Chapter 142: Preparation
She was reading the books she took and paid for from the library.
Taking books from the library to your room also required extra points, this is why some students prefer to read in the library.
The library also doesn't have any closing hour or opening hour, it was basically open 24 hours a day making it perfect.
Tomorrow was the written exam so she was going over everything possible.
She had pushed herself more since the last time she witnessed Anthony's brilliance.
Which was on the ship when he fought Clement.
She was surprised by Clement's strength, she didn't expect that the gap between them would be that big.
But she felt she could close the gap in no time.
But her hopes were shattered when Clement and the rest rank amock.
She closed the book and sighed.
In the previous written exam she was just a point behind Bryan.
She won't allow that to happen this year.
But as for the battle exam, she wasn't so sure about it.
She had fourteen people all fighting for the first place with her.
She wasn't so optimistic that could even stand on the first place, she wasn't that delusional.
But what she didn't know was that neither Bryan nor the Storm brothers or even the ten fingers were vying for the first rank.
The thirteen of them had seen Anthony's abilities in the illusion so they weren't so delusional about getting the first rank.
They all knew Anthony remained undisputed.
As Tiara was about to pick up another book, a portal suddenly opened beside her.
Tiara didn't react as this portal opened, she had seen this sight a lot.
This was how she met her master, or rather this is how her master usual calls for her.
She just opens a portal directly in front of her and all Tiara had to do was step in.
Tiara sighed as she saw the portal.
She had no qualms meeting her master, she was already done reading, she was just revising to be sure there wasn't anything she missed.
Then she stood up and entered the portal which immediately closed when she stepped into it.
Tiara arrived in front of the Blood Empress who had an aura of command and authority radiating off her body.
She held a file on her hand as she went through it.
"The disciple greets master"
Tiara quickly greeted as she bowed the moment she arrived.
The Blood Empress raised her head and her blood red eyes met Tiara who was still bowing.
"How many times do I have to say you don't have to do such nonsense when its just us"
Tiara rose up, but she didn't reply.
She just stood there and waited for her mater to continue.
"How is your preparation for the exams going"
The Vice president asked without any concern as she was sure that Tiara would still be in the top twenty both in the written and battle exams.
"I'm pretty much done with every preparation, just flipping through some books to be sure I didn't miss anything useful"
Tiara replied honestly.
"Are you still thinking about surpassing Anthony or Bryan"
The Blood Empress asked in a straight forward manner without beating around the bush.
The Blood Empress understood that her disciple stood a chance against Bryan and the Storm brothers.
But against those eleven Human freaks?, she literally stood no chance.
She wanted her disciple to accept reality on time so that it won't lead to major complications later on.
The Blood Empress knew that Bryan had already done this and integrated with Anthony and his crew as they were always together.
Tiara clenched her fist when she heard this, but she just sighed and said.
"I know I can still stand at the top three for the written exam but I don't know what my rank would be for the battle exam"
The Blood Empress nodded at this as she too came to the same conclusion as her disciple.
"You should try sleeping this night even if you don't need it, just try closing your eyes"
The Blood Empress gave her an advice as they discussed.
....
The Dean's secret realm
Two figures could be seen clashing as sounds erupted upon their constant collision.
Well, more like one continued to dart around and attack from various angles while the other just defended without taking a step back or forward.
No matter the amount of force the attacker used, the defender would just block it like child's play.
This was a display between the Slaughterer and Bryan.
They were going through their last training before the exams begin the next day.
"You have to be faster and sharper"
The Dean said as he blocked another attack with his bare hand and the other behind his back like a master.
"Your opponent won't give you time to think before you attack, they won't allow you to breathe, or even counter"
"Always expect a trump card coming out from nowhere, never assume they are on their last feet, always expect them to self destruct even if they've used all card"
"Never jump to conclusions till your opponent takes their last breath"
The Dean's voice kept sounding as he blocked the continuous attacks.
After about another hour, Bryan stopped.
He was barely standing, his sabre plunged into the ground as he used it for support.
"You have improved compared to a year ago"
The Dean said to Bryan with a nodd.
Bryan smiled in return as he appreciated his master's praise, which shows his hardwork wasn't going to waste.
"Have you spoken to Anthony for the past three months"
The Dean asked Bryan.
Bryan replied immediately.
"I haven't seen him since the day he paid for our classmates to eat lavishing meals"
The Dean heard Bryan's reply then fell into thought.
'Where is he?'
The Dean could sense everything happening in the Academy whenever he wants.
The day after the feast, the Dean had received news of Anthony's spending seventy million Academy points.
So he spread his senses to sense what Anthony was doing, but Anthony had mysteriously disappeared.
He looked throughout the Academy and even the Domain as a whole but not a single clue was found.
He came to a conclusion that Anthony had left the Academy by teleporting.
Although this was against the rules since the students aren't allowed to leave the Academy Domain unless they took a mission or it's during a holiday.
But the Dean ignored this and didn't make an issue out of it as he remembered Anthony's power and abilities.
He felt that the Academy may have become stuffy of some sort for Anthony.
So the Dean just let Anthony to do his thing.
Bryan looked at his master and asked cautiously.
"Master, did Anthony get criticallly injured during his mission or is his core having issues or is it damaged"
Bryan had also heard the rumors and speculation that Anthony was critically injured and went into hiding and was trying to heal himself.
Normally Bryan won't even give these speculation a single thought, but when he connected the illusion Anthony showed him together with the rumours, it seemed true.
In the illusion Anthony had many injuries and even ran out of potions, coupled with the fact that Anthony had literally just thrown them out of his room as he was done showing them what happened during the mission, this has never happened before, so Bryan had no choice than to somewhat believe these rumours.
The Dean heard this question and almost laughed.
'Injured? Critically? damaged core?'
The Dean thought, but didn't say anything as he didn't even know where Anthony was at this very moment.
But he needed to at least give his student a reply, and as he was about to give it, he sensed a presence, a presence he hasn't sensed for three whole months.
'He has returned, it must be for the exams'
The Dean thought.
Then he looked at Bryan and said.
"Tomorrow is the exam, you will meet him then, do you best and also get some sleep"
Then Bryan immediately disappeared from the secret realm under the Dean's control.
The Dean's looked at Anthony's direction then shook his head as he saw Anthony taking off his clothes in order to take a bath.
He removed his eyes then disappeared.