Outside the dorm room, Edsel was already walking beside Silas while looking around the academy grounds. The buildings were impressive, and students hurried past them in every direction.
"Who ended up being your roommate for the semester?" Edsel asked while glancing at Silas.
Silas groaned in response. "It is Edwin, that guy with the red hair. Ugh, I cannot believe that I have to share a room with him of all people."
"Edwin, you say?" Edsel raised an eyebrow at the information.
"Yes, unfortunately. But luckily, he did not bother me too much. He just told me that we should get along and left it at that. He is certainly a strange kid, that one." Silas paused and looked at Edsel curiously. "What about you? Who is your roommate?"
Edsel paused for a moment and then smiled widely. "Osias, the blue haired kid who is always beside Edwin."
"Oh, I see. Did you two get along well during your first meeting?"
"Yes, we got along perfectly. He is such a nice guy, you know. We had a very normal conversation like men usually do. He became so tired afterwards that I had to put him to sleep for a while."
Silas could tell immediately that Edsel had done something bad to the poor guy, but he did not dare to ask for more details. 'Poor soul,' he thought while pitying Osias in his mind.
"Hey, you over there!"
Edsel felt a strong sense of deja vu wash over him. He had a feeling that this voice only ever brought trouble with it. He slowly turned around and saw a huge boy standing with two other minions behind him. All of them were smirking arrogantly.
"What?" Edsel asked, frowning slightly.
Silas moved behind Edsel slightly and stared at the kids approaching them. He could already feel sorry for them deep inside. 'Messing around with this demon in human form was a terrible idea.' He slowly started turning away from the confrontation.
"Why did trash like you decide to come back to the academy after everything that happened last semester? Did Fiora not already humiliate you in front of everyone? And now you come back looking for more humiliation to add to your collection?"
"Hehe, yeah, tell him, boss Calix!" one of the boys behind him smirked while nodding eagerly.
"Wow, look who we have here standing beside you. Silas Torenzo, the second piece of trash in our class. I guess that two pieces of trash being together makes perfect sense, does it not?"
Silas raised one eyebrow at the insult but remained silent.
"Now, now, let me explain the situation to you both. I happen to be looking for a new punching bag to relieve my stress. The commoner bastard who was in our class last year quit the academy, so now I do not have anyone to practice on anymore. But since you two are clearly the weakest ones in our class, why do you not just follow me around that corner over there where no one will bother us?"
Calix flexed his arms while laughing at Edsel and Silas, who both stood there without much reaction on their faces. They simply stared at him calmly.
"Oh, pretending that you are not scared of me, are you? Fine, let us just drag them over there ourselves. Come on, boys, grab them!"
"Yes, boss!" The two minions shouted while rushing forward eagerly.
The two boys walked towards Edsel and Silas with confident smirks on their faces.
They placed their arms around their shoulders as if they were old friends, but the grip was firm and meant to control rather than guide. Their intention was clear as they tried to drag both of them around the corner of the academy building where no one would witness what was about to happen.
Calix led the way with his hands casually placed in his pockets. He grinned widely while excitement built up inside him at the thought of what was coming.
"Ah yes, a punching bag to use whenever I want. Finally, something to cure my boredom around here," he muttered while walking ahead.
BAM!
The sound echoed from behind him, and Calix sighed in annoyance before turning around.
"Don't hurt them too much, you fools. That is something that I should be doing personally—"
His eyes widened in shock at the scene behind him. Both of his boys were lying unconscious on the ground. The second one's head had just been slammed against the wall, and his body was now sliding down to join his companion on the floor.
Edsel stared at his own arms while analyzing the situation. 'I need to remind myself constantly that I cannot kill these students no matter how much they provoke me. Killing them would bring too much unwanted attention from the instructors.'
"Good job, my lord," Silas said while smirking at the unconscious kids lying on the ground.
"What just happened here?" Calix muttered while trying to process the scene. "How did they... never mind, it does not matter. Those two were weaklings anyway. I should teach you both a proper lesson myself since they failed so miserably."
Edsel and Silas stared at each other for a moment, and then both of them burst out laughing at the ridiculous comment.
"SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!" Calix screamed while his face turned red with rage.
Before he could charge up his aura and attack, he blinked, and Edsel was suddenly standing beside him.
Calix's pupils tracked Edsel's movement, but his body could not react fast enough to defend himself. Before he could comprehend what was happening, Edsel used the back of his hand to strike Calix's full body and slam him against the wall with tremendous force.
"Urk... how... is a mage... so fast?" Calix gasped while struggling to breathe.
Edsel grabbed his hair and dragged his head up so that they were looking directly at each other.
At that moment, Calix saw two shadowy figures with red eyes standing before him. It was like staring at demons in human form. Edsel had an indifferent expression on his face, and Silas was laughing behind him like a madman.
"Stay completely still. I just need about half of your life span for my own purposes," Edsel said calmly.
He activated his Authority of Gluttony and began absorbing Calix's life force directly from his body.
"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Calix felt an indescribable pain coursing through every part of his body. He was dying, he could feel it happening. His body started shaking uncontrollably, but he could not move at all. He was completely helpless while the absorption continued.
Silas watched everything unfold with shock written on his face. He was witnessing this skill for the first time, and it terrified him.
Edsel was absorbing someone's life force like it was nothing. He did not understand how someone who had asked him to teach dark magic was already performing techniques that he had never even heard of before.
Ding!
[You have absorbed Death Mana: 2.5]
Edsel glanced at the notification.
"Mm… that's too little," he muttered. Then he looked down at Calix."Well… he's not dead yet that's probably why."