Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Hal furrowed his brow as he looked over the list and confirmed multiple times that his name was really there. Melinda\'s name was there as well and so was Pierre\'s sister, Adeline.

Inwardly he sighed and was a tad bit upset at the public nature of his participation in the entrance exam.

"Okay then, I guess that answers the question of how you know I might be taking the exam, but what of the other question?"

Pierre sighed before he said, 

"I\'ll be honest with you, other than Adeline, I have absolutely no one close to me to join up with.

The royal academy exam involves the best of the best which also means it involves the most egotistical young cultivators on the continent. There is just no way around that fact.

I learned how quickly people could change upon being recognized as the best when I took the exam the first two times in the past two years."

Hal raised his brow, 

"You\'ve taken the exam more than once?" He inquired to be sure of what he had heard and Pierre nodded, 

"You are allowed to take the entrance exam three times. No one can take it any more times than that regardless of who they are. That includes members of the imperial family.

In fact, for a member of the Imperial family, you are only allowed to take the exam twice, and even then, taking the exam the second time would tag the person as \'weak\' regardless of success or failure."

At this point, Pierre sighed and closed his eyes before he opened them and continued, 

"My situation is similar. I have never been my father\'s favorite and my failing the exam twice did not help my likeability in his eyes. He has taken to sending me on demeaning tasks such as going to witness the induction of a Baron.

Which also happens to be how I met you.

Anyway, almost every friend I had passed the exam on our first try, as we had taken it together. The ones who failed succeeded the second time. In both cases, they dropped me as fast as they could.

They said I was dead weight.

A failure.

They were right..."

Pierre looked up at Hal and Melinda to see the two now sipping tea that was clearly rich in cultivation resources.

"What the hell?" His eyes widened. 

First off, where did the tea come from? 

In the space of the few words he had said with his head down, the two were already clinking glasses and watching as though all he said was simply interesting.

There was no sympathy in their eyes as they heard his sad tale.

"Oh, are you referring to the tea? A maid brought it in just a while ago" Hal said.

"Did you even hear anything I just said? Do you understand it?" Pierre asked.

Hal and Melinda nodded, 

"Of course we did. It\'s all very sad" the golden-eyed lady said.

"Well, if it is, why aren\'t you showing it?" Pierre was utterly confused.

"Because sad or not, we actually couldn\'t care less when you have clearly already given up on yourself. Tea?" Hal asked and gestured towards the teapot on the small table separating him and Melinda from the Silva man.

"I wouldn\'t mind a cup" Pierre said and Hal nodded, 

"Then get your own" he said and Pierre gapped.

"What?" He asked.

"Get your own tea. It does not come cheap and I would rather not waste it on a failure, isn\'t that right?" Hal said and gestured his question to Melinda who nodded, 

"So right. It would be such a waste."

Pierre looked visibly upset, 

"A failure? Now, look here..." He began but Melinda interrupted, 

"Look here what? You said it yourself. They were right. Your father, your friends, they were all right. You are a failure."

Hal nodded, 

"That\'s right. Why would I share such precious resources with a failure? Why would I want to assist you in an exam that you, a failure, have failed twice already?"

Pierre calmed down after that as he saw sense in Hal\'s words before he said, 

"Because if you don\'t help me, I\'m likely to fail and third time and I will not be able to bear the shame. That is not to mention the fact that I could get ousted by my family.

No longer able to call myself a Silva" he said in a pleading tone, 

"Then why not just not take the exam?" Hal asked and Pierre took a deep breath, 

"It will change nothing. It would also be seen as my third consecutive failure. Not participating is not an option. I have to participate and I have to pass. So, will you help me? If you\'re in my group, I believe I have a higher chance of passing the first stage."

The part he had neglected to talk about was that this was not only concerning him.

Adeline was taking the exam this year and she was adamant about being in her brother\'s group. She would drop every friend she had if they would not allow her brother to join their group.

Pierre was touched but also worried for her.

You see, the more times you take the entrance exam into the Royal Academy, the harder it is to pass. The competition becomes even harder to topple.

Unlike Hal and those close to him who breezed through cultivation realms and remained greedy for more, Pierre\'s cultivation did not improve drastically since he took the exam for the first time two years ago.

And if he did not take the exam this year, it would just be counted as a forfeit and an instant fail without any more chances.

Adeline was indeed a genius and there was even a possibility that before the Exam in two weeks, she will advance to the Cosmic Aurora realm, but because she wished to be in the same group with him, they would most likely have to settle for failures as well.

They would have to settle those who had taken their exams more than once.

And such a team, Pierre knew from his second exam experience was practically doomed to fail.

He needed new blood.

He needed another genius.

He needed Hal.

Hal looked to mull it over before he said,

"It depends. I could very well not participate in the Exam. That said, I\'m intrigued with the prospect and I will definitely think about it."

Before Hal even bothered with the Royal academy exam, he wanted to have that sit-down with Tanya.

Maybe she would not give in and attempt to convince him to take on the new mission through other means, but he was sticking to his guns on this one. If not, the princess would simply always believe that he would work as long as the pay is right.

This could be every bit as restricting as swearing loyalty to her. 

If he did not take a stand and make these occasional demands, he would really have no value in her eyes.

He\'d be taken for granted.

And that was the last thing he wanted.

"Think about it... Please. It\'s not just my success that is on the line..." Pierre looked to wish to say more but eventually stopped and walked out of the mansion to return to the Silva Duchy palace.

Hal watched him leave and could not help but be amused at how different this situation was from when Hal and Pierre met for the first time when the young man had been sophisticated and important.

Speaking about meting honorable justice and eventually claiming they could be friends.

How different that was from the pleading expression he now had on his face.

Melinda slid into his lap and wound her arms around his neck as she began peppering his neck with kisses.

Then she asked,

"So... are you going to ask me or what?" 

Hal raised a brow, 

"Ask you what?"

"To join your group. Assuming you do take the exam that is" she said and leaned away from him to look into his eyes, 

Hal wound his arm around her to grab one of her ass cheeks as he said, 

"Should I have to ask? That should be a given. Like asking a lover if you will spend Valentine\'s day together or not. Such things don\'t need to be asked. They should be known."

"What\'s Valentine\'s day?" Melinda asked.

\'Propaganda\' Hal thought.

"A special day for lovers" was what he actually said.

"Where do they celebrate it?" Melinda asked as she was of course clueless as to such customs.

"In a place called earth" Hal told her with a smile.

"Where\'s that?" 

"It\'s one of the many worlds that exist in the multiverse. It... used to be my home"

Melinda\'s brows furrowed and she wondered what Hal meant. How could he have been in another world and call it home when he was supposed to be born and raised in this world? The Nexus world.

She thought to question Hal on it but stopped when she realized, Hal was exposing a side of himself to her that he had never exposed to anyone else.

A side she could have gone the rest of her life and never known.

He was exposing it to her without any prompting from her.

All she had to do was listen.

At least for now.

Hal was still speaking, 

"You could definitely crush the strongest of them without actually trying. And their most powerful weapons will be totally useless against us but they are amusing to remember.

Ah, life was kind of simple back then.

Not too boring. But this is so much better"

He pulled Melinda\'s face closer and connected their lips in a passionate kiss before separating and saying, 

"I wouldn\'t trade this life for anything"

"Neither would I?" Melinda said and reconnected their kiss with even more passion than Hal had put into the kiss in the first place....