The third day of the Trials had begun. It was the day Luke was back in action, as were other students who had rested on the second day after a tiresome first day.
There were six and a half days in total for the Trials, so the third day was assumed to be the halfway point. This induced urgency in the minds of the students, because it felt like the Trials were coming to an end too fast. The third day would be as saturated as the first.
There was something every student believed: whatever your points are after the third day, multiply them by two, and that would be your final score.
This logic is because the third day is the halfway point, as mentioned.
If Luke applied the logic to his points, he would finish with 500,000 points. But he hadn’t even begun Day 3 yet, and he didn’t do much on Day 2.
So, Luke’s goal was a million points.
He could achieve that with the Comprehensive Index he bought. Monster zone after monster zone. Endless stamina with the Seven-Tusk Elephant Sabatons. He doubted the academy was ready for his results.
There was a Blue-Ranked Zone at the park. There was another Blue-ranked Zone, a grove of trees, near a bank. There were five Blue-ranked Zones near Luke, and one Green-ranked Zone around civilized vicinity too. Luke would start from these.
He ordered a cab to get to his destinations faster.
Before the cab arrived, Luke ensured he put Principal Claris’s fortress in order by arranging the training courtyard and sweeping the hallway.
The fortress was sparkling after that.
But the cleaner the place got, the emptier it felt again.
Principal Claris and Camilia’s absence still troubled Luke, but his actions were limited to sending Camilia a welfare text, which she had yet to reply to.
"I wonder if Adrian is the cause. They must be trying to settle Adrian’s case while also caught up with work," Luke said to himself, remembering Vivian’s warning about his half-brother’s return.
"Whatever scheme that sly fox is up to..."
Luke shook his fist because he wouldn’t hesitate to pull out Adrian’s insides with his gauntlet when they meet again.
"Master, you look upset. What’s wrong?"
"Nothing, Seraphina," Luke said after Seraphina appeared out of nowhere. "The cab is here, so let’s go."
When they got to the cab, Luke demonstrated chivalry for Seraphina so she could understand more about human relationships.
His chivalrous behavior was holding the door for her to enter the car first.
But Luke’s courtesy went to waste because Seraphina couldn’t enter a car!
Sigh...
"Ow! Uff! Urghh!" she groaned as she bumped her head, scraped her chin, scraped her knees, got her hips stuck, got a part of her cloth torn, and ended up face-first on the floor mats.
Luke brushed his face with his hand and entered after.
"Please, take us to the park," he said to the driver exasperatedly.
*******
They reached the park quickly, and Luke started searching for the monster zone as early as possible.
It must be a hidden zone because the park was lively and bustling with people doing fun activities. If it wasn’t a hidden zone, everyone would be running around in panic.
"There’s a canal running through the park, and the water is clean... so why aren’t there any fish?" Luke noticed. "And these plants are growing thicker around this part of the canal, and people aren’t coming near them. So, if there’s water here, why is nothing living in it?"
Luke tried connecting the dots, and his observations told him that the monsters were hiding underground.
While Luke was hunting for the monsters, Seraphina was lost in her own head, enjoying the beauty of humanity, and what better place to do that than a city park.
Seeing a mother comfort a crying toddler.
Watching a group of friends laugh and share food on a blanket.
Seeing a father teaching his son how to ride a bike.
Seraphina was captivated by how humans could share joy, comfort, and love just by being near one another. She also saw a couple in their 70s walking hand in hand, looking into each other’s eyes.
"Wow. So humans can love each other for an entire lifetime," Seraphina thought. "?? Uh-oh... No, don’t!"
The couple kissed, and Seraphina closed her eyes.
"That must be a form of showing affection to one another," she whispered as she opened her eyes again.
At this point, the couple had seen her staring at them. They thought she was creepy, so they left where they were for another place where she wouldn’t see them.
Seraphina shrugged off the awkward encounter, but the couple had taught her a new way of showing affection, so she looked at Luke, who was the only person in her life. Her eyes had a glimmer of wonder, and her body had started to inch closer with provocative purpose.
"Uhmm, why are you looking at me like that, young woman?"
Seraphina stopped in her tracks, understanding it wasn’t a good time to show affection. This was monster time.
"How can I help find the monsters?" she asked.
"They are underground. So, I want you to perceive where exactly," Luke replied. "Starting from that canal. It’s the origin point."
"Yes!" Seraphia used her abilities to nail down the monsters’ hiding place underneath the park.
Luke was right. The canal was the origin point.
There’s a hollow space beneath the ground, with the canal passing over part of its ceiling.
"The entrance is hidden behind vegetation, so it doesn’t look like anything is there at all," Seraphina said, and her eyes stopped glowing. "There are numerous monsters there too, but they feel crude."
"Yes, they’re goblins," Luke replied, tapping Seraphina’s shoulders for a good job. "My index says they’re no more than fifty, and it’s just a two-phase zone with a hobgoblin as the boss."
"Can you handle them?" Seraphina asked sincerely, but Luke didn’t answer because he knew she wasn’t asking if he could handle them. She was asking if she should join him in the fight.
The answer: no.
Luke had other plans for his Empyreal Angel, rather than letting her tangle with filthy goblins.
He remembered one of the conditions to set up a path for Seraphina.
〖Condition 1: Let the beast witness 100 acts of kindness and 100 acts of cruelty.〗
It sounded difficult when he first saw it since he had no idea what counted as an act of kindness or cruelty for the system, but one hundred wasn’t an impossible number if he started somewhere.
For example, this park should give Seraphina some chances to see people helping each other or doing things that weren’t so nice.
One day, she’d complete the condition and establish that path.
But what kind of foundational path requires her to see both sides of humanity?
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