Chapter 17: Ploy

The entire place was cleverly hidden within a square made of the hedge. If the entire place worked just like this, then quite a few other outdoors classrooms could be located all over the entire labyrinth.

But for now, Fen's attention was fully drawn to the place he was in. With only a few meters of the free space available in the entire clearing, he couldn't even escape this place if that came to be the only possible choice for him!

"Not only you are a failure of this class, but you can't even introduce yourself properly? Your name!"

Raising his eyes at the man who kept shouting at him, Fen ignored the rest of the crowd that filled every corner of the clearing. With his eyes turning into slits, it was clear how this man was barely able to hold his rage.

'Did Hekarion… Nah, there is no point thinking about that now.'

Rather than wasting the time on considering the possible reasons behind his current situation, Fen lowered his head before uttering.

"I'm Fen. It's an honour to meet you, sir."

There was simply no point in allowing himself to get swept up in the moodiness of this furious middle-aged man. Even despite how clearly expensive every single part of that man's outfit was, Fen couldn't be bothered with worrying about.

After all, he was a damned apostle! While he had to disguise this part of his identity, the fact that his talent was endless remained! If this teacher of his wanted to make fun of his now, then it was all good!

Because he would never have the option to do it again in the near future!

"Fen? Just Fen? Didn't your parents teach you how to introduce yourself properly! You are a disgrace for them!"

Picking up on the very first thing that came to his mind, this man continued to bully the young arcanist apprentice. But sadly for him, it didn't seem to have any effect. After all, how could words hurt someone who already went through his own execution?

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm an orphan. I never get to know my parents, nor get them to teach me proper manners. As for the family name that I assume you asked sir, being an orphan, I was never bestowed one."

With each exchange, the situation was slowly turning on its head. Rather than flaring up and defending his non-existent dignity, Fen continued to act respectfully. After all, the one thing that could pose any danger to him would be getting exposed by the church. What could one little man do with his punny words?

But as calm as Fen appeared outside, it wasn't the same in the depths of his soul. No matter how much he wanted to change himself, turning his entire lifestyle around was not possible in just few minutes. And while he continued to ignore the fun that this strange man was poking at him in front of the entire crowd, a dark, creeping feeling continued to grow in the young man's innards.

In the end, he was still a hunter! Even if Fen had no time to develop his pride of association with either the Archarity or the arcanist association as a whole, being ridiculed in front of a huge crowd was still annoying!

"Fuck this… I think it would be for the best to just send you to the church…"

This time, this angry man's words sparked some reaction. At first, one of the spectators visibly tingled, showcasing that those words didn't lie well with her. But her slight reaction was instantly overshadowed by the eruption of Fen's insecurity.

'To the church, huh?'

While not appearing due to the rage, it was the effect of all his worries and meticulous planning. Hekarion already told him what would have happened if the church were to make a move at him. Instantly planning out the routes of possible escape, Fen barely managed to hold his urge to take action in. Yet, even his lack of open actions didn't save him from the keen eyes of the bully.

"So you don't want the church to find you out for now? Then I guess this will be a fitting punishment for your crimes!��

Most likely misinterpreting Fen's slight change of expression, the man stepped forward, reaching with his hand towards Fen's shoulder. But that was more than the young man could handle. As long as the entire bullying was limited to the words alone, it could last for as long as the bullying middle-aged man would need to fulfil himself. But the very moment he would move into action spelt the doom for the young man!

"I never gave you the right to touch me, sir."

Backing out just as many steps as the man in front of him moved forward, Fen made sure his back was facing the gate, allowing him for a quick escape if he deemed running away to be necessary.

"Come here you little…"

Rather than approaching the young arcanist apprentice physically, the man finally unleashed his fires. Shooting forth, they coiled around Fen's body, almost instantly rendering him motionless. That is, if not for his timely reaction!

Initially aiming to just release a small burst of fires all the way over his skin as to prevent from the approaching fiery lash from actually getting a grip on his body, Fen miscalculated. He forgot about the fact, that his bloodline was now awoken!

"Wha…"

With his entire body instantly covering itself in flames, the shockwave created from this sudden explosion managed to push the entire crowd aside, squeezing the poor bystanders into each other against the surprisingly resilient wall made of the hedge!

But even with this, the middle-aged man didn't cease his advance. In the very next moment, as if ignoring Fen's flames, it finally tightened around the young man, bringing both of his arms tightly to his sides. If not for the constantly burning fire on his body pushing at him from all the directions, just by losing his freedom of movement, Fen would most likely topple down to the ground!

"LET GO OF ME!"

With the innate insecurities and wrath of how he was about to lose everything just as he thought he would have a better shot at his life, Fen, at last, lost his composure.

Shouting those four words from the bottom of his lungs, the young man felt as if something just… worked. As if his entire body was a huge machine, with a loose screw stopping a single gear somewhere, once the sheer force of his fury and desperation pressured his insides, it felt as if the rest of the mechanism simply ruptured the faulty part and started working again!

"That will be enough."

Fen's flames changed. Rather than growing in the intensity or heat, they simply adapted and turned into the exact same kind of flame that this middle-aged man was using to shackle the young man. And just like that, the chains that bound his body came off, right as this strange angry man retreated a few steps and raised his hands high into the air!

As confused as Fen was by this sudden reaction, he didn't dare to put down his own flames. Slowly retreating towards the gate, he keenly observed both the man and the rest of the crowd, as if he was some kind of injured beast placed on the arena and awaiting an attack from any given direction.

"Listen boy, that will be enough."

Repeating his words, all the ridicule and irony that occupied the middle-aged man suddenly disappeared, replaced by a look of seriousness and curiosity. As strange as it was, this unexpected change somehow managed to actually calm Fen down!

A sudden change of mood was too… sudden for the young man to completely drop his guard down because of it. While he stopped moving backwards and dimmed his flames, it would be an overstatement to say that he completely got rid of them.

"Okay then, all the prompts, you are free to go. Remember to sign your merits in the books!"

Ignoring the confused man, this strange aggressor turned his back to Fen before clasping his hands and speaking some simple words, that when put together, couldn't convey any sensible message to the young man's mind.

But as if after a touch of a magical wand, the great majority of the crowd suddenly stood up, dusted their clothes and actually moved past Fen! Turning his head sharply after the first few of them, Fen clearly expected at least one to attempt a sneak attack at his back, yet to his surprise, nothing of that sort happened!

In just a few moments, the entire place nearly emptied out, leaving only the strange man, seven young adults and Fen himself. Confused to the limits of his perception about the entirety of the situation, Fen couldn't help himself but look at that strange man, as if expecting some kind of explanation. But to his surprise, he actually saw that recently furious middle-aged man smiling wildly as if he just learned he was an apostle himself!

"I'm sorry for that little play. Every single newbie has to go through it in my class, as there is no better way to assess one's talents and problems than by bringing them to the brink of going berserk. Anyway, I'm Stiel. From my name, you can guess that I'm not from the empire, but to learn more about me, you need to prove yourself by actually passing my lessons!"

Catching himself by his sides, the man suddenly laughed out loud, as if he just told the best joke in the universe. Calming down took this man a long while, that the rest of his class used to bring back the order to the clearing. Apparently, there were even some simple stools and desks hidden around the previous crowd, that the remaining students now placed in two rows.

"Anyway, I can tell that rather than being barely classified as the third-grade, you have a nice shot at becoming one of the rare special-grade arcanists in the future… But I won't lie to you. The road to achieving it, the road to overcoming what I can see is limiting you right now… Won't be easy."

Taking up the mantle of being a proper teacher, Stiel once again smiled at Fen before pointing out at the two-person bench, on which a girl was already sitting. If the young man's memory didn't cheat him, it was the same person that tingled at the mention of the church!

"From what we could all see, you are really eager to join the church in the future, so I can only see it a fitting choice to have her tell you all the basics before the next lesson will start. Kaisha, I hope you won't mind."