As Rylan walked through the mage tower’s winding pathways and descended the stairways, he thought about Damian’s words.
Gael’s current plan is a good one, but…
Being quiet was a smart move. Given the circumstances around their relationship, Gael’s number one priority should be to avoid actively creating hostility between Rylan and the Astassier house. It seed like the man knew this well.
I need more information.
What exactly was Gael aiming for? If the man were simply waiting for the political situation to get more dire before offering protection, it was just a smart plan. But if he were willing to intentionally avoid helping the kingdom just because of his personal interests and desire to recruit capable Mages into the family, Gael was a dangerous factor in the current scenario. How far was he willing to go? What would he sacrifice to achieve his goals?
Mom said he would do anything for the family’s developnt.
From a good perspective, he was simply a man who cared for his own. From another, however, it only ant that he was selfish and self-serving. Would Gael be willing to give up on the kingdom and its citizens if it ant that the Astassier house would continue on? Rylan didn’t know the answer. He knew too little about the man.
He raised his left hand and looked at it. He didn’t even know if his current self was able to defeat Gael in single combat, or even fight the entire Astassier family.
Damian said he’s at the peak of the Fifth Circle.
The higher one went, the greater the difference a single Circle made. In the sa vein, the greater the possible gap between those in the sa Circle. The strongest Second Circle Mage wasn’t overwhelmingly more powerful than an average one. But that didn’t remain true as the number of Circles increased. Rylan narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist. No matter how strong the adversary, he would fight to protect everything he had in this life. Even if Gael was soone who surpassed Gerard in every way, Rylan didn’t care. His strength hadn’t stopped growing. A mont later, however, he furrowed his brow as a thought struck him.
Gael, Henry, and Damian. Why are such powerful Mages in a kingdom this small?
It was a question that he’d neglected asking. As far as he knew, there was nothing special about the Ceotha Kingdom. It was a small, isolated kingdom closer to the continent’s eastern limits. Since it was surrounded by forests and mountains, comrce required larger investnt, both for transportation and to establish trade routes. The kingdom had a few allies, but none were noteworthy. It should have been unremarkable in every way. But sohow, such a kingdom had three powerful Mages, with Damian being particularly outstanding. They paled in comparison to the Empire’s Mages, but they should still have been able to leave for a greater nation. And that wasn’t all.
Ceotha is still trading with the Mar Kingdom.
No matter how he looked at it, it was a foolish move. Even if there was more to the Ceotha Kingdom than t the eye, it wouldn’t even co close to comparing to the Empire, which had Mages at the Ninth Circle. Supporting Mar was the sa as openly opposing the Empire’s sanctions and plans. So why was Henry still doing it?
Rylan frowned and shook his head.
This isn’t sothing I need to worry about right now.
He should believe in Damian and Henry, as well as in all the other Mages who were part of the kingdom’s forces. For now, all he needed to do was keep getting stronger. Rylan placed his hand on his chest. It felt warm, but lacking at the sa ti. He had remained on the sa plateau as before, unable to awaken Aura and create an Aura Heart. It was a frustrating feeling, to be so close to the finish line but unable to take even one more step. Rylan only let out a sigh.
He continued on his way. Stepping out of the mage tower’s entrance, he began heading in the direction of the classroom. It was where the students would et up with Alice before they left for the assignnt. He drew countless glances on the way, and so students had even approached him with smiles on their faces. Rylan only smiled back and shook their hands.
After so ti, he arrived in front of the classroom’s doors. They opened automatically as he took one step forward. As if on cue, all students inside turned to look at him. He looked to the right as he stepped into the room. Alice was looking at him with crossed arms, crimson hair looking like it was made of blood. It shimred as the sunlight coming in from the glass windows hit it.
“You’re the last one,” Alice said, shaking her head slightly. “I’ve explained everything to your classmates already. They’re already aware of why this assignnt is important and I’ve confird the people I chose for this first battle. We were waiting for you.”
“I’m sorry, professor,” Rylan replied with a nod. “There was sothing I needed to do. But why were you waiting for ?”
At the sa ti, he furrowed his brow in confusion. It was not like his presence was required.
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In response, Alice only grinned and uncrossed her arms.
“As insurance, of course.”
Rylan blinked.
“…Insurance?”
She pointed at him.
“I want to ask you to help oversee the assignnt.”
A collective gasp resounded in the classroom as almost every student either leaned forward or looked at their friends in a mix of confusion and surprise. A mont later, they all turned to look at Rylan, then back at Alice.
“They will be battles against real monsters. The possibility of serious injuries or even death is real,” Alice continued calmly. “I want you to interfere and save a student in a dangerous situation if I can’t react in ti. Basically, can you please protect those I might fail to?”
The series of gasps that followed was even louder than the first ti. The students elbowed the others and started whispering, looking at Rylan with shining eyes, but Alice only smiled at him and nodded to herself, as if there was nothing surprising about what she had just said.
Rylan rubbed the back of his head with a small sigh.
“…Sure. Don’t worry.”
Alice’s smile widened before she looked at the other students, so of whom were still staring at Rylan with their mouths agape. She clapped once. The sound resounded throughout the entire classroom, much louder than it should have been. The students reflexively looked at her.
“Now, we’re going to the arena I talked about. The monsters are already there. As I said before Rylan arrived, I would strongly recomnd that all of you watch the battles, even if only so of you will fight against the monsters. Learning from others’ experiences is a skill in and of itself.”
As Alice gave the students one final explanation, Rylan approached the seats where his friends were. Aelfric was beaming at him.
“…What?” Rylan said as he got within a ter of his brother.
“Nothing. It just made feel like things are the way they’re supposed to be,” Aelfric replied. Sitting very close to him, Luna nodded with a smile.
Rylan shook his head with a grin and looked at Jasmine and Hayden. Hayden looked calm and wore a grin, but Jasmine was pouting a bit.
“This doesn’t make sense,” she said after a couple seconds, pouting even more.
Rylan raised an eyebrow.
“It makes perfect sense,” Hayden replied before he could say anything. He shook his head and threw an overly disappointed look at Jasmine. “After two months around him, you still haven’t realized it?”
Jasmine frowned and looked at him.
“Why aren’t you mad about this, anyway? She asked him for help, but not you.”
Hayden shrugged and smiled at Rylan.
“The stronger the man I need to beat is, the better. It wouldn’t be fun otherwise.”
Rylan laughed and tapped Hayden’s shoulder. He smiled at Jasmine.
“Don’t sulk, Jasmine,” he said. “It’s just a safety asure.”
She sighed. In the row behind her, Isa and Maria smiled at Rylan.
“She’s just sad that you’ll be paying attention to other girls’ fights instead of only hers,” Isa said, keeping her smile.
Jasmine snapped toward her like she was trying to dodge a Magic Missile. She tried to speak as her face reddened in real ti, but stuttered. Rylan only shook his head with a grin and turned his head to look at Alice.
I’m a bit surprised.
Out of the professors, Alice, Hugo, and Rebecca were the ones most familiar with his strength, and Alice was the only one who taught first years. Truthfully, Rylan thought that she would keep thinking that Gerard had been the one to do the heavy lifting in the Basilisk Wilds Dungeon, but it seed like she had beco more aware of his power level over the last two months. He smiled as he looked at her. Her being humble enough to ask for his help just in case sothing went wrong was a good thing.
Alice finished her explanation as Rylan’s friends joked around. Once she clapped her hands again, she looked at him with a serious expression and nodded. He nodded back. Naturally, most of the other students didn’t miss this exchange. They started whispering to one another again as they gradually stood up. Alice sighed and walked out of the classroom, followed closely by the students.
They walked through the Academy’s hallways until they left the building, drawing quite a few glances, likely due to the sheer size of the group. After walking for a while, they reached a building that Rylan hadn’t seen yet.
It looks like a miniature version of the arena from the tournant finals.
It was obviously smaller, and the stands were lacking, but still, that made things easier. He wouldn’t need to worry about the terrain or obstacles in case he needed to jump in to save a student.
Once they reached the arena’s entrance, Alice directed most of the students toward the stands and seats, helped by a few white-robed students. In the end, only fifteen students remained in front of her, including Rylan’s entire group. Rylan glanced at one of them in particular. The boy was sending him glances with a furrowed brow, looking like he had tasted sothing bad.
It was Isaac, the arrogant noble heir who Rylan had defeated during the tournant.
Rylan looked into Isaac’s eyes.
Not bad.
There was much less venom than he expected. Instead, Isaac seed to be filled with a competitive drive that shone through in his deanor.
I guess our fight was pretty impactful.
Rylan grinned to himself and looked at Alice. She was looking at him.
“Rylan, you’re with . We’ll stay inside the arena itself, but so distance away from the ones fighting,” she said. The white-robed students threw her surprised looks and then turned to stare at Rylan, but he didn’t pay them any heed.
“No problem,” Rylan replied. “But can I ask for sothing?”
Alice tilted her head.
“Let Aelfric go first,” Rylan continued.
Aelfric and Luna snapped toward him at the sa ti. Luna looked absolutely appalled, but Aelfric only gritted his teeth and nodded with a grave expression.
“I can do it,” Aelfric suddenly said. Luna looked at him and stepped closer.
“Aelfric, you don’t have to—” she started.
“I’ll do it,” Aelfric interrupted, then smiled at her. “Don’t worry. Rylan is here.”
A bit ahead of them, Hayden nodded matter-of-factly. Alice raised an eyebrow.
“…Sure, we can do that,” Alice said to Rylan after a second. “Even if your brother doesn’t have much faith in . I’ll hear your reasoning once we’re inside the arena.”
Aelfric looked at her with a calm smile.
“I have faith in you, professor. It’s just that Rylan is the one whom I believe in the most.”
Rylan couldn’t help but smile and ruffle his younger brother’s hair.
“Alright, now let’s go. Ti to see what enemy you’ll fight.”
Aelfric nodded, looking both nervous and expectant at the sa ti. Once he looked into Rylan’s eyes, however, the nervousness seed to disappear.
The group separated. The other students who would fight made their way toward the first row of the stands, while Rylan, Aelfric, and Alice entered the arena proper.
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