Chapter 35: The Entrance Exam (III)

The uproar behind her continued, but Maelis didn’t care.

She heard their voices, yes.

The outrage.

The scraping of boots and the distant ring of steel being unsheathed.

Leon’s sharp breath, almost ragged from how hard he was trying to hold himself back. Dexter’s low curse under his breath.

But all of it was muffled now.

Like background noise behind glass.

Because he was still looking at her.

That same disinterested, cold gaze. As if she were just another person in a crowd. As if she didn’t matter. Like her name, Maelis D’Aurélion meant nothing.

And yet… her heart was pounding.

She swallowed once, quietly. Her throat felt dry.

Her lips were still curled faintly at the edges, but now her eyes lifted just a little higher, just enough for her lashes to rise, revealing the full clarity of her gaze.

She was just about to speak.

Just about to reach out…

But then, Gray’s voice cut through the air like a knife.

“Get out of my way.”

His voice was flat and dismissive, sharp enough to draw blood without raising his tone.

“I’m not interested in dealing with someone like you.”

Then he stepped forward, right past her.

Not even brushing her shoulder.

And just like that, she was behind him.

Like a wall he walked through.

His eyes were already focused ahead, locked onto someone else.

“Hey…” Gray tilted his head slightly, his tone more relaxed now.

Almost playful.

“Now that the third parties are out of the way… shall we continue our fight?”

His rapier was already raised, its silver edge pointed straight at Dexter.

At his words, Dexter’s eyes widened before they narrowed excitedly. His lips also curled into a deep smile, the kind a battle-junkie wore.

“I like you,” he declared, gripping the hilts of his twin axes with both hands.

His mana began to stir around him, thick and charged.

At the same time, Gray rolled one shoulder back lazily.

The threads hidden in his gloves flicked outward, slithering toward a few rocks in the distance like whisper-thin wires.

His fingers twitched once, and the threads tightened.

’…It should be enough.’

He wasn’t planning to win, but he wanted to see the difference…

To know just how wide the gap was between the two stages.

And if he could push past it, even slightly, it would be thanks to that skill.

『 Puppet Strings 』

A broken ability.

After all… those threads were sharp enough to cut through flesh.

Sharp enough to kill a Master.

Fwoop!

The ground cracked beneath Dexter’s feet as he lunged forward, both axes swinging with explosive force.

CLANG!

Gray barely blocked it.

His rapier screamed as it bent against the weight of Dexter’s strike, and the force flung him backwards.

“Dammit!”

He flipped once, landing hard and low, one knee skidding across the gravel.

Dexter didn’t wait.

He charged again, laughing wild, guttural, like a man high on the scent of combat.

“Come on, come on!” he roared. “Aren’t you the one who challenged me?! Don’t start holding back now, pretty boy!”

Gray gritted his teeth, tightening his grip.

The threads attached to the rocks tugged subtly, hidden from all eyes.

Actually, he wasn’t going to use those strings to attack Dexter, but instead… to increase his speed.

To be able to react to Dexter’s dexterity.

His shoulder twisted unnaturally, allowing him to pivot and slide just beneath the next blow.

WHSHK!

One axe missed by inches, slicing air where his neck had been.

Another swipe came from above.

And pulling the strings, Gray once again blocked it.

BANG!

The collision sent a wave of pressure out from the center, kicking up dust and leaves.

“Ugh… aha…”

He skidded back again, panting quietly. His arms were trembling now from the effort. The strings pulled hard to keep him upright.

He was losing.

That much was clear.

But he didn’t run.

Dexter’s eyes gleamed like wildfire.

“I love this feeling,” he growled, dragging one axe across the ground.

“You know… you’re one of the few people that can actually match my speed!”

Dexter shot towards Gray once again…

And in the distance, the audience still watched.

From the side of the field, Maelis stood completely frozen, her lips were parted slighly, and her breath came shallow.

It wasn’t the battle that made her chest tighten.

It was him.

He didn’t even flinch at her existence.

He’d erased her like she wasn’t there at all.

She didn’t even realize her fingers had curled into fists.

Not until a familiar voice spoke beside her.

“Maelis…?”

It was Leon.

His brow furrowed in concern. His voice was gentle and warm, seemingly trying to comfort her.

“Are you alright? That guy—he treated you like you were nothing. You don’t need to—”

But she didn’t hear him.

She didn’t even look at him.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the battlefield, and her body began to tremble, not from sadness, not from humiliation.

But from the rush building deep inside her.

Her knees locked, her teeth pressed together… and the flame on her chest couldn’t stop burning…

Her soul screamed.

And then…

Fwoop!

She disappeared.

Leon reached out.

“Maelis?!”

But his hand only grabbed air.

In the center of the battle, Gray and Dexter had just exchanged another fierce strike, axes and rapier locking once again, dust swirling around them.

And in that exact moment…

BOOM!

A shockwave blasted out.

A single figure flashed between them, and with a single shove…

THUD!

Dexter was pushed back several meters, stumbling from the force.

He grunted in shock, looking up just as Maelis took his place.

Her left hand was stretched from where she’d thrown him.

Her right gripped a gleaming staff laced with glowing sigils.

Her body stood in front of Gray like a barrier, like a flame sparked from the cold.

And her eyes…

They glowed faintly with madness and purpose.

“If I’m not worthy enough…” she breathed, her voice trembling with passion. “…then I’ll earn the right!”

Her staff spun in a perfect arc, golden sigils flaring across the shaft as she moved without hesitation.

It swept low and sharp.

CLINK!

It struck the tip of Gray’s rapier, sparks flashing in the air.

For a split second, Gray’s eyes widened.

His balance slipped, off by a hair, but the moment his body faltered, the invisible strings jerked violently behind his back, snapping him back into position like a puppet made of muscle and instinct.

Thnk!

His rapier didn’t just resist, it pushed back.

He met her clash with strength, as if he’d expected it.

The air stilled.

Dexter’s boots scraped hard against the ground behind them.

He stared in disbelief.

Then his voice exploded, dripping with fury.

“Oi—WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”

His veins bulged as he shouted, one axe dragging behind him like it wanted blood of its own. His wild grin was gone, now just teeth gritted and twitching.

“That was MY fight!” he roared. “You don’t get to step in like some self-righteous little brat!”

From the edge of the training field, Leon’s hands were clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned bone-white.

His expression, cold, unreadable at first, cracked beneath the surface.

“You ran straight into the middle of it…” he muttered, chest rising with barely restrained rage.

“What the hell are you doing, Maelis…?”

His voice dropped low.

“Don’t tell me you really fell in love with him…!!!”

But Maelis couldn’t hear them.

Her gaze was locked with Gray’s.

For a heartbeat, she believed this was the moment, the moment he’d finally see her.

The moment he’d recognize her courage, her will.

That he’d finally…

Scoff.

It was quiet, almost careless.

But it made her stomach twist instantly.

Gray looked at her, not with warmth, not with appreciation.

But with that same cold, sharp disgust he always carried.

His lips curled, not in a smile.

In disdain.

“How dare you intervene in a fight?” he muttered, his tone flat, almost lazy.

But it cut like a blade.

“Are you that uneducated?”

Her breath caught.

Her body locked up.

The heat in her limbs didn’t just fade; it vanished, as if something had reached inside her chest and ripped out the core of her warmth.

Her fingers trembled, slackening. The staff tilted just slightly in her grip, the metal suddenly too heavy to hold.

The space between them stretched.

And then, his voice turned even more cruel than before.

“You’re really… fucking annoying.”

Her heart didn’t beat.

Her lungs didn’t move.

She stopped breathing altogether.

Just for a second.

Because her body didn’t know how to respond. Her soul, for that instant, had no script.

Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to speak. To laugh. To explain herself. To apologize.

But nothing came out.

Her eyes, those bright greenish gems, shook faintly in their sockets, glimmering not with power… but disbelief.

“No… no, that’s not how it’s supposed to go…”

A whisper passed through her mind like a breeze on the edge of collapse.

The silence was broken by the sharp crack of Dexter’s axe hitting the ground.

“That’s IT!” Dexter growled, fury snapping through his voice like thunder. “You two wanna flirt or fight?! MAKE UP YOUR FUCKING MINDS!”

But even as he roared, nobody moved.

Leon stepped forward, his jaw clenched, his aura beginning to rise.

“Back off. She’s not your opponent—”

FWOOSH!

Without warning, the ground beneath Maelis cracked.

Magic surged.

A gust of shimmering gold light exploded from her feet as the earth beneath them warped.

She vanished in that instant, a blur of motion only the most trained eyes could follow.

THUD!!

Dexter was thrown back like a sack of meat, crashing into a nearby wall, coughing blood as his axes tumbled from his hands.

Everyone stared, stunned.

Gray barely raised his blade in time…

CLANK!

Their weapons met again.

Maelis was there, right in front of him, face inches away.

Her chest was heaving, her lips were pale, and her eyes…

Those eyes were no longer unsure.

They were burning.

And behind that flame was something else. Something hungry.

“If I’m annoying…” she whispered, voice cracking as her nose almost touched his, “…then shut me up.”

She smiled, a trembling, unstable kind of smile.

“Defeat me. Cut me down. If that’s how I get your attention…”

Her hands tightened on her staff until her knuckles bled.

“…then I’ll make you fucking look at me.”

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