Carn Reedstone.

Born a noble, he had everything most would kill for at birth.

A loving family,

A sea of currency.

And the power of both name and blade.

But it was never enough for a man like him.

He wanted more.

More authority.

More strength.

So,

He trained until his muscles grew even sturdier.

He studied the countless techniques in aura until his mind could not bear any longer.

And all that effort forged him into the man he is now.

At only 30 years old,

He had mastered the 3 stages of aura control.

His aura was incredibly sharp and almost unbreakable.

But even that was not enough.

A barrier stood firm in his way,

The wretched unmoving wall to becoming a grandmaster.

No amount of training made it budge.

It stands extremely still towering over him.

Like he was nothing but an ant.

Yet he steeled himself.

He knew the best way to get more knowledge was at the academy.

Where the only living known grandmaster of his era resides.

Braum Tyresia,

He wanted to learn under him,

But he knew only those he trusted by his side were the only ones he guided.

So he applied as an Instructor.

And slowly but surely he wanted to gain his trust by becoming a renowned professor.

One who personally teaches the one who stood at the very top.

The Honor Class.

He thought it was going to be easy and that in just a couple of months, he would reach it.

Yet reality hit him,

The teachers of the Honor Class harbored strength he could not imagine.

Especially those who reached the upper years.

So he narrowed his eyes to the 1st-year position of the Honor Class.

But even then, it was a place he failed to even set his foot into.

Every single year, he was placed in a class below.

'Why?'

He could not understand.

'I have power.'

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'I come from a house of nobility'

'So why!?'

Soon envy replaced the greed in his heart.

And in the next year of teaching.

He met the same fate.

Once again put down a class below.

He could no longer bottle it up.

It burned in his heart.

It gnawed at his soul.

His once noble goal of reaching the peak of humanity.

Now nothing but ashes.

Seeing the new instructor that was set to teach the class he so desired.

Set more fuel to his already smoldering soul.

From the very first day he met her.

He made a noble's oath to himself.

'I will make you regret teaching that class.'

And the best way he thought so was to show the academy that her students were worthless.

That her teachings did not deserve the elite.

And all those who burn brightly under her wings, he would personally snuff out.

That was his grand plan.

Until another wall was set upon his goal.

All of her promising students bear the same power as his and even more.

Gwen Lynine, ranked 1st in both class and global ranking was a high house.

Xayah Vienna was royalty from the kingdom of branches and wood.

Oliver Fairfield bears the protection of the Order of the Orcs.

Nathan Heroux was a person he could never touch.

And the one commoner who was placed in the upper ranks had the backing of the president himself.

Carn had no one to break.

Or so he thought.

A student of no renown, of no backing, of no strength.

Appeared before him,

He was perfect.

The stepping stone he has long waited for.

For he and Rebecca could see that he had potential.

But Carn knew more, for he was the only one who managed to win as a lower rank against the concoction he had bought to strengthen his students.

He started to salivate at the thought.

Seeing such a promising student would create cracks in Rebecca's mind.

So Carn started to make his preparations.

Gathering false evidence to stage that the student tried to attain strength in such a dishonorable manner and died a pathetic death because of it.

Everything was going smoothly.

And all he needs to do now is wait.

For the tainted blood of a monster to flow through his veins.

His ears eagerly waited.

For the screams of agony to echo within his soundproofed walls.

For the tears of anguish to drop to his star-shined floors.

And lastly, the sight of the dying eyes of a student that could have been much more.

"I apologize once again, student, but don't worry I respect you, being able to defeat a student of mine strengthened by the tears of a dragon is no easy task."

For a brief moment, Troi's eyebrows perked up.

"But I'm afraid this will be the end of your story,"

"I send you my regards,"

Carn sat staring directly at Troi,

Eagerly waiting.

Holding back the smile that wanted to come out of his mouth.

Yet his head tilted a little bit to the side.

The only sound he could hear was the clock above slowly ticking.

The student in front of him,

Didn't even let out a single whimper.

His eyes devoid of any emotion barely shook as he stared at him.

It was firm.

It was unrelenting.

Carn could almost feel like it was staring directly at his sorry soul.

'Did that alchemist sell me a fake?'

The bald-headed professor thought he was scammed.

Even he took that same potion a couple of years back and though he only took a milligram of a drop.

Did not ever dare to try to gain strength that way again.

The pain was too much.

It was like your limbs kept getting cut off over and over again.

Your eyes feel like they were dissolving.

Your bones felt like they were melting.

Although he did feel his aura slightly sharpen after that,

He knew if he continued, his mind would exist no longer.

As Professor Carn set his eyes upon the silent student once again.

He let out a sigh,

He inspected the bottle of black fluid resting on his desk.

'It must've been a fake, god f*cking damn it,'

'I'll f*cking kill that alchemist once I'm done with this.'

He was about to throw it but then he heard a sound.

'Oh?'

The student in front of him started to cough.

His mouth started to smile.

'Did it finally take effect?'

It was soft at first but then it started to grow even louder.

'Yes.....'

'Finally.'

He soon put the black bottle down, and his eyes focused on Troi.

"Is the pain unbearable?"

"Does it feel like a thousand swords cutting your body each second?"

"You can scream to your heart's content,"

"But only these soundproofed walls will be able to hear it all,"

Troi did not reply and instead just started to cough even louder.

"Does it feel like needles seeping throu-"

Carn was about to say something but his eyes widened.

And the wide grin on his face was nowhere to be seen.

For the coughing stopped and the room grew silent once again.

'What the f*ck is happening?'

Carn had a thousand questions in his mind.

Is this student actually managing to fight a syringe's worth of Hymoth blood?

Did he buy a fake?

Who the hell is this student?

But before he could ask a single one of them.

Troi slowly raised his head.

His lifeless eyes met his own.

But that was only for a second.

The student seemingly turned to dust.

Carn jerked back instantly as his eyes widened.

"What the f*ck!?"

'Did he just disappear?'

Carn's mind was in disarray.

The student chained in metal embrace and poisoned by bitter blood.

In the blink of an eye.

Was gone.

Like a fleeting breeze.

Nowhere to be seen.

But then a sound so quiet caressed Carn's left ear.

It was a whisper.

"Professor,"

His instincts as a swordsman kicked in.

Immediately he tried to conjure his aura to cover his body.

But Troi's finger was faster.

A deafening gunshot.

Soon overshadowed the ticking clock.