Chapter 55
The trainers were itching to prove Narissa was the same girl who’d taken them down in the jungle.
But Narissa played it cool, acting quiet and polite–nothing like the fierce girl they’d run into earlier.
“Not her,” they said after giving Narissa a quick once–over.
The girl they remembered had moved like a wild animal–fast, sharp, and ready to strike.
Narissa, on the other hand, seemed calm and harmless. No way it was the same person.
The teacher agreed. Narissa was new to some hidden fighting pro.
the school and hadn’t even been through much training. There was no way she was
Besides, they’d heard Narissa used to be a janitor before the Everton family took her in. No one expected someone like that to know how to fight.
Still, since everyone was watching, the teacher had to ask her in front of the group, “Narissa, can you explain what you were doing these past three days?”
“Are you just trying to cover for her?” one student called out.
“Yeah, sure, she’s from the Everton family–but I’m from the Parsons family, and we’re just as powerful,” another girl added. “Why did we have to suffer while she
off easy?” got
“You’d better give us a straight answer, or we’re telling our parents,” someone else chimed in.
Left with no choice, the teacher called over two female security guards to check Narissa for supplies. All they found was a
knife.
“As you can see,” the teacher said, “Narissa wasn’t given anything extra.”
He turned back to her. “Narissa, this training was supposed to help everyone get better at fighting and real combat. If you got help, that’s not fair.”
“I didn’t get help,” Narissa said calmly. “I just know how to hide, and I’ve picked up some survival skills over the years.”
She knew she had to show them a little of what she could do–but not too much. She didn’t want to draw too much
attention.
“Hiding? Seriously?” someone scoffed. “That’s the excuse you’re going with, huh?”
“You’re saying you found food out there, huh? No way,” another said.
They didn’t believe Narissa because the trainers had already cleared out all the big animals. None of them had a clue how to catch smaller ones or what wild plants were safe to eat. That was why they’d gone three days with almost nothing.
Narissa just smiled. “Just because you couldn’t do it doesn’t mean I couldn’t. Give me thirty minutes.”
Then she turned and walked back into the forest. The teacher quickly sent two trainers after her, but they lost track of her almost right away.
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Chapter 55
While they were still reporting they’d lost sight of her, Narissa returned–carrying a bundle of wild fruit, mushrooms, and at snake.
“Oh no! A snake!” someone shrieked.
Narissa calmly set the fruit down, then knelt and skinned the snake like a pro, slicing it open and pulling out its gallbladder without flinching. Everyone watched in stunned silence.
Now, no one doubted that she’d survived just fine on her own.
“Damn, Narissa, that was badass!” Gilbert said, clapping.
“I seriously didn’t know you were this good,” Jaylen added, looking at her with new admiration.
Miranda was fuming. Instead of watching Narissa get humiliated, she had to watch Narissa win everyone over again.
Cressida stared at Narissa with mixed emotions! She hated how Narissa kept stealing the spotlight, but she also had to admit -Narissa wasn’t as useless as she thought.
Some of the students who admired the strong stopped doubting Narissa. A few even walked up to ask how she could tell which wild plants were safe to eat, and what else in the forest was edible.
All of a sudden, Narissa was the center of attention. Everyone wanted to talk to her.
Narissa was in a good mood, so she answered their questions.
That only made those who already didn’t like her even more annoyed–but there wasn’t much they could do about it.
The ship picked the students up and gave them a day to rest.
Meanwhile, the teachers and trainers used the time to keep digging into the mystery fighter’s identity. But none of the students came close to matching that girl’s skill.
Then the signal–blocking specialist left the ship and revealed that someone had hacked through the signal jammer on the island.
“Someone who’s good at both fighting and tech… If a genius like that were one of our students, we’d know,” the expert said. “She must’ve snuck onto the island.”
The teachers agreed. All the students at Regality Academy came from powerful families. If one of them were that talented, their family would’ve made a big deal about it. There was no way they’d hide it.
“Should we report this outsider to the school?” a teacher asked.
“Better not,” the expert replied. “If this person’s got bad intentions, it’s safer to stay quiet.”
“Alright. Let’s head back then,” the teacher said.
The ship made it safely to the port in Sinney City. Parents were waiting to pick up their kids–including the Evertons.
Now that the training was over, only ten days remained before the big competition between Lunaris Academy and Regality
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Chapter 55
Academy.
Regality Academy told the students to take it easy and rest up so they’d be in top shape for the match.
When Narissa and Cressida got in the car, their parents started asking how they were doing–but most of the questions were for Narissa. Cressida barely got a second glance.
Cressida clenched her fists, hurt. She’d starved and lost weight, but her parents only asked Narissa if she’d been through anything tough or if she’d gotten hurt. That made Cressida resent Narissa even more.
Back home, Amanda had made a big dinner to welcome the girls back.
As they sat down to eat, Dario looked at Narissa and said, “Well, at least you didn’t embarrass the Everton family.”
Narissa didn’t respond. She just ate the food Amanda gave her, wondering if Octopus had already sent someone to retrieve The Blood Ruby from the island.
“Narissa, it must’ve been so hard out there,” Amanda said gently. “I was worried about you. But you did great–you made the Everton family proud.” She smiled and placed a chicken leg on Narissa’s plate.
Cressida, feeling completely ignored, snapped sarcastically, “Mom, she didn’t struggle at all. No one even saw her for three days.”
“What do you mean by that?” Hector asked, turning to her.
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