The air parted.
The clouds parted.
The atmosphere parted.
And if their eyes weren't lying, even the stars seemed to move away a bit.
"..." Felix stared at his own creation in utter disbelief.
"Damn, have you been training behind my back?" Yaromech bit his tongue in angst. "Give me that twig!"
Copying what his old student did, he mimicked the same exact movements but only managed to create a ripple and a wave that rolled through the mountains ahead of him.
Although strong, it couldn't compare to what just happened.
"Pfft." Felix placed his fist over his mouth. "Maybe... your dreams just suck?"
"Brat! After everything I've taught you, you'll do me like this..." Yaromech let go of the twig and sniffled, hiding a snot. "Well, it took you long enough to outshine your teacher, so... congrats, I guess..."
Clap.. . .Clap.. . .Clap.... . .
—Is what I would say if I gave up easily!" Yaromech pointed a finger at Felix's face. "How'd you do it? Did the elves teach you some secret technique?"
"With your long hair and that stupid face, they probably thought you were one of them!" he accused.
"I've heard something called dual cultivation that the elves practice. Could it be that?!"
"No." Felix quickly turned and walked away, following the spiraling steps down the mountain.
"You're hiding from me? I taught you so much!" Yaromech called after him. "At least show me a demonstration or something! Hey!"
Felix, now already far down, shouted back, "You can come down after you've broken through to the 1st layer!"
To avoid him more efficiently, he skipped the long walk and simply jumped down the mountain.
After landing halfway at a secluded area, he paused to rest beside a waterfall before continuing his descent.
Truth be told...
'I don't even know what that dual technique thing is. Where did Yaromech hear of it?' Felix raised his hands and stared.
One thing was clear.
He didn't know how he performed that feat.
And my hands are shaking.
As they twitched slightly, it felt like tiny fireworks were erupting across his palms.
Was that the level of a 1st layer...?
***
After that, Ferris only ever performed it one more time. During the final battle against the serpent.
And even then—as a 1st layer knight—he still didn't fully understand what caused that strange burst of energy back when he was just an unmaximized 2nd layer.
All he knew was that, once he was completely alone in that final battle, he poured every ounce of conviction and dream that had built up inside him into one final strike against the serpent.
Was it skill? No—he'd only ever performed that move twice.
Was it luck? Maybe. He'd tried to recreate the exact same scenario but couldn't perform that heaven-splitting feat again.
It wasn't a skill he had learned in his past life.
But now, during his 1-month training, Ferris tried to decide on a name for that unnamed technique.
At first, he thought of calling it Dreaming Conviction Technique.
But meeting the flaming bush that called herself The Dreamer made him think twice before naming anything related to dreams.
So, he decided he'd only name that technique once he properly learned it in this new life.
Swing your sword with your dreams?
It felt like something a martial arts master would experience. Trying to describe a secret technique they created, but they couldn't put it into words.
For Ferris.
It was like trying to describe something he didn't even know existed.
Maybe... I should type with my dreams on the line!
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The 2-hour time limit passed in a blink.
And Ferris was confident that his answers formed with dreams and conviction would give him a high percentage rate.
"Time's up!" Zipperman raised a remote. "The AI will take around 10 seconds to compile and check everyone's answers. After that, your screen will display the rankings."
Ferris waited through the seconds that felt far too long.
Once the screen updated, he immediately looked at the top part of the table.
But he couldn't find his name.
So, he slowly dragged his eyes downward until.
[Ferris, 75% – Pass!]
. . .
He didn't know what to feel in that moment.
The technique of pouring his dreams into every answer was either a complete success... or a total failure.
Well... it's just a number anyway. I can always ace the physical exam,' Ferris thought happy thoughts into his head.
"Well, it seems around half of you passed," Zipperman continued. "But don't worry—if you do well in the physical exam, you still have a chance at becoming a hero—
SLAM!
A man suddenly slammed his table and stood up, his expression red with anger.
"Screw this! Everything about this is wrong! I'm reporting this entire fuckass exam!"
Soon after his outburst, many more people stood up and began yelling in a fit of rage.
"Yeah, we want to take a retest. Some of us are in our 3rd attempt damnit!"
The instructor rubbed his nose bridge in disappointment. "Tsk, honestly. You heroes are so ungrateful. This is why villains exist."
"What the hell are you talking about?" one of the protesters asked.
Hearing his words, it looked as if Zipperman's expression twisted in disgust. "Say, why don't we just move on to the physical exam?"
"But there's a twist ofcourse!" The instructor gestured his hand towards the entrance. "Lumine, we're finished. Have you finished setting up the transport?"
A hooded girl entered right after the instructor's call. "Uh-huh... but it'll take a couple of seconds before it's finished."
A couple of seconds.
Before the girl even uttered her words, Ferris's mind already went into overdrive.
Something's definitely not right, that much I can sense.
Is that instructor... really the A-class hero known as Zipperman?
From his demeanor at the start, and his disregard of respect, and the fact that he didn't allow that man to go to the bathroom.
He discreetly took out his phone and opened the messaging app.
There were two options for him to call. One was the police, the second was the Hero Association. But instead, he took the third option.
"Ferris, whoever you are, I don't consider you as an enemy, nor as a friend, but I want you to trust me from now on"
–Trust me–
You better consider me as a friend.
ShiningKn1ght*_01
[Need help ASAP]
ShiningKn1ght*_01
[There's something wrong in the exam]Message failed to deliver... Tap to resend.
Damn...
"It should be finished by now," the girl said.
Suddenly, one of the test takers noticed something and began announcing it. "T-that's a villain! The girl!"
"Ooh! Guess we got busted..." the instructor covered his mouth.
Villain: Lumine
Disaster level: Ogre
Blessing: Doorway
"Y-you're right!" another person confirmed. "And Zipperman! His blessing only allows him to stick to walls with his Sticky Finger blessing. He only calls himself Zipperman because he used to work in a zipper factory!"
"Tell us, who the hell are you?!"
. . .
The whole room went silent, waiting for what looked to be Zipperman to say something. After a few seconds, he reached his hand on the back of his head before dragging his hand forward.
Zzzz.
"Who am I?" As he unzipped his entire body in a vertical pathway, blood began to seep through the small slits on the zipper.
What came out was a tall man with slightly long dark hair and a set of snake-like eyes.
"The fake Zipperman died yesterday, and a new Zipperman emerges today!"
. . .
"...Where's the shock and awe?"
. . .
"You're telling me you recognize Lumine but not me?!"
. . .
The 'Zipperman' shook his head and clicked his tongue in disappointment before kicking his suit towards Ferris's direction. "Well, whatever."
Ferris observed the suit Zipperman used to wear.
It seemed way too real to be a mere suit, as it felt soggy, rotten, and even oily.
This bastard used the real Zipperman as a literal skin suit... Ferris furrowed his brows.
"Screw this!" a man suddenly dashed towards the entrance. "Leave! Save yourselves!"
The moment he placed his hand on the doorknob, he opened it while moving forward. However—
"Eeek!" What he knew as the floor was now replaced with an empty void.
Everything outside the door was a void!
Fortunately, Zipperman acted quickly and prevented the man from almost falling. "Careful now~. The moment you all entered the door that leads to here, you've already been transported to Miss Lumine's own pocket dimension."
Pull.
Crash!
Zipperman pulled on the man and threw him towards the other test takers, causing all of them to fall like bowling pins.
"The physical exam starts now!"
"Well... for our villain wannabes, of course~"
ZZZZZZZ!