9 Provocation

The moment Noriaki approached the table where Rin and Ashley sat, he was more able to see the stranger who was accompanying one of the high school belles. His eyebrows furrowed intently as he struggled to recognize the teenager whose beauty was not that inferior to Rin's. Then his mouth contorted into an O-shape as he realized who it was. "It's you!" Noriaki cried out in abject horror and surprise, as if he was unable to comprehend that Ashley was suddenly able to become incredibly beautiful like a young lady over spring break.

Noriaki's new girlfriend approached and soon realized why he was so shocked. Clearly, she recognized Ashley too now that she was able to see up close. Ashley wasn't a very low-profile figure in the high school, as he was one of the only Old Ones able to stand up to the harsh physical education curriculum. This was mostly due to the physical training that Harriet and Ken provided to him as a safety measure, since he wouldn't be able to enjoy a proper education otherwise. This young girl, Sayaka, wasn't as surprised as Noriaki was, but this was mostly because Sayaka was one of those who wasn't that hateful towards Ashley.

Despite this, she decided to hook up with Noriaki anyway because he was very strong - he wasn't one of those musclebound people though. His figure was well-toned and he wasn't someone you could call stupid, either. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the leader of his gang so easily. It was easy to underestimate his intelligence due to his brazen manner of handling things and his tendency to bully Ashley more than anyone else at the school (to the extent that Sayaka had to stop him on occasion) but this time, Noriaki was almost fooled.

"Yes, it's me." Ashley bluntly stated, flipping his long black hair back. There were tinges of pink highlights in his hair, a result of the <Goddess Weaving Technique>, which made him seem even less like a young boy.

"Don't tell me you underwent plastic surgery." Noriaki sneered.

"Ridiculous. I'm too young to undergo such procedures. Not that anyone would want me to subject myself to such a thing. Blame my genetics if you must." Ashley was nonchalant. The <Goddess Weaving Technique> had tempered his physical body to a crazy extent even though it was only at half-completion. He was confident he could handle Noriaki if a physical altercation came to be.

Rin and Sayaka were both stunned, watching the two boys calmly banter with one another. Sayaka herself was far more shocked than Rin, normally Ashley would try to talk himself out of the situation, but he seemed sure of himself this time he could stand up to Noriaki.

"Don't be coy with me, girly boy," Noriaki scoffed. "I'm here with my girl and an eyesore like you isn't even worth Rin's precious time. Otherwise, I'll be forced to throw you out of the premises personally."

At this point, some of the staff at Parabellum started to get worried. Ashley shot a knowing glance at Rin. With tacit understanding, the school belle relented to Ashley's thoughts - he was going to leave of his own accord.

"Throw me out of the premises? Let me save you the trouble of having to spend precious energy. I will leave myself. You're no longer worth my time." Ashley gave a scowl at Noriaki, finally baring his fangs. However, to others, it looked more like a feminine pout. He stood up and was quietly leaving, however, he threw up the middle finger towards the bully.

"You're not worth Sayaka's time either!" he deliberately provoked Noriaki, causing him to be enraged. He had never been scolded like this before. He would rather have someone else yell and curse at him than demean his standing and his ability to pick up girls. Even Sayaka was a bit embarrassed, she indeed willingly went along with Noriaki with the intention to use him and his capability. She actually didn't like his temper.

Rin worriedly followed Ashley, glaring at Noriaki as the two of them left. The latter started to smoulder a bit in anger, leaking his internal ether energy. He had a Terra Power, and it was related to fire. He could manipulate the heat around him and cause it to congeal or disperse with a thought. It was a terrifying power, and fortunately even though he was a bit of a bully, he never had thoughts of engaging in criminal activity. Sayaka calmed him down but he didn't say anything. Instead he chased out after Rin and Ashley.

"You tranny bastard! Don't make me come over there and teach you a lesson you won't forget!" Noriaki yelled out towards the backs of Ashley and Rin. The former turned around and gave Noriaki a cold stare. It seemed that Noriaki was incredibly enraged, yet he managed to keep himself in check. Ashley was secretly very impressed. He was surprised that Noriaki had resorted to slurs and name-calling instead of rushing to beat him up. Clearly he knew his current situation and would most likely plot to attack him at a different time.

Instead, Ashley added oil to the fire. Daringly pulling the now surprised Rin closer to him, Ashley stared at Noriaki with a seeming fire in his eyes. "The spring vacation will come to an end soon, Noriaki. Why don't you invite all your friends to watch and we can settle this properly, once and for all? At the start of the new year, I will issue you a challenge. You can vent all your anger at me if you want, but don't blame me if things don't go the way you anticipate." he amplified his voice with ether. Due to the distance, Noriaki couldn't tell despite hearing him quite clearly.

On the other hand, Rin was inwardly shocked. She finally knew that Ashley was confident because he had evolved. On the other hand, if Ashley had only recently evolved, his evolutionary state would still be lower than that of Noriaki who had already reached the intermediate stage of Ether Aura Formation state. Rin couldn't help but worry, but Ashley had his own trump cards. He knew Noriaki would take the bait, since he was always obsessed with humiliating him. Ashley was confident that Noriaki would immediately spread this news to all his friends and the news would become a school sensation, a worthy opening spectacle for the new year.

The mood from earlier thoroughly destroyed, Rin tugged at Ashley's sleeves. "Are you sure challenging him is such a good idea? Don't hide it from me, you used ether to amplify your voice so he could hear you even in the mall."

"Trust me," Ashley seemed to be aware that Rin knew about the fact he had evolved. In fact, Ashley had miscalculated. He was so determined to get back at Noriaki that he had forgotten that if he revealed to Rin that he had evolved, she would spread this herself. "...I have a plan. But since I accidentally revealed to you that I had evolved..."

"You mean you were planning on hiding this much from even me? Come on..." Rin pouted, seemingly hurt that Ashley was planning to hide this from her.

"I'm sorry. I know how much you like to spread happy news around with your friends. I don't want anyone knowing that I've evolved, since it would be to my advantage that people still thought I was weak. I intend to reveal my power only when I've solidified my foundation and given that Noriaki a taste of his own medicine. For now, please keep it a secret." Ashley spoke to Rin with a pleading voice yet with a very solemn and serious expression.

Rin couldn't help but shudder as Ashley gave off an imposing aura befitting of the legendary fairy queen, [Titania] from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." In fact, this was a side effect of Ashley's Fairy Energy which Nemea had not properly talked about yet. Ashley debated asking her about it, but decided to fully master <Goddess Weaving Technique> first before that. It would be better if his constitution was fully synchronized with utilizing the Fairy Energy's power.

"...Alright. I'll keep your secret until then. But you must be careful, and you must quickly get stronger so you can beat him! You'll be an even bigger joke if you lose, since you were the one who issued the challenge." Rin frowned. Ashley warmed up towards her concern, but shook his head.

"Come on, Rin. Let's go home. I will be fine. Believe in me." Ashley smiled.

<Believe in me>. Those were the three words which cemented Rin's faith in Ashley to rise up from the ashes of humiliation and defeat to soar over those who once ridiculed him. It was a blatant provocation towards the ones who looked down on him from ivory towers.