Chapter 100: Road To the Finale [4]

Indeed, upon seeing Ren refuse to let anyone touch the trophy at the center of the hedge maze, even attacking and hurting his own teammates, everyone would curse out Ren for quite a bit.

In their eyes, he had betrayed his own team, the entire academy, and millions of live viewers in the most important moment: the deciding minigame in the grand finale of the Inter-Academy tournament.

Patting his shoulder, I simply responded.

"I can introduce you to the elves!"

The two of us went our separate ways upon arriving back at the Sunken Pearl, Ren having training practice for his minigame team while I headed to the training hall.

Instead of heading straight up to the AI dummy rooms as usual, I reluctantly headed to the second floor and entered a small metal room, identical to the AI dummy rooms.

However, instead of there being a bot lying on the ground, all I saw in the room was a holographic screen.

[Select Reaction Module]

--> [Gridshot]

--> [Spidershot]

--> [Superflick]

--> [Motion Track]

Raising my hands, I tapped "Gridshot."

[Please stay completely still.]

Two steel constraints shot upward from the ground, binding my feet to the ground completely.

[3!]

[2!]

[1!]

[Go!]

In the next moment, a shining blue ball appeared right in front of me, and my Dao instantly jabbed forward, aiming at it.

As the tip of my sword touched the holographic blue ball, it instantly vanished, another one appearing to my left.

...

...

...

[65,000 Points!]

[Rank #1313]

"..."

As the constraints around my feet vanished, I rubbed my sweaty forehead and took a few steps backward, sheathing my Dao.

The worst thing about doing this training was that...I could never tell if I was actually improving, making everything feel useless.

Sometimes, my scores would be higher, and the next module, they would instantly drop.

Sighing, I scratched my head as a familiar light-blue screen appeared in front of me.

===Status Menu===

[User: Ash Fell]

--> Rank: E+

--> Strength: E-

--> Stamina: E-

--> Intelligence: E-

--> Speed: E+

--> Mana Pool: F+

--> Luck: G

[Gift: Death's Ledger] / [Rank: EX] / [Element: Death]

--> [Your eyes may...]

---> [Souls Reaped: 1]

--> [Gifted Ability: Anubis's Ferry]: [Turn Intangible for a short period of time.]

[Skills]

--> [N/A]

[Technique Manuals]

-> {S} [Dance of Ten Thousand Streams]

---> Rooted in ancient Taoist philosophy, this art transforms combat...

At the very least, my stats were growing at an astonishing rate with all the training I had been doing over the past two weeks.

Tilting my head, I glanced at the "[Souls Reaped: 1]" on my status menu, wondering what I would actually receive for reaping more souls.

Additionally, glancing at the sheathed Dao tied to my waist, I gritted my teeth.

According to Grandmaster Kim, I should have been more than ready to advance to the third stage of Martial Arts: A Weaver.

I could cut through mana sword slashes and mana spheres quite consistently, as no matter how much I trained my slashes and jabs, my sword's speed remained the same.

"You must perform these moves over and over again until there is no longer any room for improvement. Even if your sword could be a millimeter more accurate or a millisecond faster, you must continue refining it."

"Sometimes, you may even have to start over from scratch. Do not hesitate to tear apart your previous techniques and start anew."

"It is during this stage that most Martial Artists reach a roadblock."

Grandmaster Kim only repeated those words over and over to me when I asked him after class.

...

...

...

*Ring~ring*

After waking up, I went through my normal daily routine of running, showering, and eating breakfast; the only notable difference was that Evangel was missing from my morning run due to her practice.

Stepping onto the academy's streets a bit later, as there was no class today, I walked down The Sunken Pearl's main streets.

A lively atmosphere flooded through the streets, as countless students guided their parents, who had come to visit the capital for the tournament, through the various buildings.

Reaching the end of the main street, I approached the massive coliseum, the gigantic holograms of a clam and a tree floating above it.

Barriers surrounded the coliseum, and dozens of security guards were spread out around the perimeters, preventing anyone from coming close to the area.

Stepping off the street and into a small patch of grass, I activated Anubis's Ferry and flew upward into the sky...only to be met with a massive barrier of light-blue particles that also surrounded the coliseum.

A mana cage...there was no sneaking in through Anubis's Ferry.

Re-materializing on the ground, I was about to step back onto the main street when a sudden, shocked voice sounded behind me.

"a-a b-bird!"

"Birdman!"

"..."

Looking behind me, I found a small child pointing at me, jumping around and screaming while his eyes sparkled.

Before I could even say anything, a mom quickly appeared and scooped up the child, bowing at me apologetically.

Once again standing still in the small patch of trees, I looked up at the light-blue sky through the branches.

Should...I do anything?

Last time, I had regretted not telling Professor Sooyung about the existence of the Dreg Portal out of fear of being suspected and possibly blamed.

So...now what?

Was I supposed to tell someone that the trophy was going to be tampered with in the hedge-maze minigame or stay silent and possibly regret it again?

No...there was something different, this time.

Last time, only I knew about the Dreg portal...but this time, both Ren and I knew of the trophy tampering.

Clicking my tongue, I stepped back onto the academy's main street, slowly leaving behind the coliseum.

Heading into the first-year building, which was filled with students proudly showing off their classrooms and seats to parents, I made my way to the cafeteria, which was relatively empty.

However, just two minutes after I sat down with my tray.

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

The sound of two trays filled with food dropping onto my table sounded as Grayson and Reed sat across from me with serious expressions.

As if they were students presenting to a teacher, they whipped out a laptop and placed it on the table.

[Why you (yes you, Ash) should root for The Grange]

"..."

Looking at the slideshow open on the computer screen, I couldn't help but ask.

"Do you guys not have better things to do!?"

Shaking his head, Reed looked at me and said eagerly.

"We have the princess's approval!"

Nodding his head in approval, Grayson added.

"The entire team decided this was vital for our victory."

"..."

Holding in a laugh, I watched as they seriously walked through the slideshow, acting as if they were pitching a product to a customer.

"Reason one! The humans made up those baseless rumors about you for no reason."

"Reason two! You have played one match for our team and 0 for the humans."

"Reason three! PLEASE, ASH!, DO IT FOR US!"

"*PFFT*"

No longer able to contain my laughter, I looked down with a grin, my cheeks hurting from laughing so hard.

Looking at their expectant expressions, coupled with the at least thirty minutes they put in to create the slideshow, I eventually said.

"G-go train and win, alright?"

Nodding their heads, Grayson and Reed immediately stood up and cheerfully waved at me before running off.

After finishing my food, I stood up and prepared to leave...only to find two familiar figures walking through the cafeteria's entrance.

Two girls with almond-brown hair, one with short hair and another with hair that stretched down to her waist and matching eyes, talked enthusiastically while walking.

"Cari, the whole family tree will be watching tomorrow, so don't let us down!"

"I told you, Mom, I'll win all the mini-games I'm in, but I can't control anything else."

Looking at Carissa and her mom bicker like best friends, I smiled silently and turned away, avoiding them as they walked past me.

For a moment, I wished my mom could have been here with me...comforting and soothing me like a baby when I left the Dreg Realm barely alive, standing up for me through all the rumors, and cheerfully congratulating me after my win with the elves.

But, alas, I was all alone, and that was it.

Rubbing my forehead, I walked through the cafeteria's exit and back into the hallways, and yet... at that moment.

"Oh dear, is this how you treat your guildmaster?"

"Serena, I told you I haven't decided to join yet!"

"You say that, but who came begging me to help them raid that S-rank dungeon just a few months ago, promising they would repay us?"

"...what do you want to do?"

"I'm hungry, show me the cafeteria."

Strolling through the hallway, Ren awkwardly fidgeted as everyone in the hallway gazed at the woman with long, layered black hair and amethyst-purple eyes walking beside him.

"Is that really her!? The #2 Hero!?"

"What is she doing here...with him!?"