It hasn't been a week since Rei had started studying at Kamigami Academy and yet his fame over the campus has spread his status as a vessel of the ancient demon god that used to be a tragedy in history. Although his status was known to everyone within the grounds, some teachers and students still tried to be kind to him but for particular reasons; one mainly for being safe from the wrath of the Fallen and one who wants the power by being by their side. Rei noticed how his status affected the school hierarchy, high tiers either doubting his looks for having the strength to back it up or ignoring him as if he didn't exist, the elite tiers and mid-tiers are much bolder than the rest as they have tried challenging him; if it weren't for some of the staffs or Eunji breaking the situation by separating them which didn't help to improve his situation as other thinks he's just an average mid-tier or elite tier who only has the status title to protect him. The low tiers however are an enigma, they were mostly afraid of his presence alone or just straight up gossiping about him along the corridors of the school before just doubting his actual prowess being borrowed from the Fallen.
Rei had been attending his class devotedly as much as to his distaste for attending class for studying, however he soon started to enjoy attending his lessons due to the information he was receiving and the class atmosphere during class. In a total of three days, he had learned classes that include general studies which he finally finds delightful, mathematics which he still didn't enjoy but rather deal with it, sorcery studies which piqued his interest due to how similar his prowess is to controlling aura and controlling mana which others called chi, chakra and spiritual energy. The other subjects however proved him right about his assumptions, dark magic and necromance arts, holy magic and divine arts, sorcery defense arts and folklore studies. Those subjects gave him a hard time to learn about its basic knowledge due to the fact that he had only studied here two and a half days ago.
"Rei" Rei turned around to who called him out, it was Eunji in her school uniform; the fact that he wasn't used to seeing the sorceress who seemed to be colder than ice itself. "Yes?" Rei responded back, curious on why she was calling him in the first place. "I just needed to see if you are accommodating to this new life of yours and as well inform you that you should get yourself checked out at the nurse's office for physical well-being and some basic evaluation towards your prowess and level since we gauge things here differently." Eunji said as she patted Rei's shoulders as a sign of reassurance before she started to walk away along the corridors, presuming on Eunji going onto her next class.
Rei walked a long corridor before he finally reached the nurse's office. Upon entering, he was surprised to see a beautiful lady sitting on the chair as she was managing some papers on her desk. "U-Um…" Rei stuttered out, failing to grab her attention until she turned around to smile at him. "Oh? Are you Rei Nishimura? I've been informed that I needed to evaluate someone since a new student joined our school." She said as she finished sorting out the papers that Rei had taken a quick look; assuming that it was something about his evaluation test. "Oh! Right. I'm Eri Sasaki, the school nurse and the head of the health department of this school." She introduced herself politely. "The physical evaluation will take a few minutes… It's only measuring your height, weight, durability and strength…" Eri said as she prepared the necessity items to start the evaluation.
Rei followed through the procedures; not knowing that a couple of students and teachers were also there who were curious about his results. The first two were normal with Eri measuring his height and his weight but as the other test went on, the people around him including Eunji who just happened to pass by were surprised. The durability test consisted of electrocution and taking hits while running on a treadmill for at least three whole minutes. Rei knew his durability was good from previous experiences of fighting that made him have a good pain tolerance even if he had a broken arm while fighting at the same time at ease. This performance earned him respect from some of his fellow schoolmates while his teachers and staff awed him for such skill; after all most of their students' asides from Eunji had shown such high pain tolerance and durability. Upon taking the next test, he was surprised to see a machine similar to the punching games from an arcade event. He understood the purpose immediately as soon as Eri nodded her head at him. Rei decided to go all out while not activating his prowess, which made the scene become atrocious to everyone as not only did he punch that left a dent onto the machine as the score showed him the strength of a high ranked sorcerer.
"Is it over yet?" Rei asked as he stared dumbfounded at the now bent punching machine. "Not yet. One last test." Eri answered after writing down the results as she immediately went to the next area to prepare for the next test. Upon following, he saw a machine that looked like some sort of testing something that wasn't physical but rather something related to prowess; assuming it was for measuring mana reserves. Rei followed her instructions as he placed his palm at the machine after Eri finished setting the test, which he felt self-conscious regarding his own strength and hoped that there weren't any hierarchy rules. Everyone who was presented was anticipating the results, when the machine had beeped after measuring his power, Eri looked in disbelief.
'Error? No way… His mana reserve is just like his…' she thought to herself as she reminisced about someone in her memories in Rei's position. "Seems like we have another S rank in Kamigami Academy…" she muttered out as collective gasps and murmuring were heard outside.
"WHAT? AN S-RANK?!"
"That can't be true… Could the Fallen be doing it for him?"
"Could be true but then the headmaster had said that he has potential…"
Rei sighed as he heard of the results; wanting to hide and skip for the whole day but then he would miss classes especially when he just barely started. Without any other choices, Rei had to follow his class schedule as he tried to withdraw himself away from the noises of the whispering and murmurs; did his status of his ranking and his condition made him stand out? Was what he thought upon getting an evaluation and a chance to study at a school like this. If the treatment at his old school was untamed, he didn't know how to describe the one he was now since it was fluctuating between tame and untamed. His every move in each class was monitored by everyone around him as if he was a ticking time bomb that was either approachable to defuse or just leave immediately upon first sign of exploding. The teacher didn't make it easier for Rei as every glance he saw from their eyes were either judging him harshly or unamused for his entire existence.
"Shut the fuck up, will you?"
A deep voice, a voice he grew accustomed to ever since he became a vessel to this ancient deity. It was crazy at first until he grew to get used to it since they were going to be stuck forever. Rei knew that ignoring the deity would just give him a headache prior to him giving him more information to process from the lesson that was way too advanced from its explanation. It was as if he skipped from 6th grade middle school to 1st year college, the complex contents of what the deity explained; more like rambling from Rei's perspective gave him such a hard time to understand one simple content of what he was supposed to study.
The deity only continued giving him a headache which made him even get frustrated to the point he didn't notice someone approaching him. Rei took notice of them when they started talking to him; a girl with pink hair who somehow reminded him of a girl from his former school where he still had some good life before a certain blonde took it away from him. The girl was different from personality aside and overall character judgement based on what he had observed. She was polite and humble which was the obvious comparison from the bubbly and playful girl that he knows of. The way she talks gave it away as her tone was polite and respectful while the latter spoke fast and a bit rude if no one pointed it out for her.
"By the way, how does it feel or live like… as a vessel of the Fallen?" she asked with a face of curiosity which he didn't expect since most of the students avoid him like a plague.
"Somehow worse or better?" he responded while walking next to her upon having their class end.
The girl raised an eyebrow, confused and intrigued from his answer. "Really? Can you tell me more?" she asked again, clearly interested in his response and answer.
Rei thinks for a bit before answering back. "It's like having a roommate to live with but stuck in the room with them which ends up with a bit of pros and cons of having extra information or too much information that's either way too confusing or way too complex." The girl, intrigued with his answer, decides to talk more with him despite his status which made him surprised considering some might just end the topic there and go on their merry way of their personal life.
The atmosphere became better for him since he was overwhelmed by the sheer pressure of being the vessel of the fallen due to its overwhelming power. Now with some sense of normalcy, he was able to enjoy his time being in this new school of his ever since he had at least a companion with him that enjoyed talking with him.
"Wait… You are telling me that you threw a guy off the window while not using your prowess?" the girl asked after laughing for a bit.
"Yeah. Not my proudest moments while hiding my prowess but yeah it worked out well…" Rei continued after smiling for a bit after remembering some good moments from his old life and his old school. His mind started to ponder on what was Sylvie doing; was she adjusting well without him or did she have to transfer to a different school to avoid getting bullied at their former school since the incident with a certain blonde that somehow managed to get a marble that belonged to the deity. That certain thought made him think about the blonde, stopping in his tracks as the girl walking alongside him seemed confused by his actions.
Why did he have a marble that belonged to the deity in the first place? And where did he even get it at all? Did someone else know about the location of those marbles? After-all, he had first witnessed those who had tried to use the power from the marble. Rei, lost in thought, didn't notice that a few more people were approaching, one was a male with pink hair, and one was a female with blonde hair. The two who approached them were eyeing them carefully as if they were checking that they are a hazard item that should be approached carefully.
"You two seemed not to be in trouble according to the rumors" the blonde female said as she had the face of unamused. "Sorry about that. My friend always wanted to check if the rumors are right." The male apologised in such a polite manner that made Rei and the girl who was with him; still doesn't know her name yet surprised at him. "I'm Haruki and my friend over here is Erika" he introduced as his friend just only rolled her eyes; clearly unamused with everything that's happening.
Rei only knew the girl's name who he had been talking with him as Hinata. The group talked for a while since it was their free time to chat due to their schedule which ultimately got Rei to feel normal for once while enjoying some certain topics like prowess mastery and battle intellect. They have small fun such as showing each other's prowess and how it highlighted their mastery and control. When Rei showed his, they all awed in fascination of how he demonstrated his prowess regarding its mimicry towards their own.
"You're able to copy them?" Hinata said while Rei demonstrated more by wielding another prowess and combining with the one he was using at the moment. "You can combine them too?!" Haruki shouted in surprise while Erika was in awe, "So, you can copy them… hold another one while combining it?" She asked while being intrigued with his prowess.
Rei felt a bit embarrassed but proud of himself for showing off his prowess. "Basically yeah… I replicate the prowess by taking a sample of one's aura of spiritual energy or what you guys call mana. While being able to copy it, I have to understand its basic functions and mechanics to use it without giving me a massive drawback such as waste of mana manipulation to hold it or to put firepower." He explained as he continued on while demonstrating his prowess by showing off how it works. "I can also amplify its firepower compared to the original user since I'm a higher level than its original counterpart, however if I copy someone who's stronger than me, I can only use its weaker version since it takes too much mana to hold it nor to use it." Rei said as he went on to the final part of his ability. "While I can copy and amplify its power, I can also combine them which makes my prowess very versatile. Let's say if I have Erika's water manipulation and Hinata's wind control, I can combine them to make Ice manipulation techniques." He finished explaining as he demonstrated some basic moves of using the merged prowess of Erika's and Hinata's elemental like power.
The two girls were awed in fascination of his prowess demonstration; the two definitely gonna ask him more how to use their prowess to its fullest potential. After all, Rei learned in all of his classes that a sorcerer's potential lies within their use of prowess and the use of their intellect to cultivate their prowess into a powerful one depending on how much they have trained. Rei started to wonder about his potential as he always knew about his ability to replicate one's prowess then use it better than them (prior to his experiences before all of these; always fighting and using it in a way that the original user doesn't do) and to amplify its fire power depending on the prowess's level or his mana reserves (formerly called as aura reserves before his transfer in Kamigami Academy). Will his prowess evolve to not just being to temporarily hold it but inherit it in his reserves permanently? Would he be able to replicate one without seeing how it works nor copy it without them activating theirs first?
After hanging out with them, they had to separate since they were in different classes. After all, they were in different groups regarding the classes they were assigned to and Rei only found out that he's in a special class due to the color of the symbol he had compared to the others. The group he was in is called 'Special Operations Division' from what he had heard from Erika and Hinata. Rei assumed that it was a class for thorough investigation or some crime laboratory stuff from his past experience with exhibitions for school extracurricular activities. He remembered seeing Eunji in the same symbol as his; was she in the same course as him despite the year differences of being a student? Rei could only wonder before he finally entered the room after a long walk on the corridors of the enormous campus.
The first thing he saw was the setting; it was like working in an office due to the amount of paperwork he had seen on each desk. The second was seeing how lacking the room is, with him and other six more people in it which included the male who wanted him gone when he was announced to be studying in Kamigami Academy and Eunji who is on the other corner carrying paperwork and dropping off to another desk which had a orange-brown haired girl who's busy managing each paperwork; either signing it or placing it on the other side. Rei thought for a second, he went into the wrong room considering that Eunji and the others are a senior; maybe due to his status being in the same room as them? Were they also taking the same curriculum classes or just extra class activity hours for higher grades?
"Extra curriculum classes?" a voice of a female answered his thoughts.
"Y-Yes!" Rei stuttered; for the first and last time since his childhood he had stuttered in a conversation or sentence since his prowess awakening. "I'm here for the extra curriculum classes…"
"Oh? Welcome then, I'm Rinka Yamashita." She greeted as she stood up from her desk as she approached Rei with a handshake which he responded back by accepting it. "What a firm grip you have there."
"Really-" Eunji interrupted him, "Rinka. No. Paperwork." Her gaze is cold and murderous to Rinka. It was as if Rei was watching two cats argue: a calm and composed serval pinning down a typical house orange cat.
"Oh, come on, Eunji. I haven't fought anyone for weeks-" Eunji interrupted her mid conversation, "No means no. Rei just started his day here and he needs to adjust to the classes for this one. And as well you just finished a supposed light spar yesterday which you obviously demolished the opponent so no."
Rei was amused by how the two were quarreling until another person entered the room, a well-mannered male with such formal wear; it was either a supervisor or a teacher from what he had observed. "I heard that we are getting a new member. But I didn't expect them to be this young considering the line of duty that we are in." the male expressed in such a mocking tone which Rei noticed from how Eunji and Rinka reacted in disgust. "Again. Can you wear the appropriate uniform? It's a hassle to continue reminding you about this." Eunji said with a tone of venom that Rei felt a bit uneasy due to what kind of drama he may unravel.
The aura of the room became intense as Rei was uneasy from the mana waves that emitted from Eunji and the male, the tension of the room becoming even more intense before it was disrupted by the ancient deity itself by manifesting in front of them. "If you two managed to kill my vessel from mana waves, I'd rather take one of you as my vessel." He said with a chilling voice that sent shivers to everyone's spine. Eunji took no risks in involving in the deity's statement as she powered down; although Rinka saw a slight blush on her face which she mentally took note of. The male on the other hand wanted to challenge him for his own ego; refusing to believe that the ancient deity is stronger than anyone else in the campus. As if someone needed him to get humbled, the fallen showed no mercy as it emitted the mana waves which made Rei and Rinka shake while shaking. Meanwhile, Eunji stood on her ground but flinched for a bit for such a being to possess that much mana while being reduced to its original power. On the other hand, the male stood no chance as he was on the floors on all fours; sweating, gasping, breathing heavily while shaking in fear.
The ancient being could only chuckle at its misery before turning his head towards Eunji which made Rinka confused for a second if this was related to the blush she saw from her moments ago; which ended up getting her questions answered when the being winked at Eunji while also adding a bit of smooch like one of those cringe PTA couples would do. Rinka took notice of the flustered state of Eunji which she ended up teasing her later on when the being went back to Rei afterwards. "Okay. Spill the beans. What's with you and that so-called Fallen? Anything going on?" Rinka teased with a hint of sarcasm and suggestive acts, making Eunji blushed hard while Rei just watched in amusement. 'Is this what I'm gonna be with everyday?' He thought to himself before getting an answer from the fallen himself; 'Yes. Expect this kind of interaction. If I have to deal with you and that time prowess user brat, you have to deal with me trying to shoot my shot with that blonde.' The fallen stated while Rei wanted to disagree although he had to respect him for being very passionate about hitting their shot at something they want to hit (respectively as a term for either hooking up or dating).
After a brief moment, Rei immediately went into work on his own duties after having Eunji and Rinka help him navigate the room and explain what kind of things they have for the class. Hearing their explanation made Rei surprised that his class was very similar to what they had compared to an FBI or Special Operations unit field of work except they had more complicated tasks that normal people would do even with possessing a prowess. After all, if Rei could barely handle what he had fought back then before having the being take possession of his body, what could a team of normal users do against it? Except for making time before losing or worse to have more lives taken away. That day was very lucky that no one was there except for him, Eunji, Slyvie and David. That fight was intense and difficult even for him who only had a high tolerance for pain and stamina to continue fighting while Eunji only got caught off guard due to protecting Slyvie. If that's how sorcerer's deal with something like that everyday, then it would be best for him to learn and grow with people who can call as comrades.
Rei adapted quickly as he was able to pick up the pace of reading the documents as he started writing notes before sending them to either Eunji or Rinka for further investigations or final works by signing it. He noticed the amount of paperworks was either filled with Eunji's status for approval of certain documents such as fundraising, required materials, payment for the required amount of fees regarding investing in research or for big projects that some of the classes needed. The school felt like a mixture of working an actual job while also studying as a student gave Rei the impression on how he was the odd one since he was not used to this kind of setting after discovering this class, although it was something he could learn from experience in future aspects to tackle this kind of situation if he faced it again. Eunji tried to tell Rei about the other duties they have to do in which he had sweat dropped upon hearing the details.
"Are you telling me? That I of all the students in this school who just got recently transferred… Is being put in an actual active-duty sorcerer class?!" He exclaimed as he looked petrified upon learning more about his situation. "I don't understand… Why me?"
Eunji sighed as he pinched the bridge of her nose while Rinka was busy thinking. "I don't know, Rei. I don't even understand what the headmaster was thinking…" Eunji said as she took a deep breath. "However, since you have no classes later. Rinka and I can help you train to adjust to our duties."
Rei was about to ask until Rinka went straight at him, grazing his cheeks as he looked surprised on how fast she was which he barely dodged. "Rule number 1. Always expect the unexpected." Rinka said as Rei felt a power spike behind him, immediately activating his own to boost himself.
"Soul Art: Mystic Crystalization" Eunji chanted as her arms started to form a sharp shiny crystal. Rei was about to mimic it but remembered that his copied version would be weaker due to how her level was significantly higher than his. "Oi, just because I don't have flashy prowess doesn't mean you can ignore me." Rei turned to Rinka as her hand generated blood like ability that turned into a pair of sharp daggers.
"Fuck" was the only thing Rei could mutter before he engaged in the fight, not knowing whether he'll win, lose or tie….