Noah opened his eyes slowly. The pain in his stomach was still there right when Natasha hit him in the solar plexus.
The young man got up immediately and cast his eyes around the surrounding area. He was in the infirmary, and no one seemed to be near him. The bed he lay was surrounded by closed white curtains, so Noah couldn't see his surroundings.
"The bleeding hasn't stopped. I've only seen something like this. It seems Noah is the only one who knows how to stop it."
"Really? Unfortunately, Noah is still unconscious."
"I'm here," Noah announced, drawing the attention of the two women talking.
The curtain to the right of Noah's bed opened, and Instructor Misa arrived with one of the doctors in the infirmary. Misa smiled to see Noah was fine. The crushing blow from Natasha didn't seem to significantly impact Noah.
"Thank goodness you woke up fast. Are you alright?" asked Misa, looking worried.
"I'm fine. It's just my stomach still hurts," Noah explained, pointing at the solar plexus where Natasha had punched her in the arena.
"Put it aside. What happened to Talon?" asked Noah, trying to get up from his bed.
Misa forbade Noah to stand up. He was worried that Noah's condition would worsen if the young man decided to push on.
"Since the sparring match, the wound on Talon's body hasn't healed. Doctor Nana and I have tried our best, but blood still flows from the small wound on Talon's body."
Misa decided to pull back the curtain that covered Talon's bed. Noah could see bandages on several parts of his body, from his arms, waist, chest, thighs, calves, neck, and a small part of his face.
Noah gulped down his saliva. He never thought his third skill would have such a significant impact on Talon's body. Talon's current condition was quite concerning. If they couldn't close the wound, Talon would slowly die of blood loss.
"You attacked Talon with your talent. Can you help stop the bleeding?" asked Misa, pointing at the unconscious Talon.
"I'll try," Noah explained.
His right hand stretched forward, from being clenched to wide open. From the power of his talent, Noah saw the blood from Talon's body begin to flow into Noah's body, which surprised Misa and Nana.
"What a unique talent," Nana noted, never having encountered someone who could control blood.
After all of Noah's blood grains returned to his body from Talon's body. Talon was slowly able to open his eyes, realizing he was lying limply on a bed with many bandages around his body.
"You can check his wound," Noah revealed.
Nana agreed. She carefully unwrapped the bandages on one of Talon's arms. Nana's eyes were shocked as her hands continued to unwrap the bandage, watching Talon's wound heal completely.
"The wound... has disappeared," replied Doctor Nana.
"How did you know?" asked Misa, curious.
"The blood from me stuck to Talon's body works with the characteristics of a sharp, piercing thorn. When I withdrew my skill, the regeneration in Talon's body worked quickly because of the help from my blood," Noah explained.
"You're terrible, Noah. I didn't expect you to have such a talent," praised Talon, casting his eyes sideways to look at Noah.
Noah was still sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling as he realized the strongest cadet in the academy was praising him. Noah also felt proud and happy to have such an ability, but he was only worried about the risks of that power that Noah didn't know yet.
"So what about the sparring?" asked Noah, looking at Misa.
"Mathias is still doing it, but he's become gentler than before. Maybe it's because Miss Natasha scolded him," Misa replied.
"Right! Where is she?" asked Noah, trying to locate Natasha, who had knocked him unconscious.
Misa shook her head, not knowing anything about Natasha's whereabouts. However, the most important thing was that Natasha trusted Misa to look after Noah while he was at the academy.
"Maybe she's back on duty. For now, I will be your guardian and watcher at the academy, Noah." Misa crossed her arms over her breasts and kept her eyes on the right side, watching Noah intently. Noah gasped at that, but the young man found it natural for Misa to say so.
This is based on Noah's talent, which is terrible for some people. Natasha also said that Noah's talent has its own potential aspects.
From the impact on Talon's body from the attack of Noah's third Blood Manipulation talent, it was certain that Misa would take firm steps to keep the victims of Noah's abilities from falling again.
"I don't want a similar incident like Talon to happen to another cadet," Misa explained, Noah clearing his throat in agreement with what Misa had said.
Noah glanced to the side again to see Talon's condition. It was fortunate that Talon had survived and not died, but it would have been a different story if a similar incident had happened to another cadet with less endurance than Talon.
"I understand."
After recovering in the infirmary for a while, Doctor Nana allowed Noah to return to his class, while Talon had to remain there until the final bell rang to restore the amount of mana lost from the young man's body.
Together with Misa, Noah slowly left the infirmary to arrive at his class. It was three o'clock in the afternoon, the last hour until dismissal.
The students had returned to class, but there was no lesson. Mathias had told them to rest after being tired from the sparring.
When Noah arrived at the classroom door, he was immediately greeted with quiet silence. The cadets who used to bully him began to step away. This was after they knew what Noah was capable of.
"What's wrong?" asked Noah, startling them as they immediately turned their attention away from Noah and began to occupy themselves.
Freya rose from her seat, stepping closer to Noah until she was right before him. Freya smiled widely in satisfaction, feeling confident when she met Noah.
"So, my guess was right, was it?" Freya asked.
"I'm sorry I lied to you. I didn't want to tell you I had such a talent," Noah replied, bowing his head.
"That's fine. I understand your reasoning after seeing your powers earlier," Noah explained.
"That was really cool. A power that's both terrifying and cool!" stated the other girl, walking up to Noah.
Noah glanced to the side, as did Freya, who looked at a girl with short, shoulder-length black hair and jet-black eyes.
"Kira?" Freya asked.
The enthusiasm in Kira really surprised Freya. Among all the cadets in the class, whether boy or girl, only Kira had a strong, quiet nature. However, when commenting on Noah's abilities, Kira's personality changed significantly.
"S-Sorry," Kira said softly.
"Thank you for your compliment." Noah smiled as he knelt before Kira, trying to get his eyes level with hers. Kira looked away quickly and returned to his seat, avoiding conversation with Noah.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Noah, curious.
"She's always been like that, quiet and introverted. That's why I was surprised to see her speak out loud to you, which is different from what I imagined about her," Freya replied.
Noah nodded. While talking to Freya, Instructor Mathias returned to the classroom. That sent all the cadets back to their seats.
"Good afternoon, cadets. Before you head home. I have something to tell you about the final exam," Mathias replied.
Mathias' eyes caught sight of Noah in his seat, but following Natasha's orders, he couldn't continue bullying him. Mathias was afraid that if he got angry again, then all the cadets in the class would be injured or even killed.
"The final exam will decide whether you graduate or not. However, at the moment of the exam, many cadets will die," Mathias replied.
"D-Dead?"
"Don't make jokes, Instructor Mathias."
"I'm not joking. This Final Exam has been held since the Beast Slayer was founded. You will go to the restricted district to compete for this," Mathias replied, reaching into his pants pocket and retrieving a diamond-sized pendant with stunning ornamentation and engraving.
All the cadets' eyes were on the pendant, an object the size of an adult man's hand. Noah was sure he could snatch the pendant from the restricted district.
"The instructors will hide the pendant in several places. There are seven pendants for the 10 teams to fight over," Mathias replied.
"Teams?" asked one of the cadets.
"It's not an individual battle?" asked another cadet, Mathias shook his head.
"You've shown your individual skills well. Now it's your job to work as a team to get this thing," Mathias said.
Mathias kept the pendant on his desk as he picked up the file he had brought with him, containing the cadets' names divided into their groups.
"I will read out the names of you and your groups." Mathias began reading the names of the cadets and their groups. Starting from group 1 to the last group. Right on the list of group 6, Noah's name was called out.
"You will be in the same group as Kira and Susan!" announced Mathias. Noah said yes.
He looked at Kira, and she returned his gaze shyly. However, when Noah looked at Susan, her facial expression turned hostile, and she turned away rudely.
"That's the distribution of the groups. I hope you can get ready soon. The final exam will be held when the full moon arrives," Mathias replied.
"That's next week!" insisted several cadets, to which Mathias agreed.
"That's right. Prepare your strategies before the exam, strengthen your magic skills, and get practicing," said Mathias.
"Anyone who fails in this final exam. Then he will have to retake it next year."
***The next day.Noah found it peaceful at the academy. He found no intimidation or bullying from his cadet classmates. Not only were they not bullying Noah, but none dared to approach Noah.Although Noah was avoided because of his talent, Freya still wanted to be friends with Noah. The girl thought Noah's powers were unique, and she wanted to know more about Noah's talents.At lunchtime, Noah and Freya went to the academy's backyard to eat their lunch peacefully —the cafeteria was noisy."Susan is a good girl. Her talent is Cloning; it allows her to create clones that look like her." Freya sat on a garden chair with her legs crossed, her hands no longer holding a sandwich but a packed lunch of fruits and boiled potatoes."She seems to have a problem with me," Noah revealed, raising his head to look at the sky above the garden."I don't know about that. Why don't you try talking to her?" Freya asked, suggesting."I've tried, but she's so rude. I'm at a loss when it comes to talking t
Dr. Nana finished making warm porridge for Kira. Kira accepted the porridge and ate it with gusto. Noah was happy to see her eating the porridge happily."So, you're in the same group for the Final Exam?" Dr. Nana pulled out one of the chairs and sat to the right of the bed where Kira was still lying. Kira was still busy with her food, Noah had to answer Nana's question."Right, with another girl named Susan," Noah said."I always remember those Final Exams, full of suspense and pain," Nana replied.Noah squinted when he heard Nana's statement. None of the three in the group knew exactly what the final exams looked like, especially the suspense and pain Nana had described.The young man only knew that he and his group members
***Two days later.London Cadet Academy."Hey, you already lost against us. You have to keep your word!" Kira sternly spoke to Susan while the class was on lunch break. Noah just watched and didn't help Kira force Susan.Noah was confused. What exactly made her hate him and Kira? Noah didn't feel like he had done anything wrong, intentional or not, to Susan. Kira didn't seem to either —considering Kira's quiet nature."What a noise! Can't you see I'm busy?" Susan asked, showing Kira a book."What's the need to learn that book if you're not training to be strong?!" snapped Kira, trying to snatch it out of Susan's hand.The book Susan was holding was a beast encyclopedia. The 500-page volume contained hundreds of beasts with different characteristics, which had been recorded before.According to Susan, a trainee cadet needs to know the characteristics of the beasts they will fight later. Only a fool would continue to train hard without knowing the weaknesses of the beasts they would fa
***Three days later.London Cadet Academy.Since the night incident, Susan began participating in preparation exercises with Noah and Kira. Not only that, but Susan also participated in explaining about various ordinary-level beasts that she had remembered through the beast encyclopedia.According to Susan, the beasts appearing during the exam would undoubtedly be ordinary-level beasts. The Beast Slayer's higher-ups must have arranged precautions so the cadet candidates would not encounter dangerous level beasts.That day was the last day Noah and his team members practised. Since yesterday, the other teams have stopped training and are fully rested for tomorrow's Final Exam.Noah, Kira, and Susan were forced to use their rest time to practice, especially attack and defense combo exercises. Susan apologized that her attitude the other day was causing Kira and Noah trouble at the moment, Noah and Kira didn't mind at all.The three sat on the arena floor, their bodies covered in sweat.
Noah went through the forest cautiously. He tried to keep a high alert so that he wouldn't get hurt a lot while walking alone in the middle of the forest, especially lest he be attacked by beasts.Screams of pain could still be heard, echoing off every tree in the forest. However, the intensity had decreased compared to when the cadets finished parachuting.There were several possibilities as to why the screams had subsided. Either the person was dead, or they had been rescued by their team members.Noah encountered several beasts with low abilities, such as goblin beasts, insect beasts, and snake beasts. It was easy for Noah to defeat them, especially when the young man already knew the weaknesses of the three beast.He lifted his head and looked up at the sky. The sun had already slipped to the west, a sign that noon was ending."I need to find shelter before nightfall," Noah muttered.Along the way to finding shelter, Noah collected a lot of firewood that he found along the way to
"I heard you managed to defeat Talon. Is it true?" asked Freya's teammate, Noah knew him as Allen."Aren't you from A class?" asked Noah.Allen shook his head. He was from C class, where C class had never had a sparring match with A class. However, news spread quickly among the cadets in the academy, especially about the best cadet being defeated by a loser cadet who couldn't even use magic.Noah had expected the news to spread like a virus through the air so even the cadets in C class would know that Noah had defeated Talon."It seems so." Noah was still standing at the cave entrance, and it was his turn to stand guard in the rain, still falling. The intensity of the rain was not as great as before; only a small trickle remained."No wonder you were able to kill those three beasts," Allen pointed out."I managed to defeat those beasts because I put my training and knowledge of their characteristics to good use. My victory against Talon has nothing to do with my victory against the be
Kira slowly pointed to the stream that flowed right before the cave. The girl explained she had seen a glowing object from within the stream, buried not too deep.Noah, hearing the explanation, felt relieved and calm. If they had gotten the pendant, Noah and Kira needed to continue hiding until the final exam time was over."I thought it was something else, but I was surprised to find out that it was a pendant," Kira replied, releasing her hold on Noah."Now, our job is just to find Susan's whereabouts." Noah returned the precious pendant to Kira, as Kira was the only one with a large backpack behind her back. Kira nodded, accepting the pendant and storing it safely."Did you see where she was?" Noah asked Kira, to which Kira responded by shaking her head.She and Susan parachuted from different planes, also because the screams kept filling the forest, made Kira undo her intention to look for Susan. It was pretty dangerous, according to Kira, if she had searched for Susan's whereabout
***The next day.Noah woke up from his sleep, seeing the sunlight beginning to peek out and illuminate the forest. The young man glanced to the side and saw Kira fast asleep on the wooden hut floor, her tiny body wrapped in a blanket.A faint sound came from outside as Noah tried to slowly open the hut's door. The sound made Noah abandon his attempt."We need to find the rest of the cadet team immediately; perhaps they already have the pendant," says someone sternly, like a leader speaking to his men.Noah peered through the hut's window, seeing that the person in question was Caleb. Caleb's team was near the stream, with his teammates and a woman Noah was familiar with, Susan."It's Susan," Noah whispered.The young man poked Kira's leg, causing the petite girl to wake up instantly and look at Noah, who was vigilantly looking out the hut's window."What's wrong, Noah?" asked Kira."Shush!""Caleb's team is near the river," Noah replied.Kira was startled, sat up slowly, stepped clos