On a dark path, a blonde haired student with natural sapphire blue eyes marched steadily, his movements carrying regal and grace. Behind the blonde haired student, three other students followed.
The first student was a burly man, having abnormally enormous arms and legs. His hulking figure towered over everyone, making his distinct appearance more notable.
Beside the hulking student, a beautiful female student with grace and charm followed along. Her starlight blue hair cascaded behind her back, making her figure more distinctly impressive.
'I wonder how Amber is doing right now...?'
Eugene thought, his back straightening. After the other teams decided who would advance and stay, he didn't bother to stay any longer and directly entered one of the entrances.
He didn't know how the other entrances fared. But the path they entered in could only be described as dark. There were no other features but the darkness covering the whole area — if not for having a sorcerer with them, they would have probably lost themselves in the darkness by now.
Speaking of this Sorcerer... Eugene frowned, his head turning behind as he stared at the obscured thin student following them from the back.
If he remembered correctly, his sorcerer teammate's name was... Ali Grimstone?
The thin student fidgeted nervously, his head lowered. At that moment, he felt a sudden sharp gaze direct towards him. Ali raised his head, alarmed by the sudden attention, he asked:
"..I-is...there a problem?"
Eugene suddenly stopped. The two other teammates following behind him also stopped, their brows rising in interest as they watched the unfolding scene.
"...That's what I want to ask you," Eugene answered, his eyes narrowing. "Get yourself together. Is there something bothering you? Frankly, your performance is horrible."
He had been ignoring it until now, but Ali's performance could only be described as horrid and outright utter trash. The student seemed to be plagued with something — having trouble in following even the basic of commands.
Now, if that was all, he could just ignore it... but even in casting skills and helping with basic tasks, Ali was far from reliable.
As a Sorcerer, you would expect a calm and cool-headed person adept at concentrating with their mind, but Ali wasn't any of that. From the earlier fights they had, the thin student fumbled with casting skills and sometimes outright couldn't even cast them.
It was downright atrocious.
He had noticed it earlier and was quite bothered about it... but he didn't call it out until now. Why? before this, Ali didn't play much importance to the battles and his plans so he could just write that incompetence off, but now...
Eugene felt that it would change soon. So before any incompetent accident could occur, he wanted to fix the underlying issue now.
"Ah..." Ali stumbled with his words, his hand raising. "Its nothing really..."
"Tell me. Right now." Eugene's frown hardened, his arms crossed over his chest. "I want no accidents later on after we begin the next test. Or else..."
Ali widened his eyes in disbelief.
"You can say goodbye to the academy afterwards," Eugene nonchalantly said, his eyes staring at Ali directly.
At that moment, a heavy silence descended on the place. Ali's body trembled as he stared at Eugene in disbelief. He opened his mouth, only to close it after, unable to form any words.
Eugene stared at the thin student for a while. Seeing no response, he shook his head as he sighed. Turning his back, he stepped forward. Before he continued marching on, he left a few words.
"Take that as you will, but the moment your performance affects the test results... all I can say is you should ready yourself home."
...He didn't want to be this harsh — but if he somehow fails this test, he knew he wouldn't be able to control his anger. Normally, he could spare some sympathy and understanding... but after losing his heir status, he could no longer afford any mistakes.
The only way to get back his heir status was to become a Star Scholar. And to qualify for a chance to become a Star Scholar... the prerequisite was to not fail a single exam or test and be able to be at-least top five at any of them.
Eugene shook his head, his arms loosening as he continued towards the end of the path. If push comes to shove, he would have to reveal his newfound spear mastery.
Behind him, the hulking student and graceful female student stared at Ali in silence.
Both Warringson and Veena cast a pitying glance towards him, their heads shaking before they turned their back and followed Eugene.
Ali stared at the air vacantly, his mouth opened in disbelief. On his finger, the ruby red ornament ring he wore suddenly glowed. At that moment, an alluring voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Oh, would you look at that? It seems your leader finally caught your horrible performance. How shameful. Did you hear what he said? It seems you're going to be expelled... are you sure you can still hesitate right now?]
Ali suddenly snapped out of his thought, his eyes shifting to his finger. He clenched his hand tightly. He muttered:
"Shut up... I won't take the contract, no matter what."
[Why not? Do you really believe you can rise up on your own...?] The voice chuckled. [No matter then. I'll continue distracting you in this exam, eventually you would realize how foolish you are.]
Ali gritted his teeth, his hand clenching tightly. Ever since the start of the exam, the devil kept distracting him in various ways — disturbing him of his focus and concentration. Because of that, his mind was on constant alert ever since the beginning.
Ali shook his head, his eyes turning to his fellow teammates in the front. He can't fail this... but he also can't accept the contract. What was he supposed to do?
'I'll just...focus more. If that's possible.'
Ali chuckled bitterly. He stared at his teammates in silence. Remembering the Eugene's threat, he gulped audibly. He moved his body as he ran towards them, catching up to their position.
...Out of all the students in the academy, why was it that he was the one cursed with this?
—
At the end of the paved path, four students came out of the exit.
Eugene stared at the new area in silence, his body suddenly stopping. Behind him, Warringson, Veena and Ali also stopped, their eyes staring at him in wonder before shifting their gaze to the new area.
In front of them, they were greeted by a large area filled with rocks and boulders. — in the middle of the area, a wide stone platform was situated. However, his disquiet in silence didn't come from the new area but from the figure standing at the opposite end of the platform.
On the opposite end of the wide stone platform, a tall figure wearing a student uniform stood. The tall figure was a man with long blonde hair and shining sapphire blue eyes, similar to that of a Pendragon.
Upon seeing the tall student, Eugene narrowed his eyes. He grabbed the spear behind his back, taking it out — he pointed it at the student.
"...What are you doing here, Eldric?"
The tone in his voice was cold and chilly, unlike anything his teammates had ever heard from him before. Veena shifted her gaze to the tall student, her eyes widening as she recognized the familiar figure.
..Eldric Pendragon, the eldest son of the Dukedom.
"I'm hurt, my dear brother." Eldric chuckled, his lips curling into a smirk. "No greeting? It seems as if... you hate me even in your deepest bones. I wonder why? I haven't done anything to you."
Eugene stared at him in silence, his hand clenching the sharp spear tightly.
"No answer? Eh... alright." Eldric sighed, his hand taking the sword deeply engraved on the floor. He narrowed his eyes with interest. "I suppose as a senior and older brother, I have to explain the last test of the exam to you, huh?"
"Final test?" Eugene frowned. "What do you mean?"
If his calculations aren't any wrong, it was still the second day at most...
"The final test of the exam..." Eldric continued. He brandished the sword, waving the blade with elegance. "The test is quite simple. You four just have to hold me off and fight me until the exam is officially over."
"Fight you..?!" Veena suddenly shouted. "That's insane!"
"I know, right? I wonder what the academy was thinking when they did this..?" Eldric chuckled, his head nodding. "If you can't hold me off and get defeated at the process, then... all the points you accumulated until now... will vanish and you would fail the test."
Eugene widened his eyes in disbelief.
"In another note, before we begin... Isn't this quite a battle of destiny, my dear brother?" Eldric tilted his head. "The battle of Eugene Pendragon — the fallen duke heir against the current heir, Eldric Pendragon."
At that moment, everyone — Eugene's teammates and the countless teachers watching the scene from beyond the dimension widened their eyes in disbelief.
...A world-changing news was casually dropped.
pαпdα-ňᴏνê|·сóМ Eugene lowered his head, his hand clenching the spear tightly.
"...Oh, wait..." Eldric stopped himself, his smile widening. "I forgot. Father hasn't announced that yet... I made a mistake."
"…What happens if we win?" Eugene asked coldly, his hand brandishing the spear with regal elegance.
"... That's not possible, so there's no use in discussing that." Eldric chuckled, his hand raising the sword. "Eugene, the fallen heir of the duke... I wonder how mother's spear teaching fair well?"
Woosh—!
At that moment, Eugene dashed in, his body rapidly advancing to the opposite ends of the platform. In his hand, the spear vibrated, shaking as if releasing a powerful wave.
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