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
Dio had to admit, he somehow looked down on him. Did he really think that he could win without casting? His opponent was a caster so he should’ve fought him using his strengths. If he hesitate to use his vines, the floor would be covered in ice and it would be harder for him.“You talked about being arrogant but you were also looking down on me,” Dio smirked. He stood up and removed the dust on his clothes. “I guess it’s my turn to get a little more serious.”He twirled the daggers in his hands as he ran towards the ice golem. He jumped towards the golem’s arm as he clad his daggers with poisonous mana and slashed it. Everyone was in awe when the arm flew away as it was torn apart from the golem. The part that Dio’s daggers touched was smoking and it was continuously melting.Dio looked up at the head of the golem where Carter stood. “Should I cut its head?”Carter immediately jumped off the gole
Dio was about to turn his back on Carter when a large explosion occurred in the middle of the arena. His eyes grew wide when he saw the familiar black clothes but the person wearing the clothes was different.“So you’ve decided, huh?” The man in black said with a smirk. His dark brown eyes looked at Dio intently as if he was analyzing him. “You showed them a bit of your power.” It was a whisper only loud enough to reach Dio and the almost unconscious Carter.“What do you need?” Dio asked. The men they sent during the midterm exams asked him to follow them, but they should be aware that he wouldn’t just obediently follow them by now.“I came here to check whether you deserve the attention that the clan head and the commander were giving you.”Check? Dio felt offended. Who the hell did they think they were? They were just a bunch of criminals hiding in the shadows.He felt his rage rising up
“Shouldn’t we talk to him about that day?” Amery asked when Dio once again left the house to train.It had been a week since the duel and the people started to look at Dio in a different way. Some gave him looks of admiration while some still treated him with jealousy and contempt. On the other hand, Dio started acting differently since that day. For the past week, he would always go out after dinner to train like crazy and go back at midnight.Dio also started being serious and think about something deep most of the time. He was always staring into space and it was hard to talk to him, even for his siblings. They thought that they just needed to give him space, but as time passed by, Dio started acting more stressed.“I already tried but he would just change the topic.” Mika sighed as she started cleaning the dining table. “I don’t want to force it out from him. He’s been through a lot.”Even Kael loo
“Class dismissed.”Everyone stood up as soon as they heard the professor’s word. They were given early dismissal so everyone was excited to check out the shops and go on their different agendas. At the corner, the elite class was also preparing on going back to the house except for the Armani siblings.“I thought we’re going home today?” Mika said, annoyed by the sudden change in their schedule.“Yes, we are going home and we would still spend the day off at home. It’s just that Prince Andriel asked for Dio to spar with him today and I will be there to accompany him,” Kael explained.“Then what about me?” Mika pointed at herself. “What am I supposed to do if you suddenly changed plans?”“Brother Riguel is in the headmaster’s office,” Kael informed her. “Go home with him after his meeting with the headmaster.”Dio crouched and picked up
“You seem to be so happy,” Dio teased Kael who was smiling all throughout the carriage ride.“Well, I didn’t expect that to happen.” Kael grinned. “How about you? You looked so serious while talking to His Highness.”Dio smiled as he looked out the window. “Yeah. We were talking about something serious.”“Did he want you to be his knight?”Dio laughed. A knight? There would be no way that Andriel would ask him to be his knight. Of course, Kael wouldn’t know that.He saw the familiar houses, which signified that they were already near the house. Dio felt excited to see his family, but there was also a hint of anxiety caused by the conversation he had with the man in black.His heart suddenly started beating fast as he felt the link between him and his bond was established.‘Dio…’Dio’s eyes grew wide when he heard his
“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