Chapter CXXIV - Another Day of Exams (part 2)

"Oh? If it isn't class E."

He greeted us immediately.

"Arfius Polaris."

Elmone took a step forward and faced the blue haired kid. Arfius studied Elmone very thoroughly, checking Elmone's pressure and presence.

After finding it out, he grinned.

"Well, well, well. I don't know how you guys managed to become so good that fast... But, no matter what pretty little tricks you guys are doing, you guys will never be as good as me."

Hearing that, I suddenly noticed something.

Somehow, Arfius is different from the other students at class A. He doesn't brag that he is a class A. He brags that he is himself. 

He doesn't belittle us by comparing scores. He is in fact recognizing that we have become strong in such a little time.

But, he still has this ego about himself. At least it's a lot better than being demeaned as a class E, because he is demeaning literally everyone with his ego.

He is a lot better than those from class A. I can see at least that much.

"Ah, you. Rize Violet."

I looked back to see if there's anyone he was pointing at, just to piss him off.

"Don't turn away!"

I turned my gaze back to him and wore a really annoyed expression.

"If the headmaster really thinks highly of you, then I will show him just how far of a gap between you and I are."

His grin turned into a serious look very quickly. I simply grinned back.

"I see. Then good luck with that."

I then took the first step forward and walked past him. He didn't do anything besides talking, so I guess he knows his position.

Everyone else followed me outside and left him alone in front of class A's door.

"Woahh!! His pressure is immense!"

Maneil said as she stretched her muscles from being too stiff. She was slightly frightened when Arfius's face turned serious, because he was leaking a little bit of his pressure when he did it.

And that came from Maneil. One of the best students of class E.

"Yeah! Handsome, but very self-centered!"

Another girl supported her and the two quickly turned into gossip. One by one, other girls joined until it became a group of five.

"So… today ended quicker than I thought. What should we do?"

Manda asked me as soon as we stepped outside the class building. The sun is not even above our heads yet, and today, there's only one test. 

And we passed it easily. Clearly, we are doing something great.

"Let's do more training."

I said with a grin, and Manda stared at me confusingly.

"But, I thought you said there should be no training on the week of tests?"

"Yeah, but sometimes we just can't hold back, can we?"

I turned to everyone else.

"Let's go to the training ground!"

"""Yess!!"""

And just like that, we ended up at the training ground. They have certainly become much faster in terms of running past the sea of trees. They have completely become familiar with the terrain, as well as the location of beasts.

And as a result, no one made it beyond twenty minutes. The class E has become too powerful now.

"So… what are we going to do?"

Elmone asked me. He didn't need me to pick him up and run anymore. He can run on his own. 

He enchanted his whole body in shadow armour, which greatly enhanced his physical strength and speed and made him run faster than any demon wolves. A technique that I am also learning at the moment.

"I'm not sure. Right now, I'm just thinking of doodling around."

"Ehh... I thought we were training."

"Well, if you want to train then feel free to do it. I'm just going to relax here."

I took out a large bag filled with a folded bed from my space ring. I leaped away to the top of the nearby cliff and placed the bed there. Then I simply leaned down and closed my eyes while facing the skies.

Ah, right. I should be training my wing.

But even after training for a month, I still couldn't get to create a second wing. It's getting frustrating, I hate it. My left wing is bugged or something. I just couldn't create a large one on the left side.

I was not interrupted by my thoughts and rested for around an hour. And after an hour, someone finally came to the top of the cliff and woke me up.

"Rize. Someone is here."

"Huh?"

Hearing Manda's serious voice, I slowly moved my body up and looked down the cliff where the training ground is. I can see a single person on the training ground not wearing a student uniform, being surrounded by the class students.

He is wearing old black torn robes with his hood on. He is facing towards the forest, so I couldn't really see his face clearly. And he is quite short, so I assumed he must be young.

Behind him, everyone in the class is being careful with this newcomer, but he doesn't seem to be offensive. Instead, he just stood there, waiting for something.

I quickly folded my bed and inserted it back into the space ring. I leaped and landed exactly two meters away from the black robed person.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

The person then slowly turned around and removed the hood from his head, and I can see his face clearly.

He is... Old.

His hair is grey, and his beard is tied in the middle and is very long. The wrinkles on his face shows that he must be somewhere around ninety years old or something, but his eyes are glimmering with life.

But… there is something else.

His pressure is... immense. But, it's peaceful, where normally such a strong pressure can only mean fear and power.

I can feel calm, despite being heavily pressured.

Such a scene, I can only come up with one conclusion.

"... A god."

Hearing my guess, the old man opened his eyes wide.

"Ho? It's amazing how you were able to recognize me just from the presence, young man."

His voice is calm and wise, like the sound of nature. And his gaze is nothing fearsome nor showing any hostility.

And he said...

"M-Man??"

My face must have shown quite the shock, because somehow he chuckled slightly. If he chuckled any more than that, then I'm afraid he might choke his lungs out due to how old he is.

"Let's talk somewhere private, shall we?"

The old man then slowly floated away, without wings or anything. He just casually lifted off from the ground and flew rather slowly towards the sea of trees under us.

Seeing how he left so nonchalantly, I quickly turned to everyone and told them to stay put. Then I followed him using only one wing behind my back, flying limply.

I have so many questions…

Who is this old man? What does he want?

And how did he know I'm a guy underneath these boobs?

And finally… 

Why is there a god here?