Clang!
Clang!
The noise of weapons clashing rang out across the castle's backyard.
With a simple movement, Hector lightly caught Luna's sword between his fingers. Then he tightened his grip, snapping the blade into pieces.
Without stopping, he followed up with a blow at Luna, then grabbed her hand and shoved her back down.
Bang!
"Ah! Don't hit my butt!" Luna groaned in pain, struggling to break free from Hector's restraint.
"That's what you get for letting your guard down."
Hector smirked and finally released her.
Luna staggered back, one hand protecting her butt. She definitely didn't want to get hit again. It was way too embarrassing.
She blushed and let out an annoyed groan.
"You rude bastard. How can you treat a woman like that? …You'll never be able to marry a girl with such a bad attitude.''
Hector just shrugged. In truth, he knew this was probably the last time he could mess with her like this.
Next time, he wouldn't stand a chance against her.
The thought of teasing a future main villain felt strangely amusing to him.
"Just a little goodbye gesture."
He nodded and glanced at the man—Brad—who had been waiting for the past five minutes.
Luna blinked, finally understanding what Hector meant.
After hesitating for a moment, she asked in a soft, sad voice.
"When will we meet again?"
"Huh?" Hector raised an eyebrow in surprise. He honestly hadn't expected Luna to say something like that.
He had hoped she would never want to see his face again after everything he had done to her.
He had teased her until she broke down sobbing.
He had slapped her butt.
Making her both angry and sad.
Yet after all that, she still wanted to meet him again.
"You're a masochist?"
"N-No… I'm just… D-Damn… I don't know." Luna blushed, struggling to find the words.
Hector grinned when he saw Luna's cute reaction. But when he thought back to everything they had been through in the Green Dungeon, he felt… a hint of sadness.
He quietly shook his head. Well, he had formed a bonded connection with her.
"If you keep moving forward. I'm sure we'll meet again."
"Really?" Luna asked, her eyes lighting up.
Hector nodded.
"Next time, I'm going to crush your butt and punish you for what you did to me." Luna smirked.
He cracked his neck to loosen up, then shot Luna a sharp look, enough to make her flinch.
"So, should I crush your butt first?"
A chill ran down Luna's spine when she heard that. She stepped back in fear, then turned and ran, shouting angrily,
"Y-You're really a perverted bastard!"
Just like that, Hector returned to the academy.
But now, he was much stronger. He was no longer a weakling anyone could bully so easily. In his generation, only a handful of people could rival or defeat him—at least among those who had three mana cores like him.
Violet— but she wasn't his enemy.
As for Carl… he had no idea. The MC was always someone he could never predict.
After all, Carl possessed something no one else in the world had.
The aura of the main character.
He walked down the hallway, clicking his tongue as he watched the other students still whispering and chattering about him.
It was pretty cliché that he kept running into such dull situations. But he had no choice—after all, the academy had plenty of things he could exploit.
"Who cares?" Hector shrugged and headed for his classroom.
He opened the door and stepped inside.
Silence.
"There's something wrong," he frowned. "I swear there should've been some brain-dead bastard standing here, babbling nonsense before me."
Instead, the room was completely silent.
He scratched his head and walked to his seat. At the same time, out of habit, he glanced at Violet's seat—but she wasn't there.
"What the fuck?"
"Did I come to the wrong classroom?"
A hint of suspicion crept into his mind. Sure enough, most of the students here were people he didn't recognize.
He turned to a nearby student and asked,
"Hey, dude. Do you know where the others are?"
The student frowned in irritation, as if Hector had asked the dumbest question possible.
"They're resting at home, waiting for the final exam weekend."
Hector scowled in confusion. According to what he knew, the final exam shouldn't happen for another month.
Unless… there was interference from some force.
Crack!
The professor stepped into the classroom.
He glanced around at everyone and said,
"Is there a student named Hector here?"
"Yes, sir. I'm here."
The professor nodded.
"Good. Lucky for you. If you hadn't shown up today, I would've canceled your right to participate in the exam."
Hector was confused. He had no idea what the professor was talking about.
The professor continued.
"Ahem… Now I'll announce the rules of the exam. Listen carefully. This chance comes only once. If you fail, there's no way to take the final exam. And you'll be expelled."
"This place doesn't hold weaklings."
He cleared his throat and walked to the board, drawing a map and a mountain.
"Your goal is to take this red flag on the top of the mountain. If you can hold the red flag before sunrise, you're the winner."
A student spoke up.
"Sir, are there any other flags?"…
The professor smirked.
"The academy grants you one chance, and now you're asking for more flags?"
"There's only one winner."
"Now dismiss. The competition will begin this afternoon."
***
After figuring everything out, he finally understood what had happened to him. This year, students were required to take part in the qualifying round, and only those who passed it would have enough eligibility to move on to the final exam.
Anyone who failed would be forced into a special exam, where only one person could continue.
The problem was, he hadn't participated in the qualifying round a few days ago—which meant he had already failed.
"It's strange. Looks like the higher-ups in the academy changed the rules of the final exam… They want me gone."
Hector uttered.
''It's not a coincidence.''
"It must be him. Alaric… He has an uncle who's the vice principal, the one who manages most of the exams in the academy."
"He took advantage of the fact that I went home to get me expelled."
"Lucky for me, I arrived at the academy one day earlier. If I'd returned tomorrow like I told them, I would've been expelled for sure."
"Your plan almost worked… I'll give you praise for that, Bastard.