The blind villain of the academy

Chapter 190: Second and Third Day [2]

Chapter 189

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Episode 45 - Second and Third Day [2]

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"Ah..."

I let out a weary sigh after moving nonstop throughout the entire day.

After accepting several missions at once, I hadn’t wasted any time and moved as quickly as possible.

By the end of the day, the results were exactly what I had expected.

A total of two hundred and sixty-eight points.

’A couple more hunting missions and it would’ve been three hundred Honor Points, but it’s almost midnight.’

Because of the curfew, no cadet was allowed to accept missions at that hour.

Besides that, I went over everything that had happened throughout the day.

Other than completing missions like a madman, whether it was a coincidence or not, I kept running into Clana.

’She’s keeping up with me. At this rate, she might figure out that I was the one who saved her in Black City.’

I couldn’t let her discover that I was the one who saved her.

The mysterious identity she believes in has a purpose that will be useful to me in a future Chapter.

But the problem was the future.

’Anyway, I’ll have to find a way to get rid of her suspicions about me. Otherwise, she’ll figure it out soon.’

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—summer vacation starts next week, after the exams are over.

With another sigh, I returned to the Tower where the Field Exploration Squad was staying.

***

The next morning, as usual, I had to go through the daily routine that every official member of the Field Exploration Squad had to follow.

Exploration.

About three hours later, I went to the Central Tower and entered the lobby.

Then I accepted a couple of missions and, while I was at it, sharpened my ears.

"Hey, have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"They say Miss Lumina earned three hundred points in a single day. Can you believe it?"

"Ah, yeah. Well, that was to be expected, wasn’t it?"

"Yeah, she’s known as the greatest talent in the history of House Moonlight for a reason."

"Anyway, I also heard that blind commoner only got two hundred points."

"Ehm, that’s impressive for a commoner, but he’s a Dark Attribute user."

"....?"

I shook my head in disappointment. Those guys weren’t children, yet they dismissed someone over something so foolish.

’But Lumina really did earn three hundred Honor Points.’

She was the only person I hadn’t run into anywhere yesterday.

But then a thought crossed my mind.

’She’s avoiding me.’

Now that I thought about it, whenever everyone in the Field Exploration Squad was asleep, most of them stayed close together.

With the exception of Arwen, Clana, Lumina, and, of course, myself.

But Lumina, in particular, was always on the opposite side of the room, far enough away from me, and even covered herself completely with a blanket.

’It can’t be that, right? She wouldn’t act like a child just to avoid me.’

As I walked, I suddenly started laughing.

For some unknown reason, I was laughing, though quietly enough that no one noticed, of course.

But at that very moment, Veronica’s voice made me stop.

"Good morning, older brother."

".....?"

I came to an abrupt halt as my neutral expression returned.

"Ah, yes. Good morning."

"What? Why are you saying it so coldly? Say it more cheerfully."

"’Good morning’ is more than enough."

Soon, we teleported to the Frozen Sword Tomb.

After that, I parted ways with Veronica and, following the same route as yesterday, headed to the Purple Zone.

After about ten minutes of running nonstop, I finally arrived.

The Purple Zone was no longer a forest made of wood and leaves.

Now it was a forest made entirely of ice.

A vast frozen expanse blanketed in snow. A corrosive energy permeated the air.

There wasn’t a single sign of life anywhere around, as though the place had always been completely deserted.

Above, the sky seemed to be covered by a thick layer of mist. The enormous ice trees rose far above that mist.

The cold intensified rapidly, slowly freezing my body even while I was using mana.

’This place is pretty dangerous.’

Yesterday, I had only stayed here for about three hours. I cleared the three ruins during that time and then left the area.

If I stayed here too long, I could freeze to death.

Even with mana, the cold was overwhelmingly intense.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

The ground beneath my feet crunched—a layer of snow about sixty centimeters deep.

Perhaps because it hardly ever snowed in this area, that was the standard depth of the snow covering the ground.

Boom!

Suddenly, my senses detected a rapid movement.

Then the ground beneath my feet, the ice trees, and the snow covering them all trembled.

Boom!

Without warning, the snow erupted upward, and a massive creature burst out of the ground.

’Great... these guys again.’

The Purple Zone was not known for its monsters, but rather for its ruins.

There was a monster that wandered everywhere and could detect your location from the slightest noise.

This monster was known as a <Wanderer>; it resembled one of those white worms that live inside the trunks of rotting trees.

The only difference was that it was much larger, measuring around twenty meters in length, and it was adapted to the frigid environment of this place.

"Damn it, these bastards never stop being a pain, do they?"

Without using my sword, I raised my hand and stretched it out.

Mana surged from the palm of my hand, and a perfect black sphere, formed entirely from my Mana, took shape.

Then, with a single thought, the sphere shot forward from my palm.

Boom!

The sphere tore through the air at incredible speed, reaching the Wanderer’s body in the blink of an eye.

A massive explosion engulfed the monster, devastating everything around it.

Boom!

The snow evaporated, the gigantic ice trees collapsed, and the Wanderer’s body was blown to pieces, leaving behind only scattered chunks of flesh and its entrails.

"Ugh, this will probably attract dozens more of these bastards."

As if to confirm my thoughts, the ground beneath my feet trembled.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One after another, more of the same monsters burst out of the ground.

’Even if they’re only Class 3, there are too many to kill them all. It would be a waste of time and a huge waste of Mana.’

So I killed a few more to clear a path, then channeled Mana into my legs and ran in search of the first ruin.

’It’s going to be a long day.’

***

Tap! Tap!

Professor Ashly’s footsteps echoed softly across the marble floor until she stepped onto the podium.

Once she reached the center, she looked at all the cadets chatting among themselves, yet the atmosphere revealed more than their conversations.

"Everyone looks exhausted, don’t they?"

At last, the cadets stopped talking and turned their heads. Dozens of eyes settled on her.

With a faint smile, Professor Ashly continued.

"The first and second days have finally come to an end. Most of you passed, though just barely. The rest earned above-average scores, and..."

She paused briefly.

"A few exceptionally capable cadets achieved truly incredible results, completing missions like mad from the first hour of the day until the last, without resting or eating."

Her gaze shifted toward Lumina and Adel, wearing a satisfied smile.

"Anyway, you must all be tired and hungry, so I’ll keep this brief."

"Tomorrow will be the third exam. It will last all day, and this time you’ll be working in teams of three cadets."

"I’ll explain tomorrow’s exam then, so for today, forget all your worries and simply get some rest."

"Oh, and one more thing. The fourth exam will be the last one. It will span the remaining days of this week, and believe me, it will be very difficult."

"Anyway, that’s all I have to say."

Shortly afterward, she stepped down from the podium, giving the cadets time to absorb her words before everyone began devouring the food.

As Professor Ashly walked away from the podium, a familiar voice reached her ears.

"The cadets from the Holy Academy have performed exceptionally well. I was genuinely impressed."

Professor Ashly turned around, and the person standing before her was William Ortlock, a Ten-Star Awakened.

"Oh, it’s you, sir."

Professor Ashly gave a slight formal bow.

William sighed and said,

"Come on, you know I don’t like it when you’re so formal. Just call me William."

"All right, Sir William."

William looked at her with a resigned expression and sighed.

Professor Ashly noticed his expression and realized something had happened.

"Did something happen, Sir William?"

"Yes. Something... unexpected and out of the ordinary."

Professor Ashly thought for a moment before speaking.

"Is it about the Gate of Ascension?"

William nodded and looked at Professor Ashly seriously.

"Yes. The World Congress has summoned me and the others. That includes Superior Bernice. Apparently, the Seal of the Gate of Ascension had a strange reaction."

At his words, Professor Ashly’s eyes widened.

"The Seal showed an anomaly?"

William nodded.

"Yes. That’s why I’m telling you this. I’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll leave one of the Three Commanders in charge, and unless something unusual happens, there’s no reason for you to leave the Central Tower, so there shouldn’t be any problems while I’m away."

Professor Ashly nodded with a smile.

"Then I hope everything goes well."

"Yes, so do I."

Shortly afterward, William left, and Professor Ashly resumed her walk.

Her thoughts kept circling around William’s words.

’I just hope nothing really happens during the World Congress meeting.’

With that thought, she headed off toward another place.