The representatives currently gathered suddenly found themselves stuck...
They hadnât thought their arrival would annoy him so much..
Theyâd thought heâd cooperate with them, or at least not make things difficult considering the circumstances, yet heâd gotten violent before they could even get a few words in...
They heard heâd been in seclusion for years now, only coming out for this particular test, theyâd believe heâd be a lot more subdued, now they were seriously reconsidering how wise of a choice it was to actually come here and antagonize this nightmare...
They couldnât possibly return to their family heads with disappointing results.
Yet, the crushing weight of the murderous aura they were experiencing left them with little choice in the matter..
They were facing one of the four
PARAGONS
and not just anyone of them, it was
WAR
the man that fell behind only one other person in terms of sheer destructive might and strength...
The thought of a fight had never even crossed their minds, not once.
Even if the heads of their families were here, theyâd have to reconsider if it was truly worth it to annoy the
PARAGON OF WAR
for something they werenât yet assured of, even if it had something involving that being..
After all, the child was still merely an E-rank, how much damage could he cause? There was plenty of time to come up with contingencies, Yet if
WAR
decided to come out of retirement early, then there wouldnât be enough bodies to quell his rage..
So, the stalemate remained, tensions rising...
******
Ever felt so clueless about something you didnât even feel involved anymore?
Thatâs what I was currently feeling..
Apparently, everything going on had started because of me, yet I had no idea what the problem was..
Iâd thought it was merely the act of cucking a fool that dared lust after what wasnât his, yet somehow it had devolved into a totally different scenario, one where I no longer had any idea what they were even talking about..
All I knew for certain, was that the atmosphere currently was charged, and valen, that quiet, robotic old man , had suddenly transformed into something that didnât lose out too much in terms of scary appearances when compared to that death knight grandpa, his aura saturating the entire atmosphere more and more, it felt like the slightest movement from him would be enough to silence the entire hall..
The old guy was powerful, no, donât get me wrong, I knew he was clearly powerful considering how much respect heâd been receiving, yet now, seeing how the entire hall, the newly arrived parties, were behaving?.
I didnât need to know who the others were, just the fact that someone from the
Draken ancient family
was currently sweating like a bitch told me enough of how much of a badass this old man was...
So, I watched, one part hoping in eager anticipation for somebody to move wrongly, just a twitch, I was itching to see what that massive blade could do...
Yet the moment things felt like theyâd reached their tipping point, an ancient wizened voice echoed from all around...
"That is enough"
it didnât shout, it didnât yell, it felt soothing, like the voice of a grandfather chiding his grandson...
The oppressive atmosphere vanished like smoke...
Gasssspp!!!!
A collective gasp was shared by everyone within the hall..
People taking a much needed breather after the suffocating feeling theyâd been forced into...
Especially the candidates, many having already collapsed from bearing the weight of auras they had no business facing at this point in time...
"We greet the Dean of the academy"...
The collective greetings took me back..
"The dean? Howâs someone meant to be in the central region communicating from so far away?" ..
"No need for formalities" the old voice sounded once more, the warmth still clear in his tone...
Valen still wasnât backing down though, his sword was still in hand, his armor still Donned on, although his aura had been suppressed, nobody still dared move, hell, theyâd all put as much distance as possible from the murderous man..
"Little Valen.." that seemed to catch his attention...
His frame finally moved, his demonic helmed head rising up, almost as if he was looking at something or someone...
"You can stand down, I will handle it.."
A beat of silence, then...
Wooosh.....
A blast of crimson fog later and the old man was back to normal, his expression still not twitching, almost as if he hadnât threatened to merk an entire hall had they so much as breathed wrongly..
My eyes shone like stars as I watched him walk away, rejoining the group of supervisors...
"Friends from afar" the old voice addressed the gathered group...
"I am well aware of your worries and I know theyâre well placed, but you can rest assured, I have already confirmed it, the young manâs abilities have nothing to with the what the
Great Devourer
had" the voice said..
"Forgive us dean, but this... how can you be sure?" The Draken elder asked..
Yea, this guy had another agenda, aint no way he was pushing for my capture just from the good of his heart..
"Fat bastard" he wasnât fat, I was just being salty...
"Hmmm... did your ancestors perhaps not inform of who it was that stopped the very being youâre all so terrified of?" The old voice sounded amused at their doubts..
"This..."
"Well..."
They were tongue tied, they couldnât bring themselves to argue with that...
"So if you know, then you should know that thereâs no one else more qualified to speak on this matter" he addressed them..
"But you can rest assured, the young man is about to become a student of my Aeternum, a personal protege of little valen here, thereâs no better place, or more qualified people to keep an eye on him, are there?"..
Once again, silence..
If itâs Aeternum, then even if the
Great Devourer
were to return in full strength, he can only wait to be punished without making any noises..
"So, rest your laurels, go back, tell your family heads and ancestors all you have heard from me, surely they will give this old man this little bit of face and faith, no? haha" he chuckled softly at the end, the sound casting the entire hall in a warm feeling that felt strangely rejuvenating...
No, I wasnât kidding, I could see candidates literally being healed and refreshed just from the sound of his laughter...
I could see the struggle on their faces, yet inevitably..
"Let it be as you have said, dean"
"We shall deliver your words promptly"
The representatives could only agree..
For one,it didnât seem like they had any proper counter arguments, yet even if they did, did they dare mention them?
When there was still a very murderous valen whose gaze hadnât once shifted from them?
The fact that they chose to retreat felt like the only sensible thing they couldâve done at the moment..
And so, one by one, portals spawned within the hall as each party retreated with their entourage..
I could feel a gaze on me, I turned, my eyes meeting those of the man from the Draken family, the deadlock lasted a few seconds before he turned around, disappearing into the portal..
"Well, that wasnât suspicious by any means"...
"Little valen" the aged voiced called out, valenâs attention finally drifting from the departing groups...
"You may continue" he added..
"And little ones, I look forward to welcoming those of you who make it into my humble academy, hahahahaha" his jovial laughter lasted a few more seconds before fading..
I hadnât even met the dean of the academy but I already had a very favorable impression...
*********
A/N: I did it.. haha.. Iâm just as op as that bastard...
*********
Thanks for reading...