"That was amazing!" Professor Arienna said as she clapped her hands. "Bravo!"
The other students who were around also gave Dim Dim a round of applause.
The little guy’s heart swelled in happiness, and its smile grew so wide that the beautiful Professor was very tempted to pinch its cheeks.
"Now it’s my turn to shine," Alex said with confidence as he activated the orb in his hand. "Are you all ready?!"
""Yes!"" The students cheered in unison.
Unlike the Trial of Alchemy, the Trial of Music was actually one of his choices, so even though Astrea had accidentally pushed him in this direction, he was fine with it.
’Time to show them the power of the Karaoke King!’ Alex flipped his hair as the music started to play.
He was very confident in his singing ability that he already thought that he got this one in the bag.
Everyone looked forward to his singing, even Professor Arienna.
Alex was very handsome, which was already a plus for a performer. If he could also sing, dance, or play any musical instruments well, he could easily create a musical band that would take the academy by storm.
With perfect timing and poise, Alex started to sing.
The moment he sang the first word, Professor Astrea was overwhelmed.
Not by the young man’s talent, but by his tone deafness!
Even Dim Dim, who was Alex’s most loyal supporter, flinched involuntarily after hearing his singing voice.
"O-Okay, that’s enough!" Professor Arienna was doing her best to remain nice as she attempted to stop Alex from singing. It proved rather hard, given that he sounded like a dying goose making its last honk.
Unfortunately, Alex was laboring under the delusion that everyone enjoyed his singing.
He ignored the Professor’s attempts to stop him and happily started the chorus.
"Dancing on the hood in the middle of the woods
On an old Mustang, where we sang
Songs with all our childhood friends.
"And it went , say...
Oops, I got 99 problems singing ’bye, bye, bye’
Hold up, if you wanna go and take a ride with me
Better hit me, baby, one more time!
"Paint a picture for you and me
On the days when we were young, uh
Singing at the top of both our lungs
"On the day we fell in love
On the day we fell in love
One of the students finally managed to summon his voice back and shouted.
"Don’t stop me!" the young man roared. "I’ll stab his lungs so he can’t sing again!"
"We won’t stop you!" replied a chubby boy. "We’ll help you stab him!"
Just as Alex was about to continue singing, he suddenly felt a wave of killing intent directed at him.
’W-What’s wrong with these guys?!’ Alex thought. ’Are they envious that I am such a good singer?! Should I have kept my talent hidden?!’
The young man narrowed his eyes, mistaking the murderous chant for some sort of mad cheer for his amazing performance.
"Ah!" Alex nodded sagely before winking at the audience. "Guys, calm down. I know that I’m a good singer, so please don’t feel jealous of my talent, okay? I dedicate this song to all of you!"
Professor Arienna didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She didn’t know it was possible for someone to misread a room so badly, and yet, Alex was doing just that effortlessly.
"Alex, they are literally forming a mob to stab you!" Professor Arienna exclaimed as she activated the shield on the stage to prevent the audience from beating the crap out of the young man. "Please, for the love of the Gods, don’t ever sing in public again! Just look at that child over there. He is foaming at the mouth!"
Alex glanced at the direction that the Professor was pointing at. He noticed that aside from the boy, there were also several other students sprawled on the ground, their faces pale and ashen.
However, Alex thought that the Professor was just teasing him. Who would’ve thought that such a gorgeous Professor had a mischievous side too! Because of this, he decided to address some of the students directly to get their feedback.
The young man pointed to the back of the hall where a poor student had fallen to his knees in agony.
"You there! Yes, you!" Alex shouted. "You’re crying. My singing voice moved you, didn’t it?"
The student let out a howl.
"YES! IT MOVED MY BOWELS!" the teenage boy shouted back. "Damn you, I almost... almost..."
The tears in his eyes wouldn’t stop falling as he tried his best to stop himself from doing a number two in front of everyone.
One of the shyer music teachers raised her hand nervously to catch Professor Arienna’s attention.
"C-Can we," she asked meekly, "just give him a passing grade if he promises never to sing again?"
"No!" Professor Arienna rejected firmly. "We are a respectable academy! We must have standards!"
Her resolve was immediately tested when Alex reached for the orb a second time.
"Don’t worry, guys. That was just a warm up," Alex said. "This time is for real! I dedicate my second song to all of you!"
A brief moment of silence descended inside the concert hall before all hell broke loose.
"Oh my gosh! That was just a warm up?!" Professor Arienna’s teaching assistant screamed. "Does that mean that this time he’s going to kill us for real?!"
"Noooo! I’m still too young to die! I don’t want to die!" a young lady shouted tearfully. "I still haven’t even gotten a boyfriend yet. Someone... anyone... Please, save me!"
"Guys, if we’re going to die, we’re going to bring him down with us!" a young man declared, his bloodshot eyes locked on Alex. "Kill!"
This time, none of the students held back. They all charged at Alex with the intention to kill.
Professor Arienna subconsciously gripped her sword tightly, already affected by the same bloodlust powering the other students.
However, the sight of the audience swarming toward Alex snapped her out of her daze, and she quickly waved her hand, forcing him out of the Trial of Music.
The young man was sent rolling out of the portal, only coming to a stop when he was back at the centre of the platform.
Around him, students whispered.
"Did he... get kicked out?"
"No, no... maybe he passed in a special way?"
"Look at his eyes. He really believes he’s famous now."
"Should we clap? Do we clap for trauma?"
Alex blinked once then twice before propping himself off the floor. He ignored the muttering around him.
The students looked at him with curiosity because this was the first time they had seen someone get "evicted" from the Trial of Music.
A moment later, Dim Dim came out of the portal, holding a small tambourine in its hand.
The tambourine was a gift that Professor Arienna had given Dim Dim before sending it out of the concert hall.
"Did you see that, Dim Dim?" Alex smiled confidently. "I’m so talented that the Professor had no choice but to send me away to give a chance to the other students."
It took all the willpower in Dim Dim’s little body to stop its eye from twitching. The Dim Sum God really wanted to ask Alex what the heck he was smoking to be that confident in his singing voice.
"Dim Dim." Dim Dim said.
(Translation: You have a great talent, Alex. You should have kept it hidden.)
"You’re right," Alex brushed his hair backward. "I should have been more discreet."
With a sigh, Dim Dim jumped on top of Alex’s head. It lightly tapped its tambourine, making the young man chuckle.
"Right, let’s go to the Trial of Defense," Alex said, still smiling with confidence. "Do you think we should create our own background music? Like when we enter a room the music will play to make our presence known."
"Dim!" Dim Dim once again tapped its tambourine, agreeing with Alex’s idea.
With his second trial done, Alex walked fearlessly towards the Trial of Defense.
This time, he passed through the portal without getting bumped, but only because the young lady responsible for the unfortunate disaster was now frozen in shock after learning about his antics during the Trial of Music.