Unexpected Encounter

The school bell rang, signaling the end of classes. Aray rose from his seat and walked briskly towards the door, trying to ignore the crowd around him.

"Um... A-Aray!" A girl's voice called out, stopping him in his tracks. A young woman with her friends approached him, their expressions shy and hesitant.

"Can we get to know you? I saw your fight earlier, and I thought it was really cool," she said, blushing.

Aray turned away, his face expressionless. "Don't you already know my name?"

"Yes, but you don't know me yet..."

Aray averted his gaze, not wanting to get further involved. "That's unnecessary," he said indifferently and continued walking.

"What? You think you're so cool, huh?" the girl shouted, her voice full of frustration.

Aray sighed deeply, feeling annoyed. "Idiot..." he muttered softly, not wanting to be affected by their words.

He didn't care about them. He knew they would only be a nuisance in his peaceful life.

Aray thought that romantic relationships with women were simply not his cup of tea. Just thinking about it irritated him to no end. Imagine having to go on dates on holidays when those days should be used for lazying around. Not to mention the financial and emotional burden that comes with dating a woman. Eating out, shopping, going to amusement parks. How much money would he have to spend, when the money used for one date could feed him for a month? It just wasn't worth it.

Aray walked through the noisy class corridor. The afternoon sunlight pierced through the windows, reflecting his shadow on the cold ceramic floor. As he tried to avoid the crowds, a voice broke the silence.

"Aray!" the voice called out, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps approaching.

He glanced back briefly. Alvarado, with his messy hair and panting breath, was running towards him, his face full of enthusiasm.

Without responding to the call, Aray quickened his pace.

"Hey! Wait for me! Come on... Aren't we friends?" Alvarado asked, his smile unwavering despite the rejection.

"I don't remember ever being friends with you," Aray replied flatly, his expression showing no sign of wanting to continue the conversation.

"But I remember!" Alvarado said cheerfully, his smile widening. His eyes sparkled, seemingly unbothered by Aray's cold attitude.

Ugh, this guy is really stubborn, Aray thought, feeling frustrated.

"I don't need friends, and I don't want to be friends," Aray said, his tone firm.

"You... at least look at me when you're talking," Alvarado replied, still following behind, as if unwilling to give up so easily.

Aray sighed softly and chose to walk faster, hoping to leave Alvarado behind. However, the boy kept chasing after him relentlessly.

When Aray finally arrived at the school gate, he saw his sister, Alicia, waiting with a bright smile on her face.

"Big brother Aray!" Alicia shouted, waving her hand enthusiastically, causing some people around to turn and look.

Aray approached her without saying much, while Alvarado continued to follow from behind, making the atmosphere a little awkward.

"Oh... it's unusual for you to walk with someone," Alicia said, her eyes narrowing at Alvarado. "Is he your friend?" she asked curiously.

"No," Aray answered briefly, holding back his annoyance. "He's just—"

Before Aray could finish his sentence, Alvarado quickly cut in, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Ryan Alvarado. Aray's classmate." He extended his hand with a friendly smile.

Alicia looked at Alvarado's hand for a moment before smiling slightly. "I'm Alicia Kenzie, his younger sister. Nice to meet you." They shook hands briefly, and Alicia looked at her brother with a teasing gaze.

"So you're his sister, huh? You do look alike... but your personality is clearly different," Alvarado commented with a small laugh. "I mean, very different."

Alicia chuckled, feeling flattered by the statement. "Yeah... that's how it is. By the way, may I know what your ability is? Sorry, I was born with great curiosity," she added with a mysterious smile on her face.

Aray could only sigh inwardly. Great curiosity? How ridiculous. If she were truly that curious, she would know how rotten this world is, and wouldn't ask such careless questions.

Alvarado laughed softly and scratched the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed. "No problem. I can control and manipulate the fire element... but I'm not very skilled yet."

"Oh, really?" Alicia pretended to be surprised, covering her mouth with her hand. "That means we're the same! I'm a fire controller too."

Aray knew very well that Alicia's reaction was just pretense. So fake. He knew his sister too well. Alicia must have known that fire controllers were the most common in this world—very ordinary, very mainstream. But what made them different was the level of mana one possessed and the control over that mana itself.

Mana was energy scattered throughout the world.

Every human had a natural vessel in their body that allowed them to store mana. This energy was used as fuel to run magic spells. The process of filling mana from nature involved several stages. First, the existing mana was filtered to remove impurities. After that, the mana would be concentrated in the body's vessel and distributed throughout the body. In this way, one could activate magic spells more efficiently.

Interestingly, every newborn baby already had a reserve of mana inherited from both parents. However, the care given by the mother during pregnancy could affect the quality of mana possessed by the baby. These factors could determine whether a baby was considered magically disabled, normal, or even a genius in magic.

In other words, the talent possessed since birth influenced how strong or weak a magus was. However, this didn't mean that a magus without talent couldn't become strong. The gap between talented and untalented magi could be narrowed through intensive training and proper training techniques.

Then, what about a magus who was talented from birth and given proper training?

They would become a monster.

"But, as I said," Alvarado continued, his face turning slightly red. "I can't control this power well yet. That's why I was placed in the Anfänger class. But I'm curious about your brother... with his incredible power, shouldn't he be in the Stryke class, or even Unver? You must have seen his fight, right?"

Aray remained silent, his eyes staring straight ahead, but his mind was filled with the same question. If Alicia could see what Aray did inside that storm, he thought about doing something to Alicia.

Aray sighed, I really don't want to do that again, he thought.

Alicia shrugged while smiling casually. "I don't know. Is my brother really that strong? As far as I know, he can't even fight." Her tone sounded light, as if there was nothing serious being questioned.

Aray remained silent, but his face now looked relieved as he gazed far into the fading sunset sky.

Meanwhile, Alvarado looked confused, his eyebrows raised as if not fully understanding what was happening.

With bated breath, Aray averted his gaze, trying to escape the growing tension in the air. However, his gaze froze when he saw a white-haired man standing near the school gate. The man's eyes—blue and sharp like shards of ice—stared at him, as if piercing into his soul. Leaning casually against the wall, the man's arms were folded across his chest, while a wide grin adorned his face. From his body radiated an intense magical aura, pressing down on Aray's shoulders mercilessly, making them slightly sore.

Aray knows this guy—the one who gave the speech this morning.

Ha! This bastard is directing his mana only at me. Aray thought quickly, his eyes sweeping across the seemingly calm school yard—no one appeared pressured, let alone panicked. Even Alicia and Alvarado remained calm, untouched by the presence of this terrifying mana. However, Aray had to admit, the white-haired man was strong enough to make him feel pressure on his shoulders. This was truly beyond his expectations.

A small smile appeared on Aray's face, followed by a light laugh that was almost inaudible. To him, this situation was nothing more than a joke. However, there was something about that man that caught Aray's attention. While casually patting his own shoulder, Aray began to emit an equally powerful magical aura. The aura surged, quickly covering the sky above them, creating frightening dark shadows. Nevertheless, this aura was directed at only one person—the white-haired man. When their two powers met, the air around them vibrated violently, shaking the entire school with tremendous force.

The man looked up, his chin raised. His sly smile widened, his eyes glowing with challenge.

Panic began to spread among the students in the schoolyard. The atmosphere that was initially calm turned chaotic, and faces that were previously relaxed were now filled with fear. Even Alvarado and Alicia could no longer hide their concerns.

"Hey, hey... what's really going on?" Alvarado struggled to maintain his balance as violent tremors shook the earth beneath him.

In confusion, Alicia glanced at her brother's face. A small smile—almost unbelievable—was clearly visible on his usually lazy face. Alicia had never seen such an expression on Aray's face before. She followed her brother's gaze, and that's when she saw it—a wide grin, sharp and full of intent, completely foreign to her. A grin that spread tension in the air.

"B-Brother... what are you doing?" Alicia's voice trembled between worry and fear. However, before Aray could turn his gaze, the white-haired man had already risen from his position. In an instant, he disappeared only to reappear right in front of Aray, as if tearing through space and time.

The distance between them vanished in the blink of an eye. Their auras, which had previously clashed from afar, now collided directly, like two storm winds swirling in a terrifying dance. The impact was far more devastating than before, shaking the earth beneath the feet of the students who could only watch in fear.

Without turning away from Aray's gaze for a moment, the white-haired man calmly extended his hand, as if the tremendous vibrations around them meant nothing. Aray looked at the man for a moment, then returned the handshake.

"Devdan Bayanaka," the man introduced himself, his voice deep and steady.

"Aray Kenzie," Aray replied, still maintaining his small smile.

They both smiled, full of meaning that only they understood. A smile that would never be understood by Alicia, Alvarado, or the students witnessing this extraordinary scene.

Their auras slowly faded, leaving silence in the vast schoolyard. The students who witnessed the event swallowed hard and held their breath in tension, until finally Devdan broke the silence with a short question,

"Want to join the Student Council?"

Aray thought for a moment. He realized that he didn't really hate this person. Devdan's straightforward manner didn't bother him too much.

"Pass," Aray answered firmly and briefly.

Hearing his resolute answer, Devdan almost laughed. Such a straightforward rejection, without any pretense. Even if he had introduced himself as the head of the Student Council, Devdan was sure the result would be the same—Aray would still refuse. However, there was something intriguing about this lazy-looking black-haired man that made Devdan unable to refrain from asking again.

"Why?"

Aray casually released Devdan's hand, then stepped past Devdan with a thin smile on his lips. Chuckling softly, he answered, "That would be boring to do."

That answer surprised Devdan. His eyes widened. It had never crossed his mind that this was the reason behind Aray's refusal. Suddenly, Devdan couldn't hold back his laughter. He laughed hard, almost guffawing. The students watching from afar could only gape, confused by what they had just witnessed. This event would surely remain in their memories.

Meanwhile, Aray waved his hand, calling his sister, "Alicia, let's go home."

"O-Okay."

Alicia, still looking confused, glanced at Devdan who was still laughing out loud, then hesitantly followed Aray's steps leaving the schoolyard, leaving Alvarado standing frozen with a thousand questions in his head.