Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest

Chapter 357 82.6 - What the heart sees

?There are certain times when we can not foresee everything that will happen in our lives.

That is the basic premise of living as a human being. No matter how smart you are, at the end of the day, you will never be able to know everything.

There will be certain things that are out of your knowledge, and those certain things will render you unable to fathom everything clearly.

At the end of the day, we are all humans. Even if we somehow become supernatural, there is a certain aspect of humanity remaining. Well, this may not be the case for everyone, though let's assume this is the general truth.

Therefore, the moment I saw the burning table and the familiar mana important, I knew what had happened there.

'This sense of uneasiness, it came from that, isn't it?'

I pondered to myself. After all, Seraphina was certainly trying to test my nerves there, obscuring my senses and observing how I reacted.

She was taking a proactive approach, but that wasn't her clear style. She didn't do things in a rather bothersome way, and she would hate wasting resources. Therefore, I kind of expected that she would try to gain something else from this conversation, but I wasn't expecting such an outcome.

If Irina had been listening to the conversation, then she would definitely be uncomfortable. Regardless of who it is, nobody would like their rival to become an acquaintance with their teammates. And for Irina, with her temper, she wouldn't tolerate it.

Therefore, it makes sense that she is somehow angry right now.

'Hmm….Considering my words, she may as well feel a bit hateful towards me. I was being a bit harsh after all.'

Though my words didn't contain my true thoughts since I wanted to deceive Seraphina, this somehow bit me back right now. In a way, if Irina had heard exactly what I was saying, she would most likely have thought that her efforts didn't do anything up to this time.

She would think I was an ungrateful, despicable bastard. I could even envision her cursing at me when she was leaving.

Her aura must have been leaking as well.

'Sigh, she is not even answering my calls.'

I had been trying to contact her after seeing the traces, but as I had just expected, she was not answering my calls.

'So, what is she going to do now?'

Therefore, I was left alone with my thoughts.

Irina's personality was like a double-edged sword—sharp, unpredictable, and capable of cutting through any obstacle in her path. While her fiery determination and fierce ambition were admirable traits, they also made her prone to impulsiveness and recklessness.

In moments of anger or frustration, Irina was known to act without considering the consequences, often resorting to drastic measures to vent her emotions.

Burning things to alleviate her stress was such a quintessentially Irina-like thing to do, and I knew her well enough to recognize the signs.

'So, she is most likely looking for targets now.'

As I mulled over the situation, I couldn't help but feel somehow irritated.

Despite our differences and the complexities of our relationship, Irina was one of the most important people in this world. She belongs to the main cast and is a member of the Emberheart Family, the future Archmage of Fire.

Against the threats that would emerge sooner or later, she was undoubtedly one of the most important assets. Therefore, maintaining a slightly stable relationship with her was a must.

'Hmm….This….'

It seemed I was changing this whole time as well. I went from having no contact with the main cast to having an amicable relationship with them.

Seraphina undoubtedly tried to destroy my relationship with Irina. By doing what she just did, Irina would antagonize me, and if I was strong enough, I could brush her off and would not care.

And, if I wasn't strong enough to deal with Irina, Seraphina wouldn't consider me strong enough, so I would escape her radar.

In the end, she didn't lose anything since she only weakened her rival's faction.

But something inside me had been bothering me. It was as if there was another motive that Seraphina was moving with. Something that just didn't make sense only by thinking with logic.

'Her actions were a bit too strong for an amicable test. Hmm….Maybe because the academy was thrown into the chaos with the sophomore-freshmen clash, she is planning to act. That could be true.'

It seems there were certain interesting things were going to happen in the future, but for the time being, my focus needed to be on Irina.

Now that I knew what she would do, I decided to seek her out. If Irina was indeed upset or angry, she would most likely be at the high-rankers' dormitory, where she spent most of her time training and honing her skills.

Making my way through the corridors of the academy, I observed the surroundings.

There was a certain hostility in the air, even without anyone clashing. People were glaring daggers at each other, and each side was differed by one important thing.

It was the crests on the arms of the uniforms.

The crests symbolized the year of the students.

Freshmen growled at the sophomore-year students, feeling the pressure emanating from them. After all, even if they were both academy students, the one-year seniority made a huge difference when the Awakeners were still in the process of reaching the wall.

Almost every Awakened followed a somehow logarithmic curve of improvement. At the start of their careers, they would improve rapidly, increasing their stats. However, as they approached the talent limit that had been defined in their status window, their growth would stagnate.

This is the basic knowledge for every student…No, for every awakened. Therefore, for the students who are still in the beginning/middle parts of their growth, the change between one year was high. It was even more so for the students of Arcadia Hunter Academy, who had been accepted with the highest average talent limit rate.

However, the academy was now being doubted for its credibility due to recent events.

In any case, sophomore-year students easily overpowered freshmen because of the reasons stated above.

They angrily looked at the freshmen, observing their every bit of movement.

"Tch. Weaklings."

"Grr….What did you say?"

"I said weaklings, did you not hear? You can't even speak without gritting your teeth."

The tension in the corridor escalated as the freshmen students bristled at the insults hurled their way. Anger simmered beneath their surface, fueled by the frustration of being belittled and looked down upon by the sophomore-year seniors, whom they most likely deem as annoying oppressors in their heads.

'This is not good.' Some of the freshmen clenched their fists, their resolve hardening as they fought against the pressure weighing down on them. They refused to be intimidated, unwilling to back down in the face of adversity.

'A fight will erupt now.' But as the tension reached its boiling point, one of the freshmen students snapped.

It seemed I was unlucky with the path I had taken now. I erased my presence, trying to shake away the fight.

With a furious roar, my fellow freshmen channeled his mana, unleashing a burst of energy directed at the senior standing before him.

–CRACKLE

The air crackled with electricity as the mana surged, casting a blinding light that illuminated the corridor.

"Ho, you are finally using your mana! Do you know what that means?"

"Of course!"

The senior's eyes were narrowed, but there was a certain glint in his eyes. How could he not expect the barbarian freshmen to attack abruptly? After all, they were the ones who silently attacked at night and beat the unconscious students.

Chaos erupted in the corridor as other freshmen students followed suit, channeling their mana in a display of defiance against their oppressors.

Spells and elemental attacks flew through the air, creating a cacophony of noise and chaos.

I had already moved quite a lot from the location of the fight since I didn't want to be entangled with any of those.

After all, this fight wouldn't take us anywhere.

"STOP!"

But alas, the world once again didn't move as I wished. I even pondered if there was somehow a force that was acting against me today. I was a lot more unluckier than usual.

A mountain-like pressure descended upon every student of the academy in the area with a loud shout. It belonged to the instructor, a man with a bulky build and a soldier-like demeanor. His stern gaze swept across the chaos, quelling the unrest with his imposing presence alone.

As the instructor stepped forward, his expression was stern, his eyes sharp as he assessed the situation before him. He seemed to squint at each student individually, his gaze piercing and unyielding.

"Enough!" His voice boomed, cutting through the noise like a blade. "This behavior is unacceptable. You are all students of Arcadia Hunter Academy, and you will conduct yourselves accordingly."

His words were firm, leaving no room for argument. The students fell silent, cowed by the authority radiating from the instructor.

"Now, listen closely," he continued, his voice commanding attention. "Each and every one of you will follow me. We will not tolerate any further disruptions."

With that, he turned on his heel, his gaze sweeping over the assembled students. "Move out," he ordered, his tone brooking no disobedience.

Reluctantly, the students began to fall into line, their heads bowed as they followed the instructor out of the corridor. It was clear that his word was law, and none dared to defy him.

I was watching everything from a distance, seemingly not perturbed.

'Well, I guess the academy will deploy the instructors on the field. It makes sense, considering the videos on the forums. They must have noticed that they had been too negligent with the students, and giving too much freedom actually made them rather behave monkey-like. But well, I am not one of them, so I should be free.'

"You! Why are you waiting for?" Suddenly, my ears perked up, and a voice was registered in my brain. It was the instructor. I guess some students refused to comply with his request.

"…."

"You, freshmen with black hair. You are to follow as well."

Alas, that person was me.

'I am really being unreasonably unlucky today. Well, this may be called karma for participating in the instigation?' I could only follow the instructor to the room.

*****

After a whole one-hour lecture on how one shouldn't fight and the disciplinary investigation, it was found that I was actually innocent and didn't participate in the brawls.

Why did it take one hour?

Because of the sheer number of students who were sent by the instructors, this alone showed the state of the academy now. At this point, the sky was already dark enough.

In any case, after being released, I walked to the top-rankers' dormitory.

But upon reaching there, I was met with the news of something I was not expecting.

"Student Irina hadn't returned to her dormitory."

An ominous feeling arose from my heart at that moment.

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