The Greed of Kronos

The Secret of Exi

Thirty-one: The Secret of Exi

“Room 303, Ajax Breaux and Yohan Aviles.” He announced as he shifted his gaze towards Ajax, who was clinging to Yohan’s arms.

Shortly after, he then shifted his gaze towards Asisi and Artem. “Room 304, that goes without saying.” 

But of course, it would be awkward to have a teacher as a roommate. Hence, he took the solo room 305 to himself.

“Hey, hey Artem, you’d give me private lessons on how to catch girls, won’t you?” Asisi laughed and jabbed Artem on the side as soon as he got beside the latter.

Hearing this, Artem jabbed him back and laughed. “Only if you’re really into it.”

Even his laugh was beautiful. What a man.

When Mikhail announced everything that needed to be told, he then folded the paper and smiled. “Alright, that settles it. Place your bags in your rooms. Aeria, please assist the ladies. I’ll deal with the lads. Change into comfortable clothes and come downstairs.”

“Yes!” They replied in unison and then started to go to their respective rooms.

When Astian grabbed Kronos in his hands as he was about to go towards their room, Kronos did not move an inch. He was way too lazy to get upstairs, and besides, he could smell the food downstairs, and he was also not exhausted himself. How could he ignore the food’s calling?

“Are you not going?” Astian asked in confusion.

With that being said, Kronos shook his head and replied, “Downstairs.”

At first, Astian stared at him as if he was trying to figure out what Kronos was thinking. With the thought of Kronos being hungry over being exhausted, Astian then smiled and tightened his grip on Kronos’ right hand before dragging him towards the grand staircase.

“I get it! You’re famished, are you not? Let’s go to the dining hall first and eat!” Astian replied without looking back.

It was a good thing that Astian could easily read him. There has never been a difficult moment for them together because of Astian. 

When they reached the dining hall by just following the scent of the foods prepared, they immediately saw Sir Samael giving orders to the maidservants and chefs. 

Seeing this, Astian dashed towards Sir Samael while he was still grabbing Kronos by the hand. 

“Why are you kids here?” Sir Samael asked with a confused tone of voice as soon as he felt their presence.

With that being said, Astian showed off a warm smile and replied. “Papa! We’re very hungry, can you consider?”

What else could he do? The maidservants were already done with placing the foods, and all tasks that were left were for them to scram. 

Thus, he heaved a loud sigh and turned his back. “Fine. Follow me.”

No time was wasted as they both took a seat and enjoyed a hearty meal with Sir Samael sitting across them as if observing the two of them.

If he observed it correctly, both of them were not exhausted but instead were merely famished. If so, then Astian and Kronos might have three times the stamina compared to others. 

In the middle of his thoughts, a tick of shoes was endlessly approaching towards the dining hall. Their laughter and chatter resonated throughout the four walls of the hall, and when they entered, Asisi’s voice was the one who made Kronos and Astian to look at the rest of the Exi. “Woah! You two did not even get to your room?”

With that being said, Astian placed down his spoon and fork as he wiped his mouth before looking at their classmates with an apologetic expression and tone of voice. “We are really hungry, sorry~.”

“It’s fine! Let’s eat!” Luca laughed as he dashed towards the dining table. 

The others followed as well and helped themselves with the feast that was prepared by their dear teacher, Sir Samael.

During dinner time, they talked about the corrupted octopi and how they felt when they dealt with it. Artem and Sarlienne did not enjoy the conversation that much as their potential did not help the class at all. However, Sir Samael rest assured them that they would not only be taking care of corrupted monsters but also be in assistance with other genus nobles. 

If Kronos were to comment, no doubt that he would become an assassin again. Although it was but a school activity, as long as it involves discreet elimination of targets, it’s assassination. 

The other topic was that the thunder of Mikhail being able to kill the mini replicas and Inoa, who has been down and silent for a while because of her potential being a failure.

Regardless of that, Sir Samael had something to say. “Inoa. Don’t be down. Do you know what element the octopi you all eliminated a while ago?”

“No.” Inoa shook her head. 

Hearing her answer, Sir Samael looked at everyone and taught them a dinner time lesson. “That was a minus point. No one analyzed what type of element the corrupted octopi was.”

“But papa, we did not know anything about monsters!” Luca retorted.

They were taught by their tutors about how the world works and that there’s a different kind of genus. They were also taught about monsters but not a single word from the corrupted ones.

Well, it was not as if Sir Samael did not know that particular fact. But if they just look into it and research a little, they might have had the knowledge!

Hence, he scowled as he looked at them and then gave them a lecture. “You lazy brats! Very well! Next time, look closely and analyze what color a monster’s eyes are. If it’s red, then it’s fire; if it’s blue, then it’s water; if it’s white, it’s ice; if it’s brown, it’s rock... And so forth! Elements are immune to the same potential. Take note of that!”

Everyone seemed to be interested in it, given the fact that they truly listened to him. It must be because they already encountered one that they were taking notes in case they encountered another one. 

Seeing how the class was attentive, Sir Samael then started to get curious as he cleared his throat as if he was about to start a long storytelling. “There’s a reason why all of you are in the Exi class, and that’s because all of you possess a potential surpassing the power of a high priest. And all of you could ascend to godhood. In other words, the Exi class is the class for Masters.”

Centuries ago, when the decade-long battle between the human genus and the vampire genus came to an end, the frontliners with overpowered potentials were given a title as a great mage and were awarded with a magi tower of their own.

However, the truth was far beyond that. The great mages were actually the ones who assisted the real front-liners who had never been exposed to the public. For the reason that when the legitimate frontliners won the battle, they were abruptly summoned by the Heavenly Emperor and thus ascended to the heaven. 

They were called the masters of masters. With such overwhelming potential greater than others, they ascended into goddesshood and had lands to rule all over the continents. 

The gods or goddesses that were assigned and blessed by the Heavenly Emperor then picked one of the great mages to lead the holy church and granted the title of the high priest. Taking note of it, there were at least two or three gods or goddesses in each land to divide the blessings and merits equally. 

On the other hand, the Heavenly Emperor continued to bless random children and let them have the potential that could ascend them into goddesshood as there were still lands that did not have a goddess. 

The children with much potential were being treated well and nicely in their time on the earth. Regardless of the special treatment, there was one land that did not wish to have another goddess other than the goddess that they currently have. And that was the land of Ezykl, the Ezykl empire with their one and only goddess Gaia. 

Although the goddess Gaia and the Emperor were opposed to it, the holy church was so obsessive and scary that even the Imperial family, nobles, and the goddess herself were scared. Every child born with the title masters of masters that could reach the church’s ears had their heads roll as early as they were exposed. 

The little thing that the goddess Gaia could do was to talk to the Imperial family, who had the unique blessing to speak to the goddess, secretly and ordered to protect the children possessing the title the masters of masters. The goddess Gaia also pleaded with the Heavenly Emperor to hide the sign of the gifted children in their lands and explained the situation. 

That was when the Heavenly Emperor created the E mark that would appear on a specific day of their lives. And that was every entrance examination.

When the goddess Gaia settled everything in heaven, she then informed the Imperial Family about creating an academy and hiding the masters of masters by placing them in the lowest class and giving them pretexts of low-grade epitropis as they secretly mold, control, and get their potentials stronger. 

The program then succeeded in the first academic year up until the current years. However, when the goddess Gaia gave her condition to the masters of masters who were about to ascend- the condition of the child ruling another land, no one dared to accept the opportunity of being a goddess as they loved the Ezykl empire.

Instead, the masters of the masters mostly became great mages, imperial workers, and instructors at the Patrician Academy.