When second-year came, Cermin Drychspiel’s former anxious and distraught mood seemed to have subsided a bit.
There was still some awkwardness in his smile, but he was now passing campaign flyers for Pavone Blanc D’Argent running for his 4th year as Student Council Head.
It had the drawing of Pavone standing valiantly with the words: Toss Your Coins to the Avians.
The Avians were Pavone’s political party. They were going against the new and lesser popular party called the Simians.
The reason why they were asked to toss their coins was that the election works by having every student be handed out a single coin engraved with the Academy’s logo.
This coin was called the Psifos. When the election comes, there was a bag for each party where you can place a coin. There’s usually only two, but sometimes three parties can arise.
This meant that you do not vote for individuals, but rather a whole group.
The Head of each party chooses everyone else in the line-up, and their positions were also mutable. This meant that if the Head wanted to replace a member for no reason, he can do so.
“Will you be running for Lyr, Cermin?” One asked as he handed out the flyers.
The Lyr was short for Lower Year Representative. This was also a very highly regarded rank, second-in-command of the Head.
“No….. Well, I can’t decide yet.” Cermin admitted. “But Sordido is currently holding the Avian’s Lyr position. He’s a great guy.”.
“Oh. Well, that’s disappointing.” The person who took the flyer said. “Sordido is a known sleaze. I hope you think about it and replace him soon.”
Cermin scratched his head. “Alright, then…”
(I’m kind of a sleaze too, to be honest.)
Ronin snickered. ‘At least you’re self-aware.’
But to Cermin’s credit, he was less sleazy nowadays. The weight of the two betrayals and incidents must have done something to change his ways…..
Or at least make him forget about womanizing. Ronin would rather believe the latter.
“Hey, there! Vote for the Avians!” Cermin greeted him when Ronin passed by.
Ronin was wearing his large cloak as always, so he was not recognized. He just quietly took the flyer from Cermin’s hand.
“Oh, you’re a second year.” Cermin noticed the star on his vest. “This must be your first elections, right?”
Ronin just nodded. Due to being new students, 1st years were not allowed to vote in elections.
“Avians would be a good choice. Pavone is really smart and cares for the people.”
Ronin just made a slight nod and went on his way.
But his heart was pounding. This was the first time in many years that he interacted with Cermin Drychspiel directly.
The urge to kill him was so strong the moment they touched hands. The warmth of it reminded him that this person was very much alive, and he was aching to turn him dead.
But it was not the right time yet. He needed to get stronger, and now that he learned about his natural skill to steal Flame….
He plans to let Cermin level up his Flame more before he strikes.
Like fattening a cow before eating it.
He wondered what Cermin’s level was now, and how he levels up in this world.
Leveling up usually has to do with gaining strength or powers, while gaining points was for progressing the plot. It’s different for every world, though.
He called out Kai.
“Cermin is a Hero mage with a patron. The stronger his connection is to the God Aurion, the higher his Flame and level becomes.” Kai explained.
“He’s currently at Level 17.”
Ronin grinned. “I’m at a higher level than him, then?”
“Yes, but Cermin is still stronger in passive magic than you. This means that he does not have to activate it all the time, while yours come in short surges. His body is also better trained.”
“I know that. I’ve been exercising this body too since I gained the right age for it, but it is simply too weak and has too little stamina.”
“Cermin can actually level up faster than you if he only tried. All he needed was to train more under the Path of Aurion, or fight bad guys, or gain artifacts.”
Ronin nodded. “Thanks, I’ll keep all that in mind once I train him.”
Kai raised an eyebrow. “You’re training him?”
“You know how gods make humans worship them to get stronger? That is my plan. The stronger Cermin is and his Flame, the stronger I will become once I steal it.”
Kai nodded slowly. “I see…. But that will make him attached to you, then. Become his mentor figure.”
“So?” Ronin just raised an eyebrow. “I’ll double-cross him in the end after befriending him.”
He rubbed his chin. “But it’s not time yet for me to befriend him. He shouldn’t know about my existence in the Academy until the game of chess with his friends is over.”
They then saw Cermin handing out a flyer to a familiar person. It was Edelweiss.
“Another second-year! Hello!” He greeted. “Please vote for the Avians!”
“Uh…. Alright.” Edelweiss suddenly lost her usual calm demeanor once she and Cermin touched hands.
Someone then whistled behind her. “Look what we have here. Fresh meat.”
It was Sordido, the current Avian Lyr candidate.
He has light gray skin but his Heartstone was hard to identify even for Ronin, probably because it has a lot of specks and impurities.
He leaned on the booth’s stand towards Edelweiss. “Haven’t seen you around yet, Miss. You look interesting, would you like to get to know each other?”
His other hand went directly below the girl’s back, aiming for that curved shape from her long skirt—
Edelweiss just growled at the back of her throat and snapped her fingers.
A large eel appeared out of nowhere on her shoulders, but did not electrocute her. It went straight for Sordido—
But the man just raised his hand and said. “Stop.”
The eel did stop and looked confused.
“Twirl around your Mama.” He said with a sly grin.
Edelweiss’ eyes widened in surprise as the eel turned to her and twirl around her body, paralyzing her by wrapping around her neck, below the chest, her arms, and her legs.
She was being constricted by her own eel! The more it did, the more the buttons threaten to pop and the seams being pulled apart.
She tried to regain control, but the more she did, the more it Sordido seemed to have a stronger pull towards the eel. She also tried to make the eel disappear, but it did not.
“Stop it, Sordi!” Cermin exclaimed.
Sordido just chuckled. “I’m just trying to get to know her. I hate girls like this that think they could just pull tricks like this just because they can.”
“Well guess what, fresh meat. Your power is nothing special. It’s mine now.”
He’s a Clairo Mage that controls other people’s powers!
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