Marla's gaze narrowed, She leaned back against the teacher's desk, arms folded.
"Oliver," she said. "We are going to do this properly.
Retell everything that happened in the Forest of Beasts.
This time, go into detail. I want to know everything."
She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a lump of white slime the size of a fist.
It plopped softly onto the table and wobbled twice before settling.
"If you tell any lies," Marla added, "this little one will turn black."
The slime raised a small bump on its surface, like it was proud.
Oliver stared at it.
"…Instructor, I already told the instructor yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that."
Marla waved her hand.
"Those were preliminary statements," she said.
"This is a proper one. Do not worry, I am just cross-checking. You can start."
Inside the bag at his waist, Ethan had his own thoughts.
'So they still are not satisfied,
Do they suspect Oliver? Or are they looking for something else?'
Oliver took a breath and began.
He spoke about the start of the test, the forest, the first Tier 1 beasts, the boar, the fart, the chase, the hidden cavern, the white tiger, the cultists, the ritual, Lunara's egg, the explosion, the beam, and the end.
This time, Marla did not just listen.
She stopped him every few lines.
"Where exactly did you stand?"
"How far was the boar from you?"
"When the tiger roared, did you feel your mana shake?"
Every time he tried to skip past something embarrassing, her questions hooked onto it.
When he reached the part about ambushing other examinees' beasts, he cleared his throat and tried to move quickly.
"…and then I helped them a little and left," he said.
Marla's eyebrow rose.
"Helped them," she repeated. "How?"
Oliver's eyes slid to the slime. "…I removed their burden," he said.
"Which burden?"
He wanted to bury himself.
"…Their beasts cores."
The slime stayed white.
Marla's lip twitched. "Continue," she said.
"…and in the confusion, I used my artifact to interrupt a few attacks," he said.
Marla's gaze sharpened.
"That sandal," she said. "The one you used to hit students and beasts. Is that an artifact you made yourself?"
She tapped the table with her knuckle.
"You know," she added calmly, "I had a hard time removing that mark."
Oliver froze… His mind went blank for a breath.
He did not want to say the truth.
He also could not simply lie to a slime lie detector.
Inside, Ethan reacted at once.
'Do not panic, tell her this "Word by word."
Oliver swallowed.
"…That sandal is not something I made," he said aloud.
"My mother always liked to throw sandals at me when she was angry, and that day I had just made a mess. This sandal landed beside me."
All of that was true.
Ethan really had fallen out of nowhere.
Oliver really had picked him up.
Ethan pushed his mana out in a steady, calm wave.
He smoothed Oliver's own fluctuations, suppressing any sharp spikes of panic.
The white slime trembled, It stayed white.
He has observed the slime, it work by detecting fluctuation of mana, something the he could manipulate now.
Marla watched both Oliver and the slime closely.
After a few breaths, she nodded slightly.
"Oh, I see, seem your mother buy it from somewhere than."
"For your information when I cleaned those marks. It was not ink or dirt.
The 'stain' was mana, frozen on the skin."
She glanced at him.
"Impure mana from the environment, compressed, shaped, and locked into place.
That is why those girls could not wash it off, no matter how hard they scrubbed."
Oliver's smile turned rigid.
He wanted to apologize to every nose and forehead he had slapped.
Marla continued in a light tone.
"Do you know how much trouble that caused?
Half the infirmary staff thought this is a new type of curse made by the cultist.
One girl was sobbing non stop thinking her life is over'.
Oliver stiffened. "I… am deeply sorry."
"Good. But I will be honest. I am more curious than angry.
Freezing ambient mana like that with a blunt object is not something I ever see."
The slime on the table jiggled, as if agreeing.
Marla moved on.
"Continue From the moment the cult leader raised the altar. Do not skip."
Oliver went through the rest.
This time, Marla did not interrupt as much.
She only asked when certain names or details came up.
"How many cultists did you count?"
"Did you feel anything unusual from the egg before it cracked?"
Oliver answered everything as best he could.
The slime never changed color.
At last, Marla exhaled and picked it up.
The white lump crawled up her sleeve and disappeared.
"That is enough," she said.
She looked at Oliver for a few breaths without speaking.
"You can go, Rest when you can. From tomorrow onward, you will be more busy."
Oliver stood up at once.
"Thank you, Instructor."
After he left Marla murmured
"That boy is fine. Next, I should check the other three."
Outside on the corridor, Oliver let out a long breath.
Inside the bag, Ethan also relaxed.
"Took you a while, Oliver. I thought they might keep you overnight."
Celia leaned against the wall opposite the door.
She had one leg crossed over the other, hands folded behind her back.
Oliver almost jumped.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was waiting for you. So why prof want you to say?"
Her eyes curved gently.
Her smile was warm.
Her gaze felt like a scalpel.
Oliver forced a laugh.
"She only asked about the forest," he said. "Nothing special."
"I see." Celia said.
She glanced at the closed door behind him, then back at him.
"Where you going now?"
"Well I want to go to library to check on some book on rune."
"That mean you're free, come with me.
I have some questions about that little explosion earlier. And about how you draw runes."
Celia pull his hand not even waiting for his approval.
"Questions? About runes?"
"Yes, We are classmates, after all. We should study together."