Strongest Demigod System-Chapter 116: The Essence of Essence

[Lithany of Ascension]

Progress in the Mantra: 2.1%

Progress Required to Rank Up: 5%

…

Azrael woke up the next morning to the feeling of someone's arm across his face. His bedmate was snoring loudly in his ear and drooling on the bed disgustingly.

Azrael threw off the arm of his bedmate and groaned while getting up.

Everything hurt.

Today was Saturday, so unlike Azrael, the rest of the students didn't have anything to do in school. Many of them were still in bed, with only a few early risers moving around the room aimlessly.

"Hey, boss. Didn't you say you had to be in school early today?"

Thomas' voice came from the side where he was playing a game on his phone and Azrael felt his brow furrow as he turned to the clock –

4:59 am

"Fuck!"

Azrael cursed as he quickly stepped on his bedmate's back and used him as a springboard to launch himself toward the bathroom!

"Ugh! My back!"

His bedmate groaned at the rude awakening and Azrael didn't even bother apologizing as he headed straight inside the bathroom!

There was already someone in there, but Azrael didn't care as he took off his clothes and washed everything in two minutes flat!

He put on his uniform, packed some essentials in a bag, and ran out of the room in record time.

Outside the room, the matron was already going about her morning duties along with the other nuns.

"Oh, Azrael, are you in a hurry? Aren't you having breakfast?"

"Sorry, I'm late!"

Azrael gave a quick greeting before he ran out of the house and headed for the bus stop.

The sun had only just begun to rise in the distance, so the city was still cast in shadows and minimal light.

The lack of cars on the main road and the quiet early morning streets allowed Azrael to calm himself as he stopped at the bus stop with a sigh.

The bus came a few minutes later and Azrael got in with some other people who were also waiting.

There were a few people on the bus who noticed Azrael's uniform, showing him as one of the students of Didinv Academy, and they were about to approach him for a picture.

All the students in Divine Academy were treated as celebrities by the mortals who saw all demigods as higher beings. Just being a part of the school meant that you were destined for greatness.

But once the people noticed Azrael's badge and the image of a skull imprinted on it, they all recoiled in shock and fear before quickly turning away from him.

Azrael didn't even notice all of this as he looked at his time and saw that it was ten minutes past five. He was so fucked.

Scar told them to be in school at four, and he was only getting there now.

What were the odds that Scar would send him to the gulag for being an hour late?

Azrael sighed tiredly.

Scar should understand if he explains what happened yesterday.

The party and the attack on the mansion made most of the students tired, so he was sure that Scar wouldn't punish them too much for being late.

'Yeah, right. That sadistic bastard is probably going to make us run laps for the entire morning for being late.'

As he got off the bus, he saw some of his classmates running through the gate and toward the shuttle area. Many of them weren't even properly dressed and they were putting on their jackets and ties hurriedly while moving towards the gate.

Azrael also ran off the bus and towards the shuttle, but he cursed in annoyance as the shuttle filled up before he could get there and headed off. They would have to wait for the next one to fill up and that would take a few minutes.

There were five students there, including Azrael, and they all had terrified looks on their faces as they waited for the shuttle to fill up.

They were all terrified of what Scar would do to them.

It was at moments like these that the students wished they stayed in the hostel.

At least those students could never be late.

Vroom!

Azrael watched as a car came to stop in front of him and the window rolled down to reveal Cleopatra in the back seat. She gave him a smile and gently waved him inside.

"Come here."

Azrael mentally weighed his options at that moment and to his shock, his fear of Scar's punishment easily outweighed his desire to avoid Cleopatra.

He entered the car under the shocked gazes of the other students and they drove off.

…

"I didn't think you would be late for your first bi-weekly training. Did you have a long night after you got home with Maddison?"

Azrael glanced at Cleopatra curiously when she said this.

Had she been watching him last night?

No, he knows she went into the mansion to look for Jennifer with the other firefighters, so there was no chance she would have seen him leaving with Maddison.

That meant she asked around after he left.

Azrael didn't bother answering the question since he didn't think it was important and Cleopatra narrowed her eyes at him before folding her hands and looking out the window.

There was an aura of worry around Cleopatra that told Azrael that she wasn't a hundred percent in the moment. It was obvious that her mind was on something else and Azrael already knew what it was.

"Were you able to find Jennifer yesterday?"

Azrael's next question was the first step in a well-thought-out tactic.

Azrael and Maddison were the last to leave the house yesterday and Cleopatra had come to them personally asking about Jennifer, so Azrael knew that there was some suspicion in Cleopatra's heart that they were somehow connected to whatever happened to her friend.

By asking a question about her, Azrael was planting the thought in Cleopatra's mind that he was not afraid to talk about the topic.

This would make sure that Cleopatra didn't allow her own assumptions to drive her into being more suspicious of him.

Cleopatra turned to give Azrael a look at his question before she frowned while shifting some of her hair behind her ear.

"No, there were no traces of her. The police said they found a mask at the scene that was similar to the one worn by that masked murderer going around recently. The useless fools have been looking into him for hours now and they claim to not have any leads because the fire burnt down most of the house."

Cleopatra's hand tightened around her bicep and Azrael could tell that she was not happy about the lack of any leads.

From the interaction Azrael had seen yesterday between the two women, he knew that Jennifer and Cleopatra must've known each other for a long time, so it was understandable that Cleopatra would be angry her friend was missing.

But it was unfortunate that she was never going to see her again.

Jennifer was now in Maddison's Aether Zone, and unless Maddison summons her body to use it for a fight, she couldn't come back to the mortal plane.

"How far have you progressed with the Essence Breaker?"

Cleopatra suddenly spoke up about a different topic in an effort to move things away from the depressing atmosphere and Azrael scratched his cheek with a tired sigh before shaking his head.

Cleopatra gave him a small smile.

"No progress?"

"It's hard."

"I see… that's understandable for your level. But you should try your best not to disappoint me, Azrael. After all, I was able to do it in only five days. A week should be more than enough time for you to complete the exercise. Tell me, how are you moving your Essence?"

Cleopatra turned towards Azrael and came closer so that they were almost touching.

Azrael didn't bother commenting on how close she was sitting as he started to explain his recent methods of shifting Essence to her.

He told her about how he envisioned Divine Essence to be the nerves in his body and he shifts the Essence while thinking about the sensations of touch or nerve reaction.

That way, he could easily –

"What are you talking about? That's wrong, so wrong."

Cleopatra frowned at Azrael in slight disappointment when she heard his method for moving Essence through his body and she immediately stopped him.

Cleopatra then brought her hand up and sent some of her Essence through it, making the car fill up with static.

"Essence isn't your friend, and it isn't a partner that helps you in your time of need. That's only how the weaklings view their power. They think it is some form of divine aid so they treat it the same way they would treat their god. With reverence and respect. You should never allow your Essence to become something more important than your own self. Essence, at its very core, is a slave. It is the fuel that we push into our God Aspect to power it. It is the helper that we use as a stepping stone to make our mortal bodies stronger. It is our servant."