Chapter 2: Fatal Encounter

Aizen was sitting on his bed, resting his forearms on his thighs and staring blankly at the floor. He looked dull and uninspired, even though it was already morning.

No matter how hard he tried to rack his brains, the chances of Reeva being present at this time were zero percent.

Why so?

The maze-like line tattoo was an absolute sign of Aizen as the master of the magic element. It meant that there was no longer a spirit of the Goddess of Thunder at this time if Reeva didn't appear even after being summoned.

After all, spirits were unique existences in the Azure Realm. They always only have one in each category. There have never been two. Moreover, the seven ancient spirits, whose existence was still mysterious even in the Omni War era, were more distinctive and rare than usual.

Aizen first met Reeva in the past when the wars had been going on for two years. Back then, he was still a tier-1 Apprentice Knight. The lowest in the knight rank.

However, the existence of lower rank knights did not play much of a role in the topsy-turvy situation. Thus, he survived despite the hardships between one war and another.

Unexpectedly later, he returned to the Raven Academy in Mada City on his next war assignment as a soldier of the Aslan Empire.

At that time, the war was so extraordinary that it claimed the lives of millions of people. Moreover, more than half of the empire's mages died, causing the Aslan Empire's combat power to decrease greatly. In the end, Mada City collapsed, and from then on, the area of the Aslan Empire began to shrink.

Aizen survived the catastrophe and finally witnessed the true ferocity of a war that he didn't even know where the victors came from. All he knew was that the Aslan Empire lost unanimously, and the people would suffer because of it.

It was his first bitter experience because the place had its own meaning for him. Mada City was his hometown. Some of his relatives and acquaintances died because of the war. That was how he began to be determined to wipe out wars from the lands of the Azure Realm.

His determination seemed to be answered by fate. He had the luck of meeting Reeva. The Goddess of Thunder, master of the blue and yellow lightning elemental magic.

The event unfolded when Aizen found a book in the ruins of the war-torn Raven Academy. The book showed the location of the spirit, which was right under the building. The context of spirits made him ecstatic because a spirit was sparse, even among Heavenly Knights and Arch Mages.

He then looked down, and there was an extensive mysterious pattern resembling foreign writings visible under his feet. He began to learn to read the pattern with the help of the book.

When he learned that, he read the exposed ancient engraving without knowing what language it was. Later in the future, he realized it was the forgotten language of the Zoan Clan. One of the seven ancient clans in the Azure Realm.

After he finished reciting the ancient engraving, Reeva appeared and made a pact with him.

From there, his journey on the task of exterminating the Omni War continued until he finally got the title of Supreme Knight and died before it ended.

Suddenly, there was a knock on Aizen's door, which woke him from the daydream of his memories.

"Hey, Aizen. It's already morning. Aren't you going to school? Why haven't you come out of your room yet?

"I've been waiting in the living room downstairs. The other kids have already left. Only the two of us are in the dormitory now.

"Hurry up! I don't want to be late on the first day."

Aizen stared at the door with a gloomy face. He recognized the voice he hadn't heard in a long time. It was his schoolmate named Milo Axzec. Son of a wealthy merchant, Odin Axzec.

He sighed. Though reluctant to do anything, he still got up and headed for the door.

Milo was surprised to see Aizen's gloomy face after the door was opened.

"What happened to you? Why are you so down? C'mon, it's our first day of school! At Raven Academy, on top of that. Let's go!"

Aizen just obeyed dispassionately. After walking briskly and exiting the dormitory complex, he began to see surroundings and sights he hadn't seen in a long time.

The three- and four-story buildings were neatly arranged, separated by stone-paved roads. That was accompanied by the hustle and bustle of Mada City's daily activities.

The laughter and smiles of children and adults on the street also adorn the morning atmosphere of the place, showing how bright and happy the prosperous city was.

Arriving in front of the Raven Academy gates, Milo and Aizen saw the crowd that stretched to the front of the gate.

Milo didn't expect it to be so crowded on his first day of school.

"Wow! How come there are so many? When we registered at that time and took the test, there weren't that many participants, right?"

Aizen ignored Milo's talk and focused on looking at the Raven Academy building from outside the gate. He tried to recite the ancient engraved writings that were under the place. That way was easier than him having to destroy the building. After all, he still memorized the contents.

He whispered, and it was just as he expected at the beginning. There was no reaction whatsoever from the ground of the building. Instead, the maze-like line tattoos on his body were the ones that reacted by shining brightly, shining through his clothes. And still, Reeva didn't show up at all.

He took a deep breath, gave up for now, and decided to find out in the future while trying to stop the Omni War.

On the other hand, what happened to Aizen was fortunately only witnessed by Milo, who was surprised with his mouth hanging open as if he had just seen a magic trick.

"W-What did I just see!? Y-Your body glows like an angel! What is that!?" Milo exclaimed, whose loud voice had inadvertently caught the attention of the other students. He realized that and immediately covered his mouth with both hands.

But sadly, it was in vain.

"Oh!? Turns out there are noisy flies behind us, guys."

Five students were turning around, facing Aizen and Milo.

Milo swallowed his saliva and sweated anxiously after seeing that. He knew who the five boys were without a single introduction.

The five students were of noble and aristocratic descent. They were known to be arrogant and rude. Their notoriety had spread to almost all corners of Mada City because they liked to beat up people who annoyed them.

"Oh my! Look at this asshole. He dares to look back at me without bowing down!"

Milo was originally about to dismiss it by saying it was a misunderstanding. But, before he opened his mouth, he was pulled by the neck by a student named Arman.

Luckily, Aizen acted quickly before his friend took the first hit.

"Don't act like assholes. You guys look pathetic." Aizen casually said while glancing at the five students to provoke them.

"What did you say!!?" Arman replied. That sentence certainly made him and the other four students turn their attention from Milo to Aizen. And that, of course, insulted their self-esteem.

Without saying much, the five students immediately charged at Aizen after Arman pushed Milo back until he fell.

However, Aizen had no intention of fighting at all. He knew his current body would not be able to win against five at once or one on one. So, he just let them beat him to make matters pass quickly.

The first blow landed on his cheek. And that gave him a chance to pretend he stumbled. He then swiftly positioned himself on the ground so that his body would not receive any dangerous or serious injuries.

Arman and his gang were surprised by Aizen's position. However, they were being irrational. So, they didn't bother to wake Aizen and continued to beat and kick Aizen non-stop to vent their anger.

The commotion caught the attention of the other students. They started to turn around and watch the event.

"That's Arman Malajorg and his friends. We'd better not interfere."

"Right. That's Arman and his gang."

"If we clash with him, it will be difficult to live in this city. His father is the mayor here."

Several students, who intended to help and stop Arman, fell silent when they heard the whispers. They didn't know Arman and his friends because they came from other towns and villages. So, they gave up their intention because they didn't want their life to get difficult later.

Meanwhile, Aizen, who was receiving countless blows, still looked relaxed while covering his head with both arms. His eyes didn't show any pain or fear at all. What he was experiencing now was nothing compared to what had happened in his previous life.

"Stop this!!"

Out of nowhere, there was a girl who screamed while pushing in, stopping the action of Arman and his friends.

Aizen took a glance between his arms, covering his head. He knew who the girl was. It was none other than Inkgrit Adler. The engineer, who invented new advanced magical technologies, which would spark the Omni War later on.