The voice spoke more forcefully this ti, as if it were insolent not to recognize him.
"Down here!" the voice said, with a mixture of irritation and amusent.
I slid my gaze a few inches toward the ground and there, almost hidden in the crowd, was the figure of Veronica Glass, the always imposing and disconcerting dragon slayer. Her gaze pierced completely.
"Follow ." Her tone was direct, straightforward, as if she had no ti for anything else.
I didn’t know what was going on, but sothing in her gaze told this was more than just a coincidence. The way she was watching left no doubt: she was expecting sothing from . And if Veronica Glass was involved, it certainly wasn’t sothing trivial.
Without thinking twice, I followed her, pushing my way through the crowd that had ford in front of the plank. My mind sotis raced, trying to guess why Veronica was looking for , but all I could think of was one thing: the fact that my na wasn’t on the list. Had soone manipulated the results? It couldn’t be a coincidence.
Veronica walked with firm steps, wasting no ti. She didn’t look back, but I could feel her imposing presence. I knew it wasn’t the ti to ask, but curiosity was beginning to simr inside . The curiosity was growing the more ti passed; although it wasn’t unbearable, it was becoming annoying.
Finally, when we left the bustle of the board and headed toward a secluded corner of the academy, I don’t know why she didn’t go to her office. I wanted to ask, but she stopped and stared at .
"The thing about that list is that we can’t determine the complexity of its answers." Her voice, calm but determined, made finally understand what was happening.
I I remained silent, waiting. And then, without further ado, he continued.
"The way I analyze each question is truly exquisite... nothing like this has been seen since the great sage Marlin. That’s why we want to study your answers a little more."
"What did I do?" I asked myself as a growing sense of panic enveloped . The simple fact that they wanted to study my answers ant they were planning sothing else with my exam. I didn’t know if it would be beneficial or, on the contrary, detrintal—if it would have detrintal consequences for the future. And the more I thought about it, the more confused I felt.
While I was lost in these strange thoughts, sothing changed in the environnt. A presence beca more tangible around , and without warning, Veronica attacked. It was so sudden, so direct, that I didn’t even have ti to react. Her movent was fluid, like a snake coiling around its prey, rcilessly. Before I could even think about dodging, I felt her hand pass by my head, the pressure sinking into my chest, as if an invisible force had stopped in my tracks.
Her mouth, normally sealed in a serious and calculating expression, now curved strangely. "I was wrong," I heard a faint murmur of bewildernt escape her lips. Almost imdiately, I felt a slight pang of helplessness at the realization that there was still nothing I could do to stop her.
Veronica wasn’t my rival; she was my master, and although I knew this in my head, my heart struggled to accept it—soone whose skill with magic and her control over mana was feared by all. She knew how to use her abilities, as well as weapons capable of bending the rules, but she was practically a broken character.
Even so, as a magical warrior, her greed for mana and everything related knew no bounds. I had heard rumors that in mythological tis, the most powerful mages would have lost their humanity along the way, sacrificing their principles in exchange for knowledge.
If I had known things would get so complicated, I wouldn’t have taken the exams so seriously, not even for the system’s rewards. Perhaps if I had acted more cautiously, I wouldn’t have gotten myself into this ss. But it was too late for regrets. The damage was done, and there was nothing I could do to undo what had already begun. The mission seed like a bad joke now.
My mind whirled as the pressure in my chest increased, as if the exit options were slowly closing. However, the thought that tornted most was my exam. I hadn’t been evaluated, I hadn’t completed the full process, so I couldn’t claim the system’s reward. The points I thought I’d earned vanished like a mirage. I felt like I had lost much more today than just an opportunity to improve my strength.
The emptiness in my chest wasn’t just from losing points, but from the feeling that an inevitable storm was brewing soon, one I could no longer avoid. I couldn’t clearly rember what I had written on the exams; when I was answering them, I would sotis fall into a trance and my pen would move involuntarily. But the fact that NOVA, the most prestigious warrior institution in the world, was analyzing my exam only reminded of what I already knew: I wouldn’t get out of this easily.
"Haha..." A long sigh escaped my mouth, an empty sound that seed to reflect everything I felt. Why did this always happen to ? Frustration burned inside , but there was no point in complaining anymore. I had resigned myself. The test was done, and my fate was sealed; no matter how much I complained, nothing would change. I turned slowly, my steps heavy as if each one carried the full weight of my doubts. I glanced at Veronica one last ti before turning around, her eyes filled with a mixture of anticipation and amusent. I tried not to see her, not to allow her gaze to affect any further. With a final effort, I headed straight to my room, without looking back. The walls seed to close in around , the echo of my footsteps echoing in a hallway that, for so reason, felt longer than ever.
When I closed the door behind , silence enveloped , a heavy silence that resembled the emptiness that had already begun to form in my chest. I sank down onto the bed, closing my eyes in the hope of forgetting for a mont what was coming.
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