Reborn As An Overpowered Villain

Iron-steeled, white-colored bracelets lay in front of Mark. He eyed the bracelets and then Lucien, waiting for the northern blade to allow Mark to upgrade his challenge and use the bracelet like the princess and Eleena, the one that restricted mana circulation to only fifteen percent.

Mark had thought it through to the very end, and he had been plagued by nightmares since his meeting yesterday, because no one in the class was of master rank, yet Lucien had subtly mentioned that all students were elite rank and that some might even be in master rank, something along those lines, and Mark had found himself freezing in place back then.

Because as far as Mark knew, no one was in master rank, and therefore Lucien must have mentioned that because Mark was hiding his real rank of Master [Lower] rank and only showing Elite [Upper] rank.

It was a no-brainer that Lucien was targeting Mark specifically, but Lucien should have had no way of finding out. The artifact Mark carried had thoroughly concealed his real rank, and even higher-ranked people like the vice headmistress had not discovered it despite being present during the entrance exam for the academy. So how could Lucien have found it out? Was he so powerful that even the artifact was unable to conceal Mark's rank in Lucien's presence? But Mark shook away that thought. Lucien was powerful, but not more powerful than the vice headmistress, so it could not be possible that she had failed to notice while Lucien had succeeded despite being of lower rank than her.

So the question still remained, what on earth had tipped Lucien off, and how had he managed it? And that problem had gnawed at him, one for which he had found himself unable to sleep the previous night, driving him to form theories until exhaustion had finally dragged him into a restless sleep far later than he would have liked.

Also, Lucien had mentioned that the princess and Eleena possessed the greatest potential among the students, which could have been nothing more than a taunt, but Mark truly felt that Lucien had been speaking the truth. And therein lay another problem. Shouldn't Lucien have also praised Mark's potential and upgraded Mark’s challenge the way Lucien had done for Princess Amber and Eleena? But no, Lucien had not done so. Lucien had not paid Mark much attention, treating him as though Mark were nothing more than dust on the ground, something that did not warrant much consideration.

Mark had felt an inexplicable shame watching Princess Amber's challenge upgraded, then Eleena's, and finally Patrick's today, all of them elevated because they were said to hold great potential.

During lunch in the dining hall, he had barely managed to force food past his lips, because the shame had been sitting so heavily on his chest. He had begun to feel that his own potential might not measure up to theirs, yet how could his potential possibly fall short when he was already in Master [Lower] rank while they were all still in Elite [Upper] rank? The conflicting thoughts had clashed throughout his lunch today.

During that lunch, he had turned over every possible explanation for why Lucien was excluding Mark from what he offered the others, but Mark had found no plausible answer, except for the one he kept circling back to, which was that Mark was the one carrying hatred here.

Mark hated Lucien, or more accurately, he hated the Duskbane family, because those high nobles had not sent troops in time to defend his village during the miasma beasts attack. Mark's village was within the northern duke's territory, so they were supposed to send troops and protect the people there, but no one came.

Baron Evaska had eventually arrived to help, but it had been far too late, and Mark had lost his parents. All he had left was his sister, who was currently lying in a bed, struggling against each day just to see the next one. So Mark was the one with cause to hate here, not Lucien, who clearly knew nothing about it and would likely never know unless Mark confronted him directly. And one day he would, once he had grown powerful enough, he would challenge the northern duke, not Lucien but his father and demand to know why he had not sent troops in time.

Mark clenched his fist because his emotions were growing difficult to contain. Mark had run directly to Lucien's office while on his way to check on one of the elective classes that had interested him, having realized he needed to upgrade his challenge quickly in order to adjust to it properly, and so halfway down the corridor he had veered off course, bidding Judy that he would return soon before dashing here.

Mark was sweating profusely by the time he arrived, and Lucien had not missed the opportunity to let his distaste show, his expression carrying something close to disgust at the sight of Mark's sweat. Wasn't sweat simply part of human life? Mark would have liked to ask this question to Lucien, had there not been such a vast social and hierarchical disparity standing between them.

Noticing no reply from Lucien, Mark pushed his thoughts to the back burner of his mind and lifted his head to meet Lucien's gaze.

Lucien's silver eyes were glinting sharply, as though he was turning over something profound in his mind, on the verge of some quiet enlightenment, which Mark would not doubt from someone of Lucien's calibre. Lucien was a walking anomaly that no one had ever managed to fully understand. Even Baron Evaska had held him in the highest regard, often remarking that the baron had never encountered a person quite like Lucien in all his years, and had gone as far as to say that there would never be another like him again.

"Professor," Mark began, unable to bear the tightening in his chest any longer as Lucien continued to stay silent, "is my potential not great, like the princess, Eleena, and Patrick?"

Lucien placed his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands together, leaning slightly forward. His silver eyes shone with a cold brightness, and for a fleeting second Mark was certain that Lucien was about to punish him, or perhaps even kill him for having disturbed Lucien’s tea time, because since Mark had walked through that door, Lucien had not drank much from the teacup.

"I believe I have one of the greatest potentials in the class," Mark pressed on, unable to allow the silence to stretch any further, "I don't think my abilities pale in comparison to the others, not against Princess Amber, not against Eleena, and certainly not against Patrick."

"I think the same, Mark," Lucien replied evenly, “Leave this bracelet here, once it is modified you would receive it soon from my attendant Connor.”

Mark, who had already braced himself for some of the worst possible outcomes, felt the shock hit him like cold water. Lucien had seemingly agreed to his request of upgrading his challenge, and Mark scrambled for words before landing on, "Thank you, Professor."

He rose from the chair and had just turned on his heel to walk away when Lucien added quietly, "So train, and become stronger. You are weak right now."

Mark froze. He turned to look at Lucien, not knowing what to make of those words that sat somewhere between encouragement and a cutting taunt all at once. Mark managed a slight nod, then stepped out of the office and pulled the door closed behind him.

Mark started walking down the hallway, and only once he was certain he was well away from Lucien's office did he lean his back against the wall, pressing into it as he needed something solid to hold him upright.

What was that pressure that had been emanating from Lucien? Mark could feel his heart hammering in his chest and his palms were slick with sweat, all of it brought on simply because at the very end, when Lucien had told him to train and grow stronger, the room had become suffocating in an instant, and Lucien had looked like something wearing a man's skin rather than a man himself.

It had taken everything Mark had to stay standing on his own two feet rather than buckle beneath that weight, and now that he was out, the fear he had desperately held back was crawling freely through every part of him. Is that the power of Sky [Mid] rank?

***

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