It was already night time and the others rested in their own rooms, but Dio was nowhere to be found. It had been a few hours after the members of the elite class swarmed around Mika and no one knew where he suddenly disappeared to. Because of Dio’s strange actions lately, Kael advised them to leave him alone.
Though he was the one who said to give Dio his space, Kael was worried that Dio became paranoid being around a member of the imperial family and the nobility. Though he wasn’t aware of the reason, he didn’t want Dio to force himself. If staying alone in a quiet place would calm his mind, he would do his best to support him.
Keila left her room because she was worried about him. Dio had been acting strangely lately and she wasn’t sure whether he finally came to terms with himself or not. He might be alone in the dark again.
“What are you doing here?” Kael asked when he saw Keila seated in the receiving area.
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“There go the elites,” one of the students said sarcastically when they saw the elite class entered the classroom. They had been taking classes with them for a month but they find it hard to approach them since they acted like they have their own world. It was as if they were telling them that they are in a different league of their own. “I don’t have a problem with the other elites, so I don’t really know why I hate that green-haired guy,” Sean Jr., the eldest son of Baron Wyeth said with arrogance. “Green-haired guy?” one of Sean’s minions, Rusty, asked. He was a boy with a freckled face and rust-colored hair. “Do you mean Kael Armani?” “No, not that one. Kael is with no doubt worthy to be elite, but his younger brother whose background is unknown shouldn’t be included,” Sean said with contempt. “I bet he became an elite because his siblings were elites, but there was nothing extraordinary about him.” “Stop spouting nonsense, Sean.” Viscount
“Being able to do both doesn’t mean that you’re strong, right?” Sean von Wyeth said with a smug look on his face. “Keila was known to be the strongest wind mage, Kael is a swordmaster and Mikaella is a gifted enchanter. How about you, how did you qualify to be in the elite class?”Dio sighed. He knew that his being accepted in the elite class was the main reason for their hostility towards him and they kept questioning his abilities even if they already saw how he was on par with the others.“I guess people like you wouldn’t accept the truth no matter how I show it to you,” he mumbled.“What did you say?” Sean raised his voice when he heard him whisper. “Do you really think that you’re strong? You don’t deserve to be a part of the elite class!”Dio looked behind him where their professor stood and he let out an exasperated sigh when he saw his smirking face. A profes
“I’m going to take it back soon.” Sean glared at Dio before he finally let go of the necklace. He was frustrated at himself for not being able to fight Dio properly. He challenged him but he was defeated in the end. How shameful could that be? He even ended up letting go of their family heirloom!“Thank you.” Since Dio already prepared to force Sean if he didn’t keep his word, he was quite surprised when Sean himself gave it to him.“Before I leave, let me remind you of some announcements.” Limuel clapped his hands to get the attention of his students. “We will have an acquaintance ball in the weekend so I wanted you guys to prepare yourself. Present yourself in the best way that you can because this ball could be your first step in building connections.”He told them about the dress code and the theme, then he also entertained a few questions about the upcoming ball before he finally left. Those who we
“Are you all right?” Cassiel asked in a worried tone. She left their classroom right after dismissal because Kael said that Dio went back to their house.However, the Dio who was supposed to be not feeling well chuckled when he saw her worried eyes. Dio comfortably sat on the couch while Blur was on his lap.“I just thought that I should rest after working hard, your highness.”Cassiel shook her head in disappointment. She was somehow relieved but also annoyed that she worried for nothing.“Are you worried because you thought I wouldn’t be able to escort you to the ball, your highness?” Dio asked, but his smile implied that he was just teasing her.“Don’t worry, I know you are healthy enough to attend the ball with me.” Cassiel let out a smile as she sat across from him.“Master, that girl is also a fairy!” Dio froze for a moment when he heard the elemental’s voice
Dio stood right outside Cassiel’s room, waiting for her to finish preparing. He heard that the empress sent her the imperial stylist to make her outstanding at the ball so he felt somehow anxious that his partner would be the most beautiful person in the academy.“A penny for your thoughts?”Dio looked at the familiar voice and for a moment, he was stunned at her dazzling beauty. A smile crept on his lips when he saw her olive green off-shoulder ball gown adorned with golden linings and intricate embroidery. Her light-red hair, almost pink, was down in long easy curls and a silver tiara was placed on the top of her head.“You look like a princess, your highness,” Dio teased her as he offered his arm for her to hold.“Well, I am a princess, Mister Armani.” Cassiel laughed softly as she held onto Dio’s arm. They went down and out of the house together and they rode the carriage that was waiting for them.
Dio immediately pulled the curtain on the window and covered his back. He couldn’t hide how he trembled when he realized that prince Andriel saw his back. Of all people, how could he be so reckless and let an imperial family member see his secret crest? He looked down, biting his lips, as he thought of a way to make him forget about what he saw. Was there some kind of spell to erase memories? “Answer me!” Andriel shook his shoulder but he kept his head down. If he answered the Prince, he would tell him his secret that he kept hidden for the past eleven years. He wanted to keep the secret buried until his death but that would be impossible because a prince saw his crest. He would never let it go for sure. “Tell me, are you my illegitimate sibling?” Andriel’s hold on him loosen and he slowly dropped to the ground knee first. “Were you hidden by his majesty so that the thing that happened to Crown Prince Amiel wouldn’t happen to you? Or was it because yo
After the dramatic moment with the family, they ate supper like usual but Dio felt like he grew a lot closer to them. He felt like the burden he hid deep inside him was taken and shared with them. He thought that they would feel awkward if they knew but he was proven wrong. They cared for him no matter who he was or what his status was in the past. His grandfather left him in the care of good people. Dio went out of the house as he was unable to sleep. He was so happy that he could feel himself brimming with so much energy. He took his daggers with him while Blur followed behind him. “Would you like to spar with me, Blur?” Dio smiled when Blur transformed into an almost 4 feet black panther. “You’ve grown a lot.” “Actually, I wanted to show you something,” Blur said and he transformed again. A blinding light covered his body so Dio had no choice but to close his eyes. After the light faded, Dio opened his eyes again and he couldn’t believe what was in
The two stopped in the middle of the forest. At first look, one would see that the place was just surrounded by trees and nothing was out of place. However, there was a magic barrier and illusion magic cast on the place so that no one would see the hidden community of the Faerie tribe. At first, they were just a bunch of outcasts and misfits taken in by a small family of Faerie descent. The head of the family was a half-faerie and he was cast out for his dark skin, sharp ears, and black eyes. Though half-human, he was treated worse than a monster so he started living in the middle of the dark forest near the academy. After a few generations, their community grew in number and the children of the family married the humans living with them. They started to call their community the Faerie tribe since most of them carried Faerie blood. Since the Faerie blood wasn’t as concentrated as it was before, their chosen leader would be the one who inherited a Faerie’s characteris
“You finally decided to show yourself,” Absalom chuckled when Amir, Joe, and Vince went towards him. The stars and their masters’ were confused about what was happening between the captain and him. The crackling sound from Dio’s lightning dagger was heard by the others. Though some couldn’t accept the truth that Dio was a multi-element mage, there were people who genuinely wished to see him not holding back. Dio’s vines grew around the area to attack Absalom but the other three captains moved to protect him. “You need to go through us if you want to hurt him.” Dio couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “So there are also people you wanted to protect?” It was a sarcastic laugh filled with bitterness. There were people whom he failed to protect: his mother and grandfather. Those were his family who loved and cherished him, but he lost them because of the midnight serpents. He continued to live on for the sake of revenge and because of that, he fou
Cassiel merged with her phoenix guardian while Andriel merged with his thunderbird. With fire and lightning, they merged their powers and created attacks that were supposed to be hard to dodge. However, Captain Joe and Captain Vince were veteran fighters so fighting them was hard for the two.Cassiel cast a fireball and Andriel merged it with his lightning bolt. The ball made of fire and high-voltage electricity crackled as it went on a straight path towards Joe. The speed of the attack was too fast that Joe didn’t fully dodge it and left a small cut on his shoulder.“Not bad, you two. However, I’m not your only opponent,” Joe smirked when the two realized that Vincent was nowhere to be seen.Suddenly, a black whip covered with high-voltage electricity came to attack the two and they barely dodged it. They looked around and saw Vince a few meters away from them, holding the base of the whip. He laughed evilly when he saw the anxious expre
Dio pulled Lewis’ shirt when he tried to step back. He also used his dagger when Lewis tried to slash his hand and smirked. “Let’s finish this.” Lewis, with all his strength, pushed Dio away from him. He kept his distance from him since he was informed that Dio’s strength was his melee fighting, though he also needed to be wary of his casting. However, he didn’t know that the information he received was taken when Dio was still an adventurer. As a student of the academy, Dio honed his casting skills and practiced them by helping the other casters in the elite class. Dio used his vines to capture Lewis who always dodged his attacks and his attempts of getting closer. Since Lewis was naturally fast, it took him a lot of time just to catch him. He set a trap and drove him to the way he planned for him to go and there he created a pit deep enough so he wouldn’t escape. Dio held the mouth of the hole and ice spread from his hand down to where Lewis stood.
Almost hundreds of monsters inside that dungeon surrounded Dio. Though he knew they outnumbered him, he let everyone leave him alone so that he could use his power to his heart’s content. “Bree, can I trust you to watch my back?” Dio looked around and created a plan in his head. “Sure, master!” Bree twinkled brighter in excitement. “I wish Blur was here too.” “It’s okay, Bree. Blur would assist the others at school.” Dio put his dagger back into its sheath as Bree took care of the monsters that attacked them. After he put the daggers in his space ring, Dio created an electric dagger with his right hand and an ice dagger with the left one. “Now, let’s do this.” Dio helped Bree with cleaning up the monsters. With a single slash of his dagger, the small monsters were cut in half. And since Dio embedded poisons in his daggers, those who were cut and wounded weren’t able to regenerate or heal their wounds, so they end up dying. “I like your eyes an
After their introduction and a few exchanges, the groups went inside the dungeon led by Caspian and Arthur. The other group was silent for it was their first time to enter a dungeon so the elite class tried to reassure them by having conversations as if nothing wrong could happen. Yet, deep within them, they were also afraid because they had a bad experience from a dungeon before. “Don’t you dare act on your own again, Dio.” Keila reminded him. Cassandra walked beside Dio to make sure that he wouldn’t let himself get behind. If they wanted him to behave, they needed to monitor him closely. Dio wouldn’t hesitate to jump ahead if it meant to protect them so someone had to be beside him to stop him if ever. “Are you also worried about me?” Dio chuckled when he realized that almost all the elites were watching over him. He turned to Cassandra with an assuring smile. “I told you not to worry. I won’t do something dangerous again.” Though Dio seemed believa
“Dio and Kael, though I know that you already know him, let me introduce Carter von Claude.” Professor Croix gestured his hand towards Carter. “He was promoted to the elite class last week and he will join you in today’s excursion.” Dio bowed his head to Carter. Though he was sad that Mika had been replaced, he knew it was no one’s fault and that the world would continue moving, even after her death. That thought hurt him a bit, but he had to accept it. Those who were left needed to continue leaving. Just like how he did it after his grandfather’s death, he would live his life to honor those whose lives were lost because of him. He had decided. He would talk with Andriel if they meet again. The group went into the carriage large enough to fit fifteen people and settled down. The atmosphere wasn’t as comfortable because of the new member but they lifted the mood. Dio was seated beside Keila and just like their midterms exams, he snuggled close to her and close
Dio and Kael went back to school after a few days of being on leave. It was so sudden and everyone was surprised to hear the news of the Armani Massacre and Mika’s death. Dio couldn’t even smile out of guilt. He couldn’t forget how he promised to go home early just to end up being late and not being able to save her.It was the afternoon lunch break and Dio chose to hide at the back of the building under the shade of the tree. He still couldn’t get over his sister’s death.How could he? All he did ever since he met her was to make her worried about him! Mika gave him a warm welcome, she made him feel that he belonged in the family and treated him as a precious little brother.He hadn’t done anything for her yet. He still had a lot more things to do with her. There were more memories to be shared, but it was too late. He couldn’t make her happy after all the love he received from her.Dio buried his face on his kne
“Our master’s prediction was right. He really came.” A girl wearing black revealing clothes giggled as soon as he reached the second floor. “Hey, boy, do you want to play with me?” She even licked her lips after looking at him from head to toe.He smiled seductively and let the girl touch his chest before she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Was it okay to play with a boy like me?”He scoffed internally. How could she act so shameless right after they planned to kill his sister?The girl licked her lips and looked him in the eye. His eyes never left hers and soon enough, her lips touched his and he had no choice but to open his mouth so that her tongue could have her way.They were both panting when they finished the kiss. Dio smiled and whispered, “That’s one down for me.”The girl’s eyes widen as she held her neck. She was gasping and chasing her breath but the more she struggled
Blur entered the slums so Dio just followed him. The people living there eyed him suspiciously because of his bloodied academy uniform, but he chose to ignore them. Nothing was more important to him than the annihilation of the people who massacred his family. As long as those people wouldn’t stop him, he wouldn’t have anything to do with them.Blur entered a dark alley and Dio moved to follow him. However, a voice of an old man was heard before he could enter the alley.“What’s the business of a young man in there?”Dio stopped in his tracks and looked at the old man who was hiding in the shadows. He smiled innocently but there was a hint of danger in his eyes. “Someone indebted to me is in there so I came to collect the payment.”“Take care. That place is dangerous.”Dio nodded and continued to walk inside. He found Blur waiting for him a few meters away and as soon as their eyes met, Blur con