"Reynold, are you feeling any better now?"

"Ye-yes sir! The doctors in the clinic treated me well,"

"Good, good, but let's cut to the chase,"

"Tell me what happened last night,"

"Me and Xayah over here were hanging out in the student lounge that evening then a fellow student soon ran to us, begging for help as he saw the guards in the cathedral passed out on the ground,"

"Did you perhaps recognize that student?"

Xayah beside Reynold then spoke,

"He was one of our classmates, I think his name was Troi?"

I then sent a message on my bracelet to Ms. Rebecca to call a student named Troi,

'Alright, Reynold, continue,"

"Then as I told Xayah to call for the teachers, I hurriedly went to the cathedral as I felt a faint disgusting aura emanating from it,"

"I walked past the guards and as I arrived inside, I saw Millia, in a trance somehow, and I instinctively felt that if she touched the sword, something bad would happen,"

"But I wouldn't have reached her if were not for those crows,"

"Crows?"

"Yes sir, from out of nowhere 3 crows emerged, with such force, they pushed Millia away,"

"Hmmm....."

"Was that the truth, Millia?"

"Ye-yes, sir, I-I saw the-them too."

As I caressed my chin, I started thinking, crows?

Why were there crows in the cathedral?

"Are you sure they were normal crows, Reynold?"

"Yes, sir from a distance I could see that they weren't made in bones, so a shadowkind could not have possibly made them,"

That's impossible, normal animals tend to run away whenever they feel the presence of demons, but if it wasn't made in bones, then what the hell were those crows?

Why were they there?

I soon took a glance at Millia,

Why did they help her?

"Si-Sir,"

"Yes, Millia?"

"I-I would like to add as someone who often controls summons, tho-those crows even when they weren't made from bones, I fe-felt that th-they belonged to someone.

My eyes widened,

What?

How?

Damn it, instead of getting answers, I got more questions.

"Sir, can I ask something?"

"What is it, Reynold?"

"Why was the demon inside the sword remained undetected for years and why was he urging Millia to wield him,"

"I do not have a clear answer to that, so I can also guess,"

"But I think that because the hunters from the past sent him an inch away from death's grasp, so in a last resort to stay alive he poured his essence into the blade he forged and rested within it, and after ages of slumber, he soon regained his strength and called a student to become its new vessel."

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"De-demons are able to do that, sir?"

"Normal demons could not, only..."

"Only archdemons are capable of such a feat,"

"ARCHDEMON!" The purple-haired girl beside Reynold had her jaw wide open as she looked at him.

"Goddamn, Reynold, you defeated an archdemon!"

"Wa-was that really an archdemon sir?" Reynold couldn't believe it but I knew that's the only answer to why a demon was able to hide under our eyes for so long.

"Yes, Reynold, That's the only possible way a hideous beast of malice was able to remain hidden under our noses this entire time,"

"Wo-wow, Re-Reynold cong-congratulations"

"Alright, everyone, simmer down, Reynold, tell me how did you exactly defeat the demon?"

"Ah, so as Millia was pushed by the crows, I could feel something ominous coming from the sword, it was shaking, trying its best to remove itself from the chains, then instinct came over me, sir,"

"I ran to the sword and held its handle with both of my hands and prayed,"

"You, prayed?"

"Yes sir, to the God of Radiance,"

"Then I felt a warm feeling cover the entirety of my body, followed by a blinding light that caused me to pass out,"

"The next thing I remembered was the white ceiling of the clinic sir,"

What? That makes no sense.

How was he able to defeat such a vicious beast by simply praying?

"And also sir,"

"What?"

Reynold then took off the black glove that covered his right hand,

"I hid it with gloves because I thought it was a burn from holding the sword but after some hours it cleared up revealing this sir,"

WHAT!?

I instantly stood up from my seat as I saw what was embedded in the back of Reynold's hand, while Miranda beside me was covering her mouth with her hands.

The same insignia as my predecessor, Tyresia.

A sword with two white wings by its side.

The Mark of Aether ingrained in the hands of that child,

"Sir?"

I soon sat down back in my seat trying my best to calm myself down,

"Reynold, Xayah, Millia,"

"I would like to ask you to keep it a secret that the demon inside the sword was an archdemon, and also what is about to come out of my mouth this moment,"

"And you may want to sit down,"

They soon nodded at me and sat down on the couch beside my desk,

"Reynold, that mark, means you have been blessed,"

"Bl-blessed by what, sir?"

"Blessed by a god,"

"The God of Radiance,"

Silence enveloped the room,

No one could believe it, even if the proof was right before our own eyes,

"Reynold, you have no idea the significance of that mark is, it has been 400 years since Tyresia died, and no one else's has been blessed by Aether since,"

"You have to keep it hidden, Reynold, for they are people that will now seek your blood,"

"Ye-yes sir,"

I let out a sigh,

Millia and Xayah were looking at him with widened eyes,

Why did Aether bless this kid with his mark?

Why was he chosen?

Goddamn, it, so much more questions left unanswered,

I am getting way too old for this,

But the silence was then interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door,

Miranda then made her way to open it,

"Who are you and what is your business?"

"Hello, my name is Troi Leobrera, President Braum was apparently looking for me?"

Oh, he was the student,

"Let him in, Miranda,"

As he entered, my eyes narrowed.

This student,

The one whose presence was weirdly faint,

Was I just imagining things?

As he stood before me, there was no trace of that faint presence anymore.

But that still doesn't change the fact that I often saw him sitting on the same bench looking at the cathedral.

Suspicious,

I then tried to sense his aura,

Hmmm, C-Tier,

No way strong enough to even make an archdemon bleed.

Seeing he was a bit confused, I then spoke,

"Now,"

"Tell me what happened last night, student Troi, Xayah, and Reynold here told me that you were the one who informed them,"

He soon composed himself and opened his mouth,

"I was just taking a midnight stroll, sir, then as I take a breather at a bench near the cathedral, at the corner of my eye I saw the guards soon passed out before me,"

I was taken aback as I heard him utter a blatant lie,

"Is that the truth?"

"Yes, sir,"

He's doubling down huh?

"Hmmm, now student Troi, don't lie to me, I saw you a couple of bits more times, always sitting on that bench, you're eyes always gazing on the cathedral, seemingly investigating it."

"So, tell me the truth this time, Troi,"

My suspicion grew even further as I saw his eyes widen, and for a couple of seconds, he stood there without moving an inch.

Xayah, Reynold and Millia was also looking at him,

I then pressured him even more,

"Time is ticking, Troi, tell me what you were really doing there,"

My eyes narrowed even further as I looked at him,

He then avoided eye contact with me and scratched his cheek with his hand,

"I-I was,"

"Yes....?"

"Stalking a guard."

"?."

"She-She was the red-haired one, I found her beautiful so I went there almost every night to look at her,"

Wha-

His face was now slightly red and as I look at it,

A silent sigh left my mouth,

I forgot these freshmen were only teenagers,

"You may go now, Troi,"

"Thank you, sir,"

As he left I also ordered the others to return to their classes,

"Remember, what was spoken in this room, stays in this room, you guys understand?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, you may now go,"

As I see them all now exit my office,

"Miranda, what are your thoughts about the 3 crows?

"Pres, in my humble opinion, I think they were only seeing things,"

"Hmmm, that could also be a possibility, did the hunters recover any footage from the cameras?"

"I'm afraid not sir, as they were also knocked out by the presence of the demon,"

Damn it,

"Just tell the staff and instructors to keep a lookout for any crows in the area,"

"Understood sir,"

I soon lay my back on my chair,

These next few days will be full of work,

Another sigh left my mouth,

May the God of Radiance bless our academy.