player POV-Chapter 63: for the test 5
"Ugh..."
A long sigh escaped my mouth as I looked at Alex’s and Mini’s bodies from afar, after I had used Altaria’s threads on them. I moved away from my spot and stepped forward until I was standing directly in front of Alex and Mini. I couldn’t do anything but sigh once again at this ridiculous situation.
If you two had just stopped talking for even a single moment, you would have noticed that you were inside an illusion... but who am I kidding? Non-playable characters will stay like this forever.
Alex was staring at me with an angry look, the anger clearly visible on his face, but I didn’t care about that at all. I tightened the threads quickly, and within moments they completely lost consciousness, before their bodies vanished entirely.
I wasn’t very surprised by the disappearance of their bodies; the academy had placed a mark on each and every one of us. When one of us loses consciousness, or comes close to death, they are immediately transferred outside the rift.
After that, we all found ourselves in the same place. We had gathered to take a short break so that Alisa and Nezai could recover their energy. We remained silent for a while, a strange calm dominating the place, until Aron finally broke it.
He stepped forward and looked at me as he spoke in a low voice:
"Man... you really saved us there. Honestly, I thought you were just a stupid, isolated person who didn’t understand anything. The rumors that were going around about you were many... they said that the son of the Taylor family was weak, unable to do anything, and stupid as well. But it seems I was wrong. I shouldn’t believe those rumors anymore. If you hadn’t been there, Alisa would have been injured, and that would have caused all of us to be eliminated. As you know... I’m useless at anything, and Drak is just a stupid person. We would have become completely helpless."
Aron didn’t finish his sentence before he suddenly fell to the ground. Drak had grabbed him and lifted him up violently, shouting in an angry voice:
"Who are you calling stupid?! I could have handled them on my own!"
Aron quickly stood up, anger blazing in his eyes: "Then why didn’t you move? Why did you stay hidden behind that tree?! And stop pushing me, this hurts, you damn bastard!"
Drak replied sharply:
"And who are you calling a bastard, you ugly hedgehog?!"
They were about to actually start fighting, before Alisa finally intervened in a low but sharp voice, carrying a clear threat:
"Stop talking for a moment. Your voices are disgusting and hurt my ears. Go somewhere far from my sight and fight there if you want, or do whatever you want... or shut your damn mouths and stay quiet, before I force you to do so myself."
Drak and Aron nodded their heads at the same time, like children who had been scolded. They immediately fell silent and remained standing in their places without uttering a single word.
As for me... I couldn’t help but feel a strange feeling creeping inside me. I was enjoying the quarrel more than I should have. They were acting like children in elementary school.
I almost laughed, but I held myself back, swallowed my laughter in silence, and remained standing there, watching the scene without commenting.
How boring...
I was feeling deadly bored as I stood still, doing nothing of note, for nearly five full minutes. Time was passing with suffocating slowness. I looked at Alisa and Nezai, and it was clear from their expressions that they had already recovered a large part of their energy, so I asked myself in irritation: then why don’t we move?
How many times do I have to wait, damn it?
I was on the verge of dying from boredom literally, when that voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire area—a cold, mechanical voice that spread in all directions at once:
[ Five minutes have passed without the elimination of any other group.
Therefore, F-rank monsters will be added shortly.
All teams are requested to prepare.
The monsters have been released. ]
I listened to the announcement, and it was impossible that all the students had not heard it; the sound was present in every corner, as if it were being broadcast directly into our minds. I felt genuine astonishment at the way they transmitted such a sound. The game did not explain that mechanism at all... maybe they used Ania? Or some kind of aetheric medium? Honestly, I don’t know. I am not a smart person by nature to understand such complicated matters.
Alisa’s voice cut through my thoughts. It was calm as usual, but it carried a clear tone of seriousness:
"It seems the time to move has come. We must either avoid the monsters on our way, or kill every monster we encounter until we meet Silvar at the meeting point. So move your feet... we will not stop anymore."
Everyone nodded their heads at the same time, as if we had reached a silent agreement, and then we began to move forward.
...
Damn it...
I was cursing internally as I fought one of the monsters after it suddenly attacked me while we were on our way. I raised my sword with difficulty to block its sharp claw. The monster was like a huge larva, its body swollen and disgusting, with long limbs hanging from it that ended in claws as sharp as knives.
I blocked its attack once again and pushed it back with difficulty, before quickly turning and cutting off one of its limbs with my sword. I launched a powerful kick that forced it a step backward, then wrapped my threads around its body and fixed it in place. I used Phantom Step in the next moment and passed through it, slicing its body into two halves with a single decisive strike.
His remains scattered over me.
"Ugh..."
I pushed the slimy pieces away from me with disgust, then took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. I looked around to check on the others; Aron and Drak were facing a monster similar to the one I had fought, while Alisa and Nezai were battling two monsters at the same time.
I wanted to go to them to help, but I was extremely tired, and they could handle themselves, so I stopped moving forward and stepped back slightly, leaning my back against a nearby tree.
I spoke aloud, trying to encourage them:
"You can do it, I trust you. I’ll take just a short break; my shoulder is injured, and I can’t fight for now. When I recover, I’ll join you immediately. Give it your all!"
I sighed deeply, resting my head against the tree trunk, watching the fight silently from afar. I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling as if I were about to fall asleep, but I couldn’t surrender to that feeling. The fear that a monster might ambush me at any moment kept me tense, so I opened my eyes again.
Then I noticed that they were about to finish the fight.
I stood up quickly, thinking to myself:
Let me go and pretend I’m helping them in the final moments, before they start saying ridiculous things I have no patience for. I really don’t need their comments right now.
I shouted loudly as I approached:
"I’m coming! Make some space for me among you!"
But as soon as I arrived, everything had already ended. The monsters fell to the ground, and silence returned. I stopped in my place, feeling a slight twinge of frustration, and said in a tone tinged with annoyance:
"Damn it... you should have waited a little, guys. You make me feel a bit frustrated. You fought alone without me helping you, and I... I’m really sorry. As you can see, my shoulder only just healed, and if I had intervened before, I would have been a burden to you."
I studied their faces for a moment. Their gazes seemed hesitant, as if they couldn’t fully believe what I was saying. Before anyone could comment, Aron stepped forward and spoke in a tone unusually full of sympathy:
"There’s no need to apologize. I saw your injury with my own eyes, and besides... you did a lot of work there. You don’t need to apologize, right, guys?"
What does this idiot want? I wondered to myself. Why is he helping me like this? Does he have some hidden motive, or is he just a kind fool, nothing more?
Alisa’s voice cut through my thoughts, calm yet firm, as if she were closing the matter entirely:
"We need to continue advancing."
Without further discussion, we began moving forward again.
