Just after receiving the notification, Orion and Estaban no longer cared about survival. They moved forward with reckless confidence.
They had already reached their goal. Whether they died here or not no longer mattered.
Instead of avoiding monsters, they actively sought them out.
F-rank or C-rank—it didn’t matter. Everything in their path was cut down.
They enjoyed this freedom. And they wanted more.
Soon, a large herd of pig-like monsters appeared ahead. They were only E-rank, but their numbers were quite decent.
Orion grinned.
Without hesitation, he charged straight into the herd. Estaban followed imdiately.
"Grooo—!"
The monsters were completely caught off guard.
Estaban’s punches sent bodies flying left and right, while Orion cut through the herd like he was chopping at. Neither of them bothered defending. The pig monsters tried to take advantage of their recklessness, but the two were moving so fast that the only damage the monsters managed was a few scratches.
An hour later, not a single pig monster remained.
Orion collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.
"Man," Estaban said, sitting beside him, "fighting without fearing for your life is the funnest thing ever."
"Yeah," Orion replied with a wide smile. "The adrenaline rush is insane."
Then—
Rustling.
Three figures stepped into view.
They stopped when they saw the battlefield.
They were Students like Orion.
The prince’s group.
"Well, well," Prince Henry sneered. "If it isn’t the dumb blonde and the so-called hero candidate’s boy-toy.."
"Prince Henry..." Estaban muttered.
Orion activated Appraisal.
[Human – C-Rank]
One by one, he checked the others.
"All C-rank," Orion whispered.
"And we’re exhausted too," Estaban muttered under his breath. "But with your power, this would be a piece of cake."
Having witnessed Orion’s strength firsthand, his trust in him soared through the roof.
The prince’s expression twisted with rage after hearing their conversation.
"What are you doing?" Henry snapped. "Are you looking down on ?"
"I wouldn’t dare, Your Highness," Orion said calmly. "So... how do you want to do this?"
"This is a war, and there’s no single way to... fight a war," Henry declared dramatically. "The war has already begun! You must do everything in your power to defeat !"
Hearing the prince’s word, Orion felt like he would die from the sheer cringe.
He turned to his followers. "Draw your weapons!"
Then Henry charged.
Orion dodged every strike effortlessly. The prince’s movents were sloppy and weak.
’How did this guy even reach C-rank?’ Orion wondered.
Their blades clashed a few tis, but Orion quickly lost interest. He was hungry, tired, and bored.
He just wanted to end this quickly. He was too excited to check his upgraded skills and the new system panel.
Then Orion rembered the shop feature.
’Oh yeah... I also need to upgrade the shop. And hopefully get an OP item from there,’ he thought, all while continuing to fight the prince.
’Let’s end this,’ he thought. But behind him, Estaban was struggling against two opponents.
"Stop ssing around and help !" Estaban shouted.
"Right," Orion said, blocking the prince’s attack with his sword and pushing him aside with full force. The prince flew back and slamd into a tree.
Orion stepped in front of Estaban just as one of the prince’s lackeys raised his weapon to strike.
Summoning his spear, Orion blocked the attack with his sword while driving the spear straight into the boy’s heart.
The boy fell, and his body vanished.
The other boy watched, frozen, as his friend was killed effortlessly.
He swallowed hard.
He wanted to run, but he knew the prince would scold him if he did.
Orion noticed the internal struggle and decided to let him live for the mont, letting estaban to deal with him.
Henry staggered back to his feet, furious.
"Are you mocking ?!" he scread. "You filthy, disgusting commoner!"
Orion clutched his chest theatrically.
"Ouch... hitting where it hurts—my commoner background!"
Henry snapped.
Green energy coated his sword as he began chanting. Roots burst from the ground, lashing toward Orion.
Orion spun, cutting them down in a single motion.
More roots surged in from every direction.
Estaban finished his opponent and rushed over.
Together, they shattered the roots.
Estaban sent an aura-coated punch toward Henry, sending him flying into the bushes.
Henry lost control of his spell, and the roots turned on him, wrapping tightly around his body until he scread and was forced to cancel it.
Orion and Estaban stood before him.
"What are you going to do to ?" Henry asked, panic creeping into his voice.
"Nothing," Orion said calmly.
"But answer this—what’s your problem with ? I saw you staring daggers at in the gathering room."
Henry laughed weakly. "I’ll never tell you."
Orion shrugged. "Fair enough. I don’t care much anyway."
He raised his weapon—then paused.
"Estaban," he asked casually, "how do we enter the S-Division?"
"You need to be among the last ten survivors."
"And how do we know if we are in the top ten?"
"A ssage pops up. Sa as before."
Orion’s expression sharpened.
"We need to die. Fast."
"What?" Estaban frowned. "Why?"
"I need to stay low-profile," Orion whispered, making sure the prince couldn’t hear. "And I won’t get that luxury in the S-Division."
Estaban’s eyes widened in understanding.
"Ohhh... yeah, that makes sense. S-Division students have to live in the academy quarters. Full supervision, day and night." He raised both thumbs. "Good thinking."
He paused.
"But... we don’t actually need to die."
Orion froze. "What?"
"You can just pour mana into your locket and say ’forfeit.’ You’ll be sent back imdiately."
Silence.
Orion slowly turned toward him.
"...Why didn’t you tell that before I chopped Lloyd and Martin’s heads off?"
Estaban scratched his head awkwardly.
"You didn’t ask?"
Orion let out a long sigh.
Without another word, Orion poured mana into the locket and muttered,
"Forfeit."
In an instant, he vanished.
Estaban did the sa, leaving the prince standing alone, completely dumbfounded.
"Huh...?"
Orion and Estaban appeared in the sa gathering hall as before. The mont they arrived, Lilian rushed straight toward Orion. Sofia was there too, having told Lilian she was ’waiting for her brother.’ She had already learned from Lloyd and Martin that Estaban was with Orion.
"Are you alright? Why did you co back if you didn’t die?" Lilian asked, her eyes sharp. She knew they didn’t, because if they did die, they would have appeared unconscious.
"Well... we figured we’d already achieved our goal," Orion said casually.
"What do you an? If you had stayed just a bit longer, you could’ve made it into S-Division!" Lilian exclaid, frustration in her voice. She had wanted to attend the S class alongside Orion.
Orion noticed her irritation and gave a reassuring smile.
"Don’t worry. We’re in the sa class anyway, and we’ll be staying in the sa house."
As soon as he said it, a chill ran down his spine. He felt it coming from Sofia. Her face darkened, and when he turned toward her, she gave a twisted smile and left without another word.
’Ahhh... shit,’ Orion muttered under his breath.
"What’s up with her?" Lilian asked, frowning.
"I don’t know," Orion replied, though he understood full well what was happening. He decided to deal with it later. Turning back to Lloyd and Martin, he asked,
"Are you guys okay? Can you recall how you ’died’?"
"No... all I rember is fainting at the sight of the hound, then waking up in the dical center," Lloyd admitted, looking down. Martin nodded in agreent, murmuring, "Sorry for holding you guys back."
Orion waved them off.
"Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault."
He turned back to Lilian. "Do you have any work left? If not, I want to go ho—I could really use a nap."
"Of course not," Lilian said with a smile. "I have a carriage waiting at the gate."
Orion turned to Estaban. "See you later, man. You should go ho too and get so rest."
"Yeah, man. See you later. Oh, and don’t forget to inform as soon as sothing happens," Estaban said with a grin.
Orion nodded and then left with Lilian, ready to finally take a much-needed break.
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