Chapter 245: Feel Better
[Ruvian’s POV]
Through [Night Eyes], Ruvian watched as a lone figure suddenly rushed toward the Voidspawn, moving so unbelievably fast that even with his night vision, he couldn’t follow the attack itself.
Ruvian stared at the motionless corpse, his breath catching for just a second.
There was only one person who came to mind. It had to be one of the academy instructors. They had most likely been alerted the moment the scholars’ bracelets suddenly lost their signals.
’So, Edvoss is here.’
However, that assumption alone wasn’t what led Ruvian to that conclusion. He also remembered from the novel that Edvoss had been hunting this particular creature.
Even so, he hadn’t expected Instructor Edvoss to strike the very moment he dispelled the creature’s realm.
’I wonder how long this guy has been waiting here.’
The darkness swallowed every detail except the shape of him, making the instructor look like a shadow that had just learned how to walk.
As he came closer, Edvoss slowly rolled his neck from one side to the other, stretching it without using his hands. Yet not even the smallest sound reached Ruvian’s ears, which made his approach feel more intimidating.
Ruvian narrowed his eyes.
Finally, Edvoss stopped a few steps away from them, his tall silhouette standing quietly before the group. His gaze drifted across the four scholars lying unconscious on the ground before returning to Ruvian.
Even then, the darkness hid Ruvian’s face, leaving only the sharp outline of his features visible beneath the faint glow of the mist.
Ruvian met that gaze without speaking.
From where he stood, he could not make out Edvoss’s expression either, only the firm outline of a well-defined face staring back at him.
Edvoss was the first to break the silence.
"Ahem, so congratulations on making it this far, kid. Honestly, I don’t know if congratulations is the right word to use here but, I suppose I should at least offer you a few words of recognition."
"Even so, you did well to survive against a Malice Voidspawn. Sadly, it’s unfortunate that your journey in this examination ends here. Still, that’s fine because your life is worth far more than this little exam. You’ll have another chance to take it again when the opportunity comes."
Ruvian’s brows slowly drew together.
’Huh? What?’
Edvoss simply nodded. "Anyway, help me carry your teammates. We are heading back to the ship now."
Ruvian frowned even more and a strange look crossed his face as the instructor’s words finally sank in.
’No, wait. Hold on a second. Did he genuinely... did he genuinely mistake that we were out of the examination because we triggered the protection?’
The more he thought about it, the less sense it made, and his lips twitched faintly.
He had expected many things from this meeting, but not a misunderstanding this big.
Ruvian found it hard to believe!
"Wait, Instructor," Ruvian said, raising a hand before Edvoss could move, his voice steady but quick, "what do you mean by that? We are not eliminated from this test."
Edvoss let out a sigh, then lightly rubbed the side of his neck. "You already heard this during the briefing, right? Once your bracelet activates its protection, the examination immediately—"
"—Our protection never activated, sir," Ruvian cut in at once, his voice sharper than before.
Edvoss’s eyes narrowed, and the hand at his side came to a brief stop before relaxing again.
His gaze settled on Ruvian for a long moment, the calm look on his face remaining unchanged, though a faint crease appeared between his brows.
’What? It never activated?’
Ruvian raised his left arm without another word and held the bracelet toward him.
"Take a look for yourself, sir."
Edvoss stepped closer and lowered his gaze to the bracelet wrapped around Ruvian’s wrist.
After a brief inspection, his eyes paused on the untouched protection runic mark, and his expression tightened by the smallest amount.
The scholar was telling the truth.
The bracelet had never activated its protection.
Edvoss slowly lifted his eyes back to Ruvian, a quiet frown settling across his face.
"Then how did all of you escape the Malice Voidspawn’s spell?" he asked. "If your protection never activated, how are the five of you still alive?"
Ruvian answered without missing a beat.
"Ahem, about that... honestly, I don’t know either. The Voidspawn never attacked us directly, we... we only ended up fighting each other. I think that was the effect of its ability. After I managed to knock out my teammates, I suddenly found myself back here, on the island."
Edvoss remained silent.
The darkness hid Ruvian’s face, leaving only his outline visible, and without seeing his expression, Edvoss could not tell whether the young scholar was speaking the truth or feeding him a carefully prepared lie.
Then, the unnatural darkness began to weaken.
It did not vanish all at once, instead it slowly peeled away from the world like a tide pulling back, revealing faint traces of dawn beyond the black sky as the island gradually reclaimed its natural light.
Before the darkness had fully withdrawn, Edvoss turned around and casually rubbed the edge of his ear with a finger.
"Haaa... well, if that’s the case, then continue your test. My business here is done."
Ruvian stood in silence, watching the instructor’s figure grow smaller as it blended into the fading darkness, until both the man and the night were slowly swallowed by the coming dawn.
[You have received +2,000 Plot Points!]
*****
[Yerin’s POV]
The distant chirping of birds slowly reached her ears, pulling her drifting mind back from the line between dream and reality.
Then, the warmth of morning light pressing against her closed eyelids reminded her that it was already dawn, and with it came the memory of the island test.
’Father....!!!’
Her eyes snapped open.
She jolted upright, her heart pounding hard against her chest, while warm sweat clung to her skin.
Her eyes swept across the cave, and she quickly realized they were sheltering inside a small cave.
A massive boulder blocked the entrance, while a few rays of morning light slipped through the gaps and fell across Arlok’s face, making him turn away in his sleep.
Shima and Horren were still asleep beside him too.
"What... what happened last night?" She pressed a hand against her forehead as the lingering dizziness washed over her.
Then, little by little, the memories came back, right up until the moment everything suddenly blurred, and somehow... she had fallen into a dreamlike state.
’Ah, right! I was fighting Horren and Arlok.’
’Then I got hit in the stomach... then... then... ugh!’
Yerin pressed a hand against her forehead again, trying to push through the lingering haze.
"Then I ended up fighting... Rosalin?" she muttered quietly as the last of the haze cleared from her mind.
After that, she heard footsteps approaching from the cave entrance.
"It seems like you’re already awake, Yerin."
It was Ruvian.
He stepped inside with a simple wooden bowl filled with warm soup, thin wisps of steam rising gently into the air.
"Anyway, have some soup first. It should help you....
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[Chapter 245: Feel Better]
Plot Points= 10,500