The Flower of Soline

Chapter 5 - Leon Frenzel

Aether bit his nail, with his back turned from the Professor he did his best to calm himself. A single second was all it took for his plans of survival in the world to be destroyed. 'I need to come up with another plan quickly.' He took a deep breath and tried to align all the facts he had gathered about himself so far. He was a child of the Frenzel family born with no abilities. From what he had seen so far, it looked as if his family wanted to make sure his existence was hidden from the spotlight. Yet, despite the tarnish his birth had given the Frenzel name, he was still sent to an academy that was notorious for students dying.

'It seems my family wanted me dead, but didn't want to do it themselves.'

He bit his nail again, chewing at what little nail was left. He may have only been in this world for a day, but with what he had read and what he had experienced, he was starting to get the gist of things.

'This world relies on power. The more powerful one is, the higher their status. Being part of the famed Frenzel family gives me some leverage, but without any abilities it means nothing.' He glanced back at the now dull orb. 'There has to be something I'm missing. If the people without abilities before me survived long enough to have their names recorded, then they must have found another way to survive, but how?'

He looked at his reflection in the orb. He touched his cheek, smiling slightly. 'Ah that could work, but would it be enough?' Power came in multiple forms. One didn't have to have strength to kill to have power. People often forget that beauty is one of the world's simplest forms of survival.

All the main characters in the novel had extremely good looks in some shape or form. It was stated that the Princes were able to simply smile in one's direction and most people would fall to their whims, but they weren't the only ones with renowned beauty.

The Frenzel household gained fame because of the power gifted from the spirit their ancestor had helped, but that wasn't the only thing they were gifted. Although not as well known as the other gift, the spirit had also gifted them with beauty. Though that beauty was deemed untouchable due to their vicious nature. Yet, he wasn't untouchable.

He could make this work, but beauty was not everything. Yes, having good looks could take him far, but what about the rest of the way. What else could he offer?

'Ah,' he smiled, 'Connections.' A lot of people were trying to attain connection with the Frenzels, but had no chance because their children were deemed unapproachable, but what if one was approachable? 'Although I have no abilities, they could see me as a gateway into the Frenzel household.'

He absentmindedly played with a strand of his hair, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'Although, that doesn't mean it won't be superficial. I know that everyone who tries to gain my favor will only be doing so in order to reach my siblings and the moment they accomplish that they would have no trouble backstabbing me, hell, they could even kill me.'

He hummed as he continued to sort through his thoughts. Beauty and connections, although good, would still not be enough.

A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. The Professor dragged him out of the door and down the long hallway. He wouldn't have been concerned if they weren't passing by the courtyard that connected the three buildings and were currently heading to the furthest building, the university!

"Where are we going?" He asked with a calm voice, though inside he was cursing up a storm as he tried to think of ways to get out of this safely.

"Were you not listening?" The Professor frowned at him, "Look, I haven' met someone as intelligent as you in, well, ever. So, here's the deal. I want you to take my advanced class." Aether raised an eyebrow at that.