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
After the day-off, the elite class was back to their house as they were supposed to but they didn’t expect a sudden change because of what happened at the ball. “What are you doing here, your highness?” Dio asked when he saw Andriel in front of his room. “Don’t be so cold to me,” Andriel said with a slight smile. “We’re close enough to share secrets, right?” Dio couldn’t believe his ears. Andriel used to be a very warm and mature prince, but the Andriel in front of him looked bothersome. “What do you want, your highness?” he asked as he smiled awkwardly. The eyes of the other elites were on him, curious about the secret that the prince mentioned. “Since I took a liking to you, why don’t you start calling me by my name?” Andriel suggested as he pulled Dio down to the receiving area where all the elites were gathered. The real reason why Andriel was there was to personally give them an announcement. There would be an announcement posted
Since that day, everyone in the elite class had been training for the midterms examination. They all knew that once they failed the midterms, they would be replaced by the top scorer from the general class so they needed to keep their positions as elites. “Dio, can you assist me again this time?” Mika asked as she prepared the cloak that she would use for the enchantment trial. “Are you serious?” Dio asked as he chuckled. Though he didn’t want to be subjected to another experiment, he wanted Mika to have a great contribution to the exam. “Yes. You don’t have to train like the others, right? You already know how to deal with those bunnies,” Mika said with confidence. Dio laughed. How could she be so confident that he would be able to hunt those monsters without worries? “Don’t just laugh at me, dear brother. Are you in?” Mika said as she pulled out her enchanter pen. Dio shrugged and followed her to the backyard. Since he got nothing be
“Is the place for hunting that far?” Amery asked Dio who kept his eyes closed during the travel.He snuggled closer to Keila and tried to act as if he were asleep so that others wouldn’t disturb him but Amery was persistent.“Dio?” Amery called out to him again.“Lady Amery, let’s just let him sleep for a while,” Cassandra suggested but Amery pouted.“Mika, your brother is flirting with Keila. Can you stop him?” Amery turned to Mika who had her head leaning on the window.Mika smiled drowsily as she closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, my lady. I don’t think I can.”Amery then turned to Kael who sat between Keila and Raymond. “Kael, don’t tell me your siblings get nauseous during carriage rides?”“No, my lady. It’s more like they spent the night making the cloaks so they needed the rest.” Kael looked at Dio who seemed to be
“Dio!” Amery shouted.Dio moved his hand to cut the bunny that was about to attack him with its claws. Amery let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Dio was fine.“Don’t space out,” Primo told him with a serious tone.“I’m not spacing out. It’s just that these bunnies seemed more like a mob of lower-level monsters than high-level ones.“What do you mean?” Primo asked in surprise. The monsters they were fighting were already strong enough to keep everyone busy yet Dio was saying that they seem like lower-level? Just how strong were the high-level monsters could be?Dio suddenly ran towards the casters and cut through a few bunnies that were about to attack Keila. After killing the monsters with his dagger, he turned towards Keila.“Are you all right?” His eyes were full of worry just like his voice. He crouched and held her shoulders to check if she was truly fine befo
The elite class was silent as they went back to the academy. Mika held Dio tight while Kael was the one putting pressure on Dio’s wound. Everyone was worried about him but all they could do was watch over him on the way back.Arthur lowered his head. He couldn’t stop blaming himself for his weakness. He was so weak that Dio had to protect him. He was so weak that Dio did not even consider asking him for help. He was so ashamed that he was so weak and he had to be protected by someone younger than him.Outside the carriage, Limuel was in deep thought. He didn’t know what kind of monster was that but he sensed that it was a high-level one. Knowing the other elites, Limuel chose to protect the others while risking Dio and he ended up with an injured student.It’s okay. Dio wasn’t badly hurt, and one injured was better than having all of them injured. He tried to console himself but his inner voice refuted him.Dio wasn&
Dio was sure. Though they were different from those with the serpent tattoo, he knew that they were accomplices when he heard them call him His Imperial Highness. Aside from him and a few others on his side, who would’ve known about his identity if not the enemies?Dio clenched his fists. Just a little more rest and his mana would’ve recovered enough to take care of them. Professor Croix, Caspian, and Arthur just needed to endure a little more and he’d take care of the rest once his mana becomes stable.Once his healing magic kicked in, he felt revitalized though his left arm was still bleeding. Dio stood up and walked towards the door when he heard the girls stopping him from moving. However, he was determined because he knew that the enemies outside were much powerful than how they seem to be.“Dio, no!”He heard them, but he refused to look back. If he was swayed by their worried tones, the other guys outside would meet th
Since that incident, the atmosphere within the elite class had a significant change. They became more caring about Dio and treated him as someone special in the group. The girls would always look out and care for Dio while the boys would always ask him to spar with them.Though Dio couldn’t understand the reason behind their behavior, it relieved him that nobody treated him negatively after pulling such dangerous stunts.“Dio, have some refreshments with us,” Cassiel invited him as soon as he entered the house.It was their day off and the others went to the market and Dio just arrived from training with Blur in the forest. Dio looked at the smiling prince across Cassiel and bowed his head. He could remember how close he was with Andriel before, but he couldn’t stop himself from being annoyed by his clinginess.What if the others noticed the difference in his treatment of him? It would expose his identity, and he didn't want that.
The news of the duel between the most powerful ice mage and the mint-green-haired elite spread like a wildfire inside the school grounds. Every student was looking forward to that day and there had been a lot of expectations for both parties. Some placed their bets on Carter since he was well-known and they were confident in his strength while others placed their bet on Dio who was like a dark horse that caused a commotion as soon as he set foot in the academy.“You really did it this time,” Keila said with a grin on her face.It was the night before the duel and Dio was in the backyard, watching the stars and thinking about how his life turned to how it was at that moment.When Keila saw Dio outside, she went to accompany him and talk to him. She wanted to congratulate him for going that far. She felt so proud of him because she was one of the people who was given the privilege to watch his growth. From being the capricious adventurer to being one o