Chapter 79 This Can’t Be Real… Right?

*RUSTLE*

The rustling of a bush was heard, as a somewhat sizable mouse-like creature hopped out.

*SPPPHLT*

A shower of red liquid coated the nearby area with a coat of crimson.

"Screeee…"

The beast made one last desperate cry as it took its last breath, dying before it even hit the ground.

A white-haired youth hopped down from a nearby tree and removed the sword embedded in its gut.

At this point, Arvell was debating making a more elaborate trap for his prey, but he honestly didn't feel any need to.

After all, he was more than capable of killing them by just throwing his sword at them.

If something worked near-perfectly, why waste time creating something that wouldn't even increase his efficiency?

More than anything it would consume time to create, time which he could use to hunt for more prey.

Since 1 day had already passed, he only had 2 days left.

Just today and tomorrow.

Despite having 2 more days, Arvell was already confident he had more than enough coins.

Since he was aiming to just pass, he was more than confident that he already made that cutoff.

Plunging his hand into the open wound in the beast's chest, Arvell fished out its beast core.

'Time to add this to my ever-increasing collection.'

As soon as Arvell got back to the Silvercolt's capital estate, he was planning on locking himself in a room with only himself, his alchemy pot, and all of his beast cores.

With the number he'd harvested so far, Arvell was sure that he would be busy creating elixirs for at least a few days.

He also had some of the elixirs he prepared before to increase his strength, but he never had time to use them.

His enemies were either too weak or too strong to use them on.

But keeping a few trump cards handy was always important to stay alive.

Arvell jumped back up to the tree top and sat down on one of the larger branches.

[Inventory]

Arvell reached his hand into this inventory, grabbing a rag covered in what appeared to be dried bloodstains.

Taking the rag, he wiped the blood off the sword, returning the crimson blade back to its metallic silvery-grey colour.

If he didn't want his blades to rust this was the least he had to do.

Arvell reached into his inventory, producing a fresh red-coloured fruit.

He couldn't find any cave-like structure hid the smoke of fires, so he avoided cooking any beast meat to eat.

Instead, he opted to find fresh fruit to eat, since those left little to no indication of his presence in the area.

After eating several similar fruits, Arvell got to his feet and began sprinting deeper into the forest.

While he felt that he had no need to hunt for any more coins, Arvell wasn't the type who would just sit around doing nothing.

He was somewhat lazy, but that was only in the regard that he didn't like troublesome things.

Fighting and training had their own special category for him.

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At least if he could find a strong-enough beast, he could keep himself busy.

Due to the examination, he was deprived of daily training with Angela.

Something Arvell didn't like in the slightest.

'Sigh… My muscles ache… I want to fight something."

Arvell was starting to experience 'training withdrawal' symptoms.

"KYAAA!"

Hearing a sudden scream, Arvell instantly turned in the direction of the sound.

'What's going on?'

He instinctually hid his presence and kicked off of the branch he was standing on, heading in the direction of the scream.

It wasn't long before he saw what he presumed to be the person who screamed.

He found a girl surrounded by 4 guys, each with sinister smirk etched on their faces.

The girl was extremely beautiful, with long pink hair that reached her waist.

Even though she was 13, she was already capable of being considered a 'goddess-level' beauty.

However, the guys around her were not even close to matching her beauty.

While they were not ugly per se, being beside the girl might have comparatively made them so.

Arvell stopped on a branch within earshot of the group, using the leaves as a cover of sorts.

"Why are you doing this? The academy is not going to ever let this go!" The girl screamed in defiance as one of the guys bound her arms.

Her response caused the guy's eyes to widen, causing them to exchange confused looks.

"The academy?" One of the guys asked in disbelief, but his confused face quickly changed into one of amusement.

"PFFFT! HAHAHA! Did you hear this bitch? Apparently 'the academy' is going to do something to us!"

The other guys joined in the first boy's twisted laugh.

"Why don't you tell us? What exactly will the academy do to us?"

"Y-you will get punished! T-thrown into jail! M-maybe even… Killed!" The girl stuttered fearfully.

This was her only form of leverage on her aggressors, so she needed to make sure they knew what they were messing with.

This was nothing short of her last straw.

If she failed here… She would experience a fate worse than death.

She tried to call for help, but it didn't seem like anyone came.

They were so far into the forest, that the girl was sure that there weren't that many people even nearby.

Plus, they already apprehended her.

If she tried any more stunts like that, they might even treat her worse.

"Jail? Killed?"

The group of boys once more exchanged glances.

"How will that be an issue if we…" The tip of the boy's finger became covered in a layer of sharp rocks, which he held at the girl's throat. "...Silenced you?"

Beads of sweat began to form on the girl's forehead, and her breathing became ragged.

She could feel the sharp point dig into the flesh on her neck, creating a sense of urgency.

These people… They were going to assault and kill her!

There wouldn't be any evidence either since they planned on disposing of her.

She closed her eyes as tears began to form.

'Someone, please… Save me…'

Meanwhile, A certain silver-haired youth watched this play out with a dumbfounded expression.

'Is something this cliche really happening right now? I kind of feel like this is some kind of trap… For example the instant you 'rescue' the girl, she'll backstab you and rob you clean.'

Arvell watched the group with a scrutinizing gaze.

'Their acting is on point for that matter.'

Lykos face-palmed when he saw Arvell's attitude.

But… Even though Arvell felt that the situation was cliche, he still had doubts.

'I think this is really happening right now… Best if you save her,' Lykos advised.

'Sigh… Being the white knight for a damsel in distress sounds like more of a pain than anything else, but if she's actually going to get r*ped and killed, I can't just turn a blind eye.'

A cold glint passed through Arvell's eyes, while his lips curved into a cold sneer.

'While killing them is off the table, a little pain wouldn't be too bad right?'