Mystery Tales Under the Moonlight

Chapter 47: Category Determination Exams at the Academy (24).

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As silence filled the arena, Loki walked out, leaving the people stunned.

He didn't care what was happening now; he had already done what he wanted.

Oh, before that, he forgot to leave a gift for the person who had set the stage for him.

It would be rude to leave him empty-handed, wouldn't it?

When he reached the edge of the arena, under everyone's gaze, his violet eyes turned upward.

His eyes were directed towards the highest area in the stands.

Loki wasn't sure who had manipulated his results or even if the group's guess was correct.

"However, this is unimportant. If they were just extra thoughts, that's it; nothing will happen. But if they were correct thoughts…"

Then it's better to give an immediate answer.

Either way, that person must be sitting with the other teachers now.

Loki or the others didn't need to look for him; he would eventually come out himself.

With such thoughts, his eyes were cold, in contrast to his lively smile.

While staring at the grand building above the student seats, where the teachers sat, he slowly opened his mouth.

His voice didn't come out, but his lips were moving.

Up above, most of the faculty didn't understand what the boy was doing, and the shock of his withdrawal still lingered.

But among the teachers, a middle-aged man could be seen who—despite his age—had the appearance of a young man in his twenties.

He felt it instantly; he understood the Eternal Night Clan boy's actions.

When he surrendered, he felt a mix of confusion and resentment.

He had gone to the trouble of bribing the combat coordinator in the second test, and that was the limit of what he could actually do.

This was only possible because the academy director was absent.

The director had gone to a high-level affairs conference on the Cairo and Nanman border, where the main island crisis and the disappearance of marine creatures would be discussed, not to mention the epidemic that spread through human villages, which had become a large-scale problem, and some other matters.

The major clans and families of the highest rank had gone there; the director usually would send a representative, but for some reason, he decided to go himself.

This even made the royal families of Cairo and Nanman think about attending themselves, as the director going himself while sending representatives was an unforgivable rudeness.

In any case, after giving the second test coordinator a medium-grade elixir, which made his heart bleed, a different opponent than the original was placed against Loki.

Putting aside the fact that he was a descendant of the Eternal Night Clan, considered one of the strongest medium-sized clans in Nanman, this boy alone was a precious jewel.

In past years, even when he was handicapped and unable to fight, he used his intelligence and built his own forces who pledged allegiance to him; he personally trained them to fight in his place since he couldn't do so himself.

Not to mention somehow overcoming his strange illness and showcasing his latent talents; in the end, he died in a huge explosion while fighting alone against an army of monsters and barbarians.

Even when everyone fled, he remained in the place, for one reason only—to protect his followers who stayed with him until the bitter end, forcing them to escape against their will.

At least, that's what people believed.

And now, he stood safe and sound; of course, the shock of his return would create a huge stir—a bad stir for the clans competing against the Eternal Night Clan.

Loki's surrender naturally made the man feel resentful!

But the worst wasn't that.

When Loki smiled towards the teacher's room above the student stands, he opened his mouth and no sound came out.

The middle-aged man, knowing he was the target, read his lips.

"I don't need your pity, you foolish old men."

The man's anger, whose name was Sang Hyun Jo, rose, but he couldn't express it in front of others.

He suppressed his resentment and began internally cursing the boy all the way to his ten ancestors!

Saying that, Loki walked out of the arena, leaving the audience in an uproar.

Sang Hyun Jo was about to curse Loki's fifteenth ancestor when a thought entered his mind that calmed him down.

He said "old men," not "old man."

This meant the boy didn't know exactly who the manipulator was, but he knew it was among the teachers.

Of course he wouldn't know; what a fool I am; he's just a genius child, not an expert!

But… even if the boy didn't tell me exactly who I am, then who told him?

Sang Hyun Jo secretly looked around, but his expression was externally confused like the others, as if he didn't understand what the boy had done.

Despite paying a hefty sum to get close to him, these foxes were faster than me… tsk!

As the gears in his mind worked quickly, the audience's clamor grew louder.

"Aaah… did he do the same thing he did in the first test?"

"I… I don't know anything anymore. Isn't he supposed to be the son of a well-known clan? How can he surrender like this?"

"Leon Evenius, Loki Romanov, Baek Kang Woo, Logan Hermes; what are these people thinking? Have they gone crazy because of their low talent?"

"Low? Maybe, but are they weak? Definitely not. It has nothing to do with their strength."

"It's just rumors, but… I heard that there are side effects of the Awakening Ceremony, which is falling into negative emotions; some people with less disciplined natures show those symptoms, such as violent tendencies, madness, and bloodlust, not to mention hallucinations."

"It hasn't been confirmed, but it's not like all of that is wrong. It is true that failure or low talent leads to those symptoms, making the person make strange and irrational decisions."

At that moment, realization dawned on the audience suddenly.

Average talent, violence, and strange decisions.

That's it!

It seems that these people like Leon and others were susceptible to the negative side effects!

People's eyes turned towards Loki, who had left the arena, as they were confused.

Wasn't this person a top-tier talent three years ago? Did his talent decrease due to some mysterious events?

Some felt pity, while some scoffed, and some were indifferent.

It was unfortunate, but that was all.

"They were completely deceived."

"Absolutely."

Dio and Vairon—ahem, I mean, Dio and Raphael—watched the audience indifferently.

That was already within their calculations.

Their strange actions later would be interpreted as negative symptoms of failure and anger due to their low talent; that would erase the suspicion about their plans.

[Later, when we enter class (D), others will think it's because of despair and frustration.]

[Our violent actions will disqualify us from entering the higher classes. I bet even the higher-ups won't agree to put us in class (A) for fear of disrupting the balance, at least until they ensure control over us.]

[Certainly; it makes sense. When we don't show results worthy of the upper class, the best bet would be the lower class since it's, in a way, a neutral place.]

Raphael concluded his analysis while discussing with Dio.

Leon was watching Lloyd's battle with the others.

His battle was more interesting than Loki's boasting.

Swoosh! Bam! Swoosh! Bam!

In the arena where Lloyd was fighting, the sound of strong wind tearing could be heard.

While standing on one side of the arena holding his spear, Lloyd's hand moved swiftly.

An arrow to the right, an arrow to the left; arrows attacking him from every path!

The spear danced in Lloyd's arm as if an artist were painting a picture.

All the arrows were skillfully broken in the young man's hand, but his opponent didn't give him room; he was immediately attacked by another wave of arrows!

Bam!

Before he even saw them, Lloyd powerfully struck the arena floor with his foot.

He held his spear and firmly planted it on the ground, his arm on the end, making the spear a fulcrum; he quickly jumped upwards and performed an amazing somersault.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The momentum and the air from his spin deflected the arrows from their course.

The girl who shot the arrows frowned slightly and directed her arms towards Lloyd, lowering her hand down.

Immediately and strangely, the arrows veered toward Lloyd.

While suspended in the air and supporting himself with one arm using his spear, Lloyd jumped upwards.

CraK!

While in the air, he extended his hand toward his spear, and the spear immediately flew towards him!

Swoosh!

When he powerfully grasped the flying spear, the remaining momentum propelled the boy to spin in the air.

He dodged the arrows again. The girl forcefully directed her hands at Lloyd; the original course of the arrows in the air was deflected and headed towards the spear boy.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Slice! Slice!

While in the air, with the help of his momentum, Lloyd sliced with his spear in the air, weaving an air wall surrounding him.

With the spear spinning through his hands, the spear's tip struck the sides of the arrows and cut them like a knife through butter.

The sound of metal colliding and ringing could be heard before the soft sounds of slicing entered one's ears.

The remains of the arrows were swept away by the wind far from Lloyd.

The girl frowned again, but her hands didn't slow; she immediately shot arrows slightly below Lloyd before he landed on the ground.

When Lloyd felt the air vibrate, as if the area tickled his ears, he struck his spear toward the ground.

ClanK!

The arena floor was cut, and the spear was forcefully jammed into it.

"Whoa!"

Holding the spear shaft stuck in the ground, Lloyd propelled himself horizontally using his spear.

Swoosh!

The girl sensed danger before she could see; in a split second, she rotated her body as if she were trying to avoid something.

Bam!

A loud collision sound.

On the arena barrier, undulating strongly, someone's foot could be seen stuck to it.

"…Impressive."

Lloyd murmured lightly. When he forcefully propelled himself towards the girl like an arrow, he thought he could disrupt her movements, but her instincts were truly amazing.

"Here he starts."

"The calmest boy and his spear; yes, his hallucinations have indeed begun."

While watching the fun fight where the two didn't speak, Leon and Loki talked with some amusement.

The kindest in their group was Lloyd. At least, that was the case in most matters, but he had a truly evil side that he himself was unaware of.

That side showed when he fought with his spear; amazing movements and peerless fighting; that was fine, no problem.

The only problem… he overdid it without realizing it.

Imagine someone attacking you, but there are no evil or bad intentions in their eyes; how would you feel?

Fear, naturally!

In that aspect, in the whole group—putting aside the crazy Leon—Lloyd was the most terrifying.

"And he tells me that I overdo things when I hit others… this villain has no morals."

"You have no right to speak; just shut up."

"Damn you."

After quickly returning from his fight, Loki sat with Leon.

He was satisfied with himself after silencing Leon from saying nonsense; there are limits to hypocrisy and rudeness, seriously.

"If this doesn't work…"

Lloyd's eyes gleamed slightly.

The boy extended his index finger towards his spear.

"Up."

The spear flew towards the highest point of the barrier quickly; the spear's blunt base touched the barrier, while the spearhead was pointing down.

Lloyd clicked his fingers, and suddenly, before the spear fell, the wind formed around it, preventing it from falling down.

"Okay." Lloyd smiled to himself.

He looked at the silent girl preparing her arrows.

Attack!

Cold, black metal!

Immediately heading forward, the boy's hands turned black.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh—!!

The girl didn't wait to see what he was doing and immediately attacked him with her strongest arrows.

While running towards her, the boy avoided the first arrow by moving slightly to the side at super speed.

"Now!"

Booom—!!

At the same time as the sound of an explosion was heard, the boy disappeared from his place, and the arrows collided with something hard.

When those arrows collided with the strange thing, they immediately exploded.

The girl widened her eyes slightly.

Where is he?

As if realization dawned in her mind, in a split second, she looked up.

Before her eyes could fully process what she saw, the girl immediately gritted her teeth and forcefully directed her hand upward!

Pressure fell on the girl, and she felt like her arm was about to break!

The girl endured the pain and focused her thoughts toward the target coordinates.

The high-speed arrow that Lloyd dodged the first time had its course forcibly altered and went vertically to the highest point in the middle of the arena before striking the barrier.

Swoosh! Baaaam!!

In one split second, the girl could see a smile on Lloyd's face.

Baak! Baaaam—!

In the next split second, Lloyd disappeared from his place quickly.

All the girl could understand was hearing the sounds of explosions.

She didn't know exactly what happened.

The strong winds swept away the black dust from the explosion, and black smoke covered the middle of the arena.

"This… how can their fight be this fun even without the two saying a word?"

"Do you remember when you and I usually trained?"

"Oh… I understand your intention now; understanding in battles."

"You understood well, but this… it's a really fun fight."

"Yes, I bet even the readers will agree with you."

"Absolutely."

The black smoke began to clear from the arena little by little.

Two people could be seen standing.

A boy with black hair and unique orange-yellow eyes; his eyes looked at his opponent with some confusion.

A girl with dark blue hair and deep black eyes; her situation was the same, feeling internally confused despite her stoic expression.

In the middle of the arena, Lloyd was holding the girl's waist as if preventing her from falling.

The girl was holding the back of the boy's neck while her fingers were intertwined in a quasi-embrace.

The girl's bow was on the ground, and the boy's spear was also on the ground.

At that moment… confusion prevailed.

Lloyd felt his head getting hot while not knowing what he was doing.

In the moment of his attack, when he almost punched her face, he instantly felt something wrong, and the girl's arm, protecting her head in a kind of automatic defense, made her stumble back and almost fall to the ground.

Before Lloyd understood what was happening, he mitigated her fall by controlling the wind, and he grabbed the girl's waist before she fell.

Why didn't he just use the wind to mitigate her fall?

He didn't know the reason, and he didn't care about the reason.

The girl's face was turning slightly pink.

Her eyes were dull, while her mind was in chaos; when she stumbled because of her bow, she felt a hand on her waist and reflexively grabbed his neck without thinking.

The two remained in that frozen state.

"Woooh! That's one move to go! Amazing, Lloyd!"

"Did you learn fighting or smoothness during your absence? Huh? You magnificent scoundrel!"

Leon and Dio, being good friends, immediately shouted amidst the confusion on their side.

The arena where Lloyd fought was close to their seating stand; therefore, the environment was a little quieter.

"You filthy grass-eater! How dare you make my battle look dull like this!"

Loki didn't miss the opportunity either and joined the two.

The others looked at him for a while before joining in too.

"A great fight with a great ending! That's the Sa-hyoung I know!"

"Fernando, you've only known him for two days."

"I know, shut up, Logan."

"Hmm! Hmm!"

Chai Nayon raised her hands in a cheering gesture.

It was as if she was saying, "I don't know what's happening, but good job, Lloyd Sa-hyoung."

As his eyes stared into the girl's black irises, the group's words pierced his ears.

Every word they said made him want more and more to dig a hole and bury himself in it.

Seriously! Stop it, just stop it!

Of course, neither Leon nor the others stopped, and contrary to expectations, the audience joined them; as long as there's entertainment, who wouldn't join in?

The cheering words of the crowd made the two blush even more than before!

"…I surrender."

To stop such embarrassment, Lloyd muttered in a low voice.

"Hmm?"

The judge, looking at the two warmly as if he were a father, tilted his head slightly.

Did student Lloyd Daniel say something?

"I surrender! I said I surrender! Now stop, please; this is embarrassing!"

As if he had reached his limit from the warm cheers, Lloyd shouted as he looked towards the judge with some displeasure.

All this while still embracing the girl's waist.

This made his words seem really unconvincing.

"…The winner is student Selena Arthur."

With his warm smile that never left his face, the judge said.

After analyzing his situation a little, Lloyd instantly felt the stupidity of his position.

Wait a minute…

His face became even redder than before.

Bah! What stupidity, my brain! Did you forget to work for me for a while? Huh? I'm literally embracing Selena; what do I expect others to even say; of course, their reaction would be like that!

Selena didn't look at the result of the match, and she was staring at the boy embracing her waist.

She couldn't take her eyes off him.

In such a situation, she smiled slightly.