The Novel's Professor

Rio stopped his body in front of the observation room, arriving in time. He reached his hand to the doorknob, grasping it lightly. He twisted the doorknob, opening the door with ease.

Click—!

...He found it odd how the observation room was using a simple modern doorknob while some of the other rooms were using high-tech sensor devices. Why would the observation room deserve less security than the other rooms...?

Rio stared at the room strangely before shrugging. Well, he didn't really care anyway. It was not like it had any importance.

With the door opened, he stepped forward, entering the room.

—

As soon as Rio entered the room, several eyes of other teachers immediately shifted to him, staring at him with curiosity on their gaze.

Click—!

The door closed behind him. Rio walked towards a desolate corner in the room, ignoring the array of teachers scrutinizing and watching his every action.

...This was why he didn't like fame.

Rio sighed, arriving at the desolate corner. He preferred it here with no people and just him alone. It was a simple wish but... the world didn't like him much, so to speak...

A surprising familiar voice suddenly called out near him.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite person of the month~"

In the corner, a beautiful and mature woman with icy white hair and soft mellow green eyes approached him, waving her right hand in greeting.

"...It's you," Rio turned his head, letting out a long suffering sigh. "Maria Skye."

"You figured, however...." Maria chuckled, her eyes narrowing. "I'll appreciate it if you don't openly show your disinterest towards me, you know? Or else my interest in you will grow stronger..."

"Noted." Rio nodded. Faust was right all along... "Maria, I'm extremely happy and in supreme bliss for your sudden appearance, you don't know how happy I am. Truly. Is there anything I can help you with that made you approach me?"

"..Hahahaha." Maria had protruding veins on her head. "You do know your words don't sound that convincing when you have that expressionless face etched on you, right?"

"Ah, I forgot about that." Rio said. "In any case, is there anything you need?"

"No, not really. But I am curious about your students." Maria emphasized strongly, her lips curling into a smile. "I'm sure that everyone probably already knows... but you sure are greedy and fearless, y'know?"

Rio turned to look at one of the holograms.

"Monopolizing the best geniuses of the first years in the form of a club... how extremely bold of you." Maria commented. "And the fact you were able to keep it hidden until now... you really are full of surprises Rio."

Rio stared at one of the holograms, lips pursing. When Brandon had said Eugene was part of a club owned by him, everyone in the academy dug deep and eventually found out about the club he had created for Eugene and the rest.

That was why there were a lot of watchful eyes scrutinizing him as soon as he entered the room; they finally found him a genuine force that should be acknowledged and taken seriously.

...As for wether they had other thoughts about the club such as envy, hatred or interest. He didn't care. If he could speak his mind right now, he would immediately announce that they should give up their aspirations of replacing him or taking the club down.

He wasn't going to let his own advantage in this game of fate go to waste. The club was his sole, unique weapon against destiny in itself. He would be dumb to throw it away.

"Are you not worried?" Maria blinked, curious. "You do know how dirty these imperial bastards play, right? If you need some help..."

"I'm not. They can't touch me and I wouldn't let them too. If they want to try, they can go ahead." Rio stated, shaking his head. "Now, shush. I'm watching."

"Haa..." Maria bit her lip, veins protruding on her head. "...I was going to say you can ask for my help for free... but now you have to beg it if you want it."

Rio ignored her, his eyes focused on Kojiro's match-up.

—

In the corners of a vast library,ba thin and frail student silently rolled over, hiding behind a shelf filled with books. On the top of the shelf, a fluorescent white bird oversaw the whole area with its great vision.

Kojiro took his katana and slowly raised his hand...

Woosh—!

At that moment, the bird's head rotated, as if sensing something, walked towards the ends of the shelf.

Beneath the shelf, Kojiro held his breath, his body utterly still and giving his best to not make any sounds. He slowly, but silently, raised his hand.

The bird titled its head, its eyes lowering as it peeked beneath...

Woosh—!

In that instant, a long drawn arc flashed — before the bird could even react, its body was already slashed apart by the thin blade and vanished into pure magical energy.

Kojiro quickly withdrew his hand, putting back the katanabon his waist. Without hesitation, he immediately turned his body as he ran through the narrow spaces of the shelve.

At that moment, on his previous position a sudden lightning bolt flew through the air and struck, hitting nothing but empty air.

Crackle—!

Hearing that, Kojiro sighed in relief. He moved towards at another shelf, his body temporarily stopping. He narrowed his eyes.

"I need to find them quickly...."

Kojio muttered, silently moving from shelf to shelf.

In the middle of the vast library of tranquil silence, a tall young man with curly black hair wearing a student uniform stood confidently on a platform while holding a well craft ed staff on his hand.

"Hmm..." The curly black haired student muttered in interest. "I missed. It seems their leader is getting a hang of the pattern. How nice."

He was one of the Rank D students assigned to challenge the First Years in the third phase of the exam.

Second Year, Cassius Almond.

"Oh, one of them is still quite horrible at it." Cassius chuckled, tapping the staff on the floor. "This would serve for his 19th strike..."

At that moment, a small bright lightning conjured on top of the staff — the bolt of lightning blasted to one of shelves. It flew like a homing missle, aiming at the figure hiding behind one of the shelves.

Crackle—!

The figure groaned in pain, the lightning catching him off guard.

"It seems you didn't learn much." Cassius chuckled, his head shaking. "A bird has greater vision than a human, even if you think you're too far... the vision of the bird says otherwise."

Cassius Almond, Volund Ranking — Rank 11.

In the academy, he was known as Cassius the All-seeing. He had gotten the title from the other students because of his monstrous ability at overseeing the battle with his high rated battle awareness and transcendent battle iq.

The fluorescent birds flying around the library were spawned by his own signature skill. A skill that allowed him to create magical birds and let him see, and feel through their bodies, making him a guised silent predator under his handsome appearance.

Not only that, he was also known for his notable great talent over Sorcerery. With a focused intelligent mind, he was able to cast skills over distances with accuracy and precision like that of an archer or sniper.

"What time is it right now?" Cassius off-handedly asked.

The smartwatch attached on his wrist suddenly beeped, displaying a hologram of the time.

"Ah, a pity. It's already ending soon." Cassius smiled. "I wished I could have enjoyed it more, but alas..."

Cassius stared at the vast library of shelves, his eyes closing.

"I guess, I have to finish this off now."

After a while, his eyes opened and flickered, he tapped the staff to the ground, eliciting a loud click on the silent library.

"[Thousands Lightning]."

At that moment, numerous amount of bolts of lightning materialized on top of the staff. Cassius smirked, holding the staff tightly. He muttered. "Go."

In that instant, all the lighnting blasted one after another, spreading throughout the whole library and precisely aimed at several different spots like a missile.

On one of the spots, Kojiro suddenly appeared.

Woosh—!

Kojiro widened his eyes in surprise, staring at homing boltsb coming after him. Instinctually, he took the katana out from his waist and swung it in an arc.

Woosh—!

However, instead of erasing the lightning — the lightning strongly overpowered him and exploded under his face, pushing his body back as he fell to the ground.

Thud—!

Before he could even recover, several lightning suddenly appeared near him and aimed at his body. Kojiro pursed his lips, grasping the handle of the katana tightly.

He pushed his body up, standing on the floor. He closed his eyes and focused. Using the magical energy in his body, he swung the katana in an arc.

Woosh—!

A bright flash surfaced. In that instant, all the lightning coming after him were simultaneously erased by a long drawn strike of his katana.

"Haa..." Kojiro sighed in relief, his eyes opening. He looked at his body, checking his magical energy reserves. His face scrunched up into a frown. "This is bad... I'm close to losing most of my magical energy."

They needed to win this fast...

Kojiro raised his head, looking over the state of the library. From here, he could hear the countless buzzers of flying magical lightning, bolting to the vast library and exploded right after.

"Oh well, I guess this is the best time to find them than any other time..." Kojiro said. "I hope you guys aren't fried yet, or else we wouldn't be able to beat this stupid gigolo."