Crimson Phoenix Guardian- Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage 4

Episode 45: The Honors Course

As I flew, I saw a short blond boy with baggy black pants and an equally baggy white shirt look up and smile at me. Several other boys, also dressed in baggy clothes, surrounded him. Some of them even had tattoos. Where did such delinquent-looking characters come from? Last I checked, this was an elite school.

The boy jumped up and grinned as he was next to me. What in the world? Did he really just jump seventy feet without using wind magic? And while wearing flip-flops too...

"Hey, aren't you Lei?" the strange boy asked as he started to lose altitude.

"Y-yeah," I responded, still taken aback by the strange guy.

He smiled and waved.

What was that? Did he merely wish to greet me?

I stayed still in the air and watched as the boy landed on the ground without stumbling despite his loose shoes. He was as limber as cat. A set of purple eyeballs watched me as if waiting for me to come down and speak to their owner.

His eyes seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd seen them before.

Taking a deep breath, I flew down. "You asked my name, but you didn't bother to introduce yourself first," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Hey, watch the tone you use when talking to the master!" one of his posse said, stepping forward. His green hair was braided into three ponytails, two on the left side and one in the middle, while his right side was completely shaven off. A snake tattoo decorated the right side of his neck and ran up the lower part of his shaven head. He must've belonged to the eighth branch of the Kyuu Hyaku.

The blond boy raised his hand. "It's fine, Koichii. He's right, I did ask his name before doing so myself." He snickered. "It was mighty rude of me."

The green-haired guy sighed and took a step back. "As you wish, Master."

The blond boy smiled widely. "Nice to finally get to meet the famous Lei in person. I'm Burai Zettai, though all my friends call me Bui."

My eyes widened. Did he say... Zettai?

"Are you related to Eien?" I asked.

He raised a hand toward his chin. "Eien? Yeah. I'm the cousin of his grandfather."

"His grandfather?"

He smiled widely again. "Yeah, my lame-ass dad is the younger brother of Eien's great-grandfather."

I scratched my head. "I'm not really familiar with his family."

He laughed. "Well, there's one close relative of mine that you probably do know, Maya."

"Maya?" I asked, tilting my head.

The boy chuckled. "Oops. Forgot that she goes by Lucette here."

"Wait, Lucette's real name wasn't Lucette?"

"Oh, it is, but it's not her primary name." He stepped forward and walked past me. "Anyway, I simply wanted to have a small chat with you. Thanks for not flying away." He eyed me. "You were impressive during that first-round match. That Alto guy stood no chance at all. With such talent, you might be worthy of entering the honor class."

I turned around. "The honor class?"

The boy looked over his shoulder and smirked. "Yes. Koichii and I belong to it. There, you might find those worthy of calling rivals. Staying in the exchange student class won't help you grow."

"So, you came this way to recruit me?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I was merely making the option known to you. The one in charge of recruitment is my grandpa, Mr. Obi."