国内盗摄系列在线

Chapter 64 Pride (1)

A day later.

The miniature world was basked with light, the sun ever-shining and eternally present, exuding infinite serene brilliance to the whole dimension.

The grass expanse was stretched infinitely, as though there was no end. It was as resplendent as the day before, stuck in an immutable ataraxy.

Elias pressed his hand to the checkmark handprint, causing a bright glow and shiver in the tower.

Besides him, Hajin and Ragna also did the same actions from the other parts of the tower. It had been a day or so since they started traveling together.

As it turned out, time was no different in the Inner Circle dimension, it was just the same with the outside world.

However, there was a majordifference.

There was no night in this place.

The night was absent in this separate world, displaying a stagnant dimension of "every day" with no shifts of darkness.

It was just broad daylight here, with the sun present at every moment.

As a result, it was hard to track the time in this world. With the sun eternally present, it was difficult to notice how much time they already spent in the inner circle.

Thankfully, whether the intentional design of the academy or mere coincidence, the special watch given to them on the first day recorded the time of the outside world.

\'Day 3, 9:10.\'

Elias and the gang have been together for the past day. They traveled throughout the inner circle for a day, nearing the center of the dimension.

At this moment, they were standing in front of a checkmark with the number \'3\' marked on its surface.

Elias waited for the pillar to stop trembling before turning around as he looked at his group. Hajin and Ragna backed off and looked at him, their eyes containing discreet boredom.

Over the past few days, they kept repeating the same actions over and over. The act of unlocking checkmarks was already like second nature to them.

If it weren\'t for the occasional Golems that they fought in turns, Hajin and Ragna would\'ve probably died of boredom.

Even then, beating some mass of stones losses its fun after a few attempts. Even Ragna with his battle junkie nature was disinterested after a few fights with other Golems.

Golems, from their experiences, were pretty much the same in strength and abilities.

Celestia and Hajin tried for themselves but didn\'t have the same efficiency as Ragna had—which made them recognize the white-haired herculean strength.

Conversely, Ragna also seemed to acknowledge their strength. But he was more interested in Hajin, for some unknown reason.

As for Elias, he occasionally revealed some of his abilities during battles to garner a bit of trust and respect from his members, although unnecessary.

Celestia and Ragna had already exchanged blows with him, so they roughly understood that he was quite powerful, just not having an idea to what extent.

In the end, Elias and the gang settled to just handle the Golems together as a team to increase the efficiency.

That did wonders. It made them much closer as a team and had the opportunity to learn about each other\'s abilities, increasing their chemistry as a group.

From how things were going, it was rather impressive how their teamwork was improving even though the group was formed on a spur of a moment.

However, in Elias\' opinion, it was still too underdeveloped. Not that he cared, they were just using each other to pass the test anyway.

There was no real "trust" between them.

Elias reached out for the \'puzzle piece\' in the container and put it in his pocket.

"We rest for the time being,"

After saying that to the group, he took a step back and sat on a massive golem\'s fallen and unresponsive body.

Hajin, Ragna, and Celestia nodded quietly. They were walking for a while now, so it was best to rest and relax.

Feeling bored, Hajin looked at Ragna and casually asked.

"Yo, Big Fella. The whole exam is kinda boring, right?"

Ragna nodded but didn\'t reply.

As though expecting it, Hajin didn\'t mind and yawned lazily before asking with interest.

"I\'m curious. You\'re quite strong, what did you do before coming to this school? I never heard of your name before."

Ragna replied casually.

"I live in Azaraith Mountains, atleast that\'s what the Old Geezer said to me. In the mountains, what I do is survive. Fight. Eat. Sleep."

Hajin raised his brows slightly. Well, the man did present himself as some battle-crazed person, so it wasn\'t that surprising to him he fought to survive.

A mountain dweller, not the most shocking thing. But still surprising. However, where did he hear the name Azarith Mountain from again?

Shaking off that familiarity, Hajin commented.

"...I can\'t say that\'s out of my expectations. Why did you come to this academy then? I can tell you\'re not the type to enjoy school."

"To find an opponent. My old geezer told me that a lot of strong fighters are in this place. I\'m looking for a good fight,"

Ragna grinned. He clenched his hand tightly, looking at Elias on top of the golem before turning to Hajime with a knowing gaze.

"Hm, that makes sense. The Arcane Academy is indeed full of geniuses… at least from what I\'ve heard. It will satisfy your wishes,"

Hajin nodded, ignoring the sharp gaze.

Although he wasn\'t that interested in the affairs of the Ranked community, he knew some geniuses in that part of society.

As a matter of fact, he knew a couple of faces in the academy.

"...But is that all that you came here for?"

"That\'s all."

"I see."

"Yes."

Ragna nodded and turned quiet. Beside him, Hajin fell silent as well and kept his eyes open, as though waiting for something.

However, Ragna didn\'t speak anymore afterward. The conversation suddenly froze as both of them fell silent.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Hajin awkwardly coughed and broke the pregnant pause.

"...Aren\'t you going to ask me?"

"About what?"

"...Nevermind."

Hajin sighed, shaking his head. He wasn\'t surprised anymore, this was not the first time he was talking to Ragna.

During their travels, they occasionally took a break and he would take that chance to know more about the others.

After a day of traveling, he gained a rough understanding of their personalities and background.

Knowing all that, Hajin sighed as he concluded.

\'My teammates are truly strange. A cold, silent mysterious cousin… a crazy nun chick… and a giant battle junkie.\'

\'But… this is what makes this interesting. More fun.\'

Hajin thought, repressing a smile to appear on his lips

***

On top of the Golem\'s head, Elias perched on the destroyed guardian of the pillar, similar to a king taking a seat on his throne.

From below, he could sense Hajin and Ragna\'s boredom.

\'It would be strange if they weren\'t bored.\'

The inner circle examination was monotonous this year, focusing on traveling and collecting puzzle pieces.

It was understandable to feel bored. Only God knew how many miles and time they spent walking to each checkmark and another, activating it before subsequently realizing that the fragment inside was something they already had.

The fragments in the checkmarks were randomized, although not fully random.

Each fragment or piece had different chances of appearing, some like the fifth fragment to the eighth fragments were rare.

In contrast, the first four pieces were common.

Elias and the gang had come to a lot of checkmarks and the first four pieces were the pieces they found most of the time.

At first, they didn\'t think much of it. But after repeated attempts, the gang felt a profound sense of pointlessness.

However, it wasn\'t all for naught. In accordance with their efforts, they had already gotten over half of the needed fragments, only missing a couple of them.

\'6 fragments, while the total needed is 8… Hm. We\'re just short of two. That\'s easy enough, we can slow down at this part.\'

Elias was not particularly in a rush, even if the others were already overwhelmed by boredom.

There was still the black sheep that yet to appear.

While he was musing by himself, Elias suddenly remembered that this was the day that Rain\'s team met Elizabeth and Zyrish.

\'I\'m not sure of the exact timeframe, but it will happen today. They will group up… I wonder if we will encounter them?\'

Truthfully, he wasn\'t looking forward to it. He didn\'t really want to see the faces of the characters he created, especially Rain.

They reminded him of his past. Elias closed his eyes. Not to mention, he didn\'t want to establish any connection with the characters in this world at all.

That included Hajin, Ragna, and Celestia.

In fact, if this Inner Circle examination was not about teamwork—-he would\'ve finished this exam alone without a team.

There was no need for allies when you could do it yourself. From his experience, allies and friendships were rather unreliable.

\'The only reliable thing in this world is the self.\'

As cruel and cynical as that sounded, it was the lesson he learned from his life of crime. To rely on others was a weakness.

However, although he knew that, Elias was not a delusional person.

He understood clearly that he was not strong. He was still part of the weak people who relied on others as well, and it was hypocritical for him to preach about the notion of self-reliance.

There were times in the past when he relied on others, such as the matter with the Five Musketeers and Uncle Sanchez, and he knew that it would continue happening until in the end such weakness would become his downfall.

From his experience, Elias came to understand something.

When you rely too much on others, you begin to rely less on yourself and you gradually become weak and too trustful.

Then, it will come to a point when you become too dependent and completely unable to stop yourself from relying on others.

What happens when those other people you\'re relying on leave or betray you?

The consequences need not be said.

You will be left alone, unable to accept the reality, and gradually step into the path of self-destruction…

\'How familiar. Fuck, I hate being reminded of that person. That fucking bastard.\'

Elias gritted his teeth, being reminded of someone in the past.

A vision of a person that stood beside him in the past suddenly flashed in his memories. Then, that person smiled and pushed him off to darkness

That was the fate of the weak. That was his fate once more if he would continue to rely on the others and stay weak and powerless.

Elias understood that fully.

That\'s why he can never be satisfied.

He needed to get stronger. Better. So he would not be weak, he would not lose control of his life, he would be free.

Free like a bird in the sky, free like the emperor on the throne, and free like an infinite ocean with no depths…

Elias unconsciously clenched his fist tightly.

At this moment, Celestia interrupted him.

"Leader, there\'s people in sight."