His gait was elegant and imposing.

He wore a beautiful, sumptuous white tunic with silver trim, embroidered with beautiful black designs resembling tree leaves.

His long, straight white hair had a few black strands and moved slightly as he walked.

He was slender and tall.

He wore a mask that covered his eyes and forehead, yet no one could deny his beauty. He was undoubtedly handsome, with his sharp nose and pink lips.

His white skin was flawless, giving him a divine or ethereal appearance.

He had power at the starting point of the eighth rank, from the demonic perspective.

He had power at the initial stage of the eighth circle of mana, from a human perspective.

Lenard Trismegisto sat down and waved his right hand slightly, covered by a white silk glove.

Everyone understood the signal of approval, bowed one last time, and sat back down.

After they sat down, none of the five uttered a single word.

"What happened is unfortunate; it shows us that the enemy is not simple; they will resist until the end, it is their right; but we will win in the end; it is all for the good of humanity." Lenard Trismegisto paused, his irrefutable voice both harmonious and captivating. "There was an oracle in the temple of the Endless Sky. A new hero will appear in a few years, we must be vigilant; if possible, we must be the ones to guide him on the right path."

"As you wish, founding leader," said Ivan Biretel.

"Your wishes are my wishes, my leader," said Meristia Zazareth.

"I will fulfill your demands, it is an honor for me," said Jules Balmes.

"I am at your disposal," said Samuel Desrial.

Samsart Detali looked at the leader and then replied:

"Your words guide us, but will the hero be born into one of the families we exterminated? If that happens, wouldn't the hero be a threat?"

Everything changes with time, even the meaning of things. Do you think anyone will say that Inquisiderian exterminated noble families? Not at all. There were many who benefited from it. Today, they will say that those traitorous families received their just punishment. Therefore, it will be the hero who must reflect; I believe you will find a way to guide him. Lenard Trismegisto indicated and looked at the five founders.

They nodded and began to devise plans to approach the hero before the temple of the endless sky did. In the end, they concluded that they would observe the descendants of heroic lineages and the descendants of traitorous lineages. No one brought up the subject of Mount Marrac again in front of the founding leader, because they believed that if he had not mentioned it, it meant that, as in the past, the founding leader had already taken action.

A few days later, under a clear, sunny sky.

In an area with a few scattered trees and a crystal-clear pond.

The breeze was blowing, and Arian was waving a tree branch while trying to infuse it with a little mana, but he was finding it quite difficult.

"It's not easy to do, but I still have a few months left before I enter the Alexandrian Academy," thought Arian as he sat on the rock near the pond, fed the beautiful fish, and finally sat down in a meditation position and meditated patiently.

At first, Arian found it difficult to concentrate, but as he felt the mana in his body increase slightly, he began to adapt to meditating and concentrating more and more easily and for longer and longer periods of time.

Since practically everyone kept their distance from him due to his label as a fallen noble and the last descendant of his family, which was considered a traitorous family, he was able to meditate and train without interruption.

The hours passed, and the sky turned light and dark.

Arian got up and, as usual, ran around the orphanage while circulating mana through his body, which increased his speed and endurance by 10%.

"I feel like I've made progress with the effort I've put in, considering the lack of resources," Arian concluded after finishing his training as he walked toward the orphanage dining hall.

As the days passed, Arian did not neglect his training, because his goal was to perform at an average level when he arrived at the academy, as he believed that this would allow him to further increase his abilities after enrolling and obtaining some of the resources that the academy offered.

In the same way that he trained, Arian read for two hours every night, studying books with basic concepts about mana, because he wanted to master the knowledge he had. It was those books from the orphanage, even though they only offered limited information, that allowed him to fill in the gaps and pass the academy exam.

Arian, who never wavered while training and studying, could not deny that the main reason he was able to grow through his efforts was partly due to his noble lineage. That was one of the reasons he was grateful to his ascendants, but even so, he felt no attachment to them because he barely remembered them.

••••

The weeks passed.

Danteriar Academy Library.

At night.

Mart placed a green-covered book on the desk.

"I think that with the information from the books I just read, I'll be able to finish my last assignment; it's partly thanks to you," Mart thanked Emy.

Emy, with her usual almost somber expression, looked at the genuine joy on Mart's handsome face, and then said:

"I'll support you whenever I can be of help."

Mart caressed Emy's cheek and then said:

"I'm very lucky. So when the time comes, I'll do whatever it takes to repay all the good fortune I've received.

Mart kissed Emy's forehead, then began writing his essay on low- and mid-level demonic energy absorption techniques.

"After handing this essay to Professor Mesef, I will have finished my academic assignments. Next comes the preliminary tournament, which will select the four best students from each class. But for now, it would be best to concentrate and finish this to get a good grade; I'll decide the rest after receiving my grades," he concluded as he wrote and read the notes he had jotted down in a notebook, because he knew that the grades he would receive would determine the level of effort he would have to put in during the end-of-year tournament.

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