The previous day was eventful for Cyziel. He learned quite some new interesting and important things which includes the journals that he found. Today, he was back on just testing new magical theories and tempering his body with the mystical energies. He was currently sitting in a criss-cross position in his bed. His eyes were closed and sweat covered his body. The air around him was filled with energies that are agitatedly swirling.

Cyziel suddenly opened his eyes with a serious look. The energies seemed to have scattered. Hmm... I guess... I am hungry. I think I haven't eaten for today yet. I probably need to look for a place to eat.

Cyziel stretched his hand as he quickly moved down from his bed. He quickly took a bath and changed his clothes. As usual, he wore a hooded outfit with a mask like an assassin. He did not want to easily be recognized after all.

"Not bad. I still look pretty great even when I can't see half my face." Cyziel chuckled, looking at himself in the mirror. Should I invite Volus and Ortix? But they are probably not here again. I'll probably just eat quickly by myself.

Cyziel went down using the elevator. Some other people in the corridors stopped as they saw him but didn't really approach him. He was not sure if they are students or teachers but he also didn't really want to socialize with them so he quickly proceeded to walk out of the dormitory.

They don't recognize me do they? Cyziel thought. The students living in the dormitories are not really just top students. They are usually rich students who reserve rooms just because they can or those students studying here who came from other villages since they couldn't always go home everyday. The reason why they are some students who studies here from other villages was that Styrtan village as a whole has a better standing than most outskirt villages.

Cyziel first checked the canteen. It has become his go to location since there are lots of dishes for him to choose from and a lot of it are familiar to him. Unfortunately, the canteen was full this time. It was probably because today was the last day before the weekend so a lot of people are hanging in the canteen with their friends.

He decided to eat outside of the institute. He proceeded to go to the main gate of the school. He saw some other students fighting but it was quite normal for a school which focuses on getting the students stronger. Still, he felt some other people staring at him again. He didn't think that he is being suspicious. He is not the only one wearing a hood or a mask.

Hmm.. Am I just being too cautious? They can look as much as they want though.

After arriving outside the institute, he could see some people following him. This time, he was sure that those looking at him from before are not just a coincidence. They seem to have been planning something just from the start. He still pretended to not notice them as he started to increase his pace.

The people following him also started to get faster. They are trying to stay quite a respective distance so they wouldn't be noticed which is if course already useless because Cyziel already knew about them. Cyziel changed his direction quite a few times. He did not run or further increase his speed so that the people pursuing him would be able to follow.

They soon reached a location in the village that seem to lack of people. There are only a few placed that have a few people in the Styrtan village since it houses a lot of people who are tasked to guard and keep the region of hope safe. This village is the first wall of defense in case creatures from the southern forest invade or a new violent race appears in the aether storms.

One of the only few empty places was near the eastern wall. It was empty not because people do not want to live here. In contrast, it was actually planned for development. It was not that far from the institute and the subdivision for the rich which was located in the northeastern wall. The location was planned for new commercial businesses and condominiums.

Currently though, the place was full of abandoned and bulldozed buildings. Crushed rocks litter the areas of the ground. There were some large machines that are still in the process of being assembled that would be used for construction. There were also some large vehicles that are left in the roads. The only people that can be seen in the area were two people located in a temporarily constructed tower. It seems that construction for today was halted.

The people following Cyziel was confused. They did not know why he went to this place but it was still pretty favorable for them. One of them increased his speed and revealed himself as he stopped in front of Cyziel.

"Is there something I could do for you?" Cyziel sarcastically asked.

"Are you Cyziel?" The stranger asked. Like Cyziel, he was also wearing a black hooded outfit but soft metallic sounds could be heard whenever he moved.

"And who might want to know?"

"You don't need to know. Just tell me if you are Cyziel." The stranger staunchly ordered.

"And what if I am?"

"Then you should follow us."

"And if I don't?"

"Then we have no choice but resort to force." The stranger intimidatingly answered. He then snapped his finger which created quite an audible sound.

The four other pursuers of Cyziel appeared behind him. Two of which are students that he saw looking at him inside the campus. They pulled out their respective weapons. One was equipped with a sword. One wields a staff. Another has a metallic cannon attached to his arm while the last one ignited his two hands with flames.

"If I am Cyziel then you should have heard of what I am capable right?" Cyziel curiously inquired.

"A level 6 rank in 3 elements. Lightning, Earth and Wind. An adept with an age no more than 18. A true absolute genius. Comparable to those people in the larger kingdoms or the capital." The stranger smirked. "Unfortunately, you are still quite too young. You are still not strong enough to challenge us."

"You are quite confident of yourselves." Cyziel remarked, smiling at his opponent.

"The two people behind you are maximas of your school. What is more, they are ranked 10 and 14. They have heard that you have beaten a rank 40 maxima so they were quite curious if you are really that strong."

"Well, they could try if they want!"

"You heard him!" The stranger looked at the two, signaling them to attack.

The guy wielding a sword and the one with flames on his hand stepped forward. The swordsman reinforced his sword with sharpness and used explosive feet before charging towards Cyziel. He slashed at Cyziel. The magician, at the same time, started to cast a fireball.

Earth essences started to gather in Cyziel's hand as he made a rock shield to block the sword that came to his right. He then pushed the sword back with his shield. As for the fireball coming from his left, he slapped it away with his left hand.

The swordsman then jump away to a safe distance before trying to enchant his sword with lightning. As for the mage, seeing as his previous spell didn't work, he casted a stream of fire towards him.

The fire didn't really pose much a threat to Cyziel as he casually blocked it with the palm of his left hand but it still kept him occupied. This allowed the swordsman to prepare for his next attack. With just the right distance between him and Cyziel, the swordsman was able to increase his momentum as he stabbed at Cyziel's shield. The force of his stab and the increase power and sharpness due to his enchantment was able to successfully stab at the shield.

Cyziel rotated his body counterclockwise to dodge the sword. He then jumped back to gain some space. The mage rotated his own body and continued targeting him with the stream of fire. His plan was to keep distracting him. Cyziel then made stone bullets then shot it towards the mage. The mage immediately created an aether barrier to block the bullets.

The swordsman charged again. Cyziel then release water essences then formed an ice sword. His opponent knew that he could use other elements. The ability to use more than three elements was rare but it is still possible. The one thing that surprised them was that Cyziel just casually created the sword in an instant. This means that his water affinity might not be that far from his other elements.

Cyziel battled the swordsman with his own sword while pelting stone bullets towards the mage. It didn't take long until the mage's aether energy was starting to get exhausted due to both defending and attacking. His stopped his attacks and focused on defending.

Cyziel already knew that the mage is not able to fight anymore. Since the mage was no fun for him anymore, he decided to end the battle with him. The stone bullets size started to get larger and they also started to travel faster. Even while the mage was using all his aether to defend, the Cyziel's stone bullets started to pierce his barrier. It barraged his body causing numerous major wounds on him.

Without the mage to distract Cyziel, he now focused on the swordsman. He created another ice sword with his left hand. This time, he was now overwhelming the swordsman using his two swords. It didn't take quite long before his enemy was muddled with scratches. With another swipe of his sword, his enemy's sword flew away.

The swordsman's hand was shaking. He could feel the strength of Cyziel with each hit. He knew that Cyziel's magic was said to be comparable to top maximas but he didn't think that his strength and fighting abilities was also the same. He knew that Cyziel's combat grade was also top notch because the ranks and grades are publicly visible. The thing is that Cyziel was also fighting other freshmen, so he didn't think that Cyziel would be good enough to fight him if he kept the battle in close combat.

"You are good. Unfortunately, I knew someone really good at swords. I haven't even beat him with it." Cyziel placed the edge of his sword on the neck of his opponent. "Are you not going to surrende--"

*Boom!* A metallic ball suddenly flew towards Cyziel from his left. Cyziel immediately reacted and slashed it before reaching him but it exploded pushing him away and causing him some injuries on his arm.

What is that? I actually got injured? Cyziel looked at the blood flowing on his left arm. His left arm and hand did immediately recover but it still didn't change the fact that he actually got hurt. He looked at his right and saw the guy with a cannon arm standing beside the mage. He suddenly remembered the aether storm and the militia who killed the non human creatures. He has seen those cannons before.

As for the mage, he was drinking some kind of blue beverage and eating some kind of pills. Cyziel could see that the mage was recovering his wounds and the pills was the same medicine that was given to him by Volare. It contained condensed aether energies that are processed so the body could easily take them.

He then looked at the swordsman. He was already missing from his previous location. He was now beside the person with a staff. It was a woman that was capable of healing magic. She was using fire based healing magic as the swordsman's cuts stopped bleeding.

"You won't blame me for suddenly attacking. Won't you?" The man with the cannon spoke.

"All is fair in a fight. I got to say though, I am quite curious about that weapon of yours. You were actually able to hurt me." Cyziel dispersed his ice swords before raising his left arm, showing the blood left suddenly evaporate.

The man frowned. He could see that it really didn't cause much damage against Cyziel. "You are not only an adept but you also cultivated your body to the advocate level. Still, it seems that you are able to bleed."

"Of course I could bleed. I am still human. Still, me bleeding doesn't mean that you would win." Cyziel replied as aether energy started to converge on his hand.

"You do understand that it would be hard for you to fight us all. Don't you?"

Cyziel smirked. He knew that he might need to get a little bit more serious if he wanted to beat them all but it still not that hard. "Why don't you try using that again against me? Maybe you could convince me to come with you!"

"Do you think that that was the hardest attack that this cannon can do?" The man scowled. The weapon that he was using was not only dependent on the aether crystals and the magical gems equipped with it. It could also take energy and essence from its user which creates an amplified version of the attack.

Cyziel did not really care about the man's warning. He just wanted to study the cannon that was used to hurt him. He just stood there and stared at them.

"Hmph! Don't say I didn't warn you!" The man fired his cannon. The metallic ball was even bigger than before. It launched at Cyziel at incredible speed.

Cyziel have no plans of dodging. He just reinforced his arm and hand with aether then stretched his hands towards the ball. The ball directly hit his hand. Cyziel felt the force of the ball as it hit him but he was able to successfully catch it.

He immediately tried to sense how the ball was made. Shit! There is fire essence inside!

Cyziel immediately put out the fire that was starting to be generated inside the ball, preventing it from exploding. He sighed with relief. That almost exploded. I see so it is just fundamentally creating a metallic ball using earth essence. There are also some kind of powder inside which are also made of earth essence. Finally, that fire was a delayed magic that is supposed to cause it to explode. This means that this powder is something flammable.

The man was looking at him perplexingly. It was the same for the other people around.

"Why did it not explode? Did the runes inside fail?"

"Here! you can have it back!" Cyziel threw the ball back towards the man causing him to dodge away. "I have no more use for it."

The ball fell down beside the mage who was still recuperating but the ball didn't explode. He was curious so he also extended his senses towards the ball and found that the fire essences inside are missing. "There are no fire essences inside. What did you do?"

"You have fire affinity. Can't you guess what I did? I distinguished it." Cyziel nonchalantly answered.

"That's impossible. That is not your fire!" The mage shouted.

"Well, didn't I stop your flames?"

"I can't tell if you are a genius or just stupid. Those are different! You have high magic resistance that's why you could easily block my attacks!"

Hmmm! Doesn't that just mean that I have great affinity with fire? Well, I have no need to explain everything to him. Cyziel thought.

"You really are quite capable. I could see now why they are cautious of you. I guess, I need to act." The stranger took off his cloak which revealed his bulky body and his face that are full of scars. But what was even more interesting was the metallic arms that he had.

"Interesting!" Cyziel uttered as he saw the man's arms. "But, I decided that I will come with you."

Cyziel could already end the fight here but he was actually more interested about the people that was trying to look for him. He wouldn't want this opportunity to escape. It was like serving the food directly to him. It would be better to root out all the possible problems that they might cause in the future. It would not really be an issue if he was still by himself but there are now other people that might be affected because of him. The great thing though was that his opponents are also trying to be discreet so he might actually be able to finish this without bringing attention to himself.

The stranger frowned. He could understood that Cyziel was not coming with him because he was scared, instead Cyziel was confident of his own safety. "Alright. Follow me." He turned around.

"Wait!" Cyziel shouted. "I want to eat first. Oh! You better treat me too."

"Are you mocking me?" The stranger furiously asked.

"Oh no! I was supposed to eat before you guys appeared. Anyway, I could just leave if you don't want to. I am confident that I could escape here if I want." Cyziel smirked.

The stranger's forehead creased. He understood from the previous fight that he might not really be able to keep him here even if he could beat him face on. What's more is that, two of them are already injured. His only choice was to agree. "Fine. Where do you want to eat?"