Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 718: Disappointment

Asher, who was sleeping comfortably, suddenly frowned, his thoughts awakening amidst his sleep as his ’room’ was simply too windy at the moment, and he distinctly remembered closing his window before he slept off. The next moment, his eyes snapped open, but when he woke up, his gaze did not meet the familiar setting of his room; no, what met his sense of sight was what seemed like a... forest?

Asher’s purple eyes immediately snapped to what he was lying on... the ground. The rough texture beneath him felt undeniably real, grounding his awareness instantly. He immediately shot to his feet, his Omni Perception expanding to over nine hundred meters as he instantly took in his surroundings with precise awareness. After all, this moment made him remember something... the Wargrave’s True Awakening event.

After all, it was similar; at the time, he had been in his room, then the next moment he had been in a forest, without any form of transition or warning.

The moment Asher’s Omni Perception expanded, he froze; he was not the only one present. He could sense every single student, from his classmates to the third year students, all lying down on the ground, fast asleep, their presence calm and unguarded, some even turning and snoring as though they enjoyed the wind that came from the trees, completely unaware of the situation.

’Congratulations, you are the first to wake up, but I do not know if I should say as expected; try not to wake the others,’ a voice echoed within Asher’s mind, calm yet subtly observant.

Asher’s mind narrowed; he had heard the message clearly, but he had not sensed anyone within almost a kilometer radius, which only heightened his vigilance briefly.

’System, how long has it been since I was teleported to this place?’ Asher asked the system, immediately ignoring the voice as he already concluded the message was coming from a hidden Instructor.

[The Host and everyone else were teleported here nine seconds ago]

The system replied with a chime.

’It seems I woke up almost immediately after I was teleported,’ Asher thought to himself as he understood that his body and senses had simply reacted to the unfamiliar wind from the forest.

’What is the time?’ he asked the system again.

[Five o’clock]

The reply came instantly.

’As I guessed,’ Asher nodded slightly as he looked down at his body, noticing his pajamas shifting lightly with the breeze. ’Maybe I should not have changed clothes,’ he mused as he immediately sat on the ground, as he could already guess that the training would only begin when everyone woke up or when the hidden Instructor finally decided to make a move.

A minute went by, and Thalric immediately rose to his feet, the moment he woke, his sabre was the first thing that appeared in his hand as he went into a battle stance, his reaction swift and instinctive, but the next moment he froze in place as though someone was communicating telepathically with him.

Not long after, Teo Swig followed, his eyes shifting towards Asher and Thalric’s location; he nodded at them in acknowledgment, then tore his gaze away as he remained in silence. And with that, people began to wake up one after the other, some alert, others disoriented, and of course, some did not; they simply became more comfortable in their sleep, as though their bodies could not differentiate between sleeping on a bed and on hard ground.

A total of exactly one hour passed as it struck six o’clock on the dot, and at that moment, water appeared from thin air and splashed all over the bodies of those who were still sleeping, all of them shooting to their feet like startled cats, but before any of them could do or say anything, a pressure descended from above, locking every single person in place.

Asher and everyone else’s eyes snapped upwards, drawn instinctively, and there they saw a beautiful woman floating in the air as though the wind itself begged to anchor her in place, her presence dominating the surroundings effortlessly. She had a disappointed expression on her face as she stared at them, her gaze sharp and piercing.

Nobody recognized her, but they did not need to be told to understand that this was a new Instructor assigned by the Principal.

The next moment, the pressure vanished, everyone regaining control over their bodies, as the Instructor had only unleashed her pressure to avoid any sort of noise or reactions from those that woke up as a result of the water splash, but although the pressure vanished, the disappointed expression did not fade.

"From the little test I have just conducted, I do not know if I should say I am disappointed in the Instructors that are teaching you, or if the Empire’s talent rate is simply declining," the Instructor began to speak, her voice low and calm, yet filled with authority, "you all have gone on a minimum of ten missions in the past ten months, and what do you have to show for it? Literally nothing," she stated as she stared down at them like a deity addressing her subordinates.

"For a whole hour, I teleported all of you from your rooms; if this were a battlefield, you would have been killed in your sleep before you even understood what was going on," she stated, "maybe I should just suggest to the Sovereign that we skip the tournament this year," her tone merciless and brisk as she was clearly disappointed.

To her, these students had gone on missions; they had all slept in forests or been on various night watch duties during missions, so they should have at least sensed the changes in their surroundings even in their sleep through the experience they had gained during their missions, yet the majority had failed.

Of course, there were a few people who performed well, like Asher, Thalric, Teo, and many more, but did she acknowledge them out loud? Of course not, to her, waking up immediately or on time should be expected, not rewarded.

"And I am even more disappointed in the Upperclassmen, with your two to three years of experience, and you still failed the test? I cannot help but wonder how you all have not died during your missions up until this point," she remarked, her tone flat and unforgiving.

No student dared to speak, they only met her words with silence and stares, what could they possibly say, they knew she was right, and in a normal moment they would have reacted, but they had all let their guards down because they were in a "safe place."

Besides, even if she was wrong or not, could they talk back? Definitely not, although she did not state her Life Rank, everyone assumed and guessed she was at the Crownstar Life Rank. Even if she was not, or she was weaker than them, talking back to an Instructor was grounds for expulsion.

"Pathetic," her voice echoed once more for the final time as though she was done expressing the disappointment she had just experienced.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Before any of you come for my head, do know this training won’t be long, just a couple of Chapters (3 or 4) just to show it happened. Nothing more.