Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 99 - First Blood

Previously:

The day of the practical exams is finally here. Kiel enters the 4th floor of Replica Dungeon to take the exam. The Replica Dungeon transports him to a large arena where his exam will be taking place. Out of 9 other exam participants, Kiel recognizes 3 of them, with the third one being Zor Arite.

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The participant next to Zor hesitated briefly, looking at the hourglass. He then gritted his teeth and made his move. Seeing how unguarded Zor Arite seemed, he decided to make him his first target.

The man unsheathed his sword and Accelerated towards Zor. In a blink of an eye, he appeared behind Zor and swung down his sword in an arc, aiming to chop off Zor's head in a single move.

No one saw Zor act, however, in the next moment, the attacker froze in the middle of his move, his sword never finishing its slice.

Several seconds of silence passed with neither Zor nor his attacker moving. And then, the body of Zor's attacker finally moved.

The man slowly fell on his back like a lifeless sack of potatoes.

Only when his body hit the floor did his head separate from his neck, slowly rolling off, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

No one saw or felt Zor move. No one knew when nor how the attacker was decapitated.

From the beginning to the end, Zor seemed like an emperor who didn't deem it worthy for him to deal with a speck of dust that was his attacker.

The serenity with which he remained leisurely sitting, even after the gruesome sight, made goosebumps crawl over everyone's skin. At that moment, all participants decided they would definitely not be the next one to provoke Zor Arite.

Kiel too felt his hair stand on end. He remembered what Elaru had told him yesterday when he asked about her thoughts on Zor. Elaru had made a rather strange facial expression before speaking: "Uh... if you meet him in the exam... consider yourself unlucky... even if it was me with my Aethernea... I'd probably be unable to take him down in 30 minutes..."

"But what would you do if you were forced to fight with him?" was what he had asked next.

"I'd just avoid him. If you don't provoke him, chances are he won't bother dealing with you."

Kiel had rolled his eyes in annoyance when she told him that. Only now did he realize that Elaru might have been right. If he wasn't even able to see what happened while he was paying attention, then, how was he supposed to fight Zor? He'd just be a meep running happily towards the slaughter. Instead of committing "suicide" he might as well do his utmost to avoid clashing with him. At least he'd have a higher chance of living then.

Kiel was among the first to snap out of his shock and survey the current situation. The reactions of other participants to the beheading didn't escape his keen eyesight. Rhur, Nelaira and Deora showed very little change of expression. However, the faces of the majority paled and broke out in cold sweat. There were even two people who looked both downright horrified. Their faces turned green, looking as if they would puke at any moment.

In a split second, Kiel's mind considered his options and settled on an optimal course of action.

If he wanted to survive this Battle Royale, he would need to conserve his energy as much as possible which meant that he would need to fight as little as possible. For that to happen, he needed to create an air of might that would deter others from targeting him.

He either needed to show absolute dominance like Zor Arite, which, unfortunately, he couldn't due to his lack of power, or he should project a calm poise shrouded in an air of mystery, making it difficult for others to gauge his skill level.