Eclipse Hunter Vol 2 Chapter 2

Translator: EchizhenProofreaders: noobzilla, Blah, DoomsdayVic, wolfjackle, Kat Second Hunt

G.o.ds above,Watching silently,Demons below,Dictating smilingly.

Ezart slowly walked into the cla.s.sroom; the teacher had already started teaching, and the cla.s.s had long since descended into chaos. However, as soon as Ezart entered, all movements ceased as total silence descended.After a.n.a.lyzing Ezart for a few seconds, the students decided his att.i.tude was normal and continued their brawling while the teacher resumed his lecture. Although the cla.s.sroom was strewn with broken and whole weapons, Ezart was able to find a very neat path that was void of any obstacles."Ezart, Ezart, you finally arrived!" There was no trace of Dark Sun in his manner as Daren waved happily at Ezart."You really are fast. Were you late?" Ezart casually asked."Nope!" Daren cheerfully replied."Seriously?" Ezart could not believe it. Even if he were to run at full speed, he would probably have still been late. But he did not bother pursuing the matter."There's something I wanted to tell you! I met Shain Baylian and his three friends."Ezart gave a cold laugh, "Those three servants? What? Did you get yourself beaten up?""No." Daren shook his head, "He wanted me to pa.s.s on a message to you.""Ah?" Ezart pulled out his chair and lazily sat down."He said to tell you that he'll be waiting to hand you your defeat in today's practical." Daren pa.s.sed on the exact message, without adding any embellishments.The battle simulator, the most famous aspect of YeLan Academy, did not look much different from a gigantic stadium from the outside. However, the inside revealed the simulations of a tropical rain forest, the ruins of a town, and even the replica of a real city. Every student who entered had only one mission--to survive and kill the rest. Of course, any destruction within the simulator was purely virtual, meaning no one would really die. Otherwise, the academy would be left with only a handful of students."Hmph!" Ezart laughed coldly and angrily delivered a heavy punch to the table. The hard wooden table immediately shattered to pieces.Ezart, whose amazing strength cla.s.sified him as YeLan academy's G.o.d of disaster, just had to cross paths with the highly agile Shain Baylian, whose martial arts were inherited from a long standing aristocratic family. Although he did not have Ezart's bizarre strength, which could probably knock him out with a single punch, his snake-like contortions made certain that Ezart would be unable to even touch the hem of his clothes.Brute force was useless if he couldn't land a hit!That was the reason Ezart had never won in a fight against Shain. Normally, he would not mind this since fighting with strong opponents was his favourite pas-time. The existence of an undefeatable opponent would only fuel his fighting spirit. However, regardless his fighting abilities, Shain just happened to be the type of person Ezart hated the most.A rich peac.o.c.k who was haughty and arrogant. If his arrogance had been due to his fighting abilities, Ezart would not have minded. But Shain was the type to brag about being the heir to the second largest trade cartel, Lunaris Federation.Perhaps it was a slight exaggeration to say that it was the second largest trade cartel. In actual fact, other than the absolute power of the Solaris Federation, it was very hard for the rest of the organizations to claim second place. However, it was still an established fact that the Lunaris Federation was very powerful."When is the practical?" Ezart asked coldly"Third and fourth period," Daren replied without hesitation,"Good! Then I'll sleep first so that I'll have enough energy to fight with that garbage." But just as he was planning to lay his head on his table and sleep, he remembered that he had smashed his table into a pile of wood. He casually signaled to a nearby cla.s.smate and said bluntly, "Oi! Give me your table."How could the boy refuse him? His only option was to clear the table quickly and carry it to Ezart. He then carefully put the table down, afraid that its angle might be incorrect and disturb Ezart's sleep.Before he had finished adjusting the table, Ezart waved him off and immediately laid his head on the table. However, he quickly raised his head again to glare at the nearby Daren, and warned, "Don't disturb my sleep! You got that? Or I'll beat you up!"Daren loved attending cla.s.ses in a serious manner and reminding people to follow his example. Due to this, he had a record of repeatedly waking Ezart up from his dreamland."Okay." Daren nodded obediently. He still wished for Ezart to take the lessons seriously, however, after so many failures, he just was not as committed as he had been. Besides, he really did not want to get beaten up.Satisfied with Daren's response, Ezart went back to sleep. Meanwhile, Daren the obedient nerd began taking out his pencil case in order to take down the relevant notes. But as he opened his bag, he noticed the virtual lover game console, the toy which he had just purchased. Consequently, he became distracted by the pink, heart-shaped device…No, cla.s.ses must be taken seriously. I can't play games. Daren warned himself sternly. Then he quickly took out his pencil case and zipped up his bag to avoid looking at the console.In 2055, all the states collapsed… the world was thrown into chaos and everyone started fighting each other…If I ignore her, will Xiao Ai be angry?In 2075, the trade cartels formed… divided the global regimes…Oh no! I don't think I gave Xiao Ai food. Will she die from hunger?In 2099, the Solaris Federation officially became one of the world's largest trade cartels, holding a thirty percent share of the entire economy…I really want take a peek at what Xiao Ai is doing! Just a little peek shouldn't matter, right? Anyway, I don't need to look at the notebook to remember notes… I can peek while studying!Finally, he found a method that would satisfy both arguments. Well, in reality, that was just an excuse. Daren used his right hand to take out the console, while using his left hand to take down notes. With the help of the microchip in his brain, mult.i.tasking was no problem at all.Having set the console down on the table, he switched it on. The heart-shaped console projected a virtual girl with human proportions, though only her head and shoulders could be seen. With her round face, pink eyes and pink hair, she could be described as cute, rather than beautiful."Good morning, Dar," greeted the virtual girl cheerfully. Wanting his lover to call him 'Dar', he had purposefully chosen to use this as his username.Seeing the girl again, Daren excitedly replied, "Good morning, Xiao Ai."Then, an option appeared on the heart-shaped touchscreen:What would you like to do with Xiao Ai now?1. Chat2. Have a meal3. Watch television…Daren considered for a moment before choosing 1. Chat. Xiao Ai immediately started talking, "Dar, what are you doing now?""I'm having lessons!""Is having lessons fun?" The algorithm generated a list of suitable answers and Xiao Ai randomly chose one of them to answer."No, it's not," Daren replied honestly.In all honesty, the microchip in his brain held a lot of knowledge, though a large part of it was technical. For example, information on operating all sorts of vehicles (from automobiles to aeroplanes), all known poisons in the world (how to differentiate and neutralize each), even human anatomy (all the various weaknesses in the human body, which part to attack in order to kill a person instantly ), et cetera…The huge amount of knowledge in the microchip made the lessons a little boring. Even if the teacher was teaching something that was not on the microchip, Daren only had to listen to it once and it would automatically be recorded in the microchip. In fact, with a memory like Daren's, the only reason he took down notes was due to an a.n.a.lysis from the microchip. Apparently, this was something students should do in cla.s.s, and lending cla.s.smates notes would improve Daren's relationship with them.But so far no student had asked to borrow notes from him. Daren had tried to lend them to Ezart but Ezart returned the favor by giving him lots of disdainful looks for free and as a bonus, he had once given Daren a lecture on how "n.o.body Listens to War History Lessons - Only Practical Lessons are Real Lessons".Therefore, with all these factors added up, Daren did not understand the real meaning behind cla.s.ses. To Daren, the cla.s.ses appeared to be nothing more than note taking practice."If it's not fun, why are you still attending?" As she was programmed, Xiao Ai expressed her confusion perfectly and came up with a standard response."Because gege wants me to," Daren answered naturally."So, Dar has a brother…""Hey! Look that kid's playing virtual lover!" A nearby cla.s.smate exclaimed, as if he'd discovered a new piece of land."Impossible! That nerd? Wasn't he extremely into studying?" a nearby girl with multicolored hair giggled.Daren could heard these comments too. He lifted his head from the game console to look at students who'd been speaking. He determined that they were all talking about him.He was a little excited. No one other than Ezart had ever paid any attention to him in cla.s.s."Do you want to play together?" Daren asked cheerfully.Even though it could be said that asking cla.s.smates to play game consoles during cla.s.s was an inappropriate action, during the past few days Daren had realized that he shouldn't rely on his microchip so much.Considering the chaos in this cla.s.s, if there happens to be a day when the entire cla.s.s "obediently" plays games and avoids their usual activities (fighting, throwing tables and chairs, gambling, trafficking all sorts of weapons and bargaining the prices loudly), the teacher would probably be so touched that he would give the entire cla.s.s a huge merit.The lowest cla.s.s in a fighting academy could not be judged with common sense."Hahahaha... idiot, who'd wanna play a little kid's game!" The male students mocked loudly."And play together he says! So childish," said the girl with multicoloured hair, as she raised her hand to display her blood-red nail polish and pretended to pout maturely."If it was a real, tall and beautiful woman, I wouldn't mind playing with you."Having said that, few of the male students laughed lewdly."Hey! Do you want to die? That kid is under Ezart's… is under his protection!" One of the students fearfully reminded. Halfway through, he was even worried that mentioning Ezart's name might wake him up and quickly changed his words.Immediately, a few students fell silent and shot frightened glances in Ezart's direction. Rea.s.sured by his snoring, they allowed themselves to relaxed a little."I just can't understand why he wants to protect such a wimp." "Must be because he's funny." "That's true. He really is a joke. In this day and age, who would dress like that! So nerdy!"They continued to speak scornfully about Daren until they felt better."Oi! What if he tattles to Ezart?" One of them suddenly asked worriedly. He practically whispered, when he reached the word "Ezart"."Impossible. Ezart wouldn't care about him."Despite saying that, the speaker himself was not quite certain. Although Ezart was the YeLan Academy's G.o.d of disaster and could be considered to be their leader, he had never protected anyone nor formed a gang before. Just the idea that he had taken Daren under his wing had stunned everyone.More people looked depressed. They glanced at one another, unsure of what to do. They did not dare threaten Daren, especially not when Ezart was right next to them!Meanwhile, Daren had only understood half of the insults. To him, slang such as "wimp" or "nerdy" were very strange, so he could not understand them. Instead, when they criticized his clothes, he asked softly, "Are my clothes ugly?"But, these clothes were chosen by gege and gege was very satisfied with them. Gege loved him so much that it was impossible that he would let him wear ugly clothes. Daren could not even comprehend how much his gege loved him.However, he missed out a few points. His gege was exactly ten years older than him and had an overly mature personality. In addition, he treated his didi like a a helpless child. These factors combined made Devon dress his didi like a nerd, something that teenagers truly hated this day and age.By this time, the bullies' one-sided conflict with Daren had already attracted the attention of the teacher as well as the entire cla.s.s. While the teacher was worrying about the lives of the students and his own responsibilities, the rest of the cla.s.s was watching the situation unfold like a movie put on for their entertainment.Most of the students were looking at the bullies, wondering whether they were planning to laugh at Daren's latest question or compliment him, so as to avoid clashing with Daren's protector, Ezart.Since the whole cla.s.s was watching them, none of the bullies could back down even if they wanted to. Otherwise, the t.i.tle of "wimp" would most likely be used against them.The male students exchanged hesitant looks; none were brave enough to continue making fun of Daren but they were reluctant to be branded a wimp at the same time. Luckily, the girl with multicoloured hair spoke up."Ugly to the max!" she exclaimed, while looking around the cla.s.s arrogantly,as if she'd accomplished a great deed.However, the cla.s.s was not impressed. Everyone knew that while Ezart was definitely not a gentleman, he still disliked hitting women. In fact, his tolerance level was much higher for the female students than the male ones.Having received such a straightforward answer, Daren was stunned. Although the microchip's immediate a.n.a.lysis was for him to humbly accept his cla.s.smates' criticism and express his willingness to improve, his heart disagreed with the a.n.a.lysis since he felt that his cla.s.smates were not being sincere.He fell silent for some time until even the "brave" girl became nervous. Finally, Daren replied with the perfect microchip-suggested answer, "Sorry, I will improve in future. Thank you for your comment."The bystanders were stunned. Surely normal human beings would never reply like this after being made fun of so harshly. But it just seemed so reasonable coming from a nerd like Daren."Wimp!"The audience, realizing that they were not going get a good show, expressed their disappointment by insulting Daren.Combining the situation and the usage of the phrase, Daren finally started to understand what "wimp" really meant. They probably thought that he was cowardly."What? Unhappy? It's rare to see you so quiet."Ezart was quite pleased; he had not heard a single stupid question from Daren since morning. Those questions had often led him to suspect that Dar had come out of a rock in the mountains and so lacked common sense.Unhappy? Daren felt restless, but he did not have the time to consider such intangible feelings. He needed to think about the problems with his social interactions - why he just could not make any friends, why he could not click with his cla.s.smates... Perhaps it was because of his clothes.But the clothes chosen by gege could never have anything wrong with them; gege loved him and would only provide the best for him.Then is it my own appearance? Daren pondered. Was it because he was ugly? But gege always said he was very cute… but, even if he were ugly, gege would still call him cute! After all, gege loved him too much."Ezart, do you think I'm good-looking?" Daren asked as seriously as he could."Eh?" Ezart asked, baffled. The nerd before him seemed to have some real problems with his brain otherwise he would not be asking such a question. The strangest thing was that he had actually chosen to ask Ezart of all people. Could he not tell from Ezart's tattered clothes that he had never cared about appearances?"Tell me the truth, am I very ugly?" Daren persisted.Ezart measured him from head to toe and scratched his head, "I don't really understand how girls judge beauty nowadays. You are a bit skinny, but not ugly. Your face is not too bad; it's just the black-rimmed specs are a bit strange." Ezart a.s.sumed that Dar must have fallen for a girl for him to ask this kind of question.The spectacles are strange? Daren took off his gla.s.ses and immediately asked, "How about now?"Ezart was astounded. This was the first time he had seen Daren without gla.s.ses. Without that old-fashioned black-rimmed pair of spectacles, Dar looked much more normal… at least, he no longer looked like he was living in the past."Much more normal. I think it'd be better if you stopped wearing those specs." Ezart said bluntly."Really? Then I won't wear them in the future." Daren was very happy. He thought he had discovered the root of the problem, So it was the gla.s.ses that didn't suit me! Even though they were chosen by gege, he himself doesn't wear gla.s.ses meaning he doesn't know how to choose!"Won't wear it? Then how about your short-sightedness? Can you see?" Ezart asked without really caring."Yeah I can see." Daren nodded. Actually he had never been short-sighted in the first place. Being a cyborg, it was impossible for him be short-sighted."That's good; you stay outside and buy lunch for me." Ezart said as he raised his head to look at the gigantic battle simulator with an excited pre-battle grin. Shain Baylian specially challenged him today and although Ezart hated him as a person, he always looked forward to fighting him."Okay." Daren nodded."Hope that Dark Sun comes too," Ezart mumbled excitedly. He then carelessly tossed his own bag to Daren and went ahead into the battle simulator.Since the microchip prioritised the protection of Daren's master, it was important for Daren to become stronger, Therefore, Daren had gone into the battle simulator as Dark Sun before to face strong fighters in order to improve his fighting abilities.Back then, he had fought Shain Baylian and witnessed Ezart's fighting style. Later, he found out from Ezart that the two of them were considered the top fighters in the entire academy, not counting the students in the mysterious Elite Combat Section."It's too bad the students in the ECS never use the battle simulator," Ezart had said.Therefore, the reason to go into the battle simulator was gone. Logically, Daren would no longer need to enter the battle simulator as Dark Sun… but, Ezart had kept on mumbling about his desire to fight with Dark Sun.Daren hesitated. Even though he wished to fulfill Ezart's desire, he was worried that his ident.i.ty might be exposed. If he continued entering the battle simulator as a skilled fighter, he might attract the Academy's attention. Then the order for "Daren Solaris" to hide his abilities from the public might end up becoming even more difficult to accomplish.Friend's desire versus Master's order. After a moment of inner struggle, Daren looked at Ezart's back apologetically. He just could not go against his master's orders simply for the sake of a friend's desire.Sorry, Ezart. Next time, I will fight with you as Dark Sun, Daren muttered to himself.Since I'm not going in, I might as well go to the canteen and wait. Play with Xiao Ai and have lunch at the same time!Daren was satisfied with his plan, and with a bag on each shoulder, he walked towards the canteen."Hold on!"Daren continued walking towards the canteen. Because he could not wait to play with Xiao Ai, his face was flushed with excitement and he walked lightly as if he was flying."Can't you hear that I asked you to stop?"Oh yeah, should I buy the same console for gege on the way home so we can play together? Daren considered seriously, But gege is so old, will he still like toys?"Hey! Are you ignoring me on purpose?!"A girl's furious voice sliced through the air. At the same time, Daren felt an object flying towards his shoulder. Reflexively, he avoided the object, turned around and moved a few steps back. With just one move, he had managed to distance himself and turn to face the object in question.However, what Daren was facing was an impressed girl with her right hand positioned to attack. She was quite pretty. She had pink hair cut in a neat short style and her red eyes were very lively. Overall, she made a good first impression."Nice moves!"There were two guys beside the girl. One of them had red hair and blue eyes. His smile was so brilliant that the sun would lose color if both were to stand side-by-side. The compliment just now had come from him.The other guy was the exact opposite. His light green hair coupled with silver eyes were enough to make anyone feel a chill. However, he did not seem content to simply rely on his features. His mirthless expression seemed cold enough to make people wonder if his face was an ice sculpture."Eli, he wasn't bad, right?" the guy with the brilliant smile asked his partner excitedly, as if he didn't see his partner's icy expression.The emotionless guy called Eli, moved his lips slightly. "Not bad.""Wow! For Eli to give a compliment, that really is pretty good," the bright youth exclaimed."Stupid Elian, that's not the point!" The girl turned around and scolded furiously, before continuing, "The point is that he made me call him three times in a row and ignored me!""That's really bad, how can you make our Princess Eloise call you three times in a row?" Elian sighed and shook his head dramatically.Daren, forever curious, immediately asked, "Why do you call her princess?"It had been a long time since the world was divided into countries; only trade groups existed now. Designations, such as Princess, could only be found in history textbooks. Of course, the owners of the top trade federations were not very different from royal families of the past. In fact, they tended to be more luxurious than royalty. Nevertheless, a normal person would still not call them princess, prince or any other honorifics."Eloise is ECS' only girl! Of course, she's our princess," Elian replied amiably."Oh…" Daren said, as if he understood.If the person he asked had been Ezart, he would have continued asking, "Why must the only girl be called Princess? A princess supposed to be the daughter of a king, right?"But after attending cla.s.s these past few days, Daren had realised that his questions were common knowledge. Therefore, asking would only raise suspicion and people might start wondering about his origins. So he decided to leave it be.Wait a minute! Just now... did they say ECS?! Daren suddenly raise his head and asked, "You are students from ECS?"Hearing that, Elian seemed to regret his choice of words. However, throughout the exchange his behaviour had been exaggerated, so Daren could not tell if he was genuinely regretful or just putting on a show."You can't tell the others," pleaded Elian with his palms together as if he was begging for his life."But…"Daren looked around. Just now, Elian's loud declaration that he was in ECS and Daren's equally loud reply had attracted a lot of attention. Quite a few students around them had stopped their tracks with expressions of suspicion or disbelief. Whether Daren spread it around or not seemed meaningless."Please!" pleaded Elian, looking even more pitiful."Elian!" Eloise suddenly shouted, as she grabbed Elian and threw him into the air like a pillow. She then put her hands on her hips and roared, "Don't you dare bully him! I saw him first!"Elian landed on his b.u.t.t, looking miserable as his handsome face contorted with pain. Yet Eloise held no sympathy for his pains.Having received such a warning, Elian could only hide his pitiful expression. As he stood up, he rubbed his b.u.t.t and muttered, "It's better to be bullied by me than to be liked by you."Throwing a tall guy up into the air so casually… such freakish strength might be on par with Ezart's.Eloise heard his mumblings and rewarded him with a glare. The latter quickly said, "Okay, okay, Princess. Quickly finish flirting with your pretty boy. If we continue like this, we won't be able to complete the princ.i.p.al's mission."Princ.i.p.al's mission? Daren tilted his head to think, and then remembered what Ezart had previously said. All students in the ECS were so strong that they didn't need to attend battle cla.s.ses. Therefore, they only needed to complete a certain number of missions for the princ.i.p.al to graduate."See, he looks so cute when he's lost in his thoughts!" Eloise stepped towards Daren and stared at him, mesmerised."Honestly, I think Eli and I are better-looking. He's obviously still a kid…" Elian mumbled, rolling his eyes disapprovingly. But on second thought, he realised that if a woman, who could throw him into the air so casually, had confessed her love for him… Elian shivered and decided to just quietly watch others' suffer."Hey. Hey, will you be my boyfriend?" Eloise asked bluntly."No!" Daren declined just as bluntly."Why? Am I not pretty enough?" Eloise shouted.Hahaha! This is not the first time the Princess was rejected, but this is the first time someone declined so tactlessly! Elian held Eli's arm and laughed, though the latter totally ignored him."I already have Xiao Ai," Daren answered honestly."What!" Eloise was shaken. Her shoulders drooped in disappointment as she turned to Eli and Elian and sighed, "So he already has a girlfriend…""This is my Xiao Ai."Daren took out his virtual lover console from his bag and happily introduced Xiao Ai to his new friends. Since they exchanged more than three sentences, they must be his friends! Well, at least according to Daren's definition of friends.Elian, Eloise and even the icy Eli could not help but glance at the virtual console. Then a strange look emerged in their eyes."Princess, Your Highness! You… actually lost to a virtual lover. This, this really…" cried Elian dramatically and then laughed uncontrollably, "This really sets a new record for 'Reasons to Dump People'!"Eloise reddened, her face reflecting her embarra.s.sment and anger. She glared at Daren ferociously and roared, "Are you trying to be funny?"By this time, Daren had already ignored all warnings about not asking stupid questions and asked, confused, "What do you mean by trying to be funny?"Eloise's eyes widened at his reply. She could not tell from his expression if this was intentional or if Daren was really ignorant. However, just as Ezart had once thought, this guy seem to have "I am nerdy, what can you do about it?" written all over his face. He was so nerdy that people had no idea what to do with him."Did this kid… come out from under a rock?" Elian muttered, oblivious to the fact that his guess had been exactly the same as Ezart's.Eloise could not fight a pretty boy she liked, even if she was furious enough to spit fire. And when the said boy gave off such a nerdy look... How can anyone be so cute with such a nerdy look!? Eloise had to practically force herself from rushing to give the nerdy pretty-boy a "big-sister hug" to console him…Daren, seemingly sensing the danger, was retreating slowly…"Hmm, looks like the Princess doesn't want to go into the battle simulator. Eli, how about just the two of us go in? After all, the target might not turn up," Elian suggested to his partner."Princess! We'll go in first, okay?" Elian shouted, not forgetting to wave at Eloise."What!?" Eloise turned around, looking like she was ready to eat somebody.Elian, scared by her reaction, quickly stuttered, "Since you want to bug… no, console! Console that pretty boy, the two of us will go on ahead into the battle simulator to find the target. We can't just ignore a mission given by the princ.i.p.al…"Hearing that, Eloise seemed to have an internal struggle as she kept throwing glances at Daren but looking unwilling to let Eli and Elian leave. Finally she decided, "No! I must go in!""I didn't know you could be so professional…" Elain muttered."There's hearsay that the target is a handsome man," the ever-silent Eli remarked coldly.So that's how it is… realisation dawned on Elian. It seems a pretty boy can't win against the charm of a handsome man."What rubbish! I-I heard that the target is very strong, so…" Eloise trailed off; it seemed as if she could not even convince herself."Alright, alright." Elian rolled his eyes and turned towards Daren to ask, "Hey kid, which cla.s.s are you in?"Though he had no idea of Daren's actual age, the cuteness, the virtual game console and the shy behavior were more than enough for Elian to treat him like a little kid."Cla.s.s D," replied Daren truthfully"Hmm." He turned around to look at Eloise again. "How about this? We go in first to find your handsome man, then you go to Cla.s.s D later to look for your pretty boy.""Lian! I love you to death!" Eloise exclaimed, so moved that she called Elian by his nickname."Yes, yes! Princess Your Highness, Master Iceman, let's go. If we don't enter the simulator now, it's going to be lunchtime." Elian pulled the two in the direction of the simulator. But after just two steps, he turned his head and shouted to Daren, "Kid, don't forget to cheer for us outside!""Are you planning to fight?" Eli asked, finally showing a reaction.Elian explained as he walked, "We've waited for the target for so many days with no results. We should fight a bit and maybe the target will show himself…"As Daren watched the three enter the simulator, an intelligent yet cold light emerged in his eyes. This was Dark Sun.Three strong fighters… especially that playful Elian - he is the strongest!Daren... or should we say "Dark Sun" contemplated for a while and then left quickly and silently.An extraordinary crowd gathered at the plaza in front of the stadium-sized battle simulator. Rumours had already spread throughout the entire school, and even most of the faculties knew. Naturally, all of them had come to the plaza to watch. The place had become so crowded that even a slight movement could crush someone.All this happened for a single reason - students from ECS would be joining the battle!Now the audience switched from debating whether Ezart would defeat Shain this time, to whether Ezart and Shain had the ability to stand on the same level as the ECS students.A large portion of the audience was confident of the ability of these two students. But there were some who were not so sure. After all, ECS was practically a legend. They were close to being cla.s.sified as non-human… Then again, Ezart's strength and Shain's snake-like contortions were not very human either.Someone was walking silently in the midst of the chaotic plaza. The entrance to the battle simulator had long ago been blocked by the crowd. Of course, n.o.body wished to enter. Instead, they were standing around waiting for the losers to come out so that they could get the first-hand account of what it was like to be killed by the ECS.Seeing this situation, the person judged that the conventional route was inaccessible. He took a step back and leapt over the crowd towards the door. Obviously, his landing places were the audience's shoulders or heads."Who!" "Who stepped on my head!" "My face! It's ruined…"Though everyone was looking for the perpetrator, they could only catch the glimpse of an elegant back wearing a red shirt, jeans and boots."Who's that? I'll kill him!" Those who had gotten trampled began swearing.Stepping into the battle simulator for the second time, Dark Sun was not as unprepared as the time he had entered as Daren. He was already dressed as Dark Sun, with his silver visor and emotionless expression.The same cheeky old man appeared on the gigantic screen."h.e.l.lo young man, I'm Antonius, YeLan Academy's princ.i.p.al. Welcome to the battle simulator designed for self-training. Please enter your username and pa.s.sword.""Username: Dark Sun, pa.s.sword: x.x.xX." replied Dark Sun in a monotonous voice."Choose your equipment.""2 daggers, 1 set of throwing knives and 1 handgun." Dark Sun decided to be more cautious this time; the three from the ECS did not seem to be ordinary fighters.When the virtual equipment appeared in front of Dark Sun, he quickly placed a dagger in his boot, the throwing knives at his waist, the handgun in the holster on his left thigh and finally held the remaining dagger in his right hand."I hope you have a good fight. Heh heh." With his usual playful smile, Antonius watched his student walk slowly into the midst of battle.To maintain fairness, when students entered the simulator, they would be placed at random locations in the battlefield. Currently, Dark Sun found himself in the middle of a lush, tropical rainforest.First, defeat Ezart. Next, fight those three. Dark Sun was fairly certain that he was their target, though he was not sure why.Regardless, he knew that they would not leave the battle simulator until they had accomplished their mission. Therefore, Dark Sun was in no hurry to look for them and since he had already entered, he might as well fulfill Ezart's wish first.Within the rainforest, Dark Sun could fully utilise the dense trees for camouflage. He snuck past a few people, who were totally unaware of his presence. The microchip could accurately a.n.a.lyze the virtual environment to calculate Ezart's exact location.However, before he could find him, Dark Sun detected another familiar presence - Eloise.She looked almost the same as before, wearing her casual clothing but with one major difference: the pair of giant maces she held in her hands. The hammers seemed to be antiquities, which appeared to be so heavy that it would require a cart to move them. However, Eloise carried them in a very casual manner; her relaxed posture served to warn others that these two hammers were not just accessories in her hands.She walked alone in the forest, with no intention of hiding. She even nonchalantly cleared all the obstacles that got in her way. There was a faint homicidal aura around her, revealing her desire to kill everything that stood against her, be it G.o.ds and demons."Is he even going to show up? We've been in here so many times and I just had to land in this stupid rainforest again!" she seemed to grumble to no one in particular as she stomped onwards.Dark Sun did not truly believe there was no one beside her. After all, there was no sign of Elian and Eli, and yet Eloise did not appear to be talking to herself.Dark Sun scanned for clues around Eloise but to no avail, which made him ever more wary."Shut up!" A very masculine voice called out."Eli, don't think that just because I can't see you, I can't touch you! If you make me angry, I will destroy every one of these trees. Then you won't be able to hide!" cried Eloise's, her eyes widening in anger."Be quiet, there's someone else here!" came Eli's annoyed voice.This time Eloise kept her mouth shut. She knew that Eli would not have said this without a reason. She squinted her large eyes, searching hard for the elusive person.Even though Dark Sun had confirmed that Eli was nearby, he had not discovered his whereabouts even with the help of his microchip, and yet Eli had detected Dark Sun already.Dark Sun yearned to find out whether they would be able to locate him. He needed to find the flaws that would allow them to pinpoint his location so he could improve upon them for the sake of carrying out his master's orders.Therefore, he waited silently."Eli? Have you found him yet?" Eloise asked restlessly. Usually, Eli would tell her the enemies' whereabouts quickly so that she could send them flying.There was long silence before Eli's monotonous voice resounded, "I can't find him… Looks like we've found our target.""Even you can't find him?" Eloise was stunned, But Eli has "that" ability!"Maybe there really isn't anybody there?""No, there is. I feel it. But it's weak." Eli countered immediately.Eloise mumbled, "Okay, okay. I trust you."Feel it? But it's weak? Dark Sun immediately began a.n.a.lyzing. Eli obviously had no way to determine his exact location, but how was he so certain that someone was nearby?Maybe it's not a common occurence. Dark Sun started to realize. Then, should I challenge them, or should I follow the original plan and find Ezart first?"Eloise," Eli began, appearing out of nowhere. "Destroy this place."Eloise shrugged. "Sure! I was getting bored anyway."She then lifted the giant maces in her hands and started destroying everything around her. In the face of her terrifying power, fully-grown trees were no different from weeds smashed with a single blow. There were a few times when Eli was nearly hit but somehow he managed to dodge them all.Although Dark Sun was uncertain whether she was stronger than Ezart, it was definitely more of a shock to see a pretty girl wielding that kind of ma.s.sive strength compared to a muscular guy.…Leading her to duel Ezart should be interesting… Dark Sun, no, this time it was Daren who could not resist his childish temptation.Eli's eyes suddenly widened as he cried out, "I felt it! It's over there!"It was obvious that these two understood each other well. Even as Eli finished speaking, Eloise's maces were swinging in the direction he had glanced.A human shadow leaped out from among the debris of leaves and branches. It was almost like he was taunting them; the moment he landed, he intentionally placed his foot on top of Eloise's hammer."Handsome!" Eloise almost greedily looked at Dark Sun's slender figure. Although she could not see his whole face, just the chin and the thin lips were enough to explain everything."It counts even if you can't see the face?" Eli mocked coolly, while taking out a small flare. He shot it up into the air and a beautiful fire flower exploded in the sky.Eloise hefted her maces to bash the handsome man, while retorting, "Ugh! You men don't understand! The clips from his last fight, his beautiful moves, his cool stance... there's no way he can be anything but super attractive under that visor!"Eli snorted. He was not interested in prejudices that could not be proven scientifically. He reached into his clothes and produced ten uniquely-designed darts. Each dart consisted of a five-centimeter fullered blade and a ring at the hilt, just big enough to insert a finger."Hey! Hey! Ten darts? Are you aiming to kill?" Eloise's eyes widened. Their mission was not to defeat Dark Sun!Eli refuted this in his usual manner, "I suspect these darts won't be enough to stall him till Elian arrives."Eloise blinked, thinking that Eli was exaggerating. Although Dark Sun had shown abnormal strength in those dueling clips, it didn't matter since it was impossible to take on both Eli and her together!So far the two had not stopped their bickering, but Eloise's attacks had not stopped either. The two giant maces was constantly howling through the air.Dark Sun was casually dodging; she could not even match Shain's speed. He firmly believed that if he really wanted, he could defeat her without too much trouble.However, she was very similar to Ezart. Instead of fighting with Eloise, he might as well duel him. That way, he could kill two birds with one stone.Eloise felt increasingly uneasy as the fight went on and she repeatedly glanced back at Eli. If not for Dark Sun's utter lack of desire to fight her and his antic.i.p.ation for Eli to join the battle, it was highly likely that she would have lost a long time ago.But, Eli had yet to make a move…"Eli!" Eloise yelled, finally losing her patience, "Why aren't you using it to help me!"Eli pursed his lips, his face seemed paler than usual, "Can't feel it…""What?" Eloise was taken aback."I can't feel what he's thinking or where his next move will come from. I can't sense anything." Eli said, his voice trembling slightly.Eloise was dumbfounded, "Impossible! Did you lose your powers?""No, I can tell what you're thinking, and I can also sense the thoughts of the people spying on us." As he spoke, Eli scanned the bushes. The ones hiding in them shuddered in unison, unsure whether to continue or leave and miss such a rare fight."It's only him that I can't sense," Eli remarked, his gaze returning to Dark Sun once again."Other than natural reflexes, all actions must require some thought before their execution, no matter how short the thought process is…"This was their usual fighting style. Eloise would fight at the front-line, while Eli stood at the sidelines, predicting the enemy's incoming attacks for her. Sometimes, he would even use his darts to actively attack their opponent. For a mind-reader, learning his opponents' weaknesses and exploiting them were his most terrifying abilities."But, he doesn't think at all. It's like all of his movements are natural reflexes." Eli barely managed to suppress the anxiety in his voice, "But that's impossible… only animals are like that."Eloise was already at a loss; they had never been in this kind of situation before and she was unsure of what to do. From the clips she had seen, she knew of Dark Sun's prowess. If Eli could not help her, she most definitely could not prevent Dark Sun from leaving.In comparison to the shock the other two were in, Dark Sun was a.n.a.lyzing the situation. Mind-reading, a skill that was useless against him, was also a psychic ability that could not be duplicated by the latest technology.He had not predicted that both Eloise and Eli's abilities would prove useless against him. Dark Sun's face showed no sign of his disappointment, but he did not want to continue wasting his time with them either. Let's find Ezart!Having made his decision, Dark Sun sped away from the one-sided duel like an arrow to resume his search for Ezart.Dark Sun's inhuman speed did not even give Eloise a chance to try to stop him. She felt extremely fl.u.s.tered. After their long search, they had finally found their target and now their efforts were going down the drain.She yelled at her companion angrily, "He escaped! Now what?!""I read it…" Eli replied unexpectedly."What?""Ezart…"

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