Neil sank into his own thoughts and wondered what pain was.
He remembered his childhood, when many wolves attacked him while he was drinking water from the river. The wolves pounced on him with incredible speed and began biting his leg and his arm. When he felt the pain and the blood he became extremely angry, and he forced the monster's mouth open with his hands.
Rage appeared in his eyes, and from that day on he destroyed the wolves one by one.
Pain is proof that a person is still alive. He shook with anger and looked at his scars and his blood, and thought that it made him stronger. Only the strongest people can survive in this world. Therefore he needed even more pain.
He stamped loudly on the floor, then jumped up and screamed, "Louis! We're the same. We're monsters hungry for power."
Louis used his own power to protect himself from the blow, and at that moment Neil was thrown to one side. He was very surprised, and Louis hit him in the face with astonishing speed, so that Neil said in a trembling voice that this was simply wonderful.
Louis went on striking him from every side, and Neil only rejoiced at it, shouting that it was amazing.
Cain asked in horror whether it was all right to leave things like this. Neil would be killed at this rate, wouldn't he?
Fay said they should not let that idiot Neil do whatever he wanted. They would stop him together.
Neil screamed that he was not done yet.
And Louis wondered how to stop this man without breaking the rules. Perhaps he should simply freeze him.
Louis yelled at him to calm down, and hit him with an ice storm. Neil jumped aside and said that it was rather painful. He was inside a glacier, and he used his fire to spread the flames everywhere.
Derrick was surprised and said that now things were getting interesting.
Neil screamed that he would not give up so easily, that this was nowhere near enough, and he suggested that they continue.
At that moment Kylie punched him and sent Neil flying, and Louis was startled. She said that he had gone too far — a fool with muscles instead of brains.
Derrick came up to her and said that he had not seen her in a while, and that she looked even better than before. That body radiated incredible power.
Kylie replied — and what if someone died on the first day of classes? He had not forgotten what the director told him, had he? He should not come near her, the pervert.
"Oh, God," he replied. Her words hurt. He was not some kind of mindless idiot. He was simply trying to unlock their potential in battle. That was all.
She replied that she really hoped so. She had been assigned to protect Louis. He understood what that meant, didn't he? He was to report to the director's office after classes. He had conveyed that personally.
Derrick scratched the back of his head and replied that he understood everything. It looked as though he would have to sit through another lecture. And yet — these first-years. How strong could they become?
Derrick told Neil to get dressed already, because he was forgiving him this once. If he went wild again, he would cut off his credits.
Neil wondered what that meant. He still could not withstand a master's attack. At this rate he would have to spend money on clothes, and probably go hunting monsters.
Then Derrick announced that the lesson was over. The upperclassmen could go, and the first-years should rest. From now on he would demand even more from them, so they should be prepared, and not even think about crying.
Cain was delighted and said that more than a hundred years had passed since this academy was founded. How many times did Louis think the first-years had beaten the upperclassmen?
Louis replied that he had never seen it mentioned in any of the documents.
Cain shouted that it had only happened three times, and that each of those years had produced several grandmasters.
He wondered — yes, and when was that?
Cain replied that the last time it happened was the year their fathers enrolled here, when they defeated the upperclassmen. Louis was surprised by this.
Meanwhile Jess's friend turned to him and apologised, saying that those two were too strong, and that perhaps they should deal with them in the shadows.
He replied that geniuses superior to everyone else appeared from time to time, and that the two of them had done quite well. There was no need to rush. They would still have plenty of opportunities to take their revenge. But no matter how strong they were, these first-years were still citizens of the empire, and their destinies would be decided by them.
Fay leaned against Milana and asked what she thought of Louis's technique. His abilities in water magic were simply incredible. If she stayed close to him, perhaps she would become stronger herself.
She replied that she could not copy it, because no one had ever been able to use such strange techniques before. She needed to come up with more options of her own, the same way, with the water attribute.
Fay asked her not to worry so much. She was only sixteen.
She cried out that she had to try, for her family's sake.
And then Fay called Louis over and shouted that Milana had said she wanted to talk to him.
The students around them began to wonder. Was this a confession? Was this really the same Milana? Something like her mother, hunting for talented people?
Louis came closer and asked what the matter was.
They replied — the water magic he had used. Could he teach it to Milana too?
"Of course," he replied. "Why not? We're friends, aren't we?"
Milana said this out loud after him, and Louis was surprised, after which she said that one day she might cause him trouble, and that even then he would not regret his decision. Then Milana suddenly said that they did not want to drag him into all of this, and abruptly ran away.
Fay shouted her name and apologised to Louis, and said that she would go and talk to her.
Louis thought that they all had their own circumstances, and that he was probably the one causing them all trouble. He turned to Cain and asked whether he knew anything about her.
Cain replied that she was the only daughter of the Royce family and the granddaughter of a grandmaster. While her grandmother was alive the Royce family had prospered, but after her death they had lost their influence. He knew very little. Perhaps Fay knew more.
Louis turned to Cara and asked whether he knew anything.
He replied that they had got into a conflict inside the association.
"So the problems she mentioned are connected with the Arcanist Association?" Louis asked. "Is there anything else?"
And Louis wondered whether that meant this was all they had, and that he would have to get the details from Milana or from Fay.