Big Zoot City: Aftermath of the Final Exam Tournant
Days had passed since the shocking conclusion of the final exam tournant, and the results were still the talk of Big Zoot City.
Valley earned fa for being a cunning golem user by discovering a tournant loophole that left everyone astonished. She managed to exploit Felix's cent golem, which still followed her instructions from their previous partnership. By claiming the golem as her summon, no judge or contestant objected to its participation in the arena by her side.
With its help, Valley advanced to the semi-finals, only to be defeated by the Ocean Tower's priestess, Rosaline.
Despite her loss, Valley regained her honor in the consolation round for third place. The match was embarrassingly one-sided, with Valley's opponent barely able to make a move as her cent golem did all the work, securing her third rank.
Rosaline, on the other hand, advanced to the finals where she faced the unexpected challenger, Hamr Jox, the dark horse of the tournant. In a shocking twist, she lost to Hamr, earning second place while Hamr claid the victory. The win brought Hamr not only fa but also the prestigious top scorer's scholarship.
As per tradition, the winner was granted the opportunity to challenge a senior student. Unfortunately for Hamr, his inexperience in real combat was exposed when he faced Ratt Fourch, a representative of the senior students and a mber of the powerful Fourch House within the Seth Family. Hamr lost the match, but his reputation as a rising star remained intact.
According to the tournant's rules, the top three finalists were entitled to bring one follower to the academy as a maid or bodyguard, who would receive equal wages and support. Valley imdiately chose Jane, who eagerly accepted the position.
Rosaline made a bolder choice, selecting one of the strongest paladins of the Eleanor Church as her bodyguard. The senior paladin, a female aura knight, had a fearso reputation. So whispered that she once singlehandedly routed an army of 5,000 aura knights from the Solaris Commonwealth Empire, though the rumors remained unconfird.
Regardless, her strength was said to rival even that of Tanaka, making her a formidable guardian.
As for Hamr, he selected his foster father, Taylor, to accompany him at the academy. Taylor agreed without hesitation, proud to support his son's newfound success.
The tournant might have ended, but its ripple effects on the lives of the participants and the academy were just beginning. After their classes were assigned, the students were moved into new residences, specially prepared by the royal family.
Days passed, and soon, the new sester officially began.
Today, 59 new students from three different classes gathered in the expansive front square of the 200-acre academy, awaiting the grand opening ceremony and the emperor's much-anticipated speech.
The square, vast and bustling, rivaled the size of the arena where they had fought during the tournant. Beyond the square, several sports fields could be seen in the distance, a glimpse of the academy's extensive facilities.
The students stood divided into three groups, neatly lined up, each group eyeing the others with a mixture of curiosity and competition. The students from the prestigious Heaven Class held their heads high, so sneering at those from the so-called "inferior" groups. anwhile, the guardians of the top three students remained behind the lines, ignoring the childish behavior with stoic indifference.
Among the guardians, only the senior paladin stood ready in full battle gear, her glittering knight's armor catching the sunlight as it covered her from head to toe. Her face remained hidden beneath her helt's visor, concealing her identity from the curious eyes of the students.
Despite the outward calm, the paladin's attention was fixed on the sky. She glanced repeatedly at the two moons—the purple and the bright one—hovering ominously above. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sheathed holy sword, her lips moving in silent prayer, ntally preparing for whatever might co.
As the clock struck 8 AM, the ti ca for the emperor to make his traditional appearance and deliver the opening address. However, to everyone's surprise, the emperor, Saucon, did not show.
Instead, breaking long-held tradition, he sent a representative to speak in his place. Saucon's sudden absence from the public eye raised more questions than answers.
Martin, the emperor's representative, took the podium with an air of authority. Before speaking, he too cast a glance upward, noticing the unsettling alignnt of four moons in the sky, forming a perfect square. His face tightened, but he quickly masked his concern, inhaling deeply before addressing the students.
"I'll keep this brief," Martin began, his voice echoing across the square. "Good job making it this far. This sester is… special, and there are a lot of things to prepare. For now, go to your dormitories and stay inside. Soone will inform you of the new sester's schedule. And rember—NEVER CO OUT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!
You are dismissed!"
With that, Martin abruptly left the podium, jumped onto his flying carpet, and swiftly headed back to the royal palace, leaving the students in a state of confusion. His unusual behavior and the cryptic nature of his words only heightened the tension in the air.
The paladin, sensing the gravity of the situation, quickly grasped the hidden aning in Martin's cryptic warning. Without hesitation, she rushed toward Rosaline and, in a swift motion, lifted her visor.
Her face, now exposed, revealed an intense focus and unwavering determination. A slanting scar marred her otherwise striking beauty, adding an air of danger to her features. Despite being a 300-year-old elf, Cornelia still possessed the youthful appearance of a maiden in her twenties, her flowing blonde hair reminiscent of Zen, the forr headmaster of Ocean Tower.
Her long, pointed ears marked her as a mber of the elven race, hinting at both wisdom and longevity.
Without wasting a mont, Cornelia leaned in close to Rosaline and whispered urgently, "The Cursed Moon is aligned with the Holy Moon. The purple curse will soon descend upon the land. You must avoid the moonlight and stay indoors until the curse has passed."
Rosaline's face remained unreadable behind her blindfold and face veil, offering no hint of emotion or reaction. Her voice, calm and collected, broke the silence. "I know. We should head to the dormitory and assess the situation from there. By the way, have the other paladins been alerted about this?"
Cornelia nodded. "They should be aware. After all, this isn't our first ti facing the purple curse."
"When was the last ti it happened?"
"228 years ago, to be exact. We can talk more once we're inside. Ti is running out."
Understanding the urgency, Rosaline ended the conversation and turned to gesture to the priestesses of her class. Clad in black gowns, the nuns moved swiftly, following their leader as they sprinted toward the safety of the girls' dormitory.
In the midst of the rush, Valley and Jane, though puzzled by the sudden urgency, trusted their instincts and joined the priestesses in their dash to the dormitory.
The Cent Golem, awkwardly lumbering behind them, struggled to keep pace with its temporary master, Valley, yet sohow managed to maintain its position.
While the girls scrambled for safety, the boys and noble students were oblivious to the danger. They dismissed the strange alignnt of moons and Martin's warning. Their arrogance led them to continue as though nothing unusual was happening.
However, Taylor and Hamr, sensing that sothing was amiss, decided to seize the mont. Ignoring the rising tension, they opted to explore the academy grounds and familiarize themselves with their new surroundings.
The contrast between those who heeded the warning and those who ignored it was stark, but in the shadow of the Cursed Moon, the consequences of their choices were about to unfold. The purple curse was no ordinary phenonon, and those unprepared would soon learn the cost of their ignorance.
.
.
Upon entering the room, Rosaline calmly approached a marble chair and seated herself, though a faint tension lingered in her movents.
Across from her, Cornelia removed her helt, revealing her real face. Her long blonde hair, tied tightly into a starburst bun, gave her a disciplined yet elegant look, perfect for combat but striking in its simplicity. The paladin's scar, cutting diagonally across her otherwise youthful features, added a weight of experience, a reminder of battles fought and dangers survived.
Rosaline, still deep in thought, leaned back in her chair before asking, "Say, senior, what exactly happens when soone gets hit by the purple curse?"
Cornelia, ever blunt and pragmatic, didn't sugarcoat her response. "In the beginning, those who bathe in the purple moonlight succumb to their innermost desires. Most beco mindless beasts. Imagine caven wandering the city and ravishing every woman they see. So will even kill to vent their frustration. So, yes, there will be hell."
Rosaline raised an eyebrow. "That sounds too simple for sothing that's been labeled a calamity. The church's textbooks made it sound far worse."
Cornelia's eyes hardened. "It's no exaggeration. The records in those textbooks are the direct testimonies of survivors from previous purple moon events."
Rosaline's calm deanor faltered. Her fingers twitched slightly as mories of the darker chapters she'd read resurfaced. "So… according to those records, the wild animals and the people who are affected will…"
Cornelia nodded grimly, finishing Rosaline's thought. "Yes. During the first stage, which is what we're in now, any creature that gazes at the moons will transform into a man-eating monster. Even docile animals, like mountain goats, will beco as feral as wolves."
Rosaline let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "First stage. I suppose it only gets worse from here."
The thought of the four stages described in the ancient texts hung heavily in the room.
In the first stage, all creatures who stared at the moons turned into ferocious beasts, attacking anything unaffected by the curse. These cursed creatures consud flesh and bone, siphoning mana from their victims to fuel the curse's spread. Worse yet, this was just the beginning.
Three days after the first stage comnced, the second stage—known as the Purple Blight—would begin, unleashing a greater horror upon the land. Rosaline shuddered, quietly praying that the townspeople and her fellow students had the sense to avoid the moon's light. The severity of the situation was unmistakable. She turned to Cornelia once more.
"Will the academy inform everyone about this?" she asked, her voice betraying her concern.
Cornelia let out a heavy sigh. "I doubt it. The academy's resources are stretched thin. They're still recovering from the monster attack just days ago. And the emperor… well, rumor has it he's suffering from so kind of mana contract backlash."
Rosaline furrowed her brow. "Should we ask the church for help?"
Cornelia's expression darkened as she recalled painful mories. "It wouldn't make a difference, my lady. Even if we save people now, they wouldn't survive the third or fourth stages of the curse."
The weight of Cornelia's words sank in. Rosaline's heart grew heavier with the realization. "Oh…" she muttered, lowering her gaze.
She could barely comprehend the extent of the curse's destruction, let alone find a solution. If the curse truly progressed beyond the second stage, there was no hope for regular people. The cursed moon would devour everything in its path, leaving no room for survival. The dire situation ahead felt suffocating, and Rosaline could only brace herself for the calamity to co.
.
.
anwhile, Felix already basked in the bright purple moonlight while he was fleeing from the horde of man-eating goats.
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