Prince of The Abyss

Chapter 366: A Seat Beside Fate

A new student coming into the Academy was rare, unheard of. After all, the people in the Academy were mostly Celestials and high nobles, alongside future Knights and even people who were already Knights, who wanted to get stronger.For one to come into the Academy, he would have to be one of these; well, Royalty can also go, but there was no way someone could come in being royalty- that was absurd; all the royals were already in the Academy... well, Iris, she was the only current royal in the Academy.

The question was, had a family suddenly gained fame and fortune and suddenly become a high noble one? It could happen, even if originally the ranking of nobles is determined by blood; if a lower family made great achievements, some even above the families that are supposed to be their superiors, the King can grant them the honor of ascending in the ranks.

But wouldn’t they have heard if something like that happened?

Strange, really strange...

...

But what made it weirder was that the new student wasn’t even born in the Blue Rose, in a noble family; he was from the Withered, out of all places; how he had managed to get into the Academy, no one knew.

Not even the teachers understood; after all, it had all happened out of the blue, suddently they got news they were going to have a new student, and above all, one that was a Withered. How ridiculous, right?

What dirty trick had he done to get here?

...

He should have probably expected this: the gazes, the whispers. Entitled nobles that could never accept that a boy from the Withered, a place they considered inferior, was studying in the same place as them; it was as if they were on the same level, something they just could not tolerate.

Aether smiled, walking through the hall of the Academy. It was quite pretty, yet so simple; it gave you a... quiet feeling, though what wasn’t quiet was the student... no one dared get near him. But it wasn’t like after what Orion told him, he was going to expect them to come and greet him with bright smiles. No, this was exactly his expectation.

Though he had to say, did they think he didn’t hear them?

"What is this worthless animal doing here?" One said, covering his mouth as if that would make it so he couldn’t hear. They were Seekers, or at least he was; he had no idea what class they were, so did he think a Seeker couldn’t hear... whispers? Funny. Really funny.

"Ugh, I don’t get why they accepted him in this school..."

"They should just send him back into the junkyard that his home is."

"Does he really think he deserved the same treatment as us? Funny."

No, what was funny was that a place that was called blessed by Praise was exactly the opposite of what their God was. Did they think it would have wanted inequality, for them to harass other people just because of the place they were born in? But how would he know what Praise wanted? He was the Abyss’s Vessel.

Aether continued walking, not minding the comments; after all, he had been through far worse things than just some words from teenagers. He would be pathetic if he fell like this.

Yet... as he was about to find his class, an old man approached him.

"Avius?" Aether asked, turning around at the old wizard.

He chuckled. "The one and only, I see you took my deal..." He smirked. "Expected, you aren’t dumb; everyone who knew about your transfer before it was announced knew that you would come."

Aether tilted his head.

’Really? Pretty ironic, when I myself didn’t know what I should do. And yet they were so convinced... did they think it had been easy for me to decide?’

Avius waved his hand. "Either way, I came to tell you that since you joined later in the year, you might not know a lot of the stuff in the school, how it works, and the stuff that came before you, so you will have to come to my office later, so I can teach you."

Aether’s eyes widened for a second before falling back. He hadn’t expected the King to care that much about this... though he did seem pretty convinced that he could tame him, so he probably wanted him to get as strong as possible, yet at the same time, to get some control over him.

"So like extra tutoring?" Aether said with a small smile on his face; he didn’t mind it. Not at all; he knew what this guy was capable of. The only thing was that he was a bit scared of him; he knew a lot of the Abyss, and since the King didn’t tell him of his origin, there must be a reason; he couldn’t know if it also advantaged him or not, so he was just going to take the safe route and keep his identity hidden.

Three people were already too much.

And knowing just how easy his secret could be revealed, he had to be even more careful; who knew how many people had abilities similar to Sena. And it wasn’t like he didn’t attract attention.

Avius nodded. "Something like that, I wouldn’t call it extra, since you’re learning the stuff you should have already known. But sure. See you after classes today; the teachers know to take you easy on your first day, so don’t worry."

Aether watched as the old man left. It was good to see that while the students hated his guts, at least the teachers were alright, or at least he was; he hadn’t seen all of them; maybe his opinion could be very wrong.

But still, enough of that; he didn’t want to be late, did he?

Looking at the paper with his classes and the number of the classroom, he checked if this was the right one before walking in.

...

...

Iris opened her eyes, lifting her head from her desk, looking at the time; the class was finally about to start. She had a habit of trying to sleep the minutes before every class started. Her father had tried doing something about her sleeping habits before she turned into a sleeping beauty, but to no avail. So he had just given up.

The teacher, a woman in her late twenties, waited for everyone to settle in before she started talking.

"Alright, class, I know you might have heard that today a new student will be joining us... and he’s from the Withered... still, I expect you to be kind to him or whatever, I don’t really care. I doubt he will be standing here for a long time either way." She laughed.

Yet her laugh was cut off by a voice.

"What a nice thing to say, ma’am, though if you don’t mind answering a question." The teacher turned to look at him, a bit startled. The boy seemed to be... smiling, yet she knew that smile wasn’t real. "Of course, go ahead and ask." She said, trying to be professional.

"Was that a threat?" His face turned serious. "Since, from what I know, there has been no reason why I should be kicked out of the Academy, so do you have a plan to create one? Since if so, I might have to report you."

The teacher had tried to speak up, but before she could, Aether cut her off again, walking to the front of the class before looking at the other students with a smile.

"I’m Aether, the so-called animal that should go back to his graveyard. I doubt that any of you care that much about my introduction, since by what I can see." He looked back at the teacher. "Some already expect me to be gone, maybe even planning to be a part of my departure." The teacher staggered, before Aether looked back at the class.

"I don’t really care if you guys hate me, if you talk behind my back or whatever; it’s not like I’m here specifically to make friends, or enemies, even if I know that I will have a lot of the latter."

His smile widened. "I’m here to get stronger, and achieve my own goals. I don’t care what this Academy wants; it could fall for all I care, just after I finish what I want to do."

As Aether finished his introduction, he looked around the class to see the surprised reaction of the students... but what he didn’t expect was to also see Iris; she also looked visibly shocked... so he just winked at her before looking back at the teacher. "So, where can I sit?"

The teacher didn’t respond instantly, almost as if she was debating what to do. But in the end, she hesitantly responded. "There should be an empty seat in the back..."

Aether nodded, walking to the back of the class... he could see the harmful glares of many, but he didn’t care to look back.

...

The empty seat seemed to be one on the column just before the one next to the window, and the last row. The class also seemed to have two columns connected to each other, before there was a gap for people to walk in... meaning he was going to have to have a neighbour

...

"You’re kidding..." Aether said, as he made eye contact with his new deskmate.

"Seems like it’s fate, huh?" Sena chuckled.