7 Erou Academy

The following morning,

Ryan walked into the classroom and sat casually at an empty desk at the end of the row by the window; wearing a crisp black blazer on top of his white shirt and beige pants as part of his school uniform.

Ryan tried ignoring the whispers in his surroundings.

A lot of girls seemed fascinated by this body's appearance, as some gazes never left his body.

Beauty standards in this world are much higher than the previous one, and as an antagonist, Hiro has one of the highest face values.

Interrupting his thought was the guy in front of him rotating his entire body to stare back at him.

Wearing round big eyeglasses, honey-colored eyes apparent by the glow of mana in them, he said cheerfully, "Good morning."

"Morning," Ryan answered shortly.

It looked like he stared too much at him in his absentmindedness, he attracted attention.

"Very short, huh? You seem like a socially anxious guy. If you wanted to be my friend that badly, you should have just said that. No need to be shy."

"When. Di—"

"You didn't have to stare at me like that." He winked.

"Ah..." Ryan wanted to apologize. "I'm- S..."

"By the way, I didn't see you at the entrance ceremony."

Ryan said, "special-" circumstances.

His words were cut short by the onslaught of the guy's next enthusiastic words.

"I'm sure I've seen everyone; you see that guy over there?"

He pointed at a guy yawning, seated in the front row, staring out the window, and said, "He's very memorable thanks to his black hair and eyes. It's rare to see someone with that appearance nowadays."

"Also, you should be wary of that girl with the extremely short skirt, brown hair, green eyes, and face full of makeup. I've seen her trying to seduce a teacher, and she currently has an eye on you."

"And that guy over there has a twin. His appearance looks kind, but I've seen him bully someone because he bumped into him." Taking a deep breath, he continued.

"And you see that blonde hair over there?" This time, he pointed at a guy seated alone on the other side of the room and spoke,

"You should count your blessings because you're not more handsome than him. If you were, you would have disappeared tomorrow from the face of this planet." He said it half-jokingly and moved on.

"And there is also that girl with pink hair who's very lovely and kind. She helped me pick up my books. She's really pretty, but it's better to stay away from her."

He warned and started back at Ryan seriously, "It's better to stay away from all of these people, as they would surely bully you."

Ryan had already decided to stay away from the main cast. All of them are crazy, weird people, so he better keep a distance, power up, get the mana stone, seal the gate between the two worlds, and quietly kill the demon king if possible.

However, he found it quite odd how this new classmate of his seemed so convinced that he was an easy target for bullying.

'Do I look like I can easily be bullied?' Ryan wondered as the guy blubbered on.

"Everyone in this academy is a potential bully; for example, that girl looks sweet, but I saw her spreading rumors_."

After speaking for a long time and pointing out every one of his classmates, the guy finally said, "By the way, my name is Jacob. What's your name?"

"I'm-"

Bang!

The door opened with a slam, and the whole class turned silent from the previous shattering noise.

Professor Mia entered the classroom, her eyes staring down at the students scurrying back to their seats.

Her hourglass figure and curvaceous hips attracted guys' attention.

Her wavy, long black hair gracefully slid down to her waist.

But contrary to her stunning figure, her words were ordinary but sounded unusually malicious: "I'm going to check the attendance, starting with you, Damion Oclixir."

"Here."

"Lisa Elsher," she continued.

"Present."

"Tracy Elenore."

"Here."

"Astin Buer."

"Here."

"Jacob Duncan."

"Here."

'What did she just say? Who did she just call, Jacob Duncan? As in, the greatest magician born in the last two centuries? Why is he here? Isn't he supposed to be at the tower of magic during this period of time? What is he doing in the academy?' Ryan was stunned into confusion.

"Ryan Cassier."

"???" A butterfly effect? That's not possible.

He hasn't done anything yet to cause a change. The fact that he didn't show up for the ceremony wouldn't make Jacob Duncan appear out of thin air.

"Ryan Cassier!" Mia shouted, enraged.

"Here." Responding to her calmly, Ryan was still shocked.

However, he wasn't the only one in shock.

'Wait a minute, wasn't his name Hiro? Did that mean that I transmigrated into a different novel, or maybe he's just like me?' looking back at the dazed, clueless golden eyes.

'There can only be one transmigrator, and that's me. I may be in a parallel world, or my intervention changed something already.' Jacob shook his head in denial.

After all, his godfather and that devil named 'the seer' were friends.

His sudden request to join the academy must have changed something.

Jacob nodded his head, convinced as he declared, 'I will definitely find the mana stone, kill the demon king, and save the antagonist from his fate of being bullied.'

The event matched the novel. So, it must be a butterfly effect.

Something like changing the name isn't worth mentioning.

'He didn't even have a name; Hiro is a name given to him by the seer.'

Jacob convinced himself and stopped thinking about it, treating his conclusion as a fact and focusing on Mia instead as he opened his textbook.

Meanwhile, Ryan was still contemplating,

'This guy must be a transmigrator. But how is that possible? WC didn't say anything.'

Ryan paused after realizing WC didn't say anything about him being the only outsider. Maybe he forgot about it or didn't think it was important to tell him.

'Maybe not an outsider but a reborn person,' Ryan shook his head. This person's personality didn't match the description.

Jacob Duncan was a character created only to make Aidan's life, as the head of the magic tower, more miserable.

His death turned the once dignified magician crazy, as he went after the protagonist with great power and momentum, only to die at the end.

If he was reborn and came for revenge, Ryan would consider that probability; however, he's different.

The person in front of him was outwardly very talkative, earnestly friendly, and suspiciously considerate of everyone inside the room as a potential bully.

'The novel's Jacob Duncan isn't the kind of person who'll throw himself in the heart of the storm to take revenge.'

'Though, I still can't reach a conclusion based on assumptions-' His line of thought was cut short by a shrill voice calling him out.

"Ryan Cassier, since you dare to daydream in my class, how about you read and explain page number 4."

Jacob got up from his seat with a book in his hand, and he started to read "Mana_."

"Sit down on your seat, Jacob." Mia roared in suppressed anger, her words coming out through gritted teeth.

"But I want to read." Jacob sat down weakly; his voice got weak under the professor's cold gaze.

Ryan was already up and staring at the book.

His vision changed when he absorbed the parasite; now he could detect the slightest difference in the air's radiation.

No longer limited to seeing only the overall shape of an object, except for the fact he can't see people's true appearance, he can still trace the slightest of details using their own aura as a medium.

He can currently detect the wrinkles and folds on Mia's dress, the way her body is shaped, the disapproving frown on her face, and the number of hairs on her eyelid, all visible with her murky, dark purple radiation.

His vision also included the words he previously failed to see when all his teachers were trying to force him into reading in the seer's mansion.

Opening the fourth page, he read one word at a time.

"Mana... existed. F- Fr from the beginning... of- time. It. Has. A. l... long. long - History..." Ryan bit his tongue as the entire class, except the main cast, burst into laughter.

Jacob said, flustered, "Stop laughing at Hiro. I mean Ryan."

However, no one listened to him, and Ryan didn't particularly care as he got his answer from Jacob's flustered words, 'This guy blew his own cover.'

"Guys stop; this isn't funny," Jacob slummed the table and looked at Ryan worriedly.

'He must be shocked,' Looking at Ryan's black face, Jacob felt angry and shouted in his head, 'Can't you all see he's hurt? How can these people call themselves future heroes??'

Fortunately, Jacob's anger seemed to convey itself; the laughter started to die down, and only a few snickering students remained.

Ding! Dong! Ding!

Professor Mia said, "Stop."

People stopped laughing and choking on their giggles as the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Mia's eyes landed on Jacob and then moved up to stare at Ryan; her gaze could send a chill down one's spin, but the two were unaffected.

"All dismissed," she said with a slight smirk hanging on her lips, leaving the classroom obviously pleased, unaware the two boys she was trying to scare only lowered their heads to not aggravate the situation.

Jacob left the classroom, dragging Ryan with him, to sit down in the cafeteria.

He asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

Ryan nodded.

Jacob shook his head and reprimanded, "You should talk more if you want to cure your stuttering."

Ryan nodded once again and said, "Okay."

"That woman is clearly targeting you for not answering her the first time. How petty," Jacob grumbled indignantly.

Unlike Ryan, who clearly saw Mia's attempt at scaring them with her aura, Jacob didn't feel anything.

"Yes." Ryan nodded seriously.

Professor Mia was a woman who never minded her own business, always trying to get her nails into what didn't matter to her, and was to a fault, a terrifically petty person who took pleasure in torturing others.

This academy's professors all graduated from here, as other superheroes' identities were strictly confidential and none of them worked in the academy for security reasons.

However, Mia was an exception due to her making trouble and damaging property for fun.

'She was punished to become a teacher, who would guide the younger generation, an extremely fitting punishment,' Thought Ryan sarcastically.

He shook his head to distract himself by habitually regulating the radiation flow in his body.

He attempted to use his power on the guy in front of him, who continued to ramble on, but his radiation paused before returning to its regular flow, unable to contend with the powerful mana that surrounded the guy.

'I failed,' Ryan wasn't surprised. It was just a small experiment to not think of useless thoughts.

For now, there was nothing he could do about Professor Mia targetting him.

A plate was put beside them, and a beautiful young girl with curly brown hair and lovely green eyes, the same girl that Jacob had seen flirting with a teacher, sat naturally beside Ryan, looking at him seductively and licking her lower lip.

Although he was a stutterer, to her, he was still handsome, and that is what mattered. "I'm Tracy. Can we be friends?"

Ryan could only see mana flowing through her body, her brown hair curling like the roots of a tree and her eyes brimming with the color of mother nature, gentle mana flowing through her body like greenish stars; a sight that would leave anyone staring in owe, unaware that she was trying to seduce him, wondering why this guy had to stick to him, and now someone else already wanted to be his friend.

'Though the name Tracy sounds oddly familiar, I wonder what's her surname.'

Feeling the girl's soft, slender fingers pulling his sleeve and recognizing the familiar name. He nodded his head and said, "Friends."

Jacob was happy when he saw Ryan's unresponsive attitude toward the girl's seduction, but he was flabbergasted when he accepted her friend's request. Did he not hear when he warned him in class?

Well, Ryan completely didn't care.

Jacob, on the other hand, became upset and still didn't get to be called a friend by his idol, yet some random mod character already had that title before him. He said, "What about me?"

Ryan looked at this troublesome guy and nodded his head once again, saying, "Friends," wondering to himself, 'How old are you?'

Jacob broke out into a smile, feeling happy and embarrassed at his childlike behavior. The three chatted with each other until the lunch break, with Jacob interrupting Tracy's advances each time.

After exchanging their numbers, the three went back to their respective dorms.

'How annoying,' Tracy stopped in the middle of her walk and sneered, the lovely smile on her face gone.

'If it wasn't for that Jacob interruption. I might have already managed to get Ryan. Alas, why was he there whenever I wanted to seduce someone?'

Although Ryan was handsome, and his golden eyes added to his looks, he still wasn't the most handsome.

If it wasn't for Damion being so proud and Astin always being around that scary hypocrite Lisa, she wouldn't have chosen to be around someone else like him.

But she'll do her best to fix him; he should be grateful to her.

Oblivious to Tracy's thoughts, Ryan opened the door to his dorm room.

The inside was spacious enough for two people, having two beds, wardrobes, and desks, accompanied by a single bathroom.

Knowing that his roommate would be busy all night 'educating' someone, he slid into the bathroom, took a quick shower, changed his clothes, rolled himself in a blanket, and started gathering and moving radiation around in his body until he fell asleep in a time record.

The next day, he woke up to the stares of his roommate sitting on a recliner chair, smiling.

Astin Buer, the reincarnated demon king.

___ Chapter 11: Encounter ___

"What are you doing?" Mia called out, "Leaving the academy grounds at this late hour is prohibited."

Mia stared in silence as the student in question retracted his legs that were about to leave the gates and looked back at the professor with a small smile.

He replied without a doubt as if he was merely going to talk a walk of fresh air, "I have some unfinished business to attend to."

As such, he pushed the bodies of the guards aside and added, "They aren't dead."

Mia yawned; she didn't give a crap if those guards were dead or not, but the fact that a mere student was able to knock the prestigious Erou's guards intrigued her; otherwise, she wouldn't have shown herself.

Much less care if someone left or not.

"What's your name again? I would be sure to remember it this time," she said, getting closer to his figure, which was hidden by the shadow of the gigantic gate of Erou.

It might not have been talked about between the professors as much now since they were in the academy to prevent rumors and troublesome students from being a pain in the rear, but all of them know; that the damage that a fight would cause was truly minimal, but the alarms that would wake every able professor into action were thundering.

Considering the guards' strength, him putting them down without causing the alarms to go off was a praise-worthy achievement.

She wondered how strong he was and if he could defeat her.

She grinned.

The thought of her losing was a joke in her head.

Just because he defeated a few B-ranked guards didn't mean he was anything close to her level, an A-ranked hero; it was more the thought of beating up a promising youngster that made her uncontrollably excited.

She felt a slight shiver course through her body; her instincts were screaming the closer she got to the black figure; she had found a worthy opponent.

Someone she could beat without holding back.

The student who dozed off in her class was a nice target to vent her frustration in the long term, but the one in front of her seemed like the one to have fun with for an all-out.

She walked toward him.

The width of the path is almost eleven times wider than that of a normal double gate, and its length reflected that as well.

It was made like this as a decor resembling the Middle Ages castle walls, but also because of emergence— you can't have superpowered teenagers confined to small areas.

Besides the 2-meter thick gate and fence, which need the strength of 3 to 5 S-ranked super-strength heroes to open the towering monstrosity with ease during night time, and an emergency.

However, during the day, when students are passing through, the density of the gate becomes so light as to not resemble a prison to the young aspiring heroes.

And currently, the student she was walking toward was standing under the shadow of that gate.

Tap!

"Excuse me, professor, you're walking in the wrong direction."

"Eke."

Mia could not help but shriek as a voice suddenly whispered behind her.

She almost used her powers as soon as she saw the young man behind her, but as soon as she realized what was going to happen if she did, she forcefully tried to calm herself down.

At such close proximity, the young man could easily puncture her chest from her shoulder blade to her heart.

The young man, whom she recognized as her student, stared at her with eyes filled with curiosity; it was as though he was looking at an interesting clown, hands casually letting go of her shoulder as if he didn't mean to touch her.

She retreated slowly; she felt like the moment he touched her, she had already died a hundred times from that one casual tap on her shoulder.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Sweat rolled off her forehead and to the ground as she felt she was stepping on a soft, cushy surface.

She had unwillingly stepped into the youngster's domain, feeling something crawling up her legs and drilling itself in her ankles way up to the roots of her thighs.

'Move!' She screamed in her heart, but her body remained standing in place.

A second had passed, and the young man quietly watched her sweat drip onto the ground.

A minute had passed, and he watched her struggle to remain standing.

An hour had passed, and the gate had disappeared into darkness in her view, tears mixed with saliva falling as black tentacles kept her body from falling down.

She also peed in her pants.

There was an awkward silence that persisted in the air, prolonged by the unusually dark ball that separated them from reality.

"You still haven't lost consciousness, that's surprising." He raised an eyebrow and was genuinely surprised, and so the tentacles retreated, and she fell down on his shoulder as he helped her behind a tree and was about to leave when she grabbed his shirt.

"…"

"…"

"Where are you going?"

"Back to my dorm room," he answered simply, he wasn't worried she would tell on him.

He could kill her with the black mana he implanted in her body if she tried to, but having her know who he was wasn't something he'd welcome with open arms.

Mia hugged him tighter and looked up at him, there was a strange desire in her eyes. "Kiss me."

"No," He didn't hesitate to refuse, knowing fully well that her sudden dependence and desire were a result of his magic planting roots in her body.

His magic would take routes in the target and manifest in a lot of different ways.

However, having her drool all over him wasn't within his expectations. It seemed like he had to retract his mana as soon as possible.

"I don't want to be discovered yet."

He was safe for now, as the only one that could discover his identity as the infamous 'Hero Killer' was the seer… but it was better to be safe.

He could just make her heart stop, but Professor Mia was still young-- it would be quite suspicious if she died of a heart attack.

He could probably cover it up as an accident, but Mia was not just a C-level hero. She was an A-rank superhero capable of pushing down a whole building with her ability, gravity. If she died in an accident, then that would be ridiculous.

"Never mind, I already promised not to kill anyone at this academy yet."

He said and put his hand on her thigh, black threats of mana getting pulled out from her body and back to his.

Putting a hand on her head, he whispered, "Sleep, and by the time you wake up, you will no longer remember my face."

"Mmm…" Mia nodded and started to doze off to his broad shoulders disappearing into the rising sun and fading vision as she lost her consciousness.