The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 123: Before the Trip

"That was a terrible performance." Magnus’s voice rang out as they finally left their virtual pods. "Seeing not a single one of you pass is a bit disheartening given how many attempts I gave you."

Neraxis had managed to hold out—just barely—until the end of the Earth element bit. However, the next was Wind, and he couldn’t even last more than a minute.

This pattern kept repeating until, eventually, every single student had tested every element.

Fire was about enduring while the heat steadily increased around you. Wind, the air was sucked out of his lungs, and lastly water. It was similar to wind, yet instead of air being sucked out of his lungs, he was waterboarded instead.

Safe to say, it was a disaster for everyone.

But despite all that, one person, in particular, had a rather unique approach to the situation.

"Kael, do you mind explaining yourself?" Magnus asked with a frown. "Five times all of you went in there, and each time, you went straight for the boss monster and died in a single hit."

So that’s why the difficulty spiked at the very start. Neraxis exhaled a sigh.

"I nearly had it at the end, though. It’s just very fast. If I get another chance, I can probably kill it," Kael remarked with a shrug, making Magnus roll his eyes.

"Of course, Kael. But I suggest you do it the normal way when you actually reach floor four," Magnus said, turning to Neraxis and Aurelia.

"I heard you two have an emergency club meeting, yes? Since today is just revision, you’re free to go."

A smile appeared on Neraxis’s face. "Thank you, Instructor. Also, are we free to use this virtual training room whenever we want?"

"Until academy closing hours, yes," Magnus affirmed and waved both him and Aurelia off.

On the way out, he was met with a glare from Eris, which he ignored purely out of spite.

Nonetheless, now that Aurelia and Neraxis were alone together, they could have a little chat.

But before all that, he took out ten Curse-Soothing potions from his dimensional ring and handed them to Aurelia.

"Here. I had a lot on my mind lately, so I nearly forgot."

"It’s fine. You can probably stop doing this. I don’t feel that bad anymore when I see blood," Aurelia replied with a smile, putting the potions inside her own dimensional ring.

"Don’t argue with me, Aurelia. A curse like that can spring back up at any moment," Neraxis commented. "Besides, you look a lot better now that your eye bags are gone. You’re sleeping fine, right?"

"You sound just like my dad." Aurelia let out a chuckle. "But yeah, everything’s fine now."

Neraxis nodded, but he was still curious about what she had talked about with her father.

Since she wasn’t telling them even after all that, he wouldn’t pry—at least, not for now.

Arriving in front of the Traveling Club, the two entered and were greeted by only a handful of other students, most of whom were seniors.

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But from the vibe they were giving off, Neraxis could tell they weren’t arrogant or conceited—meaning they were the type of people he could get along with easily.

"You made it, great." Emily, Aurelia’s sister, stood up and greeted them, pointing to two chairs by the side. "Sit. I’ll explain the plan now."

Once they were seated, she began speaking. "Our original plan was to go to Stradon Fortress at the end of the week, preferably Friday. However, because you first-years have some kind of test next week, we had to speed things up."

Test? Neraxis raised a brow, continuing to listen.

"But besides that, the gathering spans across a full week, which means it already started." Emily walked around the room, handing each member a pamphlet. "This has the general layout and everything you need to know. We’ll be going right after the final bell. Any objections?"

"Hold on—today?" Neraxis asked. "That’s a bit short notice, don’t you think?"

"Short notice or not, we either go today, or we don’t go at all." Emily shrugged. "Don’t worry, though. There are still a few hours left until the last bell, and since we told your instructor about this emergency meeting, you have enough time to go home and prepare."

"Emily, aren’t you forgetting something?" one of the senior-year girls pointed out with a giggle.

"Oh, right, pairs." Emily facepalmed. "Since there are ten of us in total, we’ll split into groups of two." She glanced at Aurelia and him. "You two are from the same class and already know each other, so you’ll be in the same group."

Seeing the expression on her face, Neraxis understood what she meant.

Emily wanted him to protect Aurelia, and from the looks of things, she likely found out about the situation regarding Aurelia’s curse.

It would be more surprising if she didn’t—after all, they were sisters.

Though one sister is a bit different from the other... he mused, and soon, Evangeline affirmed.

[They aren’t blood-related. If I had to guess, Emily is adopted.]

Figured. Though they do look nearly identical. Neraxis nodded, and as Emily finished the last of her basic what not to do on a trip speech, everyone was free to leave.

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However, just as he was about to do the same, Emily stopped him.

"Wait, Neraxis. Stay behind for a moment." She sent a glance toward Aurelia. "You can wait outside, sis. I’ll catch up in a moment."

"Okay..." Aurelia reluctantly replied and left the clubroom alongside the other members, leaving only Neraxis and Emily inside.

However, her next words weren’t exactly what he expected. "Do you want something from her? Is that why you’re helping her?"

Noticing the hostility, he furrowed his brows. "She’s a classmate and a friend. It costs me twenty minutes a week to keep her sanity intact, why wouldn’t I want to do it? I’m sure you’ve heard I’m not the only one helping her."

"People have tried taking advantage of her before. Though she was much more naive back then," Emily said with a sigh. "I know what you and the others did for her. Sorry for lashing out."

"Don’t worry about it. If it was my sister, I’d do the same," he chuckled. "Though I suppose that’s not the only thing you wanted to tell me?"

"Nope. It’s more of a warning." Emily stepped closer, whispering, "Stradon Fortress has had an unusual amount of monsters surrounding it these past couple of years. There’s a high chance a rift outbreak will happen."

"And yet we’re still going?" Neraxis tilted his head. "Aren’t we just running into fire at this point?"

"Yes and no," she corrected. "While we are running into fire, the seniors you saw earlier are very strong. The girl who spoke is a B-rank as well."

So it’s safe as long as we stay around her, got it. He rolled his eyes. "So you just want me to protect Aurelia?"

"If you wouldn’t mind, then yes. I want you to keep an eye on her since you two will be grouped together," Emily said. "Anyways, thanks for the chat, Neraxis. You can go get your stuff ready now."

"See you later." Neraxis nodded and turned around, heading outside, where he spotted Aurelia idly sitting by the window.

Nonetheless, he didn’t want to get between the sister talk, so he simply made his way home.

Aside from a shower and breakfast, there wasn’t much he needed to pack.

After all, he had provisions, clothing, and all sorts of survival kits stashed away in his dimensional ring.

It didn’t take long to finally arrive home, passing by his parents, who were slouching around and baking some cookies.

A few minutes later, Neraxis fixed himself up, and now, he was ready to head out.

However, an ominous feeling lingered in his chest despite the promised security.

Why do I feel like something is going to go wrong?