Stance

"I've written down everything." Nathan handed over the paper to Selena. 

Selena skimmed the answer for a bit, only to be shocked by such a different perspective. The more she read about it, the more she realized why Vivian accepted him as her student. 

"Well, I'll get going." Nathan didn't bother with her anymore. He never thought that Selena would be waiting in the corridor leading to the class as if preventing him from escaping.

Selena's body twitched as she immediately said, "Please wait. I… I haven't asked you about the reward. How do you want me to compensate you?"

'You' was what Nathan wanted to say, but he hadn't really thought about it. "I don't know."

Selena thought for a moment. The answers themselves might not be important, but the way he thought was valuable. Getting this answer allowed her to understand the kind of perspective valued by Vivian. 

"I don't think I can give you money. How about I pair up with you during the trip? This trip should be about hunting those invaders, so going together will increase our chance to produce a good result."

That was a good solution, but at the same time, there were a few things that Nathan wanted to try during this hunt. Hence, he said, "Rather than that, how about equipment for training?"

Selena tilted her head in confusion. "Can't you ask your teacher for it?"

Nathan replied with a shake on the head. 

"Sadly, I can't give you anything related to money." Selena looked disappointed in herself. It seemed that she had made a rash decision when asking Nathan to write down his test's answers. 

On the other hand, Nathan thought about another thing. "In that case, there is something that you can help."

"What is it?" Selena's eyes lit up. 

"Teach me everything about the world, such as political situations, nobles, and other stuff. As someone from a noble family, you should know about them, right?" Nathan was so busy with his summoner study that he didn't even know the kingdom in which he currently resided.

"But I don't think this is fair for you." 

"You think it's not fair, but I think it's fair." Nathan shrugged. "Well, that's about it. How does after school in the library sound?"

"I understand." 

When Nathan was about to leave, Selena opened her mouth. "Thank you." 

Nathan just waved his hand. Little did she know, the reason why Nathan thought it was fair was because teaching him about nobles would take a few days. She would also still feel indebted to him. If they became friends, she was still from a noble family, so there might be other things she could help with in the future. 

As soon as Nathan entered the class, there was a momentary silence, all eyes observing him. 

'I have expected this, but their stares hurt.' Nathan thought while walking to his seat. Considering he was going to have another study session with Selena, it was probably fine to sit next to her.

"Is it him? He really beat Raivan?"

"Yeah. I don't think it was a coincidence."

"So his wolf was actually stronger than a wraith?"

"Well, the only thing different from him was his summoned familiar. We didn't know about its strength or talent."

"True. If they were strong, wouldn't that mean he was just unique?" 

These people were only whispering to each other, none daring enough to come to him. However, they sure paid a lot of attention to him.

Before taking his seat, his vision shifted a bit to the person he beat yesterday. 

Raivan's eyes were filled with hatred. There were several students that he needed to ask for their cores because he couldn't procure enough cores to challenge Nathan right away yesterday, which put the blame on him.

'It seems that he is such a person. This is going to be a headache. At the very least, I have to wait to see the response of the baron to understand whether I have to eliminate him or not.' Nathan thought.

Just like Nathan, Raivan had a similar thought about eliminating him. 'Just you wait. After my father knows about this, he will take revenge against you. Your family will die before your eyes. You'll definitely pay for humiliating me.'

Or so Raivan thought, not what his father thought.

…

Ryzant Territory. 

"My lord. We have received a letter from the young master saying that he has been bullied by his classmate. There are some strange things in the letter."

Raivan's father, Xavier Ryzant, was a middle-aged man with rather kind eyes. While turning around, Xavier frowned. "Bullied?"

"Yes. It seemed that the young master challenged this guy and was defeated."

"Who was the other person?"

"The son of a farmer in our territory. It was said that he was taken into the academy when someone spotted him to have an Ena inside his body. According to the report, it was said that his talent was much lower than anyone else in the academy because he summoned not a humanoid familiar but an animal." 

"An animal?" Xavier thought for a moment. "Why does it sound contradictory? First, he challenged his peers because he believed that his talent was weaker. Yet he still lost against him in a fair duel, right?"

"It did seem so." 

"If that was the case, it wasn't that the farmer boy was weaker, but he was different. I knew Raivan's talent. To defeat someone like him would mean that the farmer boy's strength was among the top of his class." 

"That's…" The butler paused for a moment. "How should I reply to the young master? He is asking for our help to kill him and his parents." 

"Why did he even bother to challenge someone? If he stemmed from this territory, he should have befriended him. That farmer boy might even work for us in the future." 

The butler scratched the back of his head. 

"Just say it!" Xavier glared at the butler. 

"It was probably the madam, sir. She probably felt threatened and tried to manipulate the young master to hate that person."

"Is she dumb?" Xavier's eyebrows twitched. 

The butler didn't dare to say anything. 

"Do you know what's the most terrifying thing in this world?" Xavier let out a long sigh. "It's the unknown. The less information we have, the more we think that they are stronger. They might be able to do this, that, or whatever.

"The fact that he was able to defeat him meant that he was strong, just unique. And that kind of uniqueness would definitely pique the interest of even stronger parties. I told him to stay quiet for a while and checked everyone's strength and background before doing anything… I bet that someone would definitely take him in just because of that uniqueness, whether it was to understand him or experiment with him."

"That's…" The butler gulped down. "There were two letters… One was from the young master that explained the situation from his perspective, and the other one was from vice principal Vivian." 

Xavier's breath became heavy, trying his best to hold back his anger. 

"Tell me. Have I been so busy recently that I have been too lenient that everyone thinks they can do as they please?" Xavier exuded killing intent. A dark mist leaked out of his body as it gradually formed a giant wraith. Unlike Raivan's wraith, this one was holding a scythe as if it were a reaper.