The sun glowed with white brilliance, its subtle warmth illuminating the land below.
People roamed the streets of Nexus city, a city within the academy walls housing over thirty thousand citizens of which a little below half the amount was the number of students the school had.
From market stalls to gambling dens and reputable businesses, they were all present.
Among the people who roamed the streets, a certain redhead stood out.
He had a face crafted by obsession, his icy blue eyes narrowed in delight while he nibbled on his ice cream.
"Ooohh this is soo good." He exclaimed with a mouthful.
Of course it was none other than Azazel, who'd taken off his ducal attire and had changed into something far more unique
He donned huge pants which closely resembled baggy trousers from earth, and a light gray inner tunic which he draped with a coat.
On Liefher such clothing was more or less common, in certain regions.
It was peculiar yet no one knew what inspired the idea, all they knew was that it was certainly different… and it was only made in the Eastern part of Liefher.
Azazel moved through the crowd with an unhurried pace, his destination however was still unclear.
He was searching for the fifth prince Elias who he hadn't had the pleasure of seeing since the original owner of his body pummeled his face with unspoken emotions.
Just as he was about to take a turn to the next street someone bumped into him.
A stifled yelp escaped the person's lips while Azazel to his absolute horror had spilled his ice cream on the floor.
"Ah…" a gasp escaped his quivering lips, eyes moist with unshed tears, "My i-ice cream…"
A groan snapped him out of his reverie and despair gave way to irritation.
Sprawled on the floor was a boy no older than him in age.
He had fiery red hair which was short and styled neatly.
His eyes were an emerald green shade, sharp and somewhat pretty yet at this very moment they narrowed into an annoyed frown, staring directly at someone.
That someone just happened to be Azazel who had veins all over his face.
He was smiling, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, which by the way were shut.
Azazel spoke first, straining each word with each sentence he made.
"Watch. Where. You're. Going. Peasant."
The boy, still on the ground, rose to his feet with arms outstretched.
He was rolling his sleeves.
Azazel raised a brow.
"Oh?"
"Say that again." The boy threatened.
Azazel simply stared at him, ignoring the deadly stare the boy gave him.
Instead he smiled, as politely and infuriating as his physique allowed him to offer.
"Peasant." He repeated, voice laced with mockery.
The effect was immediate, the boy moved.
His fist headed straight for Azazel with frightening speed, but the next second the green eyed boy suddenly found his target with his body inverted.
Then it dawned on him.
He was the one who was upside down, not the other way around.
His body hit the ground with a thud, the impact deafening, even Azazel couldn't help but wince at the boy's pain.
But more importantly…
He stared at his hands.
What he'd just done wasn't something he thought was possible, after all he'd watched quite a few videos about martial arts like muay thai, jujutsu, Aikido and even capoeira.
These were all martial arts he'd tried to teach himself as a form of defense against sudden attacks or complicated situations on earth but he gave up halfway.
He clearly wasn't talented in that aspect, and couldn't progress while being self taught.
So it was extremely surprising just how he'd managed to actually pull it off.
"Aikido." He muttered softly.
Sure he learnt the basics but to be proficient at it to that degree? That wasn't supposed to be possible, however he had an inkling as to what might have increased his mastery.
'My dexterity stat must have amplified my pathetic excuse of a martial art." He mumbled inaudibly.
A tiny whimper caught his attention.
He tilted his neck just enough to see the trembling form of the boy, who was slumped across the cold floor.
Now that he looked closely, the boy felt familiar, but where had he seen such a—
"Oh… shit."
The words died instantly.
Fear gripped him like the embrace of a death wraith.
A flicker of recognition appeared on his face.
'F-Fuck no… of all the characters out there… just how… How did I end up meeting this psycho?'
His gaze met the hardened glare of the boy and at that moment, he knew he had attracted trouble.
His teeth ground against each other, a clear sign of the frustration he felt.
He didn't just flip any character, he'd gone ahead to toss the second most important character in the game, a freak with an unhealthy obsession to those who had wronged him.
Nathaniel Taylor.
"Y-You, I'll kill you… I swear I will." Nathaniel growled in anger.
Azazel chuckled nervously.
"Ah, well you see… the thing is, erm… you spilled my ice cream, I got all worked up yeah but you threw the first punch you know, I just defended myself… so what I'm trying to say is can we just pretend the last two minutes never happened? it would save us unnecessary issues in the future. Whaddya say, you spilled my ice cream, I slammed your ass to the ground in the end we're even right? Ha.. ha…"
"Even?" Nathaniel dragged out the words, his surprisingly light voice thick with malice, "No we're not even, I'm not going to forget this, never. I will find you and pay you back tenfold for this."
Azazel was about to retort, then he realized something, something very important he seemed to have forgotten these days.
"Oh… I'm the son of a duke, hahahaha that's right, you can't harm me, oh why do I bother." He cackled.
With a dramatic swirl, he turned around, ignoring the stares from the crowd their little squabble had inevitably gathered.
It took him about half an hour before he finally arrived at the street reserved for royal blood.
Merelyn falls.
His gaze landed on the sign with a cringe worthy expression leaning towards disgust and a hint of envy, before he shook his head in exasperation.
However at that moment an infuriating sight caused his jaws to slacken.
Because a short distance away from him, his target the fifth prince Elias Jerome Evangelion was nibbling on an ice cream cone with a carefree expression.
At that moment, Azazel felt a dark urge to wipe the blissful smile off Elias' face.
Before he could think, his jealousy moved.