Chapter 323: Reason

It was now the 6th of November, and more than a month had passed since Asher had declared war on the entire world.

Yet, even after all this time, there had been no movement from Coward that anyone could detect in Human Continent. Throughout the past month, the Church, the Imperial Family, and the various Noble Houses had used every resource at their disposal to search for him, but they hadn’t found a single lead. It was as though Coward didn’t even exist.

There was nothing they could find that would lead them back to him, no matter how hard they searched.

And the more time passed, the more uneasy everyone became.

After all, Coward could be anyone among them. Anyone at Master rank or below could potentially be one of Coward’s vessels, yet they had absolutely no way of identifying them. They couldn’t even be sure whether the person standing beside them was an ordinary individual or one of Coward’s vessels.

This uncertainty was making everyone who knew about Coward even more uneasy than before. How were they supposed to find someone who had no definite face and could potentially be hiding among them?

They knew almost nothing about him beyond what he had revealed himself. And when all their efforts failed to uncover even the smallest clue, they could only remember the words he had spoken the last time they encountered him.

"Don’t waste your time. There is no way you will be able to find me."

Since they couldn’t find Coward, they eventually decided to focus on other matters. Their main priority was now preparing for the upcoming war and making sure they would have every possible advantage when fighting against him. They began analyzing his powers based on his previous battles, carefully studying everything they knew about his abilities and looking for ways to counter them.

They needed to be prepared for anything he might do, and the more information they gathered about his previous fights, the better their chances of dealing with him would be when the war finally began.

At the same time, they didn’t forget to keep a close watch on the Demon Continent.

From the information they had gathered, they could already tell that the movements of the Demons suggested that the war was approaching. Although they couldn’t be certain about the exact date, the changes taking place on the Demon Continent were enough to make them increasingly cautious.

However, despite noticing these movements, the Humans didn’t attempt to attack the Demon Continent.

Doing so would have been foolish.

After all, fighting on the Demon Continent would put the Humans at a significant disadvantage. The Demons were familiar with their own territory, and launching an attack without proper preparation would only put the Human forces at unnecessary risk.

Therefore, they decided to remain where they were and continue observing the Demons from a distance, waiting for further developments while preparing for the inevitable conflict.

And while all of this was happening across the world, only a limited number of people knew about the situation.

For everyone else, life continued as usual.

They went to work, spent time with their families, and carried on with their daily routines without having the slightest idea that a war was approaching. Most people didn’t even realize that their lives could soon be at stake in a conflict that would involve the entire world.

They continued living peacefully, completely unaware of the danger that was slowly approaching them.

And among all the places in the world, the most peaceful place at that moment was undoubtedly the Aetherium Academy.

After all, it was already the final month of the students’ semester for that year.

December would be the vacation period, when all the students would finally be able to return to their homes and spend some time with their family. After that, they would return at the beginning of the following year and start their new semester on the first day of January.

For the students, there was little reason to worry about anything beyond their upcoming examinations and the approaching vacation.

At least, that was how things appeared on the surface.

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Aetherium Academy — Cafeteria

It was lunchtime.

Asher, Adam, Noah, and Aria were sitting together once again,there was a particular reason why all four of them had decided to sit together today.

The upcoming practical examination.

All four of them sat around the table, quietly eating their food while wearing complicated expressions. Although they were supposed to be enjoying their lunch, their attention kept returning to the announcement they had recently received.

The practical examination was scheduled to take place on the 10th of November.

And there was something unusual about it.

After remaining silent for a while, Noah finally decided to bring up the question that had been bothering him.

"Why do you think they’re taking the practical exam before the written exam this time? They usually conduct the written exam first. And they’re also holding the examinations earlier than they did last year."

Noah looked at the others, hoping that someone might have an explanation for the Academy’s unusual decision.

After all, changing the examination schedule wasn’t something the Academy did without a reason.

Adam, who had been eating quietly, paused for a moment before answering.

"I don’t know. The only thing I know is that it was the Headmaster’s decision."

He shrugged his shoulders,"Only the Headmaster knows why he decided to change the schedule."

After saying that, Adam took another bite of his food. However, as though he had suddenly remembered something, he turned his attention towards Asher.

"What do you think the reason is?"

Asher, who had been eating without paying much attention to their conversation, stopped for a moment.

He slowly raised his head and looked at Adam before answering in a completely confident tone.

"He’s probably worried that we won’t be alive by the end of this month, so he scheduled the test early. That way, we can at least complete one semester before dying."