Zeke quickly caught up with Xavier, arriving on the fourth floor. It had only been a few seconds, but the man was already three floors below, forcing Zeke to make a mad dash on the stairs like there was no tomorrow.
When he barely caught up, he subconsciously called out from behind.
"Professor."
But Xavier showed no reaction. He kept walking ahead with a quiet expression, his gaze as cold as a monolith. Zeke followed three steps behind and couldn't help but notice that everyone they passed suddenly turned quiet after seeing Xavier.
But their obvious nervousness turned to surprise when they saw him. With his appearance, it was odd if he didn't receive any stares along the way. Nevertheless, Zeke felt immensely uncomfortable.
'Stop looking at me…'
Zeke's face turned into a deep frown, trying to ignore everyone's gaze. He raised his head and stared straight. Soon, Professor Xavier stopped in front of a door, the two of them arriving in a classroom labeled Class 1-D.
'1-D…?'
Zeke looked at the label silently, but he quickly shifted his gaze when Xavier pushed open the classroom doors, revealing a fully occupied room with over 30 seats placed across the room.
Click!
The classroom was filled with noise. But when the doors suddenly opened, everyone was startled and immediately saw Xavier standing at the entrance, looking at all of them with a cold, indifferent gaze.
All the students quickly shut their mouths, lowering their gaze.
The noisy classroom that could tear apart walls with their voices suddenly fell silent when Xavier appeared. That told Zeke enough about how powerful Xavier's presence in the academy was.
Even if not in the academy, at least in this class, Xavier was like the king.
Zeke glanced at the man's back, his thoughts stirring.
Xavier slowly walked to the front of the class, his steps echoing in the silent classroom.
"I can see that your mouths have a lot in store when I'm not around."
Nobody spoke, keeping their heads lowered.
"I hope that your exam scores can keep up with how fast your tongues spit out noise. I'll remind you again, the last three students in the next exam will be expelled."
Xavier swept his gaze across the room, everyone turning nervous. After a brief pause, he shifted his gaze, glancing at Zeke with an indifferent expression.
"Come inside. What are you standing around there for?"
Zeke snapped out of his daze. He looked at Xavier but didn't say anything, simply walking forward.
Seeing Zeke's handsome appearance, everyone raised their head, looking at him with admiration. But then they suddenly realized that they haven't seen this person before on campus.
With his striking white hair and handsome appearance, it was impossible for him to remain unknown if he studied at the academy. Everyone quickly formed a guess, the girls' eyes turning eager.
'Could it be…?'
Sure enough, Xavier confirmed their guess immediately.
"This will be your new classmate, Zeke Crimson."
The girls' eyes shone, looking at Zeke with open curiosity.
But the boys' expressions were the opposite, their eyes turning downcast. It was best if it was a pretty girl, and it was okay if it was an average guy. But why did it have to be a handsome guy…?
However, Zeke only shifted uncomfortably, his face turning into a deep frown.
Xavier swept his gaze around the room and saw that there was an available seat beside the window.
"Sit there."
Zeke saw where he was pointing towards. He nodded at Xavier, then silently walked towards the seat, gathering everyone's gazes on him as he passed by. He glanced at his seatmate, a tall, ordinary-looking guy with brown hair.
Meeting Zeke's gaze, the guy showed a small smile and extended his hand.
"Looks like we're seatmates. I'm Andrei, nice to meet you."
"..."
But Zeke ignored him, turning his gaze to his seat as he sat down. He wasn't here to make friends. Seeing that he was snubbed, Andrei was surprised but retracted his hand without much of a fuss.
"Crimson, since you're a month late in our lessons, Andrei will be responsible for helping you catch up." Xavier suddenly said, causing Zeke to frown deeply. He was just about to object, but the man quickly moved on. "Class is starting. Leave the questions and noise after class."
His words were absolute, leaving no room for objections.
Zeke forced back the objections in his throat, remaining in his seat. He sighed and focused in front, his eyes stuck on Xavier as the man began teaching. As the former heir of the Starlights, he was already homeschooled by top tutors even before.
But he was surprised to realize he couldn't understand what Xavier was teaching at all.
Perhaps his surprise was apparent, but Andrei suddenly spoke up.
"Professor Xavier is great, huh?"
Zeke didn't turn around. But Andrei continued enthusiastically.
"You're new, so you might not know. But Professor Xavier is known as the Steel Reaper of the academy. He used to be an outstanding Ranker outside of Ash City, but he retired due to a traumatic event. Recognizing his talents, Dean Pooler invited him to be a professor at the academy, teaching…"
He suddenly stopped, causing Zeke to frown.
Zeke subconsciously turned his gaze.
"Finally got your attention, eh?" Andrei laughed. "Forget the second half of what I said. I just made them up. But it's true that he's known as the Steel Reaper of the academy. His subject is primarily teaching killing techniques."
Zeke glared at Andrei. But his explanation made him pause, more specifically, about the Xavier 'killing techniques.' Leaving the moral implications aside, why couldn't he understand the man, then?
Although he didn't speak, Andrei caught his confusion and explained.
"Since you just joined, it's normal to be confused. In this lesson, he's teaching us how to kill a person with an abstract class that can't be killed by normal means. This is why he's called a Reaper. When it comes to killing, Professor Xavier is unmatched."
Zeke's brows creased. Andrei talked about killing with so much enthusiasm, as if it was normal. After a brief pause, he shook his head and asked hesitantly, "… Is this okay? A professor teaching how to kill people?"
"Huh?" Andrei suddenly widened his gaze as if he had heard the most shocking thing in the world. He laughed. "What are you even saying? I knew I was right, Zeke. You're a funny guy! I never heard anyone ask that before."
'... He's laughing?'
Zeke suddenly fell silent, frowning. He turned his gaze to the window. Beyond the colorless pane, thick crimson air gathered, forming what seemed to be a picture of a monster in hell. Andrei's reaction had unknowingly confirmed one of his fears—perhaps Red Land was far more dangerous than he had initially thought.
He heard of its horrors, but he could never verify the truthfulness of some of them.
Above the crimson monster, the sun hung in the sky, but even its light couldn't pierce through the darkness that long polluted Red Land. Zeke shook his head, shifting his attention back to Professor Xavier.
His instinctive question unknowingly made him realize one of Red Land's truths.
'... I can't trust anyone here.'