"So this is the school..."
A figure that looked like Reno stood in front of the SMMA gate with both hands in his pants pockets.
"Looks very boring and... ordinary." "Is there nothing interesting about this place?"
He began walking into the school area with leisurely steps.
"There are so many humans here... hundreds of students with various spiritual energies." "But most are very weak—their spiritual energy is like small candles!"
He stopped for a moment in the middle of the field, closed his eyes, and—
*Sensing...*
A wave of spiritual energy that was very subtle—almost undetectable—spread from his body in all directions with a radius of hundreds of meters. This was a scanning technique to detect strong spiritual presences in a certain area. Some other creatures could also do this, but with different ranges.
After a few seconds—
"Hmm... there's one," he whispered in a slightly more interested tone. "It seems he's a Sage with quite strong spiritual energy—possibly rank B—located in the administration building. His position seems to be principal or something like that."
A thin smile appeared on his face.
"Are there no stronger people guarding this school?" "It can't be just one rank B Sage, right? For a school this big with hundreds of students?"
But after doing a deeper scan—using more energy—the result remained the same. Only one Sage was detected.
"Really just one." "Humans are creatures who trust too much, yeah?" "But... I also feel there's someone stronger than some other humans, it seems, he's in a different class from me."
After being satisfied, he began walking toward the main building to enter his class.
As soon as the classroom door opened and the figure that looked like Reno stepped in—
Students who had been chatting cheerfully immediately fell silent—many students immediately averted their gaze as soon as their eyes met "Reno's" eyes.
Some whispered to their neighbors while staring at him from the corner of their eyes.
*Wohh, look at this.* *This original owner's body is indeed very hated and feared by many people, yeah? His reputation as a bully must be very famous.*
He sat at his desk.
*But that's actually good for me.* *Keep hating and avoiding this human body. The more you distance yourselves from it, the easier it is for me to move without being suspected. No one will care if Reno suddenly changes a bit.*
A few moments later—right when the bell rang—the classroom door opened and Linda entered carrying several thick books.
"Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning, Teacher," the entire class answered in unison—except "Reno" who just remained silent.
Linda placed her books on the teacher's desk, then her eyes swept across the entire class quickly.
"It seems there are some people who haven't arrived yet, yeah?"
*Wait... someone hasn't arrived?* He sat up a bit straighter, his eyes swept the room with more focus. *Where are Nova and Kazui? They should be in the same class as this body, right? I already checked the class list before.*
*Don't tell me...* *I entered the wrong class, clearly impossible!*
*If so, they're the ones who are late.*
"Let's just start the lesson now. Those who haven't arrived will get their own consequences later."
Five minutes passed with the lesson running normally.
Still no sign of Nova and Kazui.
The other students had already started focusing on the lesson.
Suddenly—
CKLEK!
The classroom door opened. Linda stopped writing.
Two teenage figures stood in the doorway. They were Kazui and Nova.
"Sorry, Ma'am." "We're late. There was a slight... incident on the way that made us—"
"No need to explain."
Nova who stood next to Kazui didn't make any sound.
"WHAT TIME DO YOU THINK IT IS NOW?!" "CLASS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR FIVE MINUTES!"
Kazui swallowed and Nova remained with his flat expression.
"STAND OUTSIDE NOW!" "UNTIL BREAK TIME! AND DON'T TRY TO SIT DOWN!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
They both turned around and left the class, and the door was closed gently.
"Alright, let's continue the lesson."
Meanwhile—
The creature inside Reno's body finally got what it was waiting for.
*Finally found them,* he thought while staring at the door that had just been closed. *Two main targets.*
*Kazui...* *He has quite a lot of spiritual energy in his body... It seems he's a strong kid... It seems?... No, it's clear he's strong!*
A small smile appeared on his face.
*That's very good to eat. I mustn't rush with that.*
*And... Nova...*
*He's a bit strange. No. Very strange. I can't sense any spiritual energy from his body at all—not even a bit.*
*He looks like an ordinary human without any supernatural powers. But... is it possible?*
*There are several options: First, he's truly a normal human without powers. Second, he has the ability to hide his spiritual energy very perfectly—high possibility, but techniques like that are usually only possessed by someone very strong. Is he very strong?*
*Interesting. Very interesting. This will be more fun than I thought.*
*I don't need to rush to finish them off.* *It will be much more enjoyable if I observe their strength and behavior patterns for a few days first. Besides, I'm not strong enough yet.*
*At the same time... I can play around as a normal human.*
*Yeah, I have plenty of time.*
Outside the Class,
Kazui and Nova stood beside their classroom door.
"Haah..." "We talked too long in front of the store earlier. It would've been better if I had just used my power to fly here. We might have arrived on time."
"Why do you look so tired?" "I know you used your power to save that child earlier, but I think the stamina drained from that movement should have recovered by now, right?"
"It's true the stamina from using the power has recovered." "But that's not the problem. I really dislike standing outside the classroom as punishment like this. The air in the corridor is hot."
"Don't you feel tired or uncomfortable at all?"
"No." "This isn't too hard."
"It seems you have stamina and physical endurance far better than normal people. Or... wait, don't tell me you're already used to punishments like this?"
"Not used to punishment." "I just have a physique stronger than average because of consistent training. I think you're the one with a body that's too weak, that's why you get tired quickly like now."
"Ouch," Kazui winced playfully. "That hurts, bro."
"I'm just stating facts," Nova continued. "I think you'd better start doing physical training to strengthen your body. Stamina endurance is important, especially if you have supernatural powers that drain energy."
"You talk as if it's easy," Kazui complained. "I also do training at home sometimes, you know."
"Sometimes?" "You should do physical training every day consistently so your body becomes stronger and doesn't tire easily. Consistency is key."
"What crazy person does intensive physical training every day without rest days?!"
"Me." "I always do that at home every morning and evening. That's why I don't tire easily like you."
"You know..." "It seems you're really a kid who has no social life outside of physical training, yeah? Don't you have other hobbies?"
"Shut up," Nova answered simply.
"Yeah, yeah," Kazui gave up. "Maybe I'll try to do more consistent training... if I have time, I mean. I'm someone who's often busy helping people around where I live!"
"I'm starting to understand now." "You're the type of person who can't refuse requests for help from others, so your time is spent on that."
"Exactly." "That's why I don't have much time for intensive physical training every day."
"By the way," Kazui suddenly said while glancing at Nova, "do you want to come to my place later after school?"
"For what?"
"Come on." "Besides, I'm always alone there. We can play games there. Don't you feel sorry for your friend here?..."
"I'm a bit uncomfortable with that, but... Alright then, maybe I'll go. Besides, there's nothing important to do."
"I mean, does someone like you have important things to do?"
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing, you misheard, maybe!"
"But before that, we have to go to the Hospital first to visit my mother who's being treated."
KRIIIIIING! KRIIIIIING! KRIIIIIING!
"FINALLY!" Kazui shouted raising both hands to the air. "Punishment's over!"
After that, they both immediately moved toward the canteen.
At the Canteen,
Kazui and Nova took their respective trays and began filling them with food—white rice, fried chicken, vegetables, and drinks. After finishing, they walked toward one of the long tables in a rather quiet corner of the canteen, where there were already three familiar people sitting.
Lunar, Noah, and Ena.
"Hey brother!" Lunar greeted. "What's wrong with him, he looks tired?"
"We were punished for being late," Nova answered, "and had to stand outside the classroom from first period until break."
"You were late again, Brother?"
"What can I do..." "On the way there was a small incident that made us have to stop and it took quite a long time."
"What incident?" Lunar asked.
Kazui and Nova glanced at each other.
"Not important." "You don't need to know the details. Just know that we had a valid reason."
"Tch, Brother." "What's so hard about just telling? Or don't tell me you two did something... suspicious?"
"Yes, very suspicious, so, shut up!"
"Brother... What crime did you commit? Did you kill someone and run away from the police?"
"You're right, the police will come here later and arrest me, so shut up!"
"Bro, that doesn't look funny. I don't know if you're joking or what," Kazui said.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Nova said looking toward Kazui.
"I have absolutely no idea what to say about that flat face of yours!"
"Oh yeah, Lunar, I'm going to Kazui's house later after school. Please tell Mother that I might come home a bit late."
Lunar put down her glass and stared at Nova.
"Finally! Finally my flat-faced brother, who has no friends, who's always alone—finally got a friend who suits him!"
"As his beloved sister." "I'm very grateful to you for being willing to be friends with my anti-social brother! Thank you so much! You're a good person!"
"Ah... that... yes... you're welcome...?" Kazui answered, his face slightly red because Lunar was holding his hand with both hands.
"I think you're overreacting." "And please let go of his hand. He's eating, you know. That's not polite."
"Ah!" Lunar just realized and immediately released Kazui's hand quickly. "Sorry, sorry! I got too excited!"
"I-it's okay..."
Noah and Ena, as usual, were in their own world now.
Meanwhile—At the Boys' Toilet,
Reno—or more precisely, the creature controlling Reno's body—walked leisurely toward the toilet.
The toilet at SMMA was on the lowest floor—right next to the canteen and multipurpose room. Its design was separate from the main building, with a special corridor connecting it. The girls' and boys' toilets were in different rooms but not too far apart—only about ten meters.
When he entered the toilet, there was already one male student washing his hands at the middle sink.
It was Dedi—a student who had been a target of Reno's bullying. The student whose money he tried to take by force.
As soon as Dedi's eyes caught Reno's reflection in the sink mirror—
His body immediately stiffened.
Reno walked in very casually, closing the door behind him.
*No CCTV inside the toilet? Is it the same in other places? Or are CCTVs not allowed in toilets?*
Reno had already done a complete survey of the entire school building during first break—when everyone was busy eating in the canteen. He knew exactly the building layout, CCTV positions and such.
*Forget it, even if there's CCTV, I just need to destroy it.*
Dedi who was still standing stiffly in front of the sink began moving slowly.
But his steps stopped when Reno started talking.
"Hey..."
"Where are you going?"
Dedi swallowed. "I-I... I want to go back to class." "T-the bell's about to ring... I don't want to be late..."
"Not yet." "There's still time. I know you're definitely aware of that, right?"
Dedi didn't answer.
"You..." "What do you want from me? If you want money, I... I don't have any today..."
"Relax." "I just want to chat with you for a bit. Nothing to be afraid of."
"C-chat about what?"
"Hey, try looking over there for a moment!"
Dedi automatically turned toward where Reno pointed.
And at that very second—
JLEB!
In a quick movement, Reno's right hand immediately stabbed Dedi. His hand pierced through Dedi's heart.
"UHUK!" Dedi vomited blood from his mouth.
Tears began flowing heavily from both his eyes.
"You..." His voice came out very weak, blood still flowing from the corner of his lips. "What... are you doing... why..."
Reno brought his face close to Dedi's ear, then whispered,
"I'm having lunch."
And at that very moment—
WHOOOOOOSH!
Fire appeared from Reno's hand that was still gripping Dedi's heart.
The fire immediately burned Dedi's heart from within—the vital organ charred in an instant—then spread throughout the cardiovascular system.
Within three seconds, all of Dedi's internal organs were already burned out. His lungs, liver, kidneys, brain—everything evaporated.
Within five seconds, his hard bones also dissolved.
Within seven seconds, even his DNA was completely destroyed—the double helix carrying genetic information broke down into individual atoms that could no longer be identified.
In less than ten seconds, Dedi who had just been able to speak had already turned into... nothing. Not even ash remained. Reno's fire destroyed everything at the molecular level, leaving no forensic traces that could be analyzed.
"Done!"
He walked to the sink with casual steps, turned on the cold water tap, then washed both hands with soap. Actually there was nothing to clean because his fire had already destroyed all evidence.
In the mirror, his face's reflection looked calm and... satisfied. No regret, no guilt.
*Oh yeah, I forgot to eat his soul before burning his body!*
*But well, forget it. He was too weak and bland. His spiritual energy was very small. I'm more interested in souls that have strong supernatural powers... like Kazui.*
After being satisfied with the cleanliness of his hands, Reno turned off the tap and dried his hands with tissue. He threw the tissue in the trash.
Inside the toilet, it was completely clean. There wasn't even a spiritual trace that could be detected because he had already used an aura or presence erasure technique.
After that, he walked to the toilet door, opening it normally.
"Alright, before entering the classroom... Let's do that!"