Chapter 37: The Changes

Ash sat silently on the hospital bed, alone in this large room without a single friend to talk to, staring blankly at his hand that was injured beyond repair.

Life was so unfair…

But that was the nature of life.

Sighing tiredly, Ash tried to distract himself from looking at both of his arms.

Just then, the entrance door opened and someone walked in, forcing Ash to look in that direction.

'Huh?' He was quite surprised to see Furina there. But wait, she was his fiancée, so she should definitely be here, right?

Seeing that Ash had woken up, a flash of joy flashed through her eyes, but her expression remained the same, showing no emotion at all.

She was indeed a cold person, but deep down, she cared about Ash very much.

"You're awake?" She said in a soft voice so as not to give him a headache.

"Yeah."

"Is that so?" She carefully let out a sigh of relief, approaching the basket of fruits next to Ash's bed…

Wait, there was a basket of fruits there? Why couldn't he see it from the start?

…And carefully peeled an apple for him to eat. Each layer was peeled off carefully and meticulously, trying her best not to waste any of the apple's flesh.

"Oh right, Furina, how long have I been unconscious?"

She didn't take her eyes off the apple but still answered his question:

"You've been asleep for 3 days."

"Huh?" That was all he could say in the current situation.

As soon as Furina's words left her mouth, Ash felt as if hundreds of millions of lightning bolts were striking his ears.

"Really… Furina? I-If it's a joke, it's not funny…" Ash tried to fool himself into thinking that it was all a lie.

However, she didn't respond but just focused on peeling the apple. The answer was obvious. And Ash was really done for.

3 days! It was 3 days, not 1 day! Ash had been unconscious for 3 damn days!

Ash covered his face, trying his best not to scream like a lunatic in front of Furina. After all, all of that was really unbelievable to him.

According to Serena, the first-year students would soon have a test, an event that had never happened in the game False Horizon.

And what's worse, Ash only had a week to prepare for the test.

But now? He had been unconscious for 3 days, which meant he had already wasted almost half of his time preparing. If that was the case, how could Ash possibly pass that test?

He would definitely fail miserably.

'Damn it!' Ash cursed himself for how useless his body was. If it had recovered a little earlier, he wouldn't have fallen into this dilemma.

But wait, he still had a glimmer of hope.

"Hey Furina, the situation is that I've been unconscious for 3 days, so do I still have to participate in the upcoming test…" Before Ash could finish, Furina's apple appeared in his mouth.

"You can't do that, my love." She replied calmly.

"Why?" It was hard to speak with an apple in his mouth.

"Because this test was actually made for you."

"Huh?" Ash couldn't believe what she had just said.

"You know that all members of the Royal Family have some kind of special trait that is different from normal people, right?" Fortunately, Furina had already started explaining to him.

"Yes…"

All members of the Royal Family had abilities that far surpass normal people, even surpassing most of the people who had awakened the system because of their extremely superior genes.

The current Emperor was so strong that he could fight the Abyssal Creature in the Abyssal Realm alone.

The First Prince, Barry "Mighty" Voidveil, was the commander of the Eastern Front and one of the strongest people in the Empire.

The Second Prince, Modric "Genius" Voidveil, was a genius, the smartest person in the history of the Voidveil Empire.

But Ash, on the other hand…

"You don't have any talent at all. To put it bluntly, you're useless, a mischievous person, not like the rest of your family at all." Furina said those words with a cold face.

Although what she said sounded cruel, something a fiancée shouldn't say to her fiancé, it was the truth.

And Ash also knew that she had no ill intentions when she said such things.

"Who suggested this? The Royal Family?"

Furina shook her head.

"It's my father, who is also the headmaster of this Academy. And he has been granted permission by the Royal Family to do so."

Ash sighed tiredly, leaning against the nearby wall. Although it wasn't soft, it was fine like this.

He didn't know what the principal's intention was in making such a test. And he didn't want to know the reason for it either.

Right now, Ash only needed to know that he was racing against time. He had less than 4 days left until the test would begin, so he had to do his best in the remaining time.

"Oh by the way Furina, what if I fail?"

"…Since this is a test created by the principal himself, if someone fails, they will definitely be expelled."

"...Fuck."

***

For the next 4 days, Ash spent all his time learning combat skills instead of attending theory classes. And he had so little time that he was forced to skip a few classes just to go practice.

And during this time, Ash had noticed that there were some visible changes around him.

First, the gossip and badmouthing of Ash had become much less, or maybe they were just badmouthing him in places where he wasn't around.

The reason, of course, was not because all the other students had become more respectful of him, but because there was a rumor that if someone made him angry, Ash would definitely attack that person.

And after witnessing the ultimate move he used to defeat Lucian, everyone didn't dare to mess with him anymore.

Next, the arena - which Ash had destroyed - was heavily damaged, leading to the Academy having to rebuild a new one.

Worse still, because it was Ash's fault, the Royal Family had to pay a large sum of money.

And on that very day, he had received a letter filled with brotherly love from his "beloved" brother - the Second Prince.

And the content of that letter was basically a threat that the next time Modric saw Ash, he would definitely beat him until he couldn't move or talk anymore.

'Sorry brother, this little brother of yours is causing trouble again…'

Most importantly, after the battle with Ash, Lucian was also promoted to Elite Class, just like what happened in the main story.

And so, the day of the test finally arrived. The day would decide his fate.