Chapter 59: Joshua Draconia.
Aiden looked down at Liam, who was rolling on the ground, groaning in pain.
Dust clung to his clothes, and his body trembled from the impact of Aiden's earlier strike. Caleb, who was standing beside him, had a distorted expression on his face—anger twisting his features as he shouted, his voice breaking,
"YOU BASTARD! How could you hit him?!"
He didn't hesitate. He suddenly slammed both hands onto the ground, his fingers digging into the dirt as mana erupted violently around him.
The earth shifted and cracked as sharp spikes began to form under Aiden's feet, rising to pierce through him.
But before they could even reach him, Aiden vanished.
He used burst.
He reappeared right beside Caleb. The boy's eyes widened, but he didn't have time to dodge. Aiden's fist cut through the air and slammed straight into Caleb's side.
The punch hit with brutal force.
Caleb's eyes bulged as all the air in his lungs was punched out of him. His body folded inward, and he fell to his knees, gasping desperately, clutching his ribs as he struggled to breathe. His hands shook uncontrollably.
While this was happening, Liam forced himself up. His legs wobbled, but he gritted his teeth and lifted his arm. Blue lightning crackled around his hand—messy, unstable—and he quickly conjured a lightning bolt before launching it toward Aiden with all the strength he could muster.
Aiden didn't even look back.
A firewall suddenly erupted behind him, tall and blazing, blocking the lightning bolt entirely. Sparks scattered into the air. The burning wall flickered, spiraling upward before fading away.
Aiden vanished again.
He reappeared right in front of Liam.
Before Liam could even understand what happened, before he could breathe or flinch or raise his hand, Aiden's attacks began.
A blur of kicks and punches.
His movements were perfect—sharp, clean, precise. Every attack landed exactly where he intended. Liam couldn't dodge or defend; he couldn't even follow the strikes with his eyes. He was thrown back and forth like a ragdoll as Aiden's fists and feet crashed into him, each blow forcing a helpless cry from his throat.
After a few moments, Aiden stopped.
Liam collapsed to the ground. His entire body was covered in injuries—bruises swelling across his arms, blood dripping from his lip, his clothes torn in several places. He lay there, crying from the sheer pain, trembling uncontrollably.
Aiden turned away from him.
He vanished once more.
He appeared in front of Caleb, who was just managing to stand again, still gasping. Aiden didn't speak. His expression was calm—too calm. He moved forward and began fighting Caleb using pure martial arts.
His fists struck like hammers.
His knees hit like steel.
His elbows cut through the air like blades.
Every attack landed cleanly as he pushed Caleb backward step by step. Caleb tried to raise his arms, tried to defend, but Aiden was too fast and too skilled. His strikes left no opening.
After a few moments, Caleb collapsed face-first onto the ground, unconscious.
Aiden looked at him for a moment, his eyes showing no emotion. Then he turned toward Victoria.
He walked past her slowly as he said in a calm, cold voice,
"Let's go."
Victoria stared at him in complete shock.
She never would have thought—even for a moment—that Aiden would come for her sake. She had always believed that he would ignore her voice, ignore her problems, ignore her completely. But now…
He heard her and came. He beat them without hesitation.
She looked at him with disbelief, her voice soft and trembling as she said,
"You didn't have to beat them this badly…"
Aiden didn't look back as he continued walking forward.
"They deserved it. I gave them a chance, but they didn't take it."
Victoria was left speechless. She slowly began walking after him, her footsteps hesitant, her heart still racing from the scene she had just witnessed. She wanted to say something else, but before she could—
A lightning bolt shot toward her.
Fast.
Much faster than Liam's. It was far stronger too.
The sound cracked through the air—sharp and sudden. Before she could even react, before she could blink, the bolt of lightning was already right in front of her face.
Her eyes widened in pure fear.
But—
A fire wall and a water wall suddenly erupted behind her, forming instantly and blocking the attack. Steam exploded outward from the impact as the combination of fire and water clashed against the lightning bolt.
Victoria's breath was caught in her throat.
She turned around slowly and stared at the two walls behind her, both shimmering before fading away.
She knew—without a doubt—that Aiden had just saved her again. Had he not, she would have been severely injured.
Aiden looked at her from the front and said in a serious tone,
"Get behind me."
His voice carried weight.
Victoria swallowed hard and obeyed him without hesitation.
Far away, a teenager descended through the air. He wasn't flying fast—his movements were smooth, almost graceful. His silver-white hair glimmered under the sunlight, and his grey eyes were filled with cold arrogance. His facial features were sharp, and his body looked strong and well-trained.
He slowly drifted down until he stood directly in front of Aiden.
He looked straight into Aiden's eyes, pride and superiority dripping from his expression as he said,
"Did you beat those two this badly?"
Aiden didn't reply.
He stared straight back into those silver eyes. There was something sharp behind his gaze. Something cold. Something dangerous. He felt the teenager looked extremely familiar, but he held his reaction back and waited for the boy to introduce himself.
Suddenly, Liam— lying on the ground, still crying from pain—shouted in a shaky voice,
"Yes! It was him! He beat us up! We just came here to deliver your message to that girl, but he suddenly appeared and started hitting us! We didn't do anything wrong!"
The white-haired boy frowned, then looked back at Aiden.
"So it was you, huh? Trying to behave like some kind of hero in a story?"
Aiden still didn't respond.
The white-haired boy smirked, then continued speaking with even more arrogance.
"In fact, shouldn't she be honored that I, the heir of the great Draconia family, Joshua Draconia, wanted to talk to her?"
The moment Aiden heard that word—
Draconia.
Something inside him erupted.
The air around him shifted. It grew heavier—denser—pressing down on everything nearby. Even Victoria felt her chest tighten.
Aiden injected mana into the necklace around his neck, casting an illusion over himself. He didn't want anyone to see him using stage 2 mana spells. Not yet.
But he was furious.
Truly furious.
He wanted to kill the boy standing in front of him.
He knew immediately—Joshua was Michael's son. The resemblance was too clear. Too sharp. Too exact.
Aiden had no plans to hold back. He was going to use stage 2 mana spells and completely destroy him.
Mana erupted from him.
The pressure grew so heavy that several nearby students stumbled backward, gasping. Steam rose from Aiden's body as the temperature around him shifted.
Behind him, Victoria felt the pressure the most. Her knees weakened slightly, her expression pale and grim. She had never—ever seen Aiden this angry before.
Just as she opened her mouth to say something—
Joshua suddenly floated into the air.
He had sensed the danger. He reacted instantly, rising higher as lightning began to gather around him. Countless bolts appeared and flickered around him violently.
"You think you're strong just because you're a dual-elemental mana cultivator, huh? I'll show you the power of a tri-elemental cultivator!"
He launched all of the lightning bolts toward Aiden at once. The attacks moved through the sky, bright and deadly.
But before they reached him—
Aiden vanished.
He used an improved version of Burst, moving so fast that the lightning couldn't follow him.
He suddenly appeared beside Joshua.
Joshua's eyes widened in shock. Aiden's speed was even faster than his Blitz spell.
Joshua tried to react. Earth armor began forming on his side, stone plates rising—
But Aiden vanished again.
He appeared behind Joshua.
A powerful kick landed mid-air, hitting Joshua right in the ribs. The impact echoed across the field as Joshua was sent flying downward.
He crashed into the ground with a loud thud.
Aiden vanished again—appearing in front of Joshua before he could even move.
He conjured a fireball in his hand.
He launched it.
Joshua panicked, instantly summoning an earth wall. The fireball smashed into it. But the wall didn't stop it—the flames broke through, slamming directly into Joshua's stomach.
Joshua screamed as he was sent flying back again—this time crashing into the wall of the administration office. Cracks spread across the stone as dust fell around him.
He groaned in pain, barely able to move.
Aiden appeared in front of him one more time.
A fire sword formed in his hand, blazing bright. Aiden raised it high.
He swung it with full force—straight at Joshua's neck.
He wasn't holding back.
He intended to kill him.
Joshua's eyes widened in terror. His back arched against the wall. His body froze. He knew he couldn't block the attack. He couldn't dodge it. Fear crawled up his spine.
Just as the blade reached his neck—
An old hand grabbed it.
The fire sword stopped mid-air.
Sweat poured down Joshua's back. His forehead dripped with sweat. His breathing turned ragged.
In front of him stood an old man with a white beard and mustache.
William.The principal of the academy.
He held Aiden's fire blade with his bare hand, as if it were nothing more than a toy.
He looked at Aiden and said calmly,
"Don't you think that's enough for today? Or do you want to be expelled on the first day?"
His words came with immense pressure—pressure that pressed down on Aiden like a mountain.
But Aiden didn't back down.
He gritted his teeth and endured it. His eyes were still burning with anger. The hatred inside him refused to die. He wanted Michael to feel the same pain he had endured—and killing his only son would do exactly that.
Aiden suddenly conjured a water whip in his other hand and swung it toward Joshua—
But the whip shattered instantly.
It was destroyed so fast he didn't even see what happened.
William crushed the fire blade in his hand and said,
"Julian Cross, this is your last warning. Stay your hand, or you will be punished severely."
Aiden clenched his jaw. He didn't want to stop. He didn't want to walk away. But he knew—he couldn't kill Joshua in front of William, who was most likely a stage 5 mana cultivator.
He stepped back slowly, his anger still boiling inside him.
He would get another chance. He knew he would.
William turned to the students nearby.
"Go call the healing team."
A student nodded and ran off quickly.
Then William looked back at Joshua.
"I told everyone during the opening ceremony—there will be no nobles or commoners in this academy. Even if you're from the royal family, you cannot break the rules. This is your last warning. If you do something like this again, you will be severely punished."
Joshua's face twisted in humiliation. He had been embarrassed—completely destroyed by Aiden in front of everyone. His pride had been shattered.
He looked at Aiden with pure hatred.
Aiden met his gaze, his own eyes filled with anger and cold killing intent.
William turned to Joshua again.
"After you're healed, go to your assigned dorm. Do not cause any more problems."
Then he looked at Aiden.
"Julian, you will come to my office immediately after being assigned a dorm. I will give you your punishment."
Aiden didn't say anything.
He turned toward the administration office and walked away. Victoria followed silently behind him. Together, they entered the building and received their dorm assignments.
Each room accommodated two students.
Boys and girls had separate dorm buildings.
After receiving the information, Victoria headed toward her dorm room while Aiden began walking toward William's office. After a few moments of asking around, he found the correct door.
Ancient symbols were carved into the wood—symbols he vaguely recognized but didn't fully understand.
He knocked on the door.
A few seconds passed before William's voice came from inside.
"Come in."
Aiden opened the door and entered.
The room was filled with large stacks of papers—piles so tall they looked like they could collapse at any moment. In the center of the room, William sat behind a table covered with even more documents. He was busy writing something, his expression calm and serious.
He looked up at Aiden and said.
"Come sit."
Aiden nodded and sat down across from him. William finally stopped working and straightened his back. His eyes held a strange softness mixed with something unreadable.
Then he spoke.
"How are you, Aiden Syctes… son of Jonathan and Sara Syctes?"
The moment Aiden heard those words, his heart tightened.
His instincts flared violently.
No one was supposed to know that name.
No one except Victor's family.
Aiden's body tensed instantly. His muscles locked. His breath trembled. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before turning sharp.
He suddenly stood up—preparing to escape.
Author's Note: This chapter starts the story between Aiden and William and how they will cooperate in the future.