"If you want to become stronger, then take this."
Brenin remained silent for a few seconds, staring at the vial containing small blue spheres without blinking. He didn't know what they were or what they were for exactly, but he was perceptive enough to deduce that those pills had a specific purpose.
"What are those pills?" Brenin asked with a serious look, eager to clear any doubts from his mind.
"These?" the purple-haired boy replied, glancing at the vial in his hand. "Why don't you find out for yourself!"
The boy tossed the vial towards Brenin, who caught it effortlessly. But the moment he did, he felt a sinister energy emanating from the blue spheres, leaving him more perplexed than his face showed.
Brenin sensed a completely different kind of mana than any other he had encountered in his young life as an apprentice mage and magic knight. It wasn't a massive amount of energy, but it felt almost dark and cold. For a moment, a shiver ran down his spine. Concentrating, he felt another energy that, at his current level, he couldn't clearly describe.
[What the hell could they be?] Brenin wondered, having a vague inkling of what those spheres might be.
"Take one of these and you will become stronger than you are now," the mysterious boy suddenly said, interrupting Brenin's thoughts. He focused again on that figure, as bizarre as it was enigmatic.
Hearing those words, Brenin finally got the answer he was looking for: they were drugs. Performance-enhancing drugs, probably increasing the mana generated by one's core.
He realized he now had the chance to become stronger, but instead of feeling happy, he felt disgusted. He, who considered training a nearly sacred means to become stronger, was horrified that such underhanded methods existed to reach that goal.
[I'll never use this stuff!] Brenin thought, determined to return the vial to the boy. But as he was thinking, he didn't notice what was happening around him. When he looked for the mysterious boy, he realized he had vanished into thin air, almost as if he had never existed.
"W-What…?"
Brenin looked around: right, left, even above and below. There was no trace of him. He had completely disappeared without a sound.
Brenin was bewildered by what had happened. Although he had been distracted, he hadn't been distracted enough to "let him get away." The ease with which the boy had appeared and then disappeared shocked him greatly; he must have been so fast as to be imperceptible, at least at Brenin's level.
"Does such a student really exist in this school?" Brenin muttered to himself, aware that, besides Gygas, there was another formidable student in his class.
At that moment, Brenin felt even more disheartened, and without saying a word, he left the gym and returned to his room, clutching tightly to the vial given to him by the mysterious boy…
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Three days later…
It was the day of the exam for the first-year section C, the section where Erwin was.
Throughout the week leading up to that day, Erwin had trained hard with his new friend, Oscar. Thanks to his experience, he had found a way to increase Oscar's chances of passing the exam.
That morning, unlike the day of the entrance exam, Erwin wasn't nervous about the test, as he was confident that no one in his class could beat him.
However, he felt a bit apprehensive for Oscar, wondering if what they had done during that week would be enough since Erwin still felt that Oscar hadn't reached an acceptable level for him. But his classmates weren't that great either, so he thought only time would give him the answer he was looking for.
With his eyes, he had seen Owen improve day by day until his friend got used to fighting in such a technical and effective way. He had to trust what he had taught his friend; he had to trust the work they had done.
He grabbed a quick bite, and after washing his mouth and face, he left the room, heading towards combat room number 6, the venue where the test would be held.
Before doing so, however, Erwin made a small detour to the other wing of the dormitory, where Oscar was waiting for him, having just left his room.
"Hey Oscar! Did you sleep well?" Erwin asked, approaching his friend.
"Well, more or less..." Oscar replied, stretching a bit. "You know, I'm nervous about the test. I feel like I've gotten stronger, but..."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Don't worry!" Erwin exclaimed, putting his arm around his friend's neck, pulling him close. "You've trained hard! You'll see, everything will go well!" the native of Hakvill concluded, trying to instill courage in his friend.
"...You're right! I need to have more confidence!" Oscar replied in turn, needing those words to face the exam with determination and courage.
"Good, let's go then!"
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The two boys, after walking for a few minutes through the academy's corridors and streets, finally reached training room number 6; they took their time, as they were relaxed but determined.
As soon as they entered, however, they couldn't help but notice the worried and bewildered looks of their classmates, and Oscar, who had been confident of his abilities until then, felt a bit of fear.
"Hey, stay calm!" whispered Erwin, giving him a pat on the back.
"...Y-Yeah."
The two approached their classmates, who immediately noticed their presence and simply looked at them with disdain, especially Erwin, who completely ignored them.
Ever since Erwin had taken down Marcus and the class bullies, it seemed that everyone had turned against him: some out of fear of Marcus's reaction, others out of spite.
Among the hateful glances was Marcus's, who hated him with all his heart after the incident and wanted to take revenge for the affront. Because of his broken nose, Marcus was forced to wear a ridiculous black mask made of wood, which served to protect his face. Marcus was furious about this, and had tried in every way to ruin Erwin's existence.
For example, Marcus turned everyone against Erwin,convinced that in this way, the native of Hakvill would feel lonely. But he was unpleasantly surprised to find that Erwin wasn't affected by that "psychological battle" at all, especially since he had found a trusted friend in Oscar.
Initially, Erwin had tried to get along with his classmates, but seeing the disdain in their eyes, he decided it was better to ignore them, at least for the moment.
A few weeks earlier, he would have suffered in that situation, but now things had changed. He was starting to transform, and certain things no longer bothered him; he had faced far more complex situations and couldn't allow himself to be negatively influenced by something so childish.
After a few minutes of waiting, Professor Valentin finally arrived, and with his serious gaze, he headed towards the ring in the room, passing through the students, who immediately fell silent upon sensing his presence.
"Good morning, everyone," the professor began, looking his students straight in the eyes. "As you know, today will decide the future of some of you. The only thing I can tell you is to give your best so you won't have any regrets."
After that brief introduction, the professor took out a sheet of paper, which had the list of all the matches he had established using simply the numbers from a book. "Well, now we can start the matches!"
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The fights began, and Erwin clearly saw what the battles consisted of: no elements could be used, only mana and their fists.
In the test, besides victory, other aspects were evaluated, such as style, intelligence, and control over one's mana. This fact gave more leeway for promotions. But only apparently, since, after several minutes of fighting, none of the defeated boys were promoted following those criteria.
Erwin had already observed a dozen matches, and while the first clashes were cleaner, the subsequent ones became increasingly harsh and bloody, as no one wanted to lose under the circumstances.
Erwin had seen everything up to that point: the despair in the boys' eyes, their anger, and their sadness at seeing their dreams shattered.
This particular fact bothered Erwin greatly, who, just like on the day of the entrance test, didn't think it was right to have to crush others' dreams. He wondered what the purpose of all this was, seeing those fights almost as a kind of slaughter rather than a fight aimed at improving the students.
However, Erwin knew he couldn't have pity because his classmates certainly wouldn't have any for him. And this fact relieved him greatly: it was clear that none of his classmates, except Oscar, wanted him around, and they would do anything to beat him.
[I will eliminate them before they can do it to me...] Erwin thought, feeling extremely determined at that moment.
He was ready. Ready to put an end to this test, and ready to support his friend Oscar in his challenge and to celebrate their possible promotion together.
And just as he was thinking about this, Professor Valentin finally called his name, ending the long wait and putting him on alert.
"Mr. Eda... Step into the ring. You too, Mr. Kilt."
"So it's my turn, Oscar..." With a determined and fierce look, Erwin took a step towards the ring; for some strange reason, however, he suddenly stopped, turning towards Oscar, who said nothing to his friend, not even a small gesture of encouragement.
Erwin felt puzzled, and when his gaze met Oscar's, he was very perplexed by what he saw: the boy was completely pale, staring blankly into apparent nothingness.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Erwin asked, bewildered by his friend's strange behavior.
At the same moment, Erwin heard laughter coming from the back of the group; it was Marcus and his friends, who couldn't stop laughing under their breath.
"They did something to you, didn't they?" Erwin wondered, casting an intimidating look at Marcus and his companions,
who immediately stopped laughing under the pressure of the native of Hakvill.
But despite this, no words came out of Oscar's mouth. Erwin didn't understand what was happening, but he got the impression that it had to be something serious to scare Oscar this much.
"Mr. Eda, Mr. Kilt! Get up here immediately, I don't have all day!" Professor Valentin exclaimed in the meantime, tired of waiting for the two boys to arrive.
"O-Okay, professor!" Erwin said, turning towards the professor. But after responding, Erwin noticed a detail, a detail he could only see at that moment: the professor wasn't looking at Erwin at that moment, but at someone else. Someone who, following the direction of his gaze, was close to him. Damn close to him.
[H-Hey, wait a second…]
Erwin looked around, and to his horror, he realized that none of his classmates had approached the ring except for him.
[No...No…]
At that moment, his eyes slowly and inexorably turned towards Oscar, who, after remaining silent for so long with a completely shocked expression, began to tremble like a leaf, his eyes gradually becoming more teary.
"H-Hey Oscar, don't tell me that..."
Erwin didn't know Oscar's last name. It was rare for the professors, given the high number of students in their class, to call the students by their last names. He didn't even need to finish his question to understand that the last name he hadn't cared about a moment earlier was actually his friend's...
"T-That last name is m-mine, Erwin…"
END OF CHAPTER 42 - WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW