Nobaru smiled sideways, raising her chin with an air of knowing more.
"Zulian, your family spreads around that only they can control celestial dragons."
Zulian immediately retorted. Her body took a step forward, and her brow furrowed in defiance.
"But only my clan can do that!"
"Is that what you think, or is that what your family taught you?"
Nobaru took a step forward, her gaze locked on Zulian's.
"Do you know Kakai?"
Zulian did not look away, her body tense like a string.
"Yes, one of the strongest and most powerful," she replied, her voice short and cautious.
"He can also summon celestial dragons!"
Nobaru exclaimed, her eyes wide as if the word were sacred.
Nobaru raised her hand with a swift, decisive movement. Her look, once severe, now carried a cold presumption. She addressed Zulian directly, with a voice that brooked no argument.
"And I can summon too," Nobaru declared, her voice cutting the air like a whip.
Zulian tightened her fists, feeling the weight of that authority. The other students watched her with tense expectation.
Nobaru did not scream; she merely announced with calculated power:
"Seal Break."
In immediate response, the ground trembled, and the sky seemed to be torn open. A deep, ancestral roar echoed, not of uncontrolled fury, but of absolute power.
From the dark clouds that formed in seconds, a creature with shimmering scales descended, long, massive, and with the presence of a river god. It was the serpentine dragon, Rigoro.
"This is Rigoro,"
Sensei Nobaru announced, without changing her tone, pointing at the gigantic beast hovering above them.
She held Zulian's gaze.
"One of my weakest dragons."
Nobaru crossed her arms, the picture of absolute dominance.
"You may be from your clan, Zulian, but you are not the only one who can summon dragons. I know a lot about your family. They have lived isolated for over two hundred years,"
she continued, her voice icy. "
Keep this in mind, Zulian. Many things have changed since then."
Nobaru turned to Fukuoka.
"A beautiful little boy, but without dreams, who connected with a special spirit. Do you know his story?"
Fukuoka trembled slightly under the teacher's gaze.
"No, I don't know anything," he replied, barely a whisper.
"Is he a legendary figure, or just an innocent little child who, when his father went crazy, killed several people, including his mother and sister? That poor little boy tried to kill his own father... Oops, his father killed him with a stab right in the middle of the chest."
"But no, no, he couldn't just die like the father's other victims!"
Nobaru paused dramatically, the silence echoing the violence of the words.
"He turned into one of the ten supreme spirits that, even today, more than seven hundred years later, we don't know the limit of his strength. Do you find your story similar?"
"I guess so," replied Fukuoka, his voice barely audible, resignation and fear mixed together.
Nobaru leaned in, her face dangerously close. Her smile widened, but there was no warmth, only a shimmering cruelty.
"The weakling who was going to commit suicide... there's no room for the weak here."
"Calm down, our dear Nobaru has a little problem with people who have spirits,"
Yagato provoked with a cynical smile.
"Shut up! I just think I should have managed to get one that easy,"
Nobaru replied, her voice irritated.
Nobaru is the daughter of a human and an Osmo. Therefore, her father's lineage is cursed. To maintain control of this part, she has to earn merit from the gods.
"Nanai, one step forward! The lovely and precious Nanai, whose body and face were deformed by her own friends, and who hides her face today. Yet, she gained an elite spirit, class 4. Good girl. Now you can take your revenge,"
Nobaru pronounced the last words with an icy intonation, almost like an order.
"You are dismissed," Nobaru declared, abruptly ending the session.
Fukuoka saw Nanai sitting alone and, with visible hesitation, went to talk to her.
"Nanai, is what the teacher said true?" Fukuoka asked, his voice low and careful.
Nanai did not raise her head.
"About what? That I'm a coward without friends, that my only friends did this to me, and that I don't have the courage to take revenge?"
She laughed, a dry and bitter sound.
"Then yes, that's me."
"You are very brave," Fukuoka replied with conviction
Nanai raised her face abruptly and stared intently at Fukuoka. For a second, it seemed like she was going to give in and cry, but she managed to restrain herself.
She had just heard what she had never heard from anyone before. She always covered her body and part of her face because she didn't like the scars.
Fukuoka then slightly lifted the sleeve of his own clothing and showed all the scars he had on his arm.
"I knew it! You're talking to me because you feel sorry for me! I don't need your pity!"
Nanai exploded, her voice full of anger and hurt.
"No, no," Fukuoka replied, shaking his head in denial, his voice urgent.
"Get out of here!" Nanai replied, screaming and turning her face away, putting an end to the interaction.