Legendary Guardians: Mad Emperor

'God no God no, God no!' Kael gasped frantically, his legs flying up the fleets of stairs, leaving Eric in the dust.

Eric chased after Kael's fleeting figure wondering when he got this fast. They ran up the third floor, racing down the left wing.

Kael stopped in front of room number '99', banging on the door repeatedly.

"Liora, are you there?" He screamed whilst still knocking on the door.

Thirty seconds later, Eric caught up, confused by Kael's little adrenaline outburst. He supported himself with his knees, panting heavily while wondering how Kael ran up the stairs at full speed and looked perfectly fine.

The door swiped open, Liora jerking her face out in search of the moron banging on her door, but what she met was Kael's fist.

Bam!

The world turned white, a static sound ringing in her ears as she fell to the ground.

Kael froze, slapping his palm over his lips to stop himself from screaming. He turned to look at Eric, who was chuckling, clearly amused by the hilarious turn of events.

"You are so dead." He said, the excitement in his voice hard to ignore.

— Liora's Dorm, Room 99 —

Kael was on his knees, his head lowered while Liora stood over him, pressing a bag of ice on her left eye. Meanwhile, Eric sat on the sofa next to her bed, his face beaming with excitement.

Liora was still dressed in her sky blue tracksuit, meaning she had also taken the exam like them, and she woke up later.

"Sorry, I thought you died like the others," Kael mumbled under his breath, his face nervously rising to meet Liora's gaze.

He could feel her vicious gaze pinned on him, but for some reason she was quiet. Unknown to him, Eric's presence was a deterrent to Liora.

While he wore a smile, something was threatening about his smile. His presence made her uncomfortable and she wasn't bold enough to ask him to leave.

"It's okay," Liora snorted disdainfully.

She walked over to her bed and sat down. Her lips parted, about to say something when the final announcement came.

[Unfortunately, Ashen Faye lost her way during the ritual and was neutralized.]

[This concludes this batch mystic resonance test, congratulations to all successful candidates. Academic activities officially start tomorrow, be ready.]

Buzz!

Liora trembled, goosebumps spreading across her skin. She pulled the ice bag off her eyes, fell on her bed, and looked towards the ceiling.

"Successful candidates?" She scoffed. "We are the only candidates left."

Her words stung Kael, he was stunned to see her worried over something like this. This was contrary to her ice queen persona, but then again, who wouldn't be worried about an academy that killed off forty-five out of fifty of its new batch of students?

Liora abruptly sat her, her questioning gaze falling on Kael initially before shifting it to Eric.

"Erm… There shouldn't be any tests after this right?" Liora asked nervously, her gaze pinned on the ground.

Kael noticed this, his gaze tightening as he shot Erica a threatening glare.

"The moment you became a demi-human, you should have abandoned the thought of safety." A deep voice rang from the door before Eric could respond.

Their heads snapped in that location, their gaze falling on an extremely handsome youth. He has perfect golden hair gelled back neatly. This complemented his oval-shaped face, his golden-hued eyes, and his perfect white teeth row, giving his smile an enchanting quality.

He had a muscular build barely hidden under his black shirt and he was nearly 6'5'' feet.

Beside him is a girl barely 5'5'' feet; she has shoulder-length chestnut brown hair, her face framed by her large spectacles. She had dimples on her face, her figure as flat as a board.

Seeing three eyes on her, she nervously took a step back before speaking.

"Erm.. Hello… We heard the noise, so we decided to check it out." She said, her voice barely audible.

"What do you mean?" Liora ignored the girl, her interested gaze fixated on the handsome man standing beside him.

Her inviting smile gave Mark the courage to walk into the room, gesturing for Ren to follow with a finger flick.

"If you noticed, the mystic resonance was carried out with a small portion of a demi-beast corpse. While this limits the demi-beast's influence over us. To grow stronger we will constantly have to repeat the ritual of resonance, each with a piece of the demi-beast until we consume the entire thing, truly becoming a complete demi-human." Mark explained, his charming smile made Liora blush.

Kael noticed this, his eyes darting between the two whose gaze seemed to be locked.

"A complete demi-human. A true combination of human and demi-beast… Interesting." Eric muttered thoughtfully, habitually rubbing his chin.

"You… You are Kael. The person chosen by Ra!" Ren said, hurriedly walking up to Kael as if she just met a celebrity.

Spooked by her sudden approach Kael jerked back, falling on his butt. He thought everyone would laugh at him as usual but there was silence as everyone, except Eric, gazed at him with a stern look.

Only now did they remember the announcement that sent the entire academy ablaze a day ago? The student everyone was certain would die ended up the inheritor of Ra's power.

How could they not be shocked?

"It's nothing special." Kael blushed, trying to play it cool but his comment seemed to offend people in the room.

"Are you okay? Ten people… died trying to get the power you got…. and that's… just in Aranos Academy alone." Ren stuttered the more excited she got.

She walked up to Kael, standing a step away before she continued.

"Only one person could have gotten Ra's power in the entire empire… even though people said you just got lucky because you took the test first …. deep down, we all know it's more than that," she added, a ting of certainty in her tone.