Ren found himself back in the auditorium, and when he looked around, Kai wasn't next to him.
In fact, very few people were back.
Ren had finished the second test pretty early because of the Extraction special condition, so he was one of the very first people to return. Probably most of them came back through the same method.
Then Ren's stomach stung a little.
He touched it and what he saw was The cut from earlier was still there.
He checked The wound. It wasn't bleeding as much anymore, and he was thankful for that. His shirt got cleaned from the teleportation and now it wasn't as stained as before.
Other than that, it wasn't a big deal.
He could fight like normal, and he knew that—because he just did earlier.
Anyway, with nothing else to do, Ren decided to lay back and rest a little.
Luke POV
He felt the sensation of teleportation, and once he saw the auditorium again, he immediately puked on the chair right in front of him. He leaned forward and puked the rest onto the chair.
Thankfully, the person in front of him hadn't returned from the test yet.
After letting it all out, he wiped his mouth a little until he heard someone speak from the side.
"That's disgusting."
When he looked to see who it was, he saw Astra, with a disgusted look on her face.
Luke, seeing that, got embarrassed and turned red. He would have swallowed his puke if he knew she was here.
The fact that she made it back before him—even though he used the Extraction method—wasn't really a surprise.
He was fully confident she would be one of the first back, just like she was in the first test.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," Luke apologized.
Astra stared at him for a few seconds, then got over her disgust and looked at him straight in the eyes.
"What happened?" she simply asked.
Luke tried to look calm. "What do you mean?"
"Are you seriously trying to lie to me and say nothing happened when you literally teleported here puking?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
Luke looked ashamed at his stupidity and just told her the truth.
"I got defeated."
Astra nodded slowly. "Who was it? Was it Dean Ramon? Or Haley?"
She named a few names—all from influential or powerful hero families that she knew were in the same group as them, since they were on the same bus earlier.
Luke just looked at his legs for a second before speaking up again.
"It's none of them."
Astra stopped and looked at him, worry creeping into her expression.
This wasn't like him.
Even if he lost, he wasn't the type to get hung up on it or look this upset. But she didn't hurry him. She let him say it at his own pace.
A few seconds later, he finally opened his mouth again.
"The person who defeated me… he's… he's not from any hero family. He's Kai's ordinary friend."
Astra waited for the punchline—obviously thinking this was a joke.
But after a few seconds of silence, her eyes widened.
Wait… is he being serious?
That couldn't be.
Astra had known Luke since they were children. They grew up together. Trained together. No one else knew how capable and strong he was as much as she did.
So to know that someone from an ordinary background did this to him… was unbelievably shocking to her.
Not to mention—it was Kai's ordinary friend.
Wait…
Is that why Kai is hanging out with him? Because he knew about that guy's strength?
Astra started to become more interested.
At first, when she approached Kai, she was being genuine. She did believe Kai had potential as an ally.
But even though that was true, she also mainly approached him because she found him cute—and decided to use his potential as an ally as an excuse to approach him.
But now?
She became interested in Ren.
Not in a good way.
She was furious.
How dare he—just an ordinary brat—challenge them?
She quickly decided she had to do something about this.
She pulled out her phone—not the one provided by the exam, but her real phone. She had it with her this whole time. It was clean and in incredible condition. She didn't put it in the locker because she was confident it wouldn't get scratched.
She immediately started calling someone.
"Harley."
Her assistant—provided by her family to handle whatever she needed.
A moment later, the call connected.
"What is it, Astra? Aren't you in the hero course exams? Why are you calling me all of a sudden?"
"I want you to find out all you can about the person that Kai Mercer has been hanging out with recently. He has long brown hair and blue eyes."
And with that, she ended the call—waiting for the response.
"I swear… I will find you. And I will teach you to stay where you belong," Astra muttered to herself, glaring at the air with pure fury.
Ren had the expression of someone who just died.
Why?
Because he was bored.
Unbelievably bored.
The tests last for hours—and Ren finished before even the first hour was over.
So he had to wait for everyone else to come back.
He couldn't even leave the auditorium to get his phone. The doors were locked. No one could leave until the exam was officially finished.
The only exception was for a bathroom break.
So he did that.
He wanted to waste time in the bathroom, talking to whoever came in. Even though it sounded childish, hiding out in the bathroom and talking to other students was something common back in his old school.
For a second, he thought maybe he was being immature and no one else would do it.
But surprisingly, when he went there, there were other students who finished early doing the exact same thing.
After talking for a while and letting a good amount of time pass, he came back to his seat—just to be bored again and regret leaving the bathroom early.
Until—
He saw a flash of light appear next to him.
When he looked, it was Kai.
"Finally, you're here," Ren exclaimed and hugged him.
Kai was surprised. "What's going on? Why are you hugging me, man?"
"You have no idea. I've been waiting here for so long. I'm bored as hell."
"Come on, man. I know you finished early again, but it couldn't have been that big of a difference," Kai said.
Ren smirked. "You have no idea."
Then he explained exactly what happened.
Kai looked shocked.
"Wait, seriously? You defeated Luke Parker?"
"Is that his name?" Ren asked.
"Yes, it is. And honestly, I'm surprised you defeated him. I didn't think you actually got this strong," Kai said.
"Seriously? You're that impressed? Well, I guess it's a bigger deal than I thought," Ren said.
"Big deal? Big deal, buddy—you're an ordinary person and you defeated someone from a hero family. That's a huge achievement."
"Holy shit, I didn't know he was part of a hero family," Ren said in shock.
"Yes, dude. It's obvious. He was part of Astra's group," Kai replied.
"Oh shit, you're right. I'm such an idiot," Ren said, covering his face in embarrassment.
But before they could continue the conversation, they heard Stephen Blake walk back onto the stage.