SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will

Chapter 497: Moon Meets Marcus and Sarah

Marcus arrived beside her, his smile bright and confident. "I expected you to be here, given how well you performed in the opening round. Congratulations on—"

His voice cut off mid-sentence as his eyes glanced at the figure that turned towards them.

For Marcus, the world stopped for half a second. His brain refused to process what his eyes were perceiving.

The face in front of him was familiar in a way that shouldn’t and couldn’t belong on this stage, standing beside the sister of the Light Sword Saint himself.

Just a feet away, Sarah’s eyes twitched.

It was a small motion, easily missed by anyone not watching closely. Her pupils dilated for a single moment, and her gaze flicked between Selene and Moon.

It had been months since either of them had stood face to face with him.

The last time they had seen Moon at such a close distance, he had been the boy labeled a Null. A human with no future.

Someone who would never awaken into power. A failure walking out of the awakening ceremony while everyone around him moved on to a better future.

Sarah had left him that very day, joining Marcus’s team, the rich second generation, the people who saw value in associating with each other and saw no value at all in Moon.

That had been the end of it. Later on, Moon made several more appearances on television, surprising the world with the news of clearing the S-Rank gate. Still, Marcus never cared or thought of it as worthy, he had evolved by then, and Evolvers were always stronger than Awakeners.

Moon was standing in front of them now. Taller than ever, and stronger than ever.

Selene felt the shift in the mood before any words were spoken.

The atmosphere around Moon had changed.

Subtly, but completely. The easy presence he had walking beside her, the gentle smile he had just minutes ago was gone.

Selene glanced at his face, and for the first time since she had known him, Selene felt as if she had been lost in an expanse of darkness behind those eyes.

A sight that she had never seen before.

Her body shuddered involuntarily. She reached out without thinking and gently grabbed Moon’s hand.

"Moon?" Her voice was soft, careful. "Do you know these people?"

Before Moon could answer, Marcus found his voice.

"Moon?" The word came out strangled. He took an unsteady step forward, his eyes locked on the young man in front of him. "Is... is this really you?"

He couldn’t accept what he was seeing. The similarities between this Moon and the boy he remembered were there, that was undeniable.

But he couldn’t believe that Moon, who had been an Awakener not so long ago, had managed to Evolve and reach this stage, reaching the upper bracket of the kingdom’s most prestigious tournament.

The poor orphan he remembered wouldn’t be standing in such close proximity to Selene, the sister of one of the powerful Surpasser in the country.

His brain rejected it. Then rejected the rejection.

Selene said nothing. Her gaze stayed fixed on Moon’s face, completely ignoring Marcus and Sarah’s presence.

Moon looked at both of them.

His hand squeezed Selene’s gently in return, but his eyes never left Marcus and Sarah.

"This is my ex-girlfriend. The one who left me the day I was labeled a Null. And that’s the guy she left me for."

Marcus’s face drained of color. His mouth opened slightly, then closed. Then opened again. None of the words he wanted to say made it out.

Sarah’s expression cracked for the first time.

Selene’s hand tightened around Moon’s. She turned her head slowly to look at Sarah, then at Marcus, then back at Sarah.

Then she began to laugh.

Marcus and Sarah grew confused, turning their attention from Moon back to Selene.

"Wait." Selene tilted her head, her turning playful. "You left him? You actually left him?"

She turned to Moon, then back to Sarah, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Sweetie. Honey. Darling." She pressed her free hand to her chest, "Do you have any idea what you walked away from?"

Sarah’s lips pressed into a thin line but she did not respond.

Selene continued, her voice rising, gathering more attention from the nearby Evolvers.

"And you." She turned to Marcus, looking him up and down with an expression that managed to be polite and devastating at the same time. "You’re the upgrade? Really? I mean, no offense, but...you’ve been trying to lick my brother’s shoes just yesterday. You were acting so polite and admirable, but turns out...you are nothing but a despicable scumbag."

Selene looked at Sarah, then gestured at Moon, then at Marcus, comparing the two with her hand as if presenting evidence in a courtroom.

"...this is the trade you thought was the better deal?"

A few nearby competitors snickered. The story was clicking into place for the people close enough to hear, and the schadenfreude was already starting to ripple outward.

"I have to admit, you both look so good together. Like little flies on a trashcan, haha."

Selene squeezed Moon’s hand.

"It’s almost poetic, isn’t it? Honey?"

Moon’s expression didn’t change. He recognized exactly what Selene was doing, and internally, he couldn’t help but be impressed. He had never seen her make fun of anyone before. The polite, gentle girl who blushed at his remarks was nowhere to be found. What stood in her place was something far more ruthless than he had expected.

He kept his face neutral.

"Yes, darling." Moon replied.

Marcus’s face turned red. The polite smile he had walked in with was completely gone, replaced by something between embarrassment and fury. His fists clenched at his sides as the snickers from the surrounding competitors grew louder.

"Why are you being so rude, Selene? For him? Why would you defend him? He’s just one Evolver among two hundred in this tournament. There’s no need to create hostility between us. Your brother and I work together. We’re on the same side, he is the outcast here!"