Chapter 428: Getting Back To The Territory - 3

"Who are you trying to fool?! In what world are freshmen in the 4-star realm?!" the man snapped, already raising his hand to launch an attack.

Before he could, Leo and the others brought out their badges, clearly displaying their status as freshmen of the academy.

"See? We are freshmen—just a bit strong," Leo said calmly. If the worst came to pass, he would simply unsummon Mickey; the rest would be teleported back to the temple upon receiving any fatal damage.

As far as he knew, he could handle the man alone. Spatial powers, however, were a headache to deal with. If the user took damage, they could simply teleport and escape, and that usually only happened when they were overwhelmed—which was extremely difficult to achieve.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t fought anyone with spatial powers... Leo thought. With no experience against a spatial mage, things could get troublesome if the man took this misunderstanding too far.

The only spatial user he had seen in action was himself and Shyra with the skill [Umbral Rift Pounce].

The user slips halfway into an interstice of living shadow, becoming a blurred after-image as they launch forward. During the dash, all senses fail to latch onto their presence, and the final strike manifests from a different angle than the initial movement—warping perception and bypassing most instinctive defences. Wounds inflicted carry residual "rift distortion," momentarily inhibiting the target’s healing and balance.

Lily, on the other hand, was already radiating clear hostility as the mage prepared to attack, only worsening the situation.

"Come on, man. Don’t tell me you still don’t know the first-rank freshmen this year and their ability to showcase 5-star strength. It’s been all over the academy—just check it on your phone and match the faces," Leo said, left with no choice but to flaunt his status.

Ahh, so cringe. Leo grimaced inwardly. It wasn’t that he disliked attention, but advertising himself was never on his list.

"Trying to distract me, eh? You think I am a fool!"

Yes, you are! Leo gritted his teeth. The guy looked almost paranoid.

And that was indeed the case—this particular spatial mage had grown paranoid after facing multiple kidnapping and assault attempts.

"Just check it. Trust me—if you fire whatever you’re charging, Professor Brant will come knocking at your door within the next hour."

"P-Professor Brant?"

The mage rose a little higher into the air and finally checked the posted pages about Leo. In the process, he also came across Lily and Kaelion—Lily’s bright pink hair was unmistakable even on the screen’s faint glow.

"Shit!" the mage cursed, immediately teleporting back to the ground and raising his hands in surrender.

"I am very sorry! I just wasn’t aware. Please forgive my ignorance." He bowed slightly.

Leo was a bit surprised. A senior student—at least according to the badge reading 4th term—actually bowed.

What Leo didn’t know was that seniority in terms was far from a defining factor of status in this world. Even with 20 years spent in the academy, the maximum age barely reached 50 at the highest seniority, meaning little in a world where 4-century-old monsters roamed the streets like beggars—or pretended to, for their own reasons... most being to experience something new.

Of course, that perspective only applied to those capable of thinking that far. A conceited person would always find ways to look down on others.

Well, it’s not the first time this has happened... I guess mages and researchers are similar? Leo thought, recalling Hadir back at the frozen waterfall.

"No offence taken. But you can do your job without worry now, I suppose?" Leo asked.

The man nodded quickly. "Yes. I was simply unaware—I haven’t left my room for the past few months."

Leo’s gaze turned sceptical. The man coughed awkwardly.

"Well, I do need to work in order to fund my research."

"By the way, my name is Ishan—a senior student and a spatial mage. Natural talent." He introduced himself while continuing to transport Sylrael.

"My name is Leo, a freshman and a Beast Master."

From what Leo knew, when someone said ’natural talent’, it meant they had acquired their profession through an innate ability they were born with. In Ishan’s case, it meant he possessed a Space element affinity that allowed him to become a spatial mage—not like beast masters, who could gain such abilities after taming a space-attributed beast and copying its skills.

But Leo frowned slightly.

"Wait... you said natural talent. So you’re not a beast master, yet you were admitted 15 years ago—back when they weren’t accepting other talents?"

"Hm?" Ishan glanced back, though he continued transporting the bisons as he spoke.

"You must not be from a core city or a highly influential family. Information about other talents has existed for 40 years—it just spread slowly due to poor communication."

"So yeah, because of that, I was found to have a space attribute, which allowed me to get admitted. But I’ll say this—life wasn’t as easy back then as it is now with the official inclusion of other talents. Since other talents are and still is considered inferior to Beast Taming to a degree, people like me had it rough."

His tone shifted slightly; less explanatory and more like venting.

"Mostly harassment, bullying and sometimes straight up assault. People used to drag me out at night and beat the shit out of me just because I was a bit rebellious and wouldn’t follow their stupid rules." He chuckled faintly. "Fun days—until I got strong enough to phase half of their bodies into stone."

By the end, a faintly sadistic smile crept onto his face, as if recalling a particularly satisfying memory.

Ouch... that must have hurt badly. Leo could almost feel the pain just imagining it. Limbs, pain nerves, muscles; many bursting and many fusing straight with the stone.

Beside him, Lily seemed to be quietly taking notes. It looked like her next choice of beast had already been decided.

Ishan finished transporting the last of the bisons, downing a few mana potions in the process.

But Leo noticed something—he was drinking them even though he didn’t look particularly exhausted.

That meant he was refilling his reserves before they even dropped halfway.

Leo narrowed his eyes slightly.

He’s still expecting a surprise attack...

And honestly, after hearing his story, Leo couldn’t blame him. Even he would get the creeps if there was a chance of him getting jumped in midnight while sleeping.