Virtual Simulation [9]

"Not gonna move?"

"..."

"I don't want to waste any time. So I'll take the initiative."

"Arroga–"

Tszzz—!

Brandon instantly disappeared, leaving trails of blue sparks.

Claire thrusted her rapier forward. But when Brandon reappeared he had already leaned sideways and dodged it.

Swoo–

"Huh…?"

She tried to swing her rapier horizontally. But before she could, it was abruptly put to a stop by Brandon's hand.

Crackle…

Ice started to protrude from his hand, crawling up all the way to Claire's rapier.

"Fuck."

Claire jumped back, leaving her rapier.

Tszzzz—!

As soon as she landed, she immediately flashed forward to kick Brandon, leaving trails of purple sparks.

However…

Thud!

Before she reappeared, Brandon's hand had already prepared to defend against it, blocking her leg with his palm.

Yet Brandon didn't stagger back, as he'd already conjured ice on the ground to mitigate the force.

He could see everything.

With the rapier on his hand, he tossed it up high.

In the split moment that distracted Claire, Brandon once again blinked forward.

Claire seemingly tried to dodge sideways, trying to increase her speed with lightning.

However…

[Mana Disruption]

Nothing happened.

"Wha–"

Bang–!

Brandon's fist clad in lightning struck Claire right in the abdomen, hurling her away.

"Kehut…!"

Claire spat out blood as she crashed into a tree.

Giving her no time to recover, Brandon lifted his palm.

Wooosh–!

A massive gust of wind left his palms as it blew Claire away who was slumped down on a tree.

The tree was pulled from its roots at the sheer force of the wind as it hurled away along with Claire.

Tszzz–

Brandon blinked forward once again to chase Claire who was still propelled by the wind.

But he abruptly stopped mid-flight.

Yet again, he saw it coming.

Clenching his hand to a fist, he cladded his entire arm with blue sparks and swung it horizontally behind him.

Bang–!

The moment he did, Raven appeared behind him, only to be instantly struck on the cheek.

"Khuuu..!"

Raven spat out blood as he staggered back.

Raven rubbed his cheek and said,

"...How did you know?"

"Obvious."

"Huh–"

Before Raven could finish, Brandon disappeared. Then reappeared and struck him with a lightning cladded uppercut.

Raven was sent hurling up high.

Though Brandon was under the effects of [Accelerated Cognition], he didn't actually need it to beat Raven.

After all, Raven had a bad habit when fighting.

He often appears from behind.

Tszzzz–

As Raven was still suspended in the air, Claire flashed forward and rejoined the fight, leaving trails of purple sparks.

"Too obvious."

Before Claire could land a blow, Brandon had already conjured up an ice wall to block the incoming Claire.

Clank—!

She crashed onto the wall.

"...!"

Brandon redirected his attention behind him.

"Predictable."

Raven appeared behind Brandon's shadow, only to be abruptly stopped by a gust of wind that protruded from Brandon's back.

"Raghhhh!"

Claire seemingly recovered her rapier and once again tried to strike Brandon.

"Too loud."

He redirected the rapier's trajectory with a small push of his left palm.

Crackle…

With his left palm on the rapier, his right hand was lifted up and an ice sword materialized.

Slash—!

At that moment, Claire was out of the Battle Royale session. 

She then dematerialized as white particles fluttered in the air.

Brandon then turned to the side and grabbed hold of seemingly nothing.

No, as he closed his grip, Raven had once again appeared behind him.

However his neck was immediately caught by Brandon.

Brandon lifted him up, gripping on Raven's neck.

"Kuuuu…!"

One sided.

The fight was way too one sided.

All it took was two minutes to defeat Claire and Raven.

Despite being the top three students of the Academy, they were helpless against Brandon.

It's not that Brandon could see the future. But with Accelerated Cognition, he could come up with a million counters to each and every move Raven and Claire would make.

Truthfully, Raven was physically stronger than him. But during the entire fight, not once had he landed a hit on Brandon.

With the ice sword on his hand, Brandon motioned to thrust it in Raven's chest.

Swoo–

"W-Wait…"

"..."

"B-Before you kill me, there's something you should know."

"...?"

"A-Amy… She suddenly dematerialized… I didn't k-kill her."

"What?"

How could that be?

Brandon tried to think of how something like that would happen.

But despite being under the effects of [Accelerated Cognition], he couldn't figure it out.

How?

Millions of theories flooded his mind in a second.

But…

Nothing.

The only choice was for him to kill Raven, and then himself so they could go back to the real world.

It was because he was unsure if they were the last pair standing.

That was the only conclusion he'd come up with.

Without any hesitation, he thrusted the sword on Raven's chest.

"Kughhh…! I'll see you on the other s–"

Kszzz—

Raven then dematerialized. White particles fluttered from where his figure was.

After Raven was gone, Brandon turned the sword around. The tip was directly facing where his heart was located.

"Huh?"

But before he could thrust, the world around him started turning into blocks of cube.

It was desynchronizing.

The vast expanse started condense rapidly.

And before he knew it, his hand had started to turn into cubes as well.

It slowly faded, crawling all the way to his body.

The world started to turn dark.

"Did I win?"

.

.

He then desynchronized.

***

"Something about him is… different."

Evelyn's eyes were peeled to the screen as she thoroughly scanned Brandon's figure.

Ever since the fight started, Brandon felt like a different person.

"His eyes…"

His pupils weren't moving, as if it was fixed in place.

His expression was blank, yet his eyes were wide open.

He walked forward, indifferently.

As if he could see everything.

"But he's just staring… at nothing."

Yet for some reason, Evelyn couldn't find any openings.

Glancing to her side, Vanessa's mouth was left agape.

She too was surprised.

The two did not exchange any words. But they both knew they had the same question.

'What kind of magic is that?'

Evelyn couldn't see any lingering traces of mana.

Unsure.

She couldn't tell what kind of affinity Brandon was using.

[Not gonna move?]

His voice.

It felt monotonous.

As if he was detached from reality.

In that instant, Brandon had already flashed forward.

Yet when he reappeared he was already leaning sideways, instantly dodging Claire's rapier before she even thrusted it.

"How did he…?"

As if he saw it coming even before he flashed towards Claire.

From beside her, Vanessa's voice reached Evelyn's ears.

"Do you think he could… beat us?"

"I… I don't know."

"Haa… He's way beyond expectations."

Evelyn could tell that Brandon was way weaker than her.

Yet for someone with as much experience as her, she couldn't find any openings.

Wasn't he struggling in his first fight with the group of mages?

He had also put in a lot of effort just to survive the ambushes from the other mages that formed a team.

But right now, this moment…

Brandon was in a whole different league.

As if something inside him switched.

An alter ego?

Or was it a trump card he was saving?

"Haa…"

She breathed out a heavy sigh.

She realized she could get her answers once Brandon becomes her protégé.

Yes, she would do anything to get Brandon on her side.

Knock– Knock—!

Someone knocked on the door.

Again...

But since Evelyn was quite introverted, it was Vanessa who entertained the new guest.

"Who is it?"

From behind the door, a muffled voice reached her ears, a man's voice.

"It's Professor Darwin, may I come in?"

Who?

"Who's Professor Darwin?"

Vanessa stood up and glanced at Evelyn. She pursed her lips to say,

"Ah, it's the previous Combat Class instructor. The one you replaced."

"I see… I've never really asked, but why did I take his job?"

"Oh, right. Where do I start?"

But before Vanessa continued, she walked towards the door and opened it.

The door creaked open and a middle-aged man with blue hair emerged.

His hair was disheveled, and there were visible bags under his eyes.

"What do you need, Professor Darwin?"

"I just want to see some of my students before I leave the Academy."

Leave?

Why was he planning on leaving?

Darwin then switched her gaze towards Evelyn.

"Hello there. Are you Evelyn Cessna?"

"Yes, that would be me."

"Ah, we've finally met. I'd like to thank you for looking out for my students."

The man seemed gentle as he stifled a laugh.

Evelyn felt bad.

Darwin seemed to be troubled with circumstances that didn't allow him to stay as a Professor.

"Yes, it's the least I could do."

"Is it okay if I take a look at my students one last time?"

It was then when something peeved Evelyn.

Something was off about Darwin. But she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Regardless, the least she could do was allow him to bid his farewells to his former students.

"Yes, you can take the shifporter right there. It'll take you below this room."

She then pointed towards a white circular device that was planted on the ground by the corner.

"Thank you."

Darwin continued to walk forward, as he stepped inside the shiftporter.

Voosh!

As Darwin disappeared, Evelyn turned towards Vanessa.

"So? What were his circumstances?"

Before her question was answered, Vanessa turned to sit back on the circular couch.

Vanessa then locked her gaze with Evelyn. Her expressions were serious.

"You've seen the news, right?"

"News?"

"The one about the Osborn heir's murder."

"Ah, that."

Of course she'd seen it.

When it first made headlines, everyone was talking about it.

Articles filled the internet with theories on who the murderer could be and the crime's motive.

Evelyn was interested as well. But it wasn't her job to find the perpetrator.

Vanessa then continued.

"You see Darwin is actually Felix Osborn's cousin. His full name is Darwin Osborn."

"..."

Now it all made sense.

Evelyn stayed silent as she listened to Vanessa.

After the death of Felix, all of the Osborn's who operated separately from the company were called upon.

They'd put in all their resources to find the perpetrator. Which is why Darwin had to leave the Academy.

But it seemed like he was a sentimental man as he returned to the Academy one last time just to bid farewell to his students.

But as they continued their discussion, a certain voice grabbed their attention.

It was Raven's.

[Amy…?]

They then switched their gaze at Amy who seemed to be…

Desynchronizing.

[What's happening? I didn't die. So why am I disappearing?]

"...!"

Evelyn and Vanessa abruptly stood up and headed for the window.

As the two peered down, what met their line of sight was Darwin–who was carrying an unconscious Amy.

Vooosh!

A portal materialized.

There was no time to waste as Evelyn tried to conjure up mana to break the window.

But…

She could feel no mana.

Nothing happened.

"What?"

She'd seen this happen a few times when she was working for the guild.

There was only one answer.

"Mana Seals..."

She'd concluded that Darwin must've set up a mana seal before he entered the room.

The shiftporter wouldn't work as the entire room was absent of any lingering traces of mana.

She then turned towards Vanessa who seemed to not comprehend the situation.

"Let's go! Only this room's mana is sealed. We can still save her if we leave this room."

Vanessa immediately nodded and the two quickly bolted out of the room.

As they made their way outside, Vanessa shifted the weight of the floor.

Cr-Crack...!

The ground shook intensely as cracks started to form.

BOOM—!

The cracked widened, opening a gaping hole and they fell down to the first floor.

Slam!

But when they arrived inside the Virtual Simulation room, Darwin had already disappeared.

The deed had been done.

The realization dawned upon them…

Amy was kidnapped.