In the blink of an eye, a sharp hit landed on both Raika and Kyle's heads.
"Ouch, what the—" Kyle yelped, grabbing his head and doubling over slightly.
"What idiot did—" Raika began angrily, but he barely got the words out before a strong hand pulled painfully at his ear, making it turn red immediately.
"Why don't you turn around and face the idiot, young man?" came a deep, lazy drawl right beside him. Raika froze, instantly recognizing the voice.
Reinhart stood behind them, a tired look in his eyes, as if the whole thing bored him more than it angered him.
"And you," Reinhart added, shifting his gaze to Kyle, "I thought you might've changed. But once a troublemaker, always a troublemaker, it seems."
Kyle threw his hands up in protest, waving frantically. "No, no, he started it! I swear!" he protested, pointing towards Raika.
Reinhart's face remain calm and firm, unimpressed. "And you weren't mature enough to ignore a taunt..." His glance shifted briefly toward Levi, making it clear the comment wasn't just targeted at Kyle.
Levi, catching that, gave a small nod. He understood the message, but something else poked his curiosity as he watched the whole exchange.
The way Reinhart spoke to Kyle. And his words, "Once a troublemaker, always a troublemaker."
It was like he knew him before. As he thought about it, he couldn't help but wonder how and where they met before.
"Uh, sir..." Raika piped up meekly, his earlier lion like aggressiveness nowhere to be found.
He tapped Reinhart's arm gently. "My ear... It's starting to feel like it's actually burning."
Reinhart sighed heavily, releasing Raika's ear with a casual flick of his fingers.
He immediately dismissed the whole case as if not wanting to make it deeper than it always was. Turning to face the gathered students, he called out, his voice slightly louder now, compared to how he spoke normally. It was still firm but still carrying that lazy undertone.
"Every new member organize yourselves and prepare for the Bearer Test."
The guy with brown hair and a pair of slightly crooked goggles resting on his head stepped forward, clapping his hands once to get their attention.
"Alright, listen up. You'll undergo two tests to determine whether you're a mana user or a ki user. Follow me."
He paused scanning their faces as if expecting questions, but all he was met with was silence, and faces wondering why he was still standing there and staring at them after his declaration.
Seeing as there were no questions, he finally turned to walk away.
Including Levi, Kyle, and Violet, fifteen students in total broke off from the rest and trailed after him, some murmuring nervously among themselves.
As they walked, Kyle moved closer to Levi, poking him and keeping his voice low. "Hey... what was that earlier?" he whispered. "That scary energy you were giving off?"
"Yeah, I was going to ask too..." Violet leaned in, whispering just as quietly. "And what was that thing behind you?"
"Behind me?" Levi blinked at them, genuinely confused.
Kyle and Violet exchanged a glance. At this point, even they were unaware of the fact that Levi was in the dark just like every other student present at the moment. He saw nothing.
All Levi remembered was the pressure that had erupted from him when the System activated Dominator's Aura.
That slightly heavy, oppressive feeling — he knew that much.
But some scary aura like what his friends were describing. Some thing looming behind him? He hadn't seen anything like that.
"What are you two talking about?" Levi asked, frowning slightly.
Kyle and Violet hesitated. They were beginning to doubt themselves. Had they imagined it?
"When you almost killed Raika with your glare earlier," Kyle said carefully, but being a bit playful, "there was... this shadowy thing. Like a monster or something, with red eyes, right behind you."
"You're saying... you didn't see it?" Violet added, peering at Levi's face for any sign he was messing with them.
"But then, thinking back — she glanced over her shoulder at the students following behind them. None of the others had reacted back then."
The more she thought of it, the more she realized, only she and Kyle had looked spooked at the time.
"Could it be..." she murmured, trailing off.
"You're saying we were the only ones who could see it?" Silver's voice came in from behind them.
"And maybe Raika too," Violet added, frowning. "That knucklehead definitely reacted."
Levi remained silent, still trying to piece everything together.
The fact that both Kyle and Violet mentioned seeing it ruled out the possibility of it just being some illusion or trick of the mind.
And from the way they described it, it seemed like only a select few were able to see whatever had appeared.
It was all too specific, too detailed to be dismissed as coincidence or just some joke they were trying to play on him.
But what bothered Levi the most was that he, who was supposedly the source of it, had not noticed a thing.
Just then, a small blue screen blinked into existence before his eyes:
[Warning: System has detected a foreign reaction triggered by the Skill: Dominator's Aura.]
[Analyzing foreign entity...]
[Conclusion: Entity classified as harmful to the user. Immediate corrective measures required.]
[System will initiate removal and permanent deletion of the Skill: Dominator's Aura.]
"What?" Levi reacted almost instantly.
His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he quickly changed his expression into neutrality. He masked the shock he felt from his face, stealing a glance at Kyle and Violet.
Fortunately, they were still talking between themselves, paying him no mind.
Levi exhaled slowly, relieved. He had promised himself he wouldn't drag them into any of his problems. And now that things were becoming complicated and filled with more variables, unknowns and unpredictables, it only made his resolve stronger.
"Foreign object?" he thought.
The fact that even the system labelled whatever Kyle and Violet had seen as a foreign object only gave room for one deduction. imwasn't something the System had created.
"Okay, so next."
The voice snapped Levi out of his thoughts. He blinked, glancing up to see Violet stepping out of the cylindrical chamber.
Wait... what?" He turned and noticed the guy with the goggles gesturing at him to step forward.
Was I zoning out that bad? Levi thought, realizing he hadn't even noticed when they got so close to the chamber.
Just as he was about to move, a sudden shout caught his attention.
"Hey, help me get that!"
A man in uniform came rushing toward them, waving frantically. Levi turned just in time to see a small blue orb rolling toward his feet.
Instinctively, he bent down and picked it up.
The moment his fingers wrapped around it, glowing numbers appeared across its surface
500
The man jogged up, laughing nervously.
"Sorry, it slipped while I was cleaning it," he said, laughing nervously as he scratched the back of his head.
He peered down at the orb in Levi's hand, noticing the number, and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh... you're a Ki Bearer type?" he said casually.
"Huh?" Levi muttered, still trying to process the sudden chain of events. It all happened so quickly.
He took a step back in confusion forgetting he was already standing at the entrance of the chamber.
Losing his balance, Levi tripped and fell backwards into the chamber, landing unceremoniously on his backside.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then, an artificial voice echoed from within the chamber, it was not loud, but it was clear enough for everyone nearby to hear:
"MANA CORE DETECTED."
Enough to throw everyone who heard the message into disarray.