Chapter 185: Volunteers
The sparring session continues.
Even though the tense atmosphere made the Ourania students feel really uncomfortable, the sparring continued. Loss after loss, their pompous confidence faded and turned most of them into scared kittens that couldn’t wait to return to their own academy.
For not being able to rid themselves of the Lesser Angel, they thought the Eventide Academy was weak.
Thought that they wouldn’t need to be worried about anything in this sparring session.
In fact, they thought it would be like a breeze.
Total domination from their side.
But they were wrong. Dead wrong. Other than a few exceptions, the Eventide students won most of the matches. It felt even worse when the bald professor, the one in charge of overseeing this sparring session, seemed to like what he was seeing.
He even took his time to stop the matches when the winner was already clear.
Only then did the Ourania students realize they were in the territory of another.
And acting arrogant from the get-go was a stupidly arrogant idea.
It took the entire day for the sparring session to conclude.
Only when the sun went down did the final battle come to an end.
Not because there were a lot of matches being held, but because the battle dragged on, with most of the Ourania students fighting defensively. Mostly blocking and dodging, finding any way to not be humiliated as Matthew did.
Just like what the bald professor said earlier, no winged-boot training class today.
"And that concludes the sparring session," the bald professor stated, sweeping his gaze across the students before him with both hands on his back. He looked like a higher being as he was also levitating. "I hope this opportunity will remind you of the standard for an Angel. Reflect on what happened today.
"Take it as a sign—especially for those who lost. If your strength lags behind those around you, then that means you’re not useful enough. Death is around the corner as mankind has no use for weak Angels."
After he said that, he gestured for the Ourania students to return to their shuttle ship.
It was time for them to return to their academy.
And since that was what they wanted for hours already, the moment the bald professor gave the signal, they immediately walked away in a messy formation with their heads down. None of them wanted to make accidental eye contact with the Eventide students.
Especially not with the Lesser Angel.
Once the foreign students vacated, the Eventide students began to rise to their feet.
Preparing themselves to return to their rooms to call it a day or freshen up to mine.
But the bald professor raised his hand, stopping them.
His gaze fixated on the students as if he still had more to say.
"Earlier today, I received a letter from the Second Sky. A letter from your seniors," the bald professor announced, and took out a scroll from inside his blazer. "Your seniors had asked for three of you to help them in tackling a Sky Gate."
Almost instantly, the students burst into heated banter.
"Are they serious?"
"Asking us to help them tackle a Sky Gate is fucking ridiculous. We can barely kill a Star Beast, and yet they wanted us to help them? Why don’t they just tell us to die?"
"Save for the High Angels, none of us could fare well against a Star Beast, much less kill one."
"High Angels? It’s probably only Chester and Barbara who could fight a Star Beast head-on."
"Silence!" the bald professor’s voice thundered.
Silence swept through the area with such speed that it felt like a physical force.
So absolute that a dropped pin would’ve rung like a bell.
His sharp eyes travelled slowly across the students, pinning each one in turn, before he spoke again to clarify the requests. "Your seniors are not asking you to stand beside them in battle. If anyone knew how strong Star Beasts are, then they are the ones. To send kids like all of you against monsters would not help.
"They need porters. The Sky Gate they were going to tackle—is home to multiple Star Beasts capable of summoning swarms of minions, which means there are more Null Gems to harvest than hands to carry them.
"Reports also said that there would be many useful minerals, so they need more hands."
Kai has read about Star Beasts like these ones.
No matter what their class is, summoning-type Star Beasts are always the hardest to handle.
But this increase in difficulty is also linear with the benefits of facing it.
Each Star Beast generally only has one Null Gem empowering them—but in rare cases, there are a few that have a second Null Gem. And this second Null Gem isn’t exactly the same as the first Null Gem.
It generally has regenerative properties.
All summoning-type Star Beasts have a second Null Gem, which they use to summon minions.
The minions were born from the second Null Gem, which meant each one of them possessed Null Fragments within it. Fragments that could be combined into a complete gem. In effect—summoning-type Star Beasts could be farmed.
Could be treated as livestock for the production of Null Gems.
As long as the Star Beasts were captured alive, they could be useful for mankind.
The seniors were probably tasked to capture those Star Beasts, which was why they needed more helping hands to tackle this Sky Gate. But multiple summoning-type Star Beasts sounded really dangerous. I want to go, but I don’t know.
"Do keep in mind that this is a golden opportunity for every one of you." The bald professor’s voice cut through the silence, as though he could scent their hesitation in the air. "To fully experience a Sky Gate safely is to prepare for the future in ways no training can offer. It will greatly increase your chances of survival."
"Also, the academy would give resources for the volunteers and pardon at least a month’s worth of mining quota."
Kai immediately raised his hand.
Even though he thought the bald professor’s talk about this being a golden opportunity was rubbish and that this was going to be dangerous, Kai decided to volunteer. He needed resources to reach Grade-3 Awakened Supernal, and more importantly, he was sick to death of mining.
Having a pause from mining for a month sounded like a good deal.
One that enticed him more than even the resources.
Not to mention, he might get a beneficial splash from the seniors’ battle.
If I could get my hands on a few Pest-class Star Beasts, or better yet, a Scourge-class.
Kai’s blood already rushed—from even the thought of getting his hands on a few carcasses of Star Beasts. He could use them to accumulate more usable exp for a new Nightborn—or even feed his Primordial Locks with them.
Since he now knew the House of Night liked to feed on Star Beasts—perhaps it’s the same for his Primordial Locks. He could finally complete his second Primordial Lock, and perhaps even form the third one.
He was quite certain that having three Primordial Locks would guarantee his victory.
Be it Chester or Barbara, those two would not be his match then.
So, he decided to take the risk.
For a good moment, the bald professor stared at Kai, who was the first one to raise his hand.
"Lesser Angel Kai is the first volunteer," He finally announced. Inside, he was surprised that Kai was eager to volunteer when things might be even more dangerous for him there. "Anyone else? Does anyone have the balls to volunteer like the Lesser Angel?"
"Me! Me!" Bree also raised her hand cheerfully. "I’ll volunteer to help, too!"
She paid no heed to the stares she was getting.
Since Kai decided to volunteer, she’s also going to volunteer right beside him.
"Very well," the bald professor nodded, utterly unsurprised to see Bree cheering to volunteer right after Kai did. "High Angel Bree will be the second volunteer. Now, I only need one more. Does anyone wish to step forward? Or shall I choose for you?"
Just the threat of having the bald professor choose randomly made the students tense.
Fearing that they were going to be chosen.
On the side, Matilda’s brows furrowed.
Her eyes were fixated on Bree.
For her to find out the real reason Bree had approached Kai in the first place, she needed to be closer to her—close enough to observe Bree’s movements firsthand. But right when she was about to raise her hand, someone else beat her to it.
"I’ll volunteer to help," Barbara said, raising her hand from the other side.
Kai glanced at her, and his eyes narrowed.
And surprisingly, their eyes met for a second, which made him think that she had bad intentions.
Not even a day, and you’re already plotting against me?
Kai sneered.
He trusted Barbara to keep her end of the deal, but it seemed he needed to keep alert.
Regardless, dealing with her was better than dealing with Chester, so he wasn’t worried.
"Lesser Angel Kai, High Angel Bree, and High Angel Barbara would be three volunteers that the academy will send to help the seniors," the bald professor nodded firmly. "Early morning tomorrow, come to the professor’s headquarters. I’ll brief you three on the details. Dismissed."
Kai and the rest of the students were dismissed.
Most of them breathed in relief as they weren’t chosen as one of the volunteers.
Kai made his way back to the dormitory with energy still coiled in his limbs. No winged-boot drills today; the first reprieve in forever, and the absence of exhaustion felt almost foreign. He walked quickly; his mind was already plotting a solo run into the Dead Range.
He’s mentally tired from the training with Kaelmorath, but his body isn’t.
And this was his chance to try his hand at another Star Beast.
Just him and the monster.
Once he reached the door to his room, he stopped.
Bree. She’d asked to meet him in the backyard. The memory surfaced late, dragging his hand off the handle. He turned, retraced his steps through the corridor, and pushed out into the cool evening air.
Surprisingly, the backyard was empty.
Most of the students were in their rooms by now, and there was no sign of Bree.
Kai frowned, looked around, and pushed into the garden.
A few steps in, a hand seized his arm from the blind spot to his left without warning.
The grip yanked him sideways and drove his back against the trunk of a tree. Bark bit through his uniform, and the pull disoriented him until he settled his eyes on the person cornering him against the tree.
"You’re fifteen seconds late."
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