The extra is a fox eyed jester-Chapter 49: Exam I

In the midroot of the forest, twelve aspirants surrounded a single person.

It was Nathaniel or rather, Augusta Van Astraea still wearing the guise of a mercenary of humble origins.

Augusta stared at the aspirants who surrounded her with a scowl. Her patience was wearing thin.

This was the fucking limit.

First it was that bastard Azazel, then the infuriating dean who had put a bounty on their heads and now twelve idiots were flanking her thinking she was an easy target.

"To think the dean placed such importance on a mere commoner, it’s insulting. I’ve heard about you Nathaniel Taylor, you’re an aspiring mercenary of humble origins just like instructor Cashmir but not everyone has the ability to make it big like him, if you stand out too much as a mere thorn you’re bound to be weeded out."

The aspirant who spoke was a smug looking guy, his posture was stiff, like he had a stick up his ass, black hair gelled neatly to the side while his nose...

Oh goodness gracious, his nose made him seem like a descendant of Pinocchio.

Everything about him screamed obnoxious noble and Augusta couldn’t wait for him to deliver the punchline so she could literally disfigure his face.

The pompous noble kept listing reasons why a no named commoner like her shouldn’t even dream of applying to the academy.

Her lips twitched.

She took in a deep breath and when she’d decided she had enough of his rambles she snarled.

"Oh shut up and attack me already!"

His eyes widened. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"How dare you filthy lowborn regard me, Zayan Espenvich Cirrus in such a manner."

One of his lackeys stepped forward, weapons drawn, his eyes simmering with rage.

"You rat... you should be bowing in Lord Zayan’s presence, kissing his feet in reverence, how dare you speak to him that way."

The others chimed.

"Know your place lowborn."

"Just kill him already."

"He’s not worth the breath."

Augusta groaned, running her hand over her hair in exasperation.

"Ahhh fuck! Idiots like these make that redhead seem tolerable." She muttered with a sigh.

"Ok let’s get this over —"

"Be quiet you filthy rat, your parents clearly didn’t instruct you on basic manners, you don’t speak when a noble is speaking, did your mom never tell you that or did you live in a brothel all your — oofff"

Augusta never gave the lackey who spoke the luxury of time to finish that sentence.

Her fists met his face with devastating force, knocking the words out of him and slamming him to the ground.

The lackey’s eyes turned white, his face bloodied and bruised.

Then came her foot, it slammed into his chest with enough force to shatter bone.

A sickening sound followed causing the others to flinch and shiver, they took hesitant steps watching as their companion disintegrated into motes of golden lights.

"Who’s next!" Augusta asked, her eyes bloodshot.

Not only had they insulted her upbringing but they had dared... those bastards had dared to insult her mother, it was unforgiving and she...

She’d make sure they pay the price.

Veins snaked across her arms and neck even reaching her face as she ground her teeth.

Zayan’s face paled, he was already moving backwards towards his lackeys while they gathered to protect him, but even they were scared shitless.

When no one approached her, she rose slowly, cracking her knuckles before glaring at the Zayan.

"Fine... if you won’t come to me I’ll go to you myself, for your sake I hope your bones are as sturdy as your nose looks." She warned in a guttural voice.

And then...

She vanished.

****

While Augusta utterly destroyed anyone who dared to cross her, Elias was holding his own against multiple opponents in the Forest fringe.

The blonde prince was fighting like a seasoned warrior, courtesy of the hell he experienced during his trial.

His divine blade Sol was giving him pointers mid battle, telling him when to avoid and attack and when to parry.

Elias was a fast learner, he carried out every single one of Sol’s instruction perfectly and because of that, he was able to eliminate nine aspirants who had tried to kill him.

While he had managed to eliminate nine aspirants, it was due to the fact that their coordination was ass, they didn’t seem used to each other and even during battle they mostly tried to stab each other.

Elias under Sol’s instructions had taken advantage of that and had used the opportunity to eliminate them.

A blade slashed at his neck with lethal intent.

Elias barely managed to dodge the attack, staggering a few steps back before bringing his sword to parry the next attack.

Unlike the others, this opponent was powerful.

Elias wasn’t certain he could handle him and yet, he smiled.

His mind drifted off to a certain pompous redhead.

’He kept his promise, he actually kept his promise, thanks to him I’m able to enjoy the thrill of battle, something I never imagined I’d ever be able to do, Azazel... I owe you one.’

One, he said.

The Azazel we all knew was greedy, there was no way he was going to settle for that but for this brief moment, it was better for Elias to remain oblivious.

Sol’s voice sounded within Elias’s mind.

’Boy, your opponent isn’t someone you should take lightly, focus, gratitude can be dished out later.’

Elias pivoted on his heels, spinning slightly with a side step.

His attacker’s blade whooshed past him merely inches away from drawing blood.

Seizing the opportunity, Elias used his elbow to deliver a devastating blow on his attacker’s jaw.

The attacker— a boy who had a black messy hair styled into a wolfcut—saw white, his vision blanked while the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.

Sensing danger, the attacker threw his weight backwards, rolling on the forest floor below.

Elias frowned.

’This is a bit difficult Sol, my body remembers the movements but for some reason i can’t replicate them perfectly, the weight, the length, it all feels so misplaced.’

The blade hummed within Elias’s mind, it lingered for a second then responded.

’It’s perfectly normal, you were in the body of an adult during your trial, your limbs are shorter now, you lack lesser strength, the only thing you have going for you is your reaction speed and observation, use them to your advantage boy.’

Elias noticed a subtle movement from the attacker, it was a move he had seen and one he had used countless times during his trial.

His attacker was trying to blind him using sand.

Elias changed his stance, his attacker struck, throwing a handful of sand towards his face but Elias had anticipated it, so he ducked low then threw his body forward.

His body collided with the body of his attacker, sending them tumbling a few distance into the forest and away from his attacker’s deserted blade.

The attacker let out a frustrated growl while Elias rose to his feet.

Sol’s voice reverberated within his mind once again, this time in a tone which could only be described as pride.

’You’re doing well boy, now end it, let your sword sing.’

Elias smiled.

"Very well then."