The extra is a fox eyed jester-Chapter 47: Back to the academy

"Karina, has it been two days since Azazel went missing?" Leona asked.

She watched from the balcony of her assigned room in the hostelry, her gaze lingering on the street below.

Karina responded, brewing tea for her master.

"Yes lady Leona, it has been a little over two days since he set out on his anonymous journey with the Prince and a third party."

Leona sighed.

"I see."

"Your tea, my lady." Karina said, placing a cup of steaming tea on the tea table beside Leona.

"Thank you." Leona whispered then reached for the tea but her hands shook slightly.

Karina noticed, yet she kept her silence.

For the past two days she’d watched, kept awake while her master retired to bed.

The nightmares were becoming worse.

Sure there had been days before where it was quite severe but it wasn’t consecutive and it wasn’t this bad.

Leona couldn’t sleep without waking up abruptly in the middle of the night.

To everyone she was just looking a bit unhealthy but Karina had noticed it, her strong and proud mistress sobbing like a child every night since the day she returned.

Karina felt useless. She knew this wasn’t something she could fix, yet the helplessness gnawed at her.

She was desperate, so desperate that she secretly wished the young master Azazel was safe and could somehow manage to return with a solution for her mistress.

She could only pray that a remedy existed somewhere.

Leona took a deep breath and reached for her tea. She sipped carefully before setting the cup back onto its saucer.

Her eyes flickered towards the street once again, then she slowly stood up.

"Prepare the bath for me Karina, the exams will begin soon, I need to be there to oversee to it."

Karina bowed then headed to the bathroom.

****

The sun shone bright over the Nexus academy and its city.

Over three hundred and seventy eight students were gathered in a spacious arena within the academy.

Most students looked nervous while others had expressions ranging from excitement to slight irritation.

Lily was amongst the latter.

She draped a black nun’s garment which had gold cross accents.

The outfit clung elegantly to her waist and hips with delicate chains and garter straps highlighting the dress details.

A long slit in the garment revealed black lace-trimmed stockings which she wore over a pair of black glossy loafers.

Her pink hair was tied into a high ponytail.

She looked the part, like a succubus dipped in sin.

Wherever she passed, heads turned.

Male, female even the spectators found themselves drawn to her allure.

She noticed their stares but she didn’t acknowledge them.

Some overconfident nobles had tried to speak to her but she turned them down as politely as she could, although her patience was wearing thin.

Ever since Azazel left Lily had been on edge.

The first day was manageable but the second? It was horror.

She felt hungry and it wasn’t the kind of hunger food could cure.

She needed him.

His nightmares, she needed to feed on his essence.

She was going crazy and worse, she didn’t know how to stop it.

"Where is he." She muttered under her breath.

A seductive voice cooed, its tone teasing within her mind which caused Lily to snarl in annoyance.

’Dear sister aren’t you a little too crazy about that young master of ours?’

’Shut it Liliana, stop acting like you’re not starving.’

’Well, I’m not the one who’s going insane over a boy like some lovestruck teenager.’ Liliana replied.

Lily could practically hear the smugness in her tone and it pissed her off.

’We are teenagers! And shut up... if you have a solution, then by all means, share. I’m all ears.’

Liliana remained silent for a few seconds then she spoke or at least tried to.

Before she could utter a word, the arena suddenly fell silent. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Welcome students." A voice called.

A rather cheerful one.

Standing high above the podium was a petite woman in a witch attire, her eyes gleamed like starlight while the coat behind her fluttered dramatically.

"I’m sure you’ve all rested well enough." She asked then suddenly chuckled to herself since she knew the students couldn’t talk.

She cast a silence spell on them before she started her speech so the smart ones among them didn’t even bother wasting breath while the dumb ones were wondering why their voice refused to come out.

"Today you all stand before me, Viola du cartis, the dean of Nexus academy as aspirants, each of you, a worthy candidate to become a student of the Nexus academy, we had over four hundred students but it seems some of you know your place well enough to forfeit, it’s not too late, you can take the easy way out, spare yourself the embarrassment."

Her voice grew colder and harsher with each word she spoke.

"The academy only accepts a hundred and fifty students each year, of course you’re free to eliminate more than half the people gathered here if you can, we count from a hundred and fifty upwards, the rest can have a try next time."

She smiled.

"The rules are simple, there are no rules, the exam follows a battle Royale format which means, no friends or allies, you’re all on your own. Fight each other, scheme, show us you have what it takes to become an Ascended and not just any ascended, Nexus academy only grooms the best of the best, there’s no room for mediocrity and now without further ado—"

"Fuck this, oi you bastard if I fail this exam I’m gonna..." A voice interrupted.

"Kindly shut your mouth Nathaniel, the voyage is over, you’ve outlived your usefulness so I swear if you so much as utter a single word I will pummel your repulsive face."

"This bastard..."

"What was that? I’m an Astavore, I can have your head for defamation of noble origins."

"That’s bullshit."

"Is it?"

"G-Guys, I think they’ve started."

"Ahhh nooo I can’t miss this."

"Just go... run."

Every single person in the arena, including the seniors overseeing the exams, the teachers and even the spectators focused their attention towards the entrance where the sounds were coming from.

The dean had used a silence spell on every single person in the arena below so the only way a person could speak while the spell was active was if they were never affected by it to begin with.

Viola watched patiently, waiting for the idiots who had dared interrupted her speech but when a figure ran in, she clicked her tongue in mild annoyance.

"Of course it just had to be the Prince..." she mumbled with an exasperated sigh.

Elias stared at the number of aspirants staring at him, he was bloodied and littered with cuts but the first thing that came to his mind was worry.

"Has the exams begun already?"

Behind him Nathaniel rushed in, his appearance even more disheveled than the Prince.

A large vein was visible on the side of his head as he cursed under his breath.

"Who the fuck drew that teleportation circle..." He stifled a curse.

Elias turned his neck slightly staring at the entrance with confusion.

He was about to ask where Azazel was before a silver coin flew past him.

The space around the coin distorted slightly and in the next moment, a familiar redhead was standing exactly where the coin had fallen.

Azazel took a long look at the arena, then towards Viola who looked seconds away from tossing them out the gates.

A smile slowly crept up his face.

"I hope we’re not too late, exalted Dean Viola."