Caleb handed the photos back to Akeno Himejima, asking, "Akeno-senpai, how did you get these photos? Also, why do we need to wait for the President to return to resolve this now?"
Akeno Himejima took the photos back. A deep blue flame emerged from her palm, instantly incinerating the envelope and the photos completely. Aside from a few wisps of white smoke rising, there were no strange odors or ashes scattered. Once the flame died out, the envelope and photos had entirely vanished, leaving no trace.
Caleb watched, his eyes blazing with desire. This skill was incredibly suitable for home travel, arson, and destroying evidence. Akeno Himejima seemed to read Caleb's thoughts. "Don't even think about it. You can't learn this magic yet."
"Then when can I learn it?"
"You need at least the strength of an Intermediate Magician to initially master the Pale Flame."
"So the skill is called Pale Flame..." Caleb's desire grew even stronger. Not only was the function powerful, but the name was also incredibly cool. "By the way, Akeno-senpai, the Beginner Magic Power Extraction no longer works for me. Does that mean I'm an Intermediate Magician now?"
"Your Beginner Magic Power has saturated your body?" Akeno Himejima looked at Caleb in surprise. "You've only been cultivating for less than a month, right?"
"Seventeen days, to be precise."
Akeno Himejima walked over to Caleb and reached out to touch his forehead. Caleb subconsciously tensed his body. Feeling the delicate softness of the cool little hand, he slowly relaxed. Akeno Himejima's beautiful eyes slightly narrowed, and a faint, subtle curve formed at the corner of her mouth.
A moment later, just as Caleb looked at her lips, tantalizingly close, and felt the urge to make a move, Akeno Himejima lowered her hand.
"Mmm, your magic power is indeed saturated. You can proceed to the next stage of cultivation." Akeno Himejima clicked her tongue in wonder. "Even I took over twenty days to enter the next stage." She possessed Fallen Angel blood and was born with magic power. By the age of six or seven, when she could read and write, she began cultivating. It still took her over twenty days to successfully complete the Beginner Magic Power Extraction. "Your practical magic skills are mediocre. Did all of your magic talent go into your cultivation potential?"
Caleb spread his hands, indicating he didn't know either. Compared to the anomalies of his reincarnation, this strange phenomenon was a minor thing. Akeno Himejima was just teasing him. Akeno Himejima had actually sensed the Devil Bloodline contained within Caleb, but like Tsubaki Shinra, she mistakenly believed it was due to being reincarnated using a Evil Piece. Similarly, she noticed that the demonic aura inside Caleb didn't resemble the Gremory bloodline, but she didn't pay too much attention to it. It's perfectly normal for the aura to be a bit off when the Evil Piece hasn't fully integrated, right?
"The book detailing the Intermediate Magic Power Extraction is with the Student Council. If you're in a hurry, I can verbally explain it to you now. With your aptitude, you should learn it quickly, and it won't take too much time."
"I won't trouble you, Akeno-senpai. I'll just go to the Student Council myself later." Caleb grinned, quickly adding, "Let's first discuss the matter we were just talking about." Are you kidding? There was no way he would let Akeno Himejima teach him on the spot. Until he had acquired the Intermediate Magic Power Extraction skill from someone else, Caleb had no intention of going to the Student Council. The title of Magic Genius was still somewhat useful, even if he was just a genius at cultivating magic power.
"Fine, let's talk about your killing." Akeno Himejima gently tapped Caleb's forehead with her slender index finger. "Sigh, I really didn't expect you to be so bold. You look like such a quiet, innocent boy..." Without waiting for Caleb's reply, she continued, "My fault. I should have realized this when you so boldly took liberties with me before, and should have told you the rules earlier."
Caleb secretly curled his lip. If he had done the things that fit the typical plot, he would probably be dead and buried by now. Since his power reached B-rank, Caleb rarely pretended to be an easily bullied, honest person anymore. Unless it was for setting a trap. He was naturally not a meek, overly naive person. Since he didn't want to cause more trouble, he naturally tried to project as much strength as possible, allowing those with malicious intent to properly gauge the cost first. It had some effect. At least most of the time, he wasn't inexplicably cornered by delinquents or harassed by older women. However, as soon as a beautiful girl was nearby, the thugs and cuckolds would act like jackals smelling prey, coming to cause trouble with green eyes blazing.
Caleb was constantly complaining in his mind, but he was seriously listening to what Akeno Himejima was saying, as it was crucial for his future plans.
After Akeno Himejima's explanation, he generally understood the relationship between the supernatural beings and ordinary humans in this world. He also understood why Akeno Himejima had said earlier that telling her about it sooner would have caused no trouble.
Firstly, there were no bizarre rules preventing supernatural beings from harming ordinary people. If an ordinary person provoked or harmed a supernatural being, the supernatural being had the right to kill the offender directly. However, they would incur some penalty. But if a subsequent investigation revealed that it was not a reaction, but the supernatural being had a motive for the killing, the penalty ranged from execution to imprisonment.
When ordinary people awakened supernatural power, they inevitably developed different motivations. Some were driven by greed, others by revenge. If they awakened naturally, meaning they were wild, and were unaware of the rules, the punishment was decided based on the severity of their actions. If they were students of Kuoh Academy or supernatural beings belonging to certain families, they were not subject to ordinary human jurisdiction. In such cases, the punishment was determined by the rules of that family. Caleb was a student of Kuoh Academy, so the matter was naturally brought to Rias. But since Rias was still in the Devil World, the responsibility fell to the acting President, Akeno Himejima.
Why would telling Akeno Himejima sooner have caused no trouble, and where was the trouble now?
This required a discussion of a broader, more macro perspective: the so-called historical issues. This world has three realms: the Three Factions (Heaven, the Devil World, and the Human World), which collectively maintain the stability of the world. But beyond the Three Factions is not an empty void; there are other forces and extremely powerful life forms. The beings within the Three Factions are fundamentally rooted there. If the world were to be destroyed, even the most powerful individuals would perish. As for individuals who have transcended the entire world and stand among the stars and the universe, none have appeared yet.
Therefore, despite the internal conflicts within the Three Factions, a baseline rule exists. Otherwise, if the conflicts between the Angels and Devils were as intense as before, it would not have been so easy to establish peace. Not to mention the Human World, an inherently weaker realm, being allowed to exist independently.
The Devil and Angel Realms can intervene in the Human World, but they cannot slaughter all humans, or even massively enslave them. The Human World is called the Human World because humans are the masters. If humans were replaced, the stability of the Three Factions would be affected. The top-tier combat power in the Human World belongs to the Hero Faction, with their elites capable of defeating Devil Kings and Gods. However, their overall combat power cannot compare to the others. The Hero Faction is still only the size of a single village, and humanity simply cannot enter a Great Cultivation Era. Akeno Himejima did not explain the reasons, but Caleb guessed that the Angels and Devils were jointly restricting the development of the human race.
The potential of the human race is immense, and their population base far exceeds that of the Angels and Devils. Although their lifespan is short, their growth rate is rapid. Angel and Devil powerhouses often spend centuries cultivating, while human powerhouses can only manage a few decades... After becoming a powerhouse, they would then seek ways to extend their lifespan.
However, the overall strength of humanity remains the weakest, sometimes forcing them to make compromises. Kuoh Academy and the town of Kuoh being designated under the Gremory Family's jurisdiction is one such compromise. There are many similar compromises. The Devils and Angels cannot ignore the Human World, a place with immense potential. In the territories they manage, any human who shows potential for talent falls under their management. Especially after being reincarnated as a Devil or an Angel, no matter what crime they commit, ordinary humans have no right to process the matter.
With special privileges naturally come responsibilities. The Gremory Family is responsible for dealing with stray Devils, man-eating monsters, supernatural occurrences, or other paranormal events within the town of Kuoh.