New World - A New Beginning

"Come in," said the voice on the other side of the gleaming wooden door. I pushed the door open, a small creak echoing in the hallway.

Yu was sitting at his desk, his emerald eyes looking right at me. I had suspected to be called in at some point in time, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. My classes started in a few minutes, and arriving late on the first day was a direct path to attracting unwanted attention.

"Please," said Yu, gesturing at the chair in front of him. I sat down, already anticipating what the conversation would be about.

"It's good to see you again, Darck," said Yu after some time. I chuckled, meeting his strong gaze.

"Yea. It's been a while, Yu."

"I must say, I didn't expect you to be so young," joked Yu, laughing at his own comment. "Why are you attending the Academy?"

Yu was clearly referencing my power levels compared to the norm of people my age. From an outside perspective, my enrollment in the academy would be completely pointless for my overall growth. People couldn't possibly know that I just wanted to live an eventless school life.

That being said, there were definitely things I could learn in classes. I hadn't met my professors yet, but I was confident that they were more powerful than me, and that was already a learning experience in itself.

"I want to learn about advanced bind," I responded truthfully. It wasn't my primary motive, but understanding my lightning binding could only be beneficial.

"Ah, yes. Lightning bind. I actually had something to tell you about that," sighed Yu.

I was slightly surprised the Fei was aware of my lightning capabilities. Even if I had used it to enhance my speed during the fight, you had to either be well-versed in the element or be explicitly searching for it to sense it flowing through my veins.

"You knew?" I asked, wanting to confirm whether or not my suspicions were correct.

"Haha, not me. Your new teacher that will be teaching the advanced bind classes," said Yu, looking at the door behind me. I turned around, surprised I wasn't able to sense another presence. Even if the individual was slightly more powerful than me, small traces of one's aura could always be picked up, and my awareness was greatly superior to a regular human who didn't have to be constantly paranoid to survive.

As soon as I recognized the person who entered the office, the pieces immediately clicked.

"Good to see you again, Jay!" exclaimed Amelia, overjoyed.

This was the person who had identified my lightning manipulation. The S-rank adventurer: Amelia Lala.

"You'll be teaching us, huh?" I asked, amused.

"Yep! Your proficiency with lightning pushed me to try teaching. Pretty crazy, no?"

I wasn't able to make the connection whatsoever, but I just concluded that the minds of S-ranks worked differently than normal people.

"How did you know I was using lightning?" I asked.

It was a question that could be answered with a simple 'I'm an S-rank,' but that wasn't what I was looking for. I had been the sole lightning binder that I had ever known, and maybe what I was looking for deep down was solidarity.

The ability to relate with one other person who used this extremely powerful, yet volatile element that could backfire at any moment if used improperly. Amelia smiled at me, understanding my intentions.

"Because I'm like you," she said, winking at me. She suddenly clapped her hands together, springing me out of my thoughts. "Now, you see, Jay. There's an issue with the class, and I'd like you to help me."

"What's the problem?"

"The class has been made mandatory for all students who can use advanced bind and optional for students who would like to learn more about the advanced types of bind even if they can't produce it. The thing is, there's one student who has told us they refuse to join the class and has even threatened to leave the school if we forced them into it. We'd like you to convince them to join out of their own free will, it would be a shame to lose such a talented student," explained Amelia.

I blinked, attempting to process the huge amount of information instantly.

"So basically, you want me to convince this student to attend the class?"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Amelia, overjoyed at my simplistic view over the matter. I sighed.

"You realize I'm the worst person to ask for this, right?"

Yu laughed at the comment, knowing full well about my troubles with relationships and social interaction.

"Then use this opportunity to grow, Jay," he said, smiling. "By the way, don't you have class?"

"I do."

"What?!" shouted Yu, standing right up in alarm. "Then get going you little-"

I bolted out the door before he could finish his sentence and risk losing his job as a headmaster. I chuckled at the absurdity of my task. It wasn't a dangerous guild contract, but for some reason, it scared me a lot more than any monster.

No, that was a lie.

I shook my head, the image of the Fury haunting my mind. That beast was something I would never forget, and the person who had forced me into that situation remained engraved in my soul.

My first class was self-defense, a course I was genuinely interested in. I entered the classroom just as the bell chimed, its melodic ring covering the campus. I sat at the back of the class, slightly curious as to what we would learn in the class.

A rather short boy entered the room, standing at the front of the class and addressing the rest of his peers.

"Let's get started with the class, please," he announced. The rest of the students suddenly hushed, confused as to why this boy was addressing the class.

The boy's features were ridiculously similar to Asthia's. His short white hair accentuated his sparkling eyes, a mix of red, orange, and blue all ingrained in them. A black hoodie with simple yellow lines covered the figure, the hood pulled up and covering some of the white hair. Golden earrings lay on his ears, something that seemed to match his overall appearance surprisingly well.

My eyes widened as my mind understood the situation. This guy, who didn't look a day over fourteen, was our teacher.

A small chuckle arose from the public. I groaned, realizing what was about to happen. The boy's eyes flared up in frustration. He was clearly used to this kind of reaction every year.

"Oh?" he said mockingly. "Raise your hand if you think I'm not your teacher."

The cold menace in his voice immediately shut down the majority of the class, all of them understanding the power that was originating from this individual. I watched in pity as one boy raised his hand, clearly not picking up the warning.

"What's your name?" asked the teacher, slightly amused at the ignorance of the student in front of him.

"Kei."

"Well then, Kei. Please step forward. If you're able to beat me in a duel, I'll do anything that you ask."

The student roared with laughter, obeying.

"You'll regret those words, man. I'm not an easy person to please."

"Wonderful. And if I win, you leave the Academy immediately."