A Will

"I'm Arthur Bellrock. Can we be friends?" he offered his hand to the crimson-haired beauty seated behind him with the most genuine smile he could come up with. He couldn't have found an easier way to propose to a princess.

It wasn't a hot day, but he was sweating underneath his new uniform because of his nerves. He was too anxious and felt like a man about to make a marriage proposal. Though this was going to be worth it—she was his ticket to power, embarrassing himself was just a small price to pay.

The girl's eyes studied him for a moment as he waited for her reply. Weirdly, she looked so level-headed for a person who couldn't go back to her kingdom.

However, her ember eyes said it all: hatred, despair, and pain. The emotions of a person who had just lost everything.

'interesting.'

She picked up her bow and calmly rose to her feet without saying a word. The gaze in her beautiful eyes was as cold as ice but Elizabeth and Stella had already demonstrated that to him, so there was no reason to fear her.

"Stay out of my way, I didn't come here to make friends with humans," she responded to his proposal.

The class was empty, and everyone else had gone to other classes. Being the class's weirdos, they were the only ones left behind since they were despised for being different.

She walked past him without saying anything else and continued to the exit.

'Do I have to…ugh….'

It was time to play a different card.

"Wait, I know how you feel."

She stopped and faced him. Her boy-like face was still expressionless.

"Having everything taken from you and becoming an outcast. I went through the same thing."

He wasn't a fan of opening up, but this girl appeared smart enough to notice any lie he told. So, he allowed himself to get vulnerable. There was too much to lose if he didn't earn her friendship.

"My mother was killed right in front of me as a child. She was my everything, so losing her took a toll on me. I didn't know how dark this world was until she left me in it, no one treated me like a child anymore. I was battered, tortured, and I sometimes had to eat thrown-away food from the ground just to stay alive. I was an animal, in their eyes, and they still treat me the same."

Her eyes glowed after his final sentence. She had felt something:

"You carry hate that is hundreds of years old. You don't how I feel, Arthur." There was sadness in her voice. Did she want to cry?

"I need to know who gave you the Will resting in your soul."

Arthur was bewildered, though It wasn't the first time he had heard of that word.

"A Will?"

"Yes. It's the one thing you and I share in common. You've been concealing it until you let your guard down a few moments ago."

'So that's what Shira meant yesterday by my Will. I have to find out more.'

The tension gradually grew between them as this conversation went on. She continued to ask him about where he acquired his Will. But as you know, Arthur had never heard of anything like that until today. The books he had access to weren't packed with such knowledge.

"Humans who have a will usually inherit it from high-level magical beings. The will you have in your soul is powerful and thousands of years old, I can help you understand it. My name is Eris Astelot, I am a red dragon."

She had become less hostile. Was this some kind of trick since she had learned of a power Arthur didn't know about?

'Hmm…'

Eris was almost as tall as Bairon. Hence, she was practically the same height as Arthur. She had short crimson hair that gave her a boyish look—and yet, she was still a beauty with a blooming chest.

Yes, at this point, everyone in this school was a pleasure to look at.

She offered her hand, and he accepted it. Then, suddenly--

"Agh!"

He clutched his chest in pain before letting go of her hand and grasping onto the nearest desk he could find. The pain was worse this time as if it had reacted to her hand.

"Arthur!"

Her voice fainted away while a vision surfaced from his mind.

In the vision, he saw a shadow with fierce bright blue eyes fighting against what resembled an older version of Eris, though she had a silver staff that spiraled at the surface to resemble a flower that hadn't blossomed yet.

The sky was twilight, but everything appeared bright as day in his eyes.

'What?'

The woman was battling the shadow, giving it her all by switching between fire and lightning spells while she fought. But every time she landed an attack on the shadow, it would regenerate instantly and strike back with twice the strength of her spells.

'That regeneration is inhuman. Is that the demon Claudia told me about?'

Their speed was unbelievable. Flashes of purple light illuminated the entire forest as their attacks set the entire area on fire, destroying everything. It was noticeable that the woman was gravely injured because she kept on pressuring her bloody abdomen with one hand while the other fought against the shadow.

She was hanging onto her lifeline, and slowly, it was fading away.

With her final breath, she screamed out a full attack that sent a blinding flash of light from her body and—

"Arthur!"

A voice broke through the vision, and he was already back to reality. Back to the moment when he had let go of her hand and was now leaning towards a desk.

He winced, wondering what he had just seen.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He freed his chest once the pain stopped and straightened himself. "I am fine…" he growled.

"You don't look fine," she said, seeing the whiteness on his face like he had just seen a ghost.

"…I'll see you soon," he said, his head storming with questions concerning what he had just seen right now. Was it connected to Eris?

"Okay," she agreed in a weak tone before he stormed out of the room without saying anything else.

Once he was gone, she sighed and spoke, "What a peculiar human…he's unaware of the Will in his body. Maybe he can help me get home if I help him get stronger. What do you think about him, Sylvie?"

As soon as she said that, a magic beast in the form of a large lioness appeared behind her after calling out its name.

it growled as it fought to fit between the desks with its size.

**The boy is very different. He's more than just a mortal human, he has barely touched the surface of his potential, and I don't think he's aware of that. If embraced, Arthur Bellrock could become the greatest force the magic realm has ever seen. **

"Is that so?"

**Yes. With respect, he will be your greatest ally, and if betrayed…he'll end the world. **

Eris smiled with her lips, excited by the information her beast had given her. Sylvie was a world lion and could look into people's hearts. Of course Arthur was a mystery to her, but for now, that was all she needed to know.

"I guess humans can also produce diamonds."

*What do you wish to do? *

The bow disappeared, and she caressed her bond's head. The lioness seemed to be enjoying it.

"I accept his friendship. After all, I need strong allies if I'm to go back home."