began to gather near the academy’s main square.
There were shouts.
Murmurs.
And sothing that sounded like an argunt.
Aurelion appeared suddenly.
As always.
Without explanation.
"Oh.
You got here just in ti."
Kael pointed at the crowd.
"What’s going on?"
"No idea.
That’s why I ca to watch."
"You’re incredibly honest."
"Thanks."
They approached.
And then they heard a voice.
Very dramatic.
Exaggeratedly dramatic.
"Hear , you ignoramuses!"
Kael already felt danger.
"Oh no."
"Yeah.
That sounded exactly like soone who’s about to cause secondhand embarrassnt."
The crowd parted.
And finally they could see him.
A man of about twenty years.
Long hair.
Red cape.
Black armor.
Shiny boots.
A giant sword.
And an expression so proud it seed to be competing against the sun.
The stranger raised his arms.
"I have returned!"
Silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
No one said anything.
The man blinked.
"Aren’t you going to react?"
A student raised a hand.
"Who are you?"
Critical hit.
Visible.
The man staggered.
But managed to recover.
"I am Malrik Von Tempest!"
Silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kael looked at Aurelion.
Aurelion looked at Kael.
Kael looked back at the stranger.
"Who?"
Critical hit number two.
Malrik took a deep breath.
"The Scourge of the Seven Frontiers."
Kael turned to Aurelion.
"Ring a bell?"
"No. You?"
"Neither."
Malrik started to sweat.
"Terror of the Crackling of 1164?"
Aurelion frowned.
"No idea."
"I’ve never heard that either."
" neither."
Malrik gritted his teeth.
"Destroyer of Lesser Realms?"
Seraphina appeared out of nowhere.
As always.
No one saw her arrive.
She was just there.
"I don’t know him."
Malrik stood frozen.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The number one student of the academy had just destroyed years of self-esteem.
"What do you an you don’t know ?"
Seraphina tilted her head slightly.
"I’ve never heard your na."
"But—"
"No."
"But I—"
"No."
Critical emotional damage.
Kael almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Then Luna appeared carrying so bags of food.
"What’s going on?"
Kael pointed at the stranger.
"He says he’s famous."
Luna looked at Malrik.
She analyzed him for several seconds.
And finally asked:
"Are you a vendor?"
Absolute silence.
The crowd burst into laughter.
Aurelion had to lean against a wall.
Even Kael started laughing.
Malrik looked like he was watching his soul slowly leave his body.
"I’m not a vendor."
"Then I don’t know who you are."
"I AM MALRIK VON TEMPEST!"
"Uh-huh."
"So what are you selling?"
"NOTHING!"
"Then I don’t know who you are."
Devastating blow.
Fatal.
Super effective.
The Fat King walked past Malrik.
Looked at him.
Sniffed him.
And let out a small sound.
"ow."
Malrik imdiately turned.
"You surely must know !"
The cat looked at him for two seconds.
Then kept walking.
As if he were a lamppost.
As if he didn’t exist.
As if he were completely irrelevant.
"ow."
Kael almost fell over laughing.
"Even the cat ignored you."
"That was brutal."
"I wouldn’t recover from that myself."
Malrik trembled.
"This isn’t happening."
"Yes, it is."
"It shouldn’t be happening."
"But it is."
Aurelion approached.
"Out of curiosity.
What exactly did you do?"
Malrik regained so dignity.
"I conquered fortresses.
Defeated armies.
Vanquished bandits.
Led campaigns.
Saved cities.
Defeated monsters."
Aurelion nodded.
"That explains the problem."
"What problem?"
"Nobody rembers those things."
"WHAT?"
"People rember explosions.
Destroyed mountains.
Dragons.
Disasters.
Absurd things."
Kael pointed at the Fat King.
"He destroyed a mountain."
Malrik looked at the cat.
The cat was licking its paw.
"That one?"
"That one."
"The mountain?"
"The mountain."
Malrik felt sothing break inside him.
All his career.
All his achievents.
All his reputation.
Surpassed by a fat cat that slept twenty hours a day.
It was unfair.
Terribly unfair.
But it was also true.
The crowd began to disperse.
Because honestly, it wasn’t that interesting anymore.
And that was even worse.
No one argued with him.
No one hated him.
No one admired him.
They simply... forgot him.
"Well.
I’m going to class."
" too."
"I’m hungry."
"I’m sleepy."
One by one, they walked away.
Malrik was left alone.
Completely alone.
Watching people leave.
Until only Kael, Luna, Seraphina, Aurelion, and the cat remained.
Malrik took a deep breath.
"What do I have to do to be rembered?"
Kael answered imdiately.
"I don’t know.
Destroy a mountain."
"I’m not going to destroy a mountain."
"Then get a cat."
"I don’t want a cat."
"Complicated, then."
Aurelion nodded.
"Very complicated."
Malrik looked at them.
And for the first ti, he understood sothing horrible.
They weren’t arrogant.
They weren’t trying to mock him.
They were just being honest.
They really didn’t know who he was.
And that was much worse.
Because it ant all his fa had disappeared.
All of it.
Complete.
Annihilated.
Seraphina spoke.
"If it makes you feel better..."
Malrik looked up.
"Yes?"
"Your cape is nice."
Silence.
"Thanks."
"Mhm."
And she left.
Malrik watched her walk away.
"I think that made feel worse."
"It did."
"Yeah."
"It definitely did."
The Fat King walked past him again.
Malrik looked at him.
The cat ignored him again.
"I hate you."
"ow."
"DON’T OW AT LIKE THAT!"
The crowd laughed again.
And that was the final blow.
Malrik clenched his fists.
His shoulders trembled.
His eyes glistened.
And for a mont, everyone thought he was going to cry.
But he didn’t.
He pointed dramatically at Kael.
"This isn’t over!"
Kael blinked.
"What?"
"Listen well, Kael Veyron!"
"Yes?"
"I swear that one day you will rember my na!"
"I doubt it."
"YOU WILL!"
"Probably not."
"YOU WILL!"
"No."
"YES!"
"No."
"YES!"
"No."
Aurelion raised a hand.
"This is getting weird."
"I agree."
Malrik pointed at the sky.
"I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"
"For what?"
"FOR THIS!"
"For us not knowing who you are?"
"YES!"
"That’s a pretty strange reason for revenge."
"I DON’T CARE!"
"Understandable."
"I WILL RETURN!"
"Okay."
"AND WHEN I RETURN, EVERYONE WILL KNOW WHO I AM!"
"Good luck with that."
"CURSE YOU, KAEL VEYRON!!!"
And then he ran off.
Literally running.
His cape fluttering behind him.
Disappearing around a corner.
In complete silence.
Several seconds passed.
Luna was the first to speak.
"Who was that?"
Kael shrugged.
"No idea."
Aurelion nodded.
"We’ll never know."
Seraphina thought for a few seconds.
"The one with the nice cape."
"Yeah."
"I think so."
The Fat King yawned.
"ow."
And the four of them continued walking.
anwhile, sowhere in the academy...
Malrik Von Tempest, Scourge of the Seven Frontiers, Terror of the Crackling of 1164, Destroyer of Lesser Realms, and Bearer of the Crimson Storm...
Was swearing an epic revenge.
A legendary revenge.
A revenge that would shake the foundations of the world.
Unfortunately...
By the ti he showed up again...
No one would probably rember who he was.
"Damn it, I forgot my main mission because of those kids..."
"Wait a second — an orange-haired guy with a fat cat that destroyed a mountain??"
"Well, now there’s more motivation for... REVENGE!!!!"
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