“Honestly, we should have done this two weeks ago, but you were all running around for your mission so this was put on hold until now.” Jonathan said, getting wide-eyed stares from his students as they watched him button his suit jacket before grabbing a comb for his hair.

“…I take it Principal Oren doesn’t really care about your dress code sir?” Edward noted, a comb impacting and shattering against his skull, dropping the Prince of the Empire to the floor indignantly.

“Yeah, it was a condition for me to work for Elem, I teach, but I’m allowed to dress as I please, within reason.” Jonathan explained while picking up another comb… this was also the precise reason Rabia was unable to get Jonathan to show up for class in a speedo.

The class would never know how much they owed the King of Metal for that limitation.

“So that’s why you dress up for meetings with the other Kings… other than Principal Oren and your wife, they don’t approve of your dress code.” Vince nodded, coming to the conclusion by himself, and once more a comb flew and knocked a student to the ground, Vince joining Edward in twitching on the ground as their skulls steamed from the impact zones.

“My wife picks those outfits out, not me, don’t get it twisted. But yes, the other Kings don’t like them… well, the King of Wood gets a laugh from them, as does the King of Lightning. Otherwise, best behaviour and dress. Especially for the King of Ice.” Jonathan removed another comb from somewhere, and at this point the five students still standing were wondering where Jonathan got his supply of combs from.

“…Sir-” Kazuya couldn’t even speak before the comb hit him, joining his friends on the floor.

‘He didn’t even finish speaking?’ was the thought that went through the minds of the last four standing…

Tony in particular was worried, he was the last boy-

“You’re thinking something stupid, so down you go.” Jonathan had another comb in hand, finalizing his hair style even as the last of the boys of Elem class 2-S fell, their defeats all ignoble.

The girls didn’t so much as twitch, each sweating slightly in nervousness as Jonathan turned, his hair, typically messy, was now combed backwards, a lone lock hanging in front of his face as he spared the four boys on the floor a glance.

“It barely hurt. Now stand up, the King of Ice is not to be kept waiting.” Jonathan warned, the four boys going from ‘passed out’ to standing with barely a blink, nodding.

The girls collectively rolled their eyes, and the group of eight moved, though the girls did have a giggle at the red marks on the foreheads of each of the boys.

“Ah, is Yusuf busy with the investigation?” Jade asked after a moment, the group as a whole waiting on a train station for the train to Valour Academy.

“He is, kind of. Your friend, the unlucky one, is being dragged around by Yusuf for a bit. In exchange, we’re basically bribing him with some money and a chance to interview my wife. She agreed.” Jonathan explained as the train pulled up to the station, getting on the train with his students.

“Ah… yeah, he was interviewing the Kings in charge of the learning institutions, maybe getting the opinion of a King other than those four would be like extra credit for him or something?” Vince threw in a guess, not really certain but just trying to rationalize it.

“Who knows, but he took the bait, and now Yusuf is just helping him prep for his side of things.” Jonathan replied while taking a seat, his students following along.

“So, sir, is there anything we should know before meeting the King of Ice?” Leah asked, concerned with the etiquette of the situation.

Rather, Jade had nudged Leah in the side to prompt the question… anyone could tell that it was actually Jade’s question being asked through Leah.

“Yule Argos, the King of Ice… he is a strange and terrifying man.” Jonathan said, a wave of nervousness spreading through the students as his words, with the exception of one.

“Really? I guess…” Edward, as the crown prince, had met Yule Argos before, it was almost a necessity given Valour Academy’s closeness to the Empire capital, and Edward hadn’t found the King of Ice to be that scary.

“That’s obviously because you’re the prince of the Empire. Yule Argos is kind only to the strong. Any hints of kindness you otherwise see is just false, a persona shown to keep him from being too universally hated.” Jonathan explained, a breeze fluttering through the train at his words making him frown.

“I said a bit too much there… suffice to say I dislike the man. He is strong, and when it comes to fighting he is to be respected… but Yule Argos is innately a horrible person.” Jonathan finally answered, the wind blowing through the train calming down slightly.

There was silence through the train, only offset by the rhythmic swaying of the carriage itself, side to side, until eventually the train stopped at their destination, Valour Academy.

“Well, it’s a bit different than Elem, that’s for sure.” Kazuya said with a single raised eyebrow, noting that while Elem was grand, it had a simple architecture.

Valour on the other hand, seemed… gaudy, the walls covered in flowing and ‘elegant’ patterns of flowers and other such things, marble, bright, and clearly, very expensive.

“Yeah… very elitist place, Valour is.” Edward said with an awkward chuckle, clearly well aware of what the place looked like… even Jade, wealthy as she was, didn’t quite seem comfortable with the appearance of the academy.

“Oh come now dear, if it were less than this, it wouldn’t fit someone of our stature, would it?” a feminine voice rang out and Edward stiffened as if struck by lightning, turning his head slowly to the side to look at who spoke.

While Edward was doing that, the rest of the seven had already turned to look at the girl, her long, straight blue hair, along with a purple hair pin to keep her hair out of her face, the girl was tall, somewhere between Kazuya and Vince in height, with a very statuesque body.

Then again, as the popular saying went, there were no ugly Sages.

As for who this girl was…

“Ah… Mary… it’s good to see you.” Edward said, despite the stiffness in his appearance his smile was definitely wide. So wide it might be considered a bit plastered on.

“You don’t write, you don’t call, and you don’t visit… what kind of fiancé are you anyway?” The girl, Mary, replied to Edward’s greeting with a key bit of information…

“Ooh, that’s the fiancé huh? Lucky you Ed.” Vince whispered, elbowing Edward in the side, Edward moving in time with the shove in an altogether limp fashion.

Kazuya watched the reaction with a subtle frown, already seeing that Edward wasn’t exactly… happy, with seeing his fiancé for some reason.

“I, I’m sorry, it’s just publically… I’m not supposed to be here…” Edward tried to explain, as it was a fact, any students of Elem being in Regalia was a definite sign of doing a mission in the capital, and as a prince his public presence was huge even if he did nothing.

Really, Edward wouldn’t be mentioning it to anyone, but there was a case when he was younger and slipped down some stairs and there was a huge newspaper article about it… he was the crown prince after all, since Gregory gave up all claim to the throne after joining the military.

So Edward being back would definitely be ‘big news’ which was to be avoided.

“Ah, I understand then. So, are those weaklings around you your classmates?” The girl answered with a calm smile, her words on the other hand, were anything but gentle in comparison to her tone.

“Hey… did you just call us weak?” Jade asked, a frown adorning her face, the beautiful Mary hiding her mouth behind her hand as she giggled, nodding.

“Well of course. We’ve seen the list of opponents for the next International Juniors, and well, from my count, only three of you qualified? My fiancé, the one with the bow there who seems roughly as strong, and that small girl who feels… odd.” Mary looked at Liza with a narrowed gaze, clearly confused.

Jonathan, standing and looking at the interaction, hid his reaction, frowning internally at the sight of Mary.

“Hey, Mary, what are you doing… oh, are those some Elem High scrubs?” a new voice, male, called out, and the S-Class looked to the source of the voice.

Hair the colour of molten gold, and eyes which seemed a dark wine colour, and on his back, a sword, the handle hinting that it was a western type straight sword, and judging by the end, it was most likely a bastard sword, wider and heavier than a long sword, but not large enough to be a ‘great sword’.

“Oh, Norman, I was just greeting fellow students. I heard one of them is even an Essence Sage like you!” Mary’s response got a narrowing of the eyes from the boy before he dashed forward.

There was a rough burst of air, and a loud metallic smashing sound as Norman appeared in front of Kazuya, his sword being blocked by Liza’s Nirvana staff.

“Hey, back off shorty. This is between Essence Sages.” Norman glared, Liza returning the glare with equal vehemence.

“Attack again, and I’ll hurt you myself.” Liza responded, and Norman stared into her eyes for a moment before scoffing, pulling his sword back and sheathing it.

“Tch. Hey, Essence Sage… you’re from Elem… so Hiiro Kazuya right?” Norman spat out, and Kazuya couldn’t help but wonder…

“Why are you so angry?” Kazuya asked, his question drawing wide eyes from Norman before he turned, grinding his teeth in annoyance.

“…I hate the weak. I hate the parasites who leech off of the strong. You didn’t even react to my attack.” Norman’s words were not wrong, Kazuya hadn’t even readied his bow, summoned his Armament, a Clad, tried to dodge, nothing.

“So you hate my apparent weakness?” Kazuya asked, looking at the first other Essence Sage he had ever met.

“Yeah… Bisset and Alvez were more interesting than you…” Norman walked away, going into the school building ahead of them.

“At least he backed off! Norman usually doesn’t care if he is told to stop… the strongest get privileges like that after all.” Mary said with another giggle, turning to the entrance to the school building, motioning for the group to follow her.

“Hey… Kazuya.” Edward whispered to his friend as they followed Mary, their guide in the school apparently.

“No need. I get it.” Kazuya interrupted Edward’s words, already knowing what Edward wanted to say.

“Well, if you get it, fine. But just so you know… he is Norman Granz. He’s considered the strongest in this place.” Edward warned, and Kazuya could definitely see that… but…

“That’s not an issue.” Kazuya really didn’t care that much about being attacked by the strongest student in Valour. It wasn’t that important at the moment.

Kazuya was instead focusing on the strange feeling going through his chest from the moment he locked eyes with Norman…

“Why… am I sad?” Kazuya wondered, extremely uncertain as to why he would feel sad meeting someone for the first time… why did Kazuya ask Norman that question?

It was all confusing to Kazuya, and standing close enough to hear his whispers, Liza frowned… but she said nothing.

Kazuya would eventually learn… not yet though.

“Ah, here we are, Principle Yule’s office. Well, I’m going to go train now, call me later, okay dear?” Mary asked with a small smile, though with how tight her grip on Edward’s wrist was, clearly she was not happy.

“D-d-definitely…” Edward stuttered, calming down slightly when his wrist was released and Mary skipped away… he also made sure to look at his classmates, and after making sure they didn’t notice, shook his wrist to get the blood flowing again.

Jonathan was the only one who noticed, and narrowed his eyes.

Learning information about your opponents before the fight wasn’t a bad thing after all, and while it would be a bit unfair to his students to keep it from them… Jonathan wasn’t going to be giving them help on a silver platter either.

There was no doubt that Mary and Norman would both be among the eight Valour Academy students that would be showing up at the International Juniors after all.

“Ah, Jonathan… do come in.” the voice rang out from the room just as Jonathan placed his hands on the doors, drawing a frown from the teacher which he hid from his students.

“Hello, Yule.” Jonathan said as he entered, letting his students follow him into the room, letting them see the King of Ice.

“Oh, these must be your students, second years from the report correct? And all dual Element Sages… or rarer…” The blue eyes which seemingly lacked focus looked to the students, roaming over Vince, Tony, Jade and Leah in quick succession before slowing down on Kazuya, Liza and Edward.

“Your highness, it’s a pleasure… I find it sad that you joined Elem instead of my own Valour Academy, but I do hope you are happy where you are.” The man spoke, clearly addressing Edward, who nodded with an awkward smile.

“Good day sir, and yes, I’m happy at Elem.” Edward said, and Yule nodded, his eyes then going to Kazuya.

“And you, you would be Hiiro Kazuya… your parents are quite skilled, and it looks as if you are an Essence Sage… perhaps a lucky star shines upon your family, for two successive generations to hold such potential.” It was clearly a bit of exaggeration, but Kazuya could only respond with a smile and nod of gratitude…

It was definitely a bit odd, for a non-established family of Sages to consecutively possess talented descendants…

“And the Time Sage… I do believe Donovan has adopted you? He was bragging quite a bit about you when last we communicated, so proud of his daughter.” Liza, like the two before her, accepted the praise, no smile or emotion on her face.

“Hm… well, Jonathan, I acknowledge the presence of you and your students within my ‘territory’. By the way, prince…” Yule spoke, finally standing up from behind his desk, revealing his form.

Much like Donovan, one would not think that the King of Ice was an up close fighter by his apparent physique, the suit he wore was crisp clean, but flowed in a way that hinted that his actual limbs did not quite ‘fill out’ his clothes, the man was definitely tall though, about two, two point one metres?

“You are similar to Donovan and I, or at least think so, correct?” Yule walked out from behind his desk, everyone else in the room standing still as the King of Ice stopped in front of Edward.

“Attack me.” Yule said, and after a beat, Edward launched a punch aimed at Yule’s stomach, a bang sound ringing out as Yule blocked the blow with a single finger.

“I get it now… clearly, Donovan hasn’t actually taught you.” Yule frowned while speaking, Edward staring at the single finger which blocked a full strength blow without issue with a hint of fear in his eyes.

Well, it was to be understood, Kings were thousands of times stronger than lower ranked Sages after all.

“Donovan and I are both physical fighters, but we are of different types. Donovan focused on wide spread destruction, and despite his Element, the King of Metal uses very fluid, supple techniques to fight, a ‘soft’ martial artist essentially.” Yule spoke, some of the phrases a bit strange to the students, but the idea was at least conveyed to some extent.

“As for myself, I use the ‘hard’ techniques, and focus on pin-point destruction… and in truth, between Donovan and I, I am stronger at close range.” That was definitely a surprise, the King of Metal was considered stronger than the King of Ice, but at their preferred ranges it seemed that the King of Ice was stronger.

“As you are right now, you are closer to myself in fighting style than Donovan. I recommend you learn ‘soft’ martial arts. And I will also ask that you do one exercise.” Yule explained, before Edward was suddenly knocked slightly back, dropping to his knees as he gasped and coughed, struggling to take in a deep breath.

The only reason no one moved, was because Jonathan held out a hand to prevent the students from moving.

They were angry at the sight of their friend being attacked suddenly, but their anger was worthless before the might of a King… even if Yule did have a bad intention, there was no way they’d survive this close to him.

“That feeling, that feeling of running out of air… your body craving for more…” Yule knelt, placing a palm on Edward’s shoulder, no one having even seen how Yule hit Edward before the prince dropped to the floor.

Edward, still gasping for air, looked up… and was met with the still unfocused eyes of Yule Argos.

“Cherish that feeling. Train continuously until you reach this point… and then keep going. Until you can use your full strength even in this state. Until you can fight for hours, even in this state.” Edward felt fear now.

Edward was beginning to realize why Jonathan said that Yule Argos was terrifying.

“Training in this state will drastically tire you out, your stamina consumption will be much higher than normal… but it also lets your muscles operate much more efficiently. Remember that prince. Efficiency is to be sought after.” Yule said, a small smile on his face before he stood, turning from the group in clear dismissal as Edward passed out from the lack of air.

It would be an hour later, seated outside a café that Edward woke up, gasping for air.

“Back with the living huh? I think I’d be knocked out too, if a King hit my solar plexus like that.” Jonathan spoke, sliding a cup of tea to Edward after noticing the movement of his student.

“What… oh… right.” Edward sat, quietly, looking around and noticing his friends sitting nearby, smiling and waving at him to let him know they saw he woke up.

“Yeah, Yule’s advice was not wrong… but I see you understand a bit of what makes him scary now?” Jonathan asked, gesturing for his other students to come closer and join the conversation.

“Yes sir… he… the King of Ice, does not care.” Edward finally spoke out the source of the fear that gripped his heart upon meeting the eyes of Yule Argos.

“Ah, you get it then.” Jonathan said, taking a sip of his tea, the others in the second year S-Class thinking on Edward’s words.

“I met his eyes, and yet… it felt like his eyes did not see me. They were looking past me, as if I was inconsequential. He sounds kind, and his advice is true, but…” Edward now realized it.

When Edward met Yule long ago, Edward had not the insight nor the knowledge to classify this ‘wrongness’ with the King of Ice, but now-

“The King of Ice doesn’t care. His words make it sound like he does. His actions make it seem like he does. But his eyes show that he doesn’t. Not only that, but… he never even spoke to you four.” Edward said, glancing at the four ‘lower-ranked’ among their class.

“…Yeah.” Vince admitted, a frown on his face, Jade, Tony and Leah all frowning in turn.

Yes, there was a definite gap between those four and the upper three, a uniqueness that made them ‘better’.

Kazuya, who held the Essence Element, Liza who controlled Time itself, and Edward who possessed three Elements, more than the normal one, and more than the rare two.

Their ‘base’ was different from the ‘base’ the other four possessed… the gap could be closed by training and ability, as demonstrated when Vince defeated Edward in a spar, but it was nonetheless there.

For if Edward trained and progressed at the same pace as Vince, would Edward not remain victorious?

“He sees those four as negligible, and the only reason he spoke to you so much was because you are both the crown prince, and a martial artist like him. If Kazuya or Liza were martial artists, he would have focused more on them than you.” Jonathan explained bluntly, a breeze blowing through the area for a moment.

“Now you’ve come face to face with the ‘Tundra’. Keep the experience in mind. By the way, for the rest of you, best to also consider the advice of that monster. It doesn’t matter as much to all of you, but having more stamina will never be a bad thing.” Jonathan explained, watching the ripples in his cup with a smile as the breeze flowed.

It was definitely a learning experience, the group couldn’t deny… but there was still someone considering the day, specifically, Norman Granz.

“Mary, what did you find out?” Norman spoke, sharpening his blade carefully, bit by bit.

“I won’t sell out my fiancé… but the other two are definitely not going to really be easy.” Mary explained, standing in the corner of the room as she watched Norman work.

“The Essence user seemed… lacklustre. The other one though… she was definitely dangerous.” Norman admitted, still staring at his blade, Mary looking away from him as she held out her hand, a small crystal of Ice forming.

“You get any sensations from the encounter?” Mary asked, knowing that Norman was… strange, for lack of a better term. There was an odd ‘first-impression’ that would occur when he met certain people.

It was apparently the same for the other Essence Sages, each feeling something upon meeting each other.

“…Jealousy. With a hint of… something else.” Norman himself couldn’t identify what he felt upon encountering Hiiro Kazuya, but he knew well that a part of what he felt was jealousy, and that feeling angered him…

Why, why would he be jealous of this weaker Essence User? Why would Norman feel jealousy towards the weak?

“And anything from the Time user?” There was no proof that he’d get a ‘first-impression’ from Liza von Krown, but Mary asked, knowing that Norman was the type of person who needed a person to ‘speak with’ to clear his mind.

Mary was only asking questions to help Norman think, it was actually something the principal asked her to do, if only because Norman could actually tolerate her… if anyone weaker than Mary tried, he’d just ignore them at best, or attack them at worst.

“Norman is a solitary person, but to become stronger, interaction is needed. So please help him.” That was what principal Yule told Mary, and she didn’t mind… She herself didn’t really bother with weak people either.

“I did feel something upon meeting that girl…” Norman raised his blade from the whetstone, tilting it in the light of the setting sun to see the gleam, nodding when he found no nicks and warps on the edge.

“I felt rage.” Norman said, and paradoxically this was the calmest Mary had ever heard him be, the rage bubbling on the surface was seemingly calm, and yet, if one were to listen to his words…

“I felt an extreme desire to kill her right then and there. If it weren’t for that teacher…” Norman admitted, his jaw tense as he recalled the teacher, Jonathan, who warned Norman with but a glare that if Norman did something that Jonathan disapproved of, Norman would be attacked.

“…Huh. That’s much more extreme than what happened with the others.” Mary said, recalling the other two Essence Sages which they had met in India when the last International Juniors were held there.

“Faina Alvez made me feel exhausted and cautious, and Raphael made me feel relaxed… yeah, those two were alright.” Norman admitted, recalling the strength of those two, knowing that while he was stronger, both of them had a decent chance at defeating him, Faina more so than Raphael.

“Those first-impressions are definitely interesting to hear, though it’s weird that you get them in the first place.” Mary admitted, blinking her wide eyes with a smile on her face, getting a glance from Norman before he shook his head.

“That act doesn’t work on me. Your ‘dear’ was also someone who gave me an impression by the way.” Mary blinked, slightly surprised by that, as Edward was definitely unique, but not in the same way as the others who gave Norman those feelings.

“Oh he did? What feeling did you get from my fiancé?” Mary asked, still smiling despite Norman complaining about it.

“Hm… acceptance… and weariness.” Norman said, sheathing his blade after a long period of making sure it was chip free.

Mary always found it strange that Norman took such meticulous care of his blade despite never actually using it in a serious fight.

“We shouldn’t have any issues facing those three though, right?” Mary asked with a raised brow, Norman taking the chance to think before looking up to her from where he sat on the floor.

“All three can defeat us with a bit of luck and effort on their part, that girl that stopped me is the most dangerous… but something about the Essence User is also disturbing me.” Norman couldn’t explain it correctly, as he struggled understanding his own feelings at most times when they weren’t anger.

“You noticed it too, huh? His hands, neither his pointer nor middle finger had drawstring lines.” Mary explained what had Norman so confused when looking at the boy carrying the bow, and now that it was actually said, Norman’s eyes widened a bit.

“A bow isn’t his main weapon. He seems to either be learning it, dabbling or possibly having the bow to trick us, but it isn’t his main weapon… judging from his hands… it’s a melee weapon, and the bumps and bruises…” Mary giggled, watching Norman go into a focused state in an attempt to understand what weapon Hiiro Kazuya used.

“…I’d say a pole-arm of some kind.” Norman finally stopped, and Mary raised a brow, visible to the seated Essence Sage, prompting him to explain.

“Whatever weapon he used could be held in either hand, but he didn’t only have swing-type bruises, he had other ones as well, letting me know that whatever weapon he uses can be used in a thrusting manner as well, meaning it’s highly likely that it isn’t a hammer or other blunt weapon. A spear most likely.” Norman finally theorized, his eyes glinting as he frowned.

Mary already knew where this was going and walked away, leaving Norman to stew in his anger… no doubt, mad that Hiiro Kazuya did not have his main weapon to battle Norman with earlier in the day.

Mary on the other hand, just felt amusement… at those leeches who latched on to her fiancé. She’d remove them eventually.

Mary, Norman, Yule Argos, they all had a similar thought process… the weak were inconsequential, while the strong were to be treasured.

There were circumstances behind each of their views, ranging from innocent dislike, hatred of oneself for previous weakness or even just a lack of care, but this was how they thought.

“If they are worth less than me, aren’t they worthless?” Mary considered with a smile, thinking to those four who she felt were weaker and less important than her fiancé…

Mary would keep an eye on them though, the weak liked to try and climb up to the level of the strong, maybe they’d succeed, but she doubted it.

Yule Argos watched Mary leave the school grounds from the window of his office, his eyes as unfocused as they always were…

No, that was incorrect, Yule thought, looking over to his computer, seeing a report sent by Donovan regarding the upcoming International Juniors taking place in Regalia within a month.

Yule had focus in spades… but he was also a believer in ‘efficiency’. He would not act unless it was necessary, and so he only focused on things that were important, ignoring the rest.

Yule’s eyes focused, looking at the report, a smile coming across the face of the King of Ice subconsciously.

The only people the ‘Tundra’ cared for was his fellow Kings, more specifically-

“Ah Donovan… I can’t wait until we fight once more.” Yule’s eyes shone with madness in their depths…