---
"Yo, class."
Zeke waved as he walked through the doorway.
The students raised their eyebrows. Why had the professor chosen to use the mundane ans of entering a room today?
"What? Can’t I be normal for once?" Zeke rolled his eyes.
Are you ever normal?
The students sighed in unison.
"Yeah, yeah. Let’s get down to business." Zeke smacked his palm against the podium. "You must have a lot of questions."
The class nodded.
"Why had you instructed Rhaegar to tell not to fight well?" Kenshin stood as he asked.
It was unlike the professor, who usually encouraged fighting. The students stared at Zeke, their expressions demanding the sa answer.
"Too much trouble would arise if you had fought him seriously."
They stared at him, their eyes saying: You, who loves trouble, fears too much trouble?
"As much as I’d want to go along the route of saying ’knowing too much is bad’—" Zeke shrugged. "—fuck it. I’m your professor. You deserve to know too much."
He leaned against the podium.
"The child—Khan—is not soone you could beat conventionally. The reason is also why you felt the urge to fight him. He’s special to this world. Winning, or even having a serious battle with him, would put people on your radar that you don’t need at this point in your life. The sa goes for . I’m not really a fan of trouble that isn’t resolved with battle."
He paused, letting the weight settle.
"Your fight, if I’d let you go all out, would have gained the attention of schers. I don’t find them pleasant. Your fight was a result of one such sche. I simply chose to play by my rules—by making your fight cartoonish."
His expression softened, almost imperceptibly.
"But it seems it did sothing for you either way. You learned sothing new. And I learned that just letting you fight isn’t actually training. I was going to do that eventually, but—"
He shrugged again.
"Professor, I also felt the sa urge to fight one certain ti. Only on a weaker level," Kenshin said.
"Let guess. Jude?"
"Mm."
"Well, that’s because of your nature against their nature."
"His nature?" Virelle asked.
"That’s sothing he will decide if he wishes to speak about or not."
"I don’t even understand what I am." Kenshin’s smile was sheepish.
"Oh, c’mon." Zeke groaned. Is there no celestial starter pack?
He raised his eyebrows at Kenshin: Do you want to say it here?
Kenshin gave a small shrug. He didn’t really care.
Zeke sighed.
---
"Woah." Kenshin exhaled.
He had known he was not human—his status sheet made that clear. But knowing he was the spawn of two gods? He had not known that. He had never known his parents, but he had certainly never thought they were that big of a deal.
"So my working theory is that, as a Celestial, you simply react to special people differently. For you, it’s the urge to fight them. And I’m sure they feel the sa way. If it’s the sa for other Celestials, I don’t know."
The class stared at Kenshin. Then the questions began—teasing, warm, relentless.
"No wonder you’re so beautiful." Virelle sighed dramatically. "I almost felt bad. As a girl, I’m not even as beautiful as you are."
Zeke had also told them about Celestial traits.
"How does it feel having an OP bloodline?" Aelric cooed.
"Final boss material. Definitely more than any noble." Zephyr grinned.
"Those nobles calling you a commoner don’t even know you have a more overpowered standing than them." Seraphin’s voice was light with mock sympathy.
"I’m confused." Dean leaned back, placing his hands behind his head and his feet on the table, a teasing grin on his face. "Why are you acting like he stepped in poop? It’s still Kenshin. Celestial or not, he’s a brute, not a celebrity."
"It seems this class really is a class of weirdos," Nyssara chuckled, "if a child of gods is normal to you all."
"Well, to be picked by the old man, you are all special children. Maybe not on Khan’s level, but you all have the makings of heroes. And I’m pleased to be teaching you all." Zeke smiled. "But pleased or not, I’m going to be drilling you. It’s ti you learned better things and ranked up."
He clapped his hands.
The students appeared in the Crucible—not on a battlefield this ti, but in a vast library. Shelves stretched in every direction, loaded with books on every conceivable field of magic, combat, and theory. The air slled of old paper and possibility.
"There are books on different fields here. Read, understand, pick, and then we’ll get to practical training."
The library held every book from the academy’s collection that Zeke had read. And he had read all of them—most during his "hiatus," the rest during his first visit to the library. Every volu was stored in his brain in its entirety. One could say this collection was better than the original; he had supplented the texts with his own knowledge, making it easier for the students to learn.
"All of you will learn magic and hand-to-hand combat. Whatever field you choose to branch into is your own choice, but understand—there’s no ’easy’ choice. And your choices are no joke."
His gaze swept across them.
"For the next three months, this will be your ho. After that, you will apply this knowledge in actual combat, up until the academy’s assessnt begins. Your days of ’fun’ are mostly over."
He grinned.
"Mostly, because being with is all the fun you need."
The students could not bring themselves to groan. Who knew if the dictator would increase their training regi? But they did look forward to the training ahead. This promised to be on another level from their last one.
Zeke watched their expressions and smiled.
---
Back when Kenshin and Khan were sparring...
"Why did you do that?" Nox asked Zeke without taking his eyes off the screen where the fight was playing.
"Because it’s the better choice."
"Better choice than what?"
"Than going with your ridiculously childish plan." Zeke’s voice was flat. "Why do I need the angels to maximize chaos? Simply leaving the child alone is enough for to have fun. The plan is to screw over the angels, right? It’s simple. Make my students strong enough that they cause massive chaos once the war starts. The angels won’t be able to sit back. They’ll want to eliminate the Nephilim—which I believe you’ve taken into account. That should cause a lot of chaos. I believe they might even interfere with the main storyline."
He crossed his arms.
"That should provide with the life-or-death battle you promised. And as for Khan? Let him grow. Let the angels influence him. They’ll send him to eventually." A small smile played at his lips. "Not to brag, but I have a certain charm. It’s especially effective after a hot, grueling fight. Getting the child to my side will be more beneficial, easier, and less troubleso than forcefully getting close to him right now."
He gestured vaguely at the screen.
"I believe he has a private professor now anyway. And for soone of his caliber, only Elio would suit him. There’s no need to fight Elio over Khan. That would have a lower success rate. And my students making friends with the kings—and Jude being a king himself—makes this easy."
He turned to face Nox directly.
"Leave it to this immortal."
Nox’s expression was unreadable. "What kind of plan is that? How did you think of that so quickly?"
Zeke’s smile sharpened. "I don’t like being manipulated. It makes one-up my manipulator."
Nox gave a strained smile.
"Instead of forcing a relationship, you let it grow and change your plans to fit that growth. That’s how you create chaos."
Zeke stood.
"And again, a forcefully plucked lon is never sweet." He grinned. "Send in the cavalry. This spar has gone on for too long."
He teleported out of the office.
Nox shook his head and sent a ssage to Elio.
---
’Ahem. Your Most Radiant and Eternal Imperial Majesty.’
Nox sent the ntal transmission as the Emperor addressed his court.
’This Emperor is busy. Why have you disturbed ?’
’You’re in a eting that is filler. I’m quite generous not to disturb you when you’re with your wives.’
’You wouldn’t dare.’ The Emperor’s ntal voice carried a dramatic gasp.
’Ahem. I have sothing to tell you about the incident your Grand Chancellor is reporting to you.’
’Go on. This Emperor is listening.’
’Oh, he said that? We do have the sa taste.’ The Emperor’s ntal tone shifted to sothing approaching satisfaction. ’I was skeptical when you told you had found a fellow chaos-lover, but this one seems to fit the bill. He even understands that a lon is not to be forcefully plucked. And his plans? Amazing.’
He paused, and when he spoke again, there was a barb in it. ’I did say you do not have a knack for scheming. You sche with arrogance. It blinds you.’
Nox gave the ntal equivalent of clicking his tongue.
’You two are oddly similar. You act like you hate sches, but you sche the most. You’re even laying your precious child on the line.’
The Emperor’s ntal voice was dismissive. ’Why do you all think he’s my favorite? He’s just a sperm that was chosen to be the hero of this world. I do not need him—just as I did not need the last hero. He’s simply a ticket to more chaos.’
’Alright, that’s enough.’ Nox’s ntal tone was flat, almost bored. ’Before you begin to bore with the details of you killing the human hero who defected and how you single-handedly won the war for humanity. I know. I was there.’
’My biggest fan—’ A pause. ’Sorry, my oldest fan. My wives have bigger figures than you.’
The Emperor laughed before cutting the transmission and turning back to face his court.
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