How I Became the Strongest Sovereign

Chapter 55 - New Year New Me

My training had finally ended; I ran past the huge front garden of our mansion and into the house, Gramps close behind me. Swinging the doors open with force, I walked in.

"MUUUM!" I yelled, making the house shake. I had missed half of the first day of school and gramps had suggested I go straight away, but I wanted to see my mother first.

My beautiful mother ran into the room frantically, her eyes zooming everywhere at the sound of my voice. Her eyes landed on me and she stiffened at my new appearance. She was definitely skinnier than the last time I saw her. Her frame was frail and small and her face looked like it had been in a frown for the longest time. Luckily, it looked like she still had some weight on her, as if someone forced her to eat.

My eyes watered as I took in her weak appearance. I finally realised how selfish I was, running away without telling her. I was still used to the independence of a King. I wasn't used to consulting a parent before making a decision because I never had one. I was so inconsiderate, leaving my mother for half a year to train without a goodbye.

"Zeref?" her voice was croaky and she seemed shocked to see my appearance. Gramps stood next to me, lightly nudging me to respond as I was also surprised.

I hesitantly stepped forward a few steps before running into mum's arms. "I am so sorry!" I cried into her shoulder. I was taller than her now, towering over her.

She stroked my back, crying into my chest. "My boy." she cried out..

"I'm never leaving again. I swear, I'll always tell you. Everything." I squeezed her in my arms slightly, not wanting to let go.

"You fool! Do you know how worried I was?! Do you know how much we all suffered because of your foolish actions?" mother wept, with a hint of rage in her voice. She really must have been in so much pain. "Ciara and Johan showed up at the house a few weeks after you had ran. They told me you had gone with Gramps therefore I didn't worry too much. But you should tell me!"

"I know, mother. I'll never do this again without consulting with you."

Gramps stood near us, watching the reunion.

"You better, and What's with that eye patch? What's happened to you? My son's become a delinquent." she looked at my eye patch then wept more.

"Mu-Mum, I got into an incident, it's hard to explain. I'll make sure to explain everything when I return from school." I explained before letting her go from my grasp.

"No, you can miss school today!" she held onto me tighter and I relaxed into her arms.

"I can't miss the first day. Plus I wanna see everyone." I explained, sighing. She hesitantly nodded and I sped upstairs to get ready.

But there was only one issue… I grew out of my blazer and my shirt sleeves became too short on me. So I decided to ditch the blazer and rolled up my sleeves instead. I ruffled my dark hair and fitted on my dimension rings. Peering at myself through the mirror, I looked almost like a whole new person. My white shirt fit perfectly with my black tie and dark trousers. Even though the shirt was a bit tight, it outlined my lean muscles underneath.

I made my way down and said my goodbyes before leaving.

I hopped from building to building, zig zagging across the skyline of the town. It would've been easier if I could use a teleportation technique. Maybe I could learn one.

**

The school entrance looked as grand as ever. A colossal gate guarded the passage, detailed with intricate designs and a mixture of silver and gold coated it. I leaped up 10 metres or so, over the closed entrance and landed softly; guards surrounded me straight away.

"Don't move an inch. Who are you?" one of them asked, pointing his magic wand at me. All the guards were on high alert; they were all clad in a dark armour, some had swords and others had wands. They were well trained and all at B rank or C rank.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I'm just really late for school. I kind of slept in." I laughed, rubbing my head, trying to lift the tension.

"Do you think we'd believe that? Who do you take us for? You're not even wearing the school blazer."

I rolled my eyes, slightly annoyed. "I'm Zeref Amara." I sighed, controlling myself. The men backed off, knowing my name.

"How do we know it's you? You imposter." one of them said, pointing a spear at my face.

I laughed for a couple seconds before making them all kneel in front of me with gravity magic.

"Do I still need to explain who I am?" I crouched down to the lead guard's level and scoffed before relieving the pressure.

"We-We're sorry, Mr Amara. Have a great day!" The leader straightened himself then bowed respectfully and the others copied him.

I walked past them, not acknowledging their words.

**

It looked to be lunchtime and I walked around the building to the canteen. When I had arrived through the crowds of gawking students, I scanned around but I didn't find Malia or Jace at our normal table.

"Hey, have you seen Malia, Malia Stronghold?" I asked a random younger student, slightly bending down to her height. She gazed up at me, blushing.

"Y-Yeah, she is out on the benches behind the school building." She pointed me in the direction. I flashed her a smile as her friends nudged her slightly, squealing behind her. I put my hands into my pockets and strolled out towards the benches outside. The canteen seemed smaller. Was it always this small?

On my way there, people stared at me with shock filled eyes, some whispering and some just staring. I ignored them as they moved out of my way, creating a clearing for me, like I was an idol or something.

"Stop right there pretty boy!" I heard a voice call me from behind. I sighed, before stopping reluctantly.

"What year are you in and don't you know we run this area. Pay up or else you ain't going nowhere." a group of boys, maybe around the age of 15 or so stopped me. So the school was split into areas now? Were we pretending to play Gangster? Should I play too? I smiled lightly.

"I'm sorry to bother you, will you let me pass please?" I spoke politely.

"Hahaaahaha! What you think this is? Pay up or else you'll feel pain." their boss, a boy with green hair, spoke. He had 2 A grade swords by his side and stood confidently. Oooo, nice.

"Please, I don't want to cause a commotion." As I said that, the leader grabbed my shoulder. I smiled before reciprocating and grabbing his shoulder. His grip loosened as he knelt in front of me.

"Wh-What power."

"Let's not complicate things. I'm just trying to get to my friends, thank you for understanding." I said politely and continued past the delinquent older boys, towards where Malia and the others were supposedly based.

The other boys were going to attack but the leader stood up gesturing to not attack. He grimaced while holding his shoulder. I probably broke his clavicle bone.

I stopped in my tracks when a girl was thrown at my feet, crying her eyes out. How many obstacles were going to appear?!

I peered down at her with annoyed eyes, before looking at the crowd, looking for the person who pushed her. The crowd looked around, also trying to find who had pushed her. Nobody owned up so I clenched my jaw, sighing. I held my hand out for her to take and she gratefully took it.

The girl looked up at me and that's when I realised who it was. It was Sara with a scared look on her face. "Get back h-" a girl said spitefully, pushing through the crowd. She stopped in shock when she saw my deathly glare and retreated.

"Zeref?" Sara's eyes watered.

"Sara." I nodded at her. The crowd's eyes went back and forth, observing our interaction. I looked at her shaking figure holding onto me and back at the bully who pushed her, raising my eyebrow for an explanation.

"She bullies me." Sara whispered, scratching her head at the uncomfortable meeting.

I nodded.

Sara hadn't changed a lot personality wise and still looked quite the same when it came to appearance. Her black ears were still cute and she still wore the same foxy eyeliner. Her hair was styled the same but her jaw became more defined. She was taller. Maybe 5ft 5 ish? She wore dark fishnet tights and her skirt came up to her mid thigh, held up by a metal chain belt.

"Where is Naz?" I asked, making her let go. I started walking and the crowd made way for me while Sara struggled to catch up to me. She awkwardly half walked and half jogged beside me as my strides were longer than hers.

"She hangs out with Malia and Jace." she scoffed, clearly annoyed.

"You guys are still fighting?"

Sara nodded, fiddling with her sleeve. "I'm glad you're back Zeref." she admitted. I looked down at her as she blushed profusely. I continued walking, taking longer strides until she was running to catch up to me.

I pushed the door open, making it to the back of the building. It was empty outside with no people in sight. I scanned my eyes across the place and from afar, I spotted a small bench with two figures sitting and one doing a weird dance.

I was about to walk towards them when Sara grabbed my arm, pouting.

"What?" I looked back at her.

"Don't leave me alone." a lone tear rolled down her cheek. I moved my arm out of her grip and placed them back into my pockets, feeling disgusted at her dramatic whimper.

"Stop being childish and just come with me." I walked towards the bench not looking back if she had decided to follow me or leave.

The first one to spot me was Jace who was standing in front of Naz and Malia, dancing while Naz snorted and Malia chuckled. He looked up at hearing the approaching footsteps and froze momentarily, with his mouth wide open…