CHAPTER 44: SECOND PLACE, AND STRANGE THINGS IN THE DARK

Mitra and Curt were still stunned by what they’d seen. The power Damian showed was far greater than anything the other new recruits had displayed.

Damian just shrugged. "It wasn’t a powerful demon. Don’t think too highly of me."

"So you’re humble too?" Mitra joked. "Anyway, let’s head back—we’re done with the test."

They finally let themselves relax, knowing they’d finished the task Professor Mark had given them. It felt good to have that weight off their shoulders.

Damian led the way back to the meeting point Mark had told them to go to after completing the task, the demon slung over his back.

Mark wasn’t there—he was busy watching over the other recruits, like Randal—but a few officers were on site to handle the groups that finished early.

When the officers spotted Damian’s group, they checked their watches to see how long it had taken them to bring back the demon. The result was fast—very fast.

"You’re done with the test?" one officer said. "Impressive. Your group is the second to finish."

Damian blinked. "Wait—second? Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course. Another group finished thirty minutes ago."

Damian and his friends exchanged glances. That was even more impressive than his own performance.

Sure, if Damian had used his demon eye and gone all out, he could have tracked and killed the demon in much less time—but apparently, there was another recruit, or group of recruits, whose abilities were far above the norm.

"Can you tell me who it was?" Damian asked.

The officer shook his head. "No, that’s impossible. Speaking of which, you should clear out before another group gets here. I already have your names and the completion time, so I’ll let Mark know."

They left as soon as the officer told them to. Everyone knew better than to go against the soldiers, and Damian wasn’t about to be the first stupid new recruit to ignore orders.

After leaving the forest and returning to the academy grounds, Mitra finally spoke her mind.

"How the fuck did someone finish so early? We were fast because of you, Damian, yet we still didn’t get first place."

She clearly wanted first place for the bonus points. Sure, second place was still great—and they’d earn plenty of points for it—but it wasn’t the same.

"I want to know who finished before us," Damian said. "There must be someone in that group who’s really powerful... or maybe they had outside help."

Mitra and Curt exchanged a quick look, then whispered, "Outside help? You mean one of the soldiers helped them?"

Damian thought about it. All the recruits taking the test had been present when Mark explained the rules. None of them had stood out as especially impressive.

Maybe there really was some mysterious recruit with power so well-hidden that Damian couldn’t sense it. But that seemed unlikely—so the idea of outside help still lingered in his mind.

"I don’t know. It’s just a guess," he said.

"But what about Randal? Everyone knows he’s loyal to the academy. He’d never let a recruit get outside help," Mitra argued.

She had a point. Damian might have agreed... if he hadn’t been there himself.

"I’m pretty sure Randal spent all his time watching us, not the other groups. That’s the problem," Damian said.

He hadn’t felt Randal’s gaze on him, but deep down, his instincts told him it had been there the whole time.

Anyway, it was just a theory—one that stayed between the trio. None of them planned to say a word about it to anyone else.

"I’m heading back to Lindy’s research room," Damian said. "See you later."

"Alright. Take care, bye."

"Bye."

Professor Mark’s test would run for the entire afternoon, and he’d said that any recruits who finished early could leave and do something else. The results would be announced in the next class.

While Curt and Mitra now had the rest of the day free, Damian headed for Lindy’s research room to continue his work as her assistant.

Before reaching the tower where Lindy’s room was, a few officers stopped him, asking what he was doing there. But Lindy had given him not only the key to the room, but also an ID card—and most of the officers already knew he was the new assistant—so they quickly let him through.

Once inside, Damian sat on the couch and looked out the window. He took out the tooth he’d pulled from the demon.

"Should I absorb it here?" he wondered.

He didn’t think anyone would notice or suspect anything, so he went ahead and absorbed it.

A faint rush of power spread through him—a small boost to his stats—and along with it, a new skill: the ability to dig through the ground. It was a C-rank skill, so not bad at all.

"Maybe I’ll find a way to use this in the future," Damian thought.

Even if he couldn’t find a use for the skill right away, the boost it gave was worth it—three points in endurance, two in strength, and one in agility. That was good enough for now.

After absorbing the demon’s power, Damian got up from the couch and began his research. He pulled a few books from the shelf—the ones Lindy had told him to read—and settled in to study.

He decided not to work on translating more of the scripture that day. Sure, he already knew it all, but he couldn’t just hand it over to Lindy yet. She’d told him it was better to first read these books and build up his knowledge before helping her with the translation.

These weren’t just any books either—they were volumes normal recruits couldn’t even get near. That was one of the biggest perks of being a teacher’s assistant at the academy.

He made himself a cup of coffee from the machine in the research room, then sat on the couch and started reading.

Lindy wouldn’t be coming in that day, so he had the whole place to himself for the night.

Thanks to his decent night vision, Damian didn’t even bother turning on the lights—he didn’t think it was necessary.

Hours slipped by. Around 11 p.m., well past the time normal recruits were allowed outside their dorms, Damian was still there. But as an assistant spending the night in the research room, it was fine.

The officers wouldn’t scold him for it. In fact, the academy encouraged that kind of behavior from assistants—it showed they were using their position to work hard and learn more.

By the end of the night, Damian had finished two books. He returned them to the shelf and walked over to close the curtains.

That’s when he noticed something strange.

From the window, he could see two figures standing outside, talking in the darkness.

At first, he didn’t think much of it. It was normal for guards to talk to each other during their shifts—one of the few ways to avoid boredom.

But after a closer look, Damian realized they weren’t wearing the usual soldier uniforms. They were dressed in black hoods with capes that covered their bodies.

Sensing this might be something serious, Damian crouched low and pressed his ear against the wall. He focused entirely on his hearing, straining to catch even a fragment of their conversation.

Even with his enhanced hearing, it was useless.

Realizing he wouldn’t get anything that way, Damian decided to simply keep watching them instead, waiting to see if they did anything unusual.

The two figures stayed in the shadows, using the trees for cover as they spoke. Then, one of them pulled something from their pocket and handed it to the other.

It looked like a small wooden box, but from this distance, Damian couldn’t tell what was inside.

After that, the figures left—each heading in a different direction.

Damian stayed perfectly still. He needed to be sure they were long gone before leaving the research room. If they caught him spying, the trouble he’d be in would be huge.

In fact, there was even a chance they might try to kill him...

Something was going on inside the academy—Damian just didn’t know what.

After waiting another ten minutes, he finally left the research room. The officers and soldiers on patrol looked a little surprised to see him leaving so late.

"Nice job, kid," one of them said. "If you keep working hard, you’ll become someone important one day."

"Thanks," Damian replied. "And have a good shift."

Those soldiers were nice.

When he got back to the dorm, Mitra and Curt were already asleep. Damian decided not to tell them about the two mysterious figures. Until he had some idea of what he’d seen, it was better to keep it to himself.

That way, they wouldn’t be dragged into something dangerous.

The next morning, Damian ate breakfast with his friends before heading to Lindy’s research room again.

This time, she was there.

But something about her expression seemed... off.

As soon as he arrived, Lindy closed the door and drew the curtains. Then she turned to him and asked,

"Did you see something strange last night?"