The next day, Leon stood in front of his college gate.
He had bought two new sets of clothes the previous day. Although the loose-fitting fabric no longer clung tightly to his body, it still couldn’t completely hide the muscles he had gained over the past two weeks.
Just as he was about to walk through the gate...
"Leon? Is that you?" A voice called out from behind.
Leon turned around and saw Henry jogging toward him.
"Henry. How have you been?" Leon asked with a smile.
"I should be asking you that." Henry rolled his eyes. "You vanished for two whole weeks. I even went to your house and t Jenny. She said you weren’t ho either. The girl was so worried she even filed a missing person’s report."
Leon scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah... I kind of got trapped inside a gate and only managed to get back recently."
Henry nearly stumbled. "You? Inside a gate?" His eyes widened. "Don’t tell you started working as a porter, carrying equipnt for hunters. But doesn’t that require at least an F-Class license?"
Leon laughed. "Well, buddy, your friend awakened. I’m not a complete dud anymore."
"What?!" Henry looked genuinely offended. "That’s not fair!"
"What’s not fair?" Leon chuckled. "Stop complaining and let’s get to class."
"So what class are you now?" Henry asked eagerly. "F-Class? Or maybe even E-Class? I know that sounds ridiculous, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big, right?"
Leon rely smiled. "Sothing like that."
"That’s not an answer." Henry imdiately wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Tell . Right now."
The two continued bantering as they headed toward their classroom. The mont Leon stepped inside, countless eyes turned toward him.
"Who is that?"
"A transfer student?"
"A transfer student this late? Finals are only two weeks away."
Whispers spread throughout the room.
Then, suddenly, soone spoke up.
"Wait... isn’t that Leon?"
"Yeah. That’s definitely Leon."
The classroom instantly fell silent. Everyone looked at Leon again. This ti, properly. From head to toe.
A mont later, soone gasped.
"Holy shit. It really is him."
Leon couldn’t help but chuckle. He was enjoying the reactions. These were the sa people who had always looked down on him.
The sa people who used to treat him like a joke. Yet now, none of them could hide their surprise.
Leon and Henry walked to their usual seats and sat down.
Not long afterward, the teacher entered the classroom.
The mont his eyes landed on Leon, he froze. For a second, he genuinely wondered if he had entered the wrong room.
Leon looked nothing like the student he rembered. The old Leon had always looked exhausted, pale, and half-dead.
The young man sitting in the classroom now was completely different. Healthy. Energetic.
Well-built. As if he were an entirely different person.
The teacher soon regained his composure and began the lesson.
anwhile, sowhere else at that sa ti...
Two figures were running desperately through a maze of narrow alleys in a sparsely populated district.
One man. One woman.
They were none other than two of the hunters who had returned from the Hidden Realm with Leon and the others. The sa two hunters who had been trapped inside the tower and later chose to stand with Emily.
Their breaths were ragged, faces pale. Fear filled their eyes.
Suddenly, the female hunter stumbled over a loose stone and crashed to the ground.
"Maria!" The male hunter imdiately stopped and helped her up.
"Co on! Get up quickly!"
He practically dragged her to her feet and turned to continue running.
But then...
He froze.
A cloaked figure stood directly in front of them. His entire face was hidden beneath the hood. At the sa ti, more figures erged from the surrounding alleys.
One.
Two.
Three.
Seven in total.
The two hunters instantly felt their hearts sink.
One of the cloaked figures stepped forward. "Tell who killed my younger brother."
His voice was calm. Too calm.
The female hunter trembled. "It was the beasts," she hurriedly replied. "Kael was killed by them. I swear."
The cloaked man stared at her. "The beasts killed him?"
"Y-Yes."
The man remained silent. Then his hand suddenly moved.
A flash. Nothing more.
The female hunter’s eyes widened. A thin red line appeared across her throat. Blood gushed out instantly. She collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
The male hunter’s face turned deathly pale.
The cloaked figure slowly shifted his gaze toward him. "My brother was an A-Class mage with an Earth affinity," he said calmly.
His voice carried neither anger nor sadness.
Only certainty. "If weak nobodies like you managed to return alive, then there is no way my brother was killed by re monsters."
The next mont, he grabbed the hunter by the throat and lifted him off the ground. The man’s feet kicked helplessly in the air.
"I’ll give you one last chance." The pressure around his neck increased. "Tell what really happened to my brother."
The hunter felt his vision blur. His eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets.
"Or else..." The cloaked man didn’t finish. Instead, he increased the pressure a little.
"It... it was a hunter..." The male hunter choked out.
The cloaked figure loosened his grip. The man fell to the ground and began coughing violently.
"Speak." The cloaked man’s voice remained cold. "And don’t dare to lie even a single word."
The hunter nodded frantically. "We were forced into a tournant. Only five people could survive and leave the Hidden Realm.
But before that, we had to kill a female hunter."
The cloaked figure remained silent.
"It was the Scarlet Frost, Emily Flemming of Daselvia."
The man’s breathing beca increasingly erratic. "Most of the hunters chose to comply. They wanted to kill her. Your brother was one of them. But a few hunters stood beside Emily Flemming. And, there was one hunter in particular.
He wore a long coat and a strange mask. He slaughtered everyone who tried to kill Emily Flemming." Fear flashed across his face.
"It was him. I swear. I’ve done nothing wrong. Please let go."
"Is he from Daselvia?"
"No." The hunter shook his head imdiately. "I think he’s from Delvan."
"What’s his na?"
"I don’t know."
The cloaked figure raised his leg high and slamd it on the male hunter’s chest.
Bam!
"You still don’t know?"
The hunter coughed out a mouthful of blood. "I don’t know. But... But, two other hunters were from Delvan. I think one of them knows who the masked hunter is."
"Who?"
The hunter swallowed nervously. "It’s Hudesman. Noah Hudesman."
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