It’s been few days since then. At first, I thought she would continue ignoring me after the things I said last time. However, every day, she will apologize to me whenever we’re alone together in training. And my response, I ignored her every time. It may be childish, but it’s not a simple matter; it’s someone’s life was on the line, we’re talking about life and death situations.

Furthermore, she’s oddly being kind to me ever since, and it’s been creeping me out. But I didn’t give her a bat in the eyes and continued ignoring her. The statement that I said last time is my genuine emotions conveying that I don’t want to have anything to do with her—And, I’ll keep my words until then.

Acting oddly kind and even in sparring, her aura around her became calmer than before. Like someone possessed or something, the prideful Lily was nowhere to be seen on the current Lily I’m seeing now. Because of that, it’s quite been a bother to me.

Although there’s a lot of factors that I’m lacking in me, however, Diana explained some things about my fight, which I lack the most. The will and determination to win. And I understood what she means by it. In my first fight with Lily, the only thing that goes on my head at that time was how to survive, as my life was in danger at that time. However, during our second fight, the sense of hunger to win that fight has been absent or the urgency to win the fight because I treated it as a sparring fight that wouldn't really matter.

These past few days, I’m working on coating my sword with quintessence. And also, my quintessence’s color had dramatic changes. It became richer and finer than from my old pale golden color to now golden-purple color. From my understanding, I feed Diana with my quintessence for her nourishments and since our soul hasn’t fully merged yet, I can only use a tiny bit fraction of her power.

However, I can use more of her power when I call her name, like the other spirits—But, the difference would be that Diana can’t fight along with me, as it’ll be troublesome because her power would be split into two which can be troublesome in some scenarios except for some certain situations.

Back to Lily. She has been annoying these past few days, so I’m mulling over what I can do so that she wouldn’t bother me anymore. Lying under the tree while leisurely gazing at the sky; the wind grazes my skin gently. Above me, it was Diana floating, looking at me with a smile on her face.

(Diana.)

(Yes?)

(Have you gotten any friends in Avalon? You haven’t really told me anything about Avalon.)

(Avalon, huh? Hmm... I have many friends, most of them are females; I don’t befriend guys—They’re creepy~ But, of course, my dad is an exception.)

(Oh? Does that mean you have parents?)

(Of course, I have 12 siblings. All of them are females, though. Mom is what they call the goddess of love and my dad is called the god of war.)

(Eh—?)

I've never thought that her dad would be called the god of war. It made me raise an eyebrow. Having a thought of what would be her father would be like, sends shivers down my spine.

(Now that I think about it, why are you all obsessed with establishing a contract with people like me?)

(There is this saying in Avalon, where establishing a contract with someone and merging soul with a mortal can unleash the full potential of our divine powers. Of course, we gods and goddesses can be consumed by greed. However, in my case, my mother told me you can find love once we establish a contract, making them our soul partners. In truth, my mother doesn’t really love my father, but she fell in love with a mortal in here. But because of the curse, she got separated from the one she loves. That’s why we sisters are so fond of that idea. Luckily, I found mine~) saying it while embracing me and rubbing her cheeks against mine.

(Wait, does that mean the people you said who wanted me are actually your sisters?!)

(Not only them but many others too.)

'Okay. That's worrisome and great at the same time, but I think I need to worry more about myself because of that.'

(Oh... I’ve got one more question though. Can I still create a contract with other spirits? I’m curious about it.)

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(Yes.)

(Really?!)

(Of course, was it because you don’t want me...?) Diana sadly looked into my eyes.

( No way! I’m just curious.)

Actually, the reason for it, I wanted to hide Diana’s existence because of her otherworldly beauty and her origin. There were a few humanoid spirits, however, with Diana’s godly beauty it would be troublesome because her appearance hugely resembles a human which is unheard of. If people knew about her existence, it can be problematic for her and me as well.

(Can you shape-shift, Diana?)

(No, I can’t. Why?)

(It may be a selfish request, but I want to keep your beauty from others because I only want to see it for myself. Is it that impossible?)

From understanding Diana's personality, she doesn't give a shit about others or about the world in general in her world I'm the only one who exists. I don't want her to act like from before, like the first meeting with Master Irene and Clara. There'll be a lot of complications if that thing happens again.

(Why didn’t you say so?! However, I can’t go into the Aether to get you a pet because our soul hasn’t fully merged yet.)

(Oh, I see. Don’t worry then. We’ll just keep you from others, okay?)

(Okie~)

Afterward, a shout calling my name enters my ears.

“Young Master, Madam wanted you in her office!” yelled Clara.

“Okay!”

────────────

Knocking on the hardwood door in Master Irene’s office.

“Enter.”

Opened the door. What blooms before me, was the erotic scenery of Master Irene in her bathrobe while sitting on her office chair.

“Why are you dressed like that, Master?”

“This? It’s quite hot, so I chose to wear this.”

“There are many clothes you can choose from, but you really chose that one?”

“Hey, it’s my choice.”

“Okay, okay. So, why did you call me here?”

“Sit down first, I need to talk about Lily.”

“Okay...”

Obediently sitting on the sofa, Master Irene sat right beside me and crossed her bare exposed milky legs—Tempting me badly. If Master isn’t a monster, I would assault her right here, right now. This devil's incarnation of temptation, enticing me into doing bad things to her.

“So, what do we need to talk about with Lily?”

“I’ve been checking on you two for the past few days, and you’ve been ignoring her all this time. Care to tell master, why are you doing that?”

“Personal reasons.”

“Haah... Lily already told me the reason and wanted to apologize to you deeply. She’s regretful about wounding you in the last sparring session. She thought it wouldn’t pierce your skin like last time you fought at the banquet.”

“It wasn’t even that.”

“Because you thought, she wanted to kill you?”

“Isn’t that the case?”

“No, that’s not the case at all.”

“You may be confused on why she’s holding a grudge against you. You see, she’s a huge fan of mine and admires me the most. She even wanted me to pick her up as a disciple, however, I’m not the type of person who picks up disciples. You're the only one. Well, Clara too but she's more like a self-taught. Thus, she got extremely jealous of you when she found out that I chose you over her. Imagine what would she feel, if I picked up a manaless person like you over her?”

“That doesn’t mean she can do whatever she wanted. She's already in her teens, yet her mindset is still like a child's. But, if that's the only reason. Sorry, I can't. I'm firm with my decision, a flimsy excuse like that won't change my mind."

“Now, let’s go over that part. She told me she wanted to test and scare you to see if you're fit to be my disciple which is extremely childish of hers. And, I already scolded her about it.”

“What’s that for? Do I need her approval for such a thing? She's too entitled.” furrowing my eyebrows, clearly upset at what Master Irene just said to me.

“You don’t, and it's still my decision to choose who to choose. Lily probably did that impulsively.”

“Haah... Anyway, is that all? Because that reason alone won’t change my mind.”

“I know. But, at least give her a chance, will you? Can you least hear her out?”

“Depends.”

“That’s least good to know. If you really can't then I won't force you. It's your own decision, not mine. Let’s talk about what I said in the past about my plans for you two. I’m planning on letting you take the entrance exam of the academy.”

“Exam? Why do I need to take an exam? I already have my scholarship in the research department.”

“I want you to enter the normal course like everyone else. Of course, if you still wanted to enter the research department, you can still join. It’s just that, you’re not the old flimsy inferior person that you used to be. What a waste if you can’t enjoy it.”

“I understand... Isn’t it such a waste? I mean, I have my scholarship after all...”

“Depends on you, I’m just telling you. Wisely, it’s good to be in the research department as they only care about your worth and brains.”

“Haah... Okay, I’ll try... I want to challenge myself anyway.”

“Good~! I already registered you over it, anyway.”

“...” Looking at Master Irene with a look of contempt.

'I got a feeling she used reversed psychology on me.'

There are different departments in the Atlas Academy, but most of them have the same curriculum. Naturally, inside the academy discrimination against manaless people still exists. The old Claude chose the research department, at least in there, no people can discriminate him as the only important thing in there is your contribution on projects or thesis, but he still needs to attend normal classes like everyone else.

Moreover, there are three types of examination: Spirit Efficiency, Academics, and Physical Capabilities. Of course, as a manaless person, the only hope for that person to join would be the Academics. Next, the class rankings would be categorized from S Class to D Class.

The S Class would the mix of S class spirits and Deity Spirits they would automatically get in that class no matter how bad they may be at spirit efficiency or physically. However, that wouldn’t be the same on the people below them, as they’re all mixed, no matter how strong your spirit is if you can’t even bring out its potential then they can throw that person out on the C or D class—It’s an unfair system.