Chapter 1.
20 years ago, in a distant land.
"He can't have gotten far! Spread out and bring me his head!" a man says, frustrated, pacing around by a campfire in the forest
"But Mr. Vino…. He broke his limiter… He's even more powerful now; he already took out several of our men. It's been hours…" a man responds, exhaustingly
Mr. Vino screams in agony for a brief moment before calming down. "Screw this, let the rat think he's free… we will just have to start over again… Where's the rookie? Beretta?"
"In his tent, sir." One of the soldiers say, bowing his head
"Our search here is finished; tell him to teleport us back…"
Present time
It's 7 am on a hot summer day in Chile; the alarm rings on and on
Incoherent mumbles
The door busts open
"Today is the day, son; you're finally graduating. Get your lazy ass up," He says, smiling proudly as he opens up the curtains,
Saint mumbles and turns around in his bed, still sleeping
"Just 5 more minutes, Dad..."
His dad looks at him before jumping and elbow dropping him, telling Saint to get up again
"Alright, alright... Geez... what's for breakfast?" He asks as he gets out of bed, putting on his usual baggy jeans and white T-shirt.
"The usual, come on," He says excitedly
The morning drags on, he freshens up and eats the breakfast; later on, his father drives him to school
"I've waited for this day, son; now you can finally apply for Sangre De Reyes. Aren't you happy?" He says while driving,
"Whatever, Dad, I'm only doing it for you," Saint responds nonchalantly as he stares out of the window; His father looks at him worriedly.
As they pull up in front of the school, his father hugs him.
"I'm so proud of you, son; you're strong." He tenses up; a tear falls from his eyes,
"I would never lie to you, Saint. Never... I always tell the truth."
Saint looks at his father with wide eyes and confusion; unsure of what to say, he just hugs him back.
"I won't let you down." With that, he heads inside to the ceremony for his class's graduation.
As Saint enters, he gets greeted by teachers, friends, and classmates. The ceremony passes by in a flash as they all have fun before they say their goodbyes. Later, Saint is walking towards the exit of the school, a girl pokes him in his back, he gets scared and startled,
"Ana! You scared me... creep."
Ana chuckles lightly. Ana and Saint were always close. They have been friends since childhood, and were basically born at the same time.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Ana asks as she steps and walks with him by his side; Saint stares at the ground,
"I'm gonna apply for Sangre De Reye's entrance exam." He says softly, and almost in a sad like tone.
"What!? Really? Wowww... I can't say I'm surprised, though. You were always the talented one In our class... and with your Mana already awakened, I'm sure you'd do great." Ana says with an innocent and happy smile plastered on her face.
"I'm not sure, Ana... I've heard some crazy stories about that place..." He responds hesitantly,
"Anyway, what are your plans?" He asks, changing the topic.
"I'm glad you asked," Ana says sarcastically. "I'm staying here and taking over the family business. I'm not strong like you, and I'm not really interested in fighting and such... but I'll cheer you on from the sidelines... I'll always be here for you." Ana says kindly, but there's a hint of sadness in her eyes... almost like she doesn't want him to leave, deep down. It's only natural; Saint himself can't see a world without Ana. She has always been by his side.
As they arrive outside Ana's house, they stand there for a minute awkwardly before Saint speaks up again.
"Thank you, Ana, I'll be sure to visit you and Sant-" He gets cut off by Ana hugging him tightly.
"Take care of yourself, please." Ana says, with a shaky voice,
"Y-yeah, of course." He responds, startled by Ana's sudden hug; Ana pulls off him and wipes her tears,
"What was that for, idiot?" He asks playfully; Ana laughs with him before she runs inside, leaving him alone outside. Saint makes his way back home, He sees the usual people throwing trash and rotten food at his house; the crowd spots him.
"Make sure to hit his son too! Crazy bastard" One of them says, Saint quickly runs inside before anything nasty can hit him.
"Dad? You home?" He asks casually as he takes his jacket and shoes off,
His father returns from the backyard, all sweaty. It seems like he was training,
"There you are, took longer than expected. Change into your training fit and step outside; I have a quick test for you." He says as he takes a sip of water.
"Whatever," Saint responds unbothered,
A few minutes later Saint steps outside, his father hands me an application letter.
"Sign this, and then we'll spar." My father says firmly,
Saint sighs and takes the pen to fill out the application form. "I'm not fighting you; you're too strong for me anyway." Saint says as he returns the application form and walks away unbothered,
His father stares at Saint's retreating form, slightly disappointed.
...
The next morning, his father wakes him up at 6am
"Son, wake up, they're here. It's time for you to leave." His father says in a soft voice, shaking Saint's shoulder.
"Already? I just graduated yesterday! I get no vacation?" Saint asks in a grumpy tone.
Saint makes his way downstairs, he immediately spots 2 men in white pastel suits
"Is this him?" One of them asks my father; the other one shakes his head,
"Of course it's him... who else would it be, jackass?"
Saint steps up to them and his father introduces them.
"Saint, these are Beretta and Brugger. They are instructors from Sangre De Reyes's grounds. They are here to escort you to the school."
"Pleasure to meet you, sir. I've heard great things about you." Beretta says, reassuringly,
"Yeah... thanks..." Saint responds awkwardly,
Suddenly, Brugger lunges at Saint, throwing a punch with tremendous speed that he barely manage to dodge. Saint falls down to the floor on his ass, looking startled,
"Heh, nothing special if you couldn't see that coming." Brugger says cockily,
Beretta punches Brugger in the back of the head
"My apologies. He can't help himself." Beretta holds out a hand for Saint to get up.
Saint gets up and shoots an annoyed glance at his father,
"So when do we leave?" Saint asks calmly,
"Whenever you're ready. With our abilities we can teleport us back in an instant" Beretta replies professionally.
He sighs, "Let's go then."
...
The three arrive just in front of the principal's office, Beretta nods to Saint, he walks in without a knock. He spots the principal looking out the window at the schoolyard,
"Saint, I presume?" he asks unbothered,
"Yeah..." He responds,
"My name is Oshoku, I'm the principal of Sangre De Reyes. You do know where you are, yes?" he says as he turns around,
"Yes, I'm familiar."
Oshoku seems unfazed by Saint's answer; he pulls out a piece of paper
"Write down your application form," in a cold and distant tone
"What? But I already did..." Saint responds confused,
"Do it." Oshoku repeats firmly,
Saint, annoyed, takes a seat and starts filling it out, he finishes and turns it in.
Without even looking at the paper, Oshoku repeats, "Again."
"What? But you didn't even look at it-" Saint gets interrupted by immense pressure; the sheer pressure from Oshoku makes him shake and pushes him back.
"F-fine," He responds startled, he keeps rewriting the application form for what seems like an hour. Oshoku finally turns around and takes it.
"You pass," He says nonchalantly. "Take this ID and head to your first class; don't be late now."
Saint stares at the ID and sees his next class starts in 2 minutes. He gets up and runs out of his office. As he steps out of his office into the corridor, he can hear some fuss to his left. He carefully approaches and sees a crowd of people.
"Is that all you got? Dork." A loud voice in the middle of the crowd says tauntingly,
Another voice stands out from the crowd "Ooh, ooh, I bet you can't land one hit on Plaster, Beyce," He says while laughing
The crowd disperses as Saint sees a guy sent flying through the corridor, he crashes in a distant wall, Saint checks if he's okay
"Hey, what was that about... are you okay?" He asks as he offers his hand out,
The guy looks up at Saint, he hesitantly reaches out for his hand,
"I'm good, thanks. Is this your first day too?" He asks as he dusts his clothes off,
"Yeah, I'm looking for classroom B22." Saint replies hesitantly, checking his ID.
"That's exactly where I just flew from..." He says with a bright smile,
"I'm Beyce, by the way, you are?" He shakes his hand. "I'm Saint."
The guy that sent Beyce flying steps up to us
"Hm? And who are you?" He says arrogantly with his hands in his pockets,
'This guy is strong... better not cause any trouble' Saint thinks,
"It's my first day, I don't want any trouble."
"No trouble? You're radiating Mana right now." Plaster takes his hands out and cracks his knuckles,
Suddenly, another guy steps in and stops Plaster
"That's enough bro, come on." Plaster shakes his head and turns around nonchalantly; the guy that stopped him turns to Saint and Beyce,
"I'm Ari. I haven't met you yet. You're in our class?"
"Yeah..." Saint replies nervously,
...