No! I don't want to be a Super Necromancer!

Ji Chen was surprisingly a high tier B Ranked Wind Mage. He shimmered with silver light, his wind energy wrapped tight around his limbs like reined-in blades. Sharp, patient, and deadly.

Jennifer Aquafrost was no mystery. She was a low tier B Rank Ice Assassin. Her body was encased in a field of refracted mana, like sunlight hitting snow.

Zhao Rui, by contrast, flared wildly. His fire elemental aura surged in waves, not out of control, but like a barely leashed beast. He was a mid tier B Ranked Fire Knight.

In a room full of low tier C Ranked Mana Awakened, they truly shone like three stars.

And then he saw her.

Tucked near the far side of the ballroom, a beautiful girl in a simple light blue dress stood quietly, sipping a drink and studying the crowd as he was doing.

She had a quiet, ethereal beauty.

Long jet-black hair tied in a low ponytail, soft features framed by clear, pale skin, and warm amber-brown eyes that seemed to notice everything without giving anything away.

She wasn't astoundingly beautiful like the super models out there, but she was beautiful in a soft and attractive way that one would never get bored of.

Damien Bloodbane's mind's eye trembled.

The system could not detect her Rank and Class!

Her aura shimmered—subtle, strange, and wrong in a way that made his spine straighten.

He didn't know who she was. But he knew one thing for sure.

She wasn't a star.

She was the moon. Distant. Beautiful.

And far more dangerous than anyone else in the room.

At that moment, the crowd stirred.

Jennifer Aquafrost had caught sight of Damien Bloodbane, and was making her way towards him.

"Eh? Isn't that Damien Bloodbane, the E Rank trash of the Bloodbane Clan? What is he doing in Pearl Institute's Welcome Party?"

"I heard he had been exiled from his clan. Is he… Here for the free food?"

"What is the Ice Queen doing? Why is she walking towards him?"

"Haven't you heard? They were originally engaged to be married! But the Aquafrost Clan broke off the wedding when Damien Bloodbane awakened into E Rank!"

Damien Bloodbane sipped his drink quietly with an unreadable expression on his face.

Trouble had followed him like unpaid rent for the past few years.

He was completely fine with it. Do your worst!

"E Rank filth," she said, her voice quiet but clear enough for everyone to hear. "Still walking around like you belong here? You should be in the kitchens scrubbing pots, and not mingling here with highborn mages."

The insult hung in the air like a slap. The crowd rippled with gasps and shocked laughter. Even a few seniors turned to watch.

Damien Bloodbane looked at her, and then looked past her.

And then he blinked. "Fatty. Did you hear something? A fly buzzing?"

"A fly buzzing? How could there be a fly in this high class place? Boss, are you injured? Did you hit your head somewhere?" Fatty asked him, sincerely confused and failing completely to be Damien Bloodbane's wingman in that verbal battle.

Damien Bloodbane's mouth twitched violently. He should have known better than to depend on that damned socially challenged dragon!

"Hahaha!" Jennifer Aquafrost's mocking laughter rang out. "One stupid fat ass, one filthy E rank. You both are shameless. You don't belong here! Your presence stains the good name of Pearl Institute."

Fatty blinked once, then twice, and then turned slowly to face Jennifer Aquafrost.

"Jennifer Aquafrost, right? The Ice Queen with the glacier brain. Didn't your mother sleep with your gardener? Or was it your father who screwed him?"

The crowd gasped. Several jaws dropped. A few drinks were dropped.

Fatty continued, pointing at her with exaggerated drama. "You probably didn't get enough breast milk when you were a baby, that's why you are so irritable and rude now. You're suffering from breast milk deficiency syndrome!"

One student tried to suppress laughter and choked on his punch instead.

Fatty's voice rose further. "You call my boss E Rank? So what? At least he had enough breast milk growing up! The Bloodbane clan is famous for having the most breast milk in China! Unlike you Aquafrost bitches, your mama's breast milk probably got frozen within her tiny little breast!"

"Pffft!!" Many of the youths choked on their fruit punches.

Jennifer Aquafrost's expression remained cold, but her fingers twitched. Behind her, members of the Aquafrost Clan began to step forward, mana rising around them like a shifting tide.

But before a single spell could be cast—

Boom!

A burst of wind tore through the space between them.

Zhao Rui appeared in an instant, his fist flying toward Fatty's face like a fired projectile.

"You uncouth fat ass. Die!" Zhao Rui snarled.

But it was firmly stopped just millimeters from impact.

Damien Bloodbane's hand had shot up, catching Zhao Rui's punch with casual precision. His grip was firm, unmoved, as if Zhao Rui's strength meant nothing to him.

"Tch." Zhao Rui narrowed his eyes and pulled back slightly, jaw tight with annoyance. "You dare touch me? Then lose your hand!"

With a sudden burst of heat, his entire fist ignited in flame. Fearsome orange fire burned hungrily as the temperature surged around them. The air shimmered and waves of blistering heat radiated from his knuckles.

But Damien Bloodbane didn't flinch.

His death energy had gathered around his palm and was shielding him from Zhao Rui's flaming fist.

Zhao Rui's expression twisted as he pumped more mana into his fist.

The orange flames roared higher, surging with violent heat. Tiles began to crack beneath his feet, and the scent of scorched fabric filled the air as the temperature skyrocketed.

He snarled, cranking up his flame output again.

"Burn, damn you!" he shouted.

But Damien Bloodbane still didn't move.

The death energy swirling around Damien Bloodbane's hand had turned pitch black, rippling like ink in water. It absorbed the heat, nullified the mana, and spread further.

Zhao Rui's fire began to sputter.

Then with a vicious clench, Damien Bloodbane crushed Zhao Rui's fist.

CRACK.

Zhao Rui screamed.

The sharp squeal tore through the air, high and panicked like a stuck pig in the middle of a slaughterhouse.

He yanked his hand back, staggering, clutching his fingers. They had gone pale, shriveled and slightly bent. His fire had vanished.

Then unexpectedly…

BANG-BANG-BANG!

Multiple flashbangs exploded across the hall.

Blinding white light and deafening thunder cracked through the ballroom.

The elegant welcome party turned into chaos in an instant.

Girls screamed. Boys stumbled. Fruit punch was flung into the air like confetti.

The eastern windows shattered inward as heavily armed soldiers poured through, their rifles blazing.

Gunfire echoed through the hall, but not a single round hit anyone.

Still, the freshmen panicked.

People dove under tables. Mana surged wildly as terrified students cast spells with no target in sight.

Everyone lost their minds.

Except four.

Ji Chen narrowed his eyes and raised a hand. Wind mana erupted from his palm, and a wave of razor-thin wind blades cut toward the incoming soldiers, forcing them to duck behind overturned furniture.

Jennifer Aquafrost, calm and composed, shouted orders.

"Aquafrost Clan, to me! Shield up!"

Instantly, half a dozen ice mages raised crystalline barriers, encasing their group in a glowing fortress of enchanted frost.

The mysterious girl in the blue dress didn't move.

Neither did Damien Bloodbane.

They stood at the edge of the chaos, completely still.

Their gazes were sharp.

They had both seen it.

The soldiers weren't shooting to kill.

Every bullet was a blank. Every movement was too rehearsed.

This wasn't a massacre.

This was Pearl Institute saying hi to their new students!