"UOOHHH!!!" The crowd erupted.

"H-Holy sh*t!! I'll never doubt this guy again!"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

Iris stood in awe, mouth slightly open in disbelief. She had seen Daru use this sword skill in the Myriad Sword Realm.

The fact that he dared use it in Neo-Earth and actually pulled it off…

Ideas entered her mind, and she was lost in Daru's glory and her own thoughts for a while.

Equally dumbfounded and shaking was Instructor Talon.

He was a veteran bladeborn who had been active in the other world for more than a decade now, and he would be dumb not to recognize that what his student used was probably one of his sword skills.

There had been quite a number of instances of bladeborns pulling off their moves in Neo-Earth in inter-cluster swordsmanship tournaments due to being so familiar with how their sword skills feel to them.

To think he would witness such a thing here…

But then, a gaze landed on him, and he shuddered, quickly raising his hands and announcing: "D-Daru Finnley wins the Class Representative Position for Class 70."

Meanwhile, outside the fences, the journalists and scouts were extremely busy, all smiles and sweat as they hustled.

They chose the Sixth Training Field because there was a good concentration of high-rankers here.

To think they would stumble upon this treasure of a scoop…

…Daru took a deep breath, removing his eyes from his instructor and turning to look at his opponent to perform the mandatory bow.

However, Lynn was already leaving with her back slightly hunched.

She looked devastated.

Daru only shrugged in indifference, having already seen such a sight multiple times.

There was not a hint of pity in his heart.

There would always be winners and losers, and unfortunately for Lynn, he was the better bladeborn today.

Daru peeled his gaze away once more, shifting it towards the crowd and scanning the faces.

The moment he spotted Iris, he walked over with a faint smile on his face.

The crowd parted as if to give way for a true prince.

But to his surprise, the instant his training partner noticed what was going on, she hurriedly turned and left, her pace neither too slow nor too fast.

Daru's brows curved upwards in puzzlement.

'Is she avoiding me?' he wondered. 'Why?'

Iris had never been too good at hiding her emotions, so it was quite obvious that she was avoiding him, for some reason.

But Daru knew she had one, so he merely followed him with his gaze.

His brows rose further as she subtly turned, as if telling him to follow from a distance, before continuing on her way.

He still couldn't understand what she was up to.

However, he shall trust her for now.

Daru headed over to Talon the next moment.

"Instructor, there should be nothing else to do, right? If so, I'll take my leave."

The instructor couldn't reply for a while, torn between whether to let Daru go or not.

This situation might be somewhat bad for him.

In the end, he agreed, but with a condition:

"Y-Yeah, you may take your leave. However, keep your lines open. I might contact you later in the evening."

Daru nodded and still offered a mandatory slight bow despite liking Talon a little less now.

He thought the call would be about the rewards, so he didn't think much about it and simply went ahead and followed Iris from a distance, leaving the Sixth Training Field under the awe-struck, worshipping gazes of the crowd, though a few remained his die-hard haters.

***

Behind a fairly aged oak at a secluded corner of the academy.

Daru followed Iris, finally escaping everyone's eyes.

The journalists and scouts tried to interview him, but of course, he refused.

He and Iris had somewhere to go today, which was why he didn't think she was truly avoiding him.

Sure enough, the moment he disappeared behind the massive trunk of the oak…

"Sorry for avoiding you earlier…There are too many journalists and scouts. I thought they might deduce your identity if I stuck around you today…"

Daru finally understood, his heart warming.

"Ahh…" he began in slight disbelief at the reason. He then offered Iris a deep, sincere bow before continuing: "Thank you for taking the matter of my identity seriously."

Iris was a bit taken aback, too.

She thought Daru would be slightly displeased, and so hurriedly bowed right back.

"Y-You're welcome."

A short, awkward silence then ensued as the two locked gazes, broken shortly by Iris' slightly uneasy voice.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure, so don't worry." Daru confirmed with a slight smile, easing Iris' slightly guilty heart.

He had pondered this matter in the past two uneventful weeks.

He was certain that he wanted to meet Hailey.

If there was a faction he had most warmed to, it was the world government, for now...

Although he knew that, to a degree, his late parents had accomplished something huge in the Myriad Sword Realm and lost their lives for it, he still felt a bit grateful to the government for at least ensuring he survived as a kid.

He remembered the times when someone in a black, professional suit, wearing sunglasses, would come and check in on him.

Their presence had never brought comfort to his heart.

However, they made sure he survived until he found something to live for, and now, he was having a lot of fun.

He even made a few friends, or so he believed.

Furthermore, even though they could've simply used their authority to smoke him out of hiding through Iris, they didn't, instead opting to understand him and respect his wishes.

It was difficult not to appreciate their sincerity after that.

Perhaps he could even set up his future peace like this, given how much the other party was trying to win him over.

This was why he said to Iris he wanted to claim the promised Heartsoul Gem himself.

And so, hearing Daru's confirmation, Iris pulled out her phone and called Hailey.

Two black cars then picked the two of them up in different, remote locations inside the academy, around fifteen minutes later, showing further sincerity and respect to Daru and his secret identity.

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