[???'s pov]
– – –
Thwack , Thud
Classes had ended 3 hours ago and yet in an otherwise quiet corner of the academy, the sound of a dull wooden blade hitting a wooden dummy reverberated through the field.
The sound was crisp and clear, yet ragged. Like a serrated knife jaggedly cutting through a melon. There in the training field stood a tall young man with short messy red hair and sharp narrow silver eyes that seemed to hold the intensity of a baby tiger.
He seemed completely unaware of his surroundings, even the fact that he was being watched— each swing of his blade reveals years of training and experience.
"How pitful… though it exits faintly.. it certainly lacks elegance or beauty. Such a pity indeed."
The sight of the youthful man training with a gaze that seemed to be looking at something unobtainable brought a sense of wonder and excitement to the one who watched from afar.
"Mm~"
"It seems you have yet to mature enough…I do hope that you continue to grow fiercely little tiger cub, so that when the time comes…"
With a wide crescent-like grin that spread towards both eyes which rolled back slightly, the tall man covered his face and with a sigh, he calmed his nerves before disappearing.
Like a ghost, he traversed through the academy grounds unnoticed despite his tall lanky appearance covered with a black cloak revealing only his long dark green hair like seaweed and slender yet strong pale hands.
As he passed through each classroom and began heading towards the dormitory area, he passed by a young man with shoulder length white hair and a sheer black blindfold over his eyes. He had been walking out of the building just as the man began to approach the door to walk in.
Yet unlike everyone else, the boy stopped as if forgetting something. Then, his smooth and beautiful voice came out with a chilling edge.
"Who are you?"
The young man stopped and as he spoke, as if shattering any hopes that he hadn't been speaking to the man— he turned his head toward the man meeting his gaze.
The air stilled and the man felt an aura that seemed to make it momentarily difficult to even breath or move. He quickly broke out of it and in the blink of an eye, distanced himself from the boy, remaining on guard, he spoke.
"You.. how can you sense me?"
The boy didn't answer for a moment and yet it felt as though he had been silent for a lifetime. The man felt a cold sweat trickling down his neck and his hand itched.
"I don't know who you are… but you will die if you go around leaking such a suspicious aura."
With that, the boy turned away and began walking out of the dormitory area and towards the main building of the academy in the direction that the man had just come from.
Baffled, the man could do nothing but stand still for several moments in shock before he covered his mouth with one hand and let out a dry chuckle.
"I see.. yes, this year's batch has quite a few promising candidates."
Hehe.. heheheheh
"I must not be hasty…."
Turning away swiftly, the sound of the man's crisp cloak swaying sharply in the wind could be heard as he disappeared as if he hadn't existed.
A perverted smile of a predator who enjoys the wait as part of the hunt, and eyes sharp yet manic was the last expression he allowed to slip for a moment before concealing not just his presence but his expression completely.
"Perhaps something interesting has finally awakened after so many agonizing years. How wonderful.."
***
"Unpleasant…"
That's the only word that would come out. I felt as though something revolting had squirmed its way into my skin as I walked away.
'If he's already showing his face here…that's not a good sign at all.'
That man is a problem. A true problem. He's one of the most annoying and persistent villains in the world and also the weakest of the villains that the protagonist has to face.
I'm not talking about the weak canon fodder nameless npc bandits that he takes down to get stronger. No, that man is the weakest of 7. In the novel, the man went by the name Kiel and he occupied the seat of "Lust" not because he was a demon but because he was the one who embodied lust the most out of everyone else.
Once he set his gaze on someone and marked them as something worth watching, he'd let them grow stronger and stronger until they were "ripe" enough to devour.
His desire wasn't merely to watch and even assist the growth of his victims— he also wanted nothing more than to witness and taste the despair and turmoil they'd endure when he began picking off everything his victims fought for one by one.
Only after thoroughly breaking them mentally would he show himself, driving the final stake through their chests and then devouring them…literally. His favourite "prey" are the young, strong, and obsessive ones with something to prove or work towards.
Just thinking about that creepy perverted bastard made chills cling to my bones enough to make me involuntarily frown in discomfort.
"You're awake, why are you like that?"
Breaking me out of my thoughts was the sound of a rough and tired voice. My gaze was met with the sight of the boy most likely to be a target of that troublesome 7th head.
"Ah, young master… I fail to understand your question. What seems to be the concern?"
Tilting my head, I displayed a small professional smile. Like that of a con artist trying to subtly pierce through your guard before showing you their products.
Following my very professional and friendly smile, was the sound of Aaron clicking his tongue and tossing his wooden sword in my direction as he turned away and wiped at his face with his shirt.
"…?"
I tilted my head slightly to the side as an invisible question mark formed over me but completely ignoring my confusion, Aaron only walked across the field and grabbed another wooden sword before pointing it in my direction and speaking.
"You've been pissing me off for a while now. Fight me."
'How shrewd… and straightforward.'
I felt a sigh swelling up inside of me at his behaviour which always seemed way too brass and sharp despite everything. Holding back the sigh, I spoke with a calm tone and stayed in my spot.
"Young master, isn't that a bit unreasonable? I've not even been out of the nursery for a day and you're planning to make me return?"
'Seriously.. this kid is way too intense..'
Instead of responding, Aaron simply adjusted his grip and shot towards me ready to strike.
Thud—
Narrowly dodging to the side, I barely managed to escape by the length of my hair as the wooden sword cut through the air and sliced through the ground like a heated knife slicing through butter.
"T- that… were you about to kill me?"
In response to my flustered question, the corners of Aaron's lips slightly turned up as he finally spoke while lunching towards me again.
"If you don't want to get hit, then use your sword."
As he spoke, I tried to dodge his next attack but instead of dodging cleanly like before, the direction of his slash suddenly shifted and came cleanly rushing towards my shoulder.
Thud, CRACK—
"Tsk— Gahh"
Biting my lip, I just barely suppressed the scream that wanted to come out. My shoulder throbbed as a sharp pain coursed through my body like a loose tooth still attached to the vein got yanked out roughly.
'He's serious. This crazy bastard is seriously just like his father!'
Realising that he wasn't going to let me talk or weasel my way out of this fight I had no choice but to firmly grip my sword and guard against his next attack that came like a car crashing into you from your blind spot.
I just barely managed to guard against it but the pain coursing through my arm and the feeling of his sword hitting mine with enough force for my bones to ache and nearly buckle was intense.
Haaah
"I see, it seems I've committed a grave sin and accidentally angered the young master. Then allow me to attempt to quell that anger for you."
Fighting aaron is a lot different from simply watching him fight from afar. He's overwhelming. It's to the point that it's concerning that he's not one of the main characters in the novel. A supporting character that barely fit the role of an antagonist was what he had.
In fact, in the novel, his name wasn't even mentioned, his family name came up maybe twice as having been one of the main strongest families but the family was destroyed before the protagonist even got into the first main encounters.
Currently, my strength is nowhere near enough to fight him.
'And yet, even with him holding back this much… I'm still struggling?'
It makes no sense.
The boy in front of me should have become someone great. His status, his power, even his looks are all noteworthy enough and yet someone like him was scarcely relevant to the story.
'Nah… I don't buy it. Something's not right.'
"How bold. To even have your head somewhere else while in the middle of a spar with me and yet you hope to subdue my anger?"
'Ah..'
The aura around this guy just got stronger.
"Yeah, I won't be satisfied until I thoroughly beat that stupid calm expression off of your face."
I watched with a sense of anxiety as aura began coating the wooden blade in Aaron's hand and he swung it in my direction at a crescent arch. I knew I wouldn't be able to fully block the attack and so I held my breath and brought my sword forward to parry the attack as much as possible instead.
***
'Nothing makes sense'
From the beginning until now, the feeling that something was off has been nagging at me.
From the way that this weak looking guy appeared out of nowhere and ended up becoming my servant and personal bodyguard, to the way that he always appears seemingly out of nowhere and then does something crazy.
'Even now…'
Appearing with an unusually stiff expression and leaking a thin but chilly aura, the white haired blind swordsman walked in my direction with his hand tapping the hilt of his sheathed blade.
The sight made me freeze as a sense of irritation awakened inside of me. The feeling had become normal for me, the feeling of uncertainty and confliction as I stared down at the boy who approached me.
Step, Step
'The only way I will be able to get rid of these feelings clinging to me..'
Vrooom
'Is to fight him without holding back.'
I'm sure he's shocked, maybe even angry.
That's good, the more bewildered he is the less he'll have time to hide his true strength.
Not wanting to give him even a moment to withdraw, I coated my blade in aura and swung it at him in a quick horizontal motion.
'As expected.'
Damian dodged my blade narrowly avoiding it. A thin red slit appeared on his otherwise flawlessly pale and smooth skin.
I immediately followed up the attack with two more slashes in an X shape and unable to dodge again, Damian was forced to use the sword in his hands. Gripping it tightly, he held up his sword to parry against my attacks.
Thud, Thud, Thud, Swiish—
I watched as his body trembled while guarding against my strikes.
'Why, even now, why does he insist on acting weak?'
Thud, Thud—
His gaze is sharp and he's following every strike and managing to parry each time, narrowly avoiding serious injury.
Yet each time Damian blocks against an attack he acts as though he's someone who just narrowly avoided death.
Thud, Thud
"Fine then, if you won't take me seriously and go all out.. then I'll just kill you."
***