The Cursed Extra: Twin Souls Against the World

[It's just in the novel. This elf was a bit of a late bloomer.]

When Xane heard this much praise, he was a bit surprised. From Zayn's description, this guy looked on par with Uzino, but when he heard the latter part, he understood the catch.

Being a late bloomer clearly meant that this person must have gained his strength after the so-called competition.

Still, this individual's condition was somewhat more complex. Now Xane knew why Zayn was hesitating so much.

Uzino's situation was already bad, and this guy's situation was a notch above.

Not only that, Xane also knew that if both of these guys were on the same team, there was a high chance that those who wanted them dead would join forces.

Xane even understood why Zayn recommended these two. After all, no one with power would want to get involved with those two calamities.

Zayn said. [It might not be the case with Uzino, as the whole getting experimented on was still hidden. But anyone who knew Elf's background would avoid him like the plague.]

Xane knew that becoming their teammates would result in offending those who wanted to kill them.

But he just smiled.

He also understood that even the thought of snatching the top position would create enmity with Liam or Samuel. He was sure that if either of them wanted him dead, then many from his own family would happily do the job.

After all, there was no comparison between a silver-potential kid who was destined to die and those born with millennium-level talents.

Xane suddenly smiled and asked, <Is our situation any better than theirs?>

Zayn remained silent. He didn't have to say it out loud; both of them already knew the answer.

Xane just cracked his neck and stood up. <Well, if they want to kill us, they should also be ready to pay the price.>

Zayn smiled faintly and mumbled. [I knew you would choose it.]

Xane just smiled and walked out of the class. Both of them had already decided to go all out.

As for the aftermath, they stopped caring.

…

Xane stood on the elevator stairs and checked his ID. The reward from Luan had increased the points back to 14, but Xane shook his head.

<It's still too low, right?>

But to his surprise, Zayn mentally shook and said. [Not by much. Okay, I'll say this: considering the upcoming competition and with only a bit over a month remaining, I believe the best approach is to focus on three hex arts.]

Xane raised his eyebrow. <Just three?>

[Yup. I believe high mastery of a few hex arts will play a much better role than sheer numbers. As for which hex arts we should study, I have a couple in mind. But first, we need to decide on the fighting approach and the weapon.]

<Weapon?>

[Yeah. Everyone is allowed to use one external weapon in the competition. It's optional, of course. Not everyone is trained to wield one from childhood, and for those without training, these weapons would only be a burden.]

Zayn sighed. [Well, I did learn a bit of kendo back in middle school, but it was just super basic stuff. What about you, Xane?]

Xane rubbed his chin. When it came to weapons, the one he had absolute command over was the pistol, which would be impossible to get here.

He pictured the weight of a gun in his palm, the effortless click, the short, deadly. 'Wait, maybe I could use the hex art of invocation and replicate that. After all, didn't Luna also use it?'

But as he thought of the other two wind blade hex art, he shook his head. He realized that a gun might not be that effective in this world.

But then he thought about his days inside the prison, where he had used different kinds of knives.

Those nights had taught him how a small blade could change an entire fight. How a hidden edge, a slipped wrist, and a moment of surprise could unbalance someone twice your size.

So he said, <We could go with small knives or some hidden blades. With their small size, carrying them won't be that hard.>

Zayn instantly nodded. Even though he did learn kendo, what he didn't mention to Xane was that he had been bullied into learning it. His training had been forced repetition: forms, stances, the hollow rhythm of the dojo. It never clicked with him the way it did for others. His talent in kendo was abysmal, to the point that anyone with the slightest experience with a sword could beat him.

These weapon matters weren't his thing anyway, so he was happy to go with Xane's choice. After all, none of them knew who among them would have control over the body during the competition.

With Xane's ability, Zayn was sure that this guy could take on a few students with knives along.

[Sure. We'll do that.]

Xane suddenly asked, <Why did those from the House of Zenaris draw swords to attack me? I thought this family was more about spears.>

Zayn sighed. [You're not wrong. Heck, even the Zenaris family logo has a spear. It's just… they are forbidden from wielding a spear against family members.]

[Although I'm not entirely sure about the strength of this "forbid" thing, at least no one from Zenaris would publicly point their spear against kin. If it had been anyone else instead of us, I'm sure they would have been met with pointed spears.]

Xane suddenly remembered that even in the awakening hall, when those guys were about to kill him, none of them had spears in their hands.

He nodded his head, interested. That detail alone hinted at the deep and strange rules binding these families.

Zayn continued. [Actually, in the novel. In the story, there was one incident where two from the house of Zenairs went all out against each other. However, the academy suppressed information about this incident, so Liam in the novel did not learn much about it.]

Xane froze for a bit. There might be some truth to this curse.

He shook his head, not thinking anymore, and asked, <What are you talking about, fighting style.>