He was no longer just the focus of the girls right around him; every single person inside the trial grounds was now locking their eyes on Mel. Cantankerous Hanry had completely stolen the spotlight and shined it right on him.
"Did I hear him wrong? Did Master Hanry really talk about ten buds?"
When a girl sitting on the bench right behind him spoke, Mel caught her words perfectly clearly.
"He talked about a century-old record; without a doubt, he must have said ten buds!"
Her friend shot back instantly; it was obvious the word record had hooked all her attention.
Hearing a bunch of similar talks, Mel turned bright red. Judging by how he acted, he was so embarrassed that he didn't lift his head from the floorboards for even a second.
"Honestly, he isn't bad looking at all!"
"Not bad? The guy is built like a lion! I really hope he hasn't already taken a girl's hand!"
As some time passed, the cries of shock gave way to flirty whispers and long, hungry looks. Mel was now facing a totally different kind of test.
"Mel, my friend, you're like the sun rising in the dead of night!"
Throwing his arm around the robust boy's shoulder, Edgan spoke, making sure to throw in a wink.
With the handsome boy piling on the pressure, Mel turned an even deeper shade of red. The way his heels bounced as his fingers drummed on his knees showed he couldn't sit still in his seat.
"Ladies, were you looking for someone?"
Edgan called out to the group of girls standing in front of them; frozen by everything that just happened, the girls stood glued to the floor.
For ten seconds, they couldn't come up with an answer, looking back and forth between Edgan and Mel. But as another five seconds dragged by, the one with the softer face finally broke the silence.
"Well, we couldn't see the stage clearly. We came to see if there were any empty seats!"
The dark-haired girl finished her sentence with a stutter; the way she acted made the friends standing around her try to hide their laughs.
"I think there's plenty of room here. If you want to sit, we have no problem with it!"
Moving fast, Edgan slid away from Mel, making a gap just big enough for two people between them. The four girls stared blankly at the space he pointed to.
"You can see the stage perfectly from here. It's a bit tight, but I'm sure slim and pretty girls like you can fit right in!"
Since the eyes of the whole hall were locked on them, the four girls couldn't put up any more of a fight. As members of the Alchemy Division, they couldn't afford any more embarrassment at a trial for rookies.
Just like Edgan said, they managed to squeeze into the two-person gap, but the ones on the edges basically had to sit on the two boys' laps.
"Brat, the boy next to you is really something; stick close to him! He looks like a guy you can get a lot out of!"
Sending his voice with a devilish smile on his face, Hanry was also busy telling the commanders of the Alchemy Division what happened today. The middle-aged man tuned his voice perfectly so that, while it looked like he was only talking to a few people, he made sure everyone in the room heard the story.
Mel couldn't even look at the face of the girl sitting on his left knee; honestly, he couldn't look at anyone. His eyes stayed glued to the arched ceiling of the dome-shaped building, and even his breathing had slowed down to a crawl.
He stayed frozen like that until the trial ended. During the times when Edgan's hands boldly wandered over the girl sitting next to him, Mel stayed as stiff as an old stone statue.
"The Primary Trial of the Alchemy Division is over! You can check your scores on the announcement board tomorrow!"
When the call echoed through the hall, Mel took a deep breath. It was past three in the morning, and for almost two and a half hours, he hadn't felt comfortable for a single second.
The girls left in a massive hurry; there was no reason left for them to put up with the totally embarrassing spot they had fallen into.
Edgan walked up to Mel with a drunk look in his eyes, looking him up and down.
"Well, did you have fun? I caught those girls in their own trap!"
It looked like the handsome boy had a great time; in total contrast, Mel's eyebrows stayed tightly knitted.
Seeing how Mel was acting, Edgan dropped the smile from his face and got a little serious.
"I'm going to take Marvina and head back to the tavern where we're staying!"
Finishing his words, he started to walk away, but a second later, he spun around.
"Do you have a place to stay?" he asked.
Mel gave his answer without thinking for even a second.
"Yeah, I'm going back to the place I stayed last night!"
Edgan didn't push it; with steady steps, he went back to walking toward his sister. Mel, on the other hand, bolted out of the pavilion in a massive rush.
Mel didn't hang around the area either; pointing himself east toward the gate he used to get into the city, he started running. He had no idea, but two people watching him leave started talking about him.
"Look at the peasant! He gets a taste of attention and totally loses his mind!"
If Mel had seen the guy talking, he would have known him right away, because the man had given him hell during the Botanical Division trial.
"Don't worry, Master. Tomorrow, I'm going to crush him and raise the glory of our family!"
The young girl shot back with her nose stuck up in the air. As the two of them turned their backs and walked, their flashy clothes looked like they were fighting a war against the dark night.
Mel ran out of the settlement through the fortress gates really fast; he didn't even bother to turn around and say anything to the guards yelling behind him.
Judging by his path, his goal was definitely the outer forest; in fact, a really short time later, he disappeared under the thick branches.
"I can't stop my training!"
A bit after muttering those words, the smile he lost during the Alchemy Division trial came back to his face.
"Who am I trying to fool? After watching the fights today, I absolutely have to fight!"
Talking to himself as he moved deeper into the forest, Mel walked easily through the exact spot where he got jumped the night before.
When he reached the area where he killed the Boss-class snake, the leftovers of the fight greeted him; the dirt hadn't even soaked up all the creature's blood yet.
"It looks like the creatures here don't want to mess with me!"
He turned slowly, looking all around him; getting no reaction at all, he spoke in a calm voice.
"Don't worry! I won't hurt any creature that doesn't step inside my kill circle!"
The trees around him answered by bending their branches all the way down to the dirt; they looked like they were begging for their lives.
Mel stared at them for a few breaths before walking deeper into the heart of the forest. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, the fighting drive burning inside him was obvious in every step he took.
He walked for ten minutes, but nothing changed. The trees and wild beasts living in the area were happy just hiding away the second he showed up.
He didn't run into a single one; he kept the rules his grandpa left him, just like he kept all the other ones. He ignored the creatures that didn't attack him and kept walking, until he crossed the line where the color of the trees and the dirt suddenly changed.