Chapter 35 Mental Burden I

The Neohpyte Nexus ended with my victory against Julian Klein who ranked 666th of the second-year students. The event closing was as much exciting as the main event itself.

Nuria gave a few speeches, an encouragement that triggered students' inner desire to become stronger.

I never knew she could give inspiring speeches. Did someone help her with the script?

Anyway, Neophyte Nexus this year was one of the best events the academy ever held. The only one where the first-year students overwhelmed the second-year students.

When the clock displayed 2:30 PM. The Neophyte Nexus 2030 officially ended with a perfect score.

Right now, I was getting treated in the treatment room. As a result of forcing myself to face the multiple wind blade strikes, I got injured in my shoulder area, the cut was a bit deep and it felt stung when the nurse applied a cure there.

As she finally healed my shoulder, I tried to move it.

"How is it?" The nurse asked.

"I feel better. Thank you!"

The nurse smiled and gave me one last check before leaving the room.

This place's wall was painted blank white, and the floor too was made of white marble, giving this place an innocent, pure, and clean environment befitting a room intended for treating a sick patient.

Patient beds were lined up in two rows, leaving a walkway in the middle. This room was large enough to accommodate nearly a hundred patient beds.

Three of the beds were occupied by Neophyte Nexus participants who were also receiving treatment. There was one bed with a patient who was sleeping soundly, it was Seo Yeong-Ha.

Well, she got hit by a powerful attack from the martial art genius, Baek Jin, no wonder she was left in that state.

Standing up from the bed, I walked toward the door and leave the room.

"Yo, junior!"

Waiting for me outside was Julian Klein, or should I say the demon Julron.

He leaned against the wall to the right side of the door. A wide grin was painting his face, making me shiver.

"I'm intrigued by your fighting style, is it possible for you to teach me?"

I looked him up and down, not even trying to hide my suspicion as I observed him.

"What's with that look? I just want to improve my combat ability by learning something new."

He acted friendly to me so suddenly, tapping my shoulder gently.

'If you want to lie, at least control your expression dude. Your true intention is leaking out…'

At this moment, while he was acting friendly, smiling here and laughing there. He was forgetting to control his face. The way his expression shifted stiffly and looked as if it was forced, his movement too.

On top of that, the faint noises that fill my head right now, as well as the glow emanating from the earring, indicated he was using his mind control or other mental-based attacks.

He still didn't give up on manipulating my mind, eh?

Well, let's feed him up this time.

"I understand, senior. I'll help you with your training."

"Great!" He grabbed my shoulders. "Come meet me behind the fourth-year student's dorm at night, the night breeze there is relaxing, it can help wash away our fatigue after training!"

"The fourth-year student's dorm? Sure."

After saying what he wanted, he disappeared from my sight, running out of the building with excitement.

Looking in the direction where he was running, I just shook my head as my mouth slowly turned into a smirk.

I still have time before the promise to meet Shannon in the park at the Crow realm.

Taking out the earring from my breast pocket, I examined its intriguing craft details. Not gonna lie, even though I knew nothing about artistry especially crafting, I could tell that this earring was made by a top, seasoned crafter.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom The detail of pattern and texture in this earring was insane. I could understand it if it was done on a bigger canvas, but to do it on this small earring was just mindblowing.

"How come I've never known about this artifact?"

As I was drawn into the detail of the earring, I suddenly recalled Ember.

"Oh yeah. I need to give this back to her…"

But, after giving it a second thought, I decided to keep it with me for today. I still have to meet with the demon Julron tonight after all.

…

After wasting my time in the cafeteria, it was finally time to meet up with Shannon. But, as I was about to leave the building, my Nova Watch beeped.

When I checked it, someone had messaged me. Honestly, I had no idea at first, but after thinking for a while, I guessed that it might be from Shannon.

And hell yeah I was right, the message was coming from Shannon.

"Huh?"

Upon seeing her messages, I narrowed my eyes. I could feel my mood swing, my day was ruined and my disappointment was immeasurable.

[Sorry Zio, I had to leave for the apprenticeship much earlier than I expected >w<]

[There is a schedule change]

[And I just remembered to tell you when I arrived at my apprenticeship's place]

[*Images.png*]

[Guess where is this place?]

[Yes, that's right. I'm taking my apprenticeship in the Chrysalia guild!]

"..."

Along with the barraged messages, she also took a selfie of herself in front of the majestic tall building.

In that photo, she was smiling cheerfully. The melancholy aura that I felt in the morning was nowhere to be found, she was genuinely happy for having an apprenticeship in the Chrysalia guild.

But, now I knew what caused me to have a bad feeling earlier in the morning. It was because she took an apprenticeship class in the Chrysalia guild, ranked 4th in the guild ranking by the Omega system.

The problem was that the Chrysalia guild was fated to perish…

Their guild leader, Neychta, had many enemies among the high-rank heroes and even villains. A year from now on, when they were raiding the Yamata-No-Orochi dungeon, most of their executives and members would be dead, leaving only Neychta as the sole survivor.

But in the end, she too would die in the same way as the Thunder Emperor, from the Magic Core Dysfunction.

The news said that they sacrificed themselves so much for the sake of evacuating the other guild's members that joint-raid with them.

But in reality, the reason why they failed to raid the dungeon and the truth behind the fall of the Chrysalia guild was that they were betrayed by the other guilds.

"Haa… Surely, she will be okay. She's just taking an apprenticeship in there, not as a member that obligated to join the raid…"

Despite trying to keep on positive thinking, the feeling that I had felt was too strong that I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Typing on my Nova Watch, I sent her a message.

[Don't join any raid.]

Then turned off my Nova Watch as I walked out of the building into my dorm building.

Coincidentally, my dorm building and the room number were the same as when I stayed during the entrance exam. The fourth dorm building was located to the northeast, it was one building away on the left side if I was to arrive from the north entrance.

My dorm room number was 403, the same room I used to stay during the entrance exam.

Arriving in front of my room, I scanned my Student Card to the scanner on the door.

Beep–!

As the beeping sound was entering my ears, the door clicked and I pushed it.

Stepping into my dorm room, my vision was greeted by the design of the room. Now that I had time of my own in this academy, my eyes swept every corner of the room, observing it carefully.

There were two beds just like a few weeks ago, and nothing changed. The beds were sleek and inviting, adorned with smooth lines and minimalist accents.

The room was bathed in a soft glow of LED lighting, giving it a modern and a bit of futuristic ambiance. On the walls, holographic art displays that changed with a wave of my hand were hanging.

The climate control system responded to my preferences with automated precision, adjusting the room temperature to create a comfortable environment tailored to my liking.

"Now this is what I call peace!"

Feeling excited, I flopped onto the plush bed with a relieved sigh.

The soft, memory foam mattress conformed to my body, providing the perfect balance of comfort and support. As I sank into the bed, I couldn't help but feel sleepy.

But, I couldn't sleep yet. I must resist the comfiness of this bed for the better sake of the future. There was no way I would lose to temptation such as thi—

"Yawn…"

Oh well, it won't hurt to close my eyes and let the dream fairy guide me to the dream world.

Nah… I couldn't resist this comfiness…

But… I need to… I need…

Sleep…