The two walked out of the Academy, Luna leading him in the centre of Arman as they chatted… well, more than chatting it was just Luna talking to Caine, mostly just telling him about the stores he would find useful, from clothing stores, to blacksmiths, to guilds.

She told Caine about the structure in the Academy, telling him about the the hierarchy of the classes, about how the discrimination towards the lower classes caused a halt in the growth for lower students, but more particularly to the Tenth Class.

“You know, Caine, I had a question.” She spoke softly. “Why would you accept teaching the Tenth Class?”

“It’s a good idea for me.” Caine smiled softly at her. “I am a commoner, I don’t have an education like the other Professors, and those kids, they’re like I was when I was young. Not to mention that most of my life was riddled with violence, so I want something more relaxing.”

He smiled and looked at the sky. It had been years since he spoke so calmly with someone, and it was even longer since he answered truthfully when he was asked something about himself.

He quickly glanced at Luna, thinking how strange it was that he felt so comfortable with her; usually, whenever he was with someone, he would just remain quiet, walking as fast as he could to avoid conversations, but here he was, actually matching her pace, and just talking with her as if he was just a regular man.

He smiled bitterly at that thought and looked at the woman next to him, who was already looking back him, with a worried expression.

“That’s enough about.” He chuckled. “Tell me more about you, I really am interested in you.”

Luna looked at him and blushed, mumbling a few words, making Caine turn his head in confusion.

‘Did I say something weird again?’

“There’s not much to tell. My parents are nobles, so we were comfortable. When I developed my mana core, I found my affinity for healing magic - although it’s lacking. I actually met Alicent, I mean Headmistress Zeraphyn in the Talon Academy, and when she became the Headmistress here, she hired me.”

Caine was slightly disappointed; although they had just met, he wanted to know more about her, he wanted to know something more personal, but he did not know if it was something he was even allowed to ask.

Suddenly, Caine felt a gaze stuck on Luna and him; it made him uncomfortable knowing someone was looking at him, but when he looked around, there were too many people for him to pinpoint where the source of the gaze was.

It was an almost foreign feeling for Caine now: for years he had never been caught off guard this way, and now he couldn’t help but wonder how he had let himself drop his guard this way.

The two continued walking, Luna completely unaware of how alert Caine was at the moment. They walked for a long time, Luna was now showing him her favourite places to eat, walking to him to countless restaurants, bars and cafes, and she spoke so passionately about her favourite foods, Caine couldn’t help but continuously smile at her.

Soon they reached the Plaza, at the centre of the city, and stopped in front of a colossal statue. It was extremely tall, interestingly enough, it was taller than any of the surrounding buildings, and its head could be seen from any point in the city, sticking out of the skyline.

It depicted the first Demigod ever born, Arthur, named after his father, Artorius, the Gods of the Skies. He was told to be a giant, rumoured to tower over every single person that had ever lived; unlike most of his kind that lived today, he worked for the people, his kindness and generosity being what he was remember for - after his overwhelming strength of course.

After the Conflict, following the destruction and chaos caused by the New and Old Gods, he had led people, forced nobility to rebuild cities, fed the poor and brought stability back to all kingdoms. At the time, there were also rumors that the Seven Kingdoms would be united directly under his rule.

Unfortunately, that all stopped after his sudden disappearance. Even now, centuries later, it is still unclear what had happened to him, but he was still being looked up to as the saviour of the world.

While he was admiring the statue, he noticed Luna looking behind him, and as he turned, he saw a crowded bar.

“That bar there seems nice, should we go and have something to eat?” Caine asked.

“Yeah, sure! I heard that place has a really good steak.” before she finished her sentence, she was already leading Caine there, her pace oddly fast.

The place felt familiar to Caine, it was full of adventurers, or at least they behaved as adventurers. They were all rowdy, the smell of alcohol lingered in the air, and Caine felt right at home. He led Luna to a table, and sat down facing one another, waiting for someone to take their order.

“Hi, can we get two beers and two steaks, please?” Kayra said before the server could even introduce himself, and making leave before even managing to say a word.

Caine let out a chuckle as he looked at her getting embarrassed as she realised how eager she just looked for a beer and steak. Luna looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment, but after a few minutes - as she regained some composure - she turned to Caine.

“I heard that you’re Leonidas. Is that really true?” She asked.

“Yes, yes I -” He replied, before getting interrupted.

“That’s incredible. I heard that you are one of the few solo adventurers, having participated in countless subjugations in The Forest. Is it true that you worked alone so that you could keep as much profit to yourself? Actually, I also heard you had a partner as well, is that true? Why have you never made public appearances, you could be so famous?”

Had any other person been so overbearing with Caine, he would have undoubtedly just left, regardless of who they were; Caine had always been extremely reserved - with strangers at least - and very rarely would he talk about himself, let alone ask any questions, but he was rather happy that Luna was so interested in him.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“I’m not good with people, and I’m also confident in my strength and I was more than happy to work by myself, but it would be a lie if keeping all the profits to myself didn’t entice me. I have a partner, he is my brother, but I haven’t seen him in a while. And about the public appearances… fame never interested him. I want something more.” Caine answered all the questions Luna had and did so happily.

“Something more? What’s that?” She asked, leaning forward.

“I wonder…” Caine replied, leaning forward himself, the two of them so close they could feel each other’s breath on their faces. A strange look covered both their faces, but they were soon interrupted by the server returning with their order.

They pulled back, Luna growing slightly redder, and Caine feeling his stomach growing even weirder. The server placed the steaks and beers in front of them, and Luna quickly grabbed the beer, bringing it to her lips and drinking it all in one gulp.

Caine - as well as the server - stared at her as drunk, with disbelief on their faces as they looked at the tiny and delicate woman who drank beer as well as any veteran adventurer. As soon as she finished, she slammed the metal cup down on the table and gestured at the server to bring another.

Caine was eyeing his steak, and grabbing the knife and fork on the table, he started to cut into it, smelling the aroma of the perfectly seasoned steak. He cut a piece of it and brought it to his mouth. A myriad of flavours and juices overwhelmed him, and indescribable emotions overcame him.

How long had it been since he actually enjoyed the food he was served?

“You know, Caine.” Luna said as she delicately began cutting into her steak. “The other Professor, they don’t really like you. They think quite badly of you.”

“Why would they? I haven’t even met them... and I entered the Academy just today.” Caine retorted.

“You’ll be teaching the Tenth Class, so they already think of you as a lesser. And your fight with McGrave, a lot of people think you only won because he was going through Mana Purification which made him much weaker than normal. Be careful.”

“I appreciate the concern, but it’s really not necessary. If any of them try to interfere with my life, I’ll just make it so that they never would try again… and the Tenth Class will grow many times stronger.”

Luna looked at him with an astonished expression, and Caine simply smiled at her and felt surprised as he realised it had been a long time since he genuinely smiled at someone, and she smiled back brightly.

Suddenly, an abnormally large hand smashed onto their table, and rowdy laughter erupted. Luna flinched at the sudden noise, and let out a muffled scream, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Well, aren’t you a pretty one.” A man said, bringing his hand to her face, and lifting up her chin.

The man only wore a simple pair of trousers and a light chainmail, with a sword adorning his waist. He was rather tall and well built, even dwarfing Caine; while he was not as big as his father, Caine had grown a lot, being much taller than the average person, but he still seemed small in front of the man, especially with his lean physique.

“What do you say you leave this bastard behind, and I’ll show you a good time?” He laughed while grabbing his crotch.

Caine looked at Luna for a moment, anger surging as he saw her frightened expression. He stood up, standing behind the giant, and placed his hand on his shoulder. Caine instantly absorbed all the mana in the room, forcibly ripping it away from everyone, and strengthened his entire body.

He threw the giant to the side with ease, gritting his teeth as he tried to control the anger that grew within him. Silence befell the bar, and everyone stared at Caine and Luna and then turned at the giant, his body still stuck into the brick wall as he groaned in pain, holding onto his shoulder.

Three more men appeared in front of Caine, adventurers by the looks of it, all dressed similarly to the giant Caine had just thrown. He sighed, annoyed at those people disrupting the nice day he was having.

He slightly turned his head, looking at Luna, ensuring she was okay, but thankfully she wasn’t hurt, just shaken… although that was enough for Caine to grow even angrier.

He took a step forward, ignoring the three men, and headed to the giant. His face grimaced as he held onto his shoulder, seemingly dislocated. Caine pulled him up, and made his sit down on a chair, the man unable to fight off his grip.

He seemed to have somewhat calmed down, more worried about his shoulder than trying to seem tough now, and Caine grabbed his arm, pulling it gently until the shoulder was back in place. The giant let out a sigh of relief before Caine struck his chin perfectly and rendered him unconscious.

He turned around, looking at the three men, all of whom were staring at him, hesitantly placing their hands on the hilt of their swords. Caine sighed and took a step forward, exerting the lowest amount of Authority he could on the three men.

They all backed down, their shoulders slouched and they stared at the floor, refusing to look up at the man whose mere stare instilled a primal fear in them, the same fear they felt when they came face to face with a Demonic Beast.

“Enough.” He said, solemnly, as he started walking towards the bar, the crowd that formed splitting to make way for him.

He put his hand in the breast pocket of his jacket, and took out five gold coins, carefully placing them in front of the bartender.

“For the damages, you have my humblest apologies. I hope this covers the costs for repairs, if more is needed, reach out.” He spoke softly,

“And everyone…” Caine shouted out, looking at the crowd, “Drinks are on me tonight!”

The uncomfortable silence disappeared as cheers erupted, with everyone sitting back down, with a few people going up to Caine and patting him on the back, or shaking his hand.

Caine walked through the crowd, ignoring them and went straight to Luna, almost running to her. She sat back down at their table, still shaken, her face a mixture of emotions.

He grabbed her hand, gently guiding her outside; Luna was quiet, constantly looking down at the ground, and her eyes wide open. Caine squeezed her hand softly, thinking about small and soft it was, and called out to her, but regardless of how many times he did, she wouldn’t respond.

They walked aimlessly, with Caine leading the way, despite him not knowing the city well enough to actually take her anywhere, so they just walked, until they reached a park.

They sat on a bench, and Caine smiled as he sat on the hard, uncomfortable, metal bench. He looked at the sky, the sea of grey clouds ever present - as it was for the last few years - with a few gaps showing the crimson sky as the suns had begun to set.

The two must have been out for hours if it was already time for the suns to set, and Caine smiled at the thought of having spent so much time with someone he lost track of time.

His brother would definitely be proud.

“Caine.” Luna said quietly, her voice almost a whisper. “I’m sorry, it was my fault. I was having a lot of fun, sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin it.”

Tears streaked down her beautiful face, as an unpleasant feeling surged within him. Caine stood up, and moved in front of Luna and sat down on the ground, his legs crossed, not caring about his clothes getting dirty and looked up at her.

He grabbed both her hands and stared at her until she matched his gaze and smiled at her.

“Luna.” He said, trying to sound as comforting as he could. “You are not to blame for what happened. That brute in there, he started it. You are not at fault. Why should you blame yourself for just being yourself? He should control himself, instead.”

While Luna blamed herself, Caine did not even remotely think that she was at fault, and why would he? If anything, Luna was the victim, so there was no point in her feeling guilty.

Her lips turned upwards - although barely - and Caine stood back up, groaning as he did. He sat back on the bench putting his arm on her shoulder, and Luna moved slightly closer to him.

Suddenly Caine felt the air grow colder, almost as if all the heat was being taken out of the air and moved someplace else forcibly. He looked around and saw a large flame growing and blasting directly towards the two of them, and he instantly recognised the spell.

[Fireball]