Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Chapter 18: I, Your Father! [2]

The brief moment before class started was always boring and filled with nothing interesting to do, so Asura began searching for something to pass the time, and as he peeked from the corner of his eyes, the cool-faced Xavida focused forward before he noticed her hand hanging between their desks, swaying slightly.

'Is she trying to hold my hand?'

Curious enough, he felt it was a strange scene, but he didn't reach out himself and instead decided to tease her a little while having fun observing her reactions.

So instead of doing anything, he let his hand fall naturally to the side, gently tapping against hers but then moving a few centimetres away, dangling freely.

Let's see if she wants to remove more of that strange energy inside her body.

[You just want to tease her, right?]

'Don't speak, Brian... it's time for class.'

[...]

A loud sound rattled before the door opened as the royal children entered with their usual grand flare. It felt like even the most simple things would become an annoying, over-the-top scene.

It annoyed Asura, who felt the prince was just a two-faced prick.

About the princess's thought, his judgement was currently on hold. All he knew was that she tried to achieve something her brother labelled treason before she vanished. Was she killed or sent to some seedy noble to become a seedbed for future royal children?

Since his death and rebirth, some of Asura's thoughts have become more aggressive and less reserved. In contrast, Asura of the past might show compassion or pretend not to know the horrible fate of the princess.

'Let's keep my eyes and ears open, maybe have Xue'er make friends with her, to find out any information. I don't want her to die or suffer. I am a member of this kingdom, after all.'

The prince and princess floated to their seats before suddenly a loud noise shocked everyone as the door was slammed open by a thick leg full of muscles and scars but with beautifully silky skin opened the door.

"Good morning, class! How was your first day in the academy?"

The crimson hair and mature face of Lorem peeked from the door after making the entire classroom jump in shock.

Her eyes observed the room, narrowing as she glanced briefly towards Asura and Xavida's location, the slight action making the female dragon pull her arm back and lower her head to the black desk.

'This woman... Her gaze was quite fierce, or was it my imagination?'

Asura leaned back in his seat as the feeling of danger flashed in his mind and body the moment she looked at him—a warning, perhaps? His back was warm, damp and cold from the chilly sweat dripping down his back while all the hair on his arms stood up.

'Did I do something?'

Lorem's eyes, when looking at him, were those of wonder, judgment and...

'Why does she look at me with such anger?'

He was slightly shocked at how nobody else received such a gaze until he saw that the skin of Xavida was like his, covered in slight pink scales as if to defend her from an enemy.

In the next moment, a soft hand grasped Asura, cold, damp with sweat, as the delicate fingers of Xavida tightly grasped his.

Lorem stepped towards her desk, a victorious and pleased smile on her cracked red lips. Her beauty was unmistakable and even her scar did little to cause negative to her style.

She snorted, looking at the pair of connected hands for a moment, a fleeting grin on her charming face.

'Did she do that on purpose... To make Xavida hold my hand!? Ridiculous, I have no connection to Lorem.'

"Now then, today, your life in the academy starts for real. Be prepared. This isn't some field trip or academic school."

"Battle, cultivation, competition and war!"

"That is why this academy exists, to form the future defenders of our glorious Kingdom!"

Lorem was so vibrant that Asura and Xavida didn't notice the subtle tingling in their hands as he devoured the curse and small portions of her mana.

Their connection formed a tiny, minuscule purple seed inside his brain as her body became lighter, the stabbing pain in her chest and muscles fading slightly.

"Eh?"

"What do you mean, teacher?"

Some students looked completely confused and looked at the teacher with wronged faces and looks of concern.

'I cannot blame them. At first, I thought this was a joke in my last life... How foolish to force myself to come just because my father is an Earl.'

"I mean, what I said?" Lorem's head tilted, revealing her muscular neck with a dark scar wrapped around her neck and showing her sharp teeth with a wild smile.

"This academy is meant to make you knights, warriors, mages. It's not here for some pathetic diploma to become a merchant or butcher but to fight for the kingdom."

"Especially you nobles, shouldn't your parents have told you this academy was only for future heirs or those who had nothing to lose?"

She is a good instructor, telling them the truth now even as they look at her with eyes of blame and anger. If only they knew, this knowledge would help them endure the hell that begins from today.

Asura's hand grasped Xavida tighter, his fingers entwining with hers as the force of his devouring increased. Since reaching stage one, he could increase the intensity and chose to help this dragon girl a little more.

Xavida was injured in the original timeline as the princess broke her arms because this cold girl suddenly stopped moving, frozen on the spot and taking a full-powered blow head-on.

Now he knew better and could see the dark, sickly mana that was likely the cause and filled her body like a deadly tumour, wrapping around her muscles and mana core as if smothering Xavida's insides.

'The pain must be excruciating...'

"I don't accept this! I didn't join the academy to fight but to become an Arch Magister!"

A boy with black hair down to his neck, tied in a bun with curly bangs, stood up while banging his desk with a bellowing roar.

His eyes filled with fire, and his finger pointed towards Lorem. "My father is the Marquis of Vanderbak! Why would he send his only son to fight in such deadly and brutal ways?"

'Probably because you are like this, self-entitled, prideful and weak.'

Before anyone could react or even speak, a long, tanned leg snapped like a viper, striking her prey and instantly piercing the unknowing mouse.

The sound was like the snap of a twig, but the force sent the boy flying into the wall with a rumbling crack as he fell with a deep thud.

"I don't give a rat's ass if you accept. I, Your Father. Lorem, the defender of this kingdom, am your instructor."

"And you WILL follow my lead or be crushed under my boots and left to rot!"

'What a precise and wonderful usage of magic...'

Asura's new eyes saw the tight, beautiful swirl of fire magic that caused the noble to fly into the wall. He could feel that each particle, thread of mana, was kept to the limit where it would only cause the boy extreme pain and not kill or severely injure him.

'An amazing warning for others, too...'

Lorem blew her crimson hair from her face before putting both legs back on her desk, and as if nothing happened, she looked at the class again with a wicked grin.

"Today, you have but one class and the subject of the class is to survive."

'Ah... I hated this class. Bad memories began surfacing in his mind as he tried to oust them.'

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