Chapter 35: Virtual Simulation [7]
Tak— Tak—!
Walking around the halls of Astrea Academy, Belle's heels clicked against the marbled floor.
"Good morning, President Belle.
"Greetings, President."
Along the way, she'd be greeted by the students. She'd then return their greetings with a nod.
She had heard–that the first year students' Battle Royale was scheduled today.
Particularly, Brandon's Combat Class.
The session was streamed live, and from a distance she could see the students gathering to watch it from a screen.
Battle Royale was a session that every first year student had to take.
She took it as well when she was a first year, placing first.
Belle was quite interested in this year's session, but she refrained from watching.
The reason for this was because she didn't want to see Brandon killed.
Though, it would only be a simulation, just the sight of her own little brother dying before her eyes would be terrifying.
Tak— Tak—!
The hall continued to echo by the clicking of her heels. But the sound was immediately drowned out by the chattering of the students.
It was then when the students' words caught her attention.
"Does anyone know who that student is?"
"No, but he looks familiar."
"Doesn't he kind of look like President Belle?"
"Oh, now that you mention it they do look alike."
"That's President Belle's younger brother, Brandon Locke."
'Brandon…?'
Why were they talking about Brandon?
'Did he lose already?'
She suddenly had a bad feeling.
She had to know why they were talking about him.
Tak— Tak—!
She approached the group of students.
"Ah."
"P-President Belle, good morning."
"Good morning, President.
Belle then nodded at their greetings, but didn't spare them any glances.
Tak— Tak—!
It was then she could finally see the screen.
What caught her attention was the boy displayed on the screen. Pale-white hair, ice blue-eyes, and…
'Lightning..? Ice..? Wind…?'
She was surprised as her eyes shot wide open.
'Is that really Brandon…?
Truthfully, she never knew just how capable Brandon was.
The two siblings were quite close growing up. But when Belle awakened as a Deviant, she moved overseas to pursue her education.
Thus, the two siblings drifted apart.
But at 16-years-old was when the Academy called upon her.
She was given the offer to become the Student Council President in exchange for attending Astrea Academy.
Of course, she accepted the offer and returned to the country, reuniting with her family.
But shortly after, she moved to the city to attend the Academy.
It was only recently when the two siblings reconnected again.
Though for some reason, the Brandon that she knew was quite different to the Brandon currently.
But she didn't mind it, concluding that it must've been because of puberty.
This was the first time Belle had actually seen Brandon use magic.
And to her surprise, he was a Deviant, just like her.
But…
'Three elements…'
He exceeded her expectations.
While Brandon had three, Belle only had two elements.
[Light] and [Wind].
Light magic was extremely rare. In fact it was one of the higher forms of affinities.
This made Belle a prodigy, fitting to her title as the strongest 2nd year student.
But Brandon…
He had more potential than her.
With three elements, he could have three special affinities.
She had to know more.
She then peeled away from the screen, heading towards the Virtual Simulation room.
The room would usually be off limits for regular students. But since Belle was the Student Council President, she could bypass most of the rules.
Tak. Tak—!
She continued to walk as the halls continued to echo with her heels clicking on the marbled floor.
This proceeded until she arrived at her destination.
Knock– Knock—
As she knocked, a muffled voice from the other room reached her ears.
"Who is it?"
It was Vanessa.
After making herself known, the door slowly creaked open.
Entering the room, what caught her attention was another woman, seated on the circular couch.
Dark-purple hair, and cold-cyan eyes. She instantly knew who it was.
Evelyn Cessna, one of the strongest mages in the world.
She had heard that Evelyn was attending the Academy as a Professor. But she didn't know she'd be Brandon's Combat Class instructor.
Belle was jealous.
Truthfully, she was a huge fan of Evelyn.
Evelyn had a stack record of achievements. From Wraithbound subjugations, to guild contributions, and so many more.
And despite her fame, she was humble.
While other mages would bask in their success, Evelyn would stay away from the public, doing her own thing.
She was a source of inspiration for Belle.
Since this was the first time they'd met, Belle tried to compose herself.
'Don't fangirl, don't fangirl, don't fangirl, don't fangirl.'
She was then snapped out of her thoughts by Evelyn, who was looking at her with a blank expression.
"Hello, I'm a new instructor here, my name is–"
"Evelyn Cessna, right!?"
There was no helping it.
Belle immediately ran towards her, clasping Evelyn's hands.
"...Y-Yes."
Evelyn seemed taken aback, unsure of what to make out of the situation.
"My name is Belle Locke, and I'm a huge fan! Could I have your autograph?"
Belle then let go of one hand and reached out for all the pockets in her outfit.
"Let's see... Where did I put my pen–"
"Ahem."
Vanessa snapped her out of it. Belle then let go of Evelyn's hand.
"Ah, my apologies."
"I'm here too, you know?"
"I'm a fan too, Miss Vanessa."
"Sigh, what brings you here?"
At Vanessa's question, Belle tried to recall why she entered the room in the first place.
"Ah."
"Ah?"
She redirected her attention to the screen, only to find Brandon, lifting an ice sword up.
The girl in front of him seemed to be doing nothing about it as she stood frozen.
It was normal for the students to kill each other during the Battle Royale.
But…
'Those eyes…'
They were cold.
Detached of any warmth.
Was this really the sweet little boy she grew up with?
Just what happened to Brandon in the six years that she was gone?
[I'll kill you now. But I'll come find you after all of this is over.]
Brandon then proceeded to mercilessly thrust his ice blade into the girl's chest.
"Eh…?"
The three women in the room tilted their heads.
They all thought of one thing.
'Did Brandon just flirt with her?'
***
After Brandon killed Sarah, Amy exited the cave and made her way to Brandon's side.
She knitted her brow and pursed her lips to say,
"What the hell did you do to them?"
"Huh?"
What was she talking about?
"Don't 'huh' me. They came to me completely terrified. They didn't even put up a fight."
"...I don't know what you're talking about."
"Haa… Whatever. So what do we do next?"
Brandon pondered for a while, until he realized he had yet to check the map.
Click–
As he opened the map, his eyes shot wide open.
There was three minutes left until the convergence zone would close.
And…
"...Amy."
"I know…"
They were out of the safe zone.
It was quite far too.
Though he was quite reluctant about the idea, there was only one option if they wanted to make it to the safe zone as fast as possible.
Woosh–
"H-Hey!"
Brandon picked her up.
A Princess carry.
"Hold on tight."
"Put me down! What are you planning on d– AHHHH!"
Tszzzzz—!
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[AN]
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