Chapter 20 - Academy

"That's all I have to say and let the last part of the examination.. Begin!"

Cheers!-

The crowd let out a wave of shouts, screams and claps like the examination was more of a competition, rather than a test.

Shortly after, examinees started lining up to fight. First, two people stood on each side of the arena's. In total, there were four people facing off against each other at a time.

"Alright! We have our first examinee's on each side, ready to fight! Let's begin in, three.. two.. one.. Fight!", the presenter shouted.

'Haaa.. I'm cringing so hard. Why do they have these types of presenters in this era? Two hundred years ago, we just fought each other without any of that nonsense.', Archehon sighed and looked the other way.

"Are you finally feeling embarrassed?", Xavier grinned as he looked at Archehon but was ignored, leading him to let out a, "tsk".

Boom!-

"Examinee James, has defeated their opponent. Passing the entrance exam!", the presenter announced after a boy left their opponent on the ground.

Back in the entrance to the massive stadium, stood the rest of the examinees. In the back of the crowd, however, there were a few more 'experienced' individuals. Three guys who looked a little older than the rest of the applicants stood at the back. They were also taller and had a grin on their faces.

'We're repeat applicants. We tried getting in the past two years but failed. We know how the test works and the ways to get around it since they don't bother to change it.', one of the three thought. He had black hair and scrunchy eyes.

'Normally, if you fail the test twice, you wouldn't be able to get in but.. since our parents have donated, we're allowed to take the test once more.', another one of the three thought. He had brown hair and the same scrunchy eyes. Almost, as if they had the same faces.

'So, there's no way we'll fail.', the last one grinned. He also had a similar face with black hair but was shorter than the other two.

Next, another person walked up onto the arena after another one of the matches ended. He had green hair and a serious expression.

"Wait a minute. Green hair.. where have I seen that before. Ah- I remember! Isn't that Petyr Haydn?? The genius who was rumored to be precipitating? I didn't think the rumors would be true.", one of the students shouted out causing murmurs to be heard all around the stadium.

The next examinee walked up to the arena and the match begun. Unsurprisingly, Petyr quickly defeated his opponent on his second blow.

Then, the rest of the examinees continued to battle each other. Two of the repeat applicants fought and won their matches. Xavier also won with little to no difficulty. All that was left were two more battles.

'Damn it. Mine just had to be one of the last two. I wasn't planning on attracting- no, I must not attract attention to myself. I shouldn't act weak, nor strong. Just blend in with the correct amount of strength.', Archehon thought and calmed himself down.

"Next Examinees, Go up.", John said.

Archehon walked up onto the stadium but before he walked completely inside, Xavier grabbed his arm.

"Haaa.. why are you grabbing my arm?", Archehon looked at Xavier with a intimidating expression.

"Don't be flattered. While I was in the back, I overheard that the person you're fighting is a repeat applicant. He might have tricks up his sleeve.", Xavier whispered.

"Okay, thanks. Bye.", Archehon pretended to be grateful with his robotic face which forced Xavier to let go of his wrist.

'Did she seriously think that I didn't know that? I may have been pretending to not pay attention to my surroundings but I always am, no matter what the situation.', Archehon thought. as he walked into the arena with the other arena occupied.

'So, this guys a repeat applicant? Kekw, how embarrassing. I have to face someone so weak.', Archehon smirked at him but purposely didn't hide it all so that only his opponent could see it.

'This bastard. He's fucking laughing at me? Did he realize that I'm a repeat applicant and this is why he's acting like this? Piece of shit.', the repeat examinee clenched his fists. He was the shorter one of the group and had black hair.

"Now! For the last two matches of the exam! We will, Begin!", the presenter shouted that phrase for the last time.

Whoosh!- Sli-Slice!-

The repeat applicant charged at Archehon straight away and tried to slice him with his slightly bigger daggers but missed both slashes.

Shiiing!-

When that didn't work, he infused his daggers with mana and aimed for the spears wooden part but Archehon used his spears head to deflect the daggers.

"Thats it! I'll just end this all in one blow!", the repeat applicant shouted.

Gloooooommm!-

His daggers changed shape. From being more edgy to more curvy. It had a smaller handle and a larger steel part. The weapon looked like a twisty sword as it moved around even after the transformation.

'Hm.. what an interesting ability. But, I feel that he could've done more with that.', Archehon thought. "How unfortunate.", he sighed.

"Tch.", the repeat applicant said after overhearing Archehon.

Swish!-

The resounding wind cut through the air until it reached Archehon. He charged at Archehon and ducked, aiming for his legs.

'Trying to decrease my mobility, huh?', Archehon thought.

'Then..'

'..I'll do this.'

Archehon jumped to the air and used the back of the spears head to aim for the head, which was what the guy thought.

Instead, he used his leg to perform a hook on his neck, knocking him out.

Thud!-

The other examinee fell to the ground, trying to move but stuck in place.

'Damn it! Why can't I move? Wait a minute.. my neck. Did he know about my weak spot too? I tried so well to conceal it. Almost everyone here doesn't know about it. How did he figure it out?', the repeat examinee thought.

"It seems your unable to move. Give up.", Archehon looked at him calmly.

"Y-you bastard.. who the fuck are you? How did you know-"

He tried to ask but was cut off by Archehon.

"I'll take that as not admitting your defeat.. right?", Archehon, again, hid his despicable grin so that only his opponent could see it. When his opponent noticed..

It was too late.

"W-wait, you c-crazy bastard-"

Punch!-

Archehon punched his abdomen, knocking him out.

A couple of minutes later, both the last matches ended.

"The final matches have ended! We have Examinee: Archehon and Harry both defeated their opponents, passing the examination!", the presenter announced and cheers rumbled throughout the stadium.

Archehon walked towards a separate entrance straight after with Xavier and the rest of the new students. Subsequently, a few minutes after they reached a path, Archehon grinned like a lunatic. Why? Because.. he looked at a perfect opportunity.

In the corner of the buildings, were a gang of three. Three 'new' students who were cornering another new student. Who all were part of the group who just finished the exam. Xavier noticed Archehon grinning at them.

"Don't bother helping him. You'll only attract attention to yourself.", Xavier whispered.

"...", Archehon ignored his words and walked up to the three.

"Hey.", he said arrogantly.

The three turned around to look at who spoke to them so arrogantly. When he looked at the three, he immediately recognized on of them. James. He had heard that name. It was when he was still spectating the matches to see how Od worked.

James looked as if he was the leader among the two as he looked far stronger.

"Oh- Hi, I'm James, what's your name?", he acted in a normal demeanor, contrasting how he talked before he turned around.

"I'm Archehon. If you don't mind me asking, what are the names of your friends?"

Archehon smiled and acted like a pushover.

"Jareth"

"Leth"

The two friends replied.

'Good.', Archehon thought.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Archehon. If you don't mind me asking, where did you live previously live?", James focused his eyes onto Archehon, hiding his true intent.

"Haha, actually, I came from the slums-", Archehon said but was interrupted right after.

"Oh really?", James looked the other way so that he only his underlings could see his expression. When one saw his face, a frustrated and strong jaw would be revealed. Though, it wasn't shown to anyone due to his hand covering half of his face.

He then, launched his palm next to the cornered boy's face and subsequently, looked at Archehon with a smile.

"I'm a curious guy and I have tendencies to know about certain things about people, seeing how you've got a spear equipped and passed the examination. That's why I'm just wondering.. what rank is your Od?"

"Oh- mine?", Archehon pretended to look startled.

'I actually don't have Od and I can't just awaken it without the system. Then..', Archehon thought.

"Ahaha, my ability is only F rank."

"F rank?", James immediately changed his expression. From a normal to..

Disgusted. Appearance.