“Are you crazy? What are you trying to do?"

Nalt rushed forward with his eyes wide open upon the last move of his friends with whom they laughed and had fun until yesterday.

"You will pay for this, or you cannot get out of here!"

Half of the group, taking the cutting tools in their hands, ran and lined up in front of the exit door. While all this was happening, Mel watched them calmly.

"Hanso, if anything happens to us, you can cover it up. But what will you do if Mel gets hurt?"

The atmosphere in the hall got even heavier due to the tension of the people who were about to enter a road of no return. Despite this, those who failed to enter the academy had no intention of backing down.

“Who cares if he broke the record of many years? We saw the gaze of the nobles and Master Louise. If Mel dies here, no one will mourn behind him!”

Children, who did not know that Grumpy Hanry gave his badge to Mel, only inferred from what they saw. They were so hell-bent on attacking Mel. After Hanso's words, Nalt attempted to move forward but Mel stopped him. It was his turn.

"I see that your heads are working a lot and you have analyzed the test environment very well. But you did not neglect to act stupidly in the most crucial moment!"

Mel took two steps away from where he had stood since the beginning of the events and approached the boy who had been provoking others against him. Hanso took a step back since he was scared by the physical difference between them. Now, there was a distance between them at the length of an arm.

"He will pay for…!"

"Shut up, you've spoken enough!"

Mel frowned for the first time, and it was clear from the tone of his voice that he was coming to the end of his tolerance.

“You see how the nobles or some people in the academy behave a commoner like you and you use it. But you do not trust someone who helped you in the first test and you get scared of going into the forest. I can understand even that to a certain degree. But I can only laugh at your stupidity of threatening me, who has the courage to offer you to enter the forest, with those tools you are holding in your hands!”

When he finished his words, the heavy atmosphere began to stir as if it was boiling. Neither the door nor the window was open, but everyone was aware that there was something inside.

Mel's mood of tranquility was also fluctuating. Even though the people he turned his back did not realize, Hanso saw a red ring appearing at the edges of Mel’s pupils.

First, he got scared and took a step or two back. Then he somehow regained his courage and continued to provoke others against Mel.

"So be it! You betrayed us and now make fun of us. Nobody has any doubts anymore!”

Others accompanied him. Curses and insults were flying. Hanso went a step further and swung the knife towards Mel's face.

"Drop dead!"

Perhaps because of the ambition or maybe because of the heedlessness of feeling important for the first time, Hanso gritted his teeth and swung his weapon as if attacking his arch-enemy.

Others were puzzled. They wanted to reciprocate their failure in the test by beating those they could afford. But one of them was making an extremely unexpected move.

After a moment, a chilling laugh began to echo inside the tall single-story building. Mel was laughing rapturously.

“Are you going to kill me with this? With the knife, you cut the stem and peel off the fruit?"

Hanso's knife hit the right hand of the young boy standing in front of him. The cutter side was in Mel’s hand while the handle was in Hanso’s hand. Even though he tried to pull it back, the knife did not move an inch. But the interesting thing was that not a single drop of blood flowed from the hands of the young man laughing out loud.

“You miserable life form! You dared to attack me while you were a crock among other crocks even in your own kind!"

The red circle that had just been around the pupil had now turned into a mist of energy that covered Mel's entire body. Even though it was not very intense, the cutting tools in the hands of all the young children were falling to the ground one by one.

Hanso also tried to let go of the attacking tool and escape, but this time a hand caught him by the wrist.

“Betraying whoever helped you is the hallmark of your species. Even a bug like you is no exception! ”

"Let me go! I beg you let me go!”

Hanso held Mel's arm with both of his hands, but it was no good. The burly young boy did not move even an inch.

“Do you want to go so much? Then, let me help you!”

Mel let go of the hand he was holding tightly but simultaneously grabbed Hanso by the throat. Now they were at the same height. To accomplish this, Mel raised his opponent a foot above the ground. The traces of terror were read in the eyes of the children watching this unexpected event.

"Get out of my sight!"

He threw Hanso like a rag. The young boy, who was thrown into the air, flew to the wooden wall at the end of the building and fell to the ground with a loud noise. Meanwhile, Mel turned around. The people blocking the door screamed and ran away when they saw him.

Mel jumped out quickly. Without a word, he ran to the door that opened outside the settlement. He bumped into people who were trying to enter the city and started running towards the forest while words were pouring from his lips.

"What have I done?"

"How did I do such a thing?"

The red energy mist in his body disappeared and the circle surrounding his pupils turned green as usual.

He moved quickly through dense trees. No one came in his way; neither a creature nor a tree. They were like trying to escape from him. He did not slow down as he passed through the black lands and came to the lake with the waterfall. He jumped into the water with all his speed.

He was sinking like a stone. His eyes were wide open as he advanced into the depths of icy water with dozens of questions in his head.