After class, during a brief break,
the moment the bell rang to signal the end of class, Jin hurriedly slipped out of the classroom, vanishing somewhere outside. This was in stark contrast to his earlier demeanor, when he had been staring blankly out of the window throughout the lesson.
Meanwhile, a few students began gathering around the empty desk where Jin had just been sitting, quietly chatting among themselves.
“Hugo, did you really get scared of that commoner earlier?”
One boy in the group snickered, prompting Hugo, the burly figure, to frown and respond.
“Scared? Who’s scared?”
“C’mon, you were scared. Earlier, when he told you to step aside, you actually backed off. And when he touched your chin like he was petting a dog, you didn’t even react.”
At those words, laughter erupted from all the students surrounding Hugo. Honestly, it was quite a funny scene seeing Jin teasing Hugo’s chin and cheek moments before.
“Ah, damn it. I told you I wasn’t scared!”
Saying this, Hugo cast a sideways glance at an empty desk. If Jin had been present, he would have kept his mouth shut, but since Jin wasn’t there, a newfound courage welled up within him to speak freely.
“That guy is just… something’s off about him. There’s something weird going on. Honestly, he’s just a really strange guy.”
“Well, of course, there must be something special about him if he got into Nineveh. He’s a commoner, right? A commoner getting into Nineveh means he has to have some extraordinary quality, doesn’t it?”
“No, that’s not what I mean…”
Hugo struggled to articulate what he had felt earlier.
What was he supposed to even call it? The very experience of it was so puzzling that even Hugo himself couldn’t comprehend what he had gone through.
Just moments ago, as he stood before Jin, the sensation he felt was… simply overwhelming.
It was as if he were a mouse facing a cat, as if a colossal monster was gaping at him, as if he stood alone at the edge of an unfathomable cliff.
As a noble of the Empire, who had always stood above others, ruling with a mere gesture, this feeling was entirely new for Hugo and, thus, incredibly humiliating.
He hadn’t even fought back directly; he had merely been asked to step aside, yet he succumbed in fear and did exactly that.
If the person who had given him that feeling had been a Pendragon princess or someone like Altina Seryas, perhaps he wouldn’t have felt as discontented.
Because they were ‘real’ nobles, descended from great heroes, and their noble bloodline couldn’t be compared to that of other nobles.
But compared to them, this Jin was merely a lowly commoner, a fortunate nobody who had somehow managed to enroll in Nineveh through some unknown dirty trick.
And to think he had actually given way to such a lowly being, not to mention he had let Jin tap his chin and cheek without any sort of response.
It felt disgraceful. Truly humiliating. He was overwhelmed with a desire to rush over and kill that guy right then and there.
However, more infuriating than that was the fact that
Hugo currently felt no courage to stand before Jin.
Because the thought of feeling that overwhelming sensation again frightened him. The anxiety that he might have to face that feeling again kept him at bay.
To Hugo, Jin felt formidable.
“…Anyway, that guy is doing something really weird. Do you know what happened when I stood in front of him earlier?”
“What happened?”
“I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was as if my mind was becoming somewhat hazy without me realizing it. It felt like I was under some sort of mental attack.”
“A mental attack?”
The other students around Hugo tilted their heads in confusion.
“Then does that mean he’s a supernatural ability user who interferes with the mind?”
“But I’ve heard that abilities that can interfere with the mind are extremely rare. Even if you searched the entire country, there might only be one or two.”
“That rarity is probably why he, as a commoner, could enroll in Nineveh, right? After all, people are rarely born with natural supernatural abilities. Isn’t that right?”
Most nobles of the current Empire inherit their supernatural abilities through bloodlines, but occasionally, individuals outside those bloodlines are born with supernatural abilities.
And those naturally occurring supernatural users often possess abilities that are quite different from those inherited by nobles.
For instance, they might have abstract or conceptual abilities, or they might possess very powerful abilities but with many restrictions.
In truth, that’s just how it is. Unlike nobles who have refined their bloodlines over vast periods of time and continuously developed their abilities in that process, these individuals are more akin to unrefined gemstones.
If I had to draw a distinction, it would be akin to the difference between natural diamonds found in the wild and artificially created diamonds.
However, one undeniable fact remained: if Jin truly was a supernatural ability user who, like Hugo mentioned, had the power to intervene in human minds, his actual combat abilities would indeed be quite pathetic.
Normally, supernatural users, unless they possess physical abilities, have terrible real combat skills.
If it weren’t a lighthearted argument in a classroom but rather a one-on-one sparring match, might he not have been able to crush Hugo’s head before he could even utilize that useless ability?
Such baseless confidence began to creep into the hearts of all the students, including Hugo.
“That bastard dared to toy with my mind. Just wait until the practice match. I’ll smash one of his limbs.”
With Hugo now firmly believing that Jin was a supernatural user with mind-related abilities, he ground his teeth and spat out his frustrations when suddenly one boy from the side spoke up as if struck by a thought.
“Hey, but that thing you said you felt when you stood in front of him earlier… Could it have been killing intent?”
“Killing intent?”
At that, Hugo and the other students stared blankly at each other before breaking into loud laughter.
“Ridiculous. How could a lowly commoner even exude killing intent?”
“To emit killing intent, he would need to at least be aware of his aura. At that level, he should be here as a teacher, not a student in Nineveh.”
Killing intent refers to the intangible desire to kill that transforms into a tangible momentum.
A warlord who has reached a supreme state can refine the natural energy, which lacks any force, into pure light of destruction known as aura, and apply it to manifest their intent to kill, causing harm to others.
The intensity of killing intent varies greatly depending on the degree of murderous intent one holds and the trajectory of their life experiences. It is said that ordinary people tremble like mice in front of a cat when facing a warlord who has realized their aura.
This is the power to transform one’s own will into a blade, a state of being able to wield an invisible sword to cut the hearts of others.
That is the true nature of killing intent, which can only be used by those who have reached the master level of mastering their aura.
In the current era, the number of swordsmen who have reached the master level cannot exceed twenty across the entire continent.
In Nineveh, where the Empire’s finest talents converge, there was only one person who could use aura—the Chairperson.
Yet, the notion that a commoner, someone the noble-born students hadn’t even heard of, could actually be a supreme warlord who had realized their aura was laughable.
“Logically thinking, it’s impossible for someone of such lowly status to reach such a supreme level. After all, lowly people are born with the essence of the lowly…”
“Shut your mouth, Hugo.”
It was then that a chilling voice resonated throughout the classroom.
“I was going to stay quiet, but when there are others around, at least show some restraint with your words. The trash you just spouted—do you really think it’s something you should say to a classmate?”
At first impression, the voice was merely soft, but upon hearing it, Hugo unconsciously took a step back.
“S-Seryas Lady…”
“In Nineveh, it’s customary to address each other by name.”
“Y-yeah, Altina.”
Cold sweat dripped down Hugo’s back. Though his family was also a well-known count family in the region, comparing it with the Seryas family was impossible.
No matter how they were both counts, Hugo’s family was just one of the many count families scattered throughout the Empire, while the Seryas family had a status equivalent to that of the Pendragon Dukedom.
From the very outset, the disparity between their families was incomparable; one must know their place.
“I know you feel embarrassed and miserable for showing everyone how scared you are of him, but that doesn’t mean you can just speak carelessly about someone’s parents. Should I start telling everyone how your foolish parents came to our territory last time you got in trouble, begging for mercy with their heads to the ground? Should I?”
At Altina’s words, Hugo’s face crumpled like a piece of tissue paper.
“What? Jealousy? If you have something to say, then say it. I’m all ears.”
But just as he had no courage to speak up against Jin earlier, he couldn’t muster the words against Altina either, lowering his head in silence.
“Idiot.”
Seeing Hugo like that, Altina clicked her tongue in disapproval. It was absurd that a man could be so intimidated over status that he couldn’t even speak up.
If he had at least gotten angry and thrown a punch at her, she might have considered him a somewhat decent man.
‘And that bastard is just as much of an idiot.’
Altina clicked her tongue again, glancing over at Jin’s empty seat. Why was he trying so hard to stand out from the very first day of school?
At least some shred of conscience remained, as she made sure to leave the classroom first during the break, eliminating any chance of further chaos. However, all the students in Class A came to understand that Jin was a complete wild card without any brakes.
‘Idiot.’
For some unknown reason, she found herself strangely preoccupied with that man. It felt as if a corner of her mind was tingling whenever she thought of him.
It was infuriating. Why on earth was she so concerned about an insignificant commoner she had never met before? Why did seeing that fool insult him evoke such a surge of emotions?
That was precisely why Altina couldn’t help but harbor negative feelings toward Jin.
Altina von Rudel Seryas, a lady of noble birth, inexplicably disliked that man named Jin.
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