Extra's Descent-Chapter 334: Preparations for the Finals [4]

It was cold.

Winter was actually here. Not some climate affected by the world's imbalance after the calamity.

"Huu…."

Brandon popped a pill and stared at the horizon.

It was currently 7 AM.

Then, Brandon looked down. Monsters—residing on the mountainside roamed around, completely oblivious to his presence.

Then, Brandon looked up.

Wyvern's ruled the cold white sky, traversing the air with impressive speed. However, they had completely ignored Brandon.

After all, for a scary appearance such as theirs, wyvern's were rather passive creatures.

They would only become hostile, if their opposers were hostile.

The final examination was set in ten more days. To be precise, December 12.

It was kind of peaceful, if he had to be honest.

There were no humans around, and Brandon could be lost in his thoughts.

That was when he began to recall everything that had happened so far.

A sudden doubt rose within his thoughts.

"Will things really be different this time around?"

He smiled a somber smile.

Truth be told, he was tired.

Exhausted even.

But he could only push through everything. He had done everything he could to give Holy Britannia a fighting chance.

And he wasn't even done yet.

There was so much left to be done.

So many pieces he hadn't set up yet.

Things would've been much easier if Jin was present. While Jin was probably his enemy, he was still on humanity's side.

For that reason, Brandon felt conflicted.

The only reason Jin was his enemy was because he worked against him.

If that was the case, then…..

"Am I the enemy?"

Whatever Jin had planned was probably for the benefit of humanity.

"But he's failed every damn time."

Brandon was nothing but an anomaly to Jin's plans. An anomaly that had gotten consciousness.

An unknown variable. To the point that Brandon didn't even know his purpose once the endgame happened.

"....I don't want to die."

At least, died as someone else's pawn.

Brandon raised his head, looking at the sky. The exact same area where the sky tore open a year ago.

His mouth parted open, whispering.

"Jin."

There was a high chance Jin was inside whatever space the rift led to.

"No, Raven."

He corrected himself.

"Come out and explain yourself before I make the wrong choices."

He didn't know who to believe.

Brandon Locke, a man who had made his own fair share of mistakes?

Especially when he had come to realize that the other Brandon's goals were inefficient.

From what he could tell, the other Brandon had only wanted revenge on Jin.

But Jin on the other hand, wanted to save everything once and for all.

A man who prioritized his own well-being, his survival, his own happy ending. Or a man who was relentlessly pursuing change, regardless of what it would cost?

Brandon was stuck feeling conflicted.

His thoughts stopped there. Any more, and it would trigger his panic attack once more.

"Huuuu…."

Brandon sat down on the cold rocky ground and drew in a few more breaths.

His goal today was to see how much he could build his mana core, just from the abundant mana present in the air.

At the moment, he was at tier five.

He didn't expect much growth today. Especially so, as tier five was relevant to S–rank.

It was harder to progress from here on out.

He was well aware of the difference in system with Raven's.

While Brandon's system would only level his Sovereign of Creation skill, a cancer that Jin had implanted inside him, Raven's worked differently.

For Raven, it worked like a videogame.

But there was only so much Raven could do to progress like that.

For that reason, he must've felt like he hit a wall.

Brandon closed his eyes from there.

Then, he muttered.

"Zone."

He pressed his fingers together.

***

"Hmm…."

Evelyn had just woken up from her slumber. An IV drip clung to her hand, and she was resting on a hospital bed.

She woke up staring at the ceiling, and as soon as he did, a nurse, who was about to check up on her, was present.

"Ah, I'll call the Doctor."

The nurse left the room from there.

Evelyn looked around.

There was no one. No visitors, no family.

None.

But she had already expected this. After all, she was quite private with this matter.

She didn't want anyone to pity her. Not even her only friend, Vanessa.

This stemmed from Evelyn's childhood.

She had grown up as an orphan, and so was often disconnected socially.

For her, isolation was normal. She wasn't used to dealing with too many people, and she wasn't used to having a social life.

There was no need to tell other people about her problems.

She could do it alone because,

Clank!

"Ah, Miss Cessna. Goodmorning."

….She was used to being alone.

The doctor entered the room and Evelyn traced his figure with her eyes.

"Congratulations, Miss Cessna."

The doctor began.

"The surgery was a success. We have fully stabilized, and patched up the cracks in your mana core, and found no issues after running some tests."

The doctor flashed her a warm smile as he lowered the clipboard on his hand.

"You can be discharged tomorrow."

But despite the doctor's reassuring words, Evelyn still had some doubts.

"Are there really no issues?"

Frowning, she clutched at her chest, the same area where her mana core was located.

"I still can't feel any mana."

"That's a normal side–effect. You had just woken up after all. You'll start feeling mana eventually. But if you still face that problem within this day, rest assured. We are on standby."

"....I see."

Evelyn looked down with a somber expression.

The doctor parted with a few words.

"Rest for now."

With that, the doctor left the room, leaving Evelyn alone with her thoughts.

Turning her head to the side, Evelyn grabbed her phone that was placed on the table beside her.

Opening the screen, there were several notifications for her to see.

It was only from two people.

Most of it was from Vanessa.

A total of 54 text notifications, and 23 missed calls.

"...."

She could check later.

The other one was from none other than Brandon.

So he was concerned.

She felt her lips pull up into a smile.

It might've been less than Vanessa's, particularly, five text messages and two missed calls. But Evelyn appreciated the gesture.

At this point, her relationship with him was akin to an older sister and a younger brother.

Evelyn had seen him as a younger brother. A person she had wanted to properly guide in this world where no one else had done the same for her.

No one else, but that man.

She could only remember his smile, but that was enough for her.

Most likely, that person was dead.

But she could remember a piece of his name.

"Ra…."

Ra something.

"Rapheen probably?"

That couldn't have been the case. It was merely conjecture.

Evelyn lowered her phone and stared at the ceiling.

"Haaa…."

She let out a deep sigh.

She wanted to go back to the academy soon.

Before she knew it, the next day had arrived and she was discharged soon after.

For now, Evelyn decided to take a rest.

***

December 4, 2149.

Eight days left before the final examination.

"Has he reached back?"

Belle stopped taking notes, turned her head to the side, and asked Amelia, who was also taking notes.

They were currently taking a review lecture—to better prepare themselves for the theoretical exams.

"No."

Amelia stopped writing, her pen rolling on her notebook. In fact, Amelia couldn't focus at all.

She had only been scribbling the whole time, her thoughts occupied with Brandon's whereabouts.

Brandon had suddenly disappeared yesterday without informing anyone at all.

The only assurance Amelia had was the ring—which connected the two—on her finger.

The ring told her that he was still alive. Amelia could go to him anytime. However, she refrained from doing so.

"Did you ask his friends?"

"Yes, but none of them know of his whereabouts. Infact…."

Amelia's gaze lingered on the two empty seats beside her. The two seats belonged to Brandon, and Raven, who had also disappeared on the same day.

This gave them the impression that the two were together.

"Seems like they're planning on giving it their all for the practicals."

Belle casually commented and started taking notes once again.

"Right? I wish we could do that."

Amelia sighed and set her notebook aside. Truth be told, she couldn't find any proper time to train.

This was because she was up all night studying instead. After all, theoreticals were important in the Imperial Army.

Just because an officer was powerful, didn't guarantee them the highest position of authority possible.

The review lecture ended from there. The next lecture was scheduled inside the same lecture hall. For that reason, they were told to stay.

Soon after, the entrance opened.

All eyes fell on the door, and a familiar figure emerged.

"Ah."

Amelia's brows raised.

The figure walked with regal. Silky dark–purple hair cascaded down, flowing freely off her shoulders.

The female cadet's eyes sparkled in awe. After all, the newcomer was an instructor that was popular with women.

They had looked up to her, and Amelia was the same.

She too wanted to become an officer just like her.

"Good morning. Apologies for my absence, something came up."

It was none other than Evelyn Cessna.

***

"You let her die."

Brandon, was lost in deep meditation, when a whisper rang from behind him.

A familiar voice.

A voice that made his brows scrunched up.

"You will never save anyone."

"Shut up."

Brandon cursed under his breath, trying to ignore the voice.

"You are a hypocrite yourself."

"...."

"Get off your high horse."

"Shut up."

Brandon cursed once more, annoyed by the voice.

"Let me take over, and I'll solve your problems for you."

"Shut up."

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The ground around Brandon crackled as his magic energy spiraled, losing his focus.

"Do you really think she won't die again?"

"Fuck off."

Brandon's eyes abruptly opened, his brows knitting.

There, he could see the familiar sight of Lumian, clasping his hands behind his back and tilting his head, standing right in front of him.

"Can you save her again? You probably can't. You can't save anyone. You had only been bailed out back then."

"Get the fuck out of my head."

"Suit yourself."

Just like that, Lumian's image faded.

"Haaa….."

Brandon took a deep heavy breath and popped another pill. As soon as he did, his mind was set at ease.

His gaze then lingered on the sword right beside him. Of course, it had to be said.

The sword he had been using this whole time.

"I should get a new one…."

….Was Lumian's sword.