Nolan

The next day, I'm currently jotting down each character's observed speed and strength in my notebook.

"Ethan, what is the answer to this question?" The teacher at the front of the class calls me out, diverting my attention away from my notes. Quickly reading the question, I answer.

"The reason why some wild animals go berserk is that the mana inside their core goes haywire due to their failure to control it. The main cause is the overuse of mana."

"Excellent answer," the professor acknowledges as I return to my notes.

"Hey, what are you writing down?" A voice from my side distracts me once more. Turning to see who it is, Liam's face looks curiously at my book.

"It's nothing," I reply, closing the notepad to end Liam's prying eyes. The reason why I found myself seated beside the protagonist is because someone took my seat, and I was forced to move to the only available one.

"Aww, it must be something; I saw my name on it," Liam remarks.

Looking at my unbudging figure, Liam gives up and decides to introduce himself instead.

"The name is Liam Donovan if you didn't know that already," Liam says with a friendly smile.

"Ethan," I briefly answer and stop the conversation.

"Tch, don't bother, Liam. If he doesn't want to talk, leave him alone," Oliver comments.

"He must think he's high and mighty in his mind. I guess getting the worst potential in history made him delusional," Ava adds.

"C'mon, guys, don't say bad things without knowing the person first," Liam calms the group down.

"Liam, Ava, Oliver, please do not talk in the middle of the lecture," the professor at the front notices the rowdy trio and reminds them.

All three stop their conversation soon after, and the lecture continues as usual.

-

Packing my belongings, I got ready to exit the classroom but caught a glimpse of something interesting.

"Alice! Please go out with you!" A random teen seemingly conjured his courage and asked Alice out. The whole class goes silent, waiting for Alice's response.

"Who are you?" Alice's response seems to make the teen crestfallen, but his mood changes again to courageous.

"I-I'm from your fan club. I've been watching you for a long time and wanted to express my feelings." The teen's response seems to be in the heat of the moment.

"Tsss, the worst response you could have ever said, bud," I couldn't help but mutter.

Unsurprisingly, Alice's reaction is not a positive one, and she sends the teen away, leaving him depressed.

"His name should be Nolan, the one who turned into a demonic human after being rejected by Alice," I said to myself. I made note of his facial features and continued going to the next lecture.

On the way, I decided to join the Alice fan club website. Why, you ask? Because it's a free way to monitor her movements. If I wanted to monitor her alone, it would take up my time, and being caught would leave a bad impression.

The club solves those two problems by having people from the club share their sightings of Alice, practically giving me free watchmen and also providing me a layer of anonymity to avoid a potentially bad impression.

"My genius is almost frightening." Entering their website, I tried to create a new account but found there was already an account linked to Ethan.

"Ethan is a fan of Alice" I muttered and clicked login instead.

[Ethereal has come online]

"Ethereal? Really?" I questioned Ethan's naming sense.

[FlowerWarrior: WAIT ETH IS BACK!]

[AliceIsQueen: YOO, where have you been, man]

"Ethan's online friends?"

[Ethereal: Sorry, had to focus on passing the test in the obelisk]

[AliceIsQueen: Oh right, you mentioned that before]

[FlowerWarrior: Did you pass it?]

[Ethereal: Indeed I did]

[FlowerWarrior: Damn, I'm jealous. Being in the same academy as Alice-sama must be heaven]

[AliceIsQueen: You passed?!? Let's go celebrate]

[FlowerWarrior: You're right! Our boy Eth made us proud]

[Ethereal: Don't talk like you guys are my parents]

The group banter made me almost forget my original goal.

[Ethereal: So how is the club ever since I'm gone]

[FlowerWarrior: Ever since our president of Alice's club is gone, I took over the role temporarily while you're gone] A stunning revelation made my brain short-circuit for a moment.

"You have to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath.

[Ethereal: Thanks, Flower, but could you be the president for a while more? I need to focus more on real life since the obelisk is cramming my schedule]

Turning off my phone, I moved on to the rest of the day without much event aside from the crisis of me being the president of said Alice fan club.

-

Sunday has come, meaning students receive a free day off. They are free to do what they like, be it exploring the town or training with their peers. For me, I aim for a certain item hidden in the mountains.

Entering a train station, I boarded one of the trains.

After boarding the train for a few hours, soon a chime informed me that my destination was near. The train slowed down to a gradual stop at a station, and a reminder to not forget my belongings rang out.

Exploring the town stationed at the foot of the mountain, many hikers come and go, as this town is famous for its amazing mountain view.

I prepared myself by buying a couple of water bottles and snacks and went on a journey up the mountain.

-

at the academy, a certain teen in his dorm is crying on his bed.

"A-Alice rejected me" Nolan cried further as he remembered what had happened yesterday.

"Ohh, you poor soul" A mysterious voice came from his head.

"Wh-Who's is that!" Nolan looked around the room in panic.

"Hoho, would you like Alice to love you?"

"Wha- What are you talking about"

"You know what I mean, making that lovely Alice submit to you, following every command you give" His sweet word made Nolan's imagination go wild.

"N-No that's wrong"

"Wrong? HeHahaha What's wrong with being selfish" After he said this, Nolan noticed a figure standing beside his bedside and nearing Nolan's ear.

"Master~" Alice's sweet voice tingled and made Nolan shocked and turned to who it was.

Seeing Alice's blond hair and loving eyes, Nolan gave in and tried to touch her face.

"So? Will you take my offer" Alice's sweet words enticed the tranced Nolan.

"Y-yes," Said in a trance.