Hearing Eros mention the word "exception," Undine immediately thought of his baptism ceremony. A look of realization dawned on her small face; after all, Eros had been personally baptized by a Great One, so it was only natural for him to be a bit special.
The two continued their journey, chatting as they went, until night fell and the crimson moonlight draped the land. Only then did the group halt their march. The day had been remarkably peaceful; although they encountered a few roaming spirits mid-way, they were few in number and were cleared out by other students before Eros even needed to lift a finger.
Upon stopping, Eros followed his routine of the past few days and manifested a vine hut for himself. Just then, a commotion broke out among the students on the outer perimeter. Eros focused his senses, and a flash of surprise crossed his face.
Students from other classes found us by following the trails Annie and the others left during the day?
Without hesitation, Eros stepped out toward the edge of the temporary camp. On the other side, a student named Yogi was speaking to Annie with a bitter expression.
"Our Class 3 had terrible luck," Yogi said. "The number of spirits we encountered that first night was overwhelming. In the end, only the three of us managed to escape alive, and we lost all our supplies. Luckily, we ran into the juniors from Fifth-year Class 8 around noon the next day, so we didn't have to resort to eating the flesh of evil spirits."
"But their situation wasn't much better; they lost half their people on the first night. By the second night, we were swallowed by the fog. To escape it as quickly as possible, we chose to travel through the night. During that time, we encountered two Fourth-year classes and three Freshman classes who had made the same choice. Their conditions were dire—especially the three Freshman classes. Out of ninety people, only four survived."
"By the third day, we finally broke free from the fog's reach and discovered the marks you left behind. We followed them all the way here." Yogi scratched his messy hair, his expression pained. "As you can see, out of 210 people, only 31 of us are left. More than half are severely contaminated, and the rest are already showing symptoms."
A man standing half a step behind Yogi added with a voice full of resentment, "The difficulty of this academy assessment is absolutely abnormal. It’s always been hard, but never like this—I can't see a single ray of hope for making it back alive. This isn't an assessment; it's a death sentence. Dammit."
Annie remained silent for a few seconds before nodding, her voice cool. "I understand. We have a Sun-domain sealed artifact here. I will arrange for the contaminated students to receive purification."
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Yogi breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I thank you, Princess!"
"Have the contaminated students get ready," Annie said, turning back toward the center of the camp. Yogi nodded to her back, shouting his confirmation.
Annie didn't look back but walked straight past the crowd to Eros. "Could I borrow your Sun-domain artifact?" she asked softly.
She actually possessed one herself, as did Claire, but the purification effects of their artifacts couldn't compare to Eros’s. His was a Level 2 Sealed Artifact, while theirs were only Level 3. While hers could purify, it took much longer and lacked the rapid efficiency of his.
Eros naturally wouldn't refuse such a request. Moreover, among those 31 students, there were a few with whom he had shared "close ties" in the past.
He nodded. "Let's go together."
Eros walked toward the group of new arrivals, with Annie following obediently behind him. Soon, he stood before the twenty-odd students in need of treatment. A few of the female students instinctively lowered their heads to hide their mutated features, seemingly unwilling to let Eros see their current state.
Eros didn't say anything. He dropped a seed, grew a vine hut on the spot, and then pointed to the girls who were hiding their faces. "You four, come in. I’ll help you purify."
The girls trembled slightly but said nothing, following him into the hut with their heads down. Eros then looked at Annie. "You come in too."
Annie was startled, not understanding why he wanted her inside, but she complied and followed. Once the door was shut, Eros spoke gently to the four girls. "The purification light needs to touch the skin to be effective."
He hung The Brilliant Sun at the top of the hut, letting it radiate its orange-yellow glow. As soon as the light touched the mutated skin on the girls' faces, a sizzling sound filled the air. Wisps of green smoke rose as the dark-green, scaly skin transformed back into fair, smooth flesh under the light.
Seeing this, Eros sat down on a vine chair. To avoid putting pressure on the four girls, he turned away from them and flashed a grin at Annie.
"Come sit. I’m going to make use of the... 'gift' you gave me."
Annie’s face turned scarlet instantly. However, she wasn't the type to go back on her word. Since she had promised it, she wouldn't back out. Taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth, she sat down in Eros’s lap.
Eros wrapped one arm around her waist while his other hand skillfully unfastened the bandages Annie used as a chest binder. As the restriction vanished, her already magnificent proportions became even more imposing. Annie bit her lip, a soft moan escaping her nose.
The four girls on the other side watched the scene blankly. Fortunately, they weren't exactly strangers to such "dynamics" involving Eros, so they quickly recovered their focus and concentrated on their own purification.
Four minutes later, Eros lifted his head. Looking at the flushed, watery-eyed Annie, he chuckled. "That's enough for today. Please take good care of my 'property.' We should head out; if we stay any longer, even our own Ling will start to be precipitated by the purification light."
A hint of disappointment flickered in Annie’s eyes, but she didn't say anything. She picked up the bandages from the chair and began re-binding herself.