CHAPTER 26: RESURFACE

Khal sat slumped on Hagan’s throne, scrolling through his status window with a serious expression.

It’s been about 5 days since i’ve been in Hagan’s tomb. During that time I’ve made a lot of discoveries, and progress with my own strength.

For starters, It turns out Pat Isn’t a monster, nor is he from Hagan’s world; he’s also an awakened that left his world to follow Hagan. He didn’t want to reveal much after that, besides that his blessing, S-grade Puppet King, allows him to create and control Puppets.

I’ve been making him create puppets for me to fight to the death, also giving myself multiple handicaps to decrease my chance of survival; because of that, even if I were to face a level 25 S-grade Awakened, im confident I can come out unharmed.

Adaptation History

Pain Resistance lvl 5 [6/50]

Muscle Strengthening lvl 5 [37/50]

Accelerated Cognition lvl 4 [12/40]

Neural Increase lvl 3 [12/30]]

Vitality Increase lvl 4 [3/50]

Cellular Regeneration lvl 3 [17/30]

Bone Density lvl 3 [27/30]

Bone Flexibility lvl 3 [3/30]

Mana Sensitivity lvl 3 [20/30]

Increased Mana lvl 3 [12/30]

Heat Resistance lvl 2 [9/20]

Blunt Force Resistance lvl 4 [1/50]

Cold Resistance lvl 1 [4/10]

Poison Resistance 0.02%- C7W11 37%

Mutations

Toxic Gland

Stores and neutralizes poisons using enzymes or modified antibodies.

Nyctovision

Boosts low-light vision using enhanced retinal cells or light receptors.

I haven’t figured out how to use Nezha as yet but with this, no one participating in the exam will be able to stand against me. Even if there are only a few hours remaining, I just need to hunt the people with the highest points.

Merlin walked into the throne room, Pat on her shoulder, staring at him. "It’s been five days now, Khal; we should be able to leave."

Khal sat up from the throne and began walking towards them. "5 whole days," Khal Replied. "We haven’t been able to preview the leaderboard since we entered here, so i wonder how the exam has been playing out..."

Nezha stood firmly at the center of the throne room. Khal gripped it tightly, pulling it from the ground, and rested it against his shoulder as he continued toward Merlin, his gaze cold.

"Let’s go."

The sealed door slowly Creaked open. Khal and Merlin quickly flew out, landing on their feet, taking in the scenery. The wind blowing against them, the trees rocking back and forth and the chitter of the creatures dwelling in the forest.

Khal walked away from the door, stretching his arms out wide, letting out a long yawn.

"Though its not the real deal, its nice to get some sunlight after being in the dark for so long."

He dropped his arms to his side, returning to his usual cold demeanor.

Unfortunatly i can’t take Pat out since i can’t store living beings in my inventory. I’ll just get questioned or something worse anyway, so i asked him to stay.

He seemed a bit disappointed but he understood. I’ll definitely come get him someday, Hagan has left me with his most prized possessions. Least i can do is keep Pat alive.

"Khal." Merlin called out to him. Khal turned to her, Raising an eyebrow.

"You need to check the leaderboard and the current amount of students present in the secret realm."

Khal turned back around, pulling up the Examination window.

Network Error.

Refreshing⟲

Connection Stable✔

1. Araon Dragul [287468] 5. Serine Azoul [94556] 9. Poison Master [85245]

2. Rose Dragul [211320] 6. Night Xiao [92387] 10. Sword Emperor [80048]

Merek Stromvale [97490] 7. Jiang Ashborn [91685] 11. Iron Wall [74948]

Ragan Hellstien [96893] 8. XXX [86538] ...

2332. Darwin [22740]

Khal kept scrolling until he made it to the very bottom of the leaderboard, his eyes narrowing in surprise.

"There are only 2860 students still in the secret realm!" Khal exclaimed.

I know a lot of students would get eliminated for points but this is just insanity. There are a total of 8 high schools in Raven City. Each school should have had about 1600 students participate in this event, giving a total of 12800 students... Almost 10,000 students got eliminated.

Khal shook his head, steadying his thoughts.

No, there might be even more. Just how many students out of that 10,000 died because of the one hit loophole... Now that i think about it, did charles really do that just for me? He didn’t even know i was participating and he definitely didn’t have time to do it.

Khal’s expression twisted with rage, clenching his fist.

Something isn’t right about all this.

Khal calmed himself down, turning his gaze to Merlin.

"How fast can you travel using float?"

Khal and Merlin flew through the air as quickly as they could, and after a mere few minutes, they had left the rift fragment.

As they flew, Khal gazed down on the forest below, scoping out the area. Almost everywhere he saw, there were students fighting one another, one set of students in particular starting the fights.

The situation is even worse than i thought. There’s more infighting than monster hunting.

Khal turned his gaze to a small, green-haired male student being cornered by three other students wearing similar dark blue uniforms, covered in blood.

"Land over behind the trees over there, Merlin." Khal asked, pointing to the trees behind the students.

"Got it." Merlin flew over there, bringing them down to the ground as quietly as possible.

Khal hid behind one of the trees, watching everything unfold. Merlin hid behind a tree next to him, looking at Khal confused.

"I don’t get it. Are we going to save him? I didn’t think you were the hero type." Merlin, keeping her voice low.

"Save him?" Khal replied. "If there is one thing i take pride in, It’s my memory. That guy isn’t some weak extra; he’s ranked third on the leaderboard, Merek Stormvale... My first target."

Khal and Merlin stood behind the trees, observing quietly.

The three students kept coming closer towards Merek. He backed away with every forward step they took, his expression filled with fear.

"Please, I’m begging you, just leave me alone; I don’t want any trouble." Merek exclaimed, beads of sweat running down his forehead.

One of the students smiled deviously, looking down at Merek.

"You might not want any trouble, but we sure as hell do." He continued.

"Its a complete mystery to me how you lasted this long, but don’t worry... We’ll make it quick."

He and another student began laughing, but the other just stayed quiet, staring at Merek with an uneasy expression.

"Hey, guys, I don’t know if we should be messing with him. I mean, he’s ranked 3rd on the leaderboard. who knows what he’s plotting."

The other two students turned their gaze to him, looking at him with anger in their gaze.

"Why don’t you do us a favor and shut the hell up." Ordered the student leading the three.

"The boss said his scores on the selection were hardly anything; who knows what tricks he was using to gather that many points."

He continued.

"You just need to shut up and do what the boss says."

The worried student tilted his head down, worry still filling his gaze.

"Please just go away!" Merek shouted, "I don’t want to hurt anyone else." His tone and expression laced with fear, he slowly stepped back, away from the students."

They looked at each other, grins of laughter creeping onto their faces. "Hahaha!" Two of them burst out laughing, holding their stomachs.

"Can you believe this guy?" laughed the student leading the other two. "He said he doesn’t wanna hurt us. Wow, what a saint." They laughed for a few moments before stopping, wiping the tears from their eyes.

"Alright, no more games." He stretched his hand out to the side; a glowing blue sword made of flames began manifesting into it.

Gripping it tight, he swung it a few times, a smug grin creeping onto his lips.

"Ravenmoor trash, behold my B-grade blessing, Blazing Blue Swordsman."

The other two students activated their own blessings; the student to the left of him had the B-grade blessing Blessed Earth Arms, turning his hands into earth twice his own size.

The student to the right of him had the B-grade blessing Steel jaw, his mouth grew larger and wider, rows of steel teeth filling his gums.

Merek pulled an eyepatch out of his top pocket, bringing it over his head and covering his left eye with it.

"I warned you... You leave me no choice." His right eye became bright red, his hair began raising into the air, his expression changed immediately, becoming rageful.

He bit down on his bottom lip, staring at the three students with pure rage.

The student on the left, his gaze filled with worry. Touched the leader on his shoulder.

"Something has changed; we should be carful, he might looked weak but he still has the S-grade blessing, Wind Manipulator."

"I don’t care what blessing he has or what kind of otaku shit he just did," The leader replied. " We will crush all those who do not attend Crescent Moon."

He continued.

"Why don’t you two stay back. Allow me to show you true strength."

FWOOSH!

He charged at Merek, waving his flaming sword around in an attempt to scare him.

Merek stood his ground, his eyes glowing with rage. "You peasant, i see you seek death!" He shouted, his demeanor completely different than before.

He extended his arms, tilting his head to the sky with rage. "Wind, you bitch!" He shouted.

"Only i love and care for you in this world. If you allow these peasants to touch a hair on my body, i will never speak to you again!"

The student closed in on him, swinging his sword down, aimed at Merek’s head, a sinister smile on his face.

As his blade neared him, it was stopped by an invisible wall of wind.

"Huh, what the hell!" The student questioned aloud, his arrogant demeanor fading.

"Wind, you bitch!" Merek shouted once more. "Slice up this fool before me or consider us done!"

The instant those words left his mouth, condensed blades of wind began forming above him, aimed at the flaming sword-wielding student.

He looked up in fear, his heart beating out of his chest. He quickly stepped back away from Merek and held his sword in a defensive position.

But this last ditch attempt was for not...

CHING!

Merek’s blades of wind shot down, piercing through him multiple times like a pin cushion, a gruesome display.

He was barely alive, blood pouring out of him. He took his final breath, his sword falling to the ground before deactivating.

The other two eyes narrowed in horror; if their mouth could hit the floor, they would.

"Are you seeing this?" Merlin whispered. "What kind of weird blessing is that? he just complained, then his ability activated; the safeguard didn’t even activate and teleport that guy out."

Khal stayed silent, lost in thought. "As i thought. The safeguard has been completely disabled... Who knows how many have already died."

Merek pointed at the two before him, each hand pointing at another, his expression filled with rage.

"Them too!" He shouted. "Wind, you bitch! I want them dead too!"

More blades of wind began forming above him, far more than before, each pointing at the two.

One of the two fell to the ground, His arms returning to normal as he looked at them terrified.

"Screw this, I give up! Please, i quit!" He cried, but to no avail. Nothing happened. He kept repeating it over and over, louder and louder, but still... Nothing."

The other student turned his gaze to him, tears in his eyes.

"I told you idiots, but you didn’t listen. Now look... Were all gonna di–"

CHING CHING!

The blades pierced right through both of their heads, killing them instantly. Their bodies fell with a THUD, silence following after.

Khal stood up from behind the tree, walking around it into the open. Merlin stood up in an attempt to follow behind him.

"Stay put." He spoke to Merlin. She nodded her head, kneeling back down.

Merek spotted Khal, clenching his jaw. "If you’re here for revenge, just know this won’t go the way you expect.

Khal looked down to the ground, shaking his head, before looking back up. "I’m not here for something that foolish; let’s just say i have a fetish for fighting strong people."

Merek smiled, the wind around him twirling like a tornado. "That fetish is going to get you killed."

Khal clenched his fists, mana seeping out of him, his eyes glowing with intent.

"... We’ll see."