God candidate

Knock- knock-

"Come in."

Headmistress Arnine was free today morning.

After all, her granddaughter was coming to visit.

She had the room tidied up.

The pictures on the wall-

The books on the shelves-

The carpet- 

The chandelier-

Everything-

Was perfect.

Glistening.

And-

On cue-

Her granddaughter walked in-

"Hello, Grandmother."

In her clandestine armor- hair flowing, eyes sparkling almost.

Beautiful. 

As pretty as ever…. But Arnine couldn't fawn over her… and thus, she corrected her glasses once, sitting back in a relaxed position. "Welcome, Sarveisa- I take it you've finally accepted your position as a teacher at Godness Gracicus?"

She was the headmistress.

She had to act the part.

Silver hair, pristine robes. Despite her age, she was still a beauty- in a sense…

Sarveisa smiled, nodding. "Yes, but I do have a request beforehand."

Sarveisa stood by the door, almost as though hiding something.

"Yes, go on?"

'A request? She wouldn't want to become my deputy head right away, right? Ah- she might and… petting her every day….' Arnine almost squealed in excitement.

She cleared her throat the moment she was about to slip out of character.

"Actually," Sarveisa moved aside, revealing a small boy just behind her- "I'd like you to admit Mihael into the academy."

A small shirt, short pants, slightly chubby… boy.

Arnine's face displayed confusion, followed by disbelief, finally staying constant at anger. "You…. What?" She did a double-take on reality. "Who's kid is that!"

Golden hair with black streaks- amazing eyes-

Beautiful even…

It couldn't be-

'Oh no-' Was this beautiful child-

Was this beautiful child really her granddaughter's?

Sarveisa awkwardly smiled… "He's my disciple… and I kind of left Lord Xorax…." She almost sniffled. "Won't you take me in? Grandma?" Almost tears in her eyes…

Sufficed to say, the granddaughter knew exactly what ticked her grandmother….

However-

She didn't know to which extent, hence the act.

And if she did-

Perhaps she wouldn't really have had to go through all that…

A relieved sigh. "I see. I see. So, he's not your kid… phew…" Arnine wiped her sweat off… her heart had jumpstarted a little at the thought of…. Yeah. "But wait, you left lord Xorax? Why?"

Sarveisa was a high angel seeking greatness.

For which, she needed a lot of money and influence; both of which Xorax could have provided.

But she left the god on her own accord?

"He… kind of got violent with me when I tried to protect Mihael. Well, Mihael kind of provoked him and-"

"That little fucking upstart-" Arnine cursed. She stared at her daughter- "Did he give you any wounds?" She calmed her nerves almost immediately. 

No matter how she thought about it-

Going against a god was fruitless. 

No matter how many lives she had- she couldn't go against a rank third god… yet.

"Mihael healed me."

"Healed you? From a high god's wounds?" Arnine wondered, walked out of her chair, slouching down at the boy who had been kind of bored all this time and was picking his nose. "Thank you."

Mihael shrugged. 

"He's a literal prodigy." Sarveisa said, "And kind of cute too…" 

Meanwhile, Arvine stared, mouth almost hanging. "Cute? Didn't you hate children?"

And wait-

She protected the kid from a god?

So, Sarveisa went against her god?

For this kid?

"Well… he's different…" She smiled. 

Arnine was about to admit the kid-

After all-

It was her granddaughter's request.

However-

Now-

She didn't feel like it anymore. "But he's too young. Besides, now that I look carefully, he doesn't have wings, does he?"

Her doubts were getting rowdier and rowdier.

"It doesn't matter. I can guarantee he's far stronger than all the strongest god candidates you have here."

"God candidates? If you were talking about just the students, it was one thing; you of all people should know what 'god' candidates are." Arnine stared at her granddaughter's face, staring at that face full of conviction. "But-" She sighed. "Then he wouldn't mind showing his powers?"

"Who do I have to erase and when?" Mihael said, cutting in. Confident as ever. 

Apparently, he'd been listening?

Maybe?

Sarveisa cleared her throat. "She means, you'll just have to spar with someone without killing them. You can hold back, right?"

"But of course. I shall cease fire once they are about to run out of life."

Arnine had loads of thoughts.

This level of faith-

This level of affection-

This level of confidence…

And this level- "Are you sure he's not your kid?" She ended up saying it.

She really did.

"Sadly no…" Sarveisa said, a little let down. "I do think of him as a little brother…. he doesn't though…"

Again, surprised. The headmistress went back to her seat. Sighed. "Aren-" she said.

After two brief knocks, a girl walked in.

Massive wings-

High angel.

"Yes, mistress?"

"Go and pitch this boy against Diloe. If he wins or it's a draw, admit him on spot as a god Candidate."

  "Right away, mistress."

*** 

Arnine watched from her balcony. 

Her eyesight was exceptional for her age; almost perfect.

Yet-

It was it was little hard to make out how things were going down there.

She could tell a few things though.

A crowd was gathered, and two boys- were just standing in the middle of the crowd, about to fight.

Or, rather, duel. 

The little boy, barely a toddler was pitted against one of the prominent god candidates of the academy. One of the best- 

And yet-

He stood his ground.

'Just who is that kid?'

Wind blew past her- cold breeze…. 

Well, she had trust in her granddaughter's judgment. But it was a little hard to believe that the kid would be able to somehow even dream of beating that candidate. 

'I guess I should think of a way to console her-'

But as she stared at the events below-

'Why aren't they starting?'

It took a moment but one of the boys just crumbled to the ground without even starting.

He just fell on the ground.

Not moving.

"What the hell!!" The woman yelled. "You can't be fucking serious…" She mumbled.

The little brat actually… won!?

"Language, Ar, language-"

A woman appeared, slowly descending from above.

Black clothes, pure black hair, red eyes; beautiful.

Voice, melancholic.

"My lady, it's just-"

She stood next to Arnine and stared down. "Now that… is a god candidate." Eyes lighting up, lips curling into a smile. "Who'd have thought we'd meet again in this life…" A snicker.