The Talentless Inheritor

"Sebastian!"

"Huh…?"

Sebastian rubbed his eyes as he sat up on his bed.

"Amy?"

Looking around the room for a moment, he couldn't see her at all. His bewilderment didn't last long as Amy burst through the door and ran up to him with her hands gripping his collar.

"You…! You…!"

There were tears in her eyes with her face flushed. She kept on rocking him back and forth and it made him sick.

"W-wait, please stop… I'm going to hurl…"

Once she managed to calm down. She let go of his collar but didn't remove the glare from her teary eyes.

"Explain yourself."

"About…?"

Sebastian didn't know what she was talking about. That is, until his eyes traveled from her eyes to her body. He first took a look at her dress and was about to turn his attention back to her eyes but stopped at her neck.

"..."

"So, you've finally realized."

Sebastian couldn't say anything at all. He remembered what he did in the carriage but he didn't think it'd form a bruise on her neck. Judging by her dress and her reaction, she must've gone to the party and exposed it to everyone.

Sebastian gulped in fear. Maybe she'd let it go had nobody figured out what the bruise was but that was unlikely.

"I-I'm innocent."

Sebastian stuttered.

"I see, so you refuse to admit your sins?"

Amy took a deep breath and lowered her shoulders. Though it was a sign that she was calming herself down, Sebastian only saw it as the opposite.

Before Sebastian could react, she suddenly pounced on him. For a while, the only sounds that could be heard in his room were Sebastian's pained groans.

…

"Uh… dude?"

Freddie called out to Sebastian.

"Please, don't ask."

Today, Sebastian had to attend school. He had told Amy beforehand, so she must've done it with that in mind.

Right now, his neck was riddled in marks. Amy's bite marks to be precise. It was against the school regulations to wear something around the neck and the collar of his uniform could only conceal so much.

"Had fun yesterday?" Willow laughed at him.

"It's not really a problem but going to school with that is a bit…" James commented while scratching his cheek.

"Well, I did hear that Amy attended her party yesterday with one on her neck as well." Freddie added.

Sebastian could only lament as he walked through the halls with the scrupulous gazes the other students were giving him.

"Well, we'll part here."

Sebastian bid the three farewell as he walked into his own classroom.

The entire class turned their eyes toward Sebastian.

When he had first entered this classroom, their eyes were filled with mocking and scorn. After he defeated Gilbert, their eyes became that of fear and apprehension. Now, they could only give him complicated gazes mixed with many emotions.

Sebastian didn't mind any of them as he walked back to his seat which was occupied by the transfer student just a few weeks ago.

He diligently listened in class, for the first time in a long while.

...

"Another aptitude test, huh…"

The reason Sebastian attended today was for this. The school had announced that they were going to conduct their yearly aptitude test now that it was near the end of the year.

It was a compulsory requirement. Sebastian couldn't skip it like he did with his classes.

Sebastian had done this twice before. When he entered the school and when he took the exam to become an Apprentice. Though they called it an exam, all he had to do was inject his energy into an orb.

Today was the same.

"—Apprentice. Next."

The student right before Sebastian pumped his fist in the air as he was declared an Apprentice. By now, most of the school's students should be Apprentices.

Amy, Gilbert, and Sebastian who had reached it many months prior were the strange ones after all.

Sebastian walked up to the orb. Everyone turned their attention on him. They knew he had long since been an Apprentice, but they didn't know how far he was from being an Adept.

'I'd say… halfway.'

As Sebastian made his guess, he began injecting the stigma's energy into the orb. He didn't need to use a lot as the orb tested quality and not capacity.

"Sebastian Sol, upper mid-rank Apprentice…"

Even the professor looked surprised.

Evaluations had to be accurate, but as the powers of Inheritors couldn't be put into numbers, they varied by colors.

The orb would have no color is there is no energy. Blue if one is a Novice, Green as an Apprentice, and Yellow as an Adept. Three ranks were made to signify the milestones between each. Low, mid, and high.

Each one is further divided into three more. The low rank signified one is in the early stages. Lower low-rank, middle low-rank, and upper low-rank.

Last time Amy was tested, she was already an upper mid-rank, and that was three months ago.

Sebastian's color was a vibrant green with no sign of yellow or blue which signified that he was a middle-rank Apprentice. If there was a tiny strand of blue, he would be a low-rank Apprentice and if there was yellow, then he'd be a high-rank.

Sebastian nonchalantly took his hand off the orb and sat down on the gymnasium floor by the sides. Many who were overjoyed with their results, deflated.

Suddenly, there was a commotion. Sebastian turned his eyes towards the open door to the hallway and perked his ears.

"Upper high-rank Apprentice! The student council president really is amazing!"

"How is she so fast? It's not like she's doing anything special…"

Sebastian smiled slightly. It was just a matter of time before she became an Adept. Unfortunately, the upper high-ranks are always the hardest to break through. Amy might even take half a year before becoming an Adept.

Still, he believed that she would be able to overcome it easily. She might even suddenly announce that she's an Adept by next month.

Sebastian chuckled at his silly thoughts as he waited for class to finish before heading to the dorms.

"Oh, you're back."

Freddie was the first to see him arrive and greeted him.

"So?"

"Upper mid-rank Apprentice."

"Oooh! Willow and I are lower mid-rank."

Freddie and Willow had become Apprentices later than Sebastian but they were already near his level. Sebastian turned his eyes to James who beamed a smile.

"Middle mid-rank."

James was the most surprising. Last Sebastian heard, he was at the same level as the other two. When was he able to surpass them?

"You three improved fast…"

"What the heck are you talking about? You're the ridiculous one here."

Willow retorted.

"Eh?"

"Don't you 'eh' me. You weren't even a Novice when all of us were middle high-rank Novices yet now, you've become an upper mid-rank Apprentice, isn't that crazy?"

Sebastian hadn't thought of it like that before.

"So, are you planning on staying for a few days?"

James asked.

"Yeah. In the end, I still have to do the exams."

It was Amy's wish to see him graduate. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to stay here for that long. The Sage, the person targeting him wouldn't wait until then.

But at the very least, he wanted to complete his first year here.

Before he leaves for the summit, his first year will have ended. At that time, he hoped he wouldn't have to make the decision that Wisteria had given him.

…

—Your goal is to meet the old man who had given you the book?

"Yes."

—It's doubtful if he knows anything.

"You never know."

Sebastian had snuck out at night and headed for the old library. Though he had visited a few more times after receiving the stigma, the old man hadn't said anything else.

"Hello."

Sebastian greeted the old man who was reading a book.

"Ah… Are you here to read again?"

"No, I actually came to talk about this."

Sebastian removed his glove and raised his sleeve.

"..."

The old man frowned. For the first time since Sebastian met him, he saw his expression change.

"When did this happen?"

"A little more than a month ago."

The old man turned to look into Sebastian's eyes.

"Who is that with you?"

—…Hoh.

Balanos was impressed. The old man had actually been able to detect her?

Sebastian suddenly felt something tugging at his soul slightly before disappearing. He then saw an ethereal Balanos standing right beside him.

"...the hamadryad of Oak, Balanos."

"It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you. Or should I say, to meet you again."

"You two know each other?"

Sebastian asked. The old man seemed rattled while Balanos seemed amused.

"He's your grandparents' personal guard. I saw him often in the Warde estate in the past."

Sebastian's brows raised.

"How old is he?"

"I don't know. But, I'm certain that he's way older than a normal human. When your grandparents were still young a.d.u.l.ts, he already had white hair."

The old man sighed and closed the book he was reading.

"So, I suppose you want to know the reason behind the stigma's change."

"Yes, I do."

"It's unfortunate, but I don't know the answer. However, I do have a theory."

The old man snapped his fingers and suddenly, the library vanished. It was replaced by a dark room with the only light source being an orb in front of the old man.

"A sorcerer. No, there's no one else you could be. You're not a sorcerer, you're the one true sorcerer, Merlin. Hadn't you died during the war?"

"All of what you said is correct. I am Merlin, the one true sorcerer, and I have died during the war."

Sebastian kept his mouth closed. He wouldn't be able to say anything anyway.

The old man's face suddenly changed to that of a youthful man wearing a cloak.

"This must be the face you're familiar with."

Balanos nodded.

"It's a long story so please sit down."

All of a sudden, a chair manifested below Sebastian and Balanos. Once they were seated, Merlin grasped the air and a wooden staff with a bird-shaped head materialized in his hand.

"Then, let's go, shall we?"

Merlin tapped the floor with his staff.