Opening her mouth to begin the team call, Lisa soon shut it back.
She lingered for a moment, pondering, her gaze fixed on the students.
"I think we need a cleansing."
"What does she mean by cleansing?" A young boy with green moss hair asked.
"Is she going to expel us?" Another that stood by his side replied.
"Enough." Lisa's voice reverberated through the hall, sending some students staggering a few steps back.
She continued her tone, even more oppressing. "The number of students in Noctis can be considered a little above average, and what we need for this project to be a success are only the best of the best."
She glanced at Matthew and another girl with long black hair and grey eyes. "That is why we are having a cleansing." She paused.
"This means everyone in this hall will fight for their position in this school, and only three hundred of you will remain."
The moss-haired boy raised his hands in a similar fashion as Matthew but was completely ignored.
In the next moment, weapons began to form on each student's hand, including Kai's.
A tachi blade that was neither light nor overly heavy, the hilt was wrapped in what seemed like red leather, but Kai could tell it was the hide of a drifter.
"Those weapons you now wield have a special enchantment, meaning a cut made by them no matter how serious won't kill and will also be recorded on my tablet."
"So we just have to cut and prevent being cut." A random voice from the crowd asked.
"Yeah, it seems easy, bro." Another replied.
Lisa sighed and continued. "That's wrong; what we are counting isn't your number of kills but your ability to stay alive why fighting others." She added. "So the moment you reach a particular number of critical hits, you will be expelled."
Loud murmurs of panic rang through the hall; no one was ready for such a change.
A feminine voice rang from behind the crowd. "This is all this first year's fault."
Different voices began agreeing with her, and soon all the rage was directed at the first years.
[Things aren't looking good.]
'Damnation.'
[You're in deep shit, Kai.]
'Why do you say that?'
[For one, you can't control mana yet; the only reason you won the entrance combat match was because the original Kai had experience in using strings, and you inherited it.]
Kai bit his lips down; his stomach twisted, causing him to feel the urge to pass out.
[And you can't use a sword; neither can Kaiser Vanguard.]
'I know that already; just shut up. I'm trying to think.'
[...]
No matter how much he thought, nothing came to mind.
Time was running out. People were changing their stance. He was in an unfamiliar world. And to add to his predicament, the main cast was present.
He wanted to resign himself to his fate or at least ask Matthew for help, but the taunting feeling wouldn't leave him.
'My stats are at max; can't I use that?'
[... Hah… if this were fiction, probably, but this is reality. Do you think you can handle the speed or the sudden explosive strength...?]
[…I doubt it.]
'Tsk.'
Kai clicked his tongue; frustration slowly overshadowing his quick judgment.
He raised his hands to bite his fingers but only saw the navy blue leather hand gloves that Kaiser Vanguard wore.
'Alpha, can you tell me what my trait can do, like, at this moment?'
[Hmm… With my help, I think you can weave a less complex ability... But that's the limit.]
'And what features do you have as of now?'
[I can access most data or less encrypted data and maybe analyze low-level ability and formulate a counter.]
He pondered for a moment before replying. 'I think that works well for now.'
[You plan on playing hide and seek, don't you?]
'No one said it's bad to run and hide.' He paused. 'Scratch that; I actually pride myself on being a coward.'
Lisa's voice rang once more. "Now without further ado, let the cleansing begin."
Steel clashed against steel. Spells of different sorts flared. Quirky abilities that felt like they came straight from a cartoon.
The once tranquil hall now turned into utter chaos.
A battle filled with distorted ego.
As soon as the battle started, the voice of the Cube rang in Kai's head.
[[ You have woven an ability: Shadow glider]]
[[Your first work as a tailor and a weaver has been completed.]]
'Shadow glider – what is that?'
[Our only chance at survival]
A young man slightly taller than Kai with white hair packed in a braid and a manly physique ran towards him with distorted, almost alien steps, bending from side to side.
As he drew closer, Kai noticed that his breathing was odd, and as the sound of the breathing became louder, grains of sand encircled Kai's leg, but it was nothing to make him panic.
He moved forward two steps, stopping right in front of the man, and sent the pommel of his sword into the man's gut. Immediately he raised the sheath, closing the strange man's mouth.
Due to lack of any source of air, the man soon gave out and fainted.
Kai didn't just do this on impulse; soon, the young man's companion came around, and so did another person who was targeting him.
Seeing the two figures approaching from both sides, Kai instinctively moved towards a shallow shadow, and like it was second nature, he vanished.
*****
The scene outside the shadow was progressing faster than Kai thought.
The two figures had already heavily injured themselves.
Matthew, on the other hand, was overpowering many people who were several times bigger than him.
Slicing one cleanly and kicking another one, no one could resist his overwhelming potential.
Mainly because most strong students spread themselves out as if an unspoken law had been made not to fight each other.
A girl in particular caught Kai's interest.
All she did was utter a particular word, and everyone around her either exploded or became her minion.
'Elizabeth County'.
[She is a villain, right?]
'Yes, and a sinister one at that.'
One of the main academy villains, not just during the academy but during the entirety of ICUWSA.
Elizabeth County was notorious for her special S-rank flame-type ability, named.
"Answer."
'I definitely don't want to fight her.'
[But if you don't answer any of her questions twenty minutes before the activation time, then you're safe.]
'That's the problem; her activation time changes twice per day and only increases the more she ranks up, so avoiding the question is nearly impossible unless you're dumb.'
Catching a glimpse of Matthew, Elizabeth sent her minions towards his direction.
But then the air around him became heavy, and a wide grin appeared on his face an undisputable grin of mockery.
Something Kai never expected to see on Matthew's face.
And the instant he saw it, Kai knew it, and so did Elizabeth.
Matthew wasn't who he made others think he was.
Matthew wasn't a hero, not even in the slightest.
*****
Elizabeth soon stood meters away from Matthew, bloodied, and panting. Her clothes were turned to rags.
Matthew held his spear in his right arm as he slowly approached her, each step commanding an unshakeable presence.
His hand curled around his spear, ready to pierce Elizabeth's heart, but as he raised it, he suddenly stopped, his lips were moving so were Elizabeth's.
A short discussion that Kai couldn't read.
The time was almost over. Kai was sure he had secured his spot but then Alpha's voice rang in his head, panic, something that Kai never heard from her.
[Run!]
Before Kai could react, a wide sneer appeared on Matthew's face as he turned unnaturally slowly.
In an instant he was in front of the shadow Kai hid.
With a single arm stretched he grabbed Kai on the collar and threw him out of the shadow.
'What?'
Five Seconds Left.
Matthew clicked his tongue. "Disgusting." He said, his words directed at Kai. "Utter garbage." Matthew's voice was loud, too loud even.
Everyone in the hall turned and faced him.
The chaotic hall was now still.
No one understood what was going on.
Matthew's face returned to his once pleasant expression.
"Trash like you are the reason Noctis' standards are so low." He paused. "It's because of disgusting creatures like you that the elders even came up with this cruel practice."
'What is he even saying, this isn't Matt.'
His face was somehow split into two, to others he felt like a hero but in Kai's eyes he was worse than the trash that walked the alleys.
"Everyone is fighting for their place in Noctis, and you run away like a coward. Are you scared of being expelled?"
'It can't be?'
[Kai, calm down.]
His face twisted. "Why would you be, it's better for trash like you to remain powerless than corrupt our society."
Every face turned to Kai simultaneously.
Disgust. Anger. Every negative emotion directed solely at him.
'What the hell did I do wrong?'
He couldn't even say a word. Any action would be used against him.
Yes, Matthew had united the school once more, but at what cost?
Presenting a public enemy.
Kai turned to face Lisa.
But her face, too, was filled with disappointment and disgust.
Kai gritted his teeth, slowly raising his head to the figure that loomed above him.
Matthew raised his spear to launch a strike.
'Bastard! You're a fucking disappointment, nothing but a worthless betrayer' Kai inner voice screamed. 'Go to hell, go to hell you damn bastard'
Kai had to move, but could he really? This was the same Matthew that could cleave mountains at expert rank.
The prodigy and the heir of the Sliver Clan.
No matter the plan he used he wouldn't win.
What was even the use of winning?
The character he so desperately wanted to save back on earth was worse than an asshole.
The school he wanted to protect deep down had turned against him.
Yes, the only thing that mattered was one's self.
Nothing else mattered; in a selfish and cruel world, the only one that exists is you and nothing else.
The spear moved towards Kai slowly, but he knew it was much faster than he thought.
But right before it landed, something rang.
Timer Complete.