Ronin slipped away as naturally as air from the classroom before the next period begins. No one noticed him or paid attention.
He found that the secret to making people not notice you as if you were invisible was to treat them like invisible too.
Do not overthink your step, pay them no mind.
Of course, speed and timing were also important. It’s the ‘skill’ part of it.
But the secret of stealth relies always on your mental capacity to blend with the surroundings. And the surroundings rarely care for the people around them.
Once he had reached the Quadrangle where the exams will take place, he caught sight of Cermin wearing some pretty heavy plate armor. He was surrounded by fellow fully-armored Wariors.
Even with the helmet on, Ronin did not need to see his face to recognize it was him even from a mile away.
Cermin raised his visor when he saw Ronin and waved. He ran to him.
“Ronin! You really came, your teacher didn’t catch you?”
“No.” Ronin plainly answered. “How many minutes until your turn?”.
Cermin shrugged. “Depends on the earlier batches, really. This is my first time having this kind of exams, we only had some briefing that it will involve divine animals.”
Cermin grinned from ear to ear. “I have never encountered one myself and don’t know a thing about them, but they sound so cool and I’m super excited!”
Ronin did recall that. He seem to know more about this exam than Cermin, apparently.
“Divine animals are beings of the gods. Their chosen companions.” Ronin said, “They were special from other animals, and hold a high Flame within their Heartstones.”
“Ohhhhh, that’s so cool!” Cermin said. “I wanna have one as a pet! They would probably be difficult to defeat, and would make awesome guard!”
“Yes, and you would have to kill them in this exam.”
Cermin suddenly went quiet.
“… Eh? K-Kill innocent animals…..”
“They will be reborn again, if their patron god so favors.” Ronin patted his shoulder through the heavy metal plates. “But yes, you must slay them to complete this exam.”
“Why would a pacifist kingdom and school like this have such a thing!?” Cermin exclaimed. “It would be still harming the innocents, which Heros were meant to protect, right!?”
Ronin only smirked. “Well, they say that in order to defeat evil, you must first face the fear of killing for a purpose. Killing no matter the difficulty.”
He knew very well that Cermin would react like this and delivered the news so plainly in the first place just for this reaction. It’s so hilarious.
The truth was, Min Cheng never killed a single villain or underling on purpose yet out of all the worlds he traveled. And he had been to five worlds.
He had always attempted to make peace with them and resolve things easily. The only thing that kept him from dying was Ronin’s system protocol to give him Deus ex machinas and save him.
Sometimes the dumb villain gets convinced, with Ronin pulling the strings, of course. Ronin would give him the right words to say.
Sometimes Ronin had to arrange for Min Cheng to avoid all the blows and get him to safety through advice and wits alone. Have the villain indirectly killed.
He was a weakling, and too fucking good to even get the idea of revenge when he was wronged by his former friend group. They say kindness kills but at this point, it would just kill him.
Without his System #151044, it should have killed him.
‘Min Cheng really was a terrible, terrible protagonist, and a cliche one at that. To not be even able to kill evil, hah!’
And now, he might not even be able to kill an innocent beast just to pass these exam.
But he needed Cermin to level up so he can have a greater Flame once he stole it from him, so he needed to aid him a bit again.
“Cermin, if you want to pass this exam, you need to let go of your fear of bringing death. Death is a natural and ever-present part of life.” Ronin told him.
“The cycle of life continues because of death. We have something to eat because we kill plants and animals. And what we consume turns into life force.”
The more Ronin talked about death, the more excited he become, to the point that his eyes started to become bloodshot and crazed.
“You must consume, or else you would starve. Or else the cycle would end, and only stagnation will arrive. To kill and be killed, that is the fate of everything in this world.”
Cermin, even wearing an armor, flinched with how much Ronin’s grip tightened around his shoulder. He gave a look of fear, much like a rabbit faced a wolf….
And his heart beat faster again staring at those cold, dark eyes. Ronin’s mind cleared once he sensed that fear.
He let go, and smiled like nothing had happened.
“Good luck.” He patted the shoulder, and left.
Cermin was still a little unnerved with how unhinged Ronin sounded while delivering his supposed ‘pep talk’….
But his words were true. He really have no choice here.
He sighed. He knows how stupid it was, but he really can only kill when there was no choice left.
Once he was called into the Quadrangle that had now turned into an arena full of blood and carnage, he steeled his heart to be ready.
Ronin watched him closely from the bleachers, and only a few people were watching this time due to classes.
He saw a familiar person though, praying and praying by the side.
It was Sister Marigold, wearing a crown of flowers and a new veil in her hair. There was a pink or vermillion aura around her hand….
As she was healing a student with a large gash on his waist.
“That is enough, Mari.” A Councillor, a mysterious man wearing a mask with butterflies, placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for your help.”
He also had golden skin, like this priestess.
“Don’t mention it, Father. It is our duty to help out of compassion, is it not?”
The injured student seemed to be in be in lesser pain now despite his injury, and he was able to stand up. He bowed, still sweating heavily. “Thank you, Sister. Councillor Rozenaur.”
Ronin could see what this would lead to. So the system was really trying to find a way to get Cermin back together with his harem members, eh?
But his focus changed as a loud growl was heard, when a beast suddenly appeared at the flick fo a hand by the Councillor from Warriors, one called Councillor Levy.
Councilor Levy was the one transporting these beasts through portals, and also deciding which would best fit the students.
For Cermin…..
He decided to summon a Silver wolf the size of a 1-storey building. The wolf had a crescent mark on its forehead, symbolizing its alliance to Skollhati.
The God of the Moon, Hunting, and Secrecy. Opposed with Cermin who was a Hero of the God of the Sun, Light, and Truth.
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