Free Web NovelChapter 15: The Price of Survival
Silas knew he could not reveal anything to his friend, not even the smallest hint. If he did, hunters as experienced as Vaelous and his companions would notice immediately.
Taking a slow breath, he calmed his mind and began dragging his leg with all his strength.
"What are you doing?!"
Darius was not the only one shocked, but he was the first to voice it. Before his eyes, Silas was pulling Vaelous and the other two men upward.
"Stop! You can’t bring them up!"
Convinced that his friend had given up, Darius hurried forward, intending to snap him out of it. Yet the fierce glare Silas shot him froze him in place.
There was something unusual in that look, and for the first time, Darius realised there was more to this than he had assumed. Then he noticed Silas subtly shift his gaze toward Vaelous and the others.
The gesture lasted only a moment, but it carried a clear message.
Following the hint, Darius looked carefully at the three men dangling over the abyss. There, he finally spotted the detail Silas had been praying he would notice before it was too late.
"Hahaha! That’s it! Keep pulling us up! We’re barely weighing anything thanks to my friend’s ability!"
Believing himself saved, Vaelous laughed freely. The fear and tension that had gripped him moments earlier began to fade as he rose higher and higher. A few more pulls, and he and his companions would be safely back on solid ground.
"Now!"
Silas’ heart tightened when Darius remained motionless. He had thought his friend understood the signal, but it seemed otherwise. Unable to wait any longer, he shouted.
What Silas did not know was that Darius had understood the hint perfectly. He had simply expected a direct signal before acting and had been waiting for it while growing increasingly anxious as Vaelous climbed closer to safety.
The moment Silas shouted, Darius sprang into action. And relief flashed through both of them. freewebnσvel.cøm
Darius dashed forward, circling behind Silas. Raising his right arm, he activated his ability and brought the massive tusk crashing down toward Vaelous.
Everything happened so quickly that even Vaelous struggled to comprehend the sudden shift. One moment, he was on the verge of escaping death. Next, the boy pulling him to safety was shouting for his companion to attack.
The situation was so abrupt and confusing that neither Vaelous nor his companions could make sense of it. Still, none of them feared the attack itself. Darius’ tusk had struck them before without leaving so much as a scratch.
Nothing would happen this time as well. At least, that was what they believed. Yet, they had underestimated Silas.
The instant the tusk descended, Silas abruptly stopped pulling and let himself fall. He released all support, allowing the combined weight of three adults to drag him over the edge alongside them.
It was a crazy move, but it was also the only way to guarantee victory. As Silas plunged downward, Vaelous’ eyes widened in horror. He immediately understood what was happening. The boy had willingly thrown himself into the abyss.
As gravity seized him, Vaelous reacted on pure instinct. His left hand shot toward the cliff edge, desperately searching for anything he could grab. At that exact moment, Darius’ attack landed.
"AGH!"
The sudden change affected everyone. Vaelous’ two companions, who had been clinging to him the entire time, lost their grip as their bodies lurched violently downward. For a brief moment, they were suspended in the open air.
At the same time, Vaelous’ concentration faltered. His iron-like defence, maintained through one of his companions’ abilities, vanished for the first time. Darius’ strike finally broke through and landed heavily on his hand.
The tusk did not target Vaelous’ hand itself; it targeted what he was holding: the mana crystal. The impact sent a surge of pain through Vaelous’ arm, causing his fingers to loosen. The crystal slipped free, and before he could recover, Darius kicked it away.
In an instant, Vaelous lost the only source of mana sustaining his abilities. His powers collapsed, and the control over Silas’ lower body vanished.
"Scram, you piece of shit!"
The moment Silas felt full control return to his legs, he drove both daggers deep into the cliffside. The blades bit into the stone and halted his fall. Then he looked directly into Vaelous’ terrified eyes.
Every ounce of frustration, hatred, and resentment he had endured over the past days erupted at once. With a shout, he drove his left foot into Vaelous’ face, and the kick sent the man tumbling backwards.
Silas pulled himself upward while Vaelous and his two companions disappeared into the darkness below. Their screams echoed through the abyss for several long seconds before fading into silence.
"You know you’re completely insane, right?"
Panting heavily, Darius helped Silas climb back onto solid ground before collapsing onto his back. Only now did he realise his entire body was drenched in cold sweat. And Silas was not much better.
"We killed them." Darius paused, "But they tried to kill us first. So they deserved it. Still.. That crazy move at the end was quite something."
"Hahaha... I know, right? RIGHT? But it was worth it."
Silas lay on the ground, gasping for breath, yet a broad smile spread across his face. Against every expectation, he had defeated a group of C-Enhancers.
Yet he couldn’t help but feel something different inside him, something subtle that changed. After the fight, he ended up killing lots of Enhancers. He started with his teammates before he killed Vaelous and his companions.
As the realisation sank, he couldn’t help but move his eyes towards the deep abyss close by.
’I wonder if killing others should feel this light and little.’
His thoughts froze when he recalled how he started this test. He was a harmless kid from an orphanage who hadn’t killed a fly before. And now, the blood of many was on his hands.
Yet whenever he remembered everything he had endured during the past few days, and every scheme Vaelous had used against him, the unease in his heart faded a little.
"That bastard deserved to die a hundred times for what he did."
Raising a clenched fist toward the sky, Silas spat over the edge of the abyss. And Darius chuckled despite the pain.
"Next time, at least warn me before you pull something that insane."
Silas merely smiled. For the first time, he felt as though he had truly stepped into the world of Enhancers, truly grasped what it meant to be one of humanity’s strongest weapons.
The Eldrune world was harsh, and surviving it required strength and wisdom. Such realisation seemed to click something profound deep into his heart. The feeling swelling inside his chest was unlike anything he had ever experienced; he felt like he finally had the strength to survive.
And strangely enough, it felt good.
"What now?"
After resting in silence for nearly half an hour, Darius slowly rose to his feet.
"Any more hidden surprises?"
"I don’t think so."
Silas stood beside him and gazed into the abyss he had spent days creating. Then, as though unwilling to dwell on what he had done, he shifted his gaze toward the horizon.
"Now we head back, bury the dead, collect the cores, and keep hunting until the teachers arrive."
Darius gave him an odd look. After all, Silas had played a direct role in the deaths of their teammates. Yet when he recalled everything that had happened, the betrayal, the desperate struggle for survival, and the battle against Vaelous, he pushed those thoughts aside.
Silas did not need to justify himself to Darius, as the latter finally understood. Being an Enhancer meant making impossible choices. Otherwise, you would become the one buried by others.
The two returned to where their four teammates were. Even for Silas, the sight of Leon, Selene, and Cassian lying cold on the ground, with their bodies littered with many wounds, was quite intense.
"Seven days ago, these four had argued over rankings, joked and celebrated their first victory over monsters, and dreamed about entering the academy and what they would do there." Darius took in a deep breath, stating more memories from the past days over the four graves.
And slowly, unintentionally, his voice grew heavier and loaded with more pain than ever. Ending up with his voice suffocating in his throat, unable to continue for a few minutes.
"Seven days ago, they all dreamed about entering the academy. But now, only the two of us will leave."
Darius stood by the four graves, marked by tree branches he personally brought from the nearby tree area, as he touched every branch as if he were saying his goodbyes. Silas silently stood by his side, said nothing, and only shook his head.
’In the end, after everything you did, I’m still the one who got the last laugh.’
He thought like this while distributing the cores from each of the four backpacks. As for Darius, the entire situation was quite conflicting and suffocating for him to say anything.
ROAR!
All of a sudden, a thunderous roar echoed from the distance.
"Let’s go," Silas said, motioning to Darius. "You take the front. I’ll support from behind."
And so they spent the remaining hours before the next morning fighting more waves of monsters. Then, at last, by the appearance of the new day’s light, the admission test came to an end.
Silas looked toward the horizon, watching as the light of the new day prevailed and spread across the sky.
’Today the academy teachers will arrive.’
But for the first time, he wondered whether what he suffered in the admission test would be over, or he was destined to face more challenges and risks back at the academy.
After all, the Frontier Academy was known to be eccentric and quite dangerous.
