"Afraid of losing that much?"
A soft voice echoed in his ears.
CLANK!CLANK!CLANK!
A familiar chime rang.
Pulling his arm, the rattling sound stopped and a metallic ring echoed in the air.
Swish!
The tip pointed at him blurred before his eyes, turning into countless overlapped images stabbing his chest multiple times all over his body.
"As you see, no matter how hard you try, you are destined to lose. Some opponents can't be beaten no matter the effort."
"Kyakkkk"
Letting out an agonising groan, Lucas rolled down the floor unable to breathe properly due to the suffocation.
He wanted to deny his words but deep within he knew, he can't beat him now.
'Damn! If I give up on fair play, do you think you can be smug then? At least, I will not lose miserably.'
''This is not the end. I can go on."
The sword, which could be lifted easily, felt heavy for some reason but he did not give in.
A crackling sound echoed as Lucas got up.
His mana ran amok, bursting out from his body.
"Lucas, your mana is leaking. Stabilise yourself, instead of pushing hard try to feel the mana inside and let it flow freely."
Harris advised Lucas and ordered Frederick to step back.
Seeing Frederick stepping back, Lucas sat down cross-legged. Falling into a deep meditative state, he ran his mana breathing technique.
'I need to break through even if this is a minor realm. I can't fall behind too much. During the 7 days of exams, I may lose touch so I need to break through now.'
Parth during the mission would break through to the 3-Star stage while Frederick would have already reached peak 3-Star if not for suppressing his mana.
In a month or so, after digesting the blessings, and getting the power to manipulate the elemental mana of lightning, he would break through to mid-4-Star in one go.
The various powers of elements reside in mana known as elemental mana. When one casts a spell or skill, their affinity helps to interact and manipulate that certain elemental mana present in the atmosphere.
People having affinity have the ability to manipulate elemental mana. Frederick's blessing will allow him to harness and manipulate lightning similar to bloodline ability making him more op.
Sigh!
'Frederick and Parth are way ahead. Instead of comparing, I should just do my best. Let's empty my brain.'
Stabilising his mana flow, Lucas channelled his mana letting himself submerged in the odd comfortable feeling.
Swoosh!
Lucas's eyes glowed with a golden glint.
"Damn, you are already at mid-2-Star. Don't you know women don't like guys who are so fast?"Parth snorted.
PTUI!
Lucas choking his saliva coughed violently, almost messing up his mana circulation.
On turning around to glare at Parth, Lucas found Parth lying on the floor under Harris's feet.
Frederick and Roan made a run giving space for Harris to carry out his duty.
Stepping over Parth, Harris with an indifferent face mocked"Boy,"
"Believe me, women also don't like guys who speak too much."
"Okay...Okay, I will keep my tongue in check.''Parth apologised half-heartedly.
Standing up, he dusted his cloth then a sudden question appeared in his mind so he asked''Sir Harris did you know about the kind of mission we are going to get.''
Lucas, Frederick and Roan's ears perked up upon hearing Parth's words. They gave Parth a hint of admiration while having the same thought.
'In the whole world, only you have the balls to ask this to the person whom even psychos fear.'
Harris raising his brows stared at the dull greyish-black eyes of Parth, which seemed unusual.
''Some minor petty cases like kidnapping, theft, missing children, asking for justice. If luck is in your favour, then you can also find missions of searching for lost pets here in this city, however, you won't get good grades."
Rubbing his chin, Harris advised"If you are on kidnapping cases or searching for missing ones, I suggest you four form a team of your own. Cases like this often lead to a dead end theoretically but in reality, major ploys are involved in this. So better try to take a mission that requests aid similar to a mercenary's mission like providing protection, dealing with monsters, guarding against theft, etc."
"We understand."All of them muttered at the same time sensing, Harris's stiff tone.
"Now take a rest. Let your body recover during the exams. You might have to work hard on the mission."
"Best of luck with the exams," Harris spoke.
Thanking him for the advice, they left.
Parth who was at the back, was about to speed his steps, stopped when he heard a small whisper.
"Remember one thing."
"Being in darkness and being with darkness, these two are entirely different things."
"Don't let the treachery consume you and blind you. It's not good if you suppress your true emotions."
Parth stared deeply at Harris for a moment, unable to reply, so he just bowed politely.
"I understand."
Seeing his receding back, Harris's expression turned solemn.
"I hope so."
.......
'Who am I?'
'Where am I?'
'What am I doing here?'
'No, what I have been doing for months,'
A thousand questions swirled in his mind as the questions in the paper reflected in his eyes.
He had studied a lot.
Literally, he gave his all.
Trying to understand the logic behind the principles as much as possible and mugging up by heart those he can't.
But even after this...
[Narrate the life cycle of a green-horned lion from egg to adult stage.]
Sniff...Sniff...
"What is this? Since when did lions start laying eggs? Are they not mammals so when did this happen? In the syllabus, there was only a study of its structure so why did this come?"
Lucas, closing their eyes, tried to stop his crocodile tears.
Through the gaps of his finger, he squinted down at the next question.
[A C-rank dungeon persists for 20 days until a dungeon break occurs. A researcher who was curious about the mana frequency measured it for 20 days. It increased by 0.05 Zeta per 12 hours. If the initial mana density is 902 kcal/gm/cm2/s1 then find the net mana density on 21 since its birth.]
'Just which madman researcher is this? Instead of alerting the respective authorities about the possible dangers, and sending an emergency signal this guy is hell-bent on recording data. Do people's not lives matter to you?'
The next question was even more absurd than the previous one. Much of the things here felt out of context.
He did not know why.
Maybe because it was normal for this world or because he did not solve mock questions to boost his ego, everything felt out of the syllabus.
Lucas, who had just taken a look at the question till now, heard a shout from behind.
"Supplement!"
As soon as the words rang, everyone's gaze turned back towards the guy.
'Shit, it had not been even 15 min since the exam started. Just what the hell did you write to fill up the 20-page.'
'Mom, the previous world was better.'
Wiping his tears, Lucas began his difficult quest to pass the exam.
.......
Walking out of the exam, Lucas decided to make an offering to the Goddess, begging her to pass him.
Accompanying him, there were several dead eyes as if they had lost their will to live.
In between the buzzing bees sharing sadness, one could occasionally find a few fluttering butterflies showing their joy and mirth as they declared just how easy the paper was.
Sigh.....
"It's okay Lucas. Just work hard and keep stepping forward."He muttered inwardly.
Lucas, halting his steps, turned around at the huge red board at the corner. He squinted his eyes and scanned for the pamphlets pinned there.
"Missions are already displayed."
The board was soon going to be emptied. If he did not make haste, then he would not only lose the suitable mission but he also misses the chance.
Making a mad dash like that of a maniac, Lucas on reaching the board scanned pamphlets.
Looking around, his eyes brightened.
"Here it is."
[Request to search for missing children in the orphanage situated in the suburbs of Hubris town.]
[Reward:500 points]
"Thank God, I found this early. If I missed this chance, I would have lost the chance.
'A chance to take a sla...Khumm…I mean another friend.'
Lucas, picking it up, decided to register for the mission as soon as possible.
Lucas left humming in a good mood, unaware of the person hiding behind the pillar looking at his back with a devilish grin.
'Heheeeeee...Friends should stick together, shouldn't they? I am gonna annoy you to death for doing this to me.'
It was then he heard a loud shout.
"Hey you, what the hell are you doing here? Go clean the boy's toilets if you don't want to get penalized."
"Damn!"
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