The sound of footsteps echoed in the torch-lit corridor. The flames seemed to burn with more vigor, witnessing the one-sided slaughter of goblins by a single person. Blood painted the hallway red, carrying the scent of blood and iron.
The fallen corpses slowly faded, turning into fragments of light that gradually vanished into the air. All traces left behind also disappeared, leaving only the perpetrator.
In the middle of the room stood a student. Something protruded from both his arms, appearing as if it had torn through his skin. It curved from his arms forward, as white as bone with edges sharp like swords.
His blood-red eyes looked bored. Morgan wanted his exam to be over soon. Maintaining this illusory world required a massive amount of mana, and the woman named Miranda had been sustaining it for an hour. A truly impressive ability, in Morgan's opinion, and an irritating one.
Being trapped together with those small fry felt like an insult to a Duke like him.
Morgan could easily wipe out everything in his path and run at a terrifying speed. But that would reveal who he was in Miranda's eyes.
Morgan had no choice but to continue his journey towards the portal. Maintaining his flat expression, he headed down the long corridor.
The presence of the portal grew stronger as Morgan reached an intersection. He found the way out, along with something even more irritating.
The room, made of ancient castle wall bricks, was bathed in a blue light. At the far end, there was a podium with a blue portal flanked by two stone pillars. The portal shone with a dazzling light, inside it seemed to be a powerful vortex. Above it, the number two glowed in the same color.
Beside this beauty stood two students. One had a large body, not muscular but fat. In his hand was a club soaked in blood. The other had a smaller build, with gray hair and a somewhat handsome face. His emerald green eyes looked down with contempt.
Both stood facing a crack in the room's wall. Inside it, a girl was sitting slumped. She had white hair stained with red blood. Her eyes were red, like Morgan's. Her head hung helplessly towards the ground. Bruises appeared on her pale white skin, adorned with other small wounds.
Morgan observed from behind the wall in silence. He seemed to have witnessed a scene unfit for viewing. Two boys bullying a weak, helpless girl, truly shameful.
But Morgan patiently waited for it all to end because he didn't want to get involved in troublesome matters. Besides, everything here was an illusion. All wounds, all blood, and all killings here weren't real. Even if they died here, their bodies would still be standing unharmed in the school hall.
There was no strong reason for Morgan to save her. Quietly, he leaned his back against the wall.
"Is this the famed power of that family?" said the large-bodied student. "Not as scary as the rumors say."
"Hey, are you still sore about her pistol?" mocked the other one. The large student was left speechless.
"From what I heard, there's a Bathory family female student who's said to be the family's trash. Is that her?"
"Family failure, huh? You mean the kid who can't use the family's hereditary Spell?" the large one laughed. "So the Bathory family is only strong because of that hereditary Spell." His laughter grew louder.
The smaller one squatted down. "Hey, don't be disappointed, but the portal can only take two more people. But don't worry, I'll take all the points you gathered. So don't move, this won't hurt." One corner of his lips curled upwards.
The girl remained motionless and silent, but her eyes stared sharply at the student. Full of deep hatred. Something more profound, darker than the deepest trench.
"Sir, let's hurry up and kill her and get the points, I think the portal will close soon," said the large-bodied one, raising his weapon.
Suddenly, a hole appeared beside his head, accompanied by an ear-splitting explosion sound. A shell casing fell to the ground along with the student's collapsing body.
The other one was shocked. He quickly turned towards the source of the sound.
At the room's entrance stood Morgan with a pistol in his hand. He was about to shoot again, only to hear a click every time he pulled the trigger.
"W-who are you, bastard?!?" shouted the gray-haired student.
"Me? Nobody, just someone passing by," Morgan said, throwing the pistol back to the floor where he found it.
Morgan tried to ignore it as much as possible, but his conscience kept pleading with him to save her. He also couldn't contain his disgust when he heard the two students mocking the girl and her family. It was truly an outrageous act.
Emotion made him do something troublesome. 'A real curse.'
Morgan couldn't believe that the future of humanity rested on insects like them. He was disappointed.
"Don't joke with me, damn it!" the gray-haired student snapped. "Do you know who I am?"
"Forget that, do you know that bullying someone is not good?" Morgan said with disgust. "Can you call yourself a man when you dare to hit a weak, helpless girl?"
Hearing that, his interlocutor couldn't hold back a smile. "So you think you're a hero? You want to act cool in front of a girl?"
"Enough with this small talk," Morgan clenched his fist. "Let's just fight."
"Oh, really? I hate small talk too. I, Waln Valeria, will gladly accept your duel." Fire appeared on his right palm, spreading to consume his entire right hand.
Morgan didn't want to waste his precious time on an insect like him. So, he instantly charged forward in a flash. Waln, though surprised, reflexively punched forward.
Morgan, of course, dodged easily. The punch passed by the left side of his head, while Morgan delivered a solid blow to his face. The body was thrown back like a ragdoll and crashed into the wall.
Morgan looked at his hand but found nothing but blood. The student's body began to glow, then shattered into thousands of small fragments of light that faded into the air.
The girl, who had been silent all this time, slowly opened her eyes wide. She sat frozen, staring at the person who had just saved her. She wanted to express her gratitude, but it caught in her throat. All that came out was a weak sigh.
Their eyes met, but there was no look of victory in his eyes, nor was there a look of contempt for her. This was the first time someone had looked at her like that, with warmth, just like her mother.
"Umm... I'll go ahead. Please recover first." Then he disappeared into the portal. Leaving her with a strange feeling.