After George dismissed them, and the team said goodbye to Evelyn, Killian walked Juda back to his ward.

He humoured him by supporting him by his shoulders even if he knew Juda faked a limp halfway to his ward. "You should join training with me next time."

Juda pulled away immediately, startling Killian. "Will you look at that? All of a sudden, my legs are okay." He laughed nervously, walking ahead.

"Is training with me such a scary thing? You haven’t even done it before." Killian continued walking behind him.

"Evelyn also said D-Rank students were disliked by the teachers so you all did nothing but go to the gym." Juda turned to Killian, narrowing his eyes at him. "She can dent the ground. You might be worse."

Killian folded his arms over his chest. "So you don’t try because you think it will be hard?" Am I the only one who didn’t get the coward genes in the family? I feel left out. It would’ve made me less reckless.

Juda paused his steps, returning to Killian’s side. He bent his head and whispered. "During that incident, did he say anything to you? Like anything weird?"

"Who is ’he’?" Killian said, his voice still in normal tone.

Juda made a ’keep your voice down’ gesture and whispered again. "That angel. There were a lot of odd things he said to me. Did he say the same to you?"

Killian looked around the hallway and back to Juda. He had wanted to bring it up for a long time since Juda woke up, but had waited until he asked first.

"What did he say? He didn’t say much to me," Killian replied calmly. "He just tried to kill me."

Juda hummed. "Was it because you’re a disease among healthy plants?"

Killian’s steps slowed to a stop, he shook his head. "He didn’t word it like that."

But that is what being an anomaly means.

Juda scratched the back of his head. "He talked about so many things, but the one that stood out was when he called our realm a protected farmland."

Killian raised a brow at that. A realm filled with humans and civilization being demoted as farmland was just twisted and dehumanising.

"And he seemed to want to remove something bad from it." Juda continued, looking at Killian. "I think he meant you because you were a null before. I don’t know. He’s really stupid, and I’m stupid too for getting tricked by him." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Killian remembered the part about him wanting to look cool, and his expression softened slightly. "I don’t know either. Don’t worry. You are free and that’s all that matters."

His simple reply made Juda pause, before walking ahead again. They both walked a few more steps before Juda spoke again, his voice quieter this time.

"He also called the monster realms farms, but of lower quality. He talked a lot in my head, so I don’t remember everything. Was he comparing humans to monsters, but just higher quality ones?"

Killian hummed quietly, his eyes lowering to the ground as that thought settled deeper than the first one.

Humans and monsters were deemed almost the same to the angel, hence they could be killed easily if they were anomalies. "That is a very interesting question."

Killian opened the door to Juda’s ward. "But don’t think much and get some sleep. You’d have one training session with me before I leave for the academy."

Juda nodded reluctantly and slumped to his bed. Killian watched him fall on his bed before closing the door.

"I can’t decide if farmland is the angel’s way of being demeaning or that is a common thought within angels."

Then is the Goddess he reveres so much the farmer?

What is she farming?

.

.

"You are really on fire today."

Killian didn’t look at him as he stood there with flames stretching out of his body, and the flame sitting above his palm steadily.

"I figured it out," he said calmly, watching the flames rise from his body. "The point is to conserve limited mana, and feeding from nature’s reserve around me. It burns cleaner and doesn’t drain me as much. Am I right?"

Jenovan blinked once, then shrugged.

"It’s just smarter to save your mana. No one really cares which one you use as long as it’s fire."

Killian’s shoulders dropped. So much for being a Mage.

Jenovan closed the distance. "Now show me how good your control is. Keep that fire steady while moving."

Killian smirked. Say less. The flame was still sitting on his skin as he moved just as Jenovan came at him without warning like always.

His first strike came quickly, his arms moving before the legs like usual, and Killian reacted on instinct as he shifted his weight and slipped past it.

The flames on his body still burned naturally, flaring slightly due to his movement. They moved back and forth, the fire burning naturally all through, though wavering heavily.

After five minutes, Jenovan forced himself back, as if trying not to enjoy it too much. He made a small nod. "It’s stable with oxygen, that’s good now that your mana is flaring."

Killian let the flame die out slowly, flexing his fingers once before he looked up. "Now, you can teach me how to make it flow and write out like you did."

"Why do you want to learn that?" Jenovan turned away, walking to his desk. "That is a useless skill."

Killian frowned slightly, confused. "You said I would learn it? A second skill if I get this one right, remember?"

Jenovan replied without hesitation. "That skill does not attack nor defend, it is mostly used for love confessions and showing off."

Killian stared at him for a second, then let out a quiet sigh. He sounds like he really doesn’t want me to learn it after teasing it to me last time. "Just teach it to me."

Jenovan’s lips curved. "Oh, is there someone you want to confess to? What’s her name? His name? I’m open-minded."

Killian sighed again. His eyes shifted to Jenovan’s laptop that lit up from a notification. "I will leave since you have some things to do."

Jenovan chuckled softly. "Yes, actually. I will teach you something else next time. Settling your mana is essential for your trip to the academy."

Killian nodded once, accepting without pushing further. He turned and walked out of the workroom, heading to the meditation room.

On reaching the hallway, he saw the director’s son standing there like he owned the place. Killian clicked his tongue softly, turning to leave the other way instantly.

A door opened behind him.

George walked in.

Killian let out a quiet sigh, already knowing he was stuck between them now. But George wasn’t looking at him, and waved at the person behind him.

"Hey, big brother."

Killian paused. He turned his head slowly, his eyes moving between them.

Big brother?