In his previous life as the Chosen Hero of Bloody Inheritance, Luciferis was completely unrivalled; no one could match him in any competition, whether it be business, military, or strength.
But he was never the most feared or respected; half the time, he was treated as a joke by the Demons of the Dark Empire. Alize, alongside a few people, was actually the most feared.
And the Duke? He wasn't terrifying because he was uncontrollable, like Alize was, nor was he immensely powerful, but what he did have was the perfect mix between strategy and brute force.
Luciferis had once sparred with the Duke's cousin and had won, and in the end, he was the one apologising in front of the Emperor; he even had to pay a massive fine! All of that just because the Duke was crazy for reputation.
'You singed my hair, I'll make sure you go bald now.'
Those words were a taunt from the Duke to Luciferis; even though Luciferis could've easily destroyed the Aurelion Empire on his own, he was too naive.
And here he was, standing in front of the daughter of the same Duke. What might happen now?
"Not again.." Luciferis mumbled under his breath in annoyance. Would he really just bow his head again?
"Hey! Isn't that Inneya's younger brother?!" A noble from the crowd around them shouted, and that immediately caught the attention of the Duke's Daughter.
"Oh? You're her younger brother? Perhaps I can excuse you then. Leonidas, right?" She replied, a soft smirk on her face. Her expression immediately turned from a scowl to a friendly, almost sisterly one.
Luciferis breathed a sigh of relief; he had noticed William reaching for his sword, and Mime also preparing for a fight. So good thing they didn't have to fight her. Hell, Harold had run away.
"Yes... I apologise."
The girl tilted her head in amusement, ruffling Luciferis hair like he was a small child, and that seemed to be the case anyway.
"All good. I'm Samantha, you can call me Sam though."
Luciferis wanted to push her hand off his head, but that might piss her off again. So, he just chuckled slowly.
"Uh... We're late for class. Leonidas and... Mime walked off towards the 1st year dormitories." William broke the silence, a bit of awkward panic in his voice.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Joseph!" Samantha called a man from behind her. He looked to be a bit younger than her and was quite timid as well.
"Teleport them to the Academy's First Year Building."
He nodded, before William or Luciferis could complain or thank Samantha, Joseph had already teleported them to their classroom in a flash of purple light.
"Done..." Joseph sighed softly. "Wasn't that the kid with Frost Vitin? Maybe I'm overreacting, but I felt cold around him."
Samantha shrugged; the people around them were still staring, but she didn't really care for that.
"True, he was cold to the touch, tell a first year to keep an eye on him. And Inneya's coming back from her vacation in a few weeks. So, let's prepare something fun for her."
Joseph nodded as he teleported himself and the other people in Samantha's group to their own dormitories.
(...)
Luciferis and William suddenly got teleported to the front of a class, the large number of students and tense atmosphere catching them both off guard.
"Ah, the dramatic entrance of Leonidas and William. The newbies." The teacher spoke from behind them, his voice deep and gruff.
Luciferis slowly turned around, but what he saw surprised him a lot.
'I was expecting a damn lumberjack from the voice alone.' He thought to himself as he looked at the teacher up and down.
The teacher was a tall elf with long, silky black hair that reached the floor; apart from that, he had perfectly pink lips and almost looked like a perfectly painted prince from a fairytale.
"You're massively late. I expect new students of the Academy to be at my house, performing a ritualistic breakfast with ingredients from the times of their ancestors. Yet you're late by half an hour."
William, obviously a bit pissed off at being lectured almost immediately, raised his voice at the man.
"Hey! It's not our fault this Academy has a whole city as a campus!"
The elf chuckled, his laughter somewhat dark as he grabbed William by the back of his collar, lifting the boy off the ground.
"Wow, spicy. Let me introduce myself, I'm Theolian Dawnbane, and I teach practical subjects like combat, weapon and artifact crafting, and Vitin utilisation. And you, my student, have rubbed me the wrong way. 4 out of 10 first impression."
He threw William towards an empty bench at the back of the massive class before turning his attention back towards Luciferis, who was silently standing with a forced smile on his face.
"Well, I can't beat you up; the Grand Headmaster doesn't like me beating up Legendary Students after all."
Theolian smirked as he 'accidentally' stepped on Luciferis's foot, making the boy jump in pain and immediately fall to the slippery marbled floor.
"Listen, Leonidas. I respect hard work and trying your best... Maybe I respect money also, but that's another topic."
Theolian's smirk softened into a smile; Luciferis just couldn't understand this man.
'Judging by his Vitin alone. He's above Rank XIV in strength...'
The teacher noticed Luciferis' analytical gaze, his eyes narrowing in pleasant surprise.
"Anyways. This is the Vitin Combat Introduction Class. Most of the students here are on the verge of a breakthrough, while you and your friend are Rank IV already. I expect you to at least be able to hold your own against your classmates."
He turned towards the rest of the class, all of whom were sitting quietly; they had also been lectured for being late, and hell, some of them had broken noses as well.
"And you buffoons, I'm expecting you all to have a breakthrough before the 1st Assessments, and if any one of you fails to get a breakthrough?"
His lips quirked in sadistic amusement, like embarrassing his students was bringing him enjoyment.
"I'm throwing you out of practical classes and making sure every noble household knows about it."
The students agreed in unison, their voices determined and loud.
"Yes, sir!"
"Oi shut up! This isn't a choir! Praise your gods outside of my class, would ya!"
The students quieted down, going from determined and focused to feeling embarrassed.
"Might as well give me a headache."
Theolian mumbled under his breath, perfectly loud enough for everyone to hear, before he gestured for Luciferis to sit with William, and Luciferis did so quietly. Albeit he was thankful he didn't have to sit next to a stranger.
William leaned forward in his chair as Luciferis sighed in exhaustion, but before he could finally sit behind the luxurious wooden desk with a quill and paper already set for him, his teacher called him.
"Leonidas! Sit next to the girl over there in the corner! She's been unable to get a breakthrough for 9 years! She could learn from ya."
Theolian was busy writing something on the gigantic blackboard on the wall, not even turning around to face Luciferis.
"Sure..." Luciferis gaze towards the far right of the room, there was a girl with messy hair covering most of her face and an unironed uniform. She was probably older than Samantha, if not more.
Luciferis almost wanted to raise an eyebrow, 'Six years without a breakthrough? And she isn't kicked out? Is this Elf hypocritical or something?' He thought to himself, walking over to the desk the girl sat alone in, William wanted to protest, but he couldn't, safe to say he was afraid of Theolian.
But Luciferis didn't want to be disrespectful, so he decided to quietly sit beside the girl. Who was frozen like a statue.
"Um... Hi?"
"Don't talk to me, damn noble."
"What do you mean?" Luciferis furrowed his brows in confusion. Why'd she insult him from the get-go?
"I said. Don't talk to me." The girl's voice was raspy and wispy, and honestly, it creeped Luciferis out just a bit. But he had seen and heard way worse before.
"Fine then... I won't talk to you."
"Good, because I'm not going to do your homework or errands any time soon."
Luciferis eyes narrowed in intrigue at this. Was she this traumatised because of staying here for probably half of her adult life? It was understandable.
"I mean. I wasn't going to make you do anything in the first place. Though I'd like to hear your side of the story."