Razeal sat in the last seat, back row, head resting in one hand, looking like he was just barely awake. In truth, he was listening.
Despite the yawns and groans of his classmates, Thaliaâs lecture had grabbed a sliver of his attention. The talk about portals, rifts, gates, and reality cracks? That stuff was interesting.
He remembered the original novel. All this multidimensional chaos had been mentioned plenty of times, but it had never been explained this clearly. For once, he had to admit: this lecture was actually useful.
Not that he cared much. Knowledge was great and all, but he wasnât some bookworm excited about dimensional theory. He wasnât here to take notes and write essays..Well that be luxury but sadly he had other rather important thing s to care about like.. Surviving? The most life threatening things to him arenât from other different dimensions afterall. He got enough free problems here.
And definitely he wonât be dying because of these portals or shit.
Still, while the others tuned out, Razeal listened.
And while listening, he tested out his newly enhanced skill.
Killing Intent Sense â Detects hostile intent from any direction.
He activated it without moving a muscle.
As he activated it, the world subtly changed. Thin red mist began to bleed into his vision like a fog drifting off certain peopleâs bodies. It was faint, but visible enough to tell who wanted him dead. The thicker the fog, the stronger their murderous intent.
It wasnât overpowering, nor did it make a sound. But it carried meaning.
Intent.
And more specifically: hostile intent.
Razeal blinked slowly. It wasnât as useless as heâd first thought.
Razeal scanned the classroom slowly, eyes narrowing.
To his surprise, most students didnât have much fog around them. Barely any, in fact. Just a few here and there.
"Huh," he muttered under his breath. "Guess not everyone wants to kill me after all."
That was unexpected. Heâd assumed the whole room despised him enough to want him dead. But apparently, some of them still had working brains. Sure, a lot of them probably hated him, but hate alone wasnât enough to manifest real killing intent. Yeah, they were dumb, but not dumb enough to murder someone for no reason.
Then he focused on the ones who actually did want to kill him. Like, literally.
The first one was obvious.
Nyla.
The holy secretary or assistant or whatever she called herself. The Saintessâs overly zealous lapdog.
Her red fog was thick.
Dense enough to tell Razeal she wasnât just annoyed by his existence. She wanted him dead. No surprise there. In the novel, Nyla had always had a weird, obsessive loyalty to the Saintess. She probably saw Razeal as some unholy stain on the templeâs walls.
Fanaticism did that to people.
Following her were a few more predictable targets: a small group of Saintess followers. All young. All cloaked in selfbrighteousness. Well even now glaring back at him like heâd burned their holy book.
He rolled his eyes.
Funny how the people who preach peace and compassion are always the first ones to think about murder, he mused.
Razeal scanned a few of them. Their fog wasnât as intense as Nylaâs, but it was still there. Lingering. Quietly hostile.
Then his eyes moved to the far right.
Areon.
The supposed Chosen One. Golden boy of the fate. Future savior of the world.
Areonâs red fog wasnât just visible it was practically snarling.
"All that over a slap?" he thought.
Razeal shook his head slowly, internally.
So petty. Just one slap and suddenly you want to kill me? And then they call you a hero? Childish.
Anyways
Razeal leaned back, arms crossed, watching the red haze curl around a other more people one by one.
Some names didnât surprise him. Some did.
Like Selena. And Celestia.
He glanced toward them from the corner of his eye.
Nothing. No red mist. No murderous desire.
Huh... didnât expect that.
But again thinking about it, they really didnât have any actual reason to kill him. If anything, he should be the one who hates them, who wants them dead. Theyâre the ones who wronged him, not the other way around.
He only assumed theyâd try to kill him because one day, their lies might come out. Maybe for political reasons, reputation, whatever. But the truth? Maybe Iâm overthinking it, he admitted. Maybe they really donât care. Or maybe theyâre just too confident. Confident that even if I stood up in the middle of this street and exposed their lies, no one even one like not even that idiot dude who likes to just think opposite of what most of people think just because of ego issues wouldnât believe me. Even with proof. And honestly? Theyâre probably right.
And Maybe thatâs why they donât care.
But Razeal? He doesnât care either. Whether they want him dead or not heâs not letting the people who destroyed everything get away without paying the price.
Call him a villain if you want. Say heâs trying to bring down these so called beautiful heroines. Fine. But heâs getting his revenge. That much is certain. And no, itâs not going to be some pathetic plea for justice or proof itâs going to come from his own two hands. Theyâll feel the consequences.
Iâll still make them regret everything.
And next on the hit list?
That annoying blue-haired girl.
Razeal didnât even know her full name Maria, Marina or whatever something like that. He didnât care enough to remember. But what he did know was that sheâd gone straight to the professor yesterday and bullshited an official complaint. Said he was "a threat to the safety of the class" and "udeserving to be in this classroom.."
He wasnât surprised. Maybe she was one of those people who acted like they were born with a crown on their head proud, loud, and itching for drama. Razeal had barely said a word to her literally, yet the red mist curling around her body was thick enough to be noticed even without focusing too hard. Not the deepest shade nothing close to Nyla or Areon but definitely strong enough to tell she wouldnât hesitate to stick a knife in his back if he gave her a reason.
Hell, maybe even if he didnât.
It was like she wanted a reason. Like she was just waiting for him to screw up again so she could unleash all that bottled-up hostility.
Razeal just sighed. He hadnât even done anything to her in the first place he thought bitterly.
All he remembered was that she was the one who started it throwing around insults, calling him disgusting, saying he didnât belong. Like she was some kind of authority on who did and didnât deserve to breathe the same air.
He hadnât even looked at her before that.
Maybe she was just one of those overly bossy types. The ones who feed off attention. And when picking a fight with Razeal didnât go her way when she got slapped back in Razeal own way for trying to smear his name she flipped into full on victim mode and ran to the headmaster.
And now she wanted to kill him?
Just because of a verbal slap?
Because of that "shove your complaint paper up your ass" line? Thats it?
He couldnât even be mad. He was more confused than anything.
"How petty do you have to be?" he thought. "Seriously. How fragile is your ego?"
There were types of people Razeal could understand cold ones, cunning ones, even violent ones. But this type? Attention starved, drama thirsty, self righteous lunatics who cried wolf then acted shocked when someone bit back?
He had no patience for them.
Still, she wasnât the real problem.
That honor went to someone else.
Razealâs gaze shifted to the front row.
And there he was.
Riven.
Good old Riven. The all friendly god. The golden boy with godhood dripping from his pores.
Except now, thanks to Razealâs new skill, he could see the truth.
And it was horrifying.
If Nylaâs killing intent was thick fog, and Areonâs was burning smoke, then Rivenâs was a river. No a damn ocean of blood-red mist. It poured off him in waves, rising and falling like a heartbeat, practically flooding the air around him.
It wasnât even "mist" anymore. It was crimson fire, rage made visible, hatred too intense to hide. The kind of killing intent that didnât flicker it boiled.
Razeal stared, half in disbelief.
He didnât even know red could get that red.
Riven sat casually at his desk, like nothing was wrong. Smiling. Looking back over his shoulder as if he sensed Razealâs eyes on him. And then like some cheesy actor in a play he raised a hand and gave a light, cheerful wave.
Friendly. Warm. Harmless.
Friend, huh?
Yeah. This bastard was sending out enough killing intent to drown a god, and yet he had the audacity to smile like they were best pals.
Razealâs lips twitched uncontrollably.
"I knew it," he thought. "I fucking knew this guy wanted me dead. But this much?" For the correct order please visit
Does he not feel even the tiniest bit embarrassed everytime calling me his "friend" while sending out enough bloodlust to flood the whole academy?
It was almost comical. This guy always went on and on about morality, peace, forgiveness, Balance. he wouldnât harm him. That Razeal had done nothing wrong. Even told Razeal, to his face, that he "had no reason to harm" him. Just only support âchosoen oneâ. and Razeal should complete his sacred âDutyâ.
Yeah. Right.
Looking at him now, it was like watching a volcano pretending to be a field of flowers.
"What kind of god lies this easily?" Razeal muttered under his breath. "How can you fake a smile that wide when your entire body is screaming âI want to kill youâ?"
The answer?
Only a god could.
Maybe it was some divine talent of his, he thought bitterly.
Thatâs what scared him most.
Because if this was how Riven treated a so-called friend, how did he treat his enemies? Well Razeal remember.. He talked about his wife or something? Is it because of that?
And right as Razeal was about to sink deeper into that pit of suspicion and mentally curse him a few more times.. really let the insults fly in peace..
When a sudden voice cut through the moment, pulling him out of his satisfying inner tirade.
"You were just looking at me, werenât you?" a sharp, furious voice pierced the air.
Huh?
Razeal blinked, ears stinging at the shrillness. He slowly turned, as if peeling himself out of a dream. His keen hearing vibrating like crazy.
"Who the hell is barking?" he said flatly, rubbing the inside of his ear like the voice had physically stabbed it. Already having idea this was directed toward him. Such honorifics, afterall.
"You disgusting piece of shit!" the voice spat again.
Oh. Of course.
It was her.
The blue haired girl had suddenly stood up from her seat like sheâd been launched by rage itself. Her face was flushed red, so much so that her aqua-colored hair almost looked fiery. Her whole body trembled, fists clenched at her sides.
"I saw you! You were staring at me like a pervert!" she snapped, practically seething.
Razeal blinked again. "Youâre kidding, right?"
He hadnât even thought about her. He was too busy mentally dissecting the godlike psychopath up front.
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Hey guys!
Just a heads up.. there will only be one Chapter today since I have something important to do tomorrow and need to wake up early. So Iâll be heading to bed soon! Ahh maybe tomorrow evening but not sure if work took long.
Also, I wanted to ask would you prefer I start adding character illustrations now, or should I wait until the characters are more fully introduced? Personally, I feel like it might be better to include them once you guys are already familiar with the characters. That way, the illustrations will feel more meaningful and impactful.
Otherwise, dropping them too early might take away some of the mystery or emotional connection.
And another thing would you like me to include illustrations for the system too?
Let me know what you think in the comments!
Anyway, thanks again for reading! Iâm off to sleep now.
Good night, everyone! â¨đ´
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