Chapter 120 SON

Now what to do…? Sinia wondered, with one team short a member. I can’t just make a three-person team. It’d be unfair to those students. What should I do?

She looked at the professors, but the same baffled expression was etched onto their faces.

Should I put the strongest kids on that team, then? Her face was uncertain.

“Hey,”

Behind her, in the room built for the spectators, where guests sat around separate tables for each group, Vionette called out to Sinia. She, Noa, Lina, and Elina sat at one table, with the butler Harn standing near them.

“Cute Headmaster!”

Sinia snapped her head towards them in fury. “Who the hell is ‘the cute Headmaster’!? I’m not a kid!”

“Hey, if you’re short a member,” Vionette said, raising her hand and pointing it at Lina, “let her in on the fun.”

Lina, who had just noticed the finger aimed at her, stopped chewing on the steak laid out on the table.

That kid? Sinia narrowed her eyes. What happened? A few days ago, she was just a Vital Lifeform. Now she’s an Augmented Lifeform?

‘That kid? Isn’t she younger than them?’ a royal muttered.

‘Just let her. If our son defeats her, the sister of Crimvane’s king, it will boost our reputation tenfold,’ the woman beside her whispered.

‘I agree.’

“So, what do you say?” Vionette asked, smiling at Sinia.

“Okay, since no one seems to object, I’ll allow it.” Sinia sighed. “But she will also have to follow the others’ rules.”

Lina looked at Noa. “Can I go?”

“Yeah, why not?” He jerked his head to the side, gesturing towards Sinia. “Go have some fun.”

Smiling with a childish fire in her eyes, Lina rose and walked towards the glass windows. This is great. I can finally try out the Blossom Core.

Vionette watched Lina’s back and extended her hand towards her, fingers straight, a fond smile on her lips.

<You won’t fit in with the others in those clothes.>

She clasped her fingers shut.

Lina’s current clothes dissolved from top to bottom, and in the same moment, a new set took their place: a crisp white blouse, a dark jacket, and a fitted skirt—the academy’s uniform.

Garrick, seated at a table a few paces away, turned his eyes towards Vionette. What is that skill? It’s times like this that I wish it were night instead.

Lina stopped before the window. Sinia snapped her fingers, and the glass dissolved, leaving Lina standing at the edge. After pausing for a moment, she leapt down to the ground.

Vionette sighed, not in disappointment, but like a proud older sister. “My sweetie’s all grown up now.”

Lina landed with a heavy thud, dust billowing all around her. Walking out of the cloud, she joined one of the student lines. The students eyed her skeptically, as if they didn’t have the full picture.

“Alright, continuing on.” Sinia rebuilt the window with her magic and turned towards them. “All of you will be divided into groups of four, with each team given a flag. Your priority is either to gather another team’s flag, making them your ally, or to shatter it, eliminating them completely. The monsters inside will only be an obstacle this time.”

Sinia looked at the professors around her, her eyes unsure.

“Two of the people closest to you are traitors.”

“There’s a cult trying to summon a monster on the island the academy is going to.”

“Once an alliance has been formed, it can only be broken after one member of the submitting team touches their own flag. Anyone who attacks a member of their own team or alliance may also be eliminated. I will leave the dividing of teams to Professor Castil.”

“Yes, Headmaster!” the students shouted, while Lina looked at them, cringing.

…

“Oh my god…” Lina pressed her palm to her face and looked at the other three. “I’ve been assigned to some randoms.”

“Hey! Who are you calling a random?!” the boy shouted, jabbing a finger at Lina. “You’re the extra here!”

Lina stuck her tongue out.

“And you’re younger than u—hmmm! Mmm!” A hand clamped over his mouth from behind.

“Saxs, c’mon. Don’t say that.” The girl, Mei, scolded. “She’s our teammate now.”

Lina placed both hands on her temples and wiggled her fingers mockingly.

“Hmmm!” He struggled while Mei laughed softly.

Lina looked at the last member of the group. At least there’s one useful person.

It was Edel.

He looked back at her, then at the other two, before sighing in defeat. Am I going to have to lose to that moon elf again?

“So, who will be in charge of protecting the flag?” Edel asked calmly.

Saxs and Mei stopped their scuffle. She released his mouth, and after a few steps, the group gathered into a square. 

Edel looked at them one by one. Saxs and Lina looked at him in confusion, while Mei wore a neutral smile.

Then Mei jabbed her thumb towards Saxs. “Let’s give it to him.”

He snapped his head towards her. “H-huh?!”

“Yeah, he’s pretty weak anyway,” Lina added, nodding.

“What…?”

“It’s decided, then.” Edel handed the flag to Saxs, who took it without thinking. “You’ll be the one we have to protect.”

“WHAAAAT?”

“Now,” Lina said, looking around, “which way do we go?”

They stood in the middle of a forest, every direction looking the same, choked with trees.

***

Inside the spectators’ building, every perspective was shown to the guests on the same magical screens the academy had used before.

In the middle of the hall, Sinia threaded her way through the gaps and reached the Crimvane table. Vionette stopped eating and turned to her with a smile.

“Yes, Headmaster?”

‘I haven’t received any reply until now.’ Sinia leaned closer and whispered. ‘If that cult really does exist, I hope you take care of it before any student is harmed.’

‘I’m not your dog, but alright. We’ll make sure no one dies, at least.’

***

They walked through the forest in formation, with Edel and Mei at the front, Saxs in the middle, and Lina at the rear. They ran into many monsters, which the two at the front mostly cut down, while Lina was left to guard Saxs.

“How large is this island?” Saxs muttered as they walked.

Mei turned her head. “What do you mean?”

“It’s been some time, and even though there are 2000 students in this, we haven’t run into any other team.”

Rustling came from several directions. All four of them stopped in their tracks and raised their guard.

“I swear…” Mei muttered, gritting her teeth. “Try to keep your mouth shut next time.”

Four people burst from the bushes, one of whom Lina had seen before. Two boys flanked them from the sides, the girl with the flag hid behind, and another boy stood in front of her.

“I was looking for you.” The one in the middle, Fois, spoke in an arrogant voice, looking at Lina. “You think I’ll let you off just because your brother is strong? You’re stupid to join this.”

As her teammates glanced at her, Lina tilted her head. “I could say the same. I was looking for you.”

“Hey,” Edel called to Mei. “You take that guy.”

“...Alright.”

Mei glanced at Saxs. This time, there’s no one to protect our flag except a girl younger than us. We have to end this quickly.

Before they could respond, the two boys charged and attacked. Caught by surprise, Mei took a sword-scratch across her face, drawing blood.

While fights broke out on both sides, Fois stepped forward, drawing his sword.

He looked at Lina’s empty hand and smirked. “Don’t tell me you don’t have a sword either. Is Crimvane really so poor that they can’t even afford one?”

‘H-hey! He’s coming!’ Saxs whispered to her, clutching his flag.

Lina stepped forward and, placing a hand on Saxs’s shoulder, pushed him back.

‘Just stay there.’ She glanced at Edel and Mei fighting, then turned her gaze to Fois. ‘This won’t take long.’

“I have a much better one than that fucking piece of crap that looks like it’s made out of your brain cells,” she said with a chuckle. “But I don’t need to dirty it with dog blood.”

One of Fois’s brows twitched uncontrollably, his eyes flickering. “What the hell did you say?!”

He ran forward, sword held high, and stomped down with his lead foot once he was close to Lina.

You were too scared and hid behind your brother. This is the reality!

He drove the blade forward, slicing through the air and aiming for the joint between Lina’s neck and shoulder.

[Dragon-Body Unification (Unique)]

The ring of steel on steel echoed through the forest. But even without looking, Fois could feel it in his arms: that was not a sword. It was something far harder, far more durable.

Lina had raised her left arm, catching the blade in it. Around her hand, climbing up her forearm, crimson scales gleamed in the noon light.

***

“That is…?” Noa looked at Elina, who was eating her meal.

Elina glanced at the screen while still chewing her pork. “That’s my new skill. I got it while fighting Viselle and Lina.”

She looked at Lina’s arm. Seems she can’t use it fully yet. It only extends to small parts of her body for now.

***

“You know, when I first looked at you guys’ strength,” Lina said with a mocking smile, her eyes filled with amusement, “I wondered if you guys were only two years older than me. I thought it would be much lower, because you guys were so pathetic.”

Edel, while fighting, stole a glance at the scene, his eyes narrowed. I knew this whole kingdom was filled with monsters.

As Lina’s eyes flared with a glow, her scaled grip tightened around the blade. Fois, gritting his teeth, tried to pull the sword back, but the next second, the blade shattered.

Lina let the shards fall from her hand to join the others on the ground. “There you go. Right where it belongs.”

“You—!”

She held her scaled hand before his face, her middle and index fingers drawn back and pinned beneath her thumb, ready to snap.

“Nope. Bye-bye~” She released her fingers.

<You’re not allowed to kill anyone for now.>

At Vionette’s voice, she immediately lowered the hand to his stomach and loosened the force behind it before finally releasing her fingers.

The fingers never physically touched him, but the air pressure they made slammed into his stomach, sending him flying backwards with blood spilling from his mouth.

Lina waited, watching Fois slam his back into a tree trunk and slide down to its roots.

Behind her, Saxs peered over her shoulder and whistled. “Holy hell.”

Lina waited some more, just standing there, her face growing more confused by the second.

Finally, Fois’s hand lifted, then fell again.

Lina was left completely baffled. Wait… that’s it?

A chuckle escaped her lips and slowly tried to grow into a laugh. She tried to suppress it, but her shoulders shook anyway.

Lina placed a fist over her mouth, looking at Fois mockingly. “Son.”

“All that shit-talk just for that?”

Edel and Mei, having finished their own fights, walked over to the two of them, Mei breathing heavily.

“What was that?” Mei asked, looking at the unconscious Fois.

“What do you mean, ‘what was that’?” Lina asked, confused.

“What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’?!” Saxs snapped, pointing the flag at Lina. “You were supposed to be weaker than us!”

Lina clicked her tongue. “Stop daydreaming.”

“What did you s—”

He tried to lunge forward, but like last time, Mei held him back.