Chapter 23:

Outcome

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“Ughh….”

Headmaster slowly opened her eyes as she awoke from her slumber. Immediately she noticed the white-haired boy standing in front of her, his shadow towering over her very being. She let out a subtle shiver as she gaze up at the boy with an expression filled with awe and confusion.

“Was I not killed under this boy’s onslaught? How is possible that I am still alive...and completely healed at that!....”

The elder wondered to herself as she slowly moved her limbs. All her wounds had disappeared and even her fatigue was cured. Her SP energy tank was full now.

But, she dare not try the boy once more. She had already seen enough of the monstrous strength the child had effortlessly wielded. It was at this point, that the headmaster had fully realize one thing: the boy she had just fought was a being who has the requisite power of one being at or above the Spiritual Rank.

“Does that mean...this child is the same at me? No, above me? Then...he could very possibly be at the True Rank?! T-that’s….”

The legendary rank that no person in the continent have yet to reach. And the boy standing before was a being possibly capable of standing at the pinnacle of this continent. The very thought sent a ripple of shivers down her spine.

“Do you still wish to fight me?”

An icy voice rang out, scattering Ember’s thoughts. She stared at the boy for a while longer, his eyes like the deep abyss, before she lowered and shook her head slowly.

“No...I yield. As per our deal, I will transfer the rights of a Headmaster over to you and I will assist you in the office work as well…”

Headmaster softly said before slowly rising from the fractured ground. Looking around now, she saw that the whole Colosseum was in complete ruins, the grounds were heavily dented and the walls were barely even standing anymore. It was as if a natural disaster struck the Training ground, devouring everything as it swept past.

Vinci, looking at the dejected elder, finally relieved the tension on his body.

*Swoosh!*

His white hair instantly flowed back to being jet black once again as the pressure around him slowly dwindled away.

After surveying the ruins, the headmaster once again turned to face Vinci.

“Well, I will now excuse myself. You may find me in my office tomorrow as usual….this mess will be cleaned up soon so don’t worry about it. Well, then.”

The elder gave him a light smile before disappearing into the distance. Shortly after, a black box appeared again in front of Vinci.

[Felicitation! You have successfully completed the Event…+19% Progress...Current Progress: 20%]

The screen glimmered for a while before another text box appeared.

[box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]Because you have damaged a vital Event element and chose to retore it, there is a system penalty in place...Current Progress: 20%...applying penalty...Current Progress: 10%...[/box]

Vinci let out a sigh as he saw his progress drop down to 10% before the screen dissipated into the air.

“Next time, I’ll definitely be more careful…”

Vinci grumbled as he turned to leave the broken colosseum. The orange setting sun had now turned into a deep red color as the sky melted into a light blue-ish hue. It was time for him to head home.

***

From the beginning of Vinci’s battle towards the near end, there was no one present after school to witness the impossible spectacle. That is, except for one person who was hiding behind a broken slab of the once-grand colosseum.

And that said person was Emi Luther, daughter of the Crimson Dragon Clan.

After having been utterly defeated by Vinci last week, rather feeling agitated or crestfallen, the heiress felt an intense feeling of attraction towards the boy. As she thought about the boy’s overwhelming strength in her bedroom, she could not help but clutch her heart as her face redden with excitement, and glistening droplets of sweat trickled down from her pores. At that moment, she decided that she must ‘have’ Vinci on her side at all cost, even though she still felt a tinge of fear towards him from their previous battle. The aftermath of the scene was quite gruesome after all.

With that thought, Emi had decided to seek out the boy personally after school the day the students return back to school from their Free Times.

So after walking around the school, she found Vinci standing in front of the headmaster’s room. With a large smile, she was just about to call out to him before she noticed another male student, who was taller than Vinci, approach him. The two seem to be discussing something, but Emi could tell there was acrimony written all over the taller student's face. After a while, the two left and seemed to be heading outside to the school ground. And was how she came to witness the monstrous strength of Vinci as she saw how he easily subdued the group of students and teachers who came at him. Although Emi had an idea of the great power of Vinci, she did not think he would be this powerful.

But that was not the end. As she continued to stay hidden and watched the match with widen eyes, it eventually came to a point where Vinci was faced against the headmaster herself.

At first, when she saw how the the headmaster had easily subdued Vinci, she felt a tinge of anxiety. She didn’t want Vinci to die. But at the same time she knew she was helpless to prevent the headmaster from killing him. Not even her clan dares to openly make an enemy out of the School Headmaster. The elder was a Spiritual Rank, one of the only four individuals, in this world after all. Her strength was almost unfathomable.

When she saw Vinci blasted through the school walls, she quickly hurried out of the school and head towards the back side. She then found Vinci laying in the middle of one of the colosseums. The headmaster was already there before her. As Emi neared the two, she suppressed her aura as she tried to hide behind the colosseum walls and peeked into the Training ground from behind one of the large cracks. With the headmaster being at Spiritual Rank, it was foolish to even attempt hiding one’s aura as the elder could easily detect it nonetheless. But, as she was occupied with Vinci, she had paid no heed to her hidden guest.

Emi held her breath then when she noticed that Vinci was not moving at all. Was he dead?

Just as she saw the headmaster was about to leave, an extraordinary amount of dark pressure burst forth from Vinci’s body. Emi was instantly frozen in place. The killing intent being emitted was just too much to handle, after all, even the headmaster had trouble keeping her cool at that point.

Emi watched as Vinci got off the ground and saw his black hair instantly change into that of pure white. At that moment, under the enormous pressure, she felt the world stop for a brief second as she thought to herself..

“....what..a beautiful color..”

Before instantly being engulfed under the strain once again. From that point on, she witnessed another absurd scene where Vinci used several tens of magic spells while the headmaster used a protection spell that Emi was unable to recognize. But the spell was definitely powerful as it instantly negated all the attacks that approached the elder’s shining body. But, soon she saw that the headmaster was unable to keep the spell going and instantly fell under a shower of spells. After a few seconds, she knew the headmaster was dead. She could not feel her presence any longer.

But, once again, Vinci shocked the poor girl as she watched the headmaster sucked into a pool of darkness before surfacing, completely healed and restored as before! She was on the verge of doubting whether what she saw actually happened or not. But, she quickly realized everything was real. Emi was able to feel the elder’s presence once again.

“A r-resurrection spell?! That’s impossible! In all of the United World, there has only been rumors and theories about such a spell...no one has actually been seen using it even once! After all, only those of the mythical True Rank might be able to pull it off, but even then it’ll be almost...godly….just how could he possess such power?!…”

Emi screamed in her head as she stared at the scene through the wall cracks. Soon, she saw the two standing as they seemed to be chatting for awhile before Vinci’s hair quickly cooled down to a deep black color. The headmaster was the first to leave before Vinci turned around and vanished from the Training ground as well. Only Emi was left lying behind the crumbling Colosseum as she tried to organize her array of thoughts. She had witnessed the birth of a monster today.

“Haa...haaa...haaa….I….really want him after all…..”

Emi whispered as her breath became erratic. Her body trembled, part from joyful excitement, part from deep fear.

The sun soon set as the night covered the wading sky with an azure blanket made of twinkling stars...

***

A shadow flitted across the rocky ground at an incredible speed before promptly stopping in the middle of a road. The surrounding is filled with trees and there was not a speck of buildings in sight.

As Headmaster Ember stood still, another shadow flew down behind her.

“...What is it, Sina?”

The headmaster asked her loyal secretary silently waiting behind her in jaded voice. After being almost easily defeated by Vinci and then even revived somehow, the elder had wanted to quickly leave the site. Not just because of Vinci but because of the humiliation she felt. Her pride as a Spiritual Rank was utterly shattered by a 15 years old boy.

And thus, she left through one of the school portals that led her directly to her neighborhood. And though it’s called a “neighborhood”, there’s pretty much nothing but trees. Ember lives many miles away from the city, where she secluded herself in her large mansion in the middle of a forest. She was situated at the furthest part of the country, the United Sage Clan.

The reason for her seclusion was simply for her own protection. As the headmaster of the only School in the continent , there are always times when people who are after her life appear abruptly and try to fit into the crowd to secretly assassinate her. So, by living in a mansion away from a large population, it would be easier for her to pick presences of unwanted guests.

As the leaves gently rustled in the wind, a quiet voice spoke out,

“...Are you really going to hand over your seat to him, Ma’am?..”

A tone of uncertainty and weariness was mixed in Sina’s voice. The headmaster paused for a few moments, and without turning her head back, she answered with a light chuckle,

“..Well, it’s not like I have a choice now, do I? You must have already witnessed -- nay, felt that child’s power after you woke up, no? His strength is many times higher than mine. Even if I refuse, he would simply take it by force like before...though at that time, I don’t think I would be so lucky as to once again ‘revive’...”

Sina had on a pained expression as she recalled her experience. It was true that she awoke a few minutes after being defeated by Vinci, but when as she was trying to stand up, she was immediately startled by the abnormal energy in the air. It was an indescribably thick killing intent. And having been with headmaster for many years, she quickly realized that it was not the elder’s, but rather it was a familiar aura that she had felt a several minutes back….

It was from the young man, Vinci Noburo, whom had defeated her.

The realization at first came as a surprise for the secretary as she swiftly moved towards the energy source and arrived outside the colosseum. But before she could enter, she froze for a moment before her heart plunged into the abyss of fear. She had felt the killing aura coming from the colosseum double --no, quadruple? She couldn’t tell. But as soon as the pressured increased, she could not stop her shaking and collapsed to the ground. She remained there until the pressure finally disappeared before she overheard people talking inside. Sina instantly recognized that the voices belonged to the boy and the headmaster and as she focused in, she overheard their conversation about handing over the headmaster position and Vinci’s undeniable victory. Her headmaster had lost. The one she had greatly admired and thought that no one would be able to defeat was put down by a mere child. And from Sina’s knowledge, the headmaster have only been defeated once before, but that was in a battle against one of the other four Spiritual Rank practitioner.

The shock didn’t come to her lightly, after all, Sina had left her home in her own accordance to work for the headmaster when she could have stayed home and enjoy a life of luxury as the first daughter of the Rising Sun Clan. But, she desired to stay close to those whose strength she admired. To learn from them, in hopes of someday reaching that same stage they stand on. And yet, the one she had looked up to was defeated --not by another Spiritual practitioner, but a young child. Yet, another part of her for some reason felt that it was an inevitable outcome after tasting the pressure that the boy had exhibited. If she were to fight Vinci then, she doubt she would even stand a chance.

Then, when she noticed the headmaster leaving the school ground and heading into a portal, Sina quickly followed her and arrived at this moment.

“...I understand.”

Sina said quietly as she closed her eyes in defeat. There was no way for her to convince the headmaster to change her mind at this point, once she had decided on something. In addition to what Sina had witnessed herself and what she had heard from headmaster Ember, the elder herself had quite a stubborn personality, too.

Headmaster Ember gave a slight nod and then once again disappeared into the forest towards her home.

After the elder was fully out of earshot and eyesight, two dark shadows flew down and kneeled behind Sina. The shadows were covered in a black cloth from head to toe and no discernible facial features could be traced.

“...Go back and report to our Rising Sun Clan Master that the School’s headmaster will be handing over her seat to the boy...and that he should wait for a while before doing anything...“

Sina spoke in a calm manner as she ordered the two shadows behind her without bothering to turn around.

“And...relay a message to the Clan Master--- my father, for me...tell him that I have decided to support his decision to marry off Cecilia to the boy…”

She said in a tired voice as Sina motioned the shadows to leave. The two figures gave an understanding nod as they leaped into the nearby forest and vanished. Only Sina was left alone now. As the beauty with the round spectacles looked up into the sky, she thought back to the day when her father had informed her that he was planning to engage her sister to an unknown boy. In School, the two sisters are told to not make direct contact due to the difference in position in the facility; it was measure to prevent nepotism in the academy. But, after the day is over Sina would return back home to manage domestic affairs or enjoy some time alone chatting with her little sister, Cecilia. The two of them were really close; the house servants would often see Sina smiling more when she was with her younger sibling than when she was with another company.

And thus, as Sina questioned her father about the proposed partner she later found out that that boy was none other than Vinci.

Although she could see why the Clan may want to rope in someone who had scored a perfect mark on the SAT just as an asset for the future, she could not understand why they would want to marry off her precious sister to that person who was a No Rank. It did not make sense. So the Sina, who was usually cool-headed, resorted to arguing with her father for the first time to defend her little sister from being married off to a “weakling” and directly cutting off her would-be prosperous future. But now she could see why. The boy was an anomaly. Someone who would eventually rise to the top of this world. If Vinci had the ability to defeat a Spiritual Rank practitioner at the ripe age of 15, it was hard to imagine just what kind of monster he would be at age 18, when he could officially be called an “adult.” Having Cecilia marry to such a talent would definitely benefit her more than it would hurt her, though she also thought about her younger sister’s feelings.

“If Cecilia refuses to marry the boy, then I will not force her...and I do not think father will either...but I will support father’s proposal for now..”

Sina thought as she closed her eyes. After a while, she opened them before briefly turning around and diving into the nearest portal…

***

*SLAM!*

Clan Master Earl stood up abruptly and banged his palm on his desk after hearing his two attendants’ reports.

“Is everything what you said truly confirmed? T-that Vinci had managed to overthrow the headmaster and take over her seat?!”

“Yes, this is what Princess Sina had told to us.”

The shadow on the right spoke with its body in a slightly bowing posture.

Earl breathed a sigh of disbelief as he plopped back down on his chair. The boy’s action completely perplexed him and his victory even more confused him. He knew the young boy he met nearly two nights ago was not normal but to have the power to defeat a Spiritual Rank practitioner at that ripe age? It was unfathomable. The youngest genius recorded in the United World was a boy who achieved the Monarch Rank at the age of 17. He eventually went on to become one of the four great masters of the Spiritual Rank. But even that person did posses the enormous strength he had today at the age of 15.

But the reports he received from his underlings just now completely blew away the inklings of doubt Earl had in Vinci’s actual power. He now understood that the boy was a monster, one who was still not fully developed and would continue to grow until perhaps even if the four great Spiritual Rank masters in this world grouped up to fight him, they themselves would still be unable “to hold a candle against” him.

(Author’s note:“Can’t hold a candle to/against” is a saying that means not [to be] equal to someone; unable to measure up to someone.)

And Earl was able to secure such a monster to promise him help if he needed. If not, and some other Clan had managed to reach Vinci before him and rope him to their side, who knows just how long his Clan would last if the enemy decides to attack his country with Vinci’s help…

The middle-aged man closed his eyes shivered as he thought of this.

“We have something else to report to you from Princess Sina, Master.”

Earl opened his eyes as he looked at the left shadow.

‘W-what is it?”

He said in a deep, shaky voice. He was still recovering from the shock of the previous reports.

“Princess Sina said to tell you that she had decided to support your decision to engage Princess Cecilia with Vinci Noburo.”

“!!!”

The Clan Master’s eyes glittered when he heard this. He was extremely glad that his eldest daughter had finally decided to endorse his decision. When he had first told her about his plan to marry off his second daughter, Sina was adamantly against it and even argued with him. Since his oldest daughter was usually so composed that it was even hard for him to discern her true emotions, the outburst from her came as a huge surprise. And because of that, Earl had decided to put off the idea for now before telling Cecilia.

But now that Sina was also supporting him, Earl felt that it was time for Cecilia to know as well, to ask her what she thought of it.

The Clan Master promptly swiped his right hand out and pointed at the door.

“Go. Tell Cecilia I called for her to meet me here in my chamber.”

“”As you wish.””

The two black shadows spoke in unison before melted into the floor...