Talentless Extra Of The Legendary Hero Academy-Chapter 175: The Crane I

"You don’t want me to go?" Ethan said softly, but he didn’t just get close to it. He knew enough that if the river was trying to get his attention, then there must be something to it. Sinister or not, it didn’t matter.

He took several steps back, away from the river and towards the forest. It was then that it happened.

Something busted out of the river with a loud splash. All he saw were tentacles coming towards him with such speed that he didn’t even have the time to avoid them.

The tentacle wrapped around his neck and jerked him into the water.

Ethan was so shocked that he didn’t even struggle at first, not until the cold waters began to drill into his body, mixing with his blood and thrumming through his veins.

He also realized he could breathe in the water and out perfectly with no issues. As he was breathing in, the waters joined the one already in his body.

But it wasn’t painful.

In fact, he realized that something was different.

The waters that drilled into his body were drilling back, but now they were mixed with a black substance.

It seemed to be cleansing him.

He waited, even took large breaths to get more of the waters into his body. The drugs he used throughout the past years had corrupted his body and shunned his Talent Ability.

He stood in the river for a long time. Time passed and he closed his eyes in sleep. By the time he woke up, the river had dried up and he was sitting at the bottom, covered in black slug.

He straightened.

He felt a lot better, much better.

Although he didn’t let the others know, Ethan had been fighting addiction for the past year. He’d stopped using all the pills since Severin arrived and forced him into a blackmail.

But it wasn’t that easy or simple.

Sometimes, he still used them, just to feel the rush of power and satisfy his body.

It wasn’t something he was proud of, but it was what was happening.

But now.

His body felt satisfied and he could feel himself becoming even lighter, as if a great weight had been lifted away from him.

"If this is transferred over to my real body, I’ll be really happy about that," Ethan spoke out loud.

He climbed out of the river with a blast of force that made his body float and then shoved him out.

He stood at the edge and then looked back at the forest. "What now?"

He didn’t have to wait long.

A force clamped down on him like a hammer. A familiar force.

Gravity.

It formed into a ball around him, cupping around him and tearing into his body. Instead of pulling in one direction, Ethan was getting pulled in all directions at the same time.

He understood his test then.

He must resist the forces that were trying to tear his limbs apart.

Ethan gritted his teeth and created a counter force field around himself.

Now, it was the game of who could pull harder.

☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆

Julius arrived in a classroom.

He stood at the door and looked inside.

There were very few chairs inside, but he recognized the classroom with the low chair and a blackboard that went all the way up to the ceilings.

Books, real books and not ones stored in the system, were set on shelves on all the walls that surrounded them.

It was the classroom of his childhood, the one he went to and was trained in as a Crane child.

He remembered because he had spent a lot of his hopes right there in the classroom, hoping that something might change in his Talent Ability and he would be like every other Crane.

But he learned quickly that not all hopes are answered, no matter how much you believe.

Severin had taught him that hoping is a fickle thing.

Once a situation is out of your control, then it’s better not to hope at all. The only thing you can give hope to is to support what you can control.

Julius sighed.

He could remember. He even prayed to the gods of the Divine Continent. He searched their names up and promised to spread them in the Empire.

Nothing happened.

Julius adjusted his glasses and stepped into the classroom. "It’s truly almost like the one I used."

He could smell his own desperation clinging to the shelves and soaking them in broken hopes.

His father’s eyes on him, cold and without mercy. His siblings with their calculating eyes, glad that one more rival was done before the competition even started.

But it was the pity that was the worst of it.

From his mother, the servants, and the numerous instructors that were employed. They all looked at him the same way, with pity. And that had twisted deeper than a blade.

It was in the same classroom that his hopes finally broke and he accepted himself as a defect.

He took a deep breath. "Right. That was the old me. I am now the strategic leader of House Chains. I lead in logistics and my opinions are taken seriously."

And yet, why was his hand trembling as he adjusted his glasses? Why did he duck his head as if people were turning around to look at who just spoke?

"I am! I lead the House Chains in planning and I’ve been doing a good job. I have! Severin said the same thing!" he suddenly shouted and his eyes turned cold and hard.

"With Severin’s blessing I can take my time. All the cursed strategies can be reworked and looked at carefully, untangled without the use of my powers, and then I can come up with a good strategy!"

But deep down he knew.

That was the exact mark of a defect.

The Crane are not known for waiting for days to come up with a plan. They work for the Emperor because they could instantly notice patterns and come up with the best plan instantly.

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