"I hope that we are just overthinking this." The person at the end of the table says while staring at the screens
Back in the forest, Noah kept on investigating the sinister arcane energy that he had felt a little earlier, which led him to a path that converged with another one.
"Two paths converging into one?" Noah thought. "More importantly, the arcane energy in this area is much more sinister than anywhere else."
After walking for a bit, he sees a settlement. A house surrounded by a barrier, fish drying out in the sun, and a pond behind all of that.
"What's all of this?" He says while looking at the food with a bit of saliva coming out of his mouth
The door of the house, which is made from wood, opens, and Arlo comes out of it
"Arlo?" Noah says
Arlo raises his head and looks at Noah. When he sees Noah, he rushes to him and greets him.
"Were you the one who made all of this?" Noah asks with curiosity
"Not really." He answers with hesitation while looking back at the house
Noah doesn't fail to notice the bit of nervousness coming from Arlo
"What's wrong?" Noah asks
"Listen, you shouldn't be here". Arlo says seriously. "If the owner sees you, it won't end well."
A smile forms on Noah's face
"There is only one person that I can think would react like this upon seeing me." He says with a smirk
Arlo sighs
"Crap." He says after sighing
"So, you were here, Adam." Noah says while walking into the settlement
The door of the house opens, and Byron walks out of it. He sees Noah, then quickly goes back in and closes the door.
"What are you doing?" Adam asks, since he was just about to step outside
"I think we should all stay inside." Byron says with a nervous smile. "I'm still a bit hungry, after all."
Adam looks at Byron, then closes his eyes
"Sensus." Adam uses his eyes closed
"Crap!" Byron thought with his eyes shut
Adam opens his eyes and pushes Byron out of his way. He then opens the door, walks out of the house, and stops before Noah
"I was hoping that you wouldn't have gotten eliminated." Noah says with a smirk. "I wanted to be the one to do it, after all."
"Same here." Adam says with a frown
The two of them put their hands on the handles of their swords and quickly drew them out to finally swing their blades at each other. The two swords collide, and both stay at a standstill
"This is bad." Seleph says as he steps out with the other three. "If those two start fighting, they won't stop until one of them cuts the other down."
"We need to stop them." Byron says while looking at the two staring at each other with anger
"Why should we do that?" The Squire asks. "The competition clearly says that only one Squire needs to be left standing. That means that they would have to fight each other at some point."
Byron and Seleph look at each other.
"I guess that's true." Seleph says
Byron nods in agreement. Adam and Noah back away from each other and put their swords back in their sheaths
"Did you notice?" Noah asks as he puts his sword back in its sheath
"Obviously." Adam replies as he does the same. "However, I don't know what the cause is."
"I see. So, you've been investigating it." Noah says as he sits down on a rock
Adam does the same and sits down on a log. The four others look at them with confusion. They were all sure that the two would fight until one of them was eliminated
"Let's put this on hold till we deal with this". Noah says
"Fine." Adam answers. "You better eat. I couldn't any weight in your attack. I don't need deadweight with me."
Noah frowns. The four others approach them despite the tense air between them
"That bastard got stronger!" They both thought at the same time
Seleph and the Squire sit down on the log Adam is sitting on, while Arlo and Byron both grab a log and sit down on them. Noah notices the Squire and looks at him
"What are you doing here, Lias?" He says. "Aren't you always with your sister?"
Arlo and Byron both turns and looks at Lias with surprise
"LIAS!" Byron says with surprise. "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT LIAS Rex Leonum!?!?!?"
Seleph looks at Lias with confusion
"Are you popular or something?" He asks with both curiosity and confusion
"HE'S FROM THE ROYAL FAMILY, IDIOT!!!" Arlo yells
Seleph looks at Lias with surprise
"No way! This scaredy cat is from the royal family?" Seleph asks with disbelief
"He is, you dumbass." Noah answers
Seleph starts to drop buckets of sweat
"Your blood and status don't matter here." Adam says. "Whether he is from the royal family or a noble. None of that matters here, in the Leo Academy."
No one talks, but the mood suddenly got tenser between Adam and Noah. However, the tension between the two quickly disappears. As both thought that what they had noticed was much more important than the subject
"More importantly, has none of you, except Adam, noticed?" Noah asks
"He's letting it go? That's surprising." Arlo and Byron thought
"Noticed what?" Arlo asks
"Ever since yesterday, the arcane energy within the forest has changed." Adam says
"It's gotten sinister and odd." Noah continues. "Almost as if someone's arcane energy had covered the forest. It seems like only those with high arcane sensitivity felt it."
"What are we supposed to do then?" Byron asks
"It could be a special event prepared by the school." Arlo says pensively. "We might be able to earn a lot of points by clearing this mystery."
"There's another possibility." Adam says
Seleph looks at Adam
"So, that's what's been bothering you." Seleph says
Adam nods
"A Djinn with enough arcane energy to cover the whole forest." Lias says while shaking in fear
"Is that even possible?" Byron asks with worry
"Who knows." Arlo answers with the same feeling
"Did one of you meet a Djinn ever since the exam first started?" Noah asks
They all shake their heads except Adam
"I have." Adam says
"You have?" Seleph asks
"I didn't meet it. It had entered my Sensus area, so I went after it. Right when I was about to meet it, I was attacked by a beast like Squire." Adam explains. "After I defeated him, I tried to find the Djinn again, but I just couldn't."
"What about its arcane energy?" Noah asks. "How did it feel?"
Adam looks up at the sky
"It felt the same as this arcane energy feel, however, it wasn't this powerful." Adam answers
The other looked at him in silence. After a bit, Noah sighs
"So, the arcane energy spreading through the forest really belongs to a Djinn." He says after sighing. "Is this an anomaly or a special event prepared by the academy?"
"That's not something we'll find out by sitting here and thinking." Adam says as he gets up and heads for the pond. "Whichever it is, we'll still have to fight it. Worst comes to worst, we'll be killed and teleported back to the Academy."
"I DON'T WANT TO BE KILLED!!!" Lias suddenly yells with fear. "WE GET TELEPORTED BUT WE DON'T KNOW IF IT'S GOING TO HURT!!!"
"That's true." Seleph agrees while nodding
"It's going to hurt." Adam says. "We still feel pain, after all."
"SO, IT IS GOING TO HURT!!!" Lias yells. "I DON'T WANT TO GO! I DON'T WANT TO GO! I DON'T WANT TO GOOOOO!!!!"
"This is... a bit... "Arlo starts
"This is supposed to be the next king of the tower?" Adam says while looking at Lias with disappointment
"He's not what I expected." Byron says
Adam puts water from the pond into his wooden cup while he looks at himself. He sees a black mist around him. He stares at his reflection and the black mist for a bit, then gets up and heads back to his seat
"Are you all right?" Seleph asks Adam
He nods
"So, how are we going to deal with this?" Arlo asks
"Nobody needs to do anything." Adam quickly intervenes. "I was the one who found out about it first, and I've been tracking it for the past two days. I'll take care of it."
"Are you crazy, Adam!?" Seleph says with anger
"Let him do whatever he wants," Noah says. "It's not like he's going to die. On the other hand, I'll also be tracking this Djinn. If you three want to help, then come with me."
"No, thank you." Lias says while backing away from everyone and towards the house. "I'll be staying here, where it's safe."
"I wasn't including you when I asked." Noah instantly says after Lias
"That's perfect!" Lias says as he runs into the house and slams the door behind him
Adam grabs his sword and walks away from the settlement into the forest.
"He's not wasting time." Byron says with a smile. "I actually wanted to give him a hand to thank him for letting us stay."
"Don't waste your time." Seleph says as he looks at Adam disappearing into the forest. "This guy hates getting help from others."
"Why?" Arlo asks
"He says it's proof that he's not good enough." Seleph says while looking at the forest. "He prefers being alone, doing things by himself."
"So, he's the lone wolf type." Byron says
"What does that mean?" Seleph asks
"That he finds it more comfortable when he's alone." Arlo explains
Noah gets up
"Enough chitchatting." He says. "Let's get a move on."
The three get up and they all head into the forest, while at the same time, somewhere else in the forest, Merena and Eve had just finished a battle against a few students who attacked them. The two put their swords back in their scabbards, and a pillar of light appeared around them, teleporting the kids that they had eliminated.
"This is taking longer than I thought." Merena says. "I thought that the exam would take two days at most, but we are still here."
Merena looks at Eve, who is looking at the sky.
"What's up with you?" Merena asks with curiosity
"Don't you feel it?" Eve asks while looking at the sky with a frown. "This weird arcane energy."
Merena closes her eyes and raises her head. She takes a deep breath in and, after a bit, opens her eyes again
"What is this?" Merena says with a frown. "It's faint and still spreading, but I can feel it, this sinister arcane energy. What's going on?"
"Have you ever felt something like this before?" Eve says with curiosity
"Never." Merena says while walking. "Just ignore it. All we must do is eliminate as many Squires as possible and end the test."
Eve follows her
"So, why do you want to become a knight?" Merena asks Elaine
"Revenge." Eve says with a frown of anger
"Hmm... That so?" Merena says while looking at Eve
"She must have lost someone during the Blood Moon Day." Merena thought as she looked at Eve, who was clearly angry
They suddenly both stop dead in their tracks, take their swords out. A sword comes flying out of nowhere and heads straight for Eve's head. She blocks it with her sword, and when she does, Merena gets punched in the stomach. She falls to the ground, but Eve quickly dashes and swings at the attacker. The attacker grabs Merena's sword and blocks the attack, then pushes her away with his sword
"He's as strong as Adam!" Eve thought as she looked at the attacker
Merena uses her palm to strike the person's knee, breaking it.
"GAAAAH!!!" He yells in pain
She quickly gets up and tries to punch him, but gets stabbed in the side.
"Damn it! How is he moving through the pain!?" She thought as she removed the sword from her side
She fights through the pain and punches him in the face, immediately backs away, and grabs her side to stop the bleeding
"You're not bad." The person says while getting up
The person in question was a boy with short black hair, dark brown eyes, and glasses. He gets up, supporting himself with his hand and left leg. Once he's standing, he uses his strength to put his knee back in place.
"That actually hurt a bit." He says while moving his right leg
Eve walks and joins Merena
"You, ok?" Eve asks
"Not too bad?" Merena answers while panting as she presses on her wound with more strength to stop the bleeding. "It should close in a few minutes since it didn't go deep."
"He healed up quickly too. Does that mean that he is just like Adam?" Eve thought while looking at the young boy in front of them