Chapter 115: Close Shave

Solomon’s satisfaction was immense.

He could feel the sensation of his blade cutting through his instructor’s flesh. As the blood wet his weapon, he grinned devilishly, revealing a set of teeth that seemed to be growing ever-sharper.

“Beast!” Wilkins snarled.

His arm was nearly ruined. His leg, too. He felt hot blood running from an opening on his neck and down his shirt collar. There was even a wound in his side that stung unmercifully.

However, none of the injuries he’d suffered were more painful than the embarrassment he felt.

Wilkins intended to firmly crush Solomon into the ground and show him just how big the world truly was. To overwhelm him with a skill and competence that had taken decades to acquire.

He could never allow Solomon to think he was even close to reaching his level. Not when he was only a first year.

“I will have your head for that!”

Wilkins threw out his hand, and a wall of solid aura slammed into Solomon.

The beast was sent flying off his hooves and crashing into the stadium wall.

Instructor Wilkins approached Solomon with a subtle limp. His face was boiling red, and his teeth were clenched hard enough to break.

“If your people were all as annoying as you, it is no wonder why they had to be exterminated…!”

Gathering a wave of liquid aura in his hand, Wilkins created a glowing mace and chain.

But as he took one step toward Solomon, he suddenly paused, his eyes bulging dramatically.

His body was burning up and freezing all at the same time. Chills and aches seized his nerves as his stomach turned against itself.

“This… this…!?”

Wilkins brought a hand to the wound on his neck. When he pulled it away, his fingers were covered in a foul-smelling yellow pus.

The sight of this was apparently too much for him to handle. He doubled over without warning and emptied the contents of his stomach for all to see.

“Eww…”

“Heavens!”

“What is happening to him!?”

Instructor Wilkins wiped his mouth with his forearm and stood back up. “You insignificant little worm, what did you do to me!?”

Solomon chose that moment to lunge at the instructor from a lowered position. His magic wouldn’t last for very long, which meant that his opponent wasn’t going to be sick anymore either.

If he wanted to kill him, he absolutely had to do so now.

When he barreled into the man, he flung his head upward to toss him into the air.

Instructor Wilkins became ever more queasy, but by some miracle, refrained from vomiting a second time. Though not without having to swallow some…

With the instructor airborne, Solomon used the flat side of his weapon to knock him down with a bang.

Solomon, intending to go for the kill immediately, suddenly gave pause.

His body ached terribly. He hadn’t known a discomfort like this ever since he had first used the full powers of his yaksha over a year ago.

He couldn’t stay in this form any longer. Not if he wanted a chance of making it back to his dorm on his own two feet tomorrow, or even the day after that…

Solomon let out an exhale, and his molten form came crumbling apart.

He stood among a mound of volcanic rock and steam. His clothes were burned in several places, but he, at the very least, still had his dignity covered.

Rare, heavy breaths escaped Solomon’s mouth as he tried to get his bearings. Sweat poured from his pores in considerable droves, but he ignored it all.

He took a step forward, and all of the muscles in his leg screamed at him at once. The pain was so intense that he almost fell flat on his face.

Summoning his sword was one of the only things he could do to support himself and remain upright.

“You… dog…!”

Instructor Wilkins got to his feet shakily, his eyes brimming with hate and his sickness slowly subsiding.

Solomon gritted his teeth, cursing his luck.

Ignoring the pain running through him, Solomon raised his sword into a defensive stance.

The situation was incredibly dire.

Ignoring pain was something Solomon had gotten quite used to. But the fire burning up his nerves currently was a special kind of torment.

He couldn’t fight like this against a serious opponent. Meaning that magic was his only gamble.

But since he was not yet fully proficient in the art, he wasn’t totally confident.

’I can’t let my Yari down though, can I..?’

Solomon prepared to channel the wind into his feet so that he could at least ease the burden on his body.

However, something happened that put his entire plan on brakes.

That same being from earlier reappeared behind Instructor Wilkins without so much as a sound.

Just like before, Solomon seemed to be the only one who noticed them.

They brought a long, slender finger up to their dark grey lips in a shushing gesture. Their lips were turned upward in a small smile.

Solomon watched with wide eyes as they touched Instructor Wilkins on the back.

In an instant, they were gone again.

Instructor Wilkins took another, single step towards Solomon.

But before he could do anything, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his jaw went slack.

He hit the ground like a felled tree and lay there, completely unmoving.

As murmurs of shock and awe filled the crowd, Solomon was just as surprised as anyone.

Stepping forward, Solomon nudged the instructor with his foot and rolled him onto his back. His eyes were already glossy and his chest was still.

It was as he thought. Dead.

–

Hours later, Solomon and his friends were all in his room for what would be the final time that year.

They sat together on the floor, soaking their feet or knuckles in buckets of hot water.

Solomon watched as Bansha clamored to lap at the water he was soaking his hands in.

For a while, the sound of her drinking was the only real noise in the room.

“…So.” Everett finally spoke after forty-five minutes of complete silence. “Today was… weird.”

Nila, Dakota, and Solomon nodded with distant gazes. Each of them seemed to be thinking about something different.

Dakota rested her head on Everett’s shoulder.

“I guess we’re officially second years then. I wonder if we’ll be in the same group next year, too. I… really don’t want to get partnered with anyone else.”

Her voice was terribly fragile. Barely even a whimper.

No one in the room was oblivious to just how close the four of them had gotten. But among the group, Dakota depended on her friends the most.

She was different from Nila, who had little interest in anything but training, or Everett, who’d been attending social gatherings since he was five. Even Solomon had known warmth with Raizel and Rena in his life.

Dakota had not. The friends she had made here were the only ones she had ever known.

She hadn’t said it aloud, but the worry that they would not get to spend as much time together next year was very prevalent in her mind.

She had no idea just how right she was.

Nila bit her lip and looked away. Solomon hung his head as low as a beaten dog.

As they cursed themselves for not being able to tell Dakota the truth, the door swung open abruptly.

Yari stumbled in first, with Jiaoying right behind her. They were both wearing black cloaks with hoods that covered most of their faces, and their eyes were alight with panic.

“Guys, we need to go. Now.” Jiaoying said firmly.

“That includes you, Solomon.” Yari added. “It’s not safe for you to stay here anymore.”

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