My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 31: The first special bond exam (17)

(Marcus POV)

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest where the smoke hadn’t reached yet,

there was Marcus, running through the forest while holding a lantern.

He sped through the forest, trying to find other first years.

"That smoke earlier smelled like rotting corpses. Is it poison?"

He was now more worried about Jade’s whereabouts. She had left earlier to check on the first years.

Marcus tapped the badge on his long coat, and it showed the remaining teams.

————————————

#1 Black teams: 25 flags

#2 Purple teams: 19 flags

#3 Yellow teams: 19 flags

#4 Pink teams: 18 flags

#5 Orange teams: 17 flags

#6 Green teams: 12 flags

...

...

...

Number of expelled teams:

65

————————————

Marcus frowned, seeing the number of expelled teams.

"This is far from normal. We’re definitely getting attacked!"

Just then, he heard a boy screaming.

He stopped running and shined the lantern towards the source of the sound.

There was rustling inside the dark forest.

Marcus prepared himself, thinking it was one of the people attacking the school.

But instead, a student came out of a bush. It was Cameron. His uniform was stained with blood, and his eyes were panicked.

"What happened—"

Before Marcus could say anything, the student dropped to Marcus’s knees and gripped his coat tightly.

"Help... Please, Marcus, help!"

His eyes were watery, and he was visibly shaken.

"What happened here?"

Marcus bent down to meet Cameron; he asked with a serious face.

"I... don’t know. I remember that me and my friend were waiting for our other friends to return, but they never came back. That’s why I went out to search for them.. And...."

The boy stopped; he then burst out sobbing, while Marcus tried to comfort him.

"Did someone attack you?" Marcus asked.

"No... But I saw one of my friends getting eaten by a monster lady!"

"Monster lady?"

Cameron rubbed the tears from his eyes.

"YES! She has teal hair color and she’s wearing a work suit. And it’s not just that. When I returned to tell my other friend, he was also gone! And the only thing that was left of him was his headless body—"

Cameron puked on the ground, while Marcus tried to remain composed. But hearing all of those things, he couldn’t help but feel guilty towards the first years.

I need to solve this quickly. I hope Coral called the cops.

"What should we do..." Cameron asked Marcus with teary eyes.

Marcus patted his red hair.

"Don’t worry, buddy. You have me. I won’t let you get injured."

Marcus tried to reassure the panicked Cameron.

He took a deep breath and smiled at Marcus.

"Thank you—"

SSHHHKK

As if speaking too soon, a katana penetrated through Cameron’s stomach, leaving a puddle of blood everywhere on the ground.

Cameron’s body plopped to the ground, but his face was still smiling.

He thought he would be safe.

Marcus watched as the student he promised to protect died in front of him.

"WHAT?!"

Marcus got up; he scanned the nearby forest.

He kept hearing bushes rattle and shake. When he shined his lantern towards the bush, there was no one.

"Shit, someone is definitely here with me!"

There were many things going on in Marcus’s head.

The sudden death of the student he thought he’d save stabbed him right through his heart.

But Marcus knew better than to mourn the dying later.

But he couldn’t help but take a peek at the dead Cameron.

Marcus’s eyes were shaking; he felt responsible for the death of the student.

Letting his guard down, the katana screamed through the air.

Marcus’s eyes sharpened, and his chest let out a cyan glow.

[ Origin Aspect — Prismatic Sovereignty ]

Authority Acknowledged.

Light Domain: Active.

He pulled out the light from the lantern.

Marcus barely shaped the light before steel crashed against his barrier of light. The impact rang like a struck bell, then the blade shattered, fragments scattering across the ground.

He exhaled sharply, wiping sweat from his brow.

"How many katanas do you even carry?"

It was as if he was speaking to no one.

It was total darkness. Until a deep man’s voice echoed in the forest.

"Careful, president..... You might blind yourself playing with lights too much...."

Marcus reacted instantly. Light twisted in his hand, reshaping into a spear just as—

THUNK.

The katana’s steel met Marcus’s spear of light.

The force rattled his arms. For the first time, Marcus saw him: a man in a black blindfold, cat ears rising from his head, expression utterly still and stoic.

"The fuck?"

Their weapons scraped apart. The blind fighter flipped backward, landing beside Cameron’s body with effortless grace.

Marcus noticed the man wasn’t wearing any shoes; he was barefoot. And he also had a tail matching his cat ears.

"Is this some kind of joke? Who are you?!"

Marcus demanded. He pointed his spear towards the blind man.

"Hah....." The man scoffed.

He circled around Cameron’s body and pulled the katana from the corpse’s chest.

Blood streamed down the blade.

Now he was wielding two swords in both hands: one that was clean and sharpened, while the other had the blood of a student on it.

"I’m...."

The man then tapped his foot on the ground, confusing Marcus.

"The...."

He took an attack stance, putting Marcus on high alert.

"Blind..... Mercenary of the Broker..... Alexander." He whispered under his breath.

Marcus thought that the man would strike at him.

Instead, he threw the bloody katana towards Marcus.

His eyes widened, seeing the unexpected move.

SCHKK

He managed to block the attack using his spear.

When he looked back, the blind mercenary was nowhere to be seen.

But Marcus felt the wind brush his blonde hair. When he looked up,

sure enough, Alexander had jumped and was ready to strike Marcus.

SCHKK

Marcus, yet again, blocked Alexander’s attack.

Both of their blades clashed against each other. Marcus was visibly struggling, while the blind mercenary remained unfazed.

How is he able to know where I am if he’s blind?

Alexander whispered at Marcus.

"All of that light.... And you’re still blind..." The man spoke with his deep and calming voice.

"SHUT UP!"

Marcus overpowered Alexander, and his spear won the clash against the blind mercenary’s katana.

Alexander was thrown into the air, but he still had that stoic face, even though Marcus couldn’t see the man’s eyes.

Alexander landed on a tree branch; he nudged his blindfold a bit so it wouldn’t slip off.

While Alexander looked like he was fresh out of a hot spring, Marcus, on the other hand, was huffing out of breath.

He remembered Alexander mentioning being a Broker.

"The Broker?! Aren’t you guys the wanted group of terrorists that’s known for destroying the strong connection between spirit animals and Elgregreas?"

Alex scoffed.

"That’s right... I guess we’re famous, huh? Even the ’Light Sovereignty’ knows us."

Marcus wiped his sweat. He was shaking, terrified of what Alexander might pull next, but he didn’t want to look scared in front of his opponent.

"That’s so kind of you, calling me that. Despite being a group of maniacs who think they can shape a new era with no spirits."

Marcus said while smirking.

There was some sort of violent intimacy between the two: a blind mercenary who don’t rely on eyesight, and a president of the student council who was reliant on light to guide his way.