Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 55: Tension’s Rise

Damion prepared himself thoroughly for this day. He took everything that he deemed important, and placed them in his storage.

It was the beginning of a new month, so everyone had received their new MCUs. Those heading towards the Hall all wore the MCU, looking like actual soldiers for the first time in a very long while.

Somehow it was just like the first day of attending the Academy. Then, they all wanted to be at their best behaviors and wore the complete MCU, even when they weren’t comfortable in it.

Kenzo and Matilda stood across Damion and Lyra, the tension in the air at an all time high, and the sparks flying between them almost visible.

Lyra didn’t know why Matilda was targeting her and giving her weird stares, but what she did know was that she hated it, so she stared back.

Damion briefly stared at Kenzo, and seeing him for the first time in another clothing, other than his usual robes, he smiled.

He looked good, even better than when he just wore those thick robes and looked like a monk, rather than an actual Sword Saint he tried to dress like.

The corners of Damion’s lips curved upward some more, and Kenzo frowned.

"What’s funny?" He asked coldly.

For some reason, Damion found this to be funnier, so he chuckled.

"Nothing," Damion replied, folding his lips to hold back his laugh.

Kenzo snorted and walked away, pulling Matilda along with him. However, as soon as he took a step forward, a strong killing intent suddenly bore down on him, and he stopped in his tracks, all colors draining from his face.

"It seems like my words have no meaning to you, no?" Hakuro’s voice tore through the air and reached Kenzo.

"Didn’t I say you two should go together as a team, regardless of your differences?" Hakuro asked. "I will not tolerate disobedience, so you either listen, or you can forget about the Training Program and instead think about how long it’ll take you to recover from the damage and pain I’ll inflict on you."

The killing intent disappeared just as fast as it had come, and the duo were forced to move side by side with their female partners in tow.

"Don’t come back to me if you don’t get a spot," Hakuro said one last time before suddenly disappearing.

The quad were now left all alone as they moved.

Minutes into their walk, Lyra shifted closer to Damion and stood on the tips of her toes, whispering into his ears, "What’s their deal? Why is that girl staring at me so much? And who’s that guy?" She fired a bunch of questions.

Damion furrowed his brows. "Haven’t you heard the rumors of the Sword Saint?"

"I have, but what does this have to do wit... wait, he’s the Sword Saint?!!" Lyra exclaimed in a loud whisper.

"Yes," Damion nodded. "I’m guessing you didn’t recognize him because of his dressing, right? It’s not the same as what the rumors say."

Lyra peeked at Kenzo from Damion’s side, only to find him staring straight at her. She quickly hid her eyes behind Damion, before shifting her attention to Matilda.

"And who’s that girl by his side?" Lyra asked as she matched Matilda’s piercing gaze.

Damion shot Matilda a look and was surprised to see her staring daggers at Lyra. She didn’t look his way even when she felt his gaze, merely furrowing her brows in discontent.

"Do you know her from anywhere?" Damion replied to Lyra with a question of his own.

"No, I met her only once, and that was when you and I visited the Blacksmithing Class to get your equipments," Lyra elaborated.

"That’s Matilda, the Sword Saint’s twin sister,"

"Urghh, why is she staring at me so hard then?" Lyra asked again clearly not liking Matilda’s gaze.

’Matilda,’ Damion called out through their telepathic link, startling her.

’What!’ Matilda answered, her anger evident. ’Are you done gossiping with your new chick?!’

’...so that’s what this is all about,’ Damion contemplated, smirking after understanding why Matilda had been giving Lyra a cold shoulder.

’A misunderstanding that can be cleared with a simple explanation, yet, I don’t feel like clearing that misunderstanding.’ Damion’s smile widened considerably, and Matilda caught a glimpse of it, which only ’confirmed’ her thoughts, and her anger spiked up.

’Bastard!’ she screamed in his head one last time.

They continued on in silence, the tension between them slowly dying down after an hour or so. They couldn’t keep it up for so long, they had other important things to do and think about.

The quad stopped before a massive structure, their gazes raised high in awe at the grandiosity of the construct.

They weren’t the only ones though. Multiple students stood rooted to the spot, staring at the large hall of the Valiant Spirit Academy. It was bigger than when they last saw it, and the aura it gave off was gentle, and at the same time, fierce.

The quad snapped out of their reverie after a loud voice boomed from within the hall, and every student began to move forward at the same time.

"That wasn’t natural," Damion said out loud. "This building..."

"It’s an artifact," Kenzo completed his statement.

"An artifact?" Lyra iterated.

"Yes, either that, or there’s a strong artifact embedded within it," Damion responded.

"Why do you say so?" Lyra pressed on.

"Did you notice that everyone was so dazed by the size and beauty of the Hall that they stood rooted to the spot, staring at it?" he asked.

"I... didn’t notice," Lyra responded and sent one last glance at the building right before she walked into it.

A feeling of déjà vu hit Damion, and his heart skipped a bit.

He remembered the first time he walked into this hall, everyone’s eyes were on him. He was an object of mockery, and he felt bad.

It wasn’t he who decided his fate. He hadn’t chosen to be born without an Ability, so why had they treated him like he had done so?

Damion summed it all up to one thing... superiority complex. There was no better reason in his purview, so he left it at that and forgot about it.

The quad took a calculated step forward at the same time as the loud voice came again.

"If you have less than five tickets, don’t bother entering," the momentum of a few students came to a grinding halt at once, however, a few ignored the words and confidently walked in unperturbed.

In the next instant though, a thick bolt of blue lightning crashed into them, charring their flesh and sending them flying outside faster than they could comprehend.

"Idiots..."