Chapter 136- Panic And a Puppy

Chapter 136: Chapter 136- Panic And a Puppy

Chapter 136- Panic And a Puppy

Rize clicked his tongue as he stood up and looked at the supervisor. "I am done for today, Miss Melissa. Can I leave?" He asked in a flat tone. His mood was completely ruined. He had grown too relaxed and too carefree and forgot the kind of danger looming around him constantly. He could’ve never imagined someone would dare to poison or break rules like this in a seemingly harmless written test.

"Hm, understood. Can you please come with me for a second?" She asked as she stepped outside.

"Yes."

Looking around at the rest of the candidates, Rize finally walked out of the class with Melissa and moved a good distance away from it. Then, Melissa stopped and looked at Rize.

"What happened, Miss Melissa? What kind of poison was it?" He asked.

"That I do not know yet. It’s quite potent." She said. "And I’m almost certain one of you had given it to him with the aim of killing him or at least harming him."

"But... Why?" Rize asked.

"We still don’t know. I have alerted the Academy board, and they will take the proper steps. The person who did that won’t run away for long." She said. "But I was tasked with making sure that they aren’t in my batch."

’If they couldn’t immediately tell who it was means that the person who poisoned him is aware of how poison could trace back to him.’ Rize fell into deep thought. They were dealing with a very smart individual, and well, the bad part about all of that was the fact that this entire building was filled with smart people and individuals capable of pulling off such a crime without getting busted that quickly.

However, what made it harder was the fact that they don’t even know why that specific candidate was attacked. Was it perhaps a grudge? Or something different?

Rize couldn’t really tell, and it only made him feel even more threatened. What if he was also a target? What if it was some sort of psychological attack on everyone there, threatening them not to try, and making them fail the test or not finish in time?

The possibilities were endless, and the only conclusion Rize could come to at that moment was that he was in danger, and so was Venera.

"So, I’m going to assume that you have no idea what happened?" Melissa asked, snapping Rize out of his daze.

"No, I have no idea." He said. "I don’t even know that boy."

"I see." She said as she squinted her eyes. "Ok, you can leave. I’m sorry for taking some of your time."

"It’s not a problem. I’m... a bit worried that we’re being attacked right now." He said.

"We will make sure to find the culprit. As long as they’re in this city, they have nowhere to go." Melissa said. "We do not take kindly to people trying to tarnish our name or our reputation."

As she said those words, Melissa walked back into the class, leaving Rize behind. He stared at the door before he sighed and started walking away.

’At least the academy is now furious that someone did something like this. You have to be a special kind of stupid to get on the academy’s bad side. They’re definitely going to find him very soon. I really hope it happens before he targets someone else.’ He thought to himself as he walked down the stairs.

’I need to find Venera. We did agree to leave around this time, so she should be anywhe-’

Before that thought could even settle in his mind, Rize suddenly heard a loud shriek echo through the corridors of the building. Instantly, he locked onto the potential source of the noise as he rushed to the scene. There, he found himself standing before the doors of a random classroom.

Inside, a girl fell to the ground, holding her head as she cried and begged loudly. Her body twisted and turned from sheer pain, as if she was being tormented endlessly. Her face started turning red, and so did her eyes, as if she was being suffocated by some invisible hands.

"HELP ME!!! IT HURTS!!! MY HEAD!!!" She screamed again and again as the supervisor rushed to her, and so did the rest of the class.

"Please, move out of the way." The supervisor said as he picked the girl up and rushed out in a hurry. Rize could tell that he was aware of what was happening as he handled the situation very rapidly.

"What... the hell is even going on?" Rize clenched his teeth angrily. ’Is this person toying with us?’

If his suspicion earlier was that it was some kind of personal vendetta, then now he was certain that it was all nonsense... This person was targeting innocent candidates for no reason whatsoever. Not any candidates; these were mostly nobles and sons and daughters of royal families.

Their influence and power were immense even within the academy. Getting poisoned like that wasn’t simply a huge reputation hit to the academy; it was also a massive financial attack. They worked purely off donations, and if these royal families stopped donating, the academy would shut down eventually.

Even at that moment, amidst the chaos, Rize could only imagine the kind of future this could lead to. If the first attack was a ringing bell, this second one was perhaps a huge threat to the academy.

’Who would dare do such a thing? Do they have a death wish?’ Rize frowned. ’Why would they attack others during a test like this?’

With a million thoughts in his mind, Rize rushed his steps to Venera. His worry had increased tenfold after the second attack. He knew that the chance of her being targeted wasn’t that high, but it wasn’t low either.

She was the most outstanding person in this entire generation of candidates, so her being a target was definitely a far higher chance than anyone else. Just that thought alone made Rize’s heart race and his breath quicken as he took a turn and then rushed toward the door.

His eyes were wide, and a million thoughts crossed his mind as what was previously just a side thought became his biggest worry. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how in danger Venera could be while he was idling around.

’Please be ok. Please be ok.’ He thought to himself as he quickly reached the class where she was.

Checking inside, he looked left and right for Venera. However, she was nowhere to be seen. Rize’s face paled, imagining the worst.

’Could those two not be the only ones so far?’ Rize clenched his teeth. ’I need to go look for her in the medical section, or maybe she is fine and just left? No, it could be that she got attacked and was carried there or... Or...’

As Rize felt like his mind was eating itself away from fear and paranoia, he suddenly felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"What?" He quickly turned around, reacting as if someone was attacking him. That was when he saw her there. Her pretty face and calm expression. For a second, he froze.

"Rize? Are you ok? Why are you breathing heavily?" Venera asked gently, a bit confused.

However, before she could even finish another word, Rize suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. The girl was completely stunned for a second as she looked at him slowly.

"Ri...ze?" She muttered, almost feeling as if he was trying to squeeze her to death. She was shell-shocked. Even though she is extremely good at being calm under incredibly stressful situations, in this moment, for some reason, she couldn’t do anything. "What? Huh?"

"I’m so glad... That you’re ok." He muttered as he hugged her even tighter. "I was scared... That something bad happened to you..."

"..." Hearing those words, Venera blinked slowly as she started to understand what he was talking about. She had already heard what happened, and she was heading to see Rize. However, she wasn’t aware of the second situation.

"I’m ok... Nothing bad happened to me." She said as she slowly moved her hand around him and patted his back. For some reason, seeing how terrified and worried Rize looked when he is usually very calm and collected warmed her heart.

’He was this worried about me?’ She thought to herself.

After a few long moments of silence, Rize finally pulled away and looked at her. His beautiful purple eyes were wide open, and his face was still pale. Venera could only admire how breathtaking he appeared at that moment. Even though he was in distress and panicking, she found it oddly... cute.

Rize appeared like a lost puppy that had just found its owner, and that made her feel something... different. However, Venera didn’t understand what it was as she focused on the matter at hand.

"Are you ok? Do you need water?" She asked.

"No... No, I’m fine..."