Chapter 83: Something happened
Unedited*
Lucius noticed it too. "Tsk. What a nuisance those bastards are," he said with a sigh.
"Hehe... Who’s the one trying to encroach on their territory? Don’t blame them. They’re just defending it," the Aeon teased.
Lucius grimaced.
"What are we going to do?" the Aeon asked again.
That’s when Clara noticed they were surrounded by those strange shadows. Again.
Lucius sighed. "Tell me one thing. Do you know how to run?" he asked.
"Pretty sure I do," replied the Aeon.
"Well..." Lucius laughed and suddenly started running. "It’s time for you to become an Olympic athlete!"
Without waiting a moment longer, Lucius and Clara were running in a straight line. The Aeon, in its Shadow form, also ran after them as if their lives depended on it.
"If you come across anything head-on, just hit it, no matter what it looks like. We’re not here to figure out if they’re humans or these strange shadows," Lucius shouted, stepping forward with a loud stomp to strike one of the shadows that was about to block their path.
Unlike last time, this time they really were surrounded—at least for the most part—and they tried to escape the village through the same place they’d entered, where some humanoid beasts were waiting.
From behind, Clara cast her magic on Lucius and then unleashed her new spell to help him hold them off while he killed them.
The two understood each other very well and achieved near-perfect coordination. They fought with tremendous skill and managed to shake off several of those creatures.
Meanwhile, from behind, the Eon appeared in its shadow form to finish attacking them and deliver the final blow.
That’s how they managed to break through the barricade and kept running without looking back.
--
New Asturias City.
Lucius and Clara returned as soon as they had the chance, with the Eon still moving like a shadow.
They had achieved their goal there, but they returned with a new mission: to investigate that strange body.
Clara wanted to alert her family, but Lucius wouldn’t let her.
He didn’t know where they came from or what they were; he didn’t know if any of the great families were involved in anything related to it, so it was better to keep it a secret that they knew anything. At least for now.
But investigating would take quite a while... time they didn’t have.
As soon as they returned to the Academy, they were greeted with some news.
"Did you hear what happened this weekend?" Jake asked as soon as he saw them arrive.
"We were out of town," Lucius replied, and after confirming that Clara didn’t know anything either, he looked back at Jake. "What happened?" he asked.
"Fake Rankers broke into some factories and managed to destroy them. One of them was taken down and killed, but the others escaped."
"Wow," Lucius said, surprised. "That looks like something that’s been in the works for quite a while—at least several weeks."
Jake nodded in agreement.
"But that’s not the biggest problem," he said. "While that was happening, some assassins infiltrated the academy and killed several students. Several are missing... Among them is Kael Vorren."
Lucius frowned immediately.
"How is that possible?"
"I wondered the same thing. There have been several founding families in the city recently. Valerius Asturias has his full attention on her. The old families are all here. The principal has been in the city for over two months... How on earth did they infiltrate?"
"Killing several students and kidnapping others... It doesn’t make much sense to me. There’s something strange going on behind the scenes," he said. "Especially since he was a Vorren. Along with you, the judges considered the two of you the most talented in the department!"
"But now no one knows where he is. Not even a single strand of his hair was left behind."
Lucius didn’t know what to say to that.
"Did you manage to find out where those guys were from? Since it happened around the same time the Fake Rankers attacked, that means one of the two was a distraction. Considering there were kidnappings on one side and just destruction on the other, it’s already clear which one was the distraction."
Jake sighed and shook his head. "We couldn’t catch anyone. However, we have videos. That’s one of the reasons I called just the two of you." He pulled out a high-tech, privacy-protected laptop and began playing a holographic video.
The video showed a group of people entering the academy. They were humans.
Nothing but humans.
But...
Lucius’s eyes gleamed intensely.
Those attacks and those movements... "Aren’t they from those humanoid shadows we encountered in the forest?"
He asked Jake to replay the video several more times after watching it all the way through...
In the end, he was completely certain. They were one and the same.
"If you happen to see these people, report it to the academy or any of the major families. They’ll be able to track them down. Don’t fight them. People who were in areas not covered by the cameras say they fought them, but they were pretty strong. So it’s best to avoid them and just report them," Jake said.
Lucius and Clara nodded. They hadn’t said anything about the discovery yet.
"If you could send that video to our devices..."
"I will." Jake nodded.
"All right, Professor." Lucius thought he could leave, but Jake spoke again after putting away his laptop.
"The other reason... is that, because of Kael Vorren’s disappearance, they’re looking for a new leader for Class A." Jake pulled out an invitation. "This is only given to those who are qualified to try. I was told I could give it to you."
"Me?" Lucius asked, puzzled. "I’m only in Class C."
"They’re looking for people from all classes because no one in Class A wants to fill the vacancy left by Kael Vorren." Jake laughed and pulled out another document. "In fact... so far, no one has accepted. Because to take Kael Vorren’s place, they have to face Class A’s second student leader and beat him fair and square."
"Are they even looking among the lower classes, just for that reason? Why don’t they just appoint that second leader as the leader?"
"He doesn’t want to either."
"I see." Lucius grabbed the invitation and read it. "So we have to face the guy known as Dragon Eye..."
"Are you afraid? Dragon Eye has a better theoretical eye than Kael Vorren. If you competed against him at that party... you might not win."
Lucius scoffed. "Why do people suddenly keep asking if I’m afraid of something? Tsk. I don’t know the meaning of fear, Professor Jake." He put the invitation away. "You can tell the professors I’ll accept it. But if I win, this girl is coming with me to Class A."
Jake nodded. "No problem. But, again, there’s something else."
"What is it?"
"The Qualifying Tournament has been moved up."
"Hm?" This really took Lucius by surprise. "Why?"
"Two of those who died... were in the academy’s Top 10."
Lucius frowned again.
’Strange...’
"Apparently, the intruders were out to kill the most powerful students. Fortunately, Darius wasn’t at the academy, so he’s safe. But two dead, one injured, and one missing among the students with the greatest potential. The administrators were alarmed and had to bring him here, since they couldn’t afford to keep losing students."
Lucius nodded. "They need them to go to the Capital because that’s where the guilds are and where most of the A-Rankers are," he surmised.
"Exactly," Jake confirmed his assumption. "I remember you told me you wanted to participate. There’s only a month left—are you going to do it? The next tournament might not be for another year and a half."
"Of course I’ll take it," Lucius replied with complete confidence.
Jake, contrary to what Lucius had expected, let out a long sigh and looked toward the classroom next to his office.
The other students were waiting there...
"Will you leave them in Class C?" he asked. "I think they’ve all grown fond of you."
"Well, I think they’ll be fine. We’ll keep working in the workshop. Besides, if I make it to Class A, I’ll be able to help each of them move up individually. They’ve improved dramatically over the past few months. On their own, they could make it all the way up to Class B."
Jake nodded. "That’s something I didn’t expect, so I have to commend you. I’ll respect whatever decision you make."
Lucius nodded. He had already made up his mind. In order to make his way to the Main Academy, he planned to do something nearly impossible: take an F-Class all the way up to a B or A Class, with the goal of earning enough points to qualify for a high-level workshop at the academy.
However, he couldn’t control what happened in the world, nor could he control unforeseen events like these. Faced with the helplessness of being unable to achieve his original goal, he had to find an alternative.
What better than to advance directly to Class A and, from there, earn points in different ways?
Lucius didn’t need to think too hard. This was his best—and only—option at the moment.
After that, class began. It went on as usual.
Neither Lucius mentioned anything, nor did Jake announce it. Clara remained silent for the same reason.
The next morning was when the bombshell dropped.
Lucius Asturias had agreed to fight the Dragon’s Eye to become the new Leader of Class A!
Despite the many problems plaguing the city, the students were still excited about this.