26 END OF THE PRACTICAL EXAMINATION: TEARS OF GRIEF
"Kri? Brother? Where are you?"
Everything was just too sudden.
It all happened in a second.
They were just having a group hug a moment ago.
Then, Krok broke free from their arms. He attacked a human...
They both glowed... then disappeared.
Kriks was in turmoil. He couldn't calm his thoughts.
"No... He just promised us -- that he won't attack others anymore... brother? kri?", Kriks quivered.
He then fell to the ground.
Crying of fellow goblins resonated in the area. It was distressing.
Kriks tried to muster his little strength left. He went to the pile of Krok's items beside the scattered mana crystals.
Then, he took the vase item that had appeared.
Kriks couldn't figure out the source of his inner pain. His heart ache as he looked at the item.
Somehow, he could feel that...
"B---brother? Is it you? kri---?", Kriks fell limped on the ground.
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[The practical examination has ended.]
[You will now be transported out of the "OwlBear Dungeon (C)"]
A soothing whiff swept through Alab. His eyes were indifferent as he stared at the dense forest of tangled woods with littered corpses of [Owl Bears]. This might be the last time that he would enter this generated dungeon.
In his front was a pool of tears from the kneeling person that he just helped by giving him mana crystals.
The dreary ambiance of the ravaged dungeon ceased from his sight, momentary dizziness stung his head as the familiar scenic stretch of honey plants cheered their sight.
The sweet scent failed to brighten the mourning cries that wafted along the appearance of the participants.
A lot died in this examination.
What began as 982 participants now dwindled to 959.
A myriad of cries blames, and mockeries cast the area.
On the edge of the depressing venue, Anastasia who had ceased the cracks of thunders in her body was whisking through the crowd as she went to the side where their group had previously stood.
"Move! Get away from my path!", Anastasia heaved a deep breath.
Swiftly, she reached the area with two familiar humans on it. Seeing that they are alive, Anastasia released a soft smile.
She was relieved.
The first one had puffed black eyes and a depressed aura encircling him while the other was rather calm and enigmatic as he had always been.
Looking at them, Anastasia heaved a lengthy sigh.
"It is good to see that both of you are okay, Girth, Alab", Anastasia was lethargic as she reached the two. Consequently, she hugged them.
"I was so worried about the two of you. Especially you, Girth, I thought I wouldn't be able to see you again *sob*"
Anastasia was just too soft-hearted and easily anxious. She wept for a moment and then pulled herself out of the tight embrace. With swollen eyes, she glanced at Girth.
"What happened? Who helped you?", Anastasia was curious about how Girth managed to get 10 mana crystals. She was eager to express her profound gratitude to the savior. Somehow, she felt indebted.
Had Girth been through the worst, she would never forgive herself. Anastasia also knew that Han Seo Yeon would feel the same.
She shifted her gaze to Alab thinking that he was the one to save Girth.
"It is not me", Alab shook his head discreetly.
Like Anastasia, Alab looked keenly at Girth. He wanted to know how did Girth manage to survive.
However, Girth was reluctant and tight-lipped. He was too distressed that Anastasia decided to no longer disturb him at the moment.
'He feels different', Anastasia noticed the apparent change in Girth's temperament.
Eventually, she just brandished it off as Han Seo Yeon arrived in the area. A blanket sloppily bandaged his torso, stained with a red tinge of dried-up blood. His scalp was bald here and there with jabbed claw marks.
It was striking that he had been through the worst.
Unlike him, Anastasia was rather neat, deprived of even the tiniest cuts. Blood only dripped from her black tight leggings.
Tidier than her, a speck of dust was the only thing clinging to Alab's oversize black shirt with dotted burns from the slime dungeon.
In the crowd, Alab was definitely the neatest.
In pure contrast, gushes lingered in Girth's body with extensive red contusions blotting his spine. His tattered clothes failed to cover his whip marks.
The mood was depressing with no one mustering the courage to speak. They couldn't pull out the right word to say at the moment.
The 4 members dawdled in wait for the proctor to come.
Indifferent, Alab spared a glance toward Felix who was ahead of them. The other dark elves were enigmatic as they glanced ahead, not troubling themselves to the bloodied Felix whose ripped arms were still recuperating from lethal damage.
The woman dark elf was stealing a momentary glance toward Felix as she discreetly tapped her feet.
Somehow, Alab felt that being on the [Planet Earth] was a gift. He was blessed to have caring members.
Still, he kept his enigmatic face. Scanning the surroundings for more, Alab's line of view landed on the goblins. He recalled that there used to be 5 of them.
Now, one of them was missing.
'It's the brother goblin, what happened to him?', Alab didn't know the names of these goblins, therefore, he couldn't know their ranks. He just knew that they were among the bottom rankers.
The grieving shrieks of the goblins further the grim ambiance in the venue. Their cries overcast others'.
"Brother... Where are you, brother? kri?"
"B--brother? kri, come back now, brother"
They wailed and wailed, drying their endless tears. They couldn't find their brother and deep in their heart, they knew something tragic happened.
They couldn't figure it out exactly as they wailed.
On the other hand, Kriks had a vague idea of what happened. Embraced in his arms was the vase item from earlier, tightened as he didn't want to let it go.
His heart throbbed as his worries seemed to be ascertained as no matter how much he tried, the item just wouldn't enter his inventory.
It was not a normal item.
"B--brother. kriii...", Kriks wailed.
At last, the stage shone as the voluptuous figure of Hazel emerged. Immediately, her alluring voice filled with mockeries resonated throughout the area.
"I guess the boring exam is finally over. The weaklings have finally been filtered out, agh", Hazel rolled her eyes, piercing toward the side of the mourning goblins.
A grin etched in her mouth as she then looked toward the [Planet Earth] and there she saw Girth and Alab, standing and breathing just fine.
"THIS?! How dare these low lives stay alive?!", Hazel fumed with infuriation. She was a megalomaniac, a pathological egotist
She worshipped power over everything. To her, strong should reign, and weak should be pulled out lest they pollute this world.
She got irked at the sight of the bottom-ranking Alab, Felix, and Girth who remained standing, daring to lay their eyes on her fabulous body.
"ARGH!", Hazel blurted out her disdain.
She wanted all these to end and stay out of the weaks' sight.
'Their lascivious stares! How dare these lowlifes'
"You will be rewarded based on your ranking and uhmm, your status in the Academia will be predetermined by the lowest rank in your team. Team with bottom rankers will remain in equally disdainful barracks whilst those with *argh!* don't look at me!", Hazel lost herself midway.
Hastily, she continued.
"Team with a higher ranking will be living in a manor. Uhmmm, ah! You will also have a little time to talk to your respective planet gods overmorrow after overmorrow. And uhmm *argh!*, Hazel turned her body away from Girth's line of view.
Girth was just too lecherous.
"And uhm lastly, you will be admitted into the Academia in 3 days so take your time to recuperate"
Hazel halted and then she flicked her finger. With a hissing sound, two items appeared in her hand - a plate and a vase.
"KRI! BROTHER!"
Kriks shrieked as the item he was holding unto so tightly instantly disappeared from his hands. The next second, he saw Hazel holding unto items, caressing them with her delicate fingers.
She was mesmerized by the items' beauty.
The items were not typical magical items. It was brimming with elegance and exotic runes adorned its surface. Both were golden in color and emitted an intense vitality.
It was as if the items had a life of their own...
"Ohhh, interesting. It's been a while since we got a vase item... It---it looks elegant", Hazel was bewitched by the items, much more by the unique vase that she hadn't seen for years now.
The craving to seize the items for herself grew within her but the blurry figures of several board members of the Academia flooded in her mind. Flustered, she let go of the items.
The items broke common sense as they floated in the air. Like they were pulled by something, they flew toward the towering fog in the side, vanishing into the depths of the unknown.
"B--brother!", Kriks wailed at the disappearance of the vase.
No matter how much he tried to deny it, the irking feelings settled in his heart. All this time he knew that the vase was not an item.
Rather...
It was Krok, his brother.
"krik! Brother, you said that you won't leave us. That we will be together... So why... Why did you leave us?", Kriks was drowned in grief.
His wistful eyes wandered to Hazel who was on stage. His melancholy broke out...
"Our world has abandoned us and now this world too? Just where can we find a world that would accept us?! KRI!, where?..."
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AN: Here are the two other extra chapters as promised. The other one was already uploaded yesterday. With that,
I only owe 2 more chapters. Here is the milestone we achieved this week which garners these 2 extra chapters.
1 subscribed Patron = 1 extra chapter
10 Golden Tickets = 1 chapter
For easy access, you may check the "PATREON AND EXTRA CHAPTER" in the auxiliary chapter above. I will be updating that for milestones that I will be setting each week. So stay tuned to get more extra chapters!
THE NEXT 3 CHAPTERS ARE ALREADY UPLOADED TO MY PATREON:
Chapter 26: DEATH OF AN S-RANK
Chapter 27: FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH UPGRADE! (1)
Chapter 28: FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH UPGRADE! (2)
