Chapter 33 Mammon [2]

"Rank 2991 Leon Barns"

"Present"

It had been two days since my duel.

Yesterday Leon challenged Lark and managed to defeat him by a hair's breadth. Of course, he didn't use his art he purely won by using magic and pure swordsmanship.

Although he won almost, everyone was thinking that he won by cheating.

It was because Leon was a mana-user who fought using a sword. Normally, mana users have weak bodies and can't exert high physical strength like aura users. This gap increases even more as one's rank increases.

Mana influences the world to manifest phenomena, called magic, through chants. While Aura circulates inside one's body and continuously refines it to perfection.

Both of these can't substitute for each other.

So a magic swordsman will have to depend on his stats alone to be able to keep up with Aura users.

Also, since most of the stats will be assigned to the body, the magic swordsman can't use the main advantage of a mana user, using powerful spells from a long distance.

This was why it was baffling that Leon could win against Lark, who was ranked 439. Most assumed that Leon used some underhanded tricks and won.

But I knew why Leon was so strong. Even if his stigma was still sealed due to not going through the first awakening, he still had his dormant War God physique.

This physique, which will awaken after the first awakening, was giving him physical stats boost even in a dormant state.

"tch.."

Anyway, both Leon's and Lark's ranks would see tremendous shifts in the second semester.

Although little hiccups arose like Leon being the one to issue the challenge, which was due to Lark's more aggressive behavior than in the novel, everything was going perfectly.

Leon had stopped talking to me, and Lark was no longer bothering me. Lilith also stopped staring at me long ago. It seems she was finally convinced that we didn't know each other.

Isabell daily messaged me to ask if I was alright and what I was doing, but she never came to meet me.

The cadets also began avoiding me. No, it would be more correct to say they treated me like air.

The last two days felt like a wish come true.

"I wish it will be always like this."

As I was thinking about this, Mia spoke while leaving the class.

"Rank 2169, Nathan Hunt. Come with me."

"…"

If this was a game, I bet something like this would pop up in front of me now.

[Achievement unlocked: Flag raiser

You jinx something for it to come true the next second.

Ability – Gets you into the immediate danger which you want to escape.

Evaluation – If only you didn't have a mouth to speak, you might live long and peacefully]

With furrowed brows, I followed after Mia. Looking at her amethyst hair, various thoughts swirled inside my mind.

'Why did she call me?'

'Did I do something which I shouldn't have?'

'Did she set her eyes on me?'

'Should I make an excuse to leave?'

Shaking my head, I again looked at her back.

A sluggish pace, drooping shoulders, feet which she barely raised and were almost dragged on the ground, continuous sighs, and her obliviousness as she walked without even looking at her surroundings.

Anyone who looks at her would call her lazy and lethargic. One would think that she can't even fight a Meta-rank beast.

This was how mostly everyone saw her.

'Crazy bitch'

But I knew that all of it was a fa?ade. She was someone who would kill you if you piss her off even slightly.

For unknown reasons, she was in the Ward. The only thing I knew was that she was here on someone's behalf.

She was someone who died before we could see her background fully. Readers did complain about it, but the author never shed light on her background.

The worst thing about her was this crazy bitch would screw anyone over. It didn't matter to her if the person was right, wrong, good, or evil.

Her actions made one doubt if she was working for Illis or Umbra.

'She might actually be working for Illis or Umbra. Many times her actions were too questionable.'

It was dangerous if I was on her radar. This was why I hadn't been among the cadets who gossiped about her or insulted her.

What made her more troublesome were her eyes. She could see if a person was lying!

"Don't wander around."

After walking for a dozen minutes, we reached the area where the administrative buildings were situated.

I squinted my eyes to look at the largest building. Due to the glass panes that covered the building, the reflecting sunlight made it hard to directly look at it.

I had to raise my head fully to see the top of the building.

In front of the building were three statues.

One was of a woman who carried a Katana. On her side, the two other statues were of a man who wore a cape and carried a wand, while the other wore a long coat and carried a gun in his hand.

"The Irregulars."

The statues depicted the three heroes, which were the reason that the humanity survived Third Disaster.

Following Mia, I walked into a building on the side.

Walking on the white tiles, we turned around a few corridors until we reached the one where our destination was.

Mia scanned her biometrics and entered the last room in the corridor.

Sighing deeply, I also entered the office.

***

My eyebrows twitched as I looked at the rhythmic raising and falling back of Mia.

After entering the office, she sat at her desk, rested her head on her hands, and dozed off.

'Does she enjoy annoying people like this?'

I knew this bitch was only acting to sleep. And since I knew that, I had to wait for her to 'wake up'.

Glancing at the room for a moment, I doubted if she wasn't a lazy person.

The window was covered with thick curtains devoid of the room even a speck of sunlight. A small round disk was circling the room, which was probably a cleaning device.

A small black cat with red eyes was sleeping on the disk, which looked just as lazy as its master.

There was a screen on her desk showing the outside corridor. On her desk, there was also a cup holder.

At the corner of the room, hovering in mid-air, sat a coffee machine.

The lights of the room turned dim when she began sleeping.

All in all, it seemed like an office customized for making the person in it lazy.

Half an hour passed, and I was beginning to lose my patience.

Finally, I decided to wake her. Just waking her wouldn't truly anger her because she was only acting.

I took a step when her eyebrows twitched. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open to reveal her hyacinth-colored eyes.

The moment she woke up, the lighting of the room returned to normal bright radiance.

Stretching herself, her dreamy eyes landed on me.

She tilted her head as if questioning my presence, and her amethyst hair fell to one side.

"You asked me to follow you."

She nodded her head as realization dawned on her.