The school was in a frenzy, its usually serene atmosphere shattered by a discovery that had sent shockwaves through the institution. A letter had been found in the training ground, its sinister contents swiftly forwarded to the academy's investigation unit.The next morning, Marion, Sarah, and three other students were discovered unconscious in the garden, their memories enveloped in an impenetrable fog. They had no recollection of the events that led to their sudden collapse or the cause of their inexplicable loss of consciousness.
In response, the academy conducted an immediate headcount and discovered a student was missing—precisely as the letter had predicted. This revelation prompted the formation of a search party, tasked with combing the vast expanse of the academy.
Given the academy's enormous size, many speculated that the student might have simply become lost.
"Huff. Thankfully, we disposed of his body somewhere far away," Marion whispered to Sarah, his voice a barely audible murmur.
Sarah nodded with palpable anxiety, her face a portrait of tense apprehension.
Their first day at the academy had already been marred by murder. Students who had noticed that the missing student had been the one to slight Marion the previous night were seized by a cold dread. It was clear to them that Marion was implicated, but none dared voice their suspicions, fearing they might become the next to disappear.
Marion's gaze darted anxiously around the scene until he noticed a boy with hair the color of freshly fallen snow, casting a brief, respectful bow before retreating. Marion's blood ran cold as he recalled the same bow had been directed at him during the training ground session the previous day.
Riley, observing from the periphery, allowed himself a faint, calculating smile. Marion, Sarah, and the other students seemed to have no recollection of their conversation in the garden. Riley toyed with Marion's student ID card, which he had encased in a pristine white cloth.
"Ha! Hope I'm not distracted." Riley mumbled as he sneakily broke off his search ground, he then headed to the place where Marion party had dumped the boy's body, he sneakily placed Marion Student ID on the ground, somewhere not far away from the dead body. Then he joined his search party again.
Riley smiled, the stage had been set, he just had to guide the actors to bring out the desired result. He was now the director of the movie that will now play out in the academy.
--
"We found something!" A student from another search party yelled.
Immediately, the scene was flooded with instructors and students alike, the missing student's body was battered and bloody, it indicated that the student was beaten to death.
"Calm down everyone!" Alana's authoritative voice pierced through the commotion. She turned to the frightened students, some trembling uncontrollably, others retching in shock. The scene was one of utter disarray..
"This is what happens when you disregard the academy's curfew," she stated, pointing toward the gruesome sight of the corpse. "Training begins at ten." She made no attempt to comfort the distressed students or offer assurances of safety. She did not promise a thorough investigation or guarantee the capture of the perpetrator.
The boy was dead, and the matter was resolved in the academy's eyes.
The perceptive students understood the underlying message: the academy was indifferent, and it would remain so.
"This academy is the survival of the fittest, just as the second Nexus Trial will be," Riley mused with grim satisfaction. Although he had anticipated a more vigorous investigation, he was disheartened by the lackluster response.
'And to think I went to such lengths to ensure the boy's demise, only for those inebriated fools to leave him incomplete... well it's a win-win,' Riley chastised himself internally. Though dissatisfied, he was resolute in his quest for vengeance.
Nevertheless, he was certain an investigation would be carried out, and he was right, before the student returned, the investigative unit were already at the scene, getting evidence of the murder and looking for clues that might lead to the murderer.
--
Riley swung his sword wildly, he kept up his charade, pretending not to know how to use a sword. The callous on his hands had disappeared the moment he became an ascender.
"Stop!" Alana Commanded.
"As a Level One Nexus Series fighter. You are the weakest of all the series in the Nexus Series." She paused. "Let Julian death serve as an example to you guys, because you became an ascender doesn't mean you cannot die. Trust me, an adult mundane man would kill you if you are not careful."
"The academy would not always protect you, as a Nexus Ascender, you are always surrounded by danger. You should learn to be very observant, and quick to react to danger. The second Nexus Trial is always the survival of the fittest. "
"That's not fair." A student murmured.
Alana glanced in his direction, she spoke:
"Fairness is irrelevant, the most important asset you need to survive the second Nexus Trial… is Luck; the luck to be born with either exceptional brains or brawn or both, or the luck to find yourself at the right place at the right time."
The students took in her words silently, they all had a serious expression on their faces, Riley wasn't an exception but his face remained cold and nonchalant.
"Pick a partner and start sparing." Alana commanded.
"Fight me." A voice drew Riley's attention, he turned and behind him was a silver-blue haired girl, who was scrutinizing him.
"Miss River, I'm not particularly skilled in swordplay," Riley attempted to defer.
River naturally drew everyone's attention as she approached him, so they were now the center of attention, the natural color of their hair also made them look like siblings.
Alana's attention was also drawn, she started to wonder why River approached Riley. It never happened, for River to approach someone, it had always been the opposite, well River could not be blamed, she's so beautiful.
'According to the rumors, Her real father had tried to rape her when she was younger, her mother had tried to protect her, but was killed by her father, River eventually found a way to escape and seek help from the police.
And then, the broken sword clan had taken interest in her, due to her superior beauty, they adopted her, and trained her. They discovered she was a natural genius, and she was placed above Marion. Apart from the first child, she's the next in line of inheritance. ' Riley quickly analyzed all the information he knew about her.
River didn't budge, she stood still, and Riley had no choice but to fight her. Not that he intended on winning in the first place.
Soon the fight started, River went very easy on Riley, Still Riley didn't let his guard down, he made sure to keep up his charade of someone new to sword fighting. However he's starting to be distracted, formulation several plans in his head, he needed a way to get nexus items from Marion.
Suddenly, River applied more strength into her swing, Riley sensed the danger and immediately, his instinct took over, he put more strength into his hands, and when their swords clashed, a shock wave spread out in all directions.
So much that the grass beneath their feet was bent.
Alana paused. She had a surprised expression on her face.
Riley was scratching the back of his head, cursing himself inwardly for getting distracted.
How was he to explain this? Miss Alana might not notice anything wrong, but he was certain River did, after all they were both raised in the same clan.
When Riley instinct took over, he switched to the broken swords sword style, which was not taught to anyone outside the clan. This sword style was only taught to students who were to be promoted to be legacy students.
"What happened?" Alana asked.
"I'm sorry Miss Alana, I put too much strength into my swing, I was enjoying myself so much that I forgot." River explained.
Alana nodded, she glanced at Riley, clearly impressed that he had so much strength, however she shook her head. "Strength is an aspect of martial arts. You have impressive strength, but without martial arts you cannot channel all your strength."
'Even if that was true, why aren't you teaching me?' Riley thought.
"Thank you for your advice Miss Alana."
"Alright, That's enough for today." She announced.
The students were happy, they had put their all into training, none of them wanted to end up like Julian, however before they could disperse, the school guards entered the training ground.
"Marion." The guard called out, "We need you for questioning."
"Uh? Me? Why?" Marion asked in confusion, and fear.
"It's just for questioning, nothing else."
"Alright." Marion answered, squeezing Sarah's hands, before following the guards.
--
"According to the footage in this CCTV footage, Six of you entered this garden, and only five came back. So you are our prime suspect." The voice spoke in a well lit room. Marion was sitting opposite, a man in black suit and pants, he looked pale and his tousled black hair seemed out of place.
Marion fidgeted with his hands.
"Tell me who your accomplice is, don't worry, we respect your clan, so we will put the blame on those students who are not from our clan."
Marion listed his associates' names, and was promptly released. The man's subsequent actions led to the arrest of the three students who had accompanied Marion, charging them with murder.
Riley's lips curled into a subtle smile. "As anticipated." His smile turned devilish as his gray eyes gleamed with satisfaction. He printed a photo and prepared for the next phase... thankfully he had been cautious to take the path that had no CCTV coverage, after all he'd lived and worked as a servant in the academy for a while, so he knew where the academy loved to place their CCTV cameras.