Extra's Guide to Surviving a Dark Fantasy World-Chapter 73: Towards the Academy-2

Hearing the guy, I couldn’t help but scoff inwardly. That reassuring smile of his, acting like he was the biggest saint on the planet.

If I hadn’t known any better, even I would have believed him to be as kind as he showed himself to the world. When i reality; this guy was perhaps the most dangerous person in the academy.

He was right though; this was a test. A test to see how a class of supposedly the most talented people from a generation would act when unexpectantly faced with a situation outside of their control, whether they would stay organized and cooperate, or run around like a headless chicken.

It was clearly also a test to identify the real talents, to separate the leaders from the sheeps. To see who’ll be the first to take initiative, something clearly displayed by Aria and this guy.

"I think it would be better if we divide ourselves into roles and get into a basic formation." Aria suggested, clearly the both of them thanks to belonging to two of the great houses had taken complete control of the room. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

She turned to the crowd and spoke in a loud voice. "Everyone, take out your weapons and prepare for any kind of surprise attack. Meanwhile, those with long-range spells, please move towards the back of the room. Everyone who primarily uses a weapon, please step forward."

"If there are any healers, please raise your hands as well," Seylith spoke this time while taking out his sword.

In the end, everyone got into a basic army formation. In the front was the vanguard comprising the strongest of our attackers, including Aria and Seylith; behind them stood the main force of attackers, followed by mages and healers in the center.

As for us low-level second-tier Body refinement ones, we were assigned to protect the healers and mages, with those like Soren and me in the back, making sure no one ambushed us from behind.

Honestly, it was a bit demeaning how easily they had discarded us, but I was okay with it, considering how I had decided to keep my bloodline secret until I became strong enough to protect myself.

That incident with Tess gave me an eye-opening realization. My bloodline was too precious, and currently, I had no backing to protect it whatsoever. Sure, there was Uncle Mordek, but even he couldn’t go past a certain limit, helping me considering my situation.

Anyways, it didn’t seem like I was the only one keeping my bloodline secret, not too far away from me stood Soren with a spear in his hand, walking forward with a nonchalant look on his face.

At least, I should somewhat be able to predict what he is capable of; I shook my head as our formation began advancing forward into the city.

The entire city was very reminiscent of what we had found back in the gleaming wastes, with empty streets and worn-down buildings. Only this time, instead of sand, the entire place was covered in moss and wines.

Students around us were clearly enchanted by the current scene. Clearly, this was the first time for most of them to step out into the expanse.

Unfortunately this sense of wonder completely disappeared only a few minutes in when the side of our formation was attacked by some monsters the size of large tigers.

I had done my homework before coming here, so I recognized those monsters. Those things were called Glym, living in the hollows. These were hunched creatures about the size of a tiger with blackened bodies.

A pack of Glyms ambushed our right flank. The guy at the side slightly before, thankfully, a bolt of ice came flying through the air, piercing the head of the first Glyn.

"Shields Up," Seylith shouted from the front, breaking the spell and causing those in the front to immediately raise their shields.

"Mages, use your long-distance spell," Aria shouted, prompting the mages to start firing a barrage of spells, easily dispatching the group of Glyns.

Honestly, I was impressed. Sure, they had to be told what to do by others but in the end they had still managed to take down a group of monsters, however small without getting injured.

Then again, if one thought about it, majority of these kids belonged to noble families, and were prodigies no less. Even if it was their first time to step out into the expanse, they had been training this for the major part of their lives.

The morale was high as the group continued its advance forward, eventually reaching what seemed like the town square. There in the center stood a giant statue of a tiger-like deity standing on his two legs, looking down at the world with cold eyes, its entire body covered in moss.

Whoah. The students around exclaimed as they walked forward to look at the statue, I followed them as well, until I saw something written in ancient Khravaen underneath the statue.

Do not look into my eyes unless you wish to awaken the slumbering guardian.

Blood drained from my face as I immediately took a step back and tore my gaze away from the statue, only to relax when nothing happened. At the same time from the corner of my eye I saw Soren do the same thing.

He can read Ancient Khravaen? I asked myself before color drained from my face.

I slightly turned to my side to see him looking in my direction with a suspicious look in his eyes. Damn it, he must have figured out I could read that.

This was a problem; the ancient Khravaen written under the statue had been too complex for our current knowledge in the alliance, complex enough that even someone like Aria hadn’t been able to understand that. The only reason Soren had been able to read that was because, just like me, he too had caused the will to take over his body.

If he found out I had the same grade of bloodline... my plane to stay low key would be done before even properly starting.