“Watch your step,” Belle told the girl as they finally had their chance to step out of the train.
“Believe it or not, I heard that people have died from tripping before. Though we all have strong bodies due to cultivation, the ground still proves to be a spectacular foe for some.”
She giggled, then gently grabbed his arm before stepping off the train. She let him go before looking around. Belle glanced at the place she held him for a few moments before he turned his gaze toward the various tents that were in the train station.
“It seems that the House of Learning has sectioned this station from the rest for this test,” A teen with fiery hair stood next to him and said.
“If I’m not mistaken, they should be here to give us some form of ranking or identification.”
“Yeah, maybe you are right about that,” Belle wrinkled his nose in displeasure. “Though, with the lot of us here, I hope it doesn’t take long. I don’t like waiting.”
“I don’t think you need to worry. The House of Learning is Zoran’s most outstanding Cultivation center. They can’t possibly make mistakes like that,” The boy laughed as he handed his hand toward Belle. “I’m Mathew. Mathew Lee.”
“Belle,” He shook Mathew’s hand, recognizing him as one of the people who were in the same train car as him. “If I’m not wrong we were in the same room.”
Mathew placed his gloved hands into his pockets. Wearing a simple white shirt and green track pants of some kind along with a silver choker. He had the appearance of a handsome youth. Like Belle, he also had a scarf but it was of an amber color, just like his eyes.
Belle kept an eye on his brown-eared friend whose cute tail wagged, unknowingly his heart was set at ease.
“So you noticed.” Mathew chuckled. “I thought you were too eager to cultivate that you didn’t even see that there were people in the room.”
“Hehe, I just had a rough first part of the day, to say the least. Like really rough. So, I didn’t feel like talking to more people, you know. After that earlier phase I just knew, somehow I would make the situation worse for myself.”
“Being scolded isn’t pleasant is it?” Belle shook his head and Mathew sighed. “In public, it is quite a horrid experience. I would know, the perks of having an older brother. A savage one. Both the perk and my brother of course. Not one or the other, if you were wondering.”
‘Isn’t it the same?’
Despite his cheerful tone, Belle could see that Mathew was anything but happy when he spoke of this brother of his. Just then a noise attracted his attention, and he turned to the left where he saw a stand with a red flag on it.
Someone, one of the three triplets from earlier, Nataly, had been knocked over by another one of the examinees. He was more of a man than a boy regarding his height, appearance, and presence.
But the apologetic look in his eyes seemed to dispel the innate intimidation that was felt from him.
To Belle’s eyes though the smile and look in his eyes seemed to be something the boy felt was needed in his situation. It was not an actual, genuine reaction of sympathy and acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
In simpler terms, no matter how sorry the red-eyed giant looked on the surface. The layers of bandages on his arms might just prelude to the depths of his black heart, just like his hair. A snake waiting for the moment to strike in the dark.
‘Though I could be overthinking.’ Belle took to heart the saying that too much caution is disastrous. ‘As for the other party, I believe It’s that girl from earlier. If I’m not wrong she should be related too…’
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Belle looked at the girl by his side and wondered, ‘Come to think of it, she hasn’t spoken a single word since she came up to me. Is she a mute?’
The girl in question was just stomping on some ants while her tail wagged eagerly. To the eye, the girl seemed to be enjoying herself immensely. Judging by how her eyes shined and the wide smile on her face, Belle supposed that she might not be as old as she looked to be.
‘She feels like she’s around 14. Somewhat like the little sisters and brothers in the orphanage but that just might be the result of an Aberrant Factor. If she is an Aberrant that is. It could just be that she is suffering from the result of some cultivation-related illness. A curse would be likely as well,’ Belle had let the thought of the girl consume him so much that he had nearly forgotten what he was initially invested in.
Reality found itself being used as a handy alarm for the boy as an overwhelming aura surfaced in the area, seeking to suffocate all the other examinees. Along with the aura came the piercing voice of a girl.
“Nataly!” Nana shouted out to Nataly who stood up with a serious expression.
“You did that on purpose didn’t you?” Nataly’s face contorted as she kept her Karma contained. “I’m not one to make a fuss of being pushed to the ground but for a rat like you. I wouldn’t mind skinning you before the Test begins.”
“I already said sorry! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You say you don’t know what I’m talking about. You act innocently like you weren’t trying to plant a bomb on me and my sisters!” Nataly quickly grabbed at Nana and Nayu before she ruthlessly tore at their skin. An action that made them both groan in pain as they shed blood.
Curiously the blood did not drip to the ground but consolidated into the air along with the skin to form a talisman. A moment later a shout from one of the examinees told everyone who didn’t what that was an answer.
“Twice Karmic Retribution Unseen Malicious Debt Array!”
‘What!’ Belle, stayed silent but his mind raged. ‘A malicious array on a talisman, how did they get such a thing? Why would he use it on another?! Is there a reason to get so heated?’
“Twice Karmic Retribution Unseen Malicious Debt Array. A mouthful but warranted for such a malicious array.
“He probably pushed Nataly to incur resentment from her and the others, which is the prime fuel source for the array.
“Then when the Test rolls around, whatever it may be, he would be able to incapacitate these 3 girls,” A voice sounded out behind them.
“Heh, you still have that good eye, Furan? Hey Belle, you might want to check on that girl by your side there. She looks like she craves blood.”
A growl surfaced by Belle as he felt a piercing pain at the side of his arm. The girl, who was thoroughly enjoying her ant stomping session a few moments ago now seemed to be holding out on attacking the tall and intimidating boy.
Belle held her shoulder to calm her down while he listened to the conversations near him.
Mathew whistled, “I guess that’s one guy out of the race then. There’s no way the proctor is gonna let him come out of this one.”
“I guess so,” A green-haired, girl with beautiful violet eyes appeared next to him. “Just to be done and clear, you didn’t have a hand in any of this correct.”
“No. Not this time,” The girl, Furan, sighed in relief but balked at his next words. “Unfortunately.”
“It was stupid to have hope.”
Belle sensed the aura growing larger and more terrifying as another appeared before it, and then another in the form of something cute yet twisted.
Coincidentally, this aura, which was the latest of the three, was right beside him this entire time. The girl, whom Belle had no name to call her yet, had her eyes narrowed.
“Is no one going to stop them? They look like they’re gonna start scrapping soon.”
“I don’t know. The proctors are just watching.”
“Maybe they’ll get expelled from the Test or something.”
All around them many of the examinees were stunned as the two elevated themselves further toward the point of a Karmic Clash, an impact of Karmic Qi Projection or Karmic Aura. Nayu and Nana, both of whom had their skin torn apart by the ruthlessly protective Nataly had their cyan eyes change.
Their pupils turned sharp and crimson blossomed in them immediately as their Karmic Aura exploded out of their bodies violently in an attempt to overpower their current enemy.
Belle looked from Nataly to the girl repeatedly before he lifted his right hand to fix the ring on his index finger. He then gripped it into a fist and watched calmly as the auras started dissipating irregularly as if resisting something.
They contracted and were expanding in many directions as if being squeezed by a hand.
‘It still isn’t strong enough to negate the others while keeping me hidden huh? I don’t want them to fight, she doesn’t seem to want that either,’ Belle looked at his friend, his first female friend and one his age who was finally nice to him. ‘I don’t to reveal my Hold though. It could be dangerous.’
A crack sounded out and then the world became white.
The first to initiate the fight was Nataly.