Chapter 48: Category Determination Exams at the Academy (25).
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The battles continued, opponents fought; some showcased their skills, others couldn't.
"I think only I'm left?"
Raphael looked at the others as he said that.
Leon was looking intently at the teachers' room as he replied, "Apparently, guys, I've been called now; make it quick, Raf."
"Are you sure it's alright? Maybe you've been discovered?"
"Hehehehe." Leon laughed coldly: "My discovery? That's impossible; I've prepared a gift for them that will make them worried enough not to notice. As for my punishment… I didn't land a killing blow on the boy; nothing will happen."
"I… if I were in their place, I'd use the summons as an excuse to investigate you, Leon Sa-hyoung." Fernando pondered.
"You're right, but that's not all there is to it; most likely, they'll suppress me."
"That's why I told you it's dangerous…" Raphael sighed.
"Don't worry; just focus on your match."
Saying that, Leon rose from his seat and walked out of the stands.
"Are you sure you want to go with us, guys?"
After Leon's departure, Dio's eyes turned to the remaining three—Logan, Fernando, and Chai Nayon.
"Yes, teacher, though I don't want to, I chose to surrender so as not to waste my time."
Fernando was slightly disappointed.
Chai Nayon didn't speak, but she nodded in agreement.
Dio told them to do what they wanted, whether it was joining them in their plan or trying to join the higher classes.
But the two did it anyway; they surrendered in the battle.
The main reason for Chai Nayon's arrival at this academy was passing memories; she didn't care about hierarchy or anything like that.
The sword was her focus; since she had found a capable teacher, why would she care about unimportant things? The girl didn't have a home to return to anyway.
Fernando, naturally, weighed the pros and cons; as he no longer had family support and would be transferred to his older sister, there was no point in trying to scramble in the upper classes where he would be used.
While the Nicola family was a rising family, the region wasn't devoid of rivals; with his strength alone, Fernando was nothing more than a chess piece with some importance.
Without strength, what if he were in a prestigious academy and had connections? What if he were from a noble family?
All of that is meaningless; in this world, only one's strength can be trusted!
His best chance to become stronger was to follow Dio and the group, as they had their plans, not to mention their ambition.
As long as he was useful to such powerful people, he might actually become stronger; he felt it in the talent test—he didn't know how, but his talent improved.
And the sword… he wanted to follow his swordsman's heart, not be bound by the material desires that had consumed him since he was young.
He didn't want to overlook what was truly important again.
What really mattered was strength; the rest was nothing more than appendages that come with strength!
Each person had their own interest in the matter; they weren't fools, naturally, they'd have hidden agendas.
Logan… let's just say it's interesting for him.
He was confident in his ability to rise to the top with his own strength anyway.
"Lloyd… still not back?"
Loki frowned slightly; that grass-eater, what's delaying him?
"Maybe he's tidying up, unlike a pathetic bachelor I know?"
"Shut up, you fake relationship expert."
"Messages for a whole week, you sucker… it must have been fun, huh?"
As always, trivial chatter occurred between Loki and Raphael.
In a corridor outside the arena, Leon walked without expression.
"If the old man went to the conference of all people, then time is running out."
My plans are about to begin, not to mention that the legacy of the submerged sea has begun to show some signs of its discovery.
This wasn't information that only Leon knew.
The biggest reason for this academy's head and unofficial leader of this island's departure was that legacy.
The root of the problem and the wealth itself; Leon had been searching for it for two years now.
Deploying forces and hiding for three years; it was all for this moment.
"This legacy is an important piece to achieve my own goals; no matter what, I must obtain it."
Even if I have to kill everyone to get it, it's fine.
While lost in his thoughts, he reached the end of the corridor, and before him was a door guarded by two people.
"Stop, identify yourself, and what is your purpose in coming here."
One of the guards coldly opened his mouth.
This area was forbidden to students, and without a convincing reason, they had to expel him.
Leon smiled slightly, "I am student Leon Evenius; I've been summoned. Do you have a problem with that?"
"How dare you…" One of the guards was annoyed by Leon's attitude.
"Stop." The other guard raised his hand to stop him.
"Huh? You can apparently use your brain?"
The guard's expression didn't change, but he felt annoyed by the boy's rude tone.
But unfortunately, he couldn't punish Leon for his words or attitude.
No matter how older they were than him, the guard remained a guard, and the student remained a student.
In this case, the student's status was higher than the guard's; whatever Leon said or did, as long as he didn't violate the laws, they didn't have the right to defend themselves.
Stopping Leon from advancing was part of the procedure, so it wouldn't be noted as it was part of the job.
The lower-ranked guard's words towards Leon could be considered a response to their superior, and this was inappropriate.
But since he was young, he didn't realize it instantly; at least, that was what the older guard among them hoped.
"Please forgive the young guard's transgression; he's inexperienced."
"Okay, since what he did isn't a big deal." Leon shrugged.
"Thank you for your kindness, Bill; go inside and check the validity of his words."
He looked at Leon for a little longer, and the guard told his subordinate.
"Yes, sir."
He didn't understand why his superior was apologizing to just a student, but he obeyed orders; the lower-ranked guard bowed and entered the room.
Leon and the guard stood silently, waiting for words from inside.
"Let him in."
An imposing voice resonated in Leon's ears.
The guard's attitude immediately changed; he opened the door politely and bowed slightly towards Leon.
Leon nodded to the guard as he entered the room.
When he entered, he could see the lower-ranked guard sweating profusely.
"Guard, no need for you to stand; you can stay outside."
"Yes… yes, sir."
Guard Bill felt his breath almost stop; the atmosphere here was suffocating for a mere guard like him.
He left the room and closed the door behind him.
"How funny; how they show off their authority through a mere guard."
Leon thought as his eyes turned to the people sitting in the luxurious chairs.
A suffocating feeling and overwhelming pressure filled the room.
Leon was unfazed; he politely bowed, "Student Leon Evenius greets the esteemed Teacher's Committee."
"Impressive, how can he remain calm in this situation?"
Sang Hyun Jo was expressionless, but he was internally surprised.
In the middle chair sat Deus, and behind him were the assistant teachers.
In the right row sat Sang Hyun Jo and the professors from the Discipline Committee section.
In the left row, the professors from the Punishment section sat with cold expressions.
"Student Leon Evenius, can you state the reason for your summons here?" Deus spoke in an emotionless voice.
"Unfortunately, this humble student cannot know the reason. May I… dare to know it?"
His attitude had changed from two days ago when he was cold towards the professors, especially.
However… he brazenly says he doesn't know? As if they would believe it!
"Impudent!" One of the professors struck the table as if angry, "You know what you've done, and yet you claim to the Education Committee not knowing? Do I consider this disrespect towards us?"
[That old geezer Chi Chang… how cunning!]
[…To put the Education Committee's reputation on the line, that way he'll prevent us from opposing his words, and he'll have the initiative in questioning him first.]
The teachers were secretly discussing among themselves while coldly observing Leon.
"How dare this 'not-yet-affiliated' student to this academy do this? This young boy is serious; even now, I haven't broken any rules I know of. Or is there something I don't know? Please enlighten me." Leon bowed lower than before and spoke in a confused voice.
[What a clever child.]
[First, he trivialized the matter and downplayed its importance; he confirmed his complete non-affiliation with the academy, not to mention that he confirmed that he hasn't broken any laws he knows yet, and left the judgment to old man Chi Chang.]
[That way, he didn't offend the dignity of the Education Committee by not mentioning them, and he shifted the blame to himself alone.]
[You foxes, aren't you overestimating his intelligence? He's just a young man.]
[Tsk tsk, that's why you never beat me at chess; you're really narrow-minded! Just consider his words; they hit the mark. Do you think he wove them that way by chance? Think about it!]
[How will old man Chi Chang get out of such a trap?]
The other professors didn't interfere, and Deus remained silent; eyes were on old man Chang and Leon.
"A cunning brat," Chi Chang internally cursed Leon, but he smiled warmly, "Aha haha! I knew you were decent; it stemmed from my concern for the young man, and I was only testing you; I hope you didn't feel uncomfortable with this old man's joke."
"…So that's it. This young one thanks you for enlightening him. You have opened up new horizons for me thanks to your teachings."
Since he shifted the case, Leon let it go; Leon clasped his hands in respect for old man Chang and smiled.
The two spat nonsense while smiling warmly.
What? Enlightenment? Hehehehe.
Internally, their true thoughts were evident.
"This old man is not bad, a brazen old fox."
"You cunning brat, how dare you spit nonsense with such an honest face?"
Everyone knew what Leon had done, and Leon knew too, but if he didn't say it himself, they couldn't shift the blame to him to reveal their intentions.
If they opened the case themselves, it would be as if they were taking responsibility for his punishment or anything else; that way, he could get away and not reveal what they wanted.
"Unfortunately, however unwilling you may be, you can only open the book."
Leon understood their inner thoughts; their intentions were clear as day; only a fool wouldn't understand.
They wanted to reveal Leon's Ego's core.
"Student Leon Evenius, a not-yet-affiliated student taking class determination exams, punished for rioting, student assault, obstruction of justice, and resistance, you have been summoned now for attempting to kill another student during the sacred examination ceremonies."
An old man with a long beard was speaking; his face was pale and full of wrinkles, as if the bark of a tree.
"This is the student's fault; am I wrong?"
A suffocating atmosphere; his cold tone made the air tremble; his closed eyes opened slightly, revealing black eyes without any trace of white.
Leon felt it immediately.
A strange emotion wanted to subdue him; an uncomfortable feeling crept into his heart.
Irrational thoughts spread like wildfire in his mind.
That was fear—fear of his plans being discovered, fear of death, fear that… he would never achieve his goal.
Any person in this situation would tremble and try to resist those thoughts.
"No fault in the esteemed's words; this student admits to doing such things."
But Leon didn't resist; he let those thoughts swim freely in the sea of his mind.
The boy's heart didn't tremble even slightly.
Fear or anxiety; such emotions were a strange concept to me.
He didn't even need to use his own path to resist this weak mental attack; it was clear that it was just to test him.
Leon's eyes gazed calmly at the people before him.
Is that how that strange ability is used?
Apparently, the old man's eyes had the ability to induce hallucinations and fears in a person's heart.
"For him to access my mind so easily… either it's his bloodline ability or he's linked to his path; no, the Claudius family is linked to poison, not emotions and thoughts."
"And there are always negative aspects that act as limitations on bloodline abilities; it's impossible for him to use it on me and have it work without him being affected. Maybe it's a rare Ego piece? Like the lost Dream Sword in the submerged sea tomb?"
This old man… Leon now remembered the rumors about him, that rare artifact he found in the abandoned ruins years ago.
While the old man was in a battle against a demonic warrior and was injured, he entered the ruins to try to find a chance of survival.
Unfortunately, the demonic warrior destroyed the entrance to the abandoned ruins, and the old man was trapped there; wishing to escape, he explored those ruins and faced traps and strange monsters.
In the end, he succeeded and obtained a rare Ego artifact.
That artifact, Ego, the Eye of Nightmare and Dream, has an effect that increases hallucinations in the opponent regardless of their level, and has an effect on increasing the strength of allies temporarily.
Of course, the artifact can only surpass the opponent's refinement levels, not mental abilities; the greater a person's mental strength, the less the eyes' effect.
This… I suddenly became interested.
While Leon was thinking about how to steal this precious artifact, the teachers were internally surprised.
How… how can he stay calm in the face of Ego, the Eye of Nightmare and Dream?
Even though only a level commensurate with a young boy was used so that he wouldn't lose his mind, it's not easy!
The old man who was questioning Leon, Head of the Punishment Committee, Killian Claudius, nodded slightly as if praising Leon.
He now understood why others paid attention to this child.
Impressive.
He really has impressive mental fortitude.
If old man Killian knew that Leon was thinking about killing him and taking his artifact, what would his expression be?
"If you know your deed, then why did you say you don't know what your wrongdoing is?" Old man Killian said coldly.
The original agreement was to talk to Leon, but the damn old man Chi Chang interfered.
"That's because I simply…" Leon opened his mouth with absolute coldness.
"Haven't committed any wrongdoing in the first place."
Silence filled the place, and eyes turned towards the young man.
Raphael stood at the edge of the arena waiting for his opponent.
Most of the allotted time had already passed, but he still hadn't arrived?
Raphael felt some displeasure; he wanted to end it quickly.
This is really boring.
The judge looked at the pocket watch in his hand, and he opened his mouth, saying, "Student Cho Yang, please come to arena four; I repeat, student Cho Yang, please come to arena four before the allotted time is up or the student's withdrawal will be considered automatic."
"Here, here; I had some more important things to do; I hope you'll excuse me."
A long-haired boy appeared, with an apologetic smile on his face, he clasped his hands together as a sign of apology to the judge.
The judge stared coldly at the boy; the person who should apologize was student Vairon Dragona, not him; it was clear he did it on purpose.
Cho Yang didn't even look at Raphael but was waiting for the judge to speak.
"Student Vairon Dragona, student… Cho Yang, you may begin."
Saying that, the judge nodded as a greeting to Raphael and didn't look at Cho Yang.
Raphael did the same; this was mutual respect between them; since Raphael did his duty as a warrior and judge as well, he didn't even complain when Cho Yang was late.
Cho Yang felt insulted.
He wanted to provoke Raphael, but because of the judge, the opposite happened.
Seeing his expression turn ugly for a second, the judge laughed internally and left the arena.
"Pleased to meet you… student Ryavon of the unknown family," Instead of fighting, Cho Yang politely opened his mouth.
Of course, it was supposed to be a polite greeting, except that he intentionally misspelled Raphael's name and family affiliation.
"He started again… Cho Yang of the infamous tongue!"
"He's always done this; mocking his opponents and provoking them to relax their guard and think he's just talkative before showcasing his skills against them and winning."
"You too, pleased to meet you, Yang without a father." Raphael didn't get angry and replied to him with extreme politeness.
"Oooh, shit!"
"What, Oda! You burned him!"
The audience was surprised by Raphael's reply.
Loki extended his hand to Lloyd, saying, " hold up… let him cook."
"Student Ryavon… you don't even know who my father is."
Cho Yang's smile faltered slightly, but he tried to maintain his composure.
Raphael laughed warmly, "What? Didn't your mother tell you?"
Braaah!
"No, no, no; this… this is painful!"
"How will he reply? What is Cho Yang's response? This bombardment has no response!"
"…Ouch." Dio murmured, "At least he didn't tell him the story of his father going to get milk."
Veins appeared on Cho Yang's neck.
"How dare you!"
This son of a bitch… he's gone too far!
Sreeeng!
He drew his sword from its sheath and attacked in anger.
Raphael shook his head in disappointment; does he think changing someone's name is an insult?
Clang!
Faced with Cho Yang's swift attack, Raphael lightly moved a few steps to the right.
The sword struck the arena floor, resulting in the sound of impact and flying sparks.
Raphael smiled at that moment, "It seems she really didn't tell you."
"Shut up, you despicable scum!" Cho Yang rebuked.
He lifted his sword from the slightly cracked floor and horizontally attacked towards his left side, as if a curved mark were being drawn in the air.
Swoosh!
The air was split by the sword's edge; Raphael's body was cut in front of Cho Yang's eyes.
No, it was an illusion.
Raphael's image disappeared from before Cho Yang as his swing reached its end.
"Too slow; I think I know why no woman will like you."
Cho Yang could hear someone laughing sarcastically behind him.
"Shut up, shut up!"
Being insulted was slightly infuriating; that was fine; it could simply be ignored.
But to be insulted and not give a stronger response in front of a large crowd, and in your area of expertise… that was truly infuriating!
Everything except the father!
This bastard dared to insult my father!
Swoosh! Clang! Swoosh!
He cut in front of, above, and below him, but he couldn't touch Raphael even slightly.
Swoosh!
"Late."
Clang!
"You can do better than this, Yang without a father! Persevere!"
Bam!
"Shut up! Just shut up and don't run away like a coward!"
"Toh toh, young Yang, young Yang; there's no fool in the world who leaves himself open; didn't your father teach you that? Oh… sorry; I forgot you don't have a father."
Moving slightly backward, easily jumping above the boy, he even approaches the sword and lightly deflects its course.
Raphael didn't need to use his magic or even his weapon.
This was very easy.
Bam!
The sword either struck the arena floor or only cut the cold wind.
Every time he attacked, all he could see was Raphael's sarcastic smile and disappointed eyes.
Bam!
Cho Yang's anger rose when his sword didn't even touch the edges of Raphael's clothes, and he used the main moves in his path.
No, he tried to do so.
Suddenly, Raphael appeared in front of him.
"The Thousand-Year Blow of Suffering!"
Saying that, he attacked with his leg covered in cold, black metal at a place no one should touch.
An extremely sensitive area.
Baak!
"Oooooh—!!!"
A pathetic and sorrowful cry could be heard.
Everyone who saw this immediately felt pain; many closed their eyes, and the men involuntarily grasped the area between their thighs.
This attack was very evil!
"…This is really painful." Dio was horrified.
"What evil, Raf… do you want to end this person's lineage?" Loki averted his gaze.
This sight was too awful to behold.
"And I who thought Leon Sa-hyoung was villainous enough… but Raphael Sa-hyoung is immeasurable."
Fernando trembled at the thought of someone striking him in that place.
Of course, there were those who thought otherwise.
"Bahahahaha!" Leon laughed, who came from who knows when, "Hahaha… aaah, cough! Cough! What a poor thing, bwahahaha, cough! Cough!"
He laughed so hard he choked.
"Water! Give me water, Logan!"
Glob glob!
After refreshing himself with water, the coughing subsided, but not completely.
In the arena, Raphael looked indifferently at the pathetic poor fellow.
Cho Yang's body was trembling uncontrollably, and he was moments away from losing consciousness.
"I surrender."
Raphael's voice was sarcastic, as if giving some money to a beggar.
"Congratulations on your victory, Yang abandoned by his father!"
Leon laughed and shouted, congratulating Cho Yang on his victory.
In the audience seats, some felt pity for Cho Yang, some were laughing, some were confused by the surrender of Leon's entire group except Leon himself and Dio.