“Aragon Saintsworth.” The student said.
A feeling Caine was all too familiar with began creeping its way into his very soul, latching onto his every thought.
Saintsworth.
The name of the Demigod who had killed his parents, and then vanished without a trace after a promise to exterminate him. After all these years, just the thought of that monster was enough to send Caine into a frenzy, his mind riddled with countless thoughts, as the expression in his face turned cold.
‘They have the same name, they must be related, he is related to that bastard. If I kill him, I can draw him and then kill him.’
Caine felt his own heart racing uncontrollably as rage fought to take over his mind.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
After letting the rage in for five seconds, he took a deep breath and looked at Aragon. He looked nothing like Sir Saintsworth. Saintsworth was a frighteningly large man, towering over everyone, and even now, he would still tower over Caine.
Aragon, on the other hand, was of a shorter statute, but still clearly well-built, his muscles seemed firm and strong beneath the bodysuit he wore. He had short, brown curly hair that fell over his forehead that matched his brown eyes, the complete opposite of Sir Saintsworth and his blonde hair and blue eyes.
The biggest difference of all, however, was a simple fact. Aragon did not kill Caine’s parents. Ranork Saintsworth did.
Caine took another deep breath, now controlling the rage within his heart.
“Aragon Saintsworth. Any relation to Ranork Saintsworth, the former Knight?” Caine asked.
“Yes.” He replied. “He is a distant relative.”
“I see. Then am I correct in assuming you share the same bloodline?”
“No, Professor.” He replied, his voice conveying a painful sadness. “He is part of the main family, whereas I am part of a branch family. We did not inherit any Godblood… I am not a Demigod.”
The rage began subsiding, just knowing that they did not share the same blood was enough to calm Caine. They may be related, but they are completely different. He cannot be blamed for the sins of his relative. As long as he did not give him a reason to, Caine would not view him as an enemy.
“Well, boy, I am not yet a Professor yet, so I cannot say for certain whether I will be taking students as disciples. Nevertheless, from what I can see, you do appear to be an exceptional student. If I am unable to, I don’t see why the First Class Professor wouldn’t take you in.”
Aragon’s expression changed, a hopeless smile appearing in his face.
“Thank you, Professor. Unfortunately, the top two classes are reserved for Demigods, so I can never aim for the highest peak of this Academy.”
A strange atmosphere arose, and a sense of discouragement spread across all the students, regardless of class. Caine felt the need to say something, but what could he say? What was there to be said regarding the insurmountable wall presented to them by the Academy?
In the midst of all this, the sound of footsteps echoed somehow in the infinite training grounds, and Caine turned only to see a student walking towards them. The student yawned, seemingly having woken up recently; his dark hair was all over the place, and his uniform was dirty, with stains spread all over his shirt.
‘Great. Has to be one of mine.” Caine thought as he let out an inward groan.
“Sorry,” he yawned, “we never come here, so I didn’t know where to go after the class was empty. You know, you could have left a note.”
The students passed by Caine, joining the rest of the students, standing in the gap between the Third and Tenth Class. Every single student gave him the same look, one of pure disgust as they took a step away from him, although he did not seem bothered by it.
Looking at the scene unfolding before him, Caine let out a bitter smile as he remembered his own childhood in Arzamac.
There was something strange about the young boy, but no matter how hard Caine thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out. He looked at him attentively, but no matter what, he just seemed like a regular person. That was what was strange.
Regardless of the class they were in, these children were considerably stronger than the average person, but this child seemed just too average. Caine absorbed the mana in the air, and guided it into his eyes, trying to peek into his core, but what he saw shocked him.
The mana in the air behaved strangely: it was drawn around every student, particularly Aragon, it was especially dense around him, and it seemed evenly distributed among the other students, with a couple of students seemingly more attuned to it, and -to Caine’s delight - Myra and Silas seemed to be two of these students.
However, the mana completely ignored the boy, refusing to acknowledge him, it was as if it couldn’t detect its existence. Mana becomes dense around those who have an affinity to it, trying to enter their cores, and everyone has an affinity to it, regardless of how minute, there is at least a subtle density of mana around everyone, but not this student.
“You.” Caine walked to stand in front of the student.” You don’t have a core, do you?”
“Nope.”
The boy wore a brazen smile, trying to emanate an air of confidence and self-importance, although it was completely betrayed by the look in his eyes. Within those eyes, Caine saw endless sadness and hatred, directed both at the world himself, and Caine couldn’t help but feel pity for the kid.
Caine raised his hand, and the boy took a step back and did so again when Caine took a step forward.
[Pull.] Caine cast a spell, pulling the boy towards him, and placing his hand on his sternum, where his core should be located. He guided mana through his mana channels, and lead it towards the boy, trying to make him absorb it, but surprisingly, the mana simply went through him, unresponsive to the boy’s existence.
There was no capacity for mana in his body, there was no mana core, no mana channels, nothing. Since birth, this child was destined to never use mana.
“This is most fascinating.” Caine said with the excitement of a child in his voice. “How did you even manage to enter the Academy?”
“I may not have mana, but my physical abilities are much higher than normal.” The boy replied, his voice hoarse, seemingly affected by the gaze of all the students.
“And your parents donated a shitload of money to the Academy to let you attend.” A boy said, hiding behind a cough.
Most students laughed at the unnecessary comment but suddenly stopped as Caine glared at them.
“What’s your name, boy?” He asked.
“Kaiser. Kaiser Vonhaven.”
“I see. Pleasure to meet you, Kaiser Vonhaven. I have high expectations for you.”
Caine walked back to where he originally stood, in front of the ring, and faced the students.
He looked at all the students, but the one he was most interested in was Kaiser. Not even in his wildest dreams, would he have imagined to meet an anomaly like Kaiser here, and countless ideas began swirling in his mind.
‘Kaiser is the most interesting thing this Academy has, and they are wasting him. His mere existence changes everything.’
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Get in groups of four, two students from each class, and spar. I will go around and provide you with tips and advice. Remember that if you lose a person, you’ll be at a great disadvantage, so make sure to cover for each other.”
Some of the students moved to protest but stopped as they felt the pressure exerted by Caine’s gaze. They all awkwardly spoke to each other, exchanging as few words as possible, their tones devoid of any emotion as they spoke to students of a different class.
Kaiser looked around, hesitantly trying to get someone’s attention, but was aggressively ignored by everyone, a vicious disgust growing on everyone he spoke to. In the end, he just resigned himself to join whatever group needed one person when everyone was done choosing.
“Kaiser.” Caine called out to him, gathering the attention of every student. “You will not participate. Go stand at the side, and just watch the others.”
Laughter broke out among the students, and Kaiser looked at them with burning hate in his eyes. Caine felt strangely attached to the boy, the look in his eyes reminding him of his own when he was younger, and he felt almost regretful at just he just did, but he thought it was the best option for Kaiser.
The students had finally managed to split themselves into groups, standing around awkwardly as they tried to remain as close as possible to their own classmates.
At Caine’s order, they moved to an empty place, each group accompanying another and they began sparring, although it could barely be called that. Every single group had no structure, they did not know what each of them was capable of, and they wholeheartedly refused to show an ounce of teamwork.
Caine had intended this to be an opportunity for them to - at least- take the first step in working towards the unity he needed them to have but looking at the scene in front of him, he almost regretted even being there.
Caine let out a sigh and joined Kaiser, standing beside him. He stared at the other students, his eyes full of both longing and hatred, and lost himself in watching his classmates; he had not even noticed Caine standing beside him and flinched when he put an arm on his shoulder.
“Kaiser, I understand you may be annoyed, but…”
“I don’t care.” He interrupted Caine.
“Kaiser.” The professor said in a firm tone. “You may be annoyed, but you will not interrupt me in any circumstances. Are we clear?”
Kaiser seemed shocked at his tone but nodded obediently and gave him a resigned smile.
“Now, as I was saying.” Caine continued. “You are in a special position, there are things that you can do, that only you can do, and that is only because you have no magic. You are like a blind man whose hearing is more developed, and your lack of mana makes your physical abilities more developed. You just need to work for them.”
A few seconds passed with no answer, and Kaiser gritted his teeth, his face contorting in anger, and continued looking ahead.
“Professor.” He said calmly, hiding the anger he was feeling. “Please do not mock me. I understand the position I am in. I am nothing more than a Cripple. My parents sent me here to keep me out of their sight, to not remind them of the failure that I am. I don’t need to hear all this.”
Caine wanted to be surprised, but he wasn’t. Deep down, he wanted to believe that Kaiser came from a loving family, one that would accept someone like him, but he knew that could never be the case.
Kaiser Vonhaven.
The Vonhaven, a noble family, one that hasn’t seen the presence of a Demigods in generations. The descendants of the God of Strenght would not accept a boy who couldn’t strengthen himself.
The abuse Kaiser must have gone through when he began puberty, and just did not develop a mana core, not even a pitiful one, must have been disgusting, and just thinking about it, Caine’s rage towards the world he lived burned slightly brighter.
“Kaiser, you have potential, there are things only you can do.”
Silence lingered between the two as they continued looking ahead of them, at the other students.
“The mind is an interesting thing. You’re told something so often, you start believing it, and you become bound to it. For years now, you have been told you are a lesser being, and now you are chained by those beliefs. Abandon it. All those feelings, all those beliefs that were forced on you. Abandon them them all, leave them behind and become strong.”
Kaiser said nothing, he kept looking ahead, his eyes wide open and his lips quivering.
“You believe yourself worthless. Mana does not recognise you. I can feel everyone’s presence by feeling the mana in the air, the way it is absorbed by people and demonic creatures alike, but you… You are a ghost. Look at them sparring. Think about how you could win against them. That’s why you’re not training with them. You’re training to beat them.”
Kaiser still remained silent, although he now looked at his classmates more intently, with a dull light in his eyes. Something deep within him had changed, whether it was having someone believing in him, or simply thinking about beating his classmates, he was completely focused on the task at hand.
Caine left him behind and went around to each of the groups, looking more attentively at what level they were, and he was almost pleasantly surprised at what he saw.
Although their teamwork and adaptability were severely lacking, they had the basic understanding, being able to use mana more efficiently than most, the way they strengthened themselves was also… decent.
He went to each group individually and all the students looked at him eagerly. It was fascinating, really, to see all these students fawn over Caine after how they first saw him, as nothing more than a failure.
Caine himself felt a little vindicated seeing all those young eyes looking up to him, looking up at Leonidas, but soon grew annoyed as he found himself repeating himself to each group.
“You are just ignoring each other, completely missing the point of the spar. Work together. Different people will teach you different things, so learn as much as you from fighting, whether it be from a weaker or stronger opponent.”
He repeated himself until he reached the last group, comprising some familiar faces.
“Well, well, well. Who do we have here? Silas, Myra, Aragon and…?”
“Faye, Professor Caine?” the student replied with a polite bow.
Caine felt somewhat unnerved by Faye’s gaze, her dull brown eyes staring at him, without a hint of emotion behind them, completely contradicting the bright smile she wore.
Well, it was not something he disliked, Caine had always preferred someone who wouldn’t show their intention at first, rather than someone who wore their heart on their sleeve.
“Faye… right. Unlike the rest, you guys are trying to work together. Well done. But there is room for improvement. Aragon, you relying far too much on yourself, not considering your allies. Even you will struggle against four people at once. But your ability to use mana and strengthen yourself is quite advanced, so well done.”
He then turned to Faye.
“Your mana capacity is outstanding, but you lack control of it. It’s not inherently bad to use wide-range spells, but you did not consider your allies, they were more wary of your spells than of their enemy.”
Then he looked at his own students, Silas and Myra.
“You two are letting them take charge, you try to just offer assistance without ever coming up with ideas of your own. They may be stronger, but that’s not to mean that they are always right. Have more confidence.”
With those words, he was about to leave but was stopped by a question from Myra.
“How did you stop Professor McGrave’s spell?”
“Oh, it was easy. I have an affinity for wind magic. Air is necessary for a fire to burn, so when I saw his spell, I removed all air around me, creating a vacuum. Without air to feed on, the fire was extinguished. It does not matter how strong a spell it is, if it doesn’t hit you, it’s useless.”
The four students - alongside all the students that now gathered around them - looked at him with incredulous expressions. Caine could almost see the cogs in their brains stop moving as they struggled to understand what he had told them, but that was to expected.
Many of the things Caine had learnt from Oliver were things that simply went beyond common knowledge… or common sense for that matter.
The four students looked at each other, and just let out an annoyed sigh as they inwardly accepted the explanation, and as they did the sound of a ringing bell somehow echoed in the infinite space of the training grounds.
The students rejoiced, as they excitedly talked about their plans for the evening, and Caine realised that the day had finally ended. Considering everything it could have gone far worse.
“Alright, students! Time to leave. I will be seeing you soon hopefully if I get the job. If anyone asks, I was a great teacher. Class dismissed.”
Caine turned his back on them, and left the training grounds, making his way to the Headmistress’ office, but was then stopped by someone calling out his name; behind him, Kaiser was running towards him and almost crashed into Caine.
“There’s a bench somewhere here, let’s sit there.” Caine told him, as he already walked away from him, making his way towards the courtyard they passed earlier, and then sat on a metal bench.
Caine was surprised as he sat, the bench was clearly made of metal, but when he sat, he felt himself sink in it, and then he realised it was an enchanted bench as he saw the runes carved onto the seat, making it feel the most comfortable it could for anyone who sat.
‘How rich are these people?’
Caine couldn’t help but ask himself that one question as he wondered what sort of Academy would waste money on making benches feel more comfortable, and then he started wondering if every single bench and seat in the Academy was enchanted.
“Is everything alright, Professor?” Kaiser asked, seemingly concerned by Caine’s thoughtful expression.
“Oh yeah, I was thinking how you nobles really are a bunch of spoiled brats. Who even needs enchanted benches?”
Kaiser was lost for words, looking at the young Professor just lean comfortably on the bench with his legs crossed.
“I’m pretty sure all benches are like this.”
“No, you innocent child. You don’t understand it yet, but this place is heaven. The world is horrible.”
Caine looked at the sky, thinking about how the Long Summer ended, and its eternal blue sky was replaced by the never-ending clouds of the Great Fall.
Four more years. That’s how long the Great Fall was expected to last.
“Anyway, I don’t think you called out to me to discuss benches, what do you want?”
“You were talking about the benches, but alright. How can I win in a fight?”
Caine smiled at the boy, making him shudder.
“What do you think is the purpose of fighting?”
“To beat your opponent,” Kaiser replied as if Caine was asking something obvious.
“No. It’s to kill your opponents.” Caine retorted solemnly.
A strange silence lingered between the two as Kaiser processed those words, and just as he was about to say something, Caine stood up.
“Well, that’s what I think. You kill your enemies and you win. Anyway, I just realised I should probably go see the Headmistress.”
“Oh yes, of course. I’ll see you around, Professor.” Kaiser stood up and nodded at him.
“Not if I see you first, brat.” Caine replied mockingly and waved at him as he walked away.
Suddenly, he felt a distortion in the mana in front of him, and then a folded piece of paper appeared in front of him.
‘PLEASE COME SEE ME IN MY OFFICE.’
He let out a sigh and started walking there, slightly faster, his pace showing a hint of annoyance.
‘I was already doing that.’ he thought to himself.