"So? Which of you wants to deal with me? Only four volunteers."
Brandon stood at the cave's entrance as he coldly locked eyes with each of the six people in front of him.
From beside him, someone spoke out loud. A man's voice.
"Don't be so cocky, you nobod–"
Tszzzzzz–!
Before the man could finish, a spark of blue lightning shaped like a spear flashed from behind him.
It mercilessly pierced him, as he spontaneously twitched due to the electrocution.
Kszzz–
The man instantly dispersed, dematerializing into white fluttering particles.
"Wha–"
Swoosh- Swoosh- Swoosh- Swoosh- Swoosh-
All the figures turned to look behind them, only to find an innumerable amount of lightning spears ready to erase them as it did with the man.
It was as if they were being held hostages.
And due to the nature of lightning, it would be way too fast for them to react to it.
At that, Brandon spoke up once again, his voice detached of any mercy.
"My mistake, three volunteers. Let's take this outside, okay?"
All the mages in front of him seemed to be terrified.
There was no room to retort as they immediately followed Brandon's instructions.
Step- Step–
They beckoned outside. The vast expanse of tundra had become visible.
In front of him, the woman in the middle of the group broke the silence as she turned to look at her comrades.
"G-Guys... Do as he says, we can take him out once we're in a better position."
Brandon raised his brow, amused.
"Oh? You think I'd let you do that?"
"Y-Yes... You would've killed us already if you wouldn't."
She had a point.
Brandon didn't want to end the fight fast.
He wanted to try out everything he learned from the books.
Brandon then curled his lips to a smirk, he said,
"Right. Whoever wants to fight Amy can proceed. Everyone else, stay."
As he emphasized the last word, his eyes narrowed and his voice deepened. Trying to put immense pressure on the group of parties.
While he waited, the woman spoke up once again.
"C-Could you let us discuss first?"
Brandon tilted his head in amusement.
There was no harm in letting them do that, and if they tried to escape he could just kill them.
"Sure. But stay within my line of sight."
The woman nodded, there was no room for negotiation.
At that, the group huddled together, forming a circle.
Brandon couldn't help but try to eavesdrop.
However...
He couldn't.
The woman had conjured up a sound barrier.
"Interesting..."
A mage with the sound affinity was quite rare.
From what Brandon knew, there were seven basic elements.
[Fire] [Water] [Earth] [Wind] [Nature] [Lightning] [Ice]
But there were special forms of affinity as well, such as:
[Light] [Shadow] [Time] [Space] [Life] [Fauna] [Psionic] [Gravity] [Morphic] [Celestial] [Quantum] [Mirror] [Sound] and so much more.
But it was too much for him to remember at the moment.
Mages could evolve their basic element into the next stage with training.
While some were born with the innate talent to use the special affinities without training.
From what he knew, Vanessa and Evelyn were good examples for it.
Vanessa had evolved her [Earth] affinity into the [Gravity] affinity.
While Evelyn was born to already harness the [Celestial] affinity.
Either the woman had evolved her [Wind] affinity to the [Sound] affinity or she was born with it.
He didn't know, but it was definitely interesting.
As he was lost in his thoughts, the group seemed to have finished their discussion, as the sound barrier was lifted.
At that, Brandon spoke up while the group turned to look at him.
"Have you decided?"
"Yes."
Two of the mages then strode forward as they passed by Brandon.
"....!"
—---------------------------
[Quests]
[Survive.]
[Rewards:]
[EXP: +50]
[Stat Points: +3]
[System Coins: +50]
[Penalty:]
[Failure to accomplish this task will get all your attributes locked for 7 days.]
—---------------------------
Brandon then turned to sneak a glance at the two behind him.
They stopped walking.
'Predictable.'
Tszzzz–
Brandon instantly blinked back without turning his body around, directly facing the two. Grabbing both of their necks.
"Kughhh–"
Vooosh–!
One of the mages engulfed themselves in flames, burning Brandon as well.
An attempt to take their own life just to burn Brandon.
"Aghhhhhh!"
Since he'd never increased his [DEF] stat, Brandon felt the burning sensation on his hand.
He immediately let go of the two, rubbing his hand, only to find it etched with burn marks.
The blue lightning spears dispersed as well as he lost control over them.
A blunder.
Kszzz–
The mage who burned himself had dispersed into white fluttering particles.
After transmigrating into the world, Brandon had never felt pain before.
It was a new feeling for him.
And it hurt.
A lot.
Even the sensation was accurately portrayed by the Virtual Simulation.
'This is crazy.'
He knitted his brows and contoured a smirk.
The mages then threw a barrage of skills his way.
An earthen spike contoured from the ground, trying to pierce him.
While crystalline of ice protruded from the ground, headed towards him.
Gusts of winds shaped like discs pierced through the air.
While water seemingly formed from his feet, trying to tangle him.
[Mana Disruption] was out of the question as the spells had already formed.
He couldn't disperse the mana that had already formed an elemental shape.
Despite beating Alpha–who was a Professional Killer, six mages from an elite Academy at once was still too much for him.
'Should I do it?'
He was severely handicapped by only using the lightning affinity only.
'Ah.'
As long as he didn't use fire, then it might be fine.
Crackle!
At that, he conjured an ice wall to block the crystalline of ice.
Then...
Woosh–
A gust of wind instantly dispersed the wind discs.
Tszzzz—
As the earthen spike was seemingly about to hit him, Brandon blinked back to dodge it.
"...!"
All the mages' eyes shot wide open, as their mouths were left agape.
At that moment, Brandon Locke had become a known Tri-Elemental Deviant throughout the entire Academy.
***
"Crazy..."
"I was suspicious he was a Deviant... But three elements...?"
Vanessa then turned to glance at Evelyn with a smirk as if saying, 'I'll take him before you can'.
"Nope, I've already decided."
"I know, but I've set my sights on him first."
"Doesn't matter."
Evelyn waved her off.
"Fine... But it still comes down to who he'll choose as his Personal Instructor."
"He'll choose me."
Evelyn was confident.
As they spoke, Evelyn had never peeled her eyes away from the screen.
Brandon Locke.
He was special.
Deviants were rare. But Tri-Elemental Deviants were an extremely rare case.
A once in a generation talent.
"How are you so sure?"
Vanessa snapped her out of her thoughts, trying to assess where her confidence stems from.
"I won't let him refuse."
"Eh...?"
She would pour in all her resources just to get Brandon Locke to accept being her protégé.
She couldn't let a talent like him slip away.
"Well, I won't back down."
Vanessa crossed her arms and leaned back on the circular couch, redirecting her attention to the screen.
"There's no point. Just get Amy Ashfield and be on your way."
Despite being introverted, Evelyn was extremely competitive.
She didn't want to lose to her best friend.
"Heh, we'll see about that."
"Mhm, still. The Academy's going to be crazy for a while."
"Haa... Yeah."
Unbeknownst to the students participating in the Battle Royale, the entire session was being live streamed for the entire Academy to see.
All the first years would have the same session. But Evelyn's class was the first one scheduled to take the Battle Royale.
As the Battle Royale was ongoing, classes were suspended for the week.
Hence, why Vanessa was there.
If anyone wanted to watch the session, they'd have to go to the Academy on their own accord.
Knock– Knock—
Someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
Vanessa inquired.
A muffled voice from behind the door then reached their ears.
"Is that Miss Vanessa?"
A woman's voice.
"Yes, it is."
"Ah, it's Belle Locke, may I come in?"
Evelyn then chimed in. The Locke surname was familiar to her.
"Who's that?"
"The Student Council President of the Academy."
"Ah."
Was that why it was familiar?
Vanessa then stood up, motioning towards the door and unlocked it.
Creak–
The door gradually opened, revealing a woman.
Long pale-white hair flowing down her shoulders.
Familiar ice-blue eyes, and perfectly symmetrical facial features, clear from all blemishes.
Soft succulent lips, moist, clear of any cracks.
In short, she was extremely beautiful.
She donned the Astrea Academy uniform, which accentuated her curves. Her sleek black skirt, just short enough to reveal her jade white thighs.
On her uniform was a golden pin that etched the Student Council logo.
Step–
She entered the room with regal, each step exuded confidence.
As Belle continued to walk towards her, Vanessa shut the door close and locked it.
She then turned towards Evelyn, locking eyes with her as she informed,
"She's also Brandon Locke's older sister."
"Ah."
So that's why the Locke surname was so familiar.
[AN]
Belle Locke makes her appearance...
I'm so motivated...