Neraxis opted to trust his gut, so he went over and stood by William without even greeting him or introducing himself.

If he thought about it, where else could the color black be? There were certainly no pillars in sight with that color, nor were there any objects except for the single cane, which had not been there previously.

That, coupled with the fact that William was not saying anything, meant that he was right.

The seconds turned into minutes as he remained the only one standing beside him, until a girl approached and silently stood by as well.

Neraxis could not recognize her. She had crimson red eyes and black shoulder-length hair. She was quite a beauty; it was certainly a wonder how he did not remember her.

Maybe one of those who died early on? he thought and decided not to pursue the matter further. It wouldn't do him any good worrying about others when he himself was in an unpredictable situation.

It was still unbelievable. He really had died and come back to the past—or what he assumed to be the past anyway. So far, the only thing that had not changed since his return was his sister.

As for his parents? He was not sure where they were. Most of the time, they only came back for holidays. However, Neraxis had a grievance with them. When his sister had died, they did not even bother showing up to the funeral.

But he decided to stop his depressing thoughts and instead focus on what he could do now.

The first would be to pass the entrance exam. At the rate it was progressing, it was likely he had already passed.

After that—and most importantly—figure out what was going on with the world and why exactly there were so many differences compared to the past.

As he was lost in thought, another person showed up, followed by yet another one, making it four people in total if he included himself.

Neraxis and the others patiently waited for a couple more minutes until, finally, the cane William was holding disappeared, and suddenly, they found themselves encased in some sort of black bubble, expanding several dozen meters around them.

However, he immediately realized where they were: a barrier, one that seemed to completely isolate them from the outside.

Suddenly, William's voice rang out, as if it was coming from everywhere but where he was standing. "You four pass: Jay, Celina, Damien, and lastly... Neraxis? What a weird name."

...Ouch?

"However, I still have another test for you. It was supposed to be completed with more people, but out of the 36 others I gave the black marble to, only you four managed to perceive past their foolishness and find the obvious clue in plain sight," William explained slowly, as the voices around them all began growing quieter.

Neraxis turned around and attempted to find some sort of loophole in the barrier, but it seemed flawless. It looks like you are even stronger than before I returned... This world sure is something.

As he turned back around, he was met with the three other students, who had equally confused looks on their faces. William had suddenly disappeared in the moment he looked away.

"Now then, I will cut the bullshit while it's hot." William's voice resounded all around them once again, this time much louder than before.

However, his tone did not sound normal—at least not how Neraxis remembered it. He had been a pretty cold-blooded man, but despite that, Neraxis had never heard him speak with such little emotion.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I will choose two of you to enter the special class. The other two will be expelled. I will give you ten minutes to prepare. Until then, I am going to be standing by."

That's more like it. Neraxis nodded to himself. It seemed like all William wanted to do was intimidate the others—a final test of wit. It even managed to fool him for a moment.

Turning around, what greeted Neraxis's eyes were two students, Jay and Damien, who seemed to already be fighting each other.

Eliminating each other was a great idea—if one did not think through the question. Obviously, all they had to do was stay put for ten minutes and William would pass them all. After all, he said there were 36 others who didn’t make it.

But as he thought that, he suddenly froze. Unless that is also a lie? Shit.

It would certainly fit the theme. He tested their perception, and now perhaps it was decision-making under unknown circumstances?

There were a lot of possibilities going through his mind. However, they were all interrupted when a kick flew straight at his head. Just before it was about to land, Neraxis quickly sidestepped, barely dodging the attack.

It was Jay, and unlike the other students he had seen earlier, this one was pretty bland. However, it seemed like he was great at martial arts.

Despite dodging the kick, Neraxis still felt the force behind it slightly stinging his arm. He couldn't say for certain if it was the effect of a skill or not, but he would find out shortly.

In his peripheral vision, he spotted Damien lying in his own pool of blood. It was hard to tell if he was even alive at that point.

As for Celina, she was merely standing by the side, her presence greatly reduced to the point where Jay most likely forgot about her.

She noticed Neraxis staring in her direction and flashed a look of surprise before quickly doing something he could only attribute to being a skill. Even though he was looking at her, the presence she was emitting was slowly dimming. It felt as though he was looking directly through her instead of at her.

But he could not worry about that as he still had to deal with Jay, who had grown impatient since his first attack.

Neraxis didn’t have to wait long for another attack to come at him. However, this time he was ready. It was also the perfect opportunity to test out his new skill—one that he considered mediocre.

He immediately used Mark of Decay, putting it on a ten-minute cooldown, while simultaneously activating Aura of Vulnerability. The effects were instant, and he could see two orbs clearly orbiting around Jay, their colors black and silver. Usually, visual cues like these indicated that the individual was under the effects of a skill.

Only he could see such things, while Jay would not notice in the slightest—well, until it was too late.

As before, Jay dashed in and tried sweeping his legs. However, Neraxis kicked right at his knee as he jumped up and evaded him once again. All he had to do was hit him five times to stack the Decaying debuff to its maximum.

As for Aura of Vulnerability, Neraxis wasn’t sure if it was doing much. While there was a small bruise on Jay's knee now, it was doubtful if a measly 5% increase in damage could cause that.

Nonetheless, Neraxis kept dodging until, finally, the Decaying stacks reached their maximum of five. Surprisingly, the attacks felt a little slower, enough for him to dodge with less effort.

However, one thing stood out the most: the black orb, which had begun glowing ominously, as if begging for Neraxis to reach out for it.

The moment he thought about doing so, the black orb disappeared, leaving only the silver orb. It seemed pretty anticlimactic.

Or so he thought. In the next moment, he could see Jay slightly wobbling, a pained expression on his face, and a groan escaping his mouth.

However, before he had time to process what had happened, Neraxis ran up to him without hesitation and hit him over the head with full force, knocking him out on the spot and even caving in his jaw slightly.

What just happened? Neraxis thought with a raised brow.

As he gazed around, he noticed a system window, one that had been oddly minimized to the point where it was difficult to spot. But once he maximized it, his eyes widened.

[Eve of Ruin {G} New Skill Option Unlocked]

[Skill Effects (2/2): Mark of Decay: Mark a single enemy within a 30-meter radius and inflict the Decaying debuff.

(NEW) Detonate the Mark: Instantly triggers the cumulative damage from the 5 most powerful attacks inflicted on the marked target while the mark is active. If the mark is detonated, the Decaying debuff ends early.

Mark of Decay Cooldown: 10 minutes.

Detonate the Mark Cooldown: 3 Hours]

Neraxis stared at the new option, trying to keep his expression steady. However, it was difficult, as a smile still managed to form on his face.

After all, a skill that dealt 5 of his strongest attacks at once out of all his hits combined was pretty overpowered. Even if it had a long cooldown, it was the perfect trump card.

Now this is what I call a good skill.