Struggling as a Villain

"Richard is cheating." Inside the headmaster's office could be seen by two people currently. The office belonged to one of the two, and the other one, who just claimed Richard as a cheater was a short green-haired woman who goes by the name Olivia.

The man sitting across the table never lifted his eyes from the newspaper he was reading, even though the matter involved a student committing a crime.

Olivia wasn't able to withstand that nonchalant attitude anymore, as she spoke again in a slightly agitated voice,

"I know it sir. He is using some kind of artifact or drug which is allowing him to withstand those challenges."

Olivia knew she might be making a mistake. However, she couldn't just accept the fact that someone as spoiled and arrogant as Richard, who has lived as a rotten young master, would suddenly become an elite during examination.

Finally, the man said, "In your opinion, school security is not doing their job?"

"I never said that Sir, but there is a chance for Richard to be using some kind of tool which cannot be detected. We have to thoroughly assess him and take the necessary-"

"Olivia." The man lifted his eyes and directed his pale yellow eyes at the instructor before asking, "Don't you find yourself being prejudiced toward Richard because of your hatred toward his mother?"

Olivia was taken aback, quite literally as she backed off and removed her hands from the table.

The older one retained his eyes on the woman before asking, "I know your competitiveness towards Bella and how you ended up hating her after she just got up and disappeared one day. Am I wrong?"

The headmaster, Marcus Blackwood, was the one who taught the two children back then, which explains why he knows about them so closely.

Olivia was rendered speechless as she stared at the man for a long time before she finally uttered, "You are wrong...headmaster. I don't hate her, because you can hate only those for whom you feel anything. Bellarine Scarlette is no one to me."

Olivia turned on her feet and soon exited the office.

Marcus heaved a sigh and contemplated for a moment. Finally, he decided to take a look at the examinations and see what urged Olivia to make such a false charge at Richard.

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In the examination hall, either students were in awe or disbelief. After all, seeing someone utilizing three fundamental abilities together was not a feat which even some instructors and professors could achieve.

Not only was Richard balancing the weighted bar quite flawlessly, but he was also even detecting the incoming danger and parrying it with his partial barrier, which seemed to be his least practised skill.

He was only protecting that region where the object was about to collide. And not only that, he couldn't retain the barrier for more than a second....which explains why he was injured from places. After all, the number of throwables wasn't consistently singular.

The moment two or more throwables are directed at him, Richard only blocked one of them and the others, harmed him. But thanks to his strong core and balance, he hasn't shown any struggle until now.

"How is he sensing the incoming objects? Even if he has detection, it doesn't make sense that he can detect them." One of the boys asked as he closely monitored Richard

It was the instructor who educated them, "Each throwable is being thrown through a spell; as such, the ether from the spell remains until it doesn't fall to the ground. Richard isn't sensing the object itself, but the ether wrapped around it."

Many 'ooh-ed' to that information as they realised what they had to do when their turn would come.

"Ma'am, what if I just run across the beam?" One of the bulky dudes asked; feeling a little bored seeing Richard being so slow.

Hailey smirked, "Can you handle that momentum while protecting yourself and keeping your enhancement up? Since crossing that beam with that size would definitely require some weight reduction."

Many chuckled, while the one who asked felt embarrassed upon hearing that.

Ethan, who was still present in the hall, asked this time in a shocked tone, "Ma'am, why does it seem...the weighted bar is elongating?"

Hearing the silver-head's words, everyone turned to look at Richard closely and indeed, the left side of the bar was increasing in length.

Hailey smirked, "Let's see what he does now."

Richard, who felt the weight of the bar suddenly increasing towards the left side, found his feet diverting as well. Panic surged just for a moment and in the next, he extended his ether threads and pressed them against the ground to first balance himself.

He glanced at Hailey, hoping that she just doesn't end up disqualifying him, but fortunately, she didn't make any moves.

Richard heaved a sigh and checked the metal bar, only to find that it had increased in length by several inches.

He spread his ether threads and attached them to the beam. Four of them were behind and four of them in front, while Richard seemed like a bridge pillar—strong and unshakable.

He extended his threads with each step and completely ignored the pain he felt from the throwable. Just a few steps ahead, he finally reached the end, and the buzzer resounded,

*BZZZZZ*

Unstrapping the metal bar, he allowed it to fall to the ground and looked at the teacher.

Surprisingly, some of the students, including Ethan, were clapping for Richard.

Richard, while rotating his left arm, walked towards Hailey before she handed him a vial of potion.

"I hope I don't need to call your girl to patch up your wounds again." She teased, urging Richard to roll his eyes.

He went towards his mark and drank the potion.

"Good work," He heard Ethan saying, to which he nodded with a smile and soon crouched down to wrap up his wounds.

Soon the other students started to give their tests, and after thirty minutes, the examination concluded.

"Okay now, I am very disappointed in those who failed and those who passed; I cannot be any more proud." The raven-haired announced, alternatively looking at the groups of failures and achievers.

Eight students failed, and twenty-two remained. However, the other twenty-one students looked extremely injured and unwell, compared to Richard.

Ethan, along with the seven others, bid their farewell and soon exited the hall along with Hailey.

Richard heaved a sigh as he looked towards his right.

When he came, over a hundred were there, and now, after just two hours, the quantity has reduced to twenty-two. Not only that, the two people he knew were also disqualified.

It was a little saddening.

Finally, the last test instructor arrived—this time, it was a man in his thirties with a rugged build. Steel blue eyes, short military-cut black hair and a height of almost seven feet.

Standing across the students, he gave a very ominous vibe, like some kind of villain.

With his hands crossed behind him, the man assumed an upright posture before introducing himself,

"The name is Ravelt, and I will be conducting your fifth and last examination."

The eyes of many students were brimming with awe upon witnessing the ex-commander of the legion, who had achieved several feats and gained himself the title of the 'Undefeatable' since the man never lost a battle when he was still serving.

Richard knew this man from his previous life, as he was the father of the emo kid who would be playing the supporting role in the future.

"In this test, every student has a simple task; kill your opponent."

The test was simple and so was the man.

"You will be given three minutes and within that time, just slaughter whatever stands before you."

The students began to mumble and one of them asked what the others were wondering, "But sir, what do we have to face?"

The man tilted his body and turned toward his back before the rear gate of the examination centre opened up, and something crawled out of the darkness.

"Holy..."

"Goddamn, is that a..."

"A D-rank volcan lizard..."

"Damn...we have to fight that?"

Richard raised his brows as he saw the being advancing towards them with great ferocity, advancing to kill the first human which it could grab. However, the lizard ended up crashing against a barrier which the instructor created and stopped the being from nearing the students.

"The target would be the same for everyone. Now, go whoever wants to go first."

Richard looked at the time and found it was already nearing four o'clock. If he doesn't hurry he won't be able to make it for the date he promised.

That's why he suddenly raised his hand and said, "Can I go, instructor?"

The man nonchalantly nodded before he opened a small gap in the barrier for Richard to walk in.

The lizard had already backed off, trying to find another route to close in, which gave Richard some space to enter the arena.

The others quieted down instantly upon seeing Richard volunteering to be the guinea pig.

"He is a flame user...surely he would have difficulty against something whose natural habitat is volcanoes." The tallest student uttered with a snicker as he looked at Richard with a hidden emotion in his eyes.

He was envious.

Richard ignored their voice and focused on the lizard who quickly noticed his presence.

The lizard was about twelve feet long with a venomous tongue and red lava-like skin which burned.

Everyone held their breath when the lizard advanced towards Richard with an astonishing pace, and Richard remained standing at his spot.

Everyone was wondering what kind of spell he would pull and even the instructor was interested in knowing what the infamous witch has taught her son.

However, much to everyone's astonishment, just when the lizard opened its mouth, a long stick pierced its mouth and exited from the tip of its tail—rendering the lizard motionless and eyes widened.

Richard held the staff end and after fortifying his muscles he lifted the whole a** lizard in the air before bashing it against the ground. He repeated the process thrice before the creature stopped moving.

Richard pulled his staff back, which reduced to its original size and soon disappeared into nothingness.

Turning toward the instructor he asked, "Can I go now?"

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A/N:- I hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter