Warlock of Oceans: My Poseidon System

Chapter 123 Entrance Scaling Exams (5)

"Is that how her core broke?"

"Yeah… and it was because my stupid father lashed out way too hard and hit her with a belt infused with magic. If it wasn't for my medical attention, she would have died right then and there."

"That's fucking brutal…"

"I'm well aware of that…. And so, I took her and ran away after that. Our parents didn't even try to find us, as I'm sure they just assumed we were dead. Also, I'm pretty sure they didn't care. They didn't really care about me either, but Petra drew the short end of the stick… so yeah. And then, Amelia found us, and we were safe. She gave us some medicine and even got us to get vaccines which we had been neglected of… and now we're here."

"If you want, I can tell you my childhood, although it isn't very different from yours…." I asked, but she just shook her head from side to side. And after she wiped a few more tears from her face, I felt her lightly hug me from the side and dig her face into my neck before peacefully falling asleep. "*sigh*... I'm not good at this…."

…

"Ugh… we're fucking stupid," Mari groaned as we hauled our tired asses to the massive auditorium from before. Mari barely got any sleep, while I got absolutely none. I thought I was used to staying up, but it seems I severely overestimated my own body.

"Don't rope me in with you… your fidgety ass kept me awake. You kept elbowing me in your sleep, so, of course, I didn't get any rest."

"Oh, my bad…." Mari awkwardly smiled before pushing open the doors to the massive auditorium. We were greeted by its instant drift of wind, which confused us for a second until we noticed the floor had completely disappeared… no, that was incorrect to say. It didn't disappear, but it did change into a glass that felt as strong as titanium.

My foot kicked against the floor a couple of times before feeling everything reverberate back up my body. It felt not only strange but also a bit interesting since it was an experience in itself, looking past the material and down into the… capital of some fantasy kingdom that rested below.

"Please follow me," A voice suddenly appeared beside me. It caught me off guard, and not because my guard was down from the lack of sleep, but because of how powerful she was. The elf seemingly phased into existence beside us with a kind smile. "Don't worry… It seems you were stressed last night and couldn't get any sleep. The materials we will be handing out might make that easier on you."

"Mhm…" Mari rolled her eyes before we followed the woman across the tempered glass and into an elevator tucked behind the main stage. We traveled further and further down into the kingdom below us.

The elevator was mostly made of the same material, allowing us to look down at the gathering of kids right at the foot of the elevator shaft. Most seemed stressed, but the others just looked as if they were excited to explore this place.

"How long did it take to make this?" I asked, still gawking at the thought of how big this place was. It was unbelievably large, to the point where I could hardly believe my own eyes as I stepped out of the elevator cage and felt the hard sensation of a dirt path running under my feet.

"A couple of years. It would have been faster if it wasn't for the legal complications… but we managed to assure that nobody lives down here besides a special breed of monsters which we've planted strategically to form their own ecosystem… pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah, but why are you telling me all of this? Do all of the other kids know?" I asked the elf as Mari ran over to Asger and Petra. Petra immediately hugged her sister while Asger just kept smiling and giggling to himself.

"No, they are just aware of the existence of monsters down here. And just like you, they are unaware of what kind of monsters are down here…." The woman smiled before gesturing for me to head to my group. And as I immediately split from her, the harsh gazes of almost everybody here dug into my skin.

"Geez… she maybe did too good of a job," I muttered, staring back at somebody who put his foot out to trip me as I walked to my group. He had a smirk on his face as if he was proud of something, so I kept note of his features and walked over to his stretched-out foot.

"Hey, Asger, did you have a good night's rest-"

"Hey, are the rumors true? You had a little sister, yet you beat her every day till she died? That's pretty brutal, dude."

All of a sudden, a hand gripped my shoulder, and I felt my facial features immediately relax, going colder than a block of ice. Slowly, I turned around to see the same boy who had tried to trip me, and as his smirk only widened, I clenched my fist and unleashed an amount of bloodlust so heavy that if it wasn't for an outside force interfering it would have crippled this boy immediately.

"That's enough. Both of you separate," The woman glared at both of us while pushing us away from each other. She was strong. Really strong, to the point I couldn't even push back in the slightest. She completely overpowered me, so the only thing I could do was back away, raising my hands into the air to show my innocence.

As the other boy also backed away, his smirk turned into a glare, and as he mouthed a few threatening words, I felt my jaw tense. My bloodlust leaked from my body like a myriad of miasmic tendrils, reaching out toward the boy, trying to grab him.

Only a few of the children in the crowd could sense it, but barely anybody besides this elven proctor could see it. And even she began to sweat at the feeling of my tendrils scratching her clothes and face, sensing if she was an enemy or not.

"Alright! Now that everybody is here, we will hand out your materials! And once everybody calms down and stops making a ruckus, then I will explain the rules!"

I sat down with Asger, Petra, and Mari, picking at the grass while we waited for our supplies to be handed out. And soon, in a neat woven basket, a woman with long green hair and shimmering emerald eyes appeared next to us, handing out a health potion, a stamina potion, and a tracker, which we were forced to clip onto our clothes.

"Ugh, gimme this…" I muttered, downing the stamina potion almost immediately. And as if I had been given a shot of adrenaline, my eyes shot awake, and my heart began to pound. My depleted stamina quickly raised to its max, energizing me with an instant boost of adrenaline.

"Seal, I heard those are bad for your heart. They will make your heart explode," Asger worryingly looked at me with such pitiful eyes that he made it seem like I was about to die or something akin to that.

"I'm fine… hey, you drink yours as well."

Mari refused to drink hers even after my encouragement, so she saved it in her back pocket while Petra stared at me with a worried expression. It looked like some of the rumors had spread to her, and only now was she beginning to process it.

"I swear, on everything. I did no such thing. I'm the youngest of my family, so I have no younger siblings than myself. It's your choice whether to believe me or not, but I hope you can trust that I'm telling the truth."

"No, I believe you," She quietly responded before hugging Mari once more, and as all the children began to settle down, the elf began to explain the rules and objective of this practical exam.

"Alright! QUIET! QUIET! Okay, good… now, this practical exam consists of two separate objectives, but you only need one to pass. Take a tracker from another participant, but you may collect more. The more you collect, the higher evaluation you will receive. This school reserves tenacity over strength, so make sure you remember to use your brain. And then the second way to pass is by keeping the flag at the very top of the palace towers to yourself until the end of the exam. The more time you keep it, the higher your evaluation, and a bonus will be given to the holder of the flag at the end of the time. Now, you have the entire day. Twenty-four hours. Killing is forbidden, and severely injuring somebody intentionally is also forbidden… NOW… START!"

Immediately, everybody was caught off guard as we weren't separated from the beginning. If we wanted to take out the entire class, then it would be now… but I had more important things to worry about.

As my siblings and I dashed into the forest, I felt a presence follow us. It was dark and had malicious intent… so I couldn't help but test out my new skills.