It was lunch, and the remaining students who hadn't had their duel yet, they had been scheduled after their lunch.

The classes after that had all been adjusted accordingly.

During lunch time, the students either sit in the cafeteria, or have their own means outside while sitting in the garden with their friends.

For nobles, this was also the perfect time to build connections.

If someone looked closely, they would immediately notice the division.

It wasn't written anywhere, yet it was clear as day.

Nobles naturally formed their own circles, sitting together in refined groups. Princes and princesses occupied another space entirely, surrounded by attendants and familiar faces.

And then there were the commoners, seated farther away from them, sticking to their own groups.

Leon looked around, standing in the middle of the garden where most of the space was occupied by students from different years.

A few gazes landed on Leon and Ethan, but both of them ignored the stares.

"Who are you looking for?" Ethan asked, crossing his arms.

"Someone as capable as Alice," Leon replied.

Ethan followed Leon's gaze, trying to guess who he was referring to.

'He should be here…' Leon thought.

Cyan was a commoner, so he should be with his own group.

There weren't many commoners in Class S, so Cyan mostly hung out with his friends from Class A and Class B.

If Leon remembered correctly, Cyan was usually found with one of his childhood friends. She was also enrolled in Eclipse, and she was in Class A.

Because of her, Cyan didn't get labeled as a loner. Although it didn't last long, because by the end of their first year, she got killed by an archdemon.

But right now, it didn't matter much to Leon.

'Ah, found him.'

Right near the wooden benches, beside a fountain, Cyan sat on the floor with his group of fellow commoners. They were chatting while munching on their bread.

Leon proceeded to walk toward them.

"Hm?" Ethan noticed and followed beside him.

"Did you find one?" He followed Leon's gaze and spotted him as well. "Ah, that guy."

Blonde hair draped over his forehead, glassy brown eyes reflecting the sunlight. Cyan sat on the ground beside a girl with long, soft pink hair and emerald eyes.

The girl looked blissful as she chatted with Cyan.

As they got closer, they could hear the context of their conversation.

"…but it's still a big achievement to win against Princess Rinna. I'm so proud of you, Cyan," the pink-haired girl said, lightly ruffling his hair.

"Indeed," another guy seated beside them agreed. "Even though she was ranked third, our Cyan took care of her with such ease! I love it when someone puts those darn nobles in their place."

"Now now, Ruford," another voice chimed in, "our princess wasn't a bad person."

"Heh, as if," Ruford scoffed. "I tell you all, that's nothing but a façade."

Ethan heard that. So did Leon.

But neither of them stopped.

"Excuse me," Leon said in his usual tone.

"Hm…?"

Everyone sitting on the ground turned to look at the voice.

The first thing they noticed was a pair of golden eyes looking down at them. Then his hair. Then the white sword attached to his waist. Their gazes instinctively shifted to the man standing beside him.

White hair, ocean-blue eyes, and an insanely handsome face.

They needed no introduction.

Ever since the class allotment exam, their names had been on everyone's tongue.

Ethan Graves and Leon Valentine.

The Rank-1 and Rank-2 of the first year.

"Eek…!" Ruford yelped, falling backward as he scrambled away. "Wha—?! I was just joking! Please don't behead me!"

Leon stared at him for a moment, then calmly shifted his gaze to Cyan, ignoring everyone else.

"Cyan Miller," he said, "do you have a moment to spare?"

Cyan, still holding his cup, stood up and met Leon's gaze head-on.

In a deep voice, he asked, "What for?"

Leon almost smirked at his attitude.

As he spoke, the pink-haired girl beside Cyan tugged at his sleeve. "Cyan…"

Cyan glanced at her and gently brushed her fingers away. "Maria, just give me a second."

Their reactions were natural.

Why would someone from a duke-ranked family want to speak to Cyan?

Anyone could reach the obvious conclusion, unless they knew the real intent behind it.

Silence settled over the group of commoners. None of them spoke.

They knew that no noble would openly harm them on Eclipse grounds. But that didn't mean nothing would happen once they stepped outside.

Cyan was the only one who could stand before them with that kind of attitude.

Even though he was a commoner like them, he was a Class S student. And a Rank-4 at that.

That alone placed him among the academy's highest-priority individuals.

If anything were to happen around him, Eclipse would not ignore it.

Leon looked him in the eyes, and simply spoke again.

"It would be fine if we discuss this alone."

Cyan thought for the time being then after a nod, he gestured to the others. "I will be back in a minute."

Maria tried to say something, but she closed her mouth.

"Thanks for the cooperation." Ethan casually told the others, for reassurance.

— — —

The three of them went outside the garden, and entered the academic block of Class S.

"Why the academic block?" Cyan asked.

Leon answered, "it's the only quiet place at the time. No one would disturb or overheard us. During lunch you can even hear your own words echoing the walls. It was that quiet."

Leon joked at the end, trying to make things as light as possible.

As they climbed the ladder to the first floor, Cyan asked Leon.

"Leon Valentine, right?"

"Mhm, that's my name." Leon replied.

"I heard that you have Light Affinity. Is that true?"

To his question, Leon simply nodded. "Yeah. That's right."

"Hm, and is it also true that Princess Eula took her stance for you."

"True as well."

Leon couldn't help but to notice how curious he looked.

A smile appeared on his face.

'He will never change.'

As they stepped on the first floor, Leon found an empty classroom where no one was there.

"Nice." He nodded.

The class was empty, and the belongings of the students were scattered on their desks.

"Hey Leon, this is the class for third years." Ethan looked around and told Leon.

Leon nodded, "I know, don't worry, it won't take time. We won't be encountering any third year at this hour."

"Exatly what are you up to?" Cyan followed them inside.

Ethan was the first to speak.

"Cyan," he said, his tone noticeably more serious than before. "I want your help with something."

Cyan paused mid-step.

"…My help?" he repeated, clearly caught off guard.

Ethan nodded. "Yeah."

Leon did not intervene. He leaned back against one of the desks near the window, arms loosely folded, watching the two of them from the side.

This part was not his role to play anymore.

Cyan glanced at Leon briefly, then back at Ethan.

"For what exactly?"

Ethan inhaled slowly. He had already decided.

The moment Leon brought Cyan here without explaining anything, Ethan knew he had been given room to choose. And after witnessing Cyan's performance in the duel earlier that morning, he had no complaints.

"First," Ethan said, "tell me what you know about Evana City."

Cyan frowned.

"Evana?" he echoed. "The lost city?"

"Yeah."

Cyan thought for a moment. "It was a multi-racial city before the Age of Calamity. Humans, elves, dwarves, beastkin. Supposedly wiped out by Dreamweaver. Most of what we know is either censored or treated as myth."

Ethan nodded. "Good. Then look at this."

He reached into his coat and took out the prism.

The moment Cyan saw it, his expression changed to confusion.

Ethan twisted the tip.

Click.

The prism opened, and the holographic projection bloomed into existence once more, casting pale blue light across the empty classroom.

A three-dimensional landscape hovered in the air.

Cyan's breath hitched.

"…What is that?"

Ethan did not answer immediately.

Cyan stepped closer, his eyes locked onto the projection.

Slowly, almost cautiously, he raised a hand and touched the edge of the map.

The image reacted instantly.

The terrain zoomed in. Elevation lines adjusted smoothly, responding to his movement.

Cyan pulled his hand back.

"…You're kidding me. What is this technology?"

Leon watched quietly as Cyan leaned in again, this time circling the projection, studying it from multiple angles. After a long moment, Cyan looked up.

"You're telling me," he said slowly, "that this is a map to Evana City?"

"Mhm," both of them replied.

Cyan stared at them.

"And you want to go there?"

"Mhm," Both of them nodded again.

Cyan did not respond immediately.

He stepped back.

Then he pinched his cheek out of nowhere.

Then he looked at both of them, his expression tightening as if he was examining two people who had just confessed to something deeply concerning.

Then Cyan asked.

"…What are you two smoking?"

Ethan blinked. "What?"

Cyan pointed at the projection.

"Do you have any idea what you're saying right now?"

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