The Smiling Death

Ringgg!!!

The bell rang, indicating the end of the last lecture. The professor collected his things, ready to go.

Students also started to leave the classroom.

Yawn~

Amon stretched his arms in the air, yawning tiredly. Sitting constantly for so many lectures was truly tiring. It was boring.

Amon got up from his seat and strode toward Seraphina and Eliana.

Marcus, who was also beside him, got out of the classroom without looking back at Amon. He was muttering something in annoyance.

Amon ignored him.

"Hey guys! Long time no see." He greeted both of them with a sweet smile.

Seraphina was the same as always—aloof, without any expression. Her golden, clear eyes were calm, her shining blonde hair loose and straight, falling down her waist.

'She looks so beautiful. As radiant as the sun.'

"Oh~ So you finally remember us~. Hah, you totally ignored us when you entered the class. We were in the front seat, yet you didn't even look at us. Just walked away." Eliana said teasingly. Her crystal-blue eyes curved, her long, pointy ears twitching cutely in excitement.

Her long platinum-blonde hair was kept loose, just like Seraphina's.

'Damn! This elf… she's really enjoying it,' Amon thought.

But his sweet smile didn't vanish.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Eliana," Amon responded with the same calm face.

Eliana giggled at his response.

"It's good to see you again, Amon. We heard about Senior Jareth and Senior Vixra. It's sad, but glad to see you safe and fine," the aloof angel Seraphina said. Though there was no expression on her face, Amon felt touched by her words.

'Such a kind soul. She's a true angel.'

"Thanks. That's so kind of you, Sera~."

The three of them walked toward the door, exiting the classroom.

"Sera, please give me the notes of all lectures of this week," Amon asked Seraphina. He knew asking this of Eliana or Marcus would be idiotic.

"Okay. I'll send them to you on the pager," she said while walking through the hallway.

"Thank you, Sera," Amon thanked her again.

Eliana couldn't walk silently anymore. She chimed in, her face turning to Amon's side.

"Amon, you're calling her Sera so casually now, like you two are childhood friends."

Seraphina frowned at her comment. Now that she thought about it, Amon had agreed to call her Sera only when the two of them were alone.

But now he was calling her that in public.

Though oddly, she didn't find any problem with it.

"Hah… are you jealous? Oh my, our princess got jealous… should I call you by your nickname as well?" Amon smiled mischievously at Eliana.

"What? Me? No way," Eliana denied outright, without a second thought. Her answer was too immediate. She was clearly denying it.

"Okay! I'll call you Eli then… Eli~ that sounds good," Amon smiled at her, this time sweetly, his voice like he was talking to someone dear to him.

And for the first time, he got a different reaction from this elf girl. The expression was priceless.

Her eyes widened, her ears twitched just like before, but the tips of them turned pink.

She blinked her eyes.

"Hmph… don't call me that! I didn't give you permission!" The elven princess avoided his eyes with a hmph.

Seraphina was amused at her reaction. It wasn't every day she saw this playful and mischievous girl get embarrassed.

"Hey, Eli~ Eli~ Eli~" Amon continued to say her name in a sweet, humming tone.

Making Eliana grit her teeth while a blush formed on her cheeks.

The three friends continued to chat and enjoy their time.

---

The practice hatchet spun through the air.

Cling!

It hit the practice dummy—but he guessed it wrong, as the blade of the hatchet didn't hit the target; instead, its backside did.

"Hah… hah…" Amon exhaled a little.

Currently, he was in one of the training rooms.

"Fuu!... Out of every ten, at least six or seven hits land perfectly."

Amon had been training for hours now.

His main focus was to get used to the hatchet much better.

It was fun to throw a hatchet and crush your enemies' skulls.

That sound of tearing skull or flesh was just so sweet.

'Fuck! My hatchet and sword got lost there… now I need to buy new ones.' It was a sad thing. He needed to spend more money now.

He strode toward the wooden dummy and picked up the fallen hatchet from the ground.

'Only if I could summon it back into my hand… wait! I think I can do that.'

He should have tried it before—since he had a new ability of shadow that could move as he wanted.

He could use it.

Amon stepped away from the dummy. He needed to test it now.

Standing at enough distance to throw the hatchet, the shadow beneath his feet rippled like water.

A small part of his shadow moved upward along his legs, toward his hand, and then wrapped around the blade of his hand axe. It was ghostly and eerie.

"Here goes nothing," he raised his hand back and brought it down in blinding speed. His grip on the hilt loosened mid-strike.

Spin!

A silver-black line formed horizontally, the trajectory aimed at the target.

The hatchet spun, tearing through the air. It was fast—precise.

Cling!

This time, the curved blade stuck in the dummy, tearing through its surface.

"Perfect! Now," he said to himself.

Then,

Amon raised his hand again, his palm open.

The hatchet stuck in the dummy started to tremble.

It pulled free from the dummy's surface and flew back into the air.

'Alright, I want the hilt in my hand.' He focused harder on it.

The shadow covering the blade slowly moved toward the hilt.

And then it perfectly landed back in Amon's hand. He gripped the hilt tightly.

He watched it with fascination, then started laughing.

"Hahahaha~ this is good! This is what I wanted."

It was truly an amazing ability.

"It's late now… I should visit that bastard Arnold," Amon mumbled.

Yes, meeting Arnold was important.