When Arima transferred away, leaving them behind, Kyle woke the King up. What happened afterward was out of his expectations. At first, he had wanted to threaten this King and inquire why he plotted against Central City.

 

But when he opened his eyes, he had lost any similarity to his previous self who was coolly talking to the princes just before. The moment he opened his eyes, he cowered in fear and answered any question he was faced with.

 

Kyle was stunned but Elion observed solemnly. He had perceived the vicious blow that Arima had inflicted to that man’s mind and soul. The King had basically become as innocent as a newborn. He regretted absolutely everything he had done in his life as if he couldn't tolerate evil at all.

 

When Ofia saw this, she became even more aware of how terrifying Arima was. He had told them during a lecture that he was used to infiltrate people’s mind and take their memories whilst killing the victim. But she just now realized that he could even change a person's entire personality. If he wanted, maybe he could even transform someone into a literal puppet.

 

And since there was no one strong enough to rival him, this fact greatly reinforced Arima's potential threat.

 

In the end, the King spilled out everything and apologized countless times, simply repeating that he was too prideful and that it was the reason why he aimed at Central City. He wanted to reign over the Main Land.

 

Gand sighed whilst checking the King's weakened mind. "Everything he says is the truth. He's not acting or anything. He has really become as inoffensive as a child," he concluded and looked at Ofia. "Princess, your teacher’s abilities are unfathomable and equally alarming."

 

Ofia wryly smiled. "I know, Gand. When someone is too dangerous, they should be eliminated at the very extreme or at least pulled over. But in the end, even if people say that all problems can't be solved with strength, everything becomes a joke when you're confronted with absolute superiority. That’s something I learned thanks to our new teacher…" she paused and Lena also looked at her.

 

"Strength can resolve anything. There’s nothing capable of shaking that truth."

 

Gand and Elion were very surprised and looked at each other. Their princess was usually very smart and compassionate. They had never heard her say things of the sort. It was even the opposite; they always thought that she was against that kind of idea. They wondered what kind of power could make her view of the world change so drastically.

 

"Gand, can I trouble you to bring us back?" Lena asked the old mage. Gand nodded and walked to the princesses.

 

"Elion, take care of things here," he said before teleporting with Lena and Ofia.

 

Kyle gazed at the cowering King. "…He’s a good for nothing now. There’s no way he can govern a country like this. Although it sounds bad, we'll force him to sign a decree which will give us his rulership," he declared and Jerio agreed. Elion bowed and merely listened to his prince's instructions.

 

***

 

Gand teleported the two sisters just in front of their classroom. "Thank you, Gand," Ofia smiled then opened the door. The first thing she saw was Night fuming in the corner with Karma pestering him.

 

Arima was insouciantly resting on his seat, reading a book. Lanya was sitting next to him, skimming a book he had specifically made for her. She would ask him the things she didn’t understand from time to time.

 

Meanwhile, the students were going through a written test that Night had given because he didn't want to teach them anything.

 

When Ofia and Lena entered, they wordlessly greeted Arima then directly went to their seat to undergo their tests. Gand watched from behind and walked toward Arima after a while. Every student was attracted by the situation and looked up from their desk.

 

"You're the Kind Demon, correct?" Gand raised his voice and Arima nodded without stopping his reading. "I am Gand, the Magus of the King's citadel. I have a favor to ask. If possible, would you agree to show me your mana core?"

 

Arima's eyes flashed and he mused. He closed his book then stood up. He smiled at Gand. "Sure, it's a good occasion to introduce it to my students,” he said.

 

“Thank you,” Gand was considerably courteous and patiently waited.

 

Arima looked toward his students. “I'll pause your test for now," he announced and everyone put down their pens. His sigil revolved and the surroundings abruptly changed.

 

The walls and the academy itself disappeared. The only things that remained were the students' seats and the floor. Now, they had a perfect view of the sky and around them, there was just a lowland as far as the eye could see. The whole classroom had actually been transported somewhere else.

 

The students weren't surprised at this point but Gand took a step back and gulped. The students may have not felt it, but he was in the First Sky of the Earthen Realm. He had clearly sensed the dense and huge chunk of mana that came out of Arima's body.

 

The latter casually walked out of the ‘open-air room’ and stepped in the plain. Nobody followed him as they knew he was going to show them something.

 

When he was around a hundred meters away from the class, he stopped. He breathed in and closed his eyes. He slowly moved his hands and formed a sort of circular hand sign in front of his chest.

 

The mana core of an individual was fundamentally the bottom of the mana pool. It was also from there that mana gathers initially. It’s like a bottle cap. The mana core is what connects you to the magic circuits. Everyone has a mana core since birth and if it’s destroyed, you can never gather mana in your body anymore. You would be essentially crippled.

 

Arima exhaled and a light started forming between his hands. To be exact, there were three different lights; a blue one, a black one, and a silver one.

 

Gand's eyes narrowed and most of the students slammed their desks as they stood up. Arima had three mana cores. It was unheard of. It is said that having two cores was possible, but someone like that hadn't appeared in centuries. But Arima actually had three of them.

 

Ofia calmly observed and deduced that the blue one was the original one; the core that Arima naturally got at birth. She then recognized that silver color. It was the same color that surrounded Arima when he fought Chulainn.

 

The Hellhound recognized every single core with a single glance though. "The blue one represents Arima's race as a Life Hunter, the black one represents his identity as a Death Hunter, and the silver one represents his designation as a Silver Emperor," he explained out loud for everyone to hear.

 

The students looked at him in wonder. They had never heard about Hunters or Silver Emperors. Was that the foundation to Arima's strength?

 

"But it's strange," Chulainn then added.

 

"What is it?" Night asked.

 

"I feel like…" Chulainn hesitated. "There's a fourth dormant one," he uttered and everyone trembled. "That energy… I never saw it before," he muttered with a complex expression.

 

In the same way, even Arima was surprised when he noticed the dormant energy. But when he realized what it was, he smiled. That smile contained pain, irony, nostalgy, and joy. When Lanya, Night, and Karma saw this, they all shuddered. Even Chulainn and Arister were astounded. The students were also in a daze. Ofia even asked herself if she was seeing things.

 

Arima chuckled and shook his head. He then focused on his cores again. Once he did it, the three existing cores started expanding and then started orbiting around him.

 

Then, they were truly liberated. The whole audience suddenly felt a dense, pure, and abundant mana sweeping over them. In their awe, everyone felt cleansed as the mana went through them.

 

That mana was too pure. Even Gand was already drunk in it. Around Arima, the plants started growing massively. The grass, the flowers, the trees, everything was becoming purer and fresher. This ‘paradise’ continued to spread for miles and the mass of mana already surpassed the imagination of the spectators.

 

The sheer quantity of mana permeating the air was already larger than every student’s mana pools combined. If they weren't there in person, they would have never believed it.

 

Arima raised his hand toward the sky. The wind stopped blowing and became unbelievably calm. The water in the rivers flowed dreamily without any sound. Gradually, sparkling lights appeared in the sky out of nowhere. The clouds then slowly gathered and started pouring water out.

 

The rain fell on the 'paradise' giving it a melancholic feeling. But it didn't make the scene despondent, it was even more stunning. The students reached with their hands to touch the raindrops but they dissolved before even getting near them. Only the plants and Arima himself were being drenched in water.

 

Lanya tried to reach for a raindrop as well then tears fell down her cheeks. Even Karma and Night weren't that cheerful in front of the scene. They were the closest to Arima, more than the beauty of it, they felt the melancholy. Chulainn and Arister mutely watched.

 

"…So, this is his mana manifestation," Gand muttered and wryly smiled. "How can someone have this kind of scenery in his heart?"

 

The core manifestation was basically how the mana of the person would interact with the world around if it was released freely. Mana hosts the mind of the caster and all of his worldly feelings. The scene everyone was admiring at the moment was the interpretation of Arima's mind into the real world.

 

When you think of him, people may tend to think that his manifestation would bring something closer to destruction or perhaps something more spirited. But what came out instead was hardly that. Nothing was destroyed at all. It just reflected nature and melancholy.

 

"I can't understand this guy…" Chulainn mumbled. "Is he cruel or compassionate? Mean or kind? Good or evil? All of these questions; are you telling me he's answering them with this? What the hell is going on inside this guy's head?"

 

"You know…" Karma raised her voice for everyone to hear. The tone of her voice was so unusually solemn that everyone went silent and listened to her. "I undoubtedly am the one who has known Arima for the longest time here. I was forged a century ago. And even as a weapon, I can still remember how he was during those days."

 

"At the time he forged me, if he had performed this manifestation, the scenery would have most likely been drenched in blood. I don't know much about Arima's life, I can't remember a lot. But, at some point in his life, he must have formed those clouds to rinse the blood.”

 

“It’s how I see it right now. He washes everything with this rain. Anything that could taint this scene will be eliminated," she told and everyone stared at Arima.

 

He exhaled and waved his hand. Instantly, the cores returned inside his body and the landscape returned to normal. Everyone blinked and they were already back within the PA’s grounds.

 

When everyone reacted, Arima was already on his seat. He casually smiled and pulled out the book he was reading earlier.

 

"Resume the test," he instructed. He had no intention to talk about what happened. He just wanted to show them his mana cores to prepare them for a later date.

 

The students were baffled. They took some time to recover before resuming their work with their minds in turmoil. Gand also stayed silent for a moment then bowed slightly.

 

"Thank you. This experience will surely help me improve greatly. I will take my leave, l will leave the princesses in your care," he said and teleported away.

 

Night looked at Gand leaving then checked the students’ faces. "…Let me clear this up before you delude yourself. It isn't how every core should act. You will just waste your time if you try to attain Arima’s level of abnormality. It's like trying to become a malware whilst under the quarantine of an anti-virus," he said with a blank expression. He felt obligated to not let the poor students have false hopes.

 

The students nodded at his words without even taking out their eyes from their test papers, even though they didn't understand the image at all, they got the point.

 

"Interesting analogy,” Chulainn snickered.

 

One hour later, Arima retrieved the tests then sat at his desk.

 

"Alright, now that we're fifty, we'll start getting ready for the competition. I will explain to you how it will unfold and what my plan is," he announced and his students became excited at the thought of participating in the competition.