The next day Cyril went for his lessons just as usual.
He left Tigris and Morpho at home. They weren't allowed to be in class.
But Cyril has seen some students with animal companions and even heard there was an optional beast taming course in the future.
Walking in the castle, Cyril felt there were more eyes on him than usual. Many people were discussing the duel yesterday.
Cyril even heard some outlandish things, such as him crippling his opponent with a stare or Morpho cleaving Bran's mace in two.
There were even some people portraying Cyril as some kind of great evil.
In their rendition, he played the role of a villain and ruthlessly beat Bran, who had already surrendered and was begging for mercy, half to death.
"Speaking of this, Bran must make a public apology, right? He better do it, for his own sake," said Rhamn with lingering hatred.
When Bran threatened to kill Morpho yesterday, she grew quite angry, and so has Cyril, of course.
Cyril didn't plan on making him suffer so much. But since Bran volunteered, he didn't mind testing Selene's technique on him. "Heavenly Dragon's Judgment"
Still, because of his display of strength, there were plenty of things for bored students to talk about.
Even during lessons, people were still whispering.
In the Spell Making class, everyone was trying to guess what spell Cyril used when Richard finally couldn't suffer it anymore.
With a single spell, everyone in class was silenced. Even the prince didn't escape this punishment.
Thankfully they were used to this situation already and didn't panic too much.
Having gathered their attention, Richard pointed towards the blackboard and continued with the lesson.
This time he was focusing on how to improve spell casting speed.
Cyril and a few others already had theoretical knowledge on this and managed to condense their casting speed to an impressive enough degree.
Not everyone, however, was born into a wealthy family, so Richard took his time with this.
Surprisingly, Cyril discovered there was something new to learn here.
His complacent attitude took a slight hit, and he focused on the lesson more.
Next was combat training, in which the situation repeated itself.
Their combat instructor had a different approach to this problem.
He simply forced everyone to perform more strenuous exercises. When the duel time began, most people were lying on the floor from exhaustion.
A familiar sight. This reminded Cyril of his first day in Ailanthus.
Cyril wanted to go fight Myra as per usual, but he was stopped by the professor.
"You lot are a bit too relaxed. How about this? Today everyone will fight Cyril one by one," the man with a scar over his eye said in a low voice. "Brilliant idea!"
This immediately silenced all of the groans coming from the students.
Everyone with renewed energy started protesting it.
"You can't do this; we are too tired for a duel, especially with him!"
"Think about Cyril too; he won't be able to fight so many people in a row."
"There is no time left anyways; the bell will ring any second."
Cedric, Rose, Clayton, and Myra all stood ready; they knew Cyril, so they didn't mind fighting him one more time.
But from everyone else, all sorts of reasons and excuses followed.
The professor listened to it all with a calm face before saying loudly, "There will be a day when you are tired on the battlefield; will you beg the demons to give you a break? What if you fought an archdemon at that time?"
The students grew quieter, but someone still whispered, "It's not like Cyril is that strong. An archdemon will kill us all in a second..."
"They're pathetic."
The professor made an angry scowl at these words: "What incompetent bastard said that? Such defeatist talk! To you weaklings, Cyril might as well be just as strong!"
Cyril stood in the arena, not knowing what to say.
He confusedly looked over the students, but everyone avoided his sight for some reason.
No matter how unwilling they were, they still had to follow their professors words.
Cedric and Myra were very much willing to fight, but the professor forbade them, saying those who fought him at the competition should rest.
Others weren't so lucky; one by one, everyone began dueling Cyril.
Cyril felt like he was fighting children at the moment. Their movements were predictable, slow, and lacked power.
Most duels ended with a single attack, and over time, Cyril performed them mechanically, growing bored.
It was clear the students didn't put any heart in it.
Thankfully he had someone to talk to during it.
He switched his attention to Rhamn, discussing what they should buy this afternoon for Tigris.
By the time the bell rang, Cyril had taken on almost everyone here, barely breaking a sweat.
The students almost escaped class; as they left, they gave Cyril a look one might give a demon.
It's not like I wanted to fight you."They are just mad at their own weakness."
"I forgot to mention! On Monday we will have a special exam; it will take the whole day. I am sure you will like it!" The professor loudly announced with a wide grin.
A few students slowed down and reversed, eager to find out more.
"What will it be, professor?" Cyril asked, as he was the closest.
"It will be a surprise, but we'll travel somewhere for it; I can tell you this much." The man with a scar replied and patted Cyril on the shoulder.
The professor refused to say anything more, so people started going away.
After saying goodbye to Rose, who wanted to visit the library as usual, Myra approached Cyril with a proposal.
"I remembered where we can take the Death Bell to; it's near our usual spot at the shopping district. Want to go today?" Myra said with a smile.
Cyril also needed to visit that place for some shopping, so he didn't think long before replying. "Sure."
Having finished discussing their plans for the day, the two left to prepare.
...
After a bit more time, they met near the exit.
Myra, carrying the box with Death Bell, was wearing some casual sportswear, and Cyril still wore the academy's uniform.
There was Morpho following him around, a familiar sight already to people who knew him.
But there was also another creature this time.
Myra was surprised to find a kitten hanging on Cyril's shoulder, observing the world with interest.
"You've found another magic creature?" Myra guessed with a surprised voice.
The kitten did look a bit unusual. Its color stood out like a sore thumb.
"Yes. It grew attached, so I had to take it." Cyril said, like there was nothing wrong, and petted Tigris with his hand.
The mighty tiger purred with satisfaction.
Myra stared at Tigris for a few seconds before her face involuntarily made a slight smile.
She approached Cyril and moved her hand to pet it. Tigris hissed at this action from someone unknown.
Rhamn nodded at the sight with a satisfied expression.
Myra dejectedly pulled her hand back but didn't let this get to her.
"He is a bit shy in front of strangers," Cyril tried to soften the blow.
"Well, let's go?" Myra smiled at this and prepared to move.
Together they went towards the manarail in a light mood.
The conductor eyed Tigris with suspicion but allowed him to board in the end.
In the future there might be a problem with transportation... Cyril thought while playing with Tigris in his seat.
This was, after all, a tiger, not a cat. He will grow much bigger than he is now.
"He will hide in your shadow when he grows a bit stronger; problem solved!" Rhamn already thought about this issue.
Occasionally there would be bag inspections on the manarail, but thankfully they haven't encountered one today.
It would've been a hassle to explain why they were carrying poisonous plants.
"Cyril, what was that attack during the duel?" Cautiously asked Myra.
It's here. Cyril expected such a question eventually.
"Selene found me at the Academy and taught me her technique." He didn't plan on finding excuses.
"Does learning from her not bother you?" Myra looked him in the eyes, perplexed.
"Strength is strength; it doesn't matter where you get it." Calmly, replied Cyril.
"This way I can also keep an eye on her. Maybe she will let something slip one day." He further clarified.
"Don't worry, if you meet Selene as an enemy at one point, I will stand on your side." Cyril said while petting the sleeping Tigris.
"Mhm," Myra mouthed something in understanding and looked at nothing in particular with a complicated expression.
By the time they arrived at the correct stop, she was already back to normal.
They decided to first visit the person who will make the pills before Cyril goes shopping.
"We're going to a healer near the slums here; his name is Alvin. You visited him before, right?" Myra said on the way,"
Her words caused Cyril to stop in his tracks.
When Myra noticed this, she turned back with a confused expression.
"What's wrong?" She said.
After a few seconds her expression changed to one of alarm.
"How did you know I visited him before?" said Cyril.
He did once mention going to a healer, but Cyril never said which one he visited.
And Cyril was confident enough that Edmund wouldn't tell others about that.
A few beads of sweat rolled down Myra's face as she thought of a response under Cyril's piercing eyes.
"I've told you... I've been following you because of my visions, and it was during that time that you went there." She said with a forced smile.
"It's not like there was something important there. Alvin told me you only wanted to get a normal health checkup," Myra added defensively.
He didn't tell the real reason... It seems like Alvin valued the privacy of others "Unlike Myra"
Seeing his gaze persist, Myra lowered her head. "Sorry, I shouldn't have followed you like this," she said in defeat.
"As long as you never do anything like that again, we are good." Cyril quickly softened his glare.
It wasn't news that she had stalked him in the past; that was how they initially befriended each other.
Myra's face brightened at his words, "Thank you."
Putting this behind them, they continued walking.
Alvin again. I wonder what he will say to me. Cyril now thought about his previous encounters with the good healer.
"Hopefully he will continue to value the privacy of others."We should be fine.
Cyril still didn't feel like telling Myra about Rhamn.
Lately this feeling was enhanced, considering that Myra herself was also hiding plenty of things.
With such thoughts they soon found the place they were looking for.
However, when they close, they've heard quite a commotion.
A person could be seen running away from the clinic with an angry expression; he was carrying something under his armpit.
"That's not a happy patient."