The brown-haired Xeonith was getting changed in his room after a morning training session – the second and third years had no lectures since the past few days in order to give them some time to practice before the mandatory duels.

Xeonith was the transcended earth magician with as much mana as an average light magician – although the duels should have no actual stakes and were just a teaser of what the students will have to face in their adulthood at some point, he couldn't allow himself to just take it easy and make some silly mistake.

He carried the title of the pride of all earth magicians.

The brown-haired boy had a lot of eyes not only in the academy but from the outside carefully following his every step.

For magicians, their attribute was always something they were proud of to the point of putting strong individuals on the pedestals like some idols or deities.

It was like that for all magicians, but earth magicians, in particular, were often underestimated and treated as magicians best suited for manual labor – which wasn't all that great for aristocrats.

They also boasted the second-lowest mana amount out of the six base attributes, which definitely wasn't helping their opinion either.

Earth magicians were definitely strongest in close combat, but usually failed at any spells involving anything over the very short distance – and that's where Xeonith came into play.

By winning every single duel with every single magician wielding attribute above the earth in the mana chart, the brown-haired second-year boy would leave a strong impression on all the other students who would then become the successors of their families – not to mention their parents – improving the status of all the other earth magicians in the process.

…at least that was what teacher Auequass was telling Xeonith since he stepped into the academy.

The old woman was an earth magician herself, not to mention that her family – well, the main branch of it at least – always supported Xeonith's family.

The brown-haired boy was well aware that the woman's passion about him being the strongest had a lot to do with her granddaughter – also a transcended earth magician, only a little bit weaker than Xeonith, a couple of years older than the brown-haired boy himself.

When that girl, well, more like a young woman, was a student, she almost achieved the goal of winning every duel just like Xeonith aimed to do, but actually ended up always losing to another girl from her class – a certain female water magician, who outrageously wasn't even a transcended magician but boasted an overwhelming real-life battle experience even as a student which allowed her to crush every single opponent…

"Lady Auequas probably wants me to marry her granddaughter after I leave the Academy… father was rather obvious that I shouldn't reject her offer when the time comes…

"

Xenith put on a fresh shirt and picked up the towel to dry out his hair some more after the shower and scoffed to himself.

"That girl is supposed to be strong, pretty, and polite – what bull**, if she was, she wouldn't be nearing her thirties while unmarried! Oh well, a concubine closer to my age will solve that problem.

"

He smirked and sat on his bed with the towel covering his face.

"Ah~ that reminds me… why don't I play around more with that little commoner bitch that the idiot Surou fell for? She seems easy enough, and if anything would o wrong… she's a commoner, one punch and the problem is gone~

"

The brown-haired boy hummed and chuckled to himself.

"Actually… I kind of always wanted to try out torturing someone… pff-hahaha…! I wonder what face that idiot Surou would make if he learns that his cheap lover got messed up~!

"

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"!!!

"

The sound of knocking made Surou flinch and his towel slid down onto the bed as the brown-haired boy shut his mouth and glared at the door.

"Who's there?

"

The supposedly stoic capture target asked in a cautious tone – if the person outside happened to be a teacher and they heard his rather outrageous monologue, things could get bad.

Xeonith always had that problem…

He was just too fond of his own voice to stay quiet with his thoughts!

"My lord, it's me – congratulations on becoming the new student's supervisor – honestly, this role should be yours from the beginning.

"

But the voice that responded to his question certainly didn't belong to anyone from the faculty office – no – it was someone whom Xeonith actually met only recently.

…although 'met' was stretching it a little bit – the brown-haired boy never actually seen the face of the person, who called himself simply 'his lowly supporter'.

"Hah… It's just you. Don't call out to me out of nowhere, who do you think you are?

"

Xeonith scoffed at the door, grabbed and curled up the towel, and threw it at the door with an annoyed expression.

"What do you want? Another bootlicking session? Unless you show me your face, you can say whatever you want and I still won't accept someone like you as an ally – you act like a darkness magician. Filthy.

"

The brown-haired boy scoffed – for someone who was supposed to represent a certain group, he seemed to have a lot of disdain for a different group…

"My lord, I have my reasons for not showing my face, but I assure you my devotion for you is true… and while we are at it, I would like to bring your attention to a certain attendant who needs to be put back into his place.

"

The voice didn't seem very bothered by the harsh words and simply spoke in a calm and composed way.

"Hmph…

"

Xeonith scoffed and shook his head with an annoyed expression, clearly not interested in doing the mysterious so-called supporter any favors.

"My, my… you let out such a cute voice when he showed up during your last meeting with the commoner girl, that I thought that you would be interested…

"

"!!!!

"

The mysterious supporter changed his tactics instantly and snickered at the shocked Xeonith from the outside…

"Bastard! You were there?! How long have you been stalking me?!

"

The brown-haired boy got red from anger and growled, standing up and clenching his fists.

The next moment his body let out the brown light and it looked like he was going to go straight for the door to beat up the overconfident cheeky bastard unwilling to even show his face.

"…this is so annoying, seriously…

"

"HOW DARE YOU…!?

"

The supporter sighed in disappointment, which sent the other boy in a furious frenzy making him charge at the door…

"~Śtop~

"

"…

"

But another word spoken by the mysterious individual stopped Xeonith right in his track.

Literally – the brown-haired boy lost focus in his eyes and was standing in place on foot while his other leg was raised and frozen mid-air.

"…seriously, this one is so annoying…

"

The mysterious supporter sighed in annoyance and cleared his throat.

"~The first prince likes Zoemi, if you mess with Zoemi, Horeo will drop his peaceful act and show his true face – just like he did the day Surou was getting expelled. The second-year students cannot challenge the first-year students for a duel, but if the first-year student challenges the second-year student, it's perfectly acceptable for the second-year student to accept and beat the ** out of the challenger. It's your chance to show everyone that you are better than the first prince Horeo. You just need to make that attendant suffer.~

"

The mysterious supporter declared and his voice reverberated through Xeonith's room.

"…of I mess with that attendant, Horeo will challenge me and I will show everyone who's better… yes… that's right… I don't have to wait until that two-faced gold-haired snob enters his second year at the Academy…

"

Xeonith stood up straight and muttered, before shaking his head, getting rid of the dizzy feeling.

"…that makes sense… You, are you still there?

"

The brown-haired boy muttered to himself before calling out in a domineering voice acting as if the last minute didn't happen…

"Of course, my lord, what can I help you with?

"

The mysterious supporter asked innocently, easily faking the devoted tone of voice of a lowly servant he always used with Surou.

"You want to be useful, here's a chance – tell me the schedule of the first-year students – the class of the first prince and the Espine's attendant is enough.

"

The brown-haired boy demanded with a decisive look in his eyes and waved his hand proudly.

"As you wish, my lord!

"

The mysterious support responded and even without seeing his face it was obvious that he had just the widest smile nearly splitting his face….