Changed Twenty-Five: Reanimating
Covered by a vast land of orange colored trees and dried bushes in an abandoned driveway. Zenith walked around before deciding it'd be perfect.
Reanimating a real life scenario might be hard but he'd try to keep it as real as possible and also reduce the scenes a bit and there'd be no audio.
"I speak like I'm directing a movie. Just work."
He took off four bands, putting himself at SSS-RANK and trying to concentrate. He casted a sensing spell around the environment so that if any person comes a little close, he'd sense it and stop them.
For extra measure, he casted a veil around the place.
What Sir Bennett told him had bothered him, his S-Rank presence seemed to be too much for some students? How pathetic could they be!
That meant he could only be around his students and teachers. He didn't want to be known for making others pass out or those reporters' dream will come through.
Jumping to work, he used a levitation spell to keep him afloat so he wouldn't bother the small animals wanting to move around on the ground.
Bluish essence, in the form of smoke, swirled around his form and seeped into his head, the information in his mind was being extracted.
He tried to focus on replaying the incident with the assassin. A white stream of smoke slowly seeped from his closed eyes and formed a small ball of energy in front of him.
Along the way, he realized it'd take longer than he expected but remembered that he'd been invited for lunch by the teachers last night so he could take the whole break time.
So he sat there, afloat, reanimating.
His sensing spell didn't alert him when a figure moved in quickly. Within his environment, a red haired young man smirked, strolling in, covered with dark red aura.
He stood at six feet few inches and his hair was a sickening shade of blood, his clothes were traditional red hanfu connected to black trousers and having a deep V-neck on the upper part.
A sword of intricate design sheathed in a red scabbard was tied to his waist. He came in front of the white ball of energy Zenith created and scrutinized it questioningly.
With a presence close to him and his barrier sensing a threat, Zenith's eyes opened. He closed them back seconds later and muttered. "Don't touch it." Keeping his voice low so he wouldn't break concentration.
The stranger stepped back, with a sigh.
"Why are you teaching at Gaden Realm, Zen? And teaching a school?" his tone was disappointed. "If you were done with heroic works why not join us, the Dark Mages, where you'd have more fun?"
Zenith didn't want to answer but he knew the temperament of the one before him. He could throw a tantrum and ruin his work for the past minutes.
"Would you let me finish—"
"No." the stranger crossed his legs while resting on a tree. "If you didn't notice, I came here because I was bored and you're probably the only one—"
The skies opened and wave of human sized birds came diving down at the young man. Their loud cries echoed but the veil Zenith casted kept the sounds from disrupting the environment.
"Keep yourself busy." Zenith said.
The stranger smirked and drew out his sword, the aura around his body extended to his sword and he sliced the first bird that charged at him in half.
He jumped back excitedly when four more dived at where he stood. The bird cut in half regenerated and became two, they charged at him again.
"Okay, Okay, Zenith. While this keeps me busy, finish what you're doing. I need a match with you!" he yelled while flashily cutting the birds who went on a savage rage against him.
Zenith exhaled in relief.
Despite being an SSSSS-Rank, especially as he could only comfortable be at SSSS-Rank for long, they were few Mages who troubled him and were the sole reason for his excitement he had from time to time.
When a Mage becomes a Dark Mage, they no longer get benefits from the realms and they couldn't be recorded if they improve.
In that case, Zenith thought it possible that he might not be the only mage that had broken through the standard SSS-Rank, he's just the only recorded one.
Many Dark Mages get to SS-Rank or SSS-Rank before showing their true colors of only wanting to cause chaos. That meant they could still grow to break more ranks if they're young and diligent.
The reanimating reached the finishing state and he contemplated adding the part were he copied the assassin's skill, it might be considered wrong by some of his students who grew up with such beliefs.
Zenith added it anyway because it was a major finishing point for the assassin and he ended it when he slammed her to a building.
The white ball of energy stopped growing when Zenith opened his eyes and the blue essence seeping into his body was sucked in completely. He dropped to the floor and held the ball of energy.
He turned to the Dark Mage who was covered in the green blood belonging to the birds, birds belonging to a lesser known realm that Zenith found while exploring.
They were always in a murderous rage so he summoned them whenever he needed to have a break while fighting a challenging villain.
"Should I tell him that I'm done or…" he shook his head and summoned even more birds to attack. "Escanor Akane, a Dark Mage at SSS-Rank or more… he wouldn't let me leave unless he's tired and injured. I don't have such time."
Leaving a fragment of his presence behind, Zenith slipped away and left his veil there to hide Escanor's actions.
He also left an illusion spell that'd appear when his veil falls. That'd be to mask the dead birds, blood and destroyed trees that'd be scattered around, Zenith would've to take care of it by evening.
"My manager is slacking. Two Dark Mages has found me here already." He rubbed his head. Escanor's case was quite different as they're from the same hometown, so Zenith didn't mind much.
But if other Dark Mages like the blood assassin finds him and want to kill or practice with him, it'd affect his class and his overall stay at Gaden High.
It's still only his first day yet all that happened, he needed to adopt a fake identity of some sort then.
He arrived at his office before break was over, he had replaced the bands on his arms shortly after leaving Escanor. The white ball of energy floated with him but not everyone would be able to see it.
Students made quick glances at him as he passed and whispered amongst themselves, while in Zenith's mind, he contemplated if he should buy another batch of panda bread to save, just in case.