The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

After Raye and Devin...

Nobody from the [B Class] passed from the close combat section anymore.

Sariel just demolished them all and made the students give up!

On the other hand, Sofia fought in the magic combat section, and she passed with ease!

And then, when it was the [A Class]’s turn...

The main characters then started proving that they were strong!

They all passed without breaking a sweat!

Especially Lycus, he pushed Sariel out of the circle in under half a minute!

Putting him in second place in terms of speed of passing the examination!

In first place was Raye, then Devin was in third place!

Also, as everyone had expected...

All then scum nobles in [A Class] failed miserably!

They were shamed on and laughed at by the students from the lower classes...

Garin Lothar and Erick Hutchins were included in those who failed.

(Nobles that Raye fought in Chapter 17 & 26.)

Raye scoffed at them pretty hard, he was happy to see them fail!

Anyway, after that...

Sariel just finished the [A Class].

And then, Charles went back into being the person in charge of the close combat section.

And following the [A Class]...

It was finally the [S Class]’s turn.

And they...

They demolished the exam.

They all passed without a hitch!

And the highlights?

The matches of Lena, Allen, and Leon!

Lena passed as soon the test started, making her the fastest to pass in the magic combat section!

Then there’s Allen and Leon, both of them were worked up after seeing Raye’s match against Charles.

And so...

They tried their hardest in the exam, they finished it as fast as possible!

And in doing so...

Leon matched Raye’s time in the physical examination!

And Allen dethroned Lycus from being in second!

He finished it in under 5 seconds!

Charles was utterly destroyed by the two of them!

And with that...

The first part of the physical examination ended.

And everyone was dismissed.

*****

Around 7 PM...

"Tomorrow is rest day, I should continue with the cabin’s repair."

Raye said that, he was walking back to the cabin.

He had already separated ways with the others earlier, and so right now...

He’s only with Zephyrus and Pyro.

It was announced earlier that the second part of the physical examination would take place the day after tomorrow.

And that’s because the sophomores are scheduled for the re-evaluation exams tomorrow and on 4th day.

Freshmen are today and on the 3rd day, then tertiaries are on the 5th and 6th day.

And on the 7th day...

The examination results would be out.

And the new class placement would be announced!

’I wonder what class I would be in...’

Raye thought to himself.

And then, as he was walking...

-Watching adults demolish kids is kind of entertaining, I’m up to watch some more of it.

Zephyrus suddenly mumbled that.

He was smiling and resting like a parrot on top of Raye’s left shoulder.

"What a weird hobby you’ve discovered."

Raye said, responding to him.

And just then...

-meeep...?

Pyro, who had been sleeping in Raye’s hands, finally woke up!

Seeing him opening his eyes...

"Oh, did you sleep well?"

Raye immediately asked Pyro.

And with a small smile...

-meep!

Pyro answered, he said yes.

Then, slightly worried...

"You’ve been sleeping too much these past few days. Are you feeling unwell?"

Raye followed another question.

Pyro had been sleeping for more than half a day lately, it was concerning for him.

It was like he was hibernating or something.

-meep meeep...

Pyro said that he was fine, he just hasn’t had much energy since last week for some reason.

And hearing that...

-Ah.

Zephyrus thought of something.

"What is it? Do you have an idea of what’s happening to him?"

Raye asked, seeing Zephyrus’ reaction.

And without beating around the bush...

-He’s probably evolving.

Zephyrus declared that!

"Huh?"

-Meep?

Raye and Pyro shared the same confused reaction.

And so, to explain it...

-Raye, as you grow stronger, the quality of your mana increases. Since Pyro is connected to you and feeds off your mana... He’s bound to evolve and become stronger too.

-Pyro’s body is currently preparing for evolution, storing the mana and energy needed to reach the next stage.

Zephyrus said all of that!

And at his words...

-...

"..."

Pyro and Raye looked at each other.

And then smiling...

"Did you hear that? You’re getting stronger!"

-Meep meep meep!

The two of them started celebrating!

They were delighted to hear such good news!

And watching them like that...

-Congratulations, young ones.

Zephyrus said that, smiling too!

He was happy for the two of them.

After all, Zephyrus knows that they both started from the lowest of the low!

He fully understands why they were so happy.

*****

Nearing 8 PM...

"We’re home."

Raye stepped into the cabin with Zephyrus and Pyro.

And immediately after doing so...

"Welcome home, you three hungry?"

Old Man Rey greeted them.

"Hmm, yeah."

Raye replied to him.

-I’m hungry.

-meep!

And then Zephyrus and Pyro followed.

Hearing their words, a smile appeared on Old Man Rey’s face.

"I made dinner, let’s eat."

He said.

Then after that...

The four of them started eating dinner.

They ate roasted potatoes that the Old Man harvested, and roasted beef from Kyle’s shop.

...

...

After eating dinner, around 10 PM...

"I’ll be going now, good night."

Old Man Rey went to bed.

"Good night."

Raye said to him.

And after that...

-I’m tired.

-meep...

Zephyrus and Pyro went inside Raye’s room, they want to rest now too.

"..."

Raye still has some energy left to spare, and considering that there’s no school tomorrow...

’Off to train.’

He decided to head to the Northern Forest alone.

...

*****

In the Northern Forest...

"Oh."

"Ah."

Raye met with Jerusha.

They don’t have a private lesson today, so their meeting wasn’t planned.

It was a total coincidence.

"I thought you wouldn’t be here, tomorrow’s your class re-evaluation exams, right?"

Raye said, looking around.

And then after a while...

Fwip-

He sat on a big, fallen tree trunk.

"Meh, I’m just passing the time. It’s not like I have anything better to do right now." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Jerusha replied with a smile, sitting beside Raye.

"Is that so...?"

Raye asked.

"Mhm."

And then Jerusha simply nodded her head as a response.

"How about you, what are you doing here?"

She followed.

Then casually...

"I’m just here to train, I have nothing to do too."

Raye responded, shrugging his shoulders.

"Haha, guess we’re the same then."

Jerusha laughed.

"How did you do in the re-evaluation exams?"

And then she asked that, curious.

Hearing her question...

"Heh..."

Raye smirked.

And then confidently...

"It was easy."

He declared that.

"So I know you’ll pass it with ease."

And then he followed, looking at Jerusha with a smile!

"Is that so? Guess I don’t have to be nervous!"

Jerusha exclaimed with a wide smile.

And following that...

The two of them continued talking.

It was the first time they were alone with each other.

No spirits around, no old man, and no schoolmates!

"Haha, that happened?"

"Yeah, Devin looked really happy dancing on top of the arena after passing."

Their conversation flowed smoothly.

"Hahaha!"

"I heard he’s a really scummy-looking noble!"

They laughed and gossiped together.

Raye the mentioned to Jerusha that Pyro was about to evolve.

And hearing that...

"Wow, congratulations! I’m so happy for you two, really!"

Jerusha became excited for them!

They talked and talked, moving from one topic to the next.

And before they even knew it...

It was already late.

...

...

Around 12 AM...

"The head maid is going to scold me."

Jerusha said that, noticing the time.

"Sorry, I didn’t notice too."

Raye mumbled apologetically.

"Nah, don’t worry. I really enjoyed talking to you that I lost track of time. It’s not your fault."

Then Jerusha responded, casually waving her hand and smiling.

"Well, I enjoyed it too."

Raye replied.

’I didn’t get to train, but it’s fine.’

He thought.

"Haha, see? We both enjoyed ourselves."

Jerusha said, laughing lightly.

"..."

Raye just remained silent, unsure of what to say.

And as he was like that...

"Well then, I’ll excuse myself now."

Jerusha declared that.

"Bye, Raye!"

And after saying her goodbye...

Tap- tap- tap—

She started walking away.

"Wait."

Though, Raye called for her before she could even go far.

"Hmm?"

Jerusha stopped on her track and looked back at Raye.

And looking at her...

"Good luck tomorrow, and rest well."

Raye said that!

"..."

His words flustered Jerusha for some reason, it caught her off guard.

But with a smile on her face...

"Thanks, rest well to you too!"

Jerusha brightly responded!

"Goodbye."

Raye said.

And after that...

SWOOSH—

Jerusha immediately flew away!

’Ugh, I’m glad that it was dark outside right now...’

Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

She thought, blushing slightly.

And Raye...

"..."

He just watched Jerusha until she was out of sight.

And when he can’t see her anymore...

Tap- tap- tap—

Raye started heading back to the cabin.

’Why did I say rest well to her?’

And then he thought of that, slightly embarrassed of what he said earlier to Jerusha.