Chapter 135- Poison

Chapter 135: Chapter 135- Poison

Chapter 135- Poison

Time passed rather quickly for all the candidates in the building as they raced to finish as much of the test as possible on the first day. They knew that the first day was crucial, as it is when they are at their peak, both mentally and physically. Who knows how they feel on the second and third day when they only have a few hours left before the end of the test.

However, fortunately or not, the first 6 hours passed rather peacefully, with no major events occurring. The entire building was quiet and almost dead. However, there was clearly an air of pressure looming everywhere one would go. The building itself was bland in design except for the necessities of the candidates, like food and a place to rest.

As for Rize, Venera, and Rose, after having lunch and discussing what they wanted to do, they returned to the class to continue their test. The process for them was much simpler than for the rest of the candidates, even if everyone there was considered among the elite of the elite. The trio was storming through the test as if it were nothing.

What would take the others several minutes to solve, they would solve in one minute or less. That cut down their time by almost half or more. By the time the sun was slowly descending on the other side of the horizon, they finished 6 subjects and were working through the seventh at a rapid pace.

"Sigh, this is a bit exhausting." He stretched his limbs as he muttered and looked at his progress. ’I’m almost halfway through, and it isn’t even the end of the first day yet. That’s not too shabby.’

Since they agreed to finish as quickly as possible and get out of this place, Rize accelerated his progress even more. What he learned during this test was how amazing Essence was at making him think faster and smarter. He had never known before that it could boost his mental abilities so much, but it did, and it was the reason why he was working this fast.

’I’m gonna finish this last subject and then end it for today. It’s almost night.’ He thought to himself as he stared outside. The sky was growing darker, and the room was lit up with the neon lights above their heads.

So far, no one has left the class yet, and no one has even gone to eat lunch. They were so intensely focused that they even forgot that they could just take a break. The fear, however, kept their bodies active and their minds fully aware. Rize scanned the room for a second; he focused on his work again.

A while later, he finished the last paper of the 7th subject as he finally put it away and looked at the rest. He had 10 more subjects left, with the majority of them being Essence Subjects, so they were bound to be a bit more complicated.

’I’m done with all the useless stuff. Tomorrow, I should be able to finish at least 7 subjects and the last three the day after.’ He thought to himself as he yawned and stood up to leave.

But just as he was about to tell the supervisor to take his test, one of the candidates a row away from him suddenly grabbed his head as he dropped the pen and started breathing heavily.

"Hm?"

"Agh... AGH!!!!!"

Then, he screamed loudly as he dropped to the ground while grabbing his head. "My head!!! It hurts! It hurts so much!!!!"

The entire classroom looked at him with shock in their eyes. Nobody understood what was going on as the boy twisted and turned around in his place, almost as if he was possessed.

"What is going on?"

"Why is he screaming?"

"MY HEAD!!! IT HURTS SO MUCH!!! PLEASE!!! SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP!!!!"

The entire class immediately stood up as they realized that the situation was bad. The supervisor rushed to the boy to check his condition.

"What is happening to him?"

"Is he having a mental breakdown?" They asked each other, not knowing what was happening. As the woman tried to stop him from moving, she instantly noticed something on his body that immediately alerted her.

His face was completely red, and so were his eyes. Her expression darkened as she picked the kid up and rushed to the door.

"Nobody moves from here. I will be back in a moment."

The entire class fell into silence as the woman left in a hurry with the boy in her arms. Rize blinked slowly before he looked at Rose.

"Did you see that, Rize?" She asked.

"You mean his face?"

"Yeah..." She said with a suspicious look on her face.

The two didn’t need to say anything to know what the other was thinking of. The marks on his face and his reaction could only be one thing.

’Poison.’ Rize frowned. ’That guy is almost certainly poisoned. But how did he get poisoned?’

Rize was certain that getting poisoned, especially for an awakened, is a rare case. Normal poison is usually not effective, so a special poison or venom from a very special place could possibly have an effect, and even then, it isn’t that common for awakened to be affected by it. Their essence is extremely potent in neutralizing any sort of foreign body that tries to enter the host.

’That could not have been food or anything he could touch around here.’ Rize frowned. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the possible reason for what happened was. Someone has poisoned him.

That idea, as quickly as it came to his mind, made Rize feel a chill run down his spine. ’We have to wait before fully confirming if it’s really true or not. Maybe that isn’t poison after all.’

Rize knew the gravity of that possibility, as it would completely change this entire test. It wouldn’t be the most important thing anymore.

The class kept murmuring amongst themselves as they waited for the supervisor to come back and explain what happened to their peer. Nobody could find the strength to continue writing down the answers.

"He must’ve been overstimulated from all the stress and had a mental breakdown."

"For someone to already collapse when the first day isn’t over yet..."

"This is so bad. Are we really this screwed?"

The atmosphere, as pessimistic as it was, reached a new low. Everyone already felt despair trying to finish as much as possible before the end of the day, and now seeing one of them lose his mind because of the test, as they assumed.

However, the only two who knew the truth knew that this could be far worse than anyone could imagine.

Minutes passed slowly, and there was no sign of the supervisor. The candidates started growing nervous and worried. They had already heard of the first death in the first test, and if another happened, what would people think of this entire test? Is it the deadliest yet? Or perhaps even worse things are going to happen?

Nobody truly knew what to expect anymore, and that, in and of itself, was a very nerve-wracking thing in an already very nerve-wracking environment like this test.

However, eventually, the supervisor came back to the class with a dark expression on her face. She stood before the class and scanned the faces of everyone there extra carefully. Then, she exhaled and spoke.

"Is there anyone here who is a friend of or knew that candidate?" She said. "If yes, raise your hand."

Nobody raised their hand at all as they looked at one another. Melissa sighed before she continued.

"He is very sick, and I’ve handed him to the medical specialist to take care of him. He should be fine. However, I must say that what happened isn’t a mental breakdown, nor is it a result of stress." The woman looked around the class for a second. "Your peer has been poisoned, and it’s quite the potent poison that kills its target in a few minutes if not immediately treated."

"What?!"

"Poisoned?!"

"Why?"

"How could that be?!"

"Did he eat something bad?!"

Rize and Rose’s expressions darkened upon hearing the confirmation. The two could barely contain their reactions.

"What happened here is of utmost importance, and I need all of you to cooperate if you know anything about this. The test will continue normally, but I want to have an individual conversation with each one of you once you finish. Please continue."

With that, she sat down and kept staring at the class. Nobody immediately returned to work as they tried to absorb the information.

"Why would he be poisoned?"

"Was it the food?"

"Or maybe something in the air?"

"What the hell..."

"What if that happens to me too?"

"Are we also poisoned?"

The varying reactions grew more and more paranoid. The fear of ending up like that kid grew slowly in their hearts.

Suddenly, what was their biggest worry earlier... fell back to the second position.