Minutes to eleven...
"If they discover tomorrow that the surveillance technology malfunctioned, it shouldn't be a problem since it's the last night, right?" Seth mumbled as he approached the cushioned walls of the combat room.
His right hand held a staff, while his left gently caressed these cushioned walls.
A crimson light flickered at his fingertips. Runic characters, painted in blood, suddenly shot out and etched themselves into the walls and ceiling.
A bloody atmosphere permeated the air as he turned to Anon.
"You desired to confront me in my strongest state, right?" Seth grinned.
Anon twirled the staff in his hand whilst curiously surveying the runic characters that encompassed him.
"Recoil… Twist… Stab…" Anon uttered under his breath.
Lifting his gaze, he stared at Seth with meaning, "This bottleneck… If I do not shatter it tonight," Pausing for a moment, Anon grinned broadly, "Seth, I'm telling you, Seth, I'll go mad..."
How long?
It was almost four months.
After three months in the official camp and two weeks in the genius program, Anon still could not complete four complex tasks simultaneously.
He had faced a similar stagnation in his martial arts progress.
No matter how many high-level techniques he learned, and no matter the number of angles he observed the staff from, for the love of all that was great, he could not seem to locate that final piece of the puzzle and grasp mastery over the staff.
"Well then, let me give you a taste of desperation." Seth chuckled aloud, "If you still aren't capable of breaking this barrier, I might need to begin seeking out someone else, the true child of humanity."
Saying this, he exhaled.
This puff of air was scarlet-colored.
Seth's staff transformed into a blur, circling the puff of air before retracting and stabbing through it towards Anon.
They were separated by several meters, and yet, Seth's staff expanded. From its initial three and some meters, it stretched farther than five meters, seven, and then bang!
...
"W-W-Wha-!"
Aren could not formulate a proper word, much less a sentence. Besides him, the white-coated individual was no different as he stumbled back and fell onto his buttocks, staring in dread towards the enlightening platform.
"Overly dramatic."
Felix stepped down from the enlightening platform, coldly observing Aren. "Shouldn't you be pleased that I'm alive?"
"It would've been a real pain in the ass if you had watched a student step onto an already active enlightening platform and then die."
"H-How?!" Aren caught himself, "I watched you die. I saw the light fade from your eyes. How, how?!"
Felix frowned.
"What're you speaking of? Die? When did I die?"
Grinning, he pulled Aren's head towards his. Their foreheads pressed together as Felix asked him, "Do these eyes seem dead?"
"Yes!"
Aren wanted to scream this.
Instead, his body trembled as cold sweat trickled down his back. He meekly shook his head, "No, Mr. Felix, you look perfectly alive. Forgive my nonsensical words, I'm probably sick."
"Hahahaha!"
Felix tapped Aren's shoulder twice, "It isn't good to be working late into the night, every night at that. Even if you gotta use the healing pod, go get yourself checked."
As he said this, Felix's gaze shifted.
Some distance away, a boy suddenly cackled loudly.
"Finally!"
The black-haired boy exclaimed.
"I've finally done it!"
He shouted with relief.
But Felix saw something ese.
'This boy…'
In the boy's eyes, there was no relief, happiness, or an emotion for that matter. It was black and seemed to be as deep as an abyss, showing no ripples.
Like a stagnant sea that swallowed life.
Bolan revealed his stellar fighter status.
...
Felix stepped out of the bathroom, covering his waist with a towel.
Before his eyes, his roommate covered himself with a thick blanket. Though he had no head, he seemed to be amid a deep and peaceful sleep.
His head, along with six others, lay atop the dorm room's bed.
Felix stared at the sight for a moment before shifting his gaze.
On his finger, there was a ring.
This ring, it was imperceivable on most occasions.
At times, even he forgot he had it on.
After all, he had worn this ring for as long as he could remember.
His parents gifted him with this ring, and his older brother with an earring. At the time, his mother said something like, "In my family, these two pieces of jewelry have been passed down for generations. Take good care of them, you two."
"I saw the doors of death, opened the doors of death, and was drawn inside..." Felix said this with a serious expression, "I should be dead, and yet, here I am, alive and well, having opened my mind's eye and awakening my dormant principle."
His gaze shifted down to his body.
"Fully healed... No, I'm even stronger than before. Is this my principle?" Felix mumbled, "I don't know how, yet I subconsciously know with surety that this ring is what changed by fate."
"What secrets does my Arcola fam-!"
Knock! Knock!
Hah...
'I expected this much.'
Felix smiled mockingly, 'I've achieved what I desired. It's a pity that I'm unable to fulfill my promise to Lener, but as a stellar fighter, killing this trash isn't a big deal.'
Stepping towards the door, he pondered, 'Banished from the camp on the last night, I won't be permitted to enter the military academy and might face some light disciplinary actions.'
'I might even be forced to join the city troops, but that helps me. With a stable source of income, and the status of a city troop, I can protect and provide for my parents, and Lener.'
Opening the door wide, he did not intend to hide what was behind him.
Before his eyes, a tall burly man stood with a dark expression.
"You fellows really make it difficult for Rolan and I…" Parkinson sighed, "Don't you guys think of the people standing behind these children?"
Shaking his head, Parkinson continued, "Well, at least it isn't Nickyle, Catharina, or Cassius. At the very least, some high-class families can be 'asked' to forget about one child... what you've done here, it's still okay."
Sighing once again, Parkinson took in a deep breath of air before staring intently at Felix. Due to his words, Felix's expression was slightly strange.
"But still, you killed six after becoming a stellar fighter, and three before becoming one. Oh boy you're lucky that you're a stellar genius now, or else, those high-class families would've eaten you up and your family."
Smirking, Parkinson finally defused Felix's doubts, "But, as a member of the military academy, your family falls under the protection of the city lord's name."
"Heh..."
Felix's body trembled.
"Hah... Haha, hah... Haha..." A slow yet forceful laughter exited Felix's lips as he met with Parkinson's gaze.
"I'm sorry for the troubles I've caused you." He said whilst cupping his fist and bowing slightly.
"It's okay. As a stellar genius, you are Blackridge district's hope."
Mr. Park said gently, "It's only right that a group of villains suffer the consequences for their vile deeds towards you."
"I think so to." Felix replied.
...
"Ugh..."
Blood seeped from Anon's lips as he propped himself against the railing whilst going up the stairs of his dorm.
Elissa was worried about him to the point that she insisted that he went to the infirmary and enter the healing pod, but just as quickly, she was swatted away by Anon's hand.
Towards this stellar genius ranked first, she could not, nor did she dare to lash out on him. He was unofficially, a member of the military academy, and was heavily protected by Parkinson and Rolan, her two superiors.
Barely entering his room, right before making it onto his bed, Anon dropped to his knees.
"Ugh..." He groaned a second time.
This groan stemmed more from a mix of chaotic emotions than from physical pain.
Neither the bottleneck on his spirit, nor the bottleneck on his weapon mastery had him like this, and yet, the bottleneck on them simultaneously did in fact, have him like this.
Simply put, he didn't feel frustrated because he could not breakthrough, but because he had a path already established for him, and said path, right now he was simply standing still in this path.
His path was simply too dangerous to just stand still on, hence he didn't hesitate to take his foot of the pedal and shift his focus onto weapon mastery, and yet, now both were forcing him to come to a stop.
At the same time, as one could see from his current state, Seth was continuing forward without the slightest rest.