Chapter 39:Shocking News

A Jury consisting of 2nd-year teachers and members of the Student's council was held to preside over the accusations and pass over a suitable judgment.

Since this took place in a trial Dungeon where there was no threat to life, Rick who was called over to speak for himself was not locked up and stayed under 24 hours of isolation since yesterday.

As everyone waited for Rick to appear, two members of the Student Council who were asked to accompany him here came hurriedly.

"Where is Rick?"Donald asked, feeling a bad premonition.

"Sir Donald, Rick...Rick is dead, "The two spoke with a pale expression after which a heavy silence followed.

Few gasped in cold breath while a few shook their heads with pity. Accompanied, by sympathy, there was a hint of empathy on their face even though they are already used to this.

"Another moth killed himself in search of a flame."One of the teachers lamented.

Donald rubbed his eyes and asked how Rick died.

The two explained the situation.

They called Rick countless times but not getting any reaction, they called staff members to open the door only to find Rick's corpse lying on the floor.

"Why do students take the paths where they have to face such dire consequences?"Donald deplored and waved his hand to disperse.

All of them knew that this was not a case of natural death. But what can they do?

Surely they will search for clues but unless the other side took part in the killing personally, pieces of evidence are hard to find but in most cases like this, students commit suicide due to mental pressure.

In times like this, you need to stand up for yourself, only then the world will stand for you. If Rick had given evidence and statement against the perpetrators then it doesn't matter who was the enemy on the other side.

The Academy wouldn't back down and would not spare a member of the Royal family if they are found guilty however for that to happen one needs evidence and they don't have.

"Inform his parents and try to search for any clues if you can find any."

"Before leaving, I wanted to say another thing."

"The 1st Year of this batch is brimming with talent. Conflicts are bound to arise and many of them have a strong background, they may act lawless so try to interfere before the conflict between them becomes too much. Also, I suggest canceling inter-class drills for now."

......

TANG!TANG!TANG!TANG!

Huff...Huff...

Her chest heaved up and down and her face showed signs of exhaustion. As she stretched her hand towards the quiver, her finger met blank air causing her to tilt her head to find it empty.

At that time, a blonde-haired girl walked towards her and handed her a handkerchief.

"Thanks!" Rose wiped her sweat and decided to take a break.

"Rose, did you hear the news?"Helena asked.

Rose's body stiffened for a moment.

"Yes, and I don't have a good feeling about this nor do I want to talk about it."

"Okay then…"Helena pursued her lips and then asked with a fierce expression.

"Rose, you were there till the last so did you spot Lucas there?"

"Huhh" Rose's brows furrowed and she glanced at Helena's blank expression.

"Lucas, who is he?"

Helena facepalmed and sighed heavily.

"Lucas, the guy that defeated me and also took the 14th rank in the trial. And he is just at 1-Star. Can you believe it?"

"I want to teach him a lesson but I did not find him."

Rose blinked multiple times in surprise and then a certain memory clicked in her mind.

"Ohh! I remember now."

"That zombie boy who beat you badly."

If Lucas heard Rose addressing him like this, he would have died coughing liters of blood.

"He did not beat me. He cheated."Helena grumbled.

"Don't make such excuses Helena and don't demean a guy like him who gave his all to win instead of cowering away in fear due to difference in rank," Rose explained, causing Helena to stomp in dissatisfaction.

"What if this happened in a real fight? Are you going to complain about your enemy to God?"

"No," Helena said reluctantly and then thought of a way to get back at Rose and spoke cutely.

"By the way, Rose, how long are you going to keep this handkerchief with you?"

"What about this handkerchief?"Rose tilted her head, unable to understand Helena's words.

"Ufff Silly Rose, did you forget this is not yours?"Helena smirked and whispered in Rose's ears.

Rose's cheeks became red and she looked down with a flustered expression.

"How can I forget about this? I should return it to Frederick."Rose clutched the handkerchief tightly and walked back stiffly while trying to hide her embarrassed expression from Helena.

....

"Gary, did you hear the news."A boy asked Gary with a stunned expression

"Rick, that boy killed himself."

The news shocked them to the core. The moment they heard the news, their scalp became numb in fear.

"Gary….Gary…Don't tell me, Lord Charles is the one behind it."

GULP!

Gary swallowed his saliva with a tense expression. His body trembled just thinking about Charles disposing of Rick cause they are not better than Rick. So if one day, they failed their purpose, they might also be discarded like this.

"Let's just lay low. If the Lord hears us, we will be in trouble."

Inside 1st Floor of Leader.

Charles read the message with trembling hands. Reading the contents he crushed his smartphone and threw it away.

He looked disheveled and haggard. The arrogance and aura of nobility he had disappeared.

And all of this happened just after a single event.

"No…No…I did not do this."Charles screamed, stomping his ground in anger.

Hearing the news, his father sent him a message asking about the mess. Even if he had not done it, his father still did not believe him.

Many might not know, but his family knew about the deal as Rick's parents worked as servants in their mansion. Hearing about Rick's death, they broke down, losing consciousness.

Charles is a troublesome kid and always causes trouble all around. And his parents were the ones who still took care of the mess…

"Even I don't stoop that low. I don't kill for such a simple reason."

"Someone is pulling strings trying to frame me and ruin my reputation."

"Who can it be? Is it Frederick?"

"No, I don't think that goody shoe will do this so who is this?"

"Is the person jealous of me or did I do something bad to him?"

"Damn man….The day I find out the truth I am going to pay you back a hundred times."Charles shouted with bloodshot eyes.

Charles's angry roar echoed across the room.

...….

Unaware of the storm blowing outside, Lucas was cooped up with Harris in the gymnasium. They have got a few day holidays after the Dungeon Trial which Lucas wanted to use fruitfully.

Several particles of light similar to fireflies danced around Lucas. The mana around him swirled and gushed inside through his pores.

The minute particles slowly started to condense over Lucas and enshrouded him slowly.

Harris who was circulating the mana inside Lucas finally noticed harmony in Lucas's intake and exhale of mana. Lucas's body began to be covered in golden particles which converged to form a golden austere.

Harris who had observed the whole process since the beginning frowned seeing golden particles of aura changing into darkish crimson particles.

Shaking his head, he pinched his brows feeling uneasiness. Opening his eyes, his expression changed for a moment due to being unable to see any crimson aura of Lucsas.

'Perhaps, I saw something wrong. Lucas's aura is golden in color. Not much violent crimson aura.'

Swishhhh!

The wind swirled ruffling Lucas's hair and a cool, pleasant sensation coursed through all over Lucas's body.

Lucas, who opened his eyes, saw the world differently from before. The sensation around him was quite vivid and solacing. He felt light as a feather and finally could control the flow of mana.

"Congratulations," Harris said and

clapped, "You have awakened for real now."

"Not only have your clogged vessels become free, but you have also reached mid-1-Star. A little push and you will become a peak 1-Star. I think your mana should be around peak 1-Star."

"You have also gained some muscles. Now, no one will mistake you for a zombie."

Lucas's lips twitched uncontrollably.

"Hmmm!"Lucas nodded, clenching his fist tightly. The odd discomfort from before had disappeared.

"I feel more alive than ever," Lucas stood up staring at Harris.

"Sir, Harris, can I do mana and strength control training now?"

Thinking for a moment, Harris threw a round object at Lucas who caught it in time.

Lucas stared at the round white object and then at Harris.

"Sir Harris, I know you are thinking about me being hungry due to a minor breakthrough. But I am not that hungry to eat a raw egg."

Harris shook his head with an amused expression and said"It's not for eating. You are going to use this in training."

"How?"Lucas asked bewilderedly.

"Hold it and go to that puppet."

Lucas followed his advice. Standing before the puppet, he glanced at Harris.

"Now hold it, and just punch the puppet."

"Huhhhhhh.."Lucas gave a skeptical glance but seeing his serious expression, he followed his notion and punched the puppet.

BANG!

"Ewwwww!"Lucas's expression distorted as the egg burst inside his palm.

"This…."

Harris smiled and with a flicker appeared beside Lucas.

"Did you get it? You are going to practice with this until you can punch without breaking the egg."

Hearing his words, Lucas fell into deep thought.

"What happened? Why do you look down suddenly?"

"If I practice like this, won't I be breaking hundreds if not thousands of eggs?"

Harris's lips twitched. Blinking his eyes, he gave Lucas a baffled look.

'Student instead of worrying about the practice, you are more worried about the eggs.'

"It seems you need some Attitude Adjustment training."Harris's lips curled upward with a cold smile.

Lucas's body shivered unknowingly on hearing Harris's words.

'I have a bad hunch about this.'