Eric finally managed to climb to the top of the mountain.
"Huff... Huff..." He collected his breath as he leaned on his knees.
He was super exhausted after all these things. But he needed to enter the hall in order to finish 'the test' he heard from a certain soone.
However, just as he was about to look up, he heard a deep voice calling him out.
"You are here, boy." The voice spoke.
As Eric looked up, he saw a middle-aged man with a muscular build, completely showing off his upper body. But he ignored it since his attention was drawn to the person beside the man.
"Y-You?! When?" Eric asked in surprise, while irritation slowly built up inside him.
"Oh, you know Adrian boy?" However, the man oblivious to the atmosphere chid in. "He ca an hour ago. But since you two know each other, it will be good for , hehe."
Eric's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing Adrian coming an hour ago. He was feeling pretty good for surpassing that lucky bas*ard Aurelius, but now he knew he lost to this scumbag, he lost all the good feelings he had.
"So, boy, tell your na." The man asked again.
"Umm. I am Eric. But... who exactly are you anyway?" Eric asked after sizing up the man. "A Barbarian?"
"..." Adrian looked at Eric as if he was looking at an idiot which irritated Eric even more. Adrian had a 'Isn't it obvious' look on his face.
"Haha." The man chuckled at Eric's question before confirming his suspicions.
"You are right, Eric boy. I am indeed of the Barbarian race," he replied with a hearty laugh, his voice booming in the crisp mountain air. "And as for who I am, well, you can call Doo. I am the instructor of the Survival Class, responsible for teaching youngsters like you to survive in this world."
"Y-You are the instructor?" Eric asked surprised. "Ah, sorry."
"Haha, don't worry. Anyway, since you passed the test I prepared, you can rest till others arrive. I will leave Adrian boy to accompany you. He will take you to the course room." Instructor Doo said as he motioned to confused Adrian to help Eric. "I'm sure since there are two of you, you won't be bored now. I will take my leave then."
"W-what?"
"H-Huh? N-no way! Wait!" Before Eric nor Adrian could protest, old man Doo disappeared from his spot, leaving them, the villain and the extra alone.
"..." (Adrian)
"..." (Eric)
The two looked at each other, Eric gritting his teeth in irritation, Adrian cursing his luck inwardly while maintaining a cold and indifferent deanor.
"Sigh..." Finally, after a few monts, Adrian broke the awkward silence. "Co on, follow ."
"Tsk," Eric clicked his tongue to show his dissatisfaction but still followed behind Adrian.
He, after all, knew well this instructor's personality. Although what he knew was from rumors, he didn't decide to gamble. The two then soon entered the hall and headed toward the course room.
Just after they entered the hall, old man Doo appeared in his last position, his eyes fixated on the two back.
"Hehe, the first step to start a comradeship is to break the ice, isn't it?" he mused to himself with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I can't wait to see how they will fare together. It will be interesting indeed. Hehe."
With a satisfied smile, Instructor Doo vanished from sight once again.
____ __ _
After half an hour, Aurelius and his group finally arrived at the top of the mountain.
All four of them looked exhausted. Well, they should be since they had to use their physical strength to climb. They weren't able to use Aether or their abilities at all as if the mountain had restrictions they didn't know.
"F-Finally, we are here..." Aurelius muttered aloud after collapsing to the ground. "I'm hella exhausted."
"Y-yeah, I am tired as well," Ren said as he took a seat beside him.
"Humm... Hmm..." The two girls didn't say anything, only taking deep breaths to collect their breaths.
Just then, Aurelius and Aurelia's eyes t. The two rembered what happened at the foot of the mountain and instantly turned away their gazes, their cheeks flushing red.
Thankfully, both Lyra and Ren were too tired to notice their abnormal behavior.
'... He clearly saw it and even rembers it! Urgh... How embarrassing!' (Aurelia) 'I can't look him in the eyes now!'
'Um... She doesn't think of as a pervert, right? I-It was an accident too!' (Aurelius) 'But... Is pink her favorite color? I thought she liked golden color... Wait!
Why am I thinking about this?!'
Returning to that awkward mont, when they were at the foot of the mountain, Ren was the first one to start climbing, Lyra following after him.
Aurelia started after Lyra, while Aurelius was the last one.
They did this since they thought there could be danger(beasts) in the mountain as well. So, if a situation were to occur, boys would protect them both from above and below.
Overall, it was a simple but good strategy.
But, since they didn't know the tests clearly, they ended up overthinking.
And, not long after they started climbing, the little accident which caused the two to beco embarrassed occurred.
With a sudden sweep of the wind, Aurelia's dress was lifted by the breeze, revealing her pink... Ehm... Ehm... dress. The unexpected gust caught her off guard, leaving her montarily exposed and stunned.
To make it worse, Aurelius was looking straight above at that exact mont and happened to get a glimpse of the view.
Fortunately, Aurelia quickly recovered and covered herself.
Aurelius also looked down quickly, realizing his mistake. He never looked up again until they reached the peak of the mountain.
Aurelia also was always on guard, while taking glances below from ti to ti.
So were the reasons behind their current awkward exchange.
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