My breath caught.
For a moment, I forgot the crowd, the chatter, the entire academy itself. The world had blurred into meaningless noise the instant her eyes swept past me.
Lady Evelina D'Arclight.
Her hair shimmered like woven silver under the morning sun, cascading down her shoulders with the weight of nobility. Those crimson eyes, sharp, disdainful, utterly cruel, were everything I remembered, and yet impossibly more. Seeing her in the flesh was like staring at a god I'd only worshipped in words.
I shouldn't have been standing there, staring like a fool. But how could I not? After all, I had spent a lifetime dreaming of this very moment.
"Is there something on my face?" she asked coolly, her gaze locking onto me.
Her tone was dismissive, as if she were crushing an insect beneath her heel. And still, I smiled. The same smile I'd wear for a blade aimed at my throat.
"N-No, my lady. I was merely… in awe."
Marcellus chuckled beside her, and Julius only sighed, clearly used to this kind of scene. But Evelina didn't smile. She tilted her head slightly, curious, perhaps amused.
"In awe?" she repeated softly, as if testing the word on her tongue. "Of what, exactly?"
"Of… perfection."
There was no hesitation. No fear. I had already died once; shame was meaningless.
Her expression didn't change, but her eyes lingered, just long enough for something unreadable to flicker within them. Then, as quickly as it came, her attention shifted away, her focus returning to Julius and the others as if I had never existed.
But that was fine.
The mere acknowledgment of her voice was enough to brand itself into my soul. If this was fate, then I was ready to carve my way through it, blood, body, and all, until I stood beside her, no matter what the novel once decreed.
I touched my chest lightly, feeling my heartbeat thundering beneath. It wasn't fear. It was devotion.
"She looked at me," I whispered under my breath, almost reverently. And I could swear, for just a second, the air around me shivered, as if something greater had heard my prayer.
THUD.
"There are people here already?"
A professor arrived, his raven colored hair draped around his shoulders as he stepped into view, his tired-looking eyes covered with matching glasses.
Professor Corvus, the master of subterfuge, the night stalker, and one of the novel's strongest characters.
One that wasn't utilized nearly enough despite his skill.
He was the one who inspired some of my techniques.
"Well, whatever."
Corvus tiredly answered, pulling out two daggers behind his black professor's robe, the twin daggers subtly emitting a dark smoke as his eyes glowed a dark violet.
"Your test is simple... but since it's only you four, I guess it'll be harder than normal."
Corvus laughed, yawning slightly.
"I want you four to last for more than three minutes against me, and then you all pass."
Corvus smiled, twin daggers already prepared to attack, a stance that Cael had seen a million times already.
It was an ambush, a trick, the moment they say yes.
They'll quickly be attacked.
[Nyx Grants You Her Basics]
- Shadow Step (A Tier)
- Dark Manipulation (Adaptable Tier)
- Dark Attuned (B Tier)
I've read all of those skills before, they were skills that were also used by Corvus, and I knew exactly how their used, and most importantly.
The best way they were used.
"Yes... We're ready."
Julius answered, not aware of what was about to happen, and that was his biggest mistake.
FWOOSH!
Corvus immediately appeared just in front of him, the blunt side of his dagger already planning to hit him straight in the head.
"Watch out, idiot."
I didn't want to save him; he was the reason why Lady Evelina had suffered all those times, but he was still important, the only one capable of defeating a future threat that would come.
So for now, I'll tolerate his presence.
SWISH!
Dark tendrils appeared below Corvus, catching him off guard as his eyes widened. He never expected anyone to use dark manipulation with such speed before.
"What...?"
He laughed, barely even registering it as a threat, as he quickly took a step back, stopping his attack.
"...A fellow dark user I see..."
Corvus looked directly at me, a sliver of anticipation and curiosity within his eyes.
"Thanks for the save!"
Julius yelled out, already creating a sword made of pure light out of thin air.
"Oh...? That was quite impressive, for a nobody at least."
Evelina chuckled, also caught off guard, but she quickly recovered. She was also a master of the dark.
And my show of ability alone was barely enough to impress her.
But...
I caught her eye...
'Yes!'