...Do you know that all odd numbers have the letter 'E'?
Chapter 4
"...What?!"
He looks forth, seeing hundreds of corpse littering in the former battlefield he fought in. Crisped and burned as soot and charcoal black coated their lifeless forms, armours were pierced while their eyes were wide open.
In the air, jet black smoke dominated the sky, giving off a death aura as crisped flesh odour could be smelled everywhere if someone was near.
Cinders flew in the air through the wind, his raven hair motioned smoothly as the gentle breezes constantly passed by. The scorched ground was giving off considerable heat.
His own body gave up, and he fell. He gets a taste of what these corpses experienced, an empty chuckle came from his dried lips.
Soft paces were heard. A shadow loomed his form, he shifted his head upwards and a pair of green eyes were staring at a girl in her golden age, around 4 to 5 years old. Her pink eyes stared at him sadly.
Green eyes that lost their radiance stared at her and he rasped.
"...I've done it."
"...You've done it."
His face touched the ground, a blank gaze was directed at nowhere as the dust in the soil slightly scrapes his opened eyes. Painful, but it's not as painful as these people have to go through.
Moving his body, he changed his posture. He lay down on the soil he stood on as dimmed green eyes look at the sky. He tried to grasp something in the air with his palm but what came out from it instead was fierce roaring thunder ascending to the sky, it pierces the dark fog and exploded afterwards. What transpiring after was a flash of light brightens up the sky for a second.
"...What does the 'Grand Magician' wanted now, E-02?"
"Come back and he said he would instruct you."
"...Would he do something to my little sister if I wouldn't do what he say?"
"I... I don't want to repeat it, K-01."
"..."
Sitting up, he cursed his stupid eyes.
'Why couldn't I have the same crimson eyes as my family?'
He grasps the dirt till his nails were filled with it, feeling an unwavering rage in his guts. But he knew that he couldn't do anything but complied with the 'Grand Magician'.
'What's this 'bloodline awakened within you' bullshit?'
Punching the ground with as much strength as possible, the earth was torn and a roaring cracking sound could be heard across the former battlefield. He bit his lips until it bleeds and stared at his trembling hands.
Two arms wrapping themselves around his shoulders, and he broke down. Tears streaming down but oddly, there were no sobs.
Drifting his green irises, he saw a pair of bright pink eyes stared at him. Raven hair unconventionally landed on his shoulder and a smile from an undeveloped face giving off a cute demeanour.
"I'm here. Your support, I, am here."
As cinders flying in the air around them, he looks up at the ebony sky and glanced at the dark horizon. The sun was peeking the world and the moon started to dim, the stars gaily shined as their light pierced the gray smoke and revealed themselves to them.
In the dark coarse smoke, dots of light were shining lively, even the grey haze couldn't block the light stars gave off.
"Stars... why they were always beautiful no matter what?"
"Mother said the stars and the moon existed to look after the lonely people out there when infinite darkness covered the sky."
"Ah, I see."
'An ungrown thoughts were really beautiful.'
A pair of Crimson Demons peacefully leaned on each other, the little bit of orange at the east was blended with the night sky. A hand grasped his pale one, and the girl motioned herself onto his lap.
He silently wrapped his arm around the girl's middle, supporting himself with the other one and absorbing the warmth she emitted. A hand was placed on his chest and she nested herself on his lap.
"Thank you, Emica."
"...Yeah."
Two Crimson Demons, haven't matured and yet, going through a path even adults wouldn't dare to cross.
'A fate of being a future powerhouse... it stinks.'
Sobs came from the girl in his arm, he patted her head slowly and kissing her crown hair.
That was it. The girl screamed and clutched onto him. Whimpers filled with frustration, fear, sadness. A whimper from a mere ungrown full of awful feelings.
She comforted him, but she knew, all 19 of them knew that the burden number one had was the heaviest. The burden so enormous even their burdens combined couldn't even be compared to his.
Number one was a wall 19 of them leaned on, a voice they would heed, a hope they clutched onto, the oldest and most powerful of them all. They might not say his achievements out loud, but who would dare to say that they did the same thing when they were only 6 years old?
No one.
He was number one. The best of the bests.
His name is K-01.
He closed his eyes.
'Genius... is that title really great?
He was a soldier, picked up by the 'Grand Magician' and became his mere tool. He slaughters, he was demanded to kill without hesitation and ditched his sympathy to the beings he- they called 'enemies'.
Being a soldier at an age where he was supposed to play with his friends, this is what it meant to be the chosen one? Is being the chosen one was lucky? He was told to keep moving forward, he was told to march until all of it is over, he was told to not bat an eye to the enemies he massacred, he was told to train until his power was comparable to a god.
He was told to mature prematurely because he was a Crimson Demon, a superior magician race. He was told he was born for this, he was told he would live a prosperous life if he obeyed what they told him.
That one sentence, he put all his hope onto it.
But a prosperous life for a family exchanged with thousands of lives, was that worth it?
He never expects to live in a peaceful world, but he does not want to ruin it either. These hands of his had killed many lives, even children and women, who he learned was supposed to be protected, wasn't spared.
They said he was a monstrous genius whose born in an outstanding clan, that being said, he was treated like this. But his little sister could live peacefully, unlike him.
Strangely, there's no covetousness, rather, he feels soothe every time he saw an innocent, big smile on her childish face.
The pair of eyes he cursed emitted sharp green flashes, and the thunder roars. The sky rumbles. The earth trembles. The sea quivers.
He ignored it all, paying his attention to the whimpering girl in his arm, giving her soothing words and caress her head softly.
An old man appeared before them, a thick white moustache, long beard and a ridiculous looking ponytail. He had a majestic looking staff on his hand and a white robe, giving off a prudent aura.
He sneered, glaring at the old man fiercely. The old man gave him a mocking smile and flick his fingers. They disappeared, leaving nothing but gentle breezes.
"Onii-chan, do you think I could pass the test...?"
"Hoh, undoubtedly!"
"Onii-chan's support always inspired me!"
Smiling softly, he reassured his little sister, observing the environment this academy furnishes. The way this building had black as its exterior was the obvious sign it was his clan, Crimson Demon, academy.
As they walked through the hallway, they would sometimes pass some Crimson Demons on the way. Their big crimson eyes would stare at them, him particularly, bowed at their 'seniors' and they would pass by as if nothing happened.
Unnoticed by the two girls, but he widened his eyes rather frequently since entered this academy. Why?
Girls, all of the Crimson Demon students were girls. He didn't see a single male in this place, what's up with that?
He poked Yunyun, who jumped like a cat when he touched her back. She faced him and he inquired in confounds.
"Was the majority of the students here were girls?"
"Huh? Uh... yes, the majority of students here were girls."
"If you compare the quantity of the boys and the girls here, then how's the ratio?"
"...1:253?"
"...Please do not tell me that I was the only male here?"
"Huh, that's correct."
He blankly stared at her, which quickly amended into a surprised one when she said-
"Though there are a couple of seniors and teachers that were male."
"Ah, I see."
He nodded in affirmation, resuming his talk with her to pass the time. After a brief period, they have arrived at the 'training regiment area'. Which was a field with various... things.
He blankly stared at the field, it was like what he saw before. Trees, thick iron walls, and volcano imitations. Although there were no burned grass field or mini-mountains, what existed in their places were a 10x10 grass field and a tiny vacant land.
This field was particularly wider than the one he saw before, which were at the academy with a grey exterior.
"We have arrived! Ah! Testing newbies! How exciting..."
The heterochromia eyed girl proclaimed energetically, opening her little arms wide and taking a breath of fresh air of the grass field that would be burned moments later.
...
"Who wanted to go first?!"
She inquired loudly, putting her covered hands on her hips and faced the pair of siblings, her colleague calmly adjusted her glasses. Of course, the one who would reply her was Megumin, who enthusiastically answered her.
"Me! Me! I would show Onii-chan that I, Megumin, was the worthy imouto he more than deserves!"
"Kazuma-Kun, are you sure she could pass the test? I-I mean, what happened when she went to show off before..."
Yunyun nervously whispered, constantly shifted her eyes to in preparation Megumin and the apathetic looking Kazuma.
What she got as a reply was a slight chuckle, green eyes amusingly stared at the focused girl who would be tested. He put a hand on his hip and exclaimed out.
"Megumin, was undoubtedly a great magician."
"EXPLOSION!"
A massive pillar of heat appears that seems like from out of nowhere, the heat it radiates was comparable to that of lava. It was almost as tall as the academy itself and the range wasn't a joke either, as it covered the whole grass field that perished like it didn't exist in the first place. The crimson it emitted was strong, ambers were encircling it and the unfortunate elements inside its range met their demise.
"Bravo! Fantastic! You, are unquestionably passed, Megumum!"
"It-It's...-"
She plopped to the ground, prone on limply, trying to correct her senior about her name.
"It's Megumin!"
Lyn giggled happily, waving her arms as the sleeves of her oversized shirt flapping around, her eyes fixed on the pillar the whole time. Her colleague calmly write something in her notebook and nodded in confirmation.
"Megumin, Mana: B, Power: SS, Tenacity: D-, Intelligence: A, Control: S. Pass! Able to know how to cast a spell comparable to natural disaster with your limited amount of mana itself was impressive, that's an A for your intelligence. With the power of the spell itself, that's an SS power for a newbie. You only last two seconds before falling out of exhaustion, D- for tenacity. And your amount of mana in your core wasn't bad, B for your mana. To amend mana into a huge burst within a second, your control is applaudable, S for control. Congratulation, you get one white strip on your first day, after this, you would enter the class Yunyun-san attended."
The glasses girl, Yua, evaluated her performance and blankly congrats her, bringing out a white strip made out of elastic material from her notebook and stick it to her cloak with an invisible force.
Stars filled her eyes, she shifted her head to stare at it and parted her lips in awe.
"Onii-chan, I passed and got a white strip!"
With a wide smile on his face, he picked her up and let her clutched onto him from behind, staring at the destruction the spell his little sister got from a mysterious woman caused. It was an odd circumstance but not a bad one, rather, it was a good one. Since then his little sister was pretty much an Explosive Maniac.
"Of course you would get it."
"A-Ah... w-what a wonderful spell..."
Yunyun blankly stared at the destruction it had caused, her face was whitened to the point she looks like a ghost. Her eyes were moist, but unnoticed by everyone else, there's a fire ignited in her heart.
'Megumin... from today onwards, you would be my rival!'
Witnessing such destruction caused by her colleague, whose age was the same as her, ignited her determination to become better. She clenched her fist in resolve and stared at Megumin with a bright fire in her eyes.
Of course he would notice it, but he merely smiled and put Megumin down on the side, getting a complaint from her which he countered by chuckling at her antics, receiving an embarrassed little sister turning her head away from him.
"Alright Kazuma-Kun, it's your turn."
Without looking at him, the straight-haired girl called him out. Eyes fixedly stared at the demolished green field that generated itself, it looks like there was no explosion in the first place. She put her arms on her sides and pondering about something.
'Green eyes... did she know him?'
"Alright."
With a straight-backed posture, he strides over the field and stands before it. Yua intently observes his movements, wondering what was so... unique about him that even her fearless friend would be stumbled back just by merely looking at his eyes.
He sighed in resentment, eyes glowing brightly and motioned his left arm forward. Hand in bloomed, and five colourless dots manufactured themselves on the tip of his fingers.
Tilting his head a little, five different elements manifested from the little dots. Blazing fire, flowing water, crackling lighting, trembling earth, swirling wind. All of them moved simultaneously like five people were controlling them, alarming the people present.
With a little grunt, he thrust his arm forward and whispered, albeit all of the attendants there could hear it.
"...Doomsday."
All people present widened their eyes, and doomsday descended upon the field.
A tornado comparable to stirred sky, a tsunami of fire capable to turn a forest into ashes in seconds, a rain equivalent to a storm in myth, the ground stirring as if someone unreachable was shaking the earth itself, and...
A thunder equal to the retribution the gods descended to those who were against them.
It was occurring for only a second, but they could feel the impact, the vandalism they could cause, the extinction of validity they could create.
The person who could create and controlled all of them at the same time was currently crouching on the ground, taking deep breaths and eyes focusing solely on his hands.
'...I almost lost control there.'
The five destructors he created was pretty hard to control, they were certainly could be trump cards for wars, but it was difficult to make them as he desired. He originally intended to make the small version of them but that was too much for him. His control needs improvement.
He stood up, and a sudden movement causing him to almost staggered.
"How?!"
The usually energetic looking girl was now hysterically clinging to his arm and shouted like a lost little girl. Her colleague dropped her notebook and her glasses she supposed to adjust fall, she was currently blinking her big eyes repeatedly while gapping slightly at him.
'...He's on a different level.'
She picked both her items on the ground and started to write furiously. Meanwhile, Yunyun has fallen to her knees and shaking her head to clear the vision she just saw and the ruined field before her.
...
It didn't return to its former state, and she still sitting on the ground on her knees. A flash of amazement flickered in her eyes as she watched the disturbed eldest brother.
'I know he was on a whole different level but to this extent...'
She was genuinely amazed that a person this great was the one who had taught her the essential part of becoming a magician.
Megumin, of course...
"Get away you weirdo! Stop clinging to Onii-chan!"
"How?! I-I was so amazed! The impact your spells caused! L-Like... amazing!"
Both of them were pulling his arms like they were ropes, one was furious while the other one was absurdly curious. He coughed and stared at them with glimmering eyes, stopping their pointless actions and subdued them almost immediately.
He raised an eyebrow at their obedience.
Crimson Demons were originally lazy, but the ones who entered this academy changed to a person who pursued better control, a huge amount of mana and destructive spells. With their intelligence when it came to magic and a will to became better, they could be pretty much unrivalled.
Which surprised the clan when there were clans, races, empires that could enter the academy they entered, and it pikes up their improvement even further. The feeling of competing with others would make them train harder and became powerful even more.
The point is, Crimson Demons who entered this academy seeking to become better, and before a powerful presence like him make them obedient. A powerful presence means they would someday become like him/her, so they will instinctively respect and be obedient to him/her. Cause they pursued power.
In short, powerful people would receive respect, even from the Crimson Demons that entered this academy.
Before he could even ask them about it, Yua evaluated his performance with enthusiasm. He noticed too that heads were sticking out from windows on the building. There were even students peeking from the entrance of the training regiment area, which was massive doors. They were all staring at the ruined field with the same expression Yua wore on her face, but more exaggerating.
"Kazuma, Mana: EX, Power: EX, Tenacity: EX, Intelligence: EX, Control: EX!-"
"Isn't that a bit exaggerated-"
"Kazuma, Mana: EX, Power: SS, Tenacity: SS, Intelligence: SSS-, Control: EX. You were able to find a way to cast multiple destructive spells and controlling them at the same time, your intelligence is indeed extraordinary, you deserve EX for intelligence, but a mistake you made mitigate it to SSS-, I'll tell you the reason afterwards. The power you demonstrated was indeed terrific, but it clashes with each other, so the power didn't show its full potentials. Even so, they could be considered as S, and you cast them all at the same time. Power was definitely SS.
If you crouched and already desperately took deep breaths in exhaustion on the battlefield after casting spells, you would be vulnerable and could be killed immediately, although I noticed you deliberately reduced the power, that must take a considerable amount of willpower to do so, you got an SS for tenacity for that, while reducing your rank in intelligence at the same time. Who would show an opening for their enemies?
Control? Undoubtedly EX, controlling, casting, and seizing their sizes at the same time, no one could do that easily. You aren't run out of mana even after casting such spells, I make it short, EX for mana."
A long explanation from a middle-aged man who interrupted Yua, the students whose gazes were on the field widened their eyes while the testers bowed to him respectfully.
"Headmaster, it is an honour to met you face to face."
Both of them simultaneously greeted the newcomer, receiving a satisfied nod from the headmaster. Kazuma blinked his eyes, the evaluation he got was indeed precise, to think this middle-aged man could point them out immediately...
And he didn't even take notes!
Megumin hurriedly hides behind him, like when the first time she met the testers, she peeked at the headmaster in curiosity.
"He's the headmaster...?"
"He's indeed, the headmaster."
He nodded at her in agreement, staring at the man who currently had his gazes on him. There's a hint of surprise in it, and a bit of apologetic.
'I wonder why?'
The headmaster just shook his head discreetly and turned around, walking to the entrance to enter the training regiment area once more. He glanced at him and exclaimed softly.
"I rate you the way a master would rate."
Gasps could be heard throughout the academy, the headmaster smiled and disappeared, like he wasn't there in the first place.
"Welcome back, K-01."
A whisper full of warmth and affection from a voice he knew so well, too well. He widened his eyes and looks up at the sky.
'...What?!'
"What's wrong, Onii-chan?"
"...Rated the way a master would rate...?"
"..."
"Indeed, I have to improve my observation skills."