Dante looked around. Everyone seemed to have finished processing his words. Well, almost everyone. Vexion, still seated on his lap, had become an incoherent blushing mess. She buried her face against his neck while Dante simply chuckled.
'This girl blushes at everything I say.'
After giving her butt a gentle pat, he looked around the circle.
"I'm going to assume that's the last question?"
Amber looked as though she wanted to ask something but ultimately decided against it. There would be plenty of opportunities later.
Instead, Gorgon spoke.
"If I may ask, Mythical Lord Dante, what happens now?"
Dante nodded.
"I won't be personally training most of you."
He gestured toward Lexa and Vexion.
"My direct subordinates are my responsibility."
He then pointed toward Amber and Elric.
"Their training falls under these two. They need to become capable of handling people beneath them. As for the rest of you—" He shrugged. "—whether you become stronger is your responsibility."
Amber and Elric exchanged a silent glance. Passionate training. Neither of them would ever describe it that way.
Dante continued.
"Gorgon. Elisophere. You two possess enough talent that powerful factions will eventually approach you. My advice? Join one. It doesn't even have to be as a subordinate. Simply belonging to a faction discourages unnecessary trouble."
He paused.
"As for today's evaluation—" His gaze swept over everyone before stopping on Jurian and Aishwani. "—I'm satisfied. Especially with you two. I doubt I'll meet many first-years, or even second-years, as strong as the two of you."
His expression grew thoughtful.
"Actually—" He looked directly at them. "—are you two really Level One?"
Jurian laughed.
"You should be the last person asking that. You are definitely not Level One."
"I am." Dante answered without hesitation.
Aishwani immediately shook her head.
"Don't bullshit us."
Dante sighed.
"I genuinely am. I still haven't figured out how to reach Level Two. No matter how much I use my Mythical skills."
Jurian and Aishwani exchanged a glance. Jurian finally spoke.
"I'm Level One. But with my sword, I can fight Level Three Mythical Beings. Possibly defeat them."
Dante nodded.
"I figured as much."
Aishwani looked toward Jurian.
"So that's the standard of Midvest Academy's direct subordinates—"
Jurian smiled.
"We're anomalies."
Dante immediately shook his head.
"No. A genius fights one realm above himself. You two fight two. That's beyond genius." He paused. "I'm actually relieved."
Jurian raised an eyebrow.
"Relieved?"
Dante nodded.
"I was worried the academy's first-years would disappoint me."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"They didn't."
Jurian looked at him curiously.
"What about you? How strong are you really?"
Dante smiled.
"You don't need to know. I'll simply say this — I don't believe anyone in the first year can beat me." He paused. "Except perhaps one. The Nameless One."
Jurian nodded.
"I expected that answer."
Dante folded his arms.
"People with conventional combat skills don't worry me. It's the strange ones. The people whose abilities don't fit ordinary combat. Mental skills. Reality-altering skills. The kinds of abilities that ignore common sense."
Aishwani smiled faintly.
"You could've just called them Special Skills."
Dante scratched his cheek.
"...Right. I keep forgetting the academy actually categorizes these things."
She laughed.
"That sounds like you."
Dante ignored the comment.
"They're dangerous because they force you to fight on unfamiliar ground. They don't defeat your body. They defeat your understanding."
Silence followed. Jurian and Aishwani looked at one another. He's underselling himself. Again. Neither believed for a second that Dante lacked ways to counter those abilities. But they also understood something else. Dante wasn't claiming weakness. He was refusing to become arrogant. Even Dante himself knew that assuming victory before a battle was the quickest path toward defeat.
Lexa finally spoke.
"I once heard nobles in Master's empire discussing abilities that could see a day into the future, or directly control another person's body."
Jurian slowly nodded.
"Exactly. Those are the kinds of opponents you never underestimate."
Dante nodded.
"With that said, I don't particularly want to waste time thinking about those kinds of abilities. Too much work."
As he spoke, his hand slowly slid lower from Vexion's hip, coming to rest against the side of her thigh. There was nothing seductive about the gesture. It was simply possessive. A quiet reminder of what he considered his.
Vexion slowly lifted her head. The blush from Dante's earlier shameless declaration still hadn't disappeared. If anything, it had only grown worse.
Master wants me. Not just today, but ten years, thirty years, perhaps hundreds of years from now.
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around his sleeve.
I hope I can still satisfy him then.
Dante remained blissfully unaware of the emotional storm raging inside her. After a brief pause, his expression became more serious.
"Now then. The important part is over. There are two things I'd like to discuss."
He looked around the group before giving a satisfied nod.
"Fortunately, none of you are idiots."
Jurian leaned comfortably against his chair, folding one leg over the other.
"There are plenty of possibilities. I'm just not sure which ones would interest someone like you."
Across from him, Aishwani crossed her legs elegantly. Only then did she realize something amusing. Throughout the entire discussion, Dante hadn't once glanced at her legs. Nor had he made one of his usual shameless comments. Her gaze drifted toward the woman seated comfortably on his lap.
Interesting. So that's how it works. She doesn't suppress his perversion. She redirects it entirely toward herself.
The thought was strangely amusing. She quietly dismissed it before asking,
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Dante absentmindedly gave Vexion's thigh a gentle squeeze before answering.
"The second-years. And the first-years who failed to advance."
The relaxed atmosphere around the table immediately shifted. Even Jurian's casual expression disappeared. Now the real discussion was about to begin.