Rising of the Running God

Shall We Do This?

The 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' of awe continued for almost an entire minute as everyone's eyes were looking at the son of the Prince of Explorers.

As for Vayne, he made sure not to stand out; his hood, fully covering his face as he imitated the others as they stared at Vale. Vayne, however, could not help but feel slightly irritated— his fate was practically sealed by Vale's mother, but it was ultimately him that betrayed him.

By all means, he should feel enraged just by looking at him— but he was not, he was just irritated and annoyed. He and Vale could have really been close if it wasn't for the simple fact that he tried to kill him.

And so, Vayne could really only let out a sigh. He didn't return home immediately so that he wouldn't meet anyone from the Valentine manor.

But now here they are, the very patriarch of the family and his youngest son.

[Some of you may think that I introduced my son as a favor, but no,] Valerion then raised his hand as he gestured to the examinees to quiet down,

[In fact, I introduced him to all of you as a form of challenge. If he manages to not pass the 1st Exam, then all of you would go to the next round.]

"!!!"

And then, just like that, the eyes that were previously looking at Vale filled with envy and awe instantly turned into the eyes of a predator.

But after a few more moments, most of those eyes sobered down.

To try and stop the son of Valerion? They weren't stupid— there was life after this exam. If Valerion's son happens to gain a grudge against them, then even if they manage to become an Explorer, their life will be hard.

That is the kind of influence Valerion has.

[That is all I wished to say. May strength be at your side during this test,] and with those words, Valerion stepped away from the voice amplifier, waving and brushing his coat for dramatic effect.

"..." Vayne could really twitch his eyes at the scene. No wonder Vale grew up the way he did. But now, Vayne finally discovered that it wasn't only his condition that is at fault for his short stature— Valerion wasn't that tall as well.

"Oh man, Prince Valerion is too cool," Mathilda almost let out a squeal.

"He's not a prince, and I think he's a bit overrated," Mattheus followed.

"Who asked you? Jealous because of how cool he is?" Mathilda scoffed, "Just watch, I'm going to have his babies in the future. What do you think, Vayne? Isn't he cool?"

"He—"

"Don't listen to her, Vayne," Mattheus stepped closer to Vayne, "Anything that comes out of her mouth is bullshit."

"What? You're the bullshit."

"..."

[Everyone, calm down.]

Fortunately for Vayne, before the siblings could once again bombard his ears with their never-ending arguments, another figure from the front spoke— this time, it was a bald old man.

[I will be announcing the first test.]

And as soon as he said that, most of the examinees closed their mouths as they all looked to the front.

[As Explorers, what do you think is the single most important goal we should strive to achieve?]

"...To be first."

[To be first….]

Vayne could really only glance at Mattheus, who seemed to be whispering to himself.

[It doesn't matter how insignificant and how little your discovery is; whether it's an undocumented piece of rock, a beast, a new land— it doesn't matter…

…what matters is that you are the first to discover it. Because that is how you get placed in history.]

"..."

[No Explorer gets put in the books by being the 2nd. I want all of you to remember that,] the bald man then closed his eyes, 

[And so, for the first test…

…a Race!]

And as soon as the bald man said that, the hall became even brighter, with the lights almost trailing in the ceiling as it finally revealed the hall in its entirety— and it was long.

Vayne's suspicion was right; the undergrounds of the Explorer Association most probably covered the entire city of Termont itself. This hall, in particular, was long enough that it probably covered the diameter of the city.

For them to be able to build something like this… perhaps it is to be expected from Explorers.

[At the end of this great hall is your destiny!] The bald man continued to talk as he pointed to the other end of the gigantic hall,

[But as in life, not all of you are destined to greatness! Only the first 300 will be able to move on to the next phase of the exam!]

Valerion, and the rest of the people behind the bald men all started moving away to the side of the hall,

[The ring of a bell starts the race, that is all,] and with those words, the bald man also walked away; taking the microphone along with him.

And as soon as the bald man's words echoed through the ears of the examinees, they all looked at each other.

"..."

"..."

"That's it?"

"Did that geezer just leave?"

"What about the rules?"

"Does this mean… we can hurt another examinee?"

And soon, most of their eyes turned to Vale. They didn't really need to win the race— they just needed to make sure Vale wouldn't and they would all pass.

And so, almost as if making a silent contact, the examinees that were near and close to Vale all nodded their heads at each other.

As for Vale, the only thing he could really do was let out a sigh as he looked at his father, who wasn't even looking at him and just chatting with the other Explorers, almost as if he didn't just announce to the world to sabotage his son.

And before he could even express his dismay, the sound of a bell rang throughout the entire hall.

"!!!"

And without even a second after, the two men standing on each of his sides suddenly lunged at him. As they did so, however, a small smirk crawled on Vale's face; and with a release of his breath— a thunder reverberated in the air.

Vale leaped forward, leaving the ground behind him to shatter and be blown away; burying the two men that sadly tried to gang up on him.

"He… he's getting away! Chase after him!"

"Nope, no fucking way. I'm just going to have to win this race!"

And just like that, the silent contract was broken as most of them already gave up on trying to gang up on Vale as they watched him destroy the ground with each of his steps.

He clearly had some sort of Blessing— that fact alone made him dangerous… the others, however, were not.

And so, a few seconds after the bell rang, all the examinees either tried to win the race fair and square or tried to beat up the people beside them.

Well, all of them except for one.

"..." Vayne was still standing on the starting line; unsure of what to do.

Vale's presence in the examination made everything complicated for him. One way or another, the two of them would meet if Vayne continued on— and he wasn't ready to reveal himself yet.

Valerion was also here, who knows what he will do if he found out his other son miraculously survived— no. Valerion didn't matter; Vayne wasn't even sure if Valerion knew his face.

But still, Vale does.

Should… he just try next year? It would also give him enough time to fully adapt to his Bles— No.

He is here now, nothing should ever change that. He had always been physically weak, and the only reason he held on for as long as he did was because of the hope of a better destiny.

And this is it.

His destiny was at the end of this hall…

…the only thing he needed to do was take it.

"..." Vayne closed his eyes; taking a deep breath as he crouched to the ground. And after a few seconds, he tore off a small part of his cloak, before carefully ripping two holes in it.

He then turned his head down, slowly taking off his hood and then tying the cloth around his head.

"...This should do," he then whispered to himself as he slightly adjusted the cloth, before covering his head again with the hood. Most of his forehead was now covered, all the way to the bridge of his nose— the two holes he made, revealing his bright green eyes that were staring at the race happening in front of them.

"..." Vayne once again took in a deep breath as he kneeled, placing both of his palms on the ground as he did so. He then slightly wiggled his feet, causing them to slightly dig into the soil.

"Well then…"

And with a release of his breath, all the noise that was happening around him almost ceased; the blades of grass that danced due to the madness that went through them, now slowing down to rest almost as if frozen.

Vayne could feel his head being drowned in molten sand; his eyes as if being held and crushed by a giant's hand. His body wanted to vomit, he wanted to stop as it didn't want to feel the pain that clawed through his flesh and bones.

But for Vayne, stopping was no longer an option.

This pain was nothing. It was nothing compared to all the years of isolation.

It was nothing compared to all the years of pain that his legs felt just by a whiff of air brushing through it.

The years of just looking through his window.

The years of listening to the whispers of the walls.

The years of feeling worthless.

The years of feeling unwanted.

The years of feeling unloved.

All of it ends now.

His eyes were only staring at one thing— destiny.

"...Shall we do this?"