Chapter 38: Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion – Chapter 38: The Graduation Test

Covered in bandages, Oscar awoke in confusion.

"This pain~" Oscar clutched his heart, feeling severe pain. He tried to get up, but the pain prevented him from controlling his body.

Oscar laid there, unable to move. There was a soft feeling below him as though he were on a soft bed. With a few more touches, he realized it was indeed a bed.

From the prison cells to the dirty and rocky hole, Oscar missed the clean feeling of a soft cushion.

It was odd. Why was he on a bed? Judging from the ceiling, he was still in the large training room of the Abyss Prison. He grew suspicious and tried to get up again.

"Don't move; your body almost tore itself apart." Draven tapped Oscar, forcing him to stay still. In his hand was a bowl of hot soup.

The smell of the freshly made stew mixed with spices sent an energizing sensation through Oscar. His mouth began to water from the aroma.

Draven took a spoonful of soup near Oscar's mouth.

Oscar felt extremely awkward and weirded out by Draven's caring action. After all, he had been tortured by the Warden's beatings for a while.

He stared blankly at the spoonful of soup before Draven coughed to grab his attention.

Slightly embarrassed, Oscar leaned over and drank the soup. It did not scald his tongue but was warm and comforting. His body trembled from the fresh taste it had not experienced in the past few days.

In this Abyss Prison, days felt like years. The strain of the excessive training did not help Oscar's condition either.

"Delicious!" Oscar cried out with dampened eyes.

Slowly, Draven continued to feed Oscar one spoonful at a time. Each sip filled his stomach.

After finishing the entire bowl, Oscar stood up without an issue. He thanked his master for the grace and wondered what this bowl of soup was.

"This bowl is actually an elixir." Draven clarified.

"An elixir?" Oscar did not think Alchemy could produce a soup like this. Cooking was not the same as Alchemy.

"This is a special blend of the Grade Two Rejuvenation Elixir with a soft milk stew. There is no rule against mixing an Elixir with other things." Draven explained.

"How did I do?" Oscar remembered using 'Reis Awaken' and guiding the Reis to his fist, but he blacked out before seeing the result.

"You performed admirably." Draven elegantly gestured in praise. "Although you were broken to such a battered state, you pushed me behind the line. Congratulations."

Draven clapped in applause slowly and consistently as though he watched an opera.

"I…did it?" Oscar's face wore a look of disbelief. From the state of his body, he believed he had failed.

"That is correct. However, you were too reckless and lacked control. The Reis ravaged your insides. You were lucky I was here to help you and that there was no irreversible damage that would have crippled you." Draven shook his head.

"I said I could live on being a cripple as long as I can go back home and live peacefully with my parents." Oscar weakly smiled.

"It's fine to have your own belief on things. I can think of some people who would scold you for such behavior."

The face of that irritating bastard, Robert, popped up in Draven's head. That bastard was always too serious and narrowminded in his view. Putting aside that idiot from his mind, Draven turned to Oscar, who was currently stretching.

"Oscar, do you remember how you maintained the 'Reis Awaken' and redirected my Reis." Draven asked.

Oscar nodded and spoke with a solemn expression, "Your attack scared me to the point where I did not think of anything but survival. Every part of my body screamed out, and everything became clear.."

"Remember that sensation. That feeling of being on the border of death. The overwhelming fear of death is the only thing that can induce such an effect."

The time for talk was over as Draven took up his stance. He had imparted everything to Oscar, and now it was time to see the results.

Oscar responded in kind, ready to fight.

'Reis Awaken'

Oscar recalled the emotions he felt when Draven was out to kill him.

His feet spun, cracking the ground and starting the accumulation of Reis. Oscar felt pain in his Awakened state, but it was no longer unbearable as last time.

The Reis traveled in a circular motion up his legs due to Oscar's increased mastery of his body due to 'Reis Awaken'. He kept the Reis flowing by controlling the individual parts of his body and shifting muscles at the right times.

Oscar swung his fist toward Draven as the Reis was about to reach his fist. The Reis was a continually moving physical force. Thus, his attacks had to be timed at the right moment, or the Reis could rebound.

His fist landed on Draven with a loud thundering sound. The Reis was compounded by Oscar's power, leading to its abnormal power.

This time, Draven did not let the punch just hit him. Once it made contact, he also used 'Reis Awaken' to guide the Reis from Oscar's blow to his own fist.

This fist had the full force of Oscar's power with a fraction of Draven's. It was like a calamity heading toward Oscar.

"Redirect this!" Draven shouted.

Oscar grit his teeth. He canceled his 'Reis Awaken' due to increasing pain. He was able to enter 'Reis Awaken' correctly, but his time limit was short. It was only long enough to throw a fast punch.

When Draven's fist made contact with Oscar, he used 'Awaken' once more. His heart began to throb with pain, but Oscar ignored it.

The large amount of Reis flowed. It was powerful, but it was nothing compared to Draven's earlier killing blow.

Oscar's nose started to bleed from the strain of containing and moving this large Reis from the contact point to his leg.

'Flowing Mountain'

Once the Reis was almost in place, Oscar kicked to Draven's side. Draven blocked it and was moved a little to the left.

Before Oscar could smile in triumph, his heart throbbed stronger than before. He coughed out some blood and clutched his chest. Beads of sweat dripped down his pale face.

"Do not overuse the Awaken. You'll only destroy your body and mind. Use it in moderation."

The 'Reis Awaken' was a grand technique but considered useless by many who knew of it. It could wreck a person's foundations if not done right or overused. It was safer just to train with Ein.

"I understand, Master. But I feel like I'm getting the hang of it." Oscar stood up with some blood on his lips. He went back to his stance, ready to continue.

"You say you value your life, but you're reckless. Quite a contradiction." Draven also took up his stance.

Fierce clashes went back and forth between the two. Both laid punches on each other without reservation.

Oscar kept in mind to keep his exertion low to avoid straining his heart and body. Over the entire day, they fought and rested and fought again.

The sixth day finally ended.

"Today is the day of your release." Draven handed some breakfast over to Oscar, who devoured it without reservation.

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Oscar wiped the crumbs from his mouth and prostrated deeply before his master.

"Thank you for your teachings. My week in this prison was not wasted due to your charity."

"I do admit; it was fun seeing you struggle and grow. Perhaps I should leave this prison and become an instructor." Draven joked.

"I think everyone would leave immediately from how painful your training is." Oscar grimaced at the potential students who would not know their painful futures.

"There's someone worse. I don't have time for those with weak wills. Though, I have no intention of leaving this prison. That damned Robert and the Pavilion Master thought they were sly in sending me here, but this is the best place for me." Draven's voice conveyed anger when he mentioned the two others.

"P-Pavilion Master?" Oscar could not believe the words of disrespect that spilled out of his Master. Was this not insubordination? Draven was so bipolar with elegance and roughness that he was confused about who the real Draven was.

"Don't worry about these topics far out of your area. Just focus on your training. There's 'Reis Awaken' but also 'Ein Awaken'."

"Nearly every Knight Exalt and above has an idea of 'Ein Awaken' due to its usefulness, and it's safer to enter it in that realm. Few Apprentice and Elite Exalts know about it as well. But none touch 'Reis Awaken'. That is your advantage."

"Starting the Awaken training for Reis and Ein from so early on as an Exalt will surely bear fruit."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Draven got up and forced Oscar to his feet.

"There is a certain condition for you to leave. A kind of graduation test." Draven said.

"What are you saying, Master?" Oscar was flustered while asking. This was his last day, and now his master was tacking on a condition.

"Follow me." This time, Draven did not teleport with Oscar.

The two exited the room and walked through the narrow halls of the Abyss Prison. The brightness and smoothness of the training room made Oscar forget about the horrid conditions of the prison.

The familiar screams of the prisoners echoed inside the halls. Oscar sighed, relieved that he did not have to stay in the cell for the entire week. The constant screams of the tortured prisoners did not sit well with Oscar.

"Don't feel bad for those prisoners." Draven could tell the meaning behind Oscar's sigh. "Those prisoners committed murder, thievery, and worst of all, betrayal. They deserve no sympathy. You've also suffered at their hands."

Oscar recollected his cellmates like Boris and John, nodding in agreement. They were all ruthless and domineering.

"However, at least they have the sense to follow the rules here. After all, they could have killed me much earlier."

"They only follow the rules to keep their own lives. Evil is very selfish."

Oscar thought about John and Boris. He hated them but not to the point of killing them. As for Greg, that was an unavoidable battle to the death. There could only be one survivor in that battle.

"In the end, everyone wants to live, isn't that the goal? The prisoners here are undeserving of pity, but that doesn't make them any less human."

Draven glanced at Oscar but did not talk. His view was different from Oscar's, but he did not retort or argue. Everyone had their own perspective.

The door before them opened wide and unveiled a large chamber.

Oscar recognized this place as Cell Block A, where he was imprisoned. What was he doing here? He failed to grasp his master's intentions.

The entire cell block stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the warden. They all met this terrifying overlord on their first days here.

Some prisoners made audible gulps. The warden personally coming here could not be good for them.

Draven waved his hands, and the prison guards brought down the tortured prisoners in the center, dragging them somewhere else.

The center changed as the pool of blood was covered up. Before everyone's eyes, a stage formed and elevated itself.

"Step forward, Oscar." Draven ordered.

Oscar stepped onto the stage. Despite his misgivings, he could only trust his master.

Everyone looked at the young boy in the center.

"Isn't that the young meat that came in a week ago?" Someone remembered when Oscar was first dragged here.

"Hey, you're right! That's the idiot who attacked John."

The story of Oscar surprising John with a stab from his pickaxe had circulated amongst the prisoners. In this bleak prison, this was the best entertainment they've had.

"BRAT!" A booming shout came from cell number 19. It was John. He recovered from Oscar's attack a few days ago and long waited for the boy to return to get his revenge.

The fuming look on John's face made Boris and the others back away as far as they could. The other cell blocks looked afraid of this giant hulk displaying his anger.

"Quiet." Draven shut John up. "The boy Oscar was only sentenced to seven days in this prison. Today is his last day."

The entire block was silent but then erupted into a loud clamor.

"Only a week? What the hell is this?"

"Is he someone's ass kisser?"

The roars and complaints from the other prisoners were drowned out by John.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I'LL KILL YOU."

Draven stomped his feet, making the ground quake. "I said to be quiet, did I not?"

The commotion died down, but John looked to be on the verge of exploding.

"But I also do not like this one-week sentence. So with my authority as Warden, I will be presenting a special chance."

The crowd of prisoners was intrigued by the Warden's words while Oscar was still trying to figure it out.

"Inmate John Baxter. Imprisoned for the murder of two Elite Exalts of the Blue Ocean Pavilion. A known outlaw until you were captured by us and brought here to serve a hundred-year sentence. You still have seventy years left to go."

John's face grew darker as the warden described his crimes.

"I can give you this opportunity."

The guards unlocked cell block 19 and led John out onto the stage. At that moment, Oscar finally understood his master's purpose in doing this.

John's cuffs and chains were unlocked, freeing him for the first time in thirty years.

"Inmate John, if you defeat Oscar, you will take his one-week sentence and be freed today. He will have to take your seventy years left here. If you lose, it's back to the cell for you."

The entire cell block could not believe their ears. Neither did John, who looked dumbfounded. Draven remained still while Oscar's face twitched.

This was the graduation test?!

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