.

Lucas is seen running in haste, going towards where Rust is, Yuri, his servant is silently following through his shadow, avoiding the people's eyes around them.

Avoiding all the people he crossed with, Lucas spoke towards Yuri, he is worried about Rust, after hearing the news from Yuri.

"Crap, Yuri, why did you only tell me in the morning that Rust will be moved to the school's dungeon," he said,

He tried to defend himself, trying his best not to remember what he said to Yuri last night.

"Seriously? You ask me that master, You fell asleep remember" Yuri tried to humor itself, she also noticed how worried Lucas is,

(Rustain, I hope you're okay)

Lucas rushed further, thinking about the case he also remembered the autopsy report he found, the image of the dismembered body immediately flashed in his mind.

Yuri tell me what you found, is there anything weird about the body?" Lucas said as he tried to confirm something,

"Master this will be a long report"

"Don't worry, I'll be listening as"

"Master we're busy running, I doubt that you'll even understand what I'm going to tell" Yuri again tried to humor but Lucas already fed off it and just brushed it off.

"Just tell me, I'm not that dumb"

"Now I'm worried for your friend, how did he end up being friends with you"

"Just tell me already, Yuri"

*sigh...*

••••••••••••

On the lowest floor of the detention building lies the dungeon,

The dungeon stone walls are cold to the touch, rodents festered the place, and the smell of sewers filled the prison rooms, in the far corner is a cell.

Reinforced iron bars, chains hang on the ceiling, and tied on it is Rust (Hyeon-jun),

Wounds, cuts, and bruises are all over his body.

*water splash*

*cough, cough*

A tall man in his late thirties threw a bucket of cold water over Rust, beside him is a man wearing the most luxurious trinkets and jewelry you can imagine.

Covering his body with gold and precious jewelry, with each step he took, it clings to one another, filling the dungeon with the sound of wasted money on a pig's body.

The man walked closer to Rust, he gave Rust the most annoyed look he can muster out with all the fats his body have,

"Tch, this isn't enough for what happened to my son"

"Duke, the boy is waking up," the servant says

The cold water slowly sipped into Rust waking up his awareness around him, as he open his eyes he could barely see who was in front of him,

(Ugh, my head hurts, no everything hurts, what the hell happen)

(The last thing I remembered was this nobleman who was introduced as the Duke of Hustol, he barged in yelling at me, then? ah, that's right,)

(They bring me to this underground prison and tortured me)

"Hey brat, wake up" the servant raised his hand and slaps Rust, "The duke, has something to say to you"

The ringing sound overwhelmed Rust's ears,

(Ugh, everything is still so hazy, I can't see his face)

"You better listen well, the humiliation you did to my son will be paid back full"

(Humiliation?)

After contemplating what the man told him, everything slowly sinks in, he realized that everything was made up.

"Ah, I see it makes sense now, Hahahaha" Rust laughed madly,

"Have you lost your mind boy?"

Rust raises his head despite the injury and spits directly on the face of his torturer.

"Gonduzianberge, he alive, I knew something was off"

(But where are my spirits? Why haven't they returned yet? I can still feel their energy in me, I should try to break the chains)

Rust began to channel his spirit magic, he felt the surge of energy following in his body,

The chains that bind him began to shake violently, the wall started to crack, and he started to give off strong magical pressure towards his foes,

"Blasphemy, I thought these chains would suppress his magic power, what's happening?"

Duke Hustol and his henchmen began to panic, their stance began to stagger on one another.

"Sir, I d-don't know, ah!" the servant panicked when the ceiling began to fall apart,

"Crap, let's go, he told us he can't use his magic"

The nobleman and his servant started to run away,

Rust saw this and tried to release a strong elemental energy tongue chains, trying to unbind him, he noticed something,

His magic is dissipating, the shaking stopped and Rust was baffled, his eye wide and his body became even paler, the father of Gonduzianberge noticed this,

"Huh?, you dumb brat, you almost got me!!" he came back, garbing a metal bat near him, he used it to hit Rust as hard as he can, "you think you're the best? Don't let your title get into your head, the mysterious and glorified Marquis households, but now you began to show yourself up, it stirred the whole royal faction"

The mad noble kept on hitting him until Rust bled,

"Tell me, boy, what does your family plan to do, your family was so quiet until now, so what do you guys want to accomplish" the Duke continued,

(Like the sound of it, the family I reincarnated to, seems to be secluded, even I want to what will I answer to him, I don't even know an ounce of the historical backgrounds of the Marquis, an outsider who happens to occupy this body, but even if so the household were all kind to me, even if they told me some family secrets I'll not share even a pinch of it)

That glared towards the Duke in silence,

(I want to fight back but my powers, even my spirits aren't responding, just how helpless am I? Without them,)

"You won't talk? If that's the case then how about another torture session, hand me the hot iron bars"

He raised the hot iron bars towards Rust, but he was stopped when the president of the student committee stepped in out of nowhere,

"Sir, I would stop if I were you, what your doing is crossing the line, now how about you step out, I got something to discussed with the Marquis's young master" Trevor walk inside the cell stopping the duke, he gave him a wide smile and a chilling aura

"Sir? Have you no respect boy, your father is still alive and you are nothing but an heir in name only"

(Trevor? I guess he knew this would happen, cunning bastard, waiting until I'm all beat up,)

Rust bit his lip and like it was instinct his body responded as he saw Trevor

"Yes," Rust said,

Trevor smiled hearing Rust said that, like his chess piece that moved on the right place he tried his best not to show it to Rust,

"Hey, now you won't even ask why?" he said sarcastically,

"What's the point? I've beaten up already I just want to get the hell out of here and sleep on my bed" the only thing Rust can say,

The duke looked confused as he continued to the two youngsters talking in front of him, he felt the uneasiness feeling sipping in his spine,

"Fine, if you say so" Trevor snaps his finger, and an envelope floats towards the duke, "duke mind reading this before you think of continuing the case"

As it landed on his hand the duke immediately understood what will happen,

"This is, your just like your father, a snake"

"A compliment I must say, thank you"

The duke could only click his young out of anger as he read the contents of the file,

Rust felt the irony of what is happening,

•••••••

Lucas runs as fast as he can, when he heard all about the weird magic fluctuations on the corps body from Yuri, also the synthetic life magic place on it,

He even began to question, '(then whose body was it?)'

(Based on what Yuri told me, the body was cast transfiguration magic on it to make it look and feels like Gonduzianberge, in short there just framing Rustain, and Gonduzianberge is hiding somewhere)

"Master, up ahead look"

"Huh?"

Lucas stopped when he saw the duke of house Hustol come out of the dungeon all red, his narrowed eyes looking as if they could kill anyone who meets it.

But he didn't stop because of the duke but because of the person behind him, Trevor.

"What's he doing here? Wait, is that Rustain?Rust!"

Behind Trevor is Rust, lying on a stretcher unconscious, the guards carried him towards the clinic.

Lucas rushed towards Rust and clashes with Trevor,

"Trevor, whatever your planning keep Rustain out of it"

"Well, it isn't Luciose wait, you preferred to be called Lucas, yes? Sorry but he and I strike a deal, and he agreed to it, so I can't abide by what you said"

Trevor left afterward, walking away from the scene, his wide grin and calculating look were almost shown towards Lucas, he left with that on his face.

Lucas followed Rustain as he was to be carried towards the clinic.

Lucas could only look and hope for the best,

•••••

(Huh?)

"Where am I?" Rust woke up,

He looks around him and noticed Lucas beside him and Lucas also noticed this,

He immediately went to Rust and checked his body,

"You're awake, is your body okay now? The doctor here is first-class they should've healed you completely" he said,

"I see no wonder I feel light as a feather-like literally" Rust replied,

He sat up and Lucas assisted him,

"That's the side effects, of healing magic, just try not to use your magic, for now, it'll interrupt the healing process" Lucas explained,

"Noted," Rust nodded

"I heard from the guards that the Hustol's pulled out their charges against you, what happens," Lucas said as if he wants to clarify something,

"Nothing, Trevor helped out," Rust said which made Lucas even more uneasy,

Lucas narrowed his eyes as he looks at Rust, he showed how worried he is and the disagreement with Rust decision, (he shouldn't have asked that snake for help)

"What did he ask you to do, didn't I told you to never associate with the student body, Trevor is-" he tried to give Rust a reason to redraw his decision but Rust assured him,

"I know what you mean, um, as I experienced it first hand, don't think too much of it, in return for his help he asked me to join the committee, that's all" Rust explained,

Lucas understood immediately Trevor's intention,

"It's the battle royal, no need to coat anything, I know him, he'll use anyone like chess pieces" his voice soured,

"I guess you know him then, he after the prize for the championship" Rust further explained,

"I see why, battle royal is held every 4 years, he'll graduate by then, for now, you better rest let's meet again tomorrow"

Lucas left a gloomy atmosphere, Rust realized this but what can we do, the deed is done.

Lucas left the room, Rust contemplated his action if ever he chose the right one or not,

(Better not think of it that much, I'll just regret it later)

He told himself trying to reassure his decision was the right thing.

••••••••••

Morning came and after the doctors gave his the approval for him to go back to his dorm room, he left the clinic,

When he arrived to his room he noticed that Lucas was not in their room,

Rust prepared himself and is on his way out of his room, dressed in his school uniform, he continued to contemplates during the morning about whether his decision to accept Trevor's help is the best choice,

"Hmm, where did Lucas go?"

|Maybe he went for a stroll?|

"Look who's talking, you guys were not there, so much for the power of spirits"

Rust left the room, his conflicted feelings about if he ever relying on his contacted spirits again after what happens remains,

(Just why do the problems keep on staggering one by one, one problem after the other, did I cause a massacre in my past life to be punished like this?)

He walked down the hall a familiar voice stopped him and a uplifting feeling passed on him suddenly, elevating his mood,

Rust instantly felt at ease,

"And where are you going?" Lucas stood behind Rust, his smug face and free-spirited character always left others a smile on their faces.

"I thought you were against my decision?" Rust protest,

Lucas laughed a little,

"Who told you, I just mentioned that you need rest, so are you going to meet Trevor?" Lucas asked

"You guessed it, how about you?"

"I'm following my friend, what else?"

Rust wide his eyes, he looked stunned,

"You mean you'll join the council" he clarifies Lucas's intention.

"What do you think I did during the morning, how about let's just do our best during these four years in the Academy," Lucas walked towards Rust, he patted his shoulders and gave him a warm smile.

"I see, battle royal it is," he smiled back to his friend.

(Then this is a new page on my story then, I wonder how the four years staying on this school will change me)

•••••••••