"... Franz is looking for ?"
Zeke asked again, confirming what she had just said.
Seralune nodded slightly.
"That’s what I’ve heard, at least. Are you going to be fine?"
"Hm?"
Zeke raised a brow, looking at Seralune quietly. Seralune answered his stare with a gentle smile. He couldn’t tell if she was really worried about him or simply asking out of courtesy. After a brief stare, he shook his head.
"Don’t get too involved with my business."
Seralune looked as if she wanted to say more, but seeing Zeke’s expression, she gave up.
"..."
"... Let’s part ways here. Thank you for telling ."
After a brief silence, Zeke spoke again, bowing slightly. Regardless of his feelings toward her as a person, she was helping him a lot with the information she provided him. He wasn’t an ungrateful person anymore to take that for granted.
"You’re welco~" Seralune nodded slightly, then chuckled. "That’s true... let’s just et again later. You still have a long way to go to catch up to my treasure value. You’re still two thousand points short. Go, young Ranker!"
She smirked, raising her head high with a proud expression.
"... Whatever. I’m leaving."
Zeke gave up on her. He waved his hands and walked away, leaving Seralune and her cat alone. When he reached a far enough distance, Seralune shouted goodbye before running off with her cat sowhere else.
Setting aside why she just did that, truth to be told, this coincidental eting with Seralune had improved her impression on his mind.
’If she isn’t being childish, she’s quite reliable...’
Zeke thought, but then quickly shook his head.
Seralune was among the top 10 in their batch for a reason.
Furthermore, most people actually have a positive impression of her. She was even labeled as one of the Four Impossible Beauties, a title reserved only for the most beautiful and powerful won on campus.
How’d he know all this?
Zeke explored the internet forums in his Herta ID when he had spare ti, doing so research on the top 10 for each batch. Each individual in the top 10 stood out for different reasons, but among them, Seralune was the most admired.
What stood out for Seralune was her kindness and gentleness. Many students likened her to an angel. Though Zeke couldn’t recall any angel that was as petty, smug, and childish as she was.
But he wasn’t going to say that out loud, or else he might get lynched on the spot.
Zeke wouldn’t say his initial views about her were wrong, but he was definitely prejudiced against her since their first eting left a bad taste in his mouth. But outside of that eting, he didn’t think she was a bad person—maybe a bother, but everyone was a bother anyway.
While walking away, his mind returned to what Seralune said at the end.
’Franz... huh.’
Sohow, it didn’t co as a surprise to him when he heard that news. From their spar alone, Zeke could tell that Franz was a vain, grudgeful coward who only felt alive when he was at the center of attention.
Franz was addicted to attention, going to all kinds of lengths. He actually reminded Zeke of his old self sowhat, only he had the talent and ability back then to back up his arrogance.
"But this is perfect. I’m also looking for you as well."
Zeke’s eyes sharpened.
Last ti, he was humiliated openly.
He wasn’t soone who forgot grudges easily.
’It’ll be different this ti... let’s see who will humiliate whom.’
***
Sowhere in the dungeon, a black-haired man walked calmly. His wavy hair gently fell over his shoulders, while his eyes, as dark as a pair of voids, stared ahead indifferently. But a mont later, he suddenly stopped.
"Co out."
Andrei spoke flatly, turning a gaze behind him.
Endless, blue trees surrounded him. A mont later, a silhouette stepped out from the back of one of the trees, seemingly having followed him from a long way. Andrei raised a brow, unsurprised.
But when he saw the identity of the person, his brows furrowed almost imdiately.
"... It’s you."
Andrei spoke solemnly. The person was a short, slit-eyed man with navy blue hair. Like him, this person was also ranked in the Top 10 of the academy’s first-year leaderboard. With great difficulty, he spat out the na of the person.
"Ben."
"... It’s Ren!"
Ren glared at Andrei. Who the hell was Ben?!
"Oh."
Andrei dryly said, rubbing his nose.
"My bad, then. Why are you following around? Do you need for anything?"
"... Ha."
Ren shook his head, clicking his tongue in annoyance. He raised his head and stared at Andrei with a small smile.
"Isn’t it obvious already why I’m following you?"
"It is?"
Andrei tilted his head.
’... He’s ssing with , right?’
Ren looked at Andrei’s serious expression and couldn’t help but fall silent. After a brief stare, he cut straight to the point. He spread out his hands, revealing two ordinary daggers.
"Hand over all your treasures, Nurvech."
"...!"
Andrei was startled, his expression changing. He took a step back as he looked at Ren with shock.
"You’re robbing ? But...!"
"What do you an, but? That’s right."
Ren nodded with a smirk.
"But...!"
Andrei gritted his teeth. Ren raised a brow, confused. With great difficulty, he spat out the words he wanted to say.
"Aren’t you like at the bottom of the top 10? I’m top 6, you know? You should do it step by step. Getting impatient like this won’t get you anywhere..."
"Damn you, Nurvech!"
Without wasting any more breath, Ren fiercely dashed towards Andrei, flashing over to his side. His expression was drenched with rage. With one swift motion, he swung towards Andrei.
Clang!
Andrei casually blocked his attack. Ren stepped sideways and attacked from another angle, which Andrei kept blocking perfectly. In under half a minute, they exchanged more than fifty attacks.
"Jeez, I was just joking."
"Shut up!"
Ren kept attacking, pushing Andrei to the back of the tree. When Andrei felt the cold surface of the log, he furrowed his brows. Ren smiled and raised both of his daggers, activating a skill.
’Die!’
Woosh!
A mont later, he swung his daggers in a cross, releasing a large cross-attack that ripped through everything on its way. It destroyed all the trees on its way, causing a loud commotion.
However, sothing was wrong—Ren’s eyes squinted, and he imdiately turned around.
Clang!
Behind him, Andrei had silently appeared.
"You manage to react to that... that’s strange. Huh, is everyone’s intuition so busted now?"
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