STEP

STEP

STEP…

Silian paused his slow gait across the tiled grounds of the Elendir Institute of Magic, heaving a deep breath. His head slumped back as he gazed at the darkening sky of dusk, at the dimming auburn light of the setting Sun.

The chilly breeze of winter brushed past him as the long, dark gray overcoat of his uniform swayed gently.

He heaved another deep breath, closing his eyes.

His displeasure hadn't gone, but he had at least regained his composure.

His hands clenched into fists.

'What a pathetic display of immaturity.'

The strength in his fists disappeared as his hand fell open.

He felt shame.

He thought back to Cæ's words.

Will you try to kill me, just as you had that day?

Those words were like a slap to his face.

They broke his composure.

It made him realize he hadn't changed as much as he thought he had in the span of one year. After he got penalized with negative credits for his attack on Cæ, he had received an extremely intense lecture from his furious parents. How could you possibly get in trouble on the very first day of magicademy?! His father had bellowed at him.

The negative credits made it extremely difficult for him to pass with good scores and get into the Senior Program in the same magicademy. Apprentice students who graduated from the Elendir Institute of Magic from the Apprentice Program were not necessarily accepted for the Senior Program.

After all, once they set down the path of magic, their elite talents alone weren't enough.

They needed to display discipline, effort, and dedication.

If he failed to get into the Senior Program, it would have ruined his brilliant career before it even began.

It could ruin his entire life.

At least, so he thought. While there was more to life than the Elendir Institute of Magic, for an adolescent who had been dreaming of getting into the magicademy since he was ten years old, it may as well have been everything to him.

And that day, more than a year ago, he had come close to losing everything.

It had shaken him.

It had shaken him out of his lazy arrogance and lit a fire under his ass.

He ditched his little crony friends who were also from the same affluent community and completely dedicated everything he had to magic and his academics, acing every class and doing extremely well.

His hard work and dedication paid off as he graduated with honors at rank two from the Apprentice Program that year and safely got into the Senior Program and even managed to persuade President Mileila to let him into the Student Council.

And yet, he wasn't satisfied.

Cæ had bagged rank one, one-upping him.

He had also managed to get into the Student Council before him.

He had gained a positive reputation, or there were bumps, and had even become famous in the Elendir Institute of Magic. Most humiliatingly, he defeated Virlyd, who had crushed Silian.

Silian gritted his teeth as a hint of frustration flashed across his face, before he shook his head, taking deep breaths to recenter himself.

His expression grew complicated as his green eyes grew hazy with thought.

He turned, gazing at his reflection in a dark window.

He had grown four inches in over one year.

A rather rapid increase, even considering the fact that he was still going through puberty. He gazed at his shoulders that had grown broader in the past year. His attention shifted to his muscles that had grown larger.

He had also begun getting hints of a little thin stubble on the edge of his chin.

He felt more like a man, even if he was still seventeen years old.

He had also trained his composure and calmness, trying not to snap when things irritated him, although he felt like it had all been in vain with how he acted back then in the training facility.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Still, he had gotten better.

He had grown up a year ago.

That was why he knew that he was in the wrong a year ago.

He still didn't think highly of mongrels from the slums.

Especially after seeing how they acted in the magicademy whenever he saw them in his strolls across the magicademy during his free time.

He was once approached by a girl from the slums who offered to sell her body to him in exchange for some money.

It had happened more than once.

They targeted the boys of affluent backgrounds, seeking money.

It disgusted him emotionally, even if his adolescent body seemed to disagree physically.

The men and boys of the slums were even worse.

Some of them sexually harassed the girls and women, particularly of an affluent background. They would make extremely vulgar comments on their bodies, invade personal space, and make aggressive advances.

Some of them were even more violent than Silian had been with Cæ, many a time.

He also recalled how the Honors Student Vloria had beaten three girls up and broken their noses and bruised their faces, it had proven to be a scandal where the affluent families of the girls had demanded that Headmistress Lenolia expel them from the magicademy.

She had never yielded, of course.

It increased the resentment many of the students had for the new students of the slums, Silian included.

Yet, Cæ was different.

In the time that he had known Cæ after their bad first meeting, Cæ had proven to be a stellar student.

His magicademics was flawless.

His conduct was perfect.

His accomplishments were admirable by any metric.

He was a genius in the magic of a caliber similar to that of Silian, with a polyelemental affinity and even double-casting recently.

His other accomplishments were also impressive. Silian was aware that his company had started with an alumnus of the magicademy and another partner. It had apparently done extremely well in the past year despite the fact that school took most of his time away.

He had simultaneously juggled his position as the Director of the Slum Talent Acquisition Program, a very difficult program to lead with very little time's advance notice, and had made a name for himself in the Slum Wars.

With his performance in the recent tournament, he was beyond outstanding.

It only made Silian's frustration and sense of inferiority to him stronger.

Which, in turn, fueled hatred and resentment towards the object of his frustration and resentment.

However, it also fostered respect.

Grudging, reluctant respect.

If he was being completely honest, he didn't think he would have been able to replicate even half of what Cæ had achieved. Of course, he was only seventeen while Cæ was twenty-five, but that only made him feel worse, rather than better.

Talent needed to be fostered at the right age; otherwise, it would rot.

For mages, that was generally regarded as sixteen to twenty-five.

Cæ joined the magicademy when he was twenty-four.

Well into the dusk of his golden age of growth.

And yet, despite that massive disadvantage, his growth was unfathomably overwhelming.

In just a year, he gained enough power to defeat Silian in combat.

And a few months later, he made it as one of the seven finalists of the magicademy, one of the seven strongest students in the entire magicademy, and then went on to defeat Virlyd.

Silian was often called a genius, but he felt below average when he looked at Cæ and everything that he accomplished.

He had earned the admiration and respect of much of the magicademy.

It was the closest thing to 'women wanted him, men wanted to be him,' he had seen in the magicademy.

His presence was heavy.

He had always had a calm, but intense composure.

His dichromatic eyes made him terrifying to meet gazes with while the scars that ran across his face and down his neck made him feel a veteran warrior.

Silian would be lying if he said he didn't want to be like that.

STEP

STEP

STEP

He continued walking back to his dormitory room as he thought back to what Cæ had told him.

If you truly care more about your resentment with me than this precious opportunity, then you don't need to come. You will have told us that you're a childish brat who can't let go of a single incident that happened more than a year ago now.

The words grated on him.

Yet, he wasn't stupid.

He understood why Cæ had chosen the words that he had said.

He basically made it impossible for Silian not to come if he cared at all about how people thought of him.

He also gave him time to cool down and ponder what he truly wanted.

Whatever resentment you may have against me… Ask yourself, is it more important than the Magic Contest?

Of course it wasn't.

They both knew that.

Silian hadn't hidden how desperate he was to get into the Magic Contest so that he could perform and show the world what he was capable of. Cæ gave him the opportunity to maintain his pride and still allow him to join the team the next day.

It meant that Cæ wanted Silian there on the team.

"Huff…" He heaved a deep breath as his expression grew complicated with thought.

He didn't understand why Cæ wanted him on the team when he had every reason to dislike him. Was he truly that objective and clinical in his analysis of who they needed to win? If so, then Silian couldn't help but grudgingly have a better evaluation of Cæ as a person.

It only frustrated him even more.

"Ah, if it isn't Silian."

He was jolted out of his reverie of thought as he found himself faced with none other than President Mileila.

Her long, wavy green hair remained neatly combed despite the long day of school and the Student Council after. She held a little bag with both hands in front of her, containing books and papers relating to her academics and her Student Council responsibilities.

"President Mileila." Silian straightened his back. "It's a pleasure to run into you here."

"You don't need to call me President after school," she smiled at him. "You can call me big sister Mileila, if you like. I have known you since you were a wee baby, after all."

Silian's family, based in Colohen City, naturally had deep ties to one of the thirteen great families of Elendir, as did many affluent families within the high community.

"I could never bring myself to address you so familiarly, Lady Mileila." His tone grew formal.

Her expression fell a little as a sad smile emerged on her face.

"I see."

Her tone was melancholic.

Only for a moment.

"Then, let us walk back together." She offered, gesturing in the direction of the dormitory wing of the vast campus. "Tell me, how have you been? What ails your mind? You seem engrossed in deep thought there."

His expression grew complicated. "It's related to the Capture The Flag team. I just had a little incident with…"

He couldn't even bring himself to say his name.

Yet, President Mileila understand who he was referring.

She heaved a sigh. " Cæ can be a good person if you get on his side. What has happened in the past has happened. If you ask for his forgiveness earnestly, he will not hold it against you. He also won't allow his personal relationship with you to affect the team. So don't worry about all of that. Just focus on doing your best to ensure that your team will win."

"…" he stared at the ground as he walked beside her. "…I think I will do just that, then."

She smiled at him as her hand reached for his neatly combed hair, ruffling it aggressively.

"Gah—!"

"You've grown up to become such a good boy in the past year!"

"Don't mess my hair up!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.