At the end of the day, the exam was called [Beast fighting] by most Lohars.
It was pretty simple, and one simply announced how many beasts one would fight, and at what stage they were before fighting them.
After defeating the group of beasts once it was one's turn, one would get assessed in accordance with the curriculum, meaning that his cultivation stage would be taken into consideration.
Under normal circumstances, one would be considered to have passed the exam if one defeated a single beast two ranks above one's cultivation base.
This was more than enough, but Kyle didn't care about this.
He required the Soul energy of more beasts in order to properly tend to the injuries of the young and wounded Lohar.
The Lohar might have been healed physically to some extent, but he had suffered some psychological damage as well.
Furthermore, he didn't have any energy left as the female Lohar's healing seemed to have used up all his nutrition to heal the injury.
This was not further uncommon for healing abilities.
As such, Kyle knew that he had to do something in order to help out a little bit.
At the same time, it was possible for him to give everyone a little demonstration that would clearly warn others to think twice before attempting to play around with him.
That was the second reason for him to choose to fight against 10 beasts at the Late rank of the Vitae stage.
With that in mind, once it was his turn, Kyle entered the arena, where he faced a pack of 10 winged cheetahs.
They followed the path of Pryr and didn't have an elemental affinity.
Having a strong physique that focused on speed, while also being able to fly were their advantages.
Kyle quickly noticed that, and unsheathed the Starbreaker Katana, ignoring the dozens of gazes that were focused on him.
Ever since the Lohars had heard his request to fight 10 beasts at a higher cultivation base at the same time,, everyone was quite interested in him.
Most of them wanted to see his downfall and humiliating defeat, while the others wondered whether Kyle was overestimating his capabilities, or if he would be able to defeat his opponents.
Meanwhile, Merl Lion simply looked at the young man, not sure what exactly he should think.
'If he is doing all of this for the sake of the injured Lohar, our student council should really learn a little bit from him…'
Merl knew that he was doing his best to lead the student council to improve the livelihood of all students, including the commoners.
As such, he had felt bad when he sensed the presence of the Instructor about Elemental affinities, Shiran Irat.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtInstructor Shiran was one of the oldest and most traditional instructors who taught at the academy and his lessons were among the best in the entire Glory Knight academy.
However, it was a fact that Merl loathed other races, and didn't like commoners as well.
But breaking the rules of the sacred academy would be something even worse, and create far more trouble for each of the student council's members than the benefits would be worth for them.
This exact thought had flashed through the minds of all Lohars of the student council, and it was only now that Merl realized something.
'To think that we're too afraid to give our best to help Lahin improve…after acing the knowledge example that youngster Lohar should have been accepted into the academy, right off the bat!
It was not that we couldn't help, but the aftermath was just too scary…'
Merl tried to justify the way he had acted but was fully aware that he should have acted differently, even more so as he was the head of the student council.
Instead of blabbering something about the rules of the academy, and flat out denying the young Lohar a second chance, he should have acted like Selene, from the beginning.
He had read the reports about the Brawl multiple times so as to be fully informed about his peers' well-being, as well as Alice's safety.
She was someone extremely important in his life, and when he had read that she was almost killed, he chickened out.
As such, the moment he heard that Alice had been saved by Kyle, his interest in the 'masked man' increased exponentially.
Thus, Merl knew everything that Selene had spoken about not too long ago with the sole difference being that he was not 100% certain about everything, while Selene seemed to be fully aware of the extent of Kyle's abilities!
Thinking about the black-furred baroness, Merl's eyes flicked to her.
He was curious about what she was doing.
However, when he saw that she was simply standing next to the two women that accompanied Kyle, Merl was slightly baffled.
'Why is the tension between the three so unbearably high?!'
Astonished, Merl lost sight of Kyle for a moment as his focus switched over to the three women, only for them to start talking with each other.
"Soo…who are you two, if I may?"
Selene's first question was obvious, but the way she looked at the two women with a forced smile, but fiery eyes, clearly told Beatrice and Yasmine that Selene wanted to know something different.
'Who are you two…to Kyle?', was what Selene meant by that question.
But instead of answering the hidden question, both Yasmine and Beatrice simply smiled before bowing lightly to the woman Kyle had been looking for.
"Hello Madame Selene, my name is Yasmine Xina., I am the heir to the Xinar family, and the Phoenix princess. Nice meeting you!"
Her introduction was simple, and told the Lohar nothing more than she had asked.
However, Selene didn't seem to show much interest as she averted her head to Beatrice, who had noticed something.
From what she perceived, Beatrice wasn't inclined to free Selene of her growing jealousy and instead wanted her to keep guessing things.
"My name is Beatrice Menyr. I'm the daughter of an Old Soul, and am bound to Kyle until the end of our days, and I have spent more time with him than you ever did!"
Twisting her words though she was only the 'adopted' daughter of an Old Soul, her words were not entirely truthful as she hid a few specific pieces of information.
Yet, at the same time, she exaggerated the fact that she had a blood pact with Kyle as well as the fact that she traveled around with him longer than Selene did.
After all, the young Baroness had only been with Kyle for around 4 months, which made it not exactly difficult to easily topple that short period.
Nevertheless, when Beatrice finished her introduction, one could visibly perceive how Selene's act of being unaffected was crumbling.
She frowned deeply, clearly understanding that Kyle trusted them enough to tell the two women about her existence.
However, this fact was also slightly reassuring and gave her the courage to take a dig at Beatrice if only to a certain extent.
"Its great that you traveled with him longer than I, but he came back to me, didn't he? How did it feel to know that traveling with him will finally end your journey after finding me?
I never doubted that he will come to meet me, and I expected to wait far longer than I did…but in the end, what matters is that we are together once again.
What do you think will happen to you? Do you believe you are more important to him than I am?"
Selene had been trying hard to not take the bait but Beatrice's cocky grin made her be unable to lash out with a tinge of anger, and frustration, revealing all the hidden emotions she had buried inside her for a year.
From the day she had been separated from Kyle, Selene had anxiously awaited his return.
Having no way of reaching him, she could only try her best to give her utmost efforts to become as strong as possible, to make the best out of the given situation, to surprise him with the strength she attained all by herself in the time they were separated.
Showing him how she had blossomed into a grown-up and independent woman was what Selene had planned.
Unfortunately, everything seemed far more difficult than initially expected.
In the end, she was happy that Kyle had returned to her, and kept his promise.
But it was frustrating to understand that Kyle got to know two more women while he was away from her.
And they were even traveling around with him, making Selene assume worse things.
For a fleeting moment, she even thought that Kyle had abandoned her in order to meet new women.
However, that thought was quickly dispelled as he returned to her side, evidently for her sake, and nobody else's.
There was not even a single man around Kyle, and only girls seemed to be interested in him.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmSelene could clearly sense this that had ruined some of her mood and dampened her spirits when she first heard about the masked man from the reports of the Brawl!
'What a mess!' She screamed internally, completely forgetting the way she had vented her frustration at Beatrice and Yasmine, both of whom she had just met.
Through the frustration they sensed, Beatrice and Yasmine could only look at each other for a few seconds.
They could only remotely grasp what Selene must have felt when Kyle returned, just to have two new and unknown women by his side.
As such, Beatrice felt a little bit apologetic about the way she had provoked the young Lohar, clearly understanding that it had been a little bit too childish of her.
A woman of her age should be understanding, and mature.
Yet, at the end of the day, Beatrice had long ago acknowledged the fact that Kyle had changed her in her entirety.
It was as if she was undergoing puberty thanks to the blood pact she made with Kyle, her mate.
Thus, she had wanted to reveal her thoughts about the entire situation in a slightly provocative message to the woman Kyle had been looking for.
At the very same moment, Yasmine looked at the situation that unfolded in front of her with a slight tinge of worry.
'How the hell are we supposed to stay together, if you girls tear each other apart. Fortunately, its only your gazes, and not a physical fight…'
Yasmine understood the thoughts of Selene, as she was a woman herself, who could understand what kinds of thoughts should be running through her mind, right now.
However, at the same time, Yasmine got to know that Beatrice might be old, but she was inexperienced in too many subjects.
Only fighting, cultivating, and her bookish knowledge was exceptional while socializing, and common sense was still something she needed to work on!
That was something both Yasmine and Kyle were fully aware of, but somehow Beatrice was oblivious to it.
Meanwhile, Selene had no idea about the women opposite her.
Thus, she could only believe that Beatrice was intentionally provoking her, possibly trying to create a misunderstanding between her and Kyle!
However, this wasn't the case and only Yasmine understood what was going on.
As such, Yasmine had to give her best to placate them both, hoping for Kyle to finish the fight, and to clear everything up.
After all, the young Lohar wouldn't listen to her, at all, making too many issues crop up.
"Is that for real?"
Yet, it was just at this second that Yasmine heard the young Lohar's voice, and turned around to see that Selene had stolen a quick glance at Kyle in order to calm herself, preventing others from finding out that she knew Kyle.
And that despite the situation is quite confusing owing to Selene's weird behavior.
Apparently, it was quite important for Selene to keep their relationship a secret owing to the numerous issues that could surface once someone got to know everything.
Looking over to Kyle, Yasmine could only sigh deeply as she blurted out,
"Well, he took quite long…"