Becoming a God Starts with Acting-Chapter 416: Secret
"Bang!" The coffin lid crashed down with a thunderous sound, echoing through the empty space and throwing the drifting motes of light in the air into chaos.
The flickering points of light, like fireflies or wavering glimmers, illuminated the surroundings and also revealed what lay inside the coffin.
A man with a tall, lean build and perfectly balanced muscles lay within. He wore a black cloak, beneath it a high-collared, long-tailed garment. His waist was fastened with a belt adorned with black pearls and a small skull.
Golden thread patterns stood out vividly against the pitch-black fabric, lending him an air of nobility, like a vampire in deep hibernation.
His jet-black hair made his skin appear even more pallid.
Silvanus stared at the person lying in the coffin, completely stunned.
Whether it was the unfamiliar attire or the unfamiliar hair, the facial features were impossibly familiar.
This person...
Had a face identical to his own!
It was unmistakably Silvanus’s face.
Ignoring the tremors shaking the space above, Silvanus instinctively reached out, wanting to touch the face that was "sleeping peacefully" inside the coffin. But at that very moment, "he" suddenly snapped his eyes open.
Those pitch-black eyes were sharp and cold, utterly devoid of emotion. In an instant, he raised his hand at an inconceivable speed and directly seized Silvanus’s wrist.
Silvanus was just about to counterattack when a piercing laugh echoed through the space. "He" burst into mad laughter, then shattered into streams of light. The hand gripping Silvanus’s wrist was left as nothing but a dry skeleton, clattering as it fell away.
The streams of light passed straight through Silvanus and vanished. Before he could even process what had happened, he toppled forward into the coffin.
The sensation of weightlessness made Silvanus jolt. He threw his eyes open and only then realized he was still in the dormitory room.
He gasped for breath and glanced around, seeing Vivian still sprawled comfortably beside him.
The next moment, it suddenly rolled over, straight toward Silvanus. The small head instinctively nuzzled against him twice before it sank back into sleep.
Silvanus gently rubbed Vivian’s head, but his thoughts had already drifted elsewhere. He recalled the principal’s words...
Of course, it might all have been nothing more than one of Lichina’s tricks, but even so, everything was steeped in suspicion.
Lichina... Silvanus silently turned the name over in his mind. He only hoped that the real confrontation would arrive as soon as possible. Silvanus did not like the feeling of sitting idle while his enemy seemed to be constantly plotting ever darker schemes.
The Academy’s Centennial Anniversary, which had once seemed destined to be grand and spectacular, was ultimately canceled. The reason given was that manpower and resources were needed to assist the ordinary civilians out there, those who had truly been affected by the tsunami disasters.
In the coastal villages, nearly all the houses had been submerged and swept away, let alone any property or crops.
The current situation was chaotic, and no one dared to voice opposition to the decision. In the end, the celebration was carried out in a simple manner, consisting only of written commendations praising the contributions of Silvanus, Nicole, and Nana. Their reputations also began to spread among the common people.
As for that mysterious hero of the sea, countless rumors circulated about him, yet no one had been able to find him since that day.
Perhaps they were still quietly searching for him, but everything was done so discreetly that Silvanus did not sense the slightest ripple.
The Church also increased its manpower to reinforce defenses in the villages bordering the sea, especially those adjacent to Chaosland. This was meant to prevent the sudden appearance of shadow creatures, and because of these actions, they once again received a wave of praise.
However, none of this had much to do with Silvanus.
He advanced steadily into his second year, without encountering too many disturbances.
His Sentinel, which he had named Leon, had already been left behind in a coastal village earlier. The path ahead now belonged to Leon itself.
If it encountered danger and could not continue, Leon could return to Silvanus’s forge at any time. That was the bond between them.
Of course, the second year also brought events that attracted far more attention.
This was the time when they could register to become Hunters and go out to earn money. The children of noble families did not seem particularly rushed, but the commoner students had already begun preparing for their future path, whether they wanted to or not.
They needed to repay their debt to Lumina for the tuition-free period of study, in order to obtain true freedom later on.
Of course, becoming a Hunter did not mean freedom or anything of the sort. It meant responsibility, and it meant danger.
The outside world was perilous, filled with lands that had never been explored. Now, they would be the ones to explore them, walking along the line between life and death to complete their missions.
Registration was entirely voluntary. Almost as soon as the second year began, Silvanus went to find Matthew.
At the moment, Ariana was with Matthew as well. The instant she saw Silvanus, Ariana nearly jumped up like a startled rabbit. "Silvanus, you finally came. I knew you would definitely come looking for Matthew."
Silvanus smiled faintly at Ariana but did not say anything. Instead, he looked at Matthew. "When are you planning to register as a Hunter? I’m going today. Do you want to come along and see the process?"
Hearing this, Matthew lowered his voice and gave an awkward smile. "Actually, I was just about to go find you."
Matthew’s abilities far exceeded many people’s expectations. Even when he did not try to stand out, the results of every competition still drew attention to him.
Silvanus did not feel there was anything strange about this. He had always encouraged Matthew to grow. Watching Matthew become taller and more solid by the day made Silvanus genuinely happy, as if he were witnessing a timid child he had raised finally crawl out of its shell and grow up.
Matthew and Ariana had no idea about the rich stream of thoughts running through Silvanus’s mind.
Ariana hesitated a little. Even if she was not favored, she was still of noble descent. After entering Lumina, the way others treated her had changed to varying degrees, and she naturally did not need to worry about tuition fees. However, now that both Silvanus and Matthew had become Hunters, Ariana did not want to be left behind either.
In the end, she went with them.
After all, it was just registering as a Hunter. Even if she did not take on any missions afterward, no one could really do anything to her.
The Hunter headquarters was located outside Lumina, but it was still within the central area of Luminous, so they did not spend much time walking there.
The streets were bustling, crowded with people. Occasionally, they could see carriages passing by, with nobles seated on top, while those pulling the carts were ordinary civilians.
Animals like horses were very rare in the Land of Light, or if they did exist, they were mostly found in Eldoria.
After walking for a little over ten minutes, they finally stopped in front of a building designed like an ordinary tavern. Hanging above it was a wooden sign carved with the word "Hunter," excessively modest compared to the scale of the place.
