Bab 41: Upperclassmen
"What's wrong, Ms. Ross? You turned pale all of a sudden." Lily remarked with great concern.
"What is that?" Sylvia asked as she pointed at the documents in Ophelia's hands.
Even though the two girls talked to her, Ophelia did not respond.
Seeing that her eyes were still glued to the paper, Mika sneaked to her side and took a look over it.
"Expedition report?" he read out loud in an unsure tone.
"More than half of the students were found dead…?!"
He switched to shouting midway.
"What's the meaning of this, Ms. Ross?!" he asked.
"..."
She bit her lips.
"The academy currently teaches students up to the third year, meaning that you have upperclassmen here." she began to explain.
"Now that you mention it... I've never seen someone from the second or third year." Lily remarked pensively.
"Because they are not here at the moment. The curriculum changes for every year and this time, the upper years are coincidentally away simultaneously." Ophelia answered.
"The third-years are away for three months for a school exchange in another nation, whereas the second-years should have been still on a demon subjugation with the headmaster." she added.
"Demon subjugation...? Will we have to do that as well?" Lily asked with a small tint of anxiety.
"Yes, but the headmaster will be your guide and the entire year will participate. So it usually shouldn't pose a danger to you."
"Usually..." Sylvia muttered.
"If that's the case, then how did so many die?" Mika asked.
"I... I don't know. The target should have been a B-rank demon. Considering their numbers and the presence of the headmaster, the demon should have stood no chance..."
She looked like she was pondering deeply.
"Sorry... I have to find out the truth."
She turned her back on her students and headed in the direction the headmaster went to.
"..."
The three were now on their own.
Knowing that it would be pointless to linger further around, they made their way to the dorms.
"Second-years... Have you heard anything about them?" Mika wondered.
The sky was orange with a tint of purple with the sun setting down on the horizon.
A fresh wind breezed their faces as they were outside.
The grounds were desolated due to most students being at the dorms already.
"Not much, sorry." Lily shook her head.
"..."
Sylvia squinted her eyes a little as she was thinking about it.
"Wasn't that Cail Maystra a classmate of yours, Lily?" she asked.
"Hm? Yes, he is. Why do you ask?"
"From what I've heard before I took the exams for Loogam, his older brother, Xander Maystra, is also enrolled here as a second-year student."
"Ah, now that I think about it, Cail did mention his brother when he introduced himself." Mika remarked.
"..."
Sylvia wore a concerned expression on her face with her gaze lowered.
"Listen to me, especially you, Mika."
"?"
Mika raised his eyebrows after she called him out.
"Xander Maystra is strong. Very strong. According to rumors, his powers rivals that of the headmasters despite his young age." she elaborated tensed.
"The headmaster's...? Does he have a relic?" Lily asked stunned.
"He does, but I don't know what kind it is."
"I see. Well, it doesn't matter how strong he is. I mean, I don't intend to involve myself with that guy." Mika said carefree.
"..."
"..."
The girls gave him a wry and blunt look.
"W-what?"
Sylvia sighed.
"Ignoring your statement, the problem actually lies with Xander."
She crossed her arms.
"It seems like his personality is at a bare minimum as worse as his little brother's."
Then, she took a glance at Mika.
"What I'm trying to say is that he is someone that actively seeks trouble, especially with people in the lower classes regardless of the year."
"They really are brothers..."
Mika sighed in disappointment with his hand on his forehead.
"But just like I said, I won't involve-"
"Wait, isn't that Belian?" Lily cut him off as she pointed to the front.
"?"
"!"
They were still too far away to get a good look at the situation, but it was clear that there was a fight.
Thus, three rushed to the scene only to see an exhausted Belian facing a guy with black curly hair, which he slicked back.
With his sharp light green eyes, he looked down on Belian.
"Is that everything? Come on, show me why they call you the strongest student, you fake!" he mocked Belian.
"Tch..."
Unexpectedly, he fell for his provocations and launched an attack.
He amassed flames in his hands and created a large fireball, however, it seemed like he was in pain.
"Ha!" Belian yelled as he threw his fireball.
On the other hand, his opponent looked unimpressed.
While one hand was in his pocket, he raised the other one up.
And with a chop-like movement, the person managed to slash the fireball in two.
"Truly disappointing. I will end this with one attack."
Mika looked at the guy's white uniform.
"Is he your classmate, Sylvia...?"
Sylvia just shook her head with her mouth agape.
"Hm? Who are you?" the guy asked annoyed after he sensed them on the sideline.
"..."
Belian was surprised to see Mika and the others.
"Belian..."
Mika noticed the small cuts on Belian, however those small cuts could not be enough to make him feel pain.
"Whatever. I will take care of you in a heartbeat. Just let me finish this up real quick."
The person raised his hand and pointed towards Belian.
"W-wait!"
"!"
Everyone was surprised when Lily decided to jump in front of Belian with her arms spread.
"Isn't this enough?"
Aside from Mika, Lily also seemingly noticed Belian's injuries.
"..."
The guy sighed.
"As you're a red student, I will let this slide just once. Now step away."
His voice was threatening and his eyes looked like they were glowing.
"I-I won't!"
"I see. What a waste..."
Then, everyone felt a breeze caressing their bodies.
However, the breeze slowly turned into something more intense and before they knew it, the person gathered wind with a gale-like speed in his hand.
"This isn't good!" Sylvia commented concerned and joined Lily.
"Damn it..."
Mika was about to take a step as well.
[Do not move. In your current state, what can you do?]
"But-"
[Just look at them. Do you think you can help?]
He looked at them.
Belian, Lily and Sylvia prepared a counterattack with their magic.
While Belian and Lily assembled fire behind them, Sylvia created a thick ice wall between them and the other person.
"..."
The mysterious student smirked.
Then, all of a sudden the intensity of the wind in his hand grew extremely.
He accumulated all of that into a single small sphere.
[I understand now. So this is his relic.]
"Huh? His relic?"
"Die!"
With a lunatic grin, the student unleashed the gathered wind inside the sphere at the others.
"!"
They stood no chance.
Was it a breeze? No.
Was it strong wind? No.
A gale? No.
It was something more intense.
Not just them, but also some trees in the vicinity got caught up and got their roots torn.
The orange-purple sky turned grim as grey clouds assembled above them.
Garbage, stones, dirt, leaves and other small objects flew wildly around.
It was just for a short moment, but that moment felt like they were in the midst of a hurricane.
After the wind pressure calmed down, Mika opened his eyes again as he was on the ground.
He tried to get up when he saw someone standing in front of him.
"Ugh!"
But when he tried to raise his head, the person before him trampled on his head with one foot.
"How lame. I expected more of the so-called strongest student."
He heaved a sigh.
"Who are you...?"
"Who I am?"
He lifted his foot allowing Mika to lift his head.
However, as soon as he did that, Mika was grabbed by his neck and was lifted up by the student.
"Hrngh...!" he groaned as he struggled to free himself.
Surprisingly for his slim body, the student was quite strong physically.
"It appears to me as if you everyone doesn't know, who the strongest actually is."
"You consider him the strongest student? Don't disrespect me like that."
His grip around Mika's neck tightened.
"But to answer your question who I am..."
Even though he was trying everything he could with his leftover strength to get free, Mika noticed that he had a badge on his chest.
"I am a second-year student here."
The upperclassman let go.
With his knees on the ground, Mika coughed and grasped urgently for air.
"I am a proud student of the white class."
He retracted his leg to the side.
"I am the strongest of the academy."
"!"
Following those words, he launched a forceful kick at Mika, which sent him flying to the others, who were still lying on the ground together like a heap of corpses.
And before he left, he stated his name with an arrogant smirk.
"I am Xander Maystra."
Hadiah
-- Hadiah diterima Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone