“I am going back home,” Chrites said, standing up from his chair next to the hospital bed.
“You have to relax here in the infirmary tonight and let your body rest.”
Linease sat up slightly and shook her head quickly.
“No, no, I also want to go home right now.
My parents will be incredibly worried if I do not show up to sleep.
They might call the military police.”
“Oh, yeah, I totally forgot about that,” Chrites admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Having the police looking for you would be a massive headache.
Okay, I will use a dark teleportation spell to send you straight inside your bedroom.”
“Yeah, that will be the best,” Linease agreed with a sigh of relief.
“Then no one will be able to attack me on the streets again tonight.”
Chrites raised his hand and summoned the heavy shadows from the corners of the room.
The dark magic wrapped around Linease, and in a single blink, she was safely teleported back to her own house.
Once she was gone, Chrites used the same spell to teleport himself to a quiet, closed shop just down the street from his own home.
He walked the rest of the way, stepping quietly up to his front door.
He turned the key and walked inside.
It was already eleven at night, and the house was mostly dark, but a small lamp was still on in the living room.
His mother was sitting in a chair, reading a magazine.
She looked up when he closed the door.
She was not angry or shouting, just looking very worried.
“Why are you so late, son?” his mother asked, putting her magazine down on the small table.
“I was starting to think you got caught up in another gang attack.”
“Mom, I am fine,” Chrites said, taking off his shoes.
“I was just chilling out with my friends for a while, so I lost track of time.
That is why I was late.”
His mom smiled a little bit, looking at him with a funny, teasing expression.
“Chilling out with friends?
Or were you hanging out with a girl?
You can tell me, you know.
I will not be mad.”
Chrites felt his face get a little hot.
“No, no, no!
It was just a guy.
It was just Rivb and Chrono.
There was absolutely no girl at all.”
He lied smoothly because he knew his parents would completely misunderstand the situation if he told the truth.
He did not want to deal with a million questions about Linease.
“Okay, okay, I believe you,” his mom laughed softly.
“There is some food left in the dining hall.
Go eat and get some sleep.”
“Thanks, Mom.
Goodnight,” Chrites said.
He walked into the dining hall, grabbed a plate of cold meat and bread, and ate his dinner in silence.
He was completely exhausted.
His muscles ached, and his brain was tired from kidnapping a global president and fighting a magic assassin all in one day.
He walked upstairs, went straight into his room, and fell onto his bed.
He went to sleep without thinking about anything else.
The next morning arrived in a flash.
The bright sun hit his face, and Chrites rolled out of bed.
He quickly ate a fast breakfast, grabbed his bag, and left the house to go to school.
He walked down the street and headed toward the local transit mall, where he always met his friends.
Standing near the entrance was Rivb, tapping his foot and looking extremely panicked.
“Bro, why the hell are you late again?” Rivb shouted, throwing his hands in the air as Chrites jogged up to him.
“You are late today also!
Are you trying to get us kicked out?”
“What is the big deal today, bro?” Chrites asked casually, looking around the mall.
“Nothing is happening at the school today.
We are just doing classroom tours, right?”
“Did you not check the messages sent to our phones this morning?” Rivb asked, pulling out his own device and shoving the screen into Chrites’s face.
“The physical tournaments are happening today!”
“Wait, today?
I thought they delayed it because the teachers were hurt in the attack.”
“They brought in some high-level healers from the military,” Rivb explained quickly, starting to run down the sidewalk.
“The teachers are totally fine now!
So they are taking the physical tests today.
And if we are going to be late for the combat tournament, it would be a really massive mess.
My dad will literally end my life!”
“Okay, okay!
Let’s go!” Chrites said, matching Rivb’s running pace.
They sprinted down the busy city streets, dodging normal citizens and traffic until they finally reached the massive front gates of the G.M.W.U.
academy.
They hurried onto the campus and headed toward the main courtyard.
Standing near the entrance of the newly repaired gymnasium were Chrono and Shevy.
They were standing very close to each other, talking quietly and smiling like a normal couple.
Rivb immediately slowed down and walked up behind them with a massive, annoying grin on his face.
“Oh, really?” Rivb said loudly, interfering between them like he always did.
“So early in the morning, and you guys are already being romantic?
Are we supposed to be preparing for a brutal combat exam, or are we going on a cute date?”
Shevy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
“Shut up, Rivb.
We were just talking about combat strategy.”
“Yeah, right,” Rivb mocked them, making a funny face.
“Combat strategy.
Sure.”
Chrono sighed heavily and glared at his friend.
“Yeah, I think you should not say ‘bro’ in the middle of everything.
You have very bad habits, Rivb.
You do not always have to be in the middle of someone’s private life.”
“Okay, okay, sorry,” Rivb laughed, holding his hands up in surrender.
“Let’s just go to the gymnasium.
It would be really bad if we are late and the teacher gets very, very angry at us.”
The four of them walked through the heavy double doors and entered the massive underground gym.
The broken walls from the gang attack had been fixed with earth magic, and the large fighting ring in the center was completely clean.
Hundreds of students were sitting in the bleachers, waiting nervously.
As they walked to find empty seats, Chrites looked across the room.
He saw Linease sitting a few rows away.
She was sitting next to another female student named Melise.
Linease looked completely healthy.
The dark uniform she wore yesterday was gone, replaced by the normal school coat.
She was smiling and talking to Melise, though she was sweating just a little bit from nerves.
An older male examiner wearing a dark green military uniform walked into the center of the ring.
He held a microphone and a digital tablet.
“Listen up, students!” the examiner shouted, his voice echoing loudly.
“Today we will begin the one-on-one combat matches.
We have paired you up based on your entrance evaluation numbers.
I will now declare the first round of matches!”
He began reading names off his list.
Chrites listened casually until the examiner reached the middle of the roster.
“Match number eight,” the examiner announced.
“Linease versus Chrites Lunode.”
Linease instantly stopped talking to Melise.
Her entire body froze.
She looked across the gymnasium and made direct eye contact with Chrites.
She was completely shocked in her mind.
What the hell was really happening?
She knew the absolute truth.
The school records said Chrites was just a weak Rookie Tier Two.
But she knew that he was actually the leader of The Obsidian Syndicate.
And now, the school expected her to fight him in a simple physical test.
It was the widest rank gap in the history of the world.
Chrites just gave her a very small, completely average smile and looked away.
“Match number three!” the examiner continued reading.
“Chrono versus Kaelen Vance!”
Chrono sat up straight.
“Wait, Kaelen Vance?
Is that the angry guy from the gate yesterday?”
“Yeah, that is definitely him,” Rivb said, pointing down toward the floor.
Kaelen Vance, the angry guy who tried to shoot Rivb the day before, was standing near the edge of the ring.
He glared up at Chrono and cracked his knuckles, looking incredibly eager for revenge.
“Well, this should be fun,” Shevy said, patting Chrono on the back.
“Beat him up for us.”
“I will,” Chrono promised, his face turning serious.
Because Chrono’s fight was the third match and Chrites’s fight was the eighth match, they had a lot of time to wait.
The examiner called down the students for the first two matches.
They were very quick, boring fights between nervous rookies who barely knew how to throw a proper magical punch.
Chrites completely ignored them, just leaning back in his seat and resting his tired eyes.
Finally, the loud buzzer rang.
“Match number three will now begin!
Chrono and Kaelen, step into the ring!”
Chrono stood up, walked down the bleacher stairs, and stepped onto the reinforced floor.
Kaelen stepped in from the other side, a wicked, arrogant grin on his face.
“Begin!” the examiner shouted, stepping out of the way.
Kaelen did not waste a single second.
He raised both of his hands and used his wind magic.
A massive, swirling tornado formed in the center of his palms.
He pushed his hands forward, sending the sharp blades of wind flying directly at Chrono’s chest.
Chrono easily dodged to the side, rolling across the hard floor.
He quickly drew his standard military gun and fired a heavy bullet of dense silver mana.
Kaelen blocked the bullet using a thick shield of wind, then followed up by using his secondary magic.
Sparks of bright yellow lightning danced across his arms.
He shot three jagged bolts of lightning across the arena, trying to trap Chrono in a corner.
Chrono jumped into the air, using his own mana to boost his jump.
The lightning smashed into the floor right where he had been standing, leaving black burn marks on the tiles.
The battle went on for several long minutes.
Kaelen used his wind to move fast and his lightning to strike hard.
But Chrono was ranked as a Slayer Tier Two for a very good reason.
His control over his magic was absolutely perfect.
He did not waste any energy, and he stayed completely calm.
“You cannot run forever!” Kaelen yelled, gathering all of his lightning into one giant ball above his head.
“I am not running,” Chrono said quietly.
Chrono planted his feet firmly on the ground.
He channeled all of his dense, silver mana into the barrel of his gun.
The weapon glowed with a blinding, heavy light.
“Silver Comet Burst,” Chrono announced.
He pulled the trigger.
A massive, roaring beam of pure silver energy erupted from the gun.
The super strong attack tore completely through Kaelen’s lightning ball, shattering the enemy magic into useless sparks.
The silver beam slammed directly into Kaelen’s chest armor.
Kaelen was thrown backward, flying entirely out of the ring and crashing into the padded safety wall.
He slumped to the floor, totally unconscious.
“Winner of match three, Chrono!” the examiner shouted.
Rivb and Shevy cheered loudly from the stands.
Chrites clapped his hands politely, completely proud of his friend.
But as he watched Chrono walk back up the stairs, Chrites knew his own turn was coming soon.
He had to figure out how to fight Linease without accidentally killing her, and without revealing his Legendary Master powers to the entire school.