316 Out of there?

Glenn's expression twisted into one of frustration and anger, his features contorted as if struggling to maintain his composure. "You think you can just brush off your past like it's nothing? You think you're invincible?" he spat out, his voice laced with venom.

"Yes, and?" I replied, smiling.

Glenn's eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a sneer. "You're deluding yourself, Ren. You can't escape who you are, no matter how hard you try. Your past will always haunt you," he declared, his words cutting through the air like a knife.

"And... anything else? Or is the bald oldie out of everything he can say about me? What is this going to get you, though? You already know that this won't work – not you, not the death of my parents, or anything else," I challenged.

He went silent.

Why's this chamber so stupid? Wouldn't it be better to give me a tough physical task?

Glenn took a deep breath before his expression turned neutral. "Stubborn..." His words faded off as he himself disintegrated into fine particles of sand alongside the table. The bulb fell down and broke, darkness fell upon me.

I stood up, and the chairs also vanished. Behind me, the door creaked open.

Is this all? I raised a brow...

"Come out, boy!" Eldric's voice boomed. I turned around and began walking towards the door. Wasn't that just too easy?

I emerged, and everyone's eyes were fixed on me as I made my way back to where Blaze was. He jumped on my shoulder.

"How was it?" he questioned.

"Easy. What did it look like from the outside?" I asked.

As he explained, from the outside, it seemed like I was sitting on a non-existent chair, muttering and blabbering something to myself. It was creepy, as my eyes were completely white, and none of the words I said made sense. Other than that, nothing actually happened.

I returned to the teams and waited. One by one, the challenges went on, but for some reason, my senses were dull. I felt tired all of a sudden.

The challenge continued, just like what I remembered from the game storyline. After about six hours, it ended with the last loss of points from Shadowcrest Institute.

Eldric announced the score. Luminaries had 3 out of 4, Valorians with 4 out of 4, Frostfall Conservatory 2 out of 4, The Mystic Grove Institute had 0 out of 4, and there was a tie between Shadowcrest Institute and Imperial Academy as they both had only 2 points. Nexus Institute was the lowest with only 1 point.

Clearly, the winner was Valorians. They celebrated their win as they made their way towards Eldric, who handed out a jaded bracelet to Valorians' captain, Marcus Brightwood.

The same was given to Adam when I passed out in the Chameleon's Maze,It symbolizes that they had won the round.

Feeling drained, I made my way back to my assigned room. Collapsing onto the bed, I succumbed to the heaviness that weighed down on me and drifted into a deep slumber.

Everything after that was just pure bliss - I slept like a log.

After a few hours or so, I felt my eyes open themselves. Groggily, I lifted myself and sat straight. My hand went into my hair, which had outgrown very much. Tying it in a bun, I jumped out of bed, my stomach rumbling.

I walked into the hallway and arrived at the academy diner - just like the night before. I reached for the container, finding the same old pieces of bread. This time, I looked for chicken and found some. Plating myself a hearty meal, I scanned for a table.

A nearby table was empty. I sat at it and flicked the candle on, and then I heard a hiccup.

I stared at him.

He stared at me.

Bottles in both hands, clutched tightly towards his chest. Doesn't this guy care about getting his ass whooped by his father?

"What the fuck, man? Are you a chronic alcoholic?" I made a disgusted look, but what can I do? Aron sat there, just like yesterday, with bottles and bottles of gin and wine around him - everything half or completely empty at this point.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He blinked his eyes.

I just shook my head. I'll eat and leave - not in the mood to have a conversation with this guy at all.

Ignoring Aron's presence as much as I could, I focused on devouring my meal. Each bite helped distract me from the unease lingering in the air. However, Aron's hiccups persisted, disrupting the otherwise quiet ambiance of the diner.

Finishing my meal quickly, I pushed the plate away and stood up, ready to leave. But before I could make my exit, Aron's slurred voice caught my attention.

"You know... you think you're so much better than me," he muttered, his words tinged with bitterness.

I paused, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you heard me," Aron continued, his words slurring together. "Always... always acting like you're above everyone else. But you're not. You're just like the rest of us... weak... pathetic..."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Aron," I replied evenly. "I have no interest in comparing myself to you or anyone else... well, at least you know that you're pathetic though."

"Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that. But we both know the truth, don't we?"

"Mind sharing?" I leaned forward, chewing onto my food.

Aron placed a bottle from his hand on the floor as he sat himself too. "Have a drink with me then."

I sighed. "Take a chair and sit in front. I am not eating while sitting on the floor."

Aron clicked his tongue as he pulled his dangling weight around and managed to take himself and his bottles towards my table, finding a chair to sit on.

He placed a bottle of old elven wine on the table.

"How'd you even keep finding these?" I questioned.

Aron paused for a second and gave me a confused look. "What?"

"Nothing," I sighed.

I shook my head, deciding it wasn't worth pursuing the topic further. Instead, I gestured for Aron to continue speaking.

He took a swig from the bottle before speaking again, his words still tinged with bitterness. "You know, Ren, you act like you've got it all figured out. But deep down, you're just as lost as the rest of us."

I smiled, finding this amusing. "What are you trying to say, Aron?"

He leaned back in his chair, a mocking smirk playing on his lips. "I'm saying, Ren, that you can't run from who you are. No matter how hard you try to bury it, your past will always catch up to you."

"And what makes you think you know anything about me, Aron? You don't know the first thing about who I am or what I've been through," I asked curiously.

Aron chuckled, taking another swig from the bottle. "Oh, but I do, Ren. I know more than you think. You can try to hide it, but I see right through you."

Aron's smirk widened, his gaze cold and calculating. "Maybe not everything, but I know enough. Enough to know that you're not as untouchable as you pretend to be."

"Oh really...and what is that? Care to explain, prince?" I didn't know what he was getting at with this nonsense talk, but just as I asked him what he knew, he went silent.

"Big mouth you have," I pointed my fork at him. "You should think twice before you open your mouth. It's advice – take it." Taking a piece of bread, I gulped down a bit of wine.

Aron went silent before he began laughing hysterically, calming down immediately. He questioned, "Hey, wanna hear something?"

He paused, clearly too wasted.

"Why don't skeletons fight-"

"Because they don't have guts," I answered nonchalantly before he could even complete his question. "Ask something new; you've already asked that one."

"Eh? I did not ask you this one ever!" He replied, Looks like alcohol makes him amnesiac to a certain degree.

I remembered something so I looked at him and asked casually,"And how's your curse going?"

"Huh?"

I kept on chewing on my food, till it Aron's expressions went all over the places.

"W-wha-what?"

"You curse? How's it now?"

"How do you know about that?" He asked.

"Well...you told me yourself,that your cursed to do the things that you do,tell me more about it." I nudged a bit.

"... I never told you-"

"You did and-" i stopped as I heard few footfalls.

"Anyone's here!" Somebody shouted,it was Alder.

I ducked under the table,for some reason Alder didn't come in the hall but went away immediately - raised myself up to only find Aron sleeping sound,did he pass out?

Leaving him behind after I finished my meal, I felt for my room- Blaze said he was going out for a while so it was just me.