Shadow Monarch: Heroines Could Hear My Thoughts?!

Chapter 102- First Day (Part 2)

The woman's demeanor shifted slightly when she started speaking as if she was hiding it all along. It wasn't intimidating or harsh but still weirdly apathetic even though her smile was still warm as sunlight.

"All of you had spent the first week playing around and discovering the place. You had so much fun experiencing all of the great facilities that the city had prepared for all of you. That's all acceptable since that's what most people will do. But…"

Closing her eyes, she sighed.

"Most of you simply forgot about the main reason you are here… Some just lazed around, thinking they were on a vacation. Others merely played around without a single care in the world and the majority didn't even do anything related to their magic training, their studies, or even thought about doing anything similar to that."

The sounds of shock escaped the student's throats as if they couldn't understand what was going on.

"One thing you all must know, the bracelet you have in your hands is a part of you. It will monitor what you do and what you don't. That's how it gives you point as well as take points from you. Those who saw that they are in the minus got that because they didn't bother about anything other than relaxation and careless life."

'Damn, that's brutal.' Rin thought as he blinked a few times. He had already known that this will happen but it was still an interesting sight.

"Wait, Miss. Roseair. That's not fair!"

"Yes! We didn't know that this was a thing!!"

"I agree! It's not logical that we lose points just because we didn't train or do anything for the first week here."

Sounds of complaints reached the professor from every single place in the lecture hall. But, even under such protests for the unfair treatment, she merely smiled as if she expected all of this from the beginning.

"Unfair? Well, it is unfair for you indeed. You didn't know about this until now. I can understand that." Her positive response made the students' face light up with hope but was submerged in shock again.

"But, since when this academy was fair? You surely didn't come here expecting fair and equal treatment, right?"

Almost most of them wanted to nod their heads at her question but refrained from doing so.

"This academy isn't heaven. It's a power-hungry hierarchy for those who dare to face that. The only ones treated well here are those who are strong enough to deserve it or determined enough to reach the top. People that stay weak or aimless will only be treated as such."

"The academy had basically used the laws of the jungle. Those who are strong will be treated fairly while those who fall behind will only be pulled down even more. It's a double-edged sword as it nurtures talents and kills mediocre abilities. Many will fall and many will rise." Rin murmured.

"That's why it's well-known. Because it can only create powerful individuals only. There was not a single person that graduated from this place and wasn't able to leave a trace in history." Elise added.

"By the way, what's your rank?"

"4587 with a little bit over 50 points."

"Oh, I'm 4780 with 35 points. Did you go hunting?" Rin asked.

"Yes, and I sold the mana cores I collected for some ranking points."

'The ones left at least.' Elise thought in her head. After using the Soul Harvester once, she lost all monster bodies along with their mana cores. The ones she was able to sell were the ones she got after fighting the Man of the Lake. She stumbled upon a few small monsters on her way back that she quickly killed and collected.

"Now that you made me recall, I still didn't try the Summoning skill from the Shadow Monarch dagger. I still have the hybrid demon bird stored in my inventory."

"Do it later."

The two then focused on the professor again.

"See that red section in the ranking?"

Most of them already saw it since they were in it. They already had a hunch about what it meant but they didn't want to voice it out of fear. f𝒓𝑒e𝙬𝒆𝚋𝘯૦𝘷𝐞𝑙.c𝑜𝐦

"That's the 'Elimination section'. Each month, there will be supervision over the rankings. Anyone who is in that section will have to immediately leave the academy."

"This is… horrible!!" Someone said as he tapped his forehead. He was one of the people in the lowest ranking. Some had reached a staggering -90 points which was amazing to witness.

"Anyway, enough of all of this. You can check it more later and if you have any questions, there are people that are ready to answer your questions."

After that, under the still-shocked gazes of the students, she started her lesson with a warm smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours passed quickly and the first class was over. Rin stood up and stretched his arms and cracked his neck. The subjects taught here were things that Rin already studied before so he didn't really need to concentrate much and merely looked around, mostly taking peeks at Elise while she was not looking. (A//N: Simp!)

"I'm hungry, man," Rin muttered to himself.

"Did you cook something, Elise?" He asked.

"I made a simple lunch." She said while walking out of the class.

As the two were walking in the corridors, in between tens of other students merely chatting and laughing around.

*Swish*

Someone passed beside Rin and touched his shoulder seemingly by mistake. He looked behind him for a moment instinctively. He didn't think much of it as it wasn't intended. But, his eyes immediately widened in shock when he saw that person. No, it wasn't the person's appearance that made him freeze but their aura that he could recall very well.

"My apologies, Rin~" An extremely alluring voice whispered near his ear.

'That playful voice too…' He thought in his head.

But, before he could even say anything, the person walked away and vanished in between the tens of students.

"Go ahead before me, Elise! I have something to do."

"What?" Elise didn't get what he meant but before she could say anything, he already vanished somewhere.

Running quickly, Rin tried to locate his target, he still could feel their aura but it was getting farther and farther away the more he tried to look for it.

'Don't run away.' He thought and dashed in the general direction of the aura.

After running for a while, he reached a more secluded area of the Academic building. There were some closed classes here made for chemistry and science studies but since no one started that yet, they were desolate of any students.

'The aura is behind this door.' He thought as he summoned his dagger and put his hand on the handle. Then, he took a deep breath and opened the door quickly.

Using the dagger, he quickly guarded himself against any potential sneak attack.

But, looking inside, the place was empty.

'Huh? Where is she? Did I make a mistake?' He thought as he walked inside while keeping an eye on the open door.

The chemistry class was completely empty and even the aura he was feeling completely vanished as if it was not there in the first place.

"Sigh, you really are something, Miss. I will kiss a boy younger than me and then run away." He suddenly said.

Suddenly, a voice answered from somewhere.

"Horrible of you to say that, darling. Didn't you enjoy that kiss too?~" The voice said amusedly.

"Hm, I did enjoy it if I have to be honest. I will be either stupid or gay not to enjoy that kiss." He said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh my! I'm delighted that my cute Rin enjoyed my kiss."

*Swish*

Then, out of nowhere, two hands wrapped around his neck gently and a hot breathy voice spoke in his ear.

"Do you want to do it again?~"

Rin was bewildered at first but then sighed and released himself from her grip before looking back at her.

"Why are you here?"

Behind him stood the woman that appeared in front of him at the birthday party back in the royal castle. He didn't forget about her at all since she was a variable he never expected.

"Too boring, Rin~ Come on, let's kiss affectionately like before. Our tongues could twirl around each other passionately as we shared a deep, hot, long kiss that will steal our breaths awa-"

"Stop! I don't need to hear that description."

"Muu!" Pouting, the woman looked behind her like an angry child.

"Seriously, why did you follow me here? I recall you saying 'We will meet again, my cute Rin~'."

"Would you believe this big sister if she told you that she fell in love with you at first sight?~"

"I might as well believe that elephants can fly."

"Ah, my poor heart is injured~ How can you refuse me so brutally!" She made exaggerated moves as if she was deeply hurt by Rin."

'Sigh, this is gonna be a long ass day!'

"Fufufufu~" The woman chuckled alluringly like an amused demoness finding a fun prey to play with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 𝑓𝘳ℯ𝒆w𝘦𝘣𝙣𝘰ѵ𝘦𝚕.c𝗼𝓶

Thanks for reading. Any support you give me is always appreciated no matter how small it was. Let's all keep it up :)