Chapter 48: Interrupted Exam
The morning began with surprising normality.
Something that, for Kael, was already suspicious.
After the strange System message the night before, he expected to wake up with an explosion, a monster, or at least another magical duck appearing in his room.
Nothing happened.
Just the window floating in front of his face.
[Estimated arrival: 23 hours, 12 minutes.]
Kael sighed.
"Good morning to you too..."
Beside the bed, the Little Fat King opened one eye for just an instant.
"Meow."
And went back to sleep.
"Yeah, I get it. You’re not impressed."
---
Classes continued with apparent normality.
The teachers made an almost heroic effort to pretend that nothing strange was happening at the academy.
It worked...
More or less.
Because every so often, Kael’s arm emitted small colorful flashes.
And all the students discreetly moved a few steps away.
Just in case.
---
That morning was the practical combat exam.
The teacher gathered all the students in one of the outdoor fields.
"Today’s objective will be to evaluate coordination with your summons."
The students began forming pairs.
Kael breathed a sigh of relief.
"As long as I don’t get..."
"Kael."
He looked up.
The teacher was checking a list.
"You’ll fight against..."
He consulted the parchment.
"Lyria."
A second-year student timidly raised her hand.
"Me?"
Kael smiled.
"Well, at least not..."
"No."
Another voice interrupted him.
Everyone turned.
Seraphina had stepped forward.
With absolute calm.
"He’ll fight with me."
Silence.
The teacher blinked.
"Miss Seraphina... the pairs have already been..."
"He’ll fight with me."
She repeated it exactly in the same tone.
Not louder.
Not stronger.
Just... definitive.
Lyria looked at Seraphina.
Then at Kael.
Then back at Seraphina.
"I think...
I remembered I have to study.
A lot."
And she disappeared into the crowd.
The teacher sighed.
Again.
"Very well..."
He crossed out a name.
Wrote another.
"Kael against Seraphina."
Darius crossed his arms.
"They’re not even trying to hide it anymore."
Aurelion smiled, amused.
"It’s admirable."
---
Kael walked to the center of the field.
"You know that was a little intimidating, right?"
Seraphina tilted her head.
"Was it?"
"The poor girl almost ran away crying."
"I just wanted to make sure I was your partner."
She said it so naturally that several students started murmuring again.
"Did you hear that?"
"They’re getting less discreet by the day..."
"Have they set a wedding date yet?"
Luna appeared from somewhere with a notebook.
She began writing frantically.
"Chapter forty-seven of my investigation...
’The future wife has claimed territory again.’"
Kael felt a headache forming.
---
The teacher raised his hand.
"Begin."
Seraphina created a small ice lance.
Kael summoned one of his whips.
Everything seemed normal.
For exactly two seconds.
The energy began to glitch.
Glitch.
Glitch.
Glitch.
The tip of the whip pixelated.
Kael’s eyes went wide.
"No..."
It was too late.
POP.
A tiny creature appeared on the whip.
It was a tiny dog.
With a stick in its mouth.
It looked at everyone.
"Bonk."
And disappeared.
Absolute silence.
Kael slowly lowered his arm.
"..."
"That was definitely not planned."
Aurelion was doubled over laughing.
"HAHAHAHA!
You just summoned a dog with a stick!"
---
The teacher cleared his throat.
"Continue."
Kael tried again.
The energy appeared.
This time it took shape correctly.
Perfect.
For one second.
Then...
POP.
A giant red arrow appeared over Darius’s head.
← Suspect
The entire class turned to look at him.
Darius raised both hands.
"Why me?"
The arrow disappeared.
Kael started sweating.
"I’m sorry..."
"WHY ARE YOU APOLOGIZING LIKE IT’S YOUR FAULT!?"
"Because it probably is."
---
Seraphina tried to approach.
"Kael."
"Yeah?"
"Breathe."
"I’m trying."
She raised a hand.
"Again."
Kael nodded.
He concentrated mana.
Summoned the whip.
The energy stabilized.
"Now!"
CRACK.
The whip shot forward.
But before it touched the ground...
Four giant floating letters appeared.
BRUH
An invisible wave swept across the field.
Everyone stood frozen.
Five full seconds.
Staring into space.
As if their brains had stopped working.
Aurelion was the first to react.
"..."
"I don’t remember what I was thinking."
Darius frowned.
"Me neither."
Luna wrote another page.
"New effect detected.
’Bruh.’
Produces existential confusion.
Interesting."
---
The teacher was no longer pretending to be calm.
He had a hand on his forehead.
"Kael..."
"Yes?"
"Can you stop summoning... whatever this is?"
"I DON’T KNOW HOW!"
"That’s precisely what worries me."
---
Kael took a deep breath.
Once more.
"Come on.
Just a normal whip.
Just one.
No memes.
No ducks.
No arrows.
No dogs.
No..."
The energy exploded.
In front of everyone, a small orange cat appeared.
Sitting inside a cardboard box.
The cat slowly raised a paw.
Gave Kael a thumbs up.
And disappeared.
Silence.
The Little Fat King looked at the spot where it had appeared.
Blinked.
Blinked again.
And for the first time in a long while...
He looked confused.
"Meow...?"
Kael pointed at the empty space.
"I swear I didn’t understand that either!"
---
The exam had ceased to exist.
All the students were now surrounding Kael.
Waiting for the next accident.
Even the teachers.
It was impossible to look away.
"Again."
"No!"
"Just one."
"NO!"
"Please."
Kael sighed in resignation.
"Fine..."
He summoned a thread of energy.
Small.
Harmless.
The tip vibrated.
POP.
A tiny character with dark glasses appeared floating.
It carried a sign.
Deal With It
The glasses shot out.
Landed on the teacher’s face.
Silence.
The teacher stood still.
With the glasses on.
The entire class held its breath.
Five seconds later...
The teacher slowly took them off.
Looked at them.
They disappeared into smoke.
He looked at Kael.
"Failed."
Kael paled.
"What?"
"Failed..."
He paused.
Then smiled for the first time all semester.
"...the exam.
Not you.
There’s no way to evaluate you in this state."
The entire class burst into laughter.
---
While everyone kept laughing...
Kael’s arm glowed again.
Much more intensely than before.
The smile disappeared from Aurelion’s face.
Seraphina also stopped laughing.
The window appeared once more.
Only Kael could see it.
[Estimated arrival: 22 hours.]
Below it appeared a new line.
[Synchronization exceeds 91%.]
And a third one.
One he had never seen before.
[Lesser entities are escaping ahead of schedule.]
Kael felt a chill.
He looked at the Little Fat King.
The cat was no longer watching the training field.
He was looking at the sky.
Completely serious.
As if expecting that at any moment...
Something was going to fall from up there.
Kael had the feeling that those accidental little memes weren’t errors.
They were...
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