The Glorious Evolution

While Nurah had already joined Levi on the other side, sitting next to him and conversing about the Wyvern’s puzzle he solved, Demetris’ door was still shut.

He was seen standing in front of it with a deadpan expression while his eyes were peeking through the keyhole, gazing at Levi and Nurah talking and laughing with each other.

A mere door separating them, yet Demetris felt like he was left behind on the loser’s bench... a feeling he never experienced once in his life.

-How disappointing.-

-Is this his limit? I thought he was better than this.-

-He let his emotions get the best of him.-

Suddenly, the nightcrawlers’ negative comments rained down on Demetris, jolting him awake from his daze. As he lifted his head and saw their judgmental and disappointed looks, he felt like his heart was stabbed by a hundred knives.

”No, no...” Demetris murmured, looking like he was trying to summon the words to defend himself.

Before he could collect his thoughts, Instructor Seraphis’ stern voice resounded in his mind.

”Demetris, get your ass to the back of the line. Now!”

”Yes, sir...”

When he looked around him, he found that he was the last candidate left in the halls, holding back the start of the new group.

He swiftly exited the trial and glanced back at the holographic screen to see his results. When he saw the giant F grade in the fourth section, his blood went cold.

Although an F grade wasn’t rare in this trial, as many candidates failed to clear more than two sections, this was the first time Demetris had scored anything this low.

To make matters worse, Levi’s unattainable score was placed right next to it... taunting and mocking him to no end.

It was like Levi didn’t even need to say anything... his results spoke for him.

That’s exactly what he did.

Demetris watched Levi get surrounded by Arthur and his friends, clearly discussing his insane results and his new Nightmount.

Even when he walked right past him, Levi neither cursed nor taunted him... he merely ignored him.

Yet, this was ten times more humiliating to Demetris, as the notion of being ignored made him feel like Levi wasn’t considering him at the same level.

Demetris gritted his teeth until sparks were about to fly, but he said nothing to Levi this time. He just walked away from him and sat on the resting bench with his head lowered and his dark green hair hiding his cruel visage.

’A f*cking disabled bastard... I’m getting treated like this by the muggle of the world. My future legacy will never survive if this is how it starts.’

While Levi hadn’t spoken or glanced in Demetris’ direction, he could listen to his heartbeats. They didn’t sound like normal heartbeats in the slightest... but more like a trapped beast chewing at the cage of their chest.

This made Levi recognize that if he and Demetris were put in prison, he wouldn’t hesitate to shiv him a hundred times over.

Yet, Levi was neither scared nor had any intention of pulling back.

Demetris was the one making this personal, and Levi was going to make sure to absolutely crush him in any trial... forget the wager, he was doing this for his own pleasure.

As much as Levi was chill, polite, and kind, he was still raised by an army of cruel and merciless nightcrawlers. He had no intention of taking crap from anyone.

Ever.

...

Sometime later...

The Trial of Intelligence concluded after all the groups had a taste of each section’s puzzle. Melissa and Rayan scored decently, reaching the fourth section as well. Many other candidates did the same.

However, none of them managed to solve the fourth puzzle. Since it changed from one group to another, even if Levi wanted to help them cheat, it wasn’t possible.

When these candidates made it to the fourth stage and realized that Levi had solved it in less than five minutes, it left them utterly stumped.

They just couldn’t understand how he managed to hear the whispers, decipher them, and solve the puzzle in such a short period.

”The leaderboard will be updated now,” Instructor Seraphis announced.

Hearing this, everyone lifted their heads and gazed at the shifting numbers on the holographic leaderboard.

A moment later, the ranks stabilized, and a new leaderboard was born:

//1 - Levi Larson – 902 pts

2 - Nurah Blackthorn – 750 pts

3 - Demetris Bane – 550 pts

4 - Houda Omari (Jojo) – 440 pts

5 - Melissa Harper – 420 pts

6 - Arthur Larson – 402 pts

7 - Omar Mansour – 370 pts

8 - Selene Austris – 350 pts

9 - Kiera Joan – 300 pts

10 - Rayan Morningstar – 287 pts//

When everyone saw Levi’s name claiming the throne, no one was surprised. But the massive gap in points between him and the second/third place did raise some eyebrows.

”A whole three hundred and fifty points between him and Demetris,” Rayan smirked. ”If he wants to catch up, he needs a miracle.”

”There are still the Trials of Spirituality and Combat left... You must not drop your guard,” Melissa warned sweetly.

Just as Arthur was about to laugh at her claim and brag about his brother’s insane spiritual presence, Levi pinched him, silencing him instantly. Then, he told her he would keep it in mind and refocused on Instructor Seraphis’ speech.

”Although you’ve all made it through without scoring zero, don’t let your guard down just yet... I’ve prepared something special for the next trial.”

Most candidates felt their hearts skip a beat after realizing that the sword of elimination was still hanging above their heads.

They knew that scoring zero in the upcoming two trials shouldn’t be possible since one tested spirituality and the other combat... but it looked like Instructor Seraphis had other plans.

”You have a two-hour break before the start of the Trial of Spirituality,” Instructor Seraphis called. ”You are excused... Levi, follow me.”

”Yes, sir.”

Before Levi could take a step, the ground underneath his feet broke off into a floating platform and took him away, heading in the same direction as the instructor.

Watching this sight, Nurah approached the gloomy Demetris and chuckled, ”I never knew you were so kind to donate this many Solar Aegis coins to us.”

”You...”

Then, she took off toward the apartment complex, uncaring that her burn left Demetris fuming even more. But Demetris knew that she wasn’t a nobody that he could afford to insult or get on her bad side.

Although he was sponsored heavily by the Sunstrike Agency, his background wasn’t as authoritative.

He was part of the newly arising Bane Lineage family, which was considered to have only two generations of Daywalkers.

Meanwhile, Nurah was the precious daughter of the Blackthorn family... an assassination-oriented family that was older than the Great Fall of civilization.

Thus, just like every bully in the universe, Demetris channeled his hatred, humiliation, and everything shitty he went through in the past two days into one person.

His frigid eyes were locked onto Levi’s retreating silhouette.

’I have one chance and one chance only to redeem myself.’