CHAPTER 115: LET US OBSERVE

Let Us Observe

"What is the meaning of this?" Ellie spoke with narrowed eyes. Her gaze flicked to Kurt who had a few bruises, but he seemed more irritated than anything else.

"Eleanor, sorry for the intrusion, but you’ve been avoiding me for far too long. I realized that if I didn’t take any action, you would continue to do so. I’m not a fan of such barbaric methods, believe me, but you gotta do what you gotta do." Han Jiwon turned to her with an amicable smile.

Ellie’s eye twitched, but Osho spoke up again.

"First of all, cliche speech. Secondly, you do realize that more than half the Citadel is watching, right? Or do you not care about your reputation? Or the reputation of your school?" He asked calmly, and Han Jiwon’s face immediately darkened.

"I wasn’t speaking to you." He snorted, then his lip pulled back into a sneer.

"However, I will admit, your performance just now was exemplary. I hadn’t expected you to take down the Alligator on your own, but I suppose low-quality products can perform well sometimes." He gave a noncommittal shrug and Osho just rolled his eyes.

’Can I behead him?’ Gale asked, clearly unamused by the entire ordeal, but Osho just shook his head imperceptibly.

’Not worth it. We do need to save Kurt, though.’ As he had that thought, he felt a Mana fluctuation and looked down to see Clyde growling. His hackles were raised, and it looked like he was about to unleash an attack, but he was clearly holding back, and one look at Kurt told them everything they needed to know.

Clyde pretty much only had a single attack, but the power it carried was so potent that he almost didn’t need anything else. However, as mentioned before, he couldn’t control it properly, so a full-powered sonic attack right now wouldn’t just be devastating, but the damage would be indiscriminate, so everyone would be on the receiving end of it.

Hence, having the fix attack right now wasn’t a good idea.

"However, while you did okay, there’s no way you aren’t tired after that ordeal. All of you." Han Jiwon continued and gave the group a pointed look.

Osho glanced and his friends and had to acknowledge his words.

Ellie was a bit better off, but Blackie and Inagi were quite spent after the battle, with Sam and Irene facing some mental exhaustion as well.

Sugil and Ellie could still fight, but their combat strength would have dropped by a decent but after their performance against the alligators.

Which left Osho and Gale.

"What do you want?" Ellie asked with folded arms.

"Smart girl." Han Jiwon smirked. "It’s simple. I want you to come up with me, and I want them to hand me their bracelets." He explained, and Ellie’s face hardened.

"Not happening." She said flatly, causing Han Jiwon to raise a brow.

"Oh? But then if you don’t, your friend over here will suffer a little bit." He gestured to one of his people, and the silk around Kurt tightened, causing him to grunt.

"You know that attempting to fatally injure people isn’t allowed," Ellie said with narrowed eyes, and Han Jiwon laughed.

"Who said anything about killing? I’ll just cripple him." He replied casually, like it was a foregone conclusion.

’12 of them. 4 are at the Apprentice rank, him included, and we are surrounded. Hm.’ Osho mused as he observed with his Mana sense.

He could also tell that he was being scrutinized intently. It seemed that while Han Jiwon tried to downplay his abilities, he was still wary of him, so he had people watch him in case of the slightest movement on his part.

Osho briefly locked eyes with Kurt who blinked a couple of times in quick succession.

However.

"You know. For all that talk about me being a mongrel, don’t you think you’re being pretty pathetic right now?" Osho suddenly said, cutting into the talk Han Jiwon and Ellie were having with the subtlety of a bulldozer.

"... What?" Han Jiwon turned to face him, his face darkening dangerously, but Osho just shrugged.

"I mean, we’re all students trying to pass this exam. Yet you decided to call a large group to surround us, moreover, you even took one of our members hostage to hold over our heads, just so that what? You can convince a girl to go somewhere with you when she clearly doesn’t like you? That’s next level pathetic, in my opinion." He spoke calmly.

Ellie gave him a bit of a questioning look, a bit confused by why Osho was antagonizing Han Jiwon, but he pressed on.

"Moreover, you can after we’d just finished a taxing battle, and you even wanna take our hard-earned points on top? You’re the top-ranked Seed and you’re stealing from your fellow humans? Come on man. Or wait, is this actually some hidden part of the exam meant to simulate how humans aren’t always your friends in the wilderness? If so then you are playing the part excellently." Osho continued to say with an almost welcoming smile on his face.

However, the more he spoke, the redder Jiwon’s face became and his breathing turned more and more ragged.

"Then again, maybe you are trying to play the part of the arrogant young master? Sorry man but that shit is super outdated. You’re better off—"

"ENOUGH!" Han Jiwon snapped and pointed at Osho, veins bulging on his face from rage.

"I’ve had enough of your insolence! End him!" He roared and his beast, the fawn, aimed its antlers at him.

They glowed a milky-white color before a beam shot out of them, straight at Osho.

’He attacked first. Now I have no reason not to fight back.’ Osho smirked inwardly as Gale moved once the beam was fired.

The sky within his domain was manipulated like a fabric as turned upward. The beam followed this path and got redirected into the air.

As soon as the first attack was thrown, chaos erupted.

Sugil hissed as a wave of spikes erupted from the ground around the group while Gale vanished from Osho’s arms.

"Keep the hosta—" Han Jiwon’s shout was cut short as he turned and saw that Kurt was no longer bound, the silk that held him now shredded on the ground.

He turned back to the group just in time to see Osho waving at him politely before they were encased in a crystalline dome.

***

"The rage-baiting was immaculate!" Sam cackled once they were fully encased. Osho smiled, but his reply was cut short as the dome suddenly shook from an impact.

’How relentless.’ He thought as another attack hit the dome.

"How long can you sustain this dome?" Osho asked Ellie who was cradling Sugil in her arms.

"Ten minutes." She answered immediately and Osho nodded.

"Great, I only need two." He thought and looked at Kurt who was still dusting himself up.

"You good?" He asked and, Kurt just shrugged.

"Just a few bruises, nothing serious." Osho nodded again and looked at Clyde who was nuzzling against Kurt and whining with clear worry.

"Alright, I need Clyde to unleash his sonic wave at maximum power." Everyone froze and looked at Osho like he’d just suggested they jump off a building. Seeing this, he sighed.

"Okay, not AT me. Gale." He looked at the bird who waved his wing and a small orb of air appeared in front of Clyde, startling the fox.

"Let him release it into that, and for as long as possible too." He said and everyone gave him a skeptical look.

He sighed.

"Okay, 5 minutes then. Basically..." He started explaining his plan.

___

The crowd was in an uproar, but for a completely different reason.

"My my. It would seem that not all of our cute students are so cute." Mira said with a faint giggle as she watched the crowd lose their minds over the stunt Han Jiwon just pulled.

Everyone had naturally seen the altercation that had taken place, and saying that they weren’t happy wasn’t an exaggeration.

"Hm. To think the Vermillion Academy’s number 1 seed was like that. How crass." Within the VIP lounge, Eleanor’s father said with a pointed look aimed at Vermont who seemed more amused than anything else.

"Why are you lot so uptight? It’s just some conflict between children. This happens all the time." He said flippantly.

"Your student is trying to claim someone like an item and almost crippled someone to prove a point. That’s ground for more than half the people in this room to behead him on the spot." Mrs Jane said coldly.

"Vermont, what are you playing at?" Timothy asked, sounding genuinely displeased for the first time.

"Why would I be playing at anything? I’m just allowing my student to express himself. Isn’t that what you believe in? For them to make their own choices?" Hearing this, Timothy was about to retort, but then he paused and looked at Vermont with vague surprise.

He wasn’t the only one as everyone seemed taken aback for a moment. Why? Because his voice had turned unusually serious.

"Vermont you..." Timothy trailed off.

"Han Jiwon is talented, but also unstable," Vermont explained calmly.

"Whether it’s his choices or following the advice of the order generation, he hold a very destructive mentality, one that will become a problem instead of an asset towards humanity if left unchecked." He stared at the screen where his students were currently bombarding the barrier with attacks, Han Jiwon in the lead.

"He believes himself to be superior to everyone. What is desire is for him to act out, to reveal his true nature, and then suffer the consequences for it." He noticed the looks everyone was giving him and snorted.

"What? You think I enjoy watching him behave like that? Absolutely not. However, he seems to be impacted by things done by his peers more than by his seniors. Because to him, us punishing him is pointless as it is only a matter of time before he surpasses us and isn’t bound by our will. But if he can be defeated by a peer, then perhaps he will begin to see past his arrogance." His tone was a bit solemn, and the room fell quiet.

"Be that as it may." Ellie’s father suddenly spoke.

"If that boy hurts my daughter, I will kill him myself." He said darkly, and the room fell silent for a moment.

"Citadel Lord?" Mrs Jane asked the aged man in the back of the room who just stared at the screen with an impassive look, then he said.

"If the boy crosses a line, that is, genuinely tries to kill anyone, I permit his execution. If he loses, though, he will be on probation for his behavior to be evaluated. Further judgment will be made then." With his word given, everyone went quiet and continued to watch.