Chapter 139- Culprit

Chapter 139: Chapter 139- Culprit

Chapter 139- Culprit

"What? Why am I unfair?" She asked curiously, almost taken aback by what he said.

"No, it’s nothing." Rize smiled mysteriously before he looked through the window. "It’s already night. Are you going to eat dinner, Venera?" He asked.

"Are you hungry?"

"I’m starving," Rize said. "But what happened earlier makes me question whether we should even eat the food the academy is giving us," Rize said as he scratched his head. "That could be the way the culprit introduced the poison into these candidates’ bodies."

"I doubt they will be able to do it again. Not when the entire place is filled with supervisors who will keep an eye on every moving individual within the building."

Venera knew that the risk was still there, but these people weren’t fools to think they could trick seasoned awakeners who could perceive things far beyond what anyone from the candidates could even start to comprehend. Their first two shots were successful, but the third one could very much spill their disaster.

Whatever their goal is, it would be stupid to try to do it now, of all times when the academy is looking for them.

"Let’s go."

With that, the two left the room and headed to the cafeteria. Almost immediately, they noticed how quiet the entire building was. The news of the attacks had spread, and people were terrified to even go out to eat as they stayed in their rooms while the academy dealt with the problem. Nobody fully understood the kind of danger they were facing, and deep down, they didn’t want to imagine it or think about it.

They couldn’t lose their focus on the test even if they were scared for their own lives at that moment.

So even when they walked into the cafeteria, there were barely any candidates inside. Some still went about their business normally as they didn’t feel as scared, but those were the minority, and Rize and Venera were among them.

As for the workers themselves, there was an air of tension around them, and naturally so. However, the test must keep going until further notice, and they must keep doing their job that they get paid to do.

After ordering their food, they sat down.

"I really don’t like the air surrounding this entire place." He said. "It’s like everyone is suspicious of everyone."

"We just need to keep quiet," Venera said.

A few minutes later, they received the food, and before eating, the two instinctively started inspecting it and made sure it was completely safe to eat. Usually, poisons of this caliber are hard to notice, but that is only when you aren’t aware of them. If an awakened focused their intent on searching for the poison, they would notice it.

’For this type of poison to work, it naturally needs essence infused into it to make it effective against the awakened. That naturally leaves a mark and a trace for us to notice.’ Rize mused. ’Weak awakened probably wouldn’t sense it, but we can.’

Rize’s senses were several folds stronger than any other awakened of his age. It was perhaps his strongest weapon. He was able to notice subtle details at a far higher level, and that helped him in tracing the poison.

"Seems to be safe to eat," Rize said as he inhaled and then took a bite of the food. Even if he was certain that it was fine to eat, it was still nerve-wracking to try the food with everything going on.

But when the taste spread through his mouth, he finally relaxed a bit and continued eating. "It is good."

Venera nodded and started eating with him in silence. They naturally garnered some looks from the people in the cafeteria, but the two didn’t care as they continued eating and minding their business.

As they were like that, suddenly, the door to the cafeteria opened, and a candidate walked in. The two gave the boy a glance before they returned to their food. He didn’t seem like someone they knew. Rize himself was certain he hadn’t seen him before.

"Hey, Venera. You have a bit of sauce in the corner of your lip." Rize said as he pointed at his face.

"Hm? Where?" Venera asked as she started wiping her mouth but didn’t get to the spot.

"I will get it for you," Rize said as he grabbed the tissue and leaned forward to wipe the spot. His face was calm, with a gentle smile on it, while Venera appeared confused and almost embarrassed because she had done something clumsy.

Everything felt normal... At least to Rize, it did. For that moment, he was just enjoying himself with his friend. He didn’t think anything bad could happen. At least not there, right at that moment, when nobody was expecting something bad to happen.

However, for some reason, for a fleeting moment, Rize was leaning forward. His senses, or in this case, his sixth sense, suddenly triggered for no reason. It was very brief, almost so unnoticeable that Rize himself would usually not give it much thought. Being an awakened meant that you are constantly in some level of danger, no matter how low the chance is, so when the sixth sense tells them there is danger, usually, and almost 99% of the time, it is really nothing and just a paranoid false alarm that they develop after years of being awakened.

Nothing around Rize at that moment gives him any reason to feel threatened. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; everyone there was normal and a good distance away from them. Any attack would’ve been too slow for him not to react in time.

Yet, Rize, for some unknown reason, froze as his eyes widened. His heart stopped; his blood rushed through his body as if it had been possessed. A humongous amount of adrenaline coursed through his body, heightening his senses. Every fiber of his being led his eyes to look at one person.

The boy that just walked in, who was standing near the counter ordering food. He had his face turned in the opposite direction, with his arms crossed. However, Rize’s eyes locked onto the boy’s fingers, which were barely visible under his arms. He saw how his thumb and index finger moved subtly.

He was holding something. Rize couldn’t really see what it was, as it was barely visible. However, when his fingers moved, his alarm reached a whole new level as suddenly... Something shot out of the boy’s hand.

The projectile was so small that it was smaller than a needle and moved as fast as a bullet. Nobody even noticed it at that moment... Except for Rize.

The projectile cut through the air like a flash and its target... Much to Rize’s horror... Was Venera.

Instantly, as if he were possessed by some sort of outer power, Rize lunged forward, pushing the plates away as he flew toward Venera.

*BANG*

The entire table flipped over as the food flew everywhere.

"VENERA!!!!" Rize yelled as he pushed the girl to the ground. At the same exact moment, the projectile passed through.

*Swish*

Venera hit the ground, and Rize fell on top of her as the two rolled a few times.

"Hah... Hah... Hah... Hah..." Rize breathed heavily as he instantly lifted himself and checked Venera’s body. "Are you ok, Venera? Talk to me. Are you ok?"

"What... happened?" Venera asked as she opened her eyes. "What... did you do, Rize?"

The boy didn’t reply when he noticed that she wasn’t hit by the projectile. Then, his eyes shot up. The entire place fell silent as they looked at Rize with wide eyes. The boy ignored them completely as he locked onto the single person he wanted.

The boy stared back at him, clearly shocked at what he just witnessed. The shock made him drop his plate as he took a step back.

Rize clenched his teeth and stood up. After a fleeting glance, the boy suddenly turned around and started running as fast as he could.

"You won’t," Rize said as he channeled his essence and rushed after him.

"Rize!!"

"Call for the supervisors! That guy is the culprit!" Rize yelled as he left the cafeteria in a hurry, chasing after the boy. "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The boy didn’t listen as he continued running as fast as he could. At the same time, he turned around and aimed his weapon at Rize, sending two projectiles toward him. Rize instantly jumped to the side, dodging the attacks with immense proficiency.

’You bastard.’ Rize clenched his teeth. ’Those are the poison darts, aren’t they? Is that how he was able to target the candidates?’

Rize knew that if he got hit by one of those, he would suffer a lot, and it could be huge trouble. But luckily, he was able to dodge them.

’But, he’s surprisingly fast.’ Rize thought to himself as he channeled even more energy, closing the distance between them rapidly.

"You got nowhere to go, you hear me? Even if you escape from my clutches now. They will catch you before you take a step out of this building. You’re done for." Rize said, trying to make him stop as they moved left and right through the corridors of the building.

"S-Shut up!! You don’t know!"