"Hey, have you heard about it?"
"What?"
"You don't know? The academy is basically filled with rumors."
In the shadow of a towering, gem-studded edifice, three girls huddled together and engaged in animated conversation. Two leaned against the adorned walls, captivated by their surroundings as the scene was giving relaxing vibes of the morning.
The third, a perplexed expression on her face, sipped from a recently acquired cup, her mind seemingly occupied in the question that was just asked by her friend.
"What rumors?"
"You know about the rank one student, Callius, right?"
"Yes, I've heard of him. What about him?"
"It's been said that he's the product of a forbidden affair—a noble's son born to a prostitute."
"What?" As she heard the words of her friends, the girl's eyes filled with intrigue. "The child of a noble and a whore? That's quite a story."
With his gaze fixed on the sky, the girl turned his eye towards her friend as she talked. "Exactly. And what's more shocking is that the noble in question is none other than Austin Augustride, the renowned Lightning Emperor himself."
"Austin Augustride? Lightning Emperor? There is no way?"
"Yes, I thought so, too." Her friend answered as a smile bloomed on her face. "But that is not all is there….."
"What? There is more?"
As she asked, at this point, the girl that had been keeping quiet entered the conversation as she answered back. "It was said that he was just recently, banished from his household."
"Banished from his household?" At this point, the girl listening to her friend's words, could not contain her curiosity anymore. "Why would they do such a thing? Isn't he a rank one student that got the highest score so far? How can they miss such a talent?" She bombarded her friends with questions.
"I know, right? Banishing such a talent? They must be rather stupid…. At least, that was what I thought until I heard the reason." Her friend, nodding her head, answered back as she voiced her thoughts.
"There are whispers that he attempted to assault a holy sister of the revered Celestia Church." The quiet girl, once again, filled her friend's words as she exclaimed rather a disturbing fact.
"He tried to assault a holy sister? What was he thinking?" As her third friend filled in the blank while saying that, the girl's eyes were wide open once again.
"Well, those are nothing but rumors, but if they are true, then this will be the main topic for a while."
"At the entrance ceremony, he sounded like a complete bastard, but I guess, he really was."
"Yeah. He was totally a psycho."
"Ssh….. He is coming; lower your voice."
Amidst their chatter, their attention was abruptly seized by the sight of a young boy steadily approaching. Rather than heading directly toward them, his path veered purposefully toward the magnificent building as he was also looking for the same place as them.
This subtle distinction of not minding others did not escape their notice, infusing their conversation with intrigue.
"He looks like he doesn't care at all…."
"Yeah…. Maybe, the rumors are not true?"
In the heart of an enchanted realm, his piercing gaze ignited with a fierce blaze of crimson, ablaze with the power to consume all in its path. Clad in attire that emanated an aura of untamed elegance, he became a magnet for the curious gazes of those who wanted to catch a glimpse of the face that looked like it was perfectly sculptured.
Thanks to such presence coming from him, the girls that were just watching how he passed in front of them changed the thought that came out of their minds, as they were affected by his overflowing charisma.
At least, that was the case for two of them.
However, there would always be that one person in the friend groups who would like to challenge the limits of others.
"Son of a whore…. To think I am in the same place as a bastard child….." The girl, who had a rather fancy attire on her body and kept quiet most of the time, mumbled to herself as she voiced her thoughts.
However, her voice was rather loud for a person that wanted to mumble to herself.
"""!"""
At that point, suddenly, all three girls felt a suffocating presence enveloping their bodies.
"Kurgh…." "Heut-!" "Burgh-"
A natural guttural sound escaped from their throats, stifled by the crushing pressure on their bodies.
Each gasp of air became a sting that was penetrating their lungs as panic filled their hearts, their bodies trembling with fear and helplessness.
Even in the midst of all that, they still wanted to identify the source….
Which made them widen their eyes in horror as they beheld a pair of ice-cold, crimson orbs fixed upon the girl that had just spoken, emanating an unmistakable aura of malevolence.
The oozing dark-blue aura was enough to show that the person was leaking their intention to be aggressive, as a sharp expression emanated from his face.
/TOK/ /TOK/
However, suddenly, he turned his back to the girls as he started walking inside the building.
"Haaah…. Haaah….."
The pressure that descended upon the girls had now disappeared, and they were able to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Haaaa….. What was that…." As the girl asked, she looked at the entrance of the building, which was rather empty now.
"I don't know." Her friend answered, looking at the last girl who had an expression of horror on her face. "Helia, what happened?" She asked as she saw her friend's pale complexion.
"He is…." As the girl wanted to answer, her mouth once again felt suffocated.
"He is?" Trying to hear her friend answer, she inclined her ear.
"He is a demon."
/TOK/
As her friend answered, she fell to the ground, losing consciousness.
"Helia!"
Leaving the other two dumbfounded in response.
Just like that, just on the third day of the academy, a bunch of scandalous news surrounded the rank one student, making a lot of people grit their teeth.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l