Chapter 134- Sour Mood

Chapter 134: Chapter 134- Sour Mood

Chapter 134- Sour Mood

After walking out of the classroom, Rize stared left and right curiously. The corridors were completely empty and quiet except for the sounds of distant murmurs. He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

’It feels so odd to leave a test early like that.’ He thought to himself. ’But that test is really not that hard so far. I was able to finish two subjects even though they’re among the easier subjects that I’m comfortable with.’

Rize was a bit worried before the start of the test that something might get him stuck, but so far, he was able to do everything perfectly, and that put him at a lot more ease as he walked through the corridors of the building.

He looked through the windows at the people testing, and he could see the tension and fear in the eyes of the candidates.

’Even though these are literally the best of the best, they’re all feeling the tension and worry. This isn’t even the full test, guys. Get your shit together.’ He thought to himself as he headed downstairs. He reached the floor where Venera was testing. He suddenly heard footsteps rushing after him.

"Hey, Rize."

"Hm?"

He looked over his shoulder, only to see Rose approaching him in a hurry. He frowned, not expecting to see Rose leave that early.

"Hey, why did you leave?" He asked.

"Well, I was growing a bit bored, and I did finish a good part of the work. I don’t want to spend hours solving everything in one sitting."

’Hm, I forgot how smart Rose is... She’s a very good student.’ He mused. ’However, the fact she left at the exact same time as I did...’

Rize didn’t know whether he liked how much Rose kept following him or not. They seemed to come across each other very often lately, and that was a bit too out of his comfort zone. Even if the story is different now, Rize knew not to just casually befriend another main character in the story. They were all trouble magnets with varying degrees of disaster. Rose, being the second heroine in the story, had a massive story arc.

One that even Venera’s could barely exceed. The story had Kaizer going through hell with Rose, and that was more than enough to tell him that she would be trouble if he got too close. However, he also can’t just shoo her away, as that would probably cause him even more trouble.

Rose wasn’t the kind of person he wanted to antagonize, at least not when he was still so weak and incapable of defending himself against danger.

"Where are you heading?"

"I wanted to explore the building and maybe get a snack," Rize replied.

"Can I tag along? I don’t have anything else to do."

"Yeah... sure," Rize replied. ’I don’t know if Venera will like that or not, but I really don’t have a choice here. I hope she understands.’ He smiled wryly to himself as the two started walking.

"How did you find the test, Rize?"

"It’s definitely on the tougher side, but it’s not anything crazy in my opinion. Everyone here could solve most of it with enough time and focus. But..."

"The question is, how are they going to deal with the pressure?" Rose asked. "This test definitely would take more than three days to finish for most, even if they spend most of the day doing nothing but solving the problems. It would still be barely enough and extremely exhausting."

The entire test itself was perhaps not even the biggest challenge; rather, what was required to pass it was what could be a huge roadblock for the candidates. Everyone was clearly stressed about the time as they realized how utterly ridiculous this test was.

As time ticks, the pressure will increase, and the fear of failing will become their biggest nightmare. Rize would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested in seeing what they do.

"I can guess many will create groups and alliances to try and solve the tests together as fast as possible."

"Or maybe even divide the work based on who is better in every subject," Rose said. "However, it’s a bit odd that they are allowing us to share questions and answers. That feels like it robs the test of the pressure a bit."

Rize had the same question, and it felt quite odd for the academy to give them such leeway out of nowhere and for no apparent reason. Except Rize had a suspicion as to why they did that.

"It has something to do with the second part of the test." He said coldly.

"The second part?"

"Yeah, we still don’t know what the second part of the test is, and they seem to keep it a secret until everyone is done or until someone finishes the test. For some reason, they want as many people as possible to finish the test." He said as he squinted his eyes and stared outside. ’But what could that test be?’

Rize had a hunch that it wouldn’t be like anything they’ve experienced so far. Something far different and far more challenging than any of the tests they had undergone so far.

"That makes sense. But the academy has been moving quite differently recently. They’re more aggressive with their approach." Rose said. "I don’t know if it’s just because of the increased number of candidates or if they really want to take this approach."

While the tests were always hard, this year’s exam felt almost like a brutal war for survival. The first test, being a full-fledged battle royale for badges, was just something nobody expected.

"We will see how things go, I guess," Rize said.

"What things?"

At that moment, the two heard someone speak behind them. Turning around, they saw Venera standing there with her arms crossed and a cold look on her face. She gave them both a suspicious glance before she approached them.

"What were you two talking about?"

"The test and what could happen later on," Rose replied. "It seems things might not be as simple as we expected."

"They never are," Venera replied with a harsher tone than usual. "But the test so far isn’t hard. Did you face any struggles, Rize?"

"No, I finished two subjects, and I plan to finish a few more before the end of the first day." He replied. "What about you?"

"I finished 2 and a half and left when three hours had passed. I’m glad to hear you’re doing well." Venera replied.

’What a freak of nature. I didn’t even stop for a second, and yet she still somehow finished more work than I did.’ Rize smiled faintly.

If he and Rose were terrifyingly good at academics, Venera was perhaps the best in the world. Her brain thinks faster than anyone else’s when it comes to such things, and she almost has a natural talent for it all. Her memory could even be considered better than everyone else’s in the world.

The two of them simply can’t keep up with her, for now at least.

"Should we go get something to eat?" He asked.

"Sure," Venera replied as she walked past them without looking back.

"Is she in a bad mood?" Rose asked with a confused look on her face.

"I don’t know..." Rize muttered. ’I sometimes don’t understand Venera whatsoever. Maybe she is just thinking about the necklace?’

With confused looks, the two followed the princess down to the first floor. There, they found the cafeteria, which was completely empty. However, there were workers there, preparing food and all kinds of beverages for the students when they came in to eat.

Seeing students walking in, the workers were quite surprised. They didn’t expect anybody to come so soon. But as they sat down, they were able to order their food.

"They really put a lot of effort into this. The variety of food is impressive." Rize said as he checked the menu. There was food from every corner of the world and even traditional dishes for particular countries.

Since the academy accepts people from all walks of life and all places, they wanted everyone to feel comfortable there, and food was one of the ways people felt that comfort. After that, Rize looked at Venera and asked.

"So, what’s the plan now? Should we finish as soon as possible or stretch it for the full three days?" He asked.

"Why would you want to stretch it?" Rose asked.

"Maybe that will be more advantageous for the next part of the test?" He shrugged. "We still don’t know what will happen. It could be that finishing early would screw us over."

Rize had put every possibility into consideration. He knew the academy wouldn’t really make things so simple.

"That is true. It could happen." Venera said. "But, at the same time, we must remember. What is the goal of the academy from all these tests?"

"..."

The two stared at each other and then at Venera.

"It’s to get the best possible talents and the most outstanding individuals in the world and hone them. Why would they punish us being better than everyone else?"