472 Chapter 472: School Nigh (1/2)
”Huff…huff…”
”Ugh…”
Both Melina and Adrian lay in the dirt, panting from the latest training session that I put them through. I gave them a sympathetic look, but I didn't intend on making my lessons easier. However, I was nice enough to offer them my hands and pulled them both back to their feet.
”Are you two all right?”
”Yes, Sensei!”
”Yeah, Master.”
”Stop calling me that, Adrian.” I failed to keep the irritation out of my voice. ”I am not your master.”
”You're not my brother either, but you don't mind if I address you as such,” Adrian pointed out cheekily. I gave him a glare.
”Do you want me to double your training hours?”
”N…no!” Adrian immediately turned pale, dropping his wooden sword. He gulped and scrambled to pick it up and shook his head frantically. ”Sorry, Brother Richard! I was just joking!”
”Yeah, I got that.” I smiled somewhat insincerely, and then turned serious. ”In any event, the both of you should go get some rest. Tomorrow is your practical exam, so don't overdo it today. Getting as much sleep as possible is the best way to ensure that you're in your prime condition tomorrow. Don't sneak off and do extra training on your own – I don't want you to use that as an excuse when you turn up all exhausted and injured, and don't perform as well on the practical exam as you normally would be able to.”
”Yes, Sensei!”
”Understood, Master! Uh, Brother Richard!”
Adrian quickly amended his terms of address when I raised an eyebrow at him, and he felt the immense pressure from my surging aura. Deciding to cut him some slack for now, I gestured for the both of them to return to the house.
”Now go shower, have some supper, and then sleep early for tonight.”
The two of them obliged, and I watched them go. Then I turned away, and proceeded in the opposite direction. Instead of returning to the house, I vaulted over the fence and landed on the other side of the estate. Summoning Cygnus, I jumped atop him and had my white swan fly me toward the outskirts of the city, to an area next to Saint Teresa Academy. It was a massive park, with wide open area decorated with green grass, with several footpaths and cycling paths paved across it. Several trees stood sentinel over the grass, but they were sparse.
It being very late at night, I couldn't see the flowers very clearly, particularly with their hues covered by shadows. Even so, zooming onto one of the flowers, I was reminded of the blue flower symbol of the Guang Zhi Yi Sect. having seen the flower this morning, I had suspected that they planned on carrying out some form of activity tonight.
Me being the typical busybody and allowing my curiosity to get the better of me, I decided to check it out. I mean, I had nothing better to do…okay, actually I did. There was a practical exam tomorrow, but I really, really wanted to know what the Guang Zhi Yi Sect was planning. There was no way they would summon Ji Yan over a trivial matter.
The park was where I sensed the presences of four pretty strong mages. That was why I chose to settle down here, not far from where I detected the four mages. Two of them in particular were very familiar. They were the auras of Ji Yan's mana signature, as well as the almost identical but slightly different power that wreathed her twin sister, Zhao Yan. They were accompanied by two other students who I didn't recognize.
Dismissing Cygnus as quickly as possible, I shrank my own mana to an almost invisible presence. Since I wasn't trained in the arts of stealth or assassination, I wasn't able to quite conceal my own mana completely, and as such I had to rely on external devices such as the ones Melina received from her father. I had bought my own with what little money I had, shortly after returning home from the tournament, and it proved to be very useful.
The four mages didn't notice that I was present in the park at all. Excellent. Additionally, they were too busy doing whatever they came to do to even notice that I was here. Feeling relieved, I shut my eyes and summoned a couple of Corvus before activating the stealth device. The two crows then took off and began their duties as my eyes and ears.
One of my Corvus focused on the other two individuals, to try and discern their identities.
The leader appeared to be a tall, handsome guy with long, silver hair and gray eyes. Typical shoujo manga male lead, or at least one of the harem members for the female protagonist. Anyway, I was surprised that I recognized him as a third year student in Saint Teresa Academy. If I recalled correctly, he was a heartthrob named Yi Shen, who was idolized by the same girls now swooning over Xu Wu Cheng. As befitting the typical bishounen character, he had for some reason decided to grow his silver hair long, just so he could fit the archetype and drive fangirls crazy with his pretty boy looks. It must have something to do with the male idol era back in the early 2000s where F4 and Vanness Wu ruled the Taiwanese drama scene.
Never mind that his absurdly long hair would most likely get in the way of him fighting monsters, and the excessive length would frequently block his sight or get caught by something, making it a liability in battle. But then again, the girls also usually kept their hair long as well, and no one ever complained about such hairstyles being highly impractical in real combat.
The second person was a girl, because it wouldn't be a manga or proper web novel if the girls didn't outnumber the guys. And…as if to fulfil some sort of fanservice quota, she was a pretty girl with long (again!) silky red hair that flowed behind her back. Um…I believe she was a senior in the third year as well, just like Yi Shen, and her name was Kai Lin or something.
Even more hilariously, none of the four were dressed in attires suitable for practical combat. No, rather they were all dressed stylishly in cool clothing that wouldn't look out of place in a fashion magazine. Yi Shen, with his trendy jacket and long pants, could still pass off as acceptable in combat, but the girls wore exquisite dresses that seemed more appropriate in modelling events or cosplay conventions. I mean, who wears a skirt to kick ass? Seriously?
Zhao Yan was the only one who bucked the trend, wearing featureless slacks instead of the frilly skirt her sister wore, or the business-like office lady attire that Kai Lin adopted (and Kai Lin even wore high-heels…seriously?!). At least the twins wore functional boots…wait, I take that back. For some reason, Ji Yan was wearing flashy, fashionable shoes that seemed suited more for a tea party than a battle instead of the practical, leather boots that her sister had chosen.
Were these fools (except Zhao Yan) here to show off their wardrobe and how awesome looking they were, or were they here to fight?
The first words I heard from Yi Shen's mouth confirmed that it was the latter, but they were so cheesy that I was pretty much groaning and burying my face in my hands.
”There have been many bat-type monsters here, and they're attacking humans lately. Recently they've been targeting the school, so we've been tasked to eliminate them.”
Who the fuck talks like that?! I know the original writer of Vampire Sphere was trying to contrive a way to inform the reader the context through exposition, but the dialogue was way too unnatural and cheesy. For one thing, wouldn't the leader brief the entire team before they start moving out to the battlefield, and not when they reach it? Why did you wait until the very last minute before briefing your teammates?
Kai Lin folded her arms as she considered Yi Shen's briefing.