บท 13: The exam

Kairen buried his face on his pillow. His tired body was aching all over. The last few days were hell! He had to study, take exams and in the evening train with his craz- DEAR "master". He would get hit by his craz- DEAR master if he couldn't do well. Kairen couldn't remember the number of times he was beaten. But the blood he shed wasn't for nothing! He could now cast a few spells.

And besides all that, he was still involved in whatever shit that previous Kairen had done, as he had to visit professor Exell's office from time to time and report! The professor didn't threaten him or try to hurt him anymore but Kairen still felt scared of him. Just sitting there made him feel like his soul was leaving his body.

Lying down on his bed and thinking about tomorrow's practical exam, Kairen slowly closed his eyes. He soon fell into a deep sleep.

'Hey!'

Hmm?

'Hey, Kairen!'

Kairen turned around after hearing a familiar voice. He could now see his older brother standing a few steps away from him. He was looking at him with a sad smile on his lips.

'…What is it?'

'What is it? Hmm! You seem to really like that place huh?'

His brother shook his head. Kairen couldn't understand what he was saying. He didn't understand the situation. Kairen looked around. They were in the city, standing in the middle of a road. But it was weirdly silent, no cars, no people, not even birds.

'Hey, we are standing in the middle of the street! Move aside!'

BANG

A loud voice could be heard from the distance. Then the street they were standing in suddenly started to crumble. The earth shook and strong winds started to blow.

'Hey little bro, are you having fun there?'

'Have you gone crazy? We should run!'

But his brother was still standing there.

'Run… yeah… you ran away… left me here and ran away…'

'Brother! I didn't!'

'How can you still call me brother?'

The buildings started to collapse and cars started floating. His brother was still standing there, smiling sadly at him.

'Brother! Run!'

Everywhere was dark, he felt like he was being pulled away, far away from his brother, who was standing straight in the middle of destruction.

'Wait, let me go! Brother!'

In that darkness, everything was turning to dust. His brother's sad eyes were staring at him. Kairen tried to reach him but he couldn't. he was forcefully moved away.

Kairen opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling. He was back in his room. It wasn't dark, it was twilight. His body was wet with cold sweat and his heart was beating fast.

'What was with that dream…'

Such a stupid dream! His brother would never say something like that to Kairen! He would never! Besides, Kairen didn't run away… he was forcefully thrown somewhere else! His brother would never… his brother…after what happened back then… was he… still alive?

'Of course, he is!'

Kairen closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't even want to think about the possibility of something happening to his brother. No, he couldn't.

'Don't be stupid! Nothing can happen to him!'

To say that he didn't miss his brother would be a lie. To say that he didn't feel guilty for leaving him alone would also be a lie. But he decided not to think about it.

'He is fine. I will go back again and see him soon.'

Right. That's right. Taking deep breaths, he raised his body. Kairen could see Reyan still deep asleep on the other side of the room. It was still early in the morning. He picked up his phone and opened a game to kill time and distract his mind. But he couldn't do so. He put his phone back and picked up the old notebook and opened a page and read it again.

[It that dark day, the shadow of calamity swallowed up the sky, dragging the world into an eternal conflict, bringing a new era by itself. A catastrophe, a pain, once again, once more.]

Dragging the world into an eternal conflict, a catastrophe… and pain. He didn't know what they referred to but he was sure it wasn't something good. He turned the pages and once again, started reading them, trying to find an answer.

Ding.

He heard his phone's alarm showing that he had a massage at the moment.

-Hey~ you awake? Let's practice once more if you are up!

"Heh!"

The massage was more than welcome as he ran to the training ground, preparing himself for getting beaten up.

And a few hours later, he was sitting nervously in the waiting room, waiting for his turn to arrive to take the exam. There were other students besides him in the room, everyone preparing themselves. Kairen, Reyan, and Serria were sitting on a bench in a corner of the room. Reyan was cleaning his sword while Serria was playing a game on her phone. Kairen was massaging his sides as he was beaten up again not too long ago. Turning his head to Serria, he whispered something.

"Hey, are you really, seriously and completely sure that this will work?"

"How many times are you going to ask that? You really don't trust this GREAT master of yours, do you?"

"What if they catch us?"

"They won't! And even if they do, that professor can fix things, right?"

Even though he could do some magic now, they were simple and basic spells. He couldn't pass the exam with shitty spells like that. That was why he was going to cheat! Right! Cheating was his one and only ray of hope, shown to him by his master!

In practical exams, students were matched randomly and one's score was based on that person's performance, winning or losing or even the level of the opponent didn't affect your grades. The situation now was a bit different as he and Serria were the only ones left who would take the exam. In this kind of situation, normally the remaining students have to fight against random students, who have volunteered to participate in the exam once more. But it wouldn't happen this time as Kairen's opponent was decided to be Serria, the reason? Professor Exell!

In one of those hell-like meetings, Kairen requested that from the professor. Kairen felt as if his soul left his body like… 7 times while making that request from the scary professor. Professor Exell accepted it as he too didn't want Kairen to get expelled because he still was suspicious of him. Professor Exell persuaded others to let these two guys take the exam together.

Serria and he arranged all the attacks and moves they would make, adjusting them in a simple but efficient way so that they could get the needed score. They practiced it for a few days to get ready.

"Don't worry, it will go fine."

Kairen nodded and continued to massage his sides. That's when he saw someone staring at him. He was the same boy he saw on the first day of coming here. He would stare at him every time he saw Kairen! It was truly uncomfortable!

Kairen had ignored him till now, but wasn't he free at the moment?

'let's get revenge!'

Kairen turned his head and stared at the boy as well.

"…."

"…??"

"…!"

"…."

-Kairen Steyton, Serria Bleand.

After 5 minutes of gazing at each other, he could finally hear the announcement calling their names. Kairen and Serria got up and left the room together.