A Chemist's Interstellar Saga
Chapter 63: Competition Over

Chapter 63: Competition Over

Without wasting any more words, Rhea moved like lightning towards Arix, her psychic power forming into blades aimed at Arix’s limbs.

She wouldn’t forgive anyone who bullied her brother.

Just as Reah was very protective of Cantet, Cupid was protective of Arix.

Anyone who bullied Arix was a bad person in Cupid’s eyes. And bad people deserved to be punished.

Cupid began to turn deep red. He shifted from a harmless little beast to almost a bloodthirsty monster.

Facing Rhea’s psychic power and the "bad person," Cupid protected Arix, using his psychic power like a whip. He not only shattered Rhea’s psychic blades but also lashed at Rhea’s abdomen.

This was the first time Arix saw Cupid in combat, and she was surprised by his strength. If Sophia and Vita joined in, the other two lieutenant wouldn’t stand a chance either.

While Arix felt at ease, Rhea kept trying various attacks after dodging the strike to her abdomen. But every attempt was blocked by Arix’s psychic power.

Rhea’s eyes were almost freezing over, especially when she saw Arix watching the fight as if it were a show. She gritted her teeth in anger and intensified her attacks.

Watching from the side, Tane and Novak were amazed by Arix’s combat abilities. Rhea had recently graduated as a top student from the Hecaris Military Academy, but now she couldn’t defeat this freshman?—That’s absurd.

Arix, however, wasn’t feeling as easy as she seemed. As Rhea’s attacks got fiercer and fiercer, Arix’s physical power could no longer sustain Cupid’s intense actions.

"Cupid, use your strongest attack to knock her out," Arix said, trying to ignore her body’s discomfort.

"Okay," Cupid understood Arix’s situation. If this continued, Arix’s body might collapse first. So, Cupid didn’t hold back and used his strongest attack, hitting Rhea and making her fall unconscious instantly.

As Rhea fell, Tane and Novak caught her and checked her condition. After confirming she was not seriously hurt, Tane looked up at Arix and said, "You won. You can go."

Arix retracted Cupid and nodded at them expressionlessly. Then she continued towards the mountaintop.

Once she was out of their sight, Arix immediately coughed up a large mouthful of blood.

"It seems that Star-Class physical power is still a bit too much for me," Arix muttered, wiping the blood from her mouth with her sleeve, feeling a bit frustrated.

She wiped the blood from her mouth and placed her right hand on her left wrist, feeling her pulse for a moment.

When her pulse slowed down, she breathed a sigh of relief and put her hand down.

She joked to herself, "Maybe this is what they mean by ’if you don’t treat it, it heals on its own.’"

Ever since her physical power upgraded, Arix felt not only stronger in battle but also noticed that her body healed faster. This was just Star-Class physical power. If she upgraded to Supergiant-Class physical power in the future, she might become an unstoppable force.

Arix thought about this for a while. Then she looked firmly toward the top of the mountain. It was time to get the fourth badge. With that thought, she continued climbing.

The journey was unusually calm. There were no traps, no ambushes, and no harsh instructors. Before long, Arix successfully obtained the fourth badge.

On her way down, Arix saw some freshmen near the exit, laughing happily.

"Looks like the instructor wasn’t lying. It might really be easy; see, she already came out," one said.

"Yeah, the instructor didn’t seem like someone who would lie," another agreed.

One cautious student asked Arix, "Did you get the badge?"

Arix realized the student was talking to her. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing, just showed the card with the four badge symbols on it.

The cautious student sighed in relief, thanked Arix, and headed toward the mountain top with the others, thinking maybe he was too suspicious.

Arix stayed there for a moment, feeling sympathetic for the students climbing the mountain. Then she quickly left, still nervous about being an impostor. She worried the students’ angry spirits might come looking for her if she stayed too long.

Arix thought to herself, ’Even dragon slayers become dragons eventually. I can’t believe I’m loving fooling others around now.’

Once she confirmed the area was safe, Arix slowed her pace and laughed at her childish behavior. Feeling better, she took out the card and looked at the location of the fifth badge.

"Training ground?" Arix was confused. She rubbed her eyes and looked again to make sure she saw it correctly. ’That’s the starting point. How could it be a badge location?’

Curious and puzzled, Arix decided to go back to the training ground to find out.

When Arix returned to the training ground, she easily found the fifth badge point by following the hints on the card. She was surprised to see that the instructor at this badge point was none other than her own instructor, Ortiz.

Ortiz saw Arix and smiled with a mix of surprise and satisfaction. "You came back quite fast. Is it just my badge that you need now?"

"Yes, it’s just the last badge left. Sir, tell me how I can get the badge from you," Arix said carefully, ready for a challenge.

"Take out your card," Ortiz said with a mysterious smile.

Arix almost thought she had misheard but instinctively handed over the card. In the next second, the missing badge symbol appeared on her card, completed by Ortiz’s badge.

The card then transformed, showing the number 8 on the front and the dire wolf emblem of the Hecaris Military Academy on the back.

"Sir... is this... kind of cheating really okay?" Arix stammered nervously, looking at the changed card in shock.

Ortiz, veins popping on his forehead, couldn’t hold back and knocked Arix on the head. "Gosh, why do you think we’re cheating? Am I really that bad in your eyes?"

Arix, holding her head in pain, pouted but dared not argue. She thought to herself, ’Sorry, but I thought you might be.’

She never said it out aloud, though.

"The fifth badge point can be the hardest or the easiest," Ortiz said, feeling the need to explain for the sake of his reputation.

Arix listened carefully.

"For the fifth badge point, the main task is to earn the instructor’s approval. Understand?" Ortiz said.

Arix nodded. She finally understood. This point was designed to ensure that even if a student couldn’t get any badges, they would still get one as a consolation.

No wonder this badge point seemed like a freebie compared to the first four. The academy was kind, but only to a certain extent.

After this, Arix had a lot of free time. She just had to stay at the training ground and wait for the competition to end. During this time, she saw many familiar faces returning, most of them looking battered and exhausted.

Even Drexel returned with a gloomy face, looking as if he had been through a rough time. He looked even more frustrated when he saw Arix.

Drexel was so disappointed at himself that he felt like coughing up blood. Even getting the easy badge from the instructor didn’t improve his mood much.

Not giving up, Drexel walked over to Arix and asked cautiously, "Arix, did you get all your badges?"

Arix smiled slightly and nodded, pretending to be modest. "Yes, and I finished eighth, so dear, you lost."

Drexel’s expression became even gloomier. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Arix, how did you get through the badge point in the cafeteria?"

This question darkened Arix’s face as well. Drexel didn’t need to ask further to know he had touched a sore spot.

But Drexel felt his pain was worse. He would lose his opticomputer from now on. At this moment, he felt a strange sense of desolation, as if he had lost everything.

In this competition, the hardest badge points were the cafeteria and the mountain top. If they had a choice, both Arix and Drexel would choose to tackle the mountain top ten times rather than go to the cafeteria once again.