Evil Abyss Mage

Meanwhile, inside of a large and secret underground room, multiple people were standing next to the corpse of the Jagged Snake. Major burn wounds were all across it's ruined body, not even a speck spared. The bottom half was completely gone, turned into ash.

The ones off to the side were Headmaster Pallack and Farsi, joined by the Professors of Death and Soul.

"Are you ready Warren?" Pallack turned to the Death Professor and asked, who soon nodded his head with a solemn look. His face was gloomy and almost depressed, but those familiar with him knew it was his normal personality.

"Otaris?" The Soul Professor indicated he was ready. He had a lazy expression on his face as he yawned and stretched like a cat. 

"Let's get this over with."

At the same time, both Otaris and Warren stepped up to the corpse and raised their hands. They weaved their Mana together to create a massive black and white Magic Circle. They controlled it to envelop the Jagged Snake's body, making it glow brightly in both colors.

Suddenly, a small pitch black portal appeared in mid-air, above the Snake's body. A strange aura was leaking out from the hole, making one shiver as if cold. This, was the energy of Death. A harmful source to all life, but a blessing to the undead and Death Mages.

Chains appeared out of the Magic Circle and dove into the ominous portal. They seemed to grab onto to an object and yanked it out, revealing the shocked soul of the Jagged Snake. His form was far smaller than before, only being the size of a large dog.

"Make your questions quickly. If a Death Wraith passes by and notices our actions, he'll pass through our portal and attack us. You should know what that means." Warren's cold voice sounded out as he wrapped black chains around the soul, keeping it locked in place.

The others nodded solemnly, serious looks to their faces when hearing of the Death Wraith. They were the Guardian Spirits of the Underworld and would attack anyone who messed with that Realm. They themselves weren't a threat to the teachers, as they were far more powerful than the average person. However, the Death Wraiths were not the only Guardians in the Underworld...

"You filthy human! You dare to kill me?! The Great and Invincible World Serpent?!" The Jagged Snake glared venomously at Farsi. He struggled against the chains, but found them unmoving.

"Argh! If it weren't for these cursed unbreakable chains made out of the strongest material in the world, I'd slaughter you like the thief you are!" Farsi sneered and crossed his arms arrogantly.

"Are you forgetting I killed you in a single attack? And what Great World Serpent? You're just a slightly strong High-Mid Class Monster." The Jagged Snake snorted and waved his transparent tail.

"Nonsense! If it wasn't for my mental state being destroyed because of my stolen treasure, you would have been killed with a single swipe of my tail. Then there's my physical injuries given to me by the Gods themselves so you can cling to your pathetic life."

"Ha! You fucking-!" Before Farsi could continue, visible steam rising from his head and bubbles of lava appearing around him, Pallack raised his hand to stop him.

"You called him a thief and said your treasure was stolen. Was that the reason for your rampage?" The Jagged Snaked look at the strange man speaking with surprise.

"Hmph, that's right! Some disgusting thief stole my precious treasure right from underneath me! It was such a special one too…" He lamented deeply, shaking his head from side to side. For some reason, he looked quite cute like this.

Pallack raised an eyebrow and continued his questioning.

"What was it that made the treasure so great? Must have been something very Divine to warrant your esteemed attention, oh Great Serpent." The Jagged Snaked raised his head with pride and arrogance.

"Correct smart human! You have earned a quick death when I escape! It was a perfect oyster, one which sang this beautiful melody. Made me have such wonderful dreams of what my future would become. Prophecies one might say!" Pallack immediately thought of something, but shook his head when hearing the Snake's words at the end. It could possibly be some new treasure never found before.

"Let me ask you something. When was it you came to the Outer Layer?" The other teachers were a little surprised at Pallack's question. Suddenly remembering something, they focused on his answer.

"Hm, must have been two months ago maybe? I remember fleeing from some cowardly monster that overpowered me using magical means! She clearly cheated!" He angrily went over their battle as Pallack smacked his forehead and whispered to the other teachers.

"No wonder. He missed our Annual Sweep." They all nodded their heads, thinking how lucky this Snake was. Not only did he find a 'unique' treasure, but he also missed their scheduled cleaning.

The Annual Sweep was a yearly event where the Academy cleaned up The Forest by killing anything too powerful for the students. Or when they had to kill ones like the Jagged Snake who hid in the Outer Layer when they should be in the Inner or Core Layer.

Headmaster Pallack did have a treaty with the strongest and intelligent ones that they would control the monster's so they didn't leave their designated Layer. In return, they would be safe from their Sweeps.

"Do you have any idea on who might have taken it?" Pallack interrupted the Snake's nonsense about how he was ambushed by 100 Ultimate Class Monsters, making him tilt his head.

"Well, there was something. When I came to the surface, I saw a trail that looked exactly like my oyster. Following it, I was disappointed to find two Silver Wolves dragging a stone. Tsk, clever thief bastard! Only a human would be so cunning with despicable tactics!"

Pallack and the rest realized what had happened. Clearly, a student was able to take the treasure from this High Class Monster and sacrificed two Tamed beasts to stall it while he got away. But there was no record of such a thing, so it was obvious this student never made his finding public.

"We're done here. Send him back." Warren and Otaris nodded their heads and commanded the chains to send the Jagged Snake through the black hole still above them.

"Wait! You human bast-!" His voice was cut short as the Magic Circle shattered and disappeared, closing the ominous portal.

The soul of the Jagged Snake suddenly appeared in a barren landscape full of bones and the aura of death. He was spit out of the portal, thrown to the ground roughly. Shaking his head, he looked around before cursing the humans once again.

"Insufferable humans! Cunning dogs! Filthy rats! Just a little longer and I could have shimmied my way out of those blasted chains! Ugh!" He suddenly shivered, a disgusted look to his face.

"The fact I had to converse with them for so long is a tragedy. But-" His eyes moved up, glaring at the spot where the portal threw him out.

"When I leave this hellish place, I shall make you suffer death by one thousand cuts! I just-" His head moved from side to side, feeling very small when seeing the giant bone pillars in the distance that didn't have a top. They towered into the black clouds full of blood red lightning.

The wails and screeches of souls could be heard, echoing through the sky and sending chills down one's spine. It was impossible to tell where they were coming from. Bones of numerous creatures littered the ground as far as the eye could see, including the mountain sized skulls of some massive monsters.

"-have to get out of here." He gulped and slowly slithered forwards, exploring his new surroundings with fear climbing his illusionary scales. Of course, a Great One like him would never admit such a thing.

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Hilda, lying in bed with wet hair, watched the perfect muscles of Kaido ripple with power as he did one handed handstand push-ups. Her eyes wandered over his form, unable to stop their shameful actions. A hint of pain came from her lower body, making her resent this beast who took her once more in the bath. But she ignored it and asked the burning question on her mind.

"Why do you bother doing that when you're a Mage? I thought only Knights trained their body." Kaido stopped for a moment to answer, his breaths heavy as sweat poured down his body.

"A healthy body leads to a healthy mind." His tone and facial expression were serious as he continued his workout.

Hilda hummed and followed his gaze, which just so happened to be one of her body mirrors. She smirked and exposed his true intentions.

"Is that so? Or do you actually want to admire yourself in the mirror?" He faltered for a brief instant before scoffing.

"That's just a bonus really. And so what if I do so? I worked hard for this body, so it only makes sense I worship it like a temple." She couldn't help but giggle to herself.

"Whatever you say. After you're done, you can let yourself out. I'd love to go with you and all, but I can't even walk thanks to a certain asshole. Won't be able to go to class today either."

Kaido couldn't help but laugh as he finished his workout. After admiring himself in the mirror and smirking narcissistically, he gave Hilda a kiss and her next 'order' before leaving for his own dorm. People gave him odd looks, but generally ignored him. Besides, it was very early and most were still just getting out of bed.

As soon as he walked through his door to his room, a white fur ball immediately jumped on top of his face. Yin whined cutely, wrapping her soft tails around his head possessively. Chuckling, he gave her a couple of pats before moving her body down to his neck. He walked through the living room, eventually arriving in his study. But he ignored everything else, only focusing on a single wall instead. Nothing was there, only a simple shelf that contained a few books he picked out.

The reason he was here however, was to start laying out plans for his Experiment Dimension. It was basically going to be his private lab where he could conduct his… less than legal activities. He needed a few areas in it including an Alchemy Station, an Artificer Workshop, a jail, and many other things.

Kaido placed a hand onto the wall, imaging the effort it would take to make one. However, basing it off how hard his Castle was, he frowned. He theorized the lowest he would need to be was a 3rd Star, maybe halfway to 4th even. Another problem was his Mastery of Space, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

"At my current pace it should take another three weeks. A little slow." If anyone heard his words, they might kill themselves out of shame. But this meant Kaido needed to buy some Star Elixirs from the Academy. That, or produce them himself.

He soon shook his head and sighed, taking another quick shower along with breakfast before heading out the door again. This time, he had to go to Gloria's class. Today was the exam day after all.

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"I hope everyone did as well you wanted." Gloria said, placing the last paper onto the large stack. Some of the students groaned out at how poorly they did. Others didn't really react as the exam had been quite easy.

"Now, I said before there was something I needed to talk to you about. And that, would be the Main Tests." A few students became a bit solemn since they knew about them beforehand.

"The Main Tests are basically an assortment of extremely difficult trials every student must overcome. There are 5 in total, each one becoming increasingly harder as they go on. In fact, the very first one is in a little under 2 months."

"If you happen to fail one, then you have my condolences. Because you WILL be expelled, regardless of your talent or status." Her words frightened more than a few of the lazier ones.

However, the students who breezed through the exam and were confident in their own talents were largely unconcerned. This especially included Riener, Kaido, and Caerwyn who had no worries in the slightest.

"Since we've got the exam over and done with, I won't be a cruel teacher and burden you with another lesson. Instead, I'll end class early today." Gloria said, making some of the students cheer out.

As the people in the classroom began to flood out into the hallway, Kaido stopped Caerwyn before she left. With a smile to his face and Yin purring on his neck, he asked her a simple question.

"Ready to buy me lunch?" She was shocked for a moment, not knowing how to respond. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten about their little bet with the Nerd.

However, upon thinking about it more clearly, she realized he played her. He must have somehow poisoned the Nerd with medicine beforehand, then propose the game with a small bet. Even though she knew this fact, it didn't bother her much.

"Come on then." She didn't say much and started walking in the direction of the cafeteria. But just as they arrived and she was about to step inside, his hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Not here." Her head tilted to the side, a quizzical look on her face.

"What do you mean? If we're not eating here then-" She paused, suddenly coming to a conclusion. Kaido, who saw this, grinned knowingly like a cat who caught their prey.

"The city of course. Cafeteria food is for the lower class. I know of a good little spot in the middle of the city." He lied as he easily as he breathed without hesitation. How would he know of a good place in the city when he never visited it before?

Caerwyn's eyes widened a little at his bold suggestion.

"But you never said that." He leaned in closer, raising an eyebrow as he chuckled.

"Did I? If I remember right, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but the loser gets to choose the destination. Now technically, when I WON, did I ever say where the lunch would take place?"

"You-" She was speechless at how shameless he was. Her intelligence was not low, so she could see what he really wanted. Lunch? Obviously not. This was a date in disguise.

Nevertheless, after thinking about it for a silent minute, she relented. It of course had nothing to do with the cute eyes of Yin drilling into her soul.

"Tch, fine. Lead the way."