A Strong Rival Appears!

Avic watched as Custos returned to his side. A strange look was cast over his face as if he was concerned about something of great importance.

"Custos? Where have you been? Eliisabet just went up to take her turn in the Hemo Capsule," said Avic.

"Oh, sorry. I just got lost coming back down is all..."

"Lost? In the crowd you mean? Is something wrong? You look a little pale..."

"It's nothing. I guess controlling all that Hemo Energy took a lot more out of me than I thought,"

"Heh— That's what you get for showing off."

"Well, in any case, we should watch to see how well Eliisabet handles herself."

The two then turned their eyes back toward the Hemo Capsule. They watched as the red cloud of potent Hemo Energy surrounded Eliisabet. So far, not many had failed but not many had done exceptionally well either. A majority of students had only managed to barely reshape the cloud of Hemo Energy into irregular shapes. There were a few who had come close to forming a perfect ball but only Custos had displayed perfect Hemo Control.

Just then, the cloud of Hemo Energy began swirling around inside the capsule. Eliisabet could be seen giving it her all to manipulate every ounce of Hemo Energy inside. Droplets of sweat formed on the side of her face and her teeth were clenched with all her might. It wasn't a fast process but the Hemo Energy slowly began compacting into one.

It became a thicker and heavier sphere with each passing second. It looked as if Eliisabet was about to be the next person to pass with a full grade. However, as soon as the perfect ball was about to be made, the Hemo Energy exploded. This flooded the interior of the capsule with Hemo Energy, sending everything back to square one.

"Medics! Inside now!" Prompted the instructor.

In the blink of an eye, a team of medics rushed inside the capsule to retrieve Eliisabet. This left Avic and Custos a little worried. The explosion that occurred seemed quite ferocious.

"Hey! Will she be okay?!" Shouted Avic from the back of the crowd.

"What does it matter? You're aiming to be Sicarius, aren't you? It doesn't matter if your little girlfriend died while on the inside! It's a Sicarius' job to put their life on the line! They die every day in battle so you'll have to get used to it!" Answered the instructor sternly.

Avic hissed, "What the hell's up with this guy's crappy attitude? All I asked was if Eliisabet was okay or not! It doesn't take two brain cells to answer the question respectfully..!"

"Avic, calm down. You're drawing too much attention to us," said Custos softly.

Avic then paused as he looked around. Almost every student in the crowd gazed back at him. Due to this, he hissed before finally settling down.

"If you have a problem with death then you shouldn't have joined this school. You should go back home where it's safer for you," suddenly said a male figure standing in front of him.

Avic then fixed his eyes on the figure before him. It was an 18-year-old male with bleached blonde hair shaved into a high-faded mohawk. His eyes were an icy blue that looked as if they could freeze anyone he looked at. In either ear, he had cool silver earrings that made him look like a member of some notorious gang.

"Eh? I don't know who you are but it seems you guys believe that Sicarius should be emotionless killers who care for no one but themselves..!" Argued Avic.

"If you believe otherwise then you're delusional. Sicarius should be cold war machines. They should silence their emotions and live their lives aiming to be the strongest. That's the only way for a Sicarius to live. Otherwise, you'll die on the battlefield with zero accomplishments."

"What the hell kind of logic is that?"

"Hmph. I didn't expect you to understand anyway."

The mysterious male figure then paused before turning to Custos.

"As for you, you aren't held back by that weakness, are you? You're strong which is why your Hemo Control is better than the rest of the weaklings here. You're different from the rest."

"I guess you could say that..." Answered Custos.

"Stop trying to downplay your strength. You're no commoner. You look like you're from a family of nobles if not even royalty. Just by looking at you, I can tell that you're a Kato."

"I'm afraid I'm just a filthy old commoner. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Hmph. It's fine. You don't have to tell me. It's none of my business anyway. But my eyes never lie,"

"Next up is Chrono Baros! Step onto the platform and enter the Hemo Capsule!" Suddenly shouted the instructor, interrupting them.

"It seems I'm up next. I'll see you in Class A, Custos," declared the male figure.

He then walked away before moving up onto the platform.

"That guy's the definition of cocky. He better be as good as he acts!" Murmured Avic.

"Well, on the bright side, it seems Eliisabet will be okay. I saw the medics take her away not too long ago. She only had a few cuts and bruises but she was standing on her own."

"Right! I forgot about her because of that cocky bastard!"

"I'm a little curious about that guy. I believed the instructor called him Chrono. He seems different from most of the others here,"

"What's so special about him? He just looks like any other idiot to me..."

"I think we should watch and find out."

They then turned their eyes back onto the platform. Chrono calmly stepped into the Hemo Capsule before the door closed behind him. Faster than anyone could anticipate, the entire cloud of Hemo Energy was compressed into a perfect ball in a single go. It was unbelievable.

"No way did he just do that..!" Exclaimed a student from the crowd. This immediately sparked another huge commotion. Someone else apart from Custos had managed to attain perfect Hemo Control.

"Man, what a pain... So he wasn't all talk after all... Now if I go up there and flop, I'm going to look like the biggest idiot in this school!" Complained Avic.

Custos laughed, "Well, I believe there are perks to being the underdog, Avic. When you're the underdog, no one expects anything from you. In their eyes, you're just a massive failure. But that also gives you the chance to bring a major upset to the table when you show everyone what you're actually capable of."

"Hmm... I guess you do have a point there..."

As Avic meditated on Custos' words, the instructor called up the next participant.

"Avic Decipi!! Step forward! You're up next!"