The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 122: Transfer Student

The academy’s bell rang, and he was already in his seat, idly staring at the ceiling.

Shortly after the peaceful walk with Aella, he drove back home in her SUV and went to bed.

As for Sunday, he wasted it all training, trying to fully comprehend the Clarity affinity property, and he had made some decent progress.

But still, he was completely out of it after that dinner he had.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

No new answer came to mind, which made his expression sour further.

However, as he was in the midst of sulking, someone suddenly slapped his back.

He turned toward them with an annoyed look, only to spot Kael staring at him with a grin. Stay connected via novelbuddy

"You look like shit. Wanna spar?"

"Not today. My club is gathering later. We’re going on a trip soon, so there’s nothing I can do." Neraxis shrugged him off.

"Sounds to me like you’re afraid to lose," Kael taunted. "I’ve gotten a fair deal stronger since the last time. I could probably crush you like a bug now."

However, Neraxis did not fall for his taunts. "That’s great, Kael, but you’re not the only one who got stronger."

"Really? Can you dodge this, then?" Kael asked before suddenly throwing a wind-infused punch.

But to Neraxis, whose {Cosmic Sight} perk had reached a fair level of mastery, this was nothing.

Before Kael’s fist reached him, he swiftly grabbed a pen off his table and flicked it toward the incoming fist.

Neraxis had put a bit more strength into it than normal and therefore, the pen dug through Kael’s fingers and got lodged inside his palm.

"Damn, you weren’t kidding," Kael said, letting out a laugh before taking the pen out of his hand. "Though I fear it’s still not enough. If you really fight me, then—"

His words were cut short as Magnus walked into the classroom, his expression seeming a bit complicated.

However, Neraxis did not need to wonder for long, as behind Magnus was a shy-looking girl with green hair.

"Everyone, listen up," Magnus said in a stern voice. "We’ve got an unexpected transfer student from abroad. Treat her kindly."

"H-Hi, my name is Eris, and I like to—" She began introducing herself meekly; however, as her gaze traveled across the classroom, it eventually landed on Neraxis, making her expression turn sour. "Never mind, I’ll sit now."

"...Okay?" Magnus tilted his head, puzzled. Nonetheless, he ignored her behavior as she went to the very back and sat down.

Funnily enough, that was the furthest seat away from him.

So Amara pulled enough strings to get the fucking elf in here. That’s just wonderful. Neraxis scoffed inwardly and brought his attention back to Magnus, who soon began speaking.

"I believe you all have had enough of learning basic stuff, so let’s get back to the issues at hand." He walked up to the blackboard and wrote a single number.

The number 4.

"The fourth floor is much simpler than the floors before it, as it’s merely an endurance trial—hence the name, Forge of Endurance." Magnus trailed off and began drawing a few symbols, which ended up being elements.

Fire, wind, water, earth.

They were scattered in four corners, and in the very middle, Magnus drew a skull.

"This trial is pretty simple. You need to survive in each element for five minutes. If you don’t and run away, a boss monster from the very middle will come and kill you," he stated, tapping on the board a few times. "C+ Ranked Ravenous Tarantula. It’s a boss monster, so its actual rank is around B-. None of you stand a chance, so I expect everyone to pass this trial with flying colors."

"Will there be any virtual conditioning training?" one of the students asked.

"Indeed. That’s where we will be going right now," Magnus replied and swiftly cleaned the blackboard. "Just like the previous time you went inside the virtual machine pods, the training will be held in a combined world."

With those words, he began making his way out, with the students following closely behind.

However, Neraxis stayed behind for a few moments, and so did Eris.

The two slowly began walking in silence, trailing the students from quite a fair distance.

But the reason they did this in the first place was because of the animosity between them.

"I hate people who actively try stabbing me in the back, and now that you’re in my class, we need to sort our shit out," Neraxis said reluctantly.

"Reaaally?" Eris scoffed. "I hate you, and I want to kill you, but I have to refrain since one of the conditions for me living in this world is to not kill you."

Hearing that, he let out a relieved sigh. "Problem solved then."

Neraxis sped up his pace to catch up to the group, especially the girls who were glancing back at him.

However, a sudden tug on his collar stopped him.

"Think that’s over, huh? Not even a fucking apology?" Eris asked, looking at him with anger.

"You tried to kill me twice. The last time, I simply left you hanging because you had an arrow strapped to your waist, which you ended up using in the end to free yourself," Neraxis calmly replied as the virtual reality room entered his sight.

"Because you dressed up like those monarchs! How was I supposed to know you’re just some regular creepy idiot?" she remarked.

Just hearing her talk made a headache appear, so he decided to simply be the bigger person.

"Sorry for tying you up and throwing you in the dumpster," Neraxis said, and before she could even reply, he dashed into the virtual reality room and went over to his pod before stepping inside.

The login screen was the same as last time.

<Server: 155850 (Private Academy Testing)>

Pressing join, he went right in, and immediately, he spotted his classmates rolling in one by one.

They all seemed pretty confused about what was going on, even after Magnus’ explanation.

Natural selection. Neraxis nodded to himself and watched as the clock above them began counting down the remaining five minutes.

He would truly focus and get this test over with quickly, since during his time idling around, he remembered something crucial.

The ideal rank for clearing the beginning five floors was E rank, and anything above that, he was ready for.

After doing some research, he found out that the trial on the tenth floor was rated as D+ rank. Added with hard mode, it would push it into C- rank at least.

Nonetheless, his goal for now was to clear the fifth floor and, after that, make his way upward.

As he was lost in his thoughts, someone tapped his shoulder, and upon turning around, he was greeted by Aella, Celina, and Aurelia staring at him.

Aurelia was the first to speak up. "Um... I think you forgot to give me the potion today."

Hearing her words, his eyes immediately widened. "Shit, I’ll give it to you right after this is over. Sorry."

He had taken the liberty of brewing her the Curse Soothing potions; however, it seemed like their effect was decreasing.

Aurelia’s body was visibly in better shape—no longer completely skinny, and her hair did not seem damaged either.

However, even if the effect was decreasing, he would not stop giving those potions to her until he found an actual cure.

The four chatted, meanwhile, Kael stood in the very middle—exactly where the boss was going to spawn.

As for Neraxis and the girls, they were in the earth area, since he figured it might be the easiest.

Eerily enough, Eris was not too far behind him, still glaring daggers at him.

"Do you know that girl?" Celina asked, and he shook his head.

"Just a stalker. Don’t mind her."

With that, they chatted for a few moments, with both Neraxis and Aella avoiding discussing what happened on Saturday, until eventually, the countdown reached zero.

And as it did, Magnus’s voice rang out from all sides, playing like a speaker.

<I did a little bit of difficulty tweaking. But don’t expect it to be easier now. In fact, for each person who has been eliminated, the strength of the elements increases by 10%.>

Hearing his words, a frown appeared on Neraxis’s face.

But before anyone could protest, a sudden surge of gravity engulfed him, nearly making Neraxis bend to his knees.

Earth is a test of gravity... he deduced with a groan as he looked to the side.

Every girl around him, with the exception of Celina and Eris, was practically kissing the floor now.

That seemed to be the case for most of the students around, and soon, the pressure of gravity increased further—meaning someone was eliminated.

Nonetheless, Neraxis looked up, staring at the clock just to see that only a few seconds had passed.

[9:51]

[9:50]

We need to do this with three more elements? Neraxis narrowed his eyes as his knees finally buckled, making him fall to the ground.

Soon, the pressure increased further as students began getting eliminated left and right.

We’re fucked.