Overwhelming And Underwhelming

The Hassan Family was never well known in any aspect of combat. They weren't prestigious in weapons, nor had a lot of aptitude in mana. Their elemental manipulations, although still better than the norm, fell short when compared to other families. 

So, this begged the question. How did the Hassan Family manage to survive in a cruel world such as this? And for more than half their lives, at that. 

The answer was numbers. In Fihndreik alone, perhaps the world as well, the Hassan Family had the most members in the household. Their numbers they used to bridge the gap between ranks and match with stronger opponents in battle. 

Now that more or less a quarter of the Hassan Family had gathered, the battle would be much more easier, with more people to back up the slower ones. 

"Everyone, charge!" Jesse ordered. 

The stage was now set. One B- rank, against more than fourty D to D+ ranks. 

The ranks might show a vast difference of power, but the Hassan Family had the advantage of being able to overwhelm Jormuk. 

Gradually, every sibling leaped off the railings in groups. Once they landed on the first floor, they began to work with taking care of the Poison Clones. 

Jesse was the last to follow. He landed beside Rokas, before bowing slightly. 

"We can handle this, Rokas. You should focus on getting the shield."

"Are you sure, Jesse? Your opponent is a B- rank demon. There is much to large of a gap to bridge with numbers alone."

"Heh, then you must be underestimating us. Did you know? Just a week ago, Joan and her party members managed to slay a B rank Centaur. And not even a day later, Rowan's group defeated the B rank Soul Hunter."

"Don't worry, we know each other's weaknesses. We'll be fine."

If the feats Jesse had told Rokas were truly real, then he felt that they really could do it. Not given any other choice, he sighed. 

"Alright then. Good luck to you all. Let's go, Victor."

"Oh, I'm coming too? Sick, let's do this!"

Bowing to Rokas one more time, Jesse then began walking to where the siblings were engaging in battle. Unsheathing his blade, he charged, planning to join in on the fun. 

***

The walk to the second floor was, unsurprisingly, uneventful. The museum's staff had long since evacuated the people inside, and engaged security protocols.

By now, the museum guards were doing a full sweep of the first floor. In time, they would find Jormuk, who Rokas heard from Jesse had retreated from battle. 

Just like he had said, the family seemed to have handled the whole ordeal rather well. Within a few minutes, they were able to force Jormuk on the defensive and render null his strategy of hiding in his poisonous gas. 

They would've defeated it too, had Jormuk not expended the last of his energy to cloak himself in his mana and escape. 

As they neared the Hymerian Shield's location, the duo was joined by the rest of the Hassan Family members who had volunteered to patrol the area. 

While waiting for Rokas and Victor, they had disabled all of the traps or alarms, making the trip to the shield relatively safe. 

After a few more minutes of walking, the family eventually laid their eyes on the shield. 

The Hymerian Shield was the size of a door, and was decorated with a various selection of gems and other sorts of mana-wealthy stones.

The front side was painted in a golden hue, reflecting the light rays from the lamp above it. Positioned in a slanted way, Rokas could make out the backside of the shield, which looked fully metallic. 

Wasting no more time, Rokas reached out and pulled the shield. The moment it felt his grasp, the shield vibrated slightly, and the gems in the front began to emit mana. 

"How curious… the mana frequencies the gems are sending out… they're of the Negativity affinity."

In the world of The Academy's Regressor, there were a multitude of different affinities. They could range from the simple ones like Fire or Water, all the way to the more complex ones like Death, Chaos, or Space. 

But if one were to create a scale ranking the affinities in terms of sheer usefulness, the Negativity affinity would almost certainly be on top. 

For one, Negativity was not present in the world. It was merely a concept that existed in reality. 

As the name itself says, the Negativity affinity focused on one thing, negating any and all sorts of magic, barring its own. 

Even Space and Time could easily be countered by Negativity. In this case, it was essentially anti-magic. 

"Hmm… I've never seen this either." Andrea commented. "Based off the intel I've received on the Hymerian Shield, it is supposedly able to absorb every type of mana and use it to supplement its defenses."

She continued. "The shield seems to react to all affinities differently, so I urge you to try it in your Personal Training Hall when you return."

"I might just do that." Rokas replied, still staring at the shield. 

"So this is the shield… looks damn powerful, alright." Victor said, poking up from behind Rokas.

"Say, how about you test it against my lightning and wind?"

"Hehe, that'll have to be for later. For now, let us return home. I have gotten what I came here for."

"Aww, really? You sure you don't wanna grab a few priceless artifacts just for fun? I'm sure they'll pay for rent nicely."

"You're free to do so, but it'll be your problem if the Fihndreik Police Department starts tracking you down and arrests you."

After this, Rokas would naturally be returning to the Academy. Over there, he couldn't be touched by anyone, unless it was a student. 

He still had a few more years before his time at the Academy ended. 

***

The somewhat underwhelming heist of the Fihndreik Museum was finally finished. It wasn't very long, but Rokas still enjoyed the time he spent with his family. 

He'd managed to watch every single one of his siblings in battle, and wrote some personal notes on them detailing how to improve. It was easy, since his time at the Academy had given him better insight than he used to have. 

It was now the next day. After a night of happiness at the Hassan Residence, Rokas was now finally ready to return home. 

Early in the morning, Rokas had called everyone to the front of the residence. They all attended, save for Victor, who stupidly missed his alarm and slept through it. 

Oddly enough, it reminded Rokas of a certain jokester in his group. One he hadn't seen in a very long time. 

"I'll have to ask Leader to see if he has returned." 

"Hey–Rokas! Do you hear us?" Jesse said, snapping his fingers in front of his face. 

"Hmm, ah, yes! I will be going now. It was short, but I was glad to have been able to meet and talk with my siblings. I wish you all the best. Aim for C rank and above by the time I return, okay? We shall meet again."

"Yes! Goodbye, Rokas!"

In a display of synchronized brotherhood, every single member of the Hassan Family raised their weapons to the sky, and bid farewell to the founder of their family.