As soon as Alden tapped on the crimson orb of his supreme ability, a blinding light exploded outward.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in his bedroom, on his bed.

The sun was screaming with light from outside the window.

It took Alden a few minutes before his eyes adjusted.

Finally back home.

The trial this time had clarified a lot of things for him…

… and at the same time gave him more questions than answers.

Each of those chambers was a different lesson.

But what stuck with him the most—Was just how weak he still was.

Tsk. If only I were one of those anime protagonists… weak one day, god the next.

But Alden knew better than to be delusional.

He had learned enough about life to know reality didn't play fair.

It didn't just test you—it toyed with you. Waited for you to break.

And when you did?

That's when it gets creative.

Because the worst thing wasn't the breaking.

No.

The worst thing was what came after.

And the only way to survive was to get strong enough that even reality thinks twice before messing with you.

Elva and the other guardians hadn't suffered because they were guilty of something.

No.

They suffered because they were weak enough to be sacrificed.

Before Alden could drown any further into that thought—

CRASH.

The window of his room—on the third floor, mind you—exploded as something shot toward him at blinding speed.

Alden didn't even try to dodge. Instead, he sighed… and smiled, extending his hands outward.

Then, he clenched the muscles of his stomach tightly, going as far as even reinforcing them with mana.

Because there was no stopping her anymore.

The projectile—a small, snow-white crow—slammed into his gut like a meteor.

The impact thudded through him and Alden nearly lost his breath.

"…fuck," he muttered, more amused than angry.

His back hit the bed with a soft thump and for a moment, he just lay there.

Then, slowly, he wrapped his hands around her small frame and held her gently.

"I'm back, Kyun."

His voice was soft and steady.

Kyun didn't say anything, but Alden could hear her soft sobbing.

"You dummy mortal…"

Then her voice echoed softly.

Wait a minute!!

Voice?

Did she just—

Talk?

There was a moment of silence where even the dust in the room seemed confused.

Her voice echoed again, barely above a whisper, and far too human for comfort.

His brain kicked into high gear.

Voice. She just used an actual voice.

When the hell did that happen?

If his calculations were right, It shouldn't have been more than an hour or two since he vanished from the outside world..

Time was distorted in the trial, making hours in the outside world weeks in the trial world, or that's what he had understood from before.

So…

How the actual fuck did she learn to speak in that time?

Alden stared at her, squinting like she might spontaneously explain herself.

But she just buried herself deeper in his arms.

Before he could think more, he felt another presence enter his apartment.

Amyra.

A second later, the door to his bedroom creaked open. No knock. No hesitation. No shame.

She walked in like she owned the place.

Alden blinked.

Excuse me, Your Highness?

Is this how nobility operates now? Just barging into a man's room without knocking?

Into the bedroom of a handsome, and spiritually exhausted man, no less?

He barely didn't say it out loud. His mouth twitched but he controlled.

Amyra stepped closer, her arms folded but her expression unreadable.

"Where have you been all this time?" Her voice was soft but intense for some reason. "Do you know how worried Kyun was… how worried I was?"

Alden blinked.

I'm sorry, what?

He stared at her like she had just declared the moon was made of Gorilla's.

Since when did a few hours become "all this time"?

He opened his mouth to speak—maybe even laugh it off—but nothing came out.

Not because of her tone.

Not even because she casually admitted to worrying about him. He'd already seen her like this in the past few days. Direct. Blunt. Occasionally soft in the sharpest ways.

No, it wasn't that.

It was her eyes.

Something was off.

But before he could actually say anything or even question what the hell was she doing here all of a sudden, she spoke again.

"Where have you been for the last two weeks?"

And just like that, everything stopped.

Alden froze.

Two whole weeks…?

Is that why Kyun's been acting like that?

She hadn't chirped. She hadn't even thrown one of her weirdly-judgmental stares.

Just soft sobs and silence.

He thought it was just because his body vanished all of a sudden.

But it wasn't just that.

It was time.

Two weeks.

But before he could dwell on it longer, Amyra's voice broke through again. "In any case, get ready. We're leaving."

Alden blinked.

Leaving? Where? To what? For what reason exactly?

His brain was still buffering from the whole "missing for two weeks" bomb.

"What do you mean?" he asked calmly.

"The class is departing to the artificial island in an hour. Did you forget about the inter-academy?"

Ohh, right there was that too.

But wait a minute—

If I was in my trial for a whole two weeks, wouldn't that mean I missed the qualifiers?

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"What about the qualifiers?"

"Don't worry about that. Just this morning, one of the qualifying students got injured and backed out."

Amyra smiled.

"So now there's a vacant spot… and no one would mind if you took it."

She said it like she was being helpful.

But Alden felt it—the quiet chill spreading down his spine. Still, he kept his expression neutral.

"Okay, you go ahead. I'll join you in an hour."

Her smile widened just a little.

"Don't take too long."

And just like that, she turned and left.

Alden stared at the door for a long second.

Then sighed.

"I just know I'm walking into some bullshit…"

—

Meanwhile, somewhere, in an infirmary area of the academy campus.

A beautiful blonde girl sat with her expression scrunched up in frustration.

"That bitch has definitely gone mad."

Seles cursed as she gulped down a healing potion. This was her seventh healing potion just in the last few hours.

Just this morning, she had been thinking about many things she wanted to do during her trip happily in the cafeteria, when she saw the group of losers chatting in one corner.

Aziel and Cecilia.

They were talking about how Alden had missed the qualifiers.

Aziel even said he might have entered some dungeon and forgot about the tournament.

Seles joined in with a joke.

"He must have died in the dungeon or something."

She knew he wasn't one to die so easily. It was just supposed to be a joke. A casual one.

But then that mad-woman appeared out of nowhere.

Amyra.

"What did you say?" Her voice was soft and yet it sent shivers down Seles's back.

Still, she wasn't one to be afraid so easily.

"I said, he must've died somewhere—"

CRASH!!

Before she could complete her sentence, her body was airborne before she slammed into the other side of the lobby wall hard enough to crack stone.

Everything spun. Pain screamed.

Seles's instinct screamed again. But this time, she was more prepared.

She activated the spell she had awakened recently.

[Shadow Steps]

Her body merged with her shadow before reappearing some distance away.

This bitch has gone mad again.

That was the only thought in Seles's mind.

She had heard that Amyra was acting too strange recently.

She had even beaten up Lucien a few days ago.

And even during the qualifiers, she had been too brutal against her opponent.

But now?

Now she had crossed the damn line.

Seles clenched her jaw, blood still dripping from the corner of her lips. Her hand glowed, crackling with mana as she started gathering the strongest spell she had.

She didn't care anymore.

Not about politics.

Not about reputations.

Not even about the fact that Amyra was technically a princess.

She just wanted to put down the bitch which had gone mad.

I am not the same weak person I was during the VR match.

I have grown stronger.

At least that's what she had thought back then, but now sitting on an infirmary bed with her body covered in injuries, she felt stupid.

Her pride hurt more than her body.

"Fuck," she groaned, staring at the ceiling. "I shouldn't have rushed that psycho."

She wasn't even sure if Amyra had held back or not.

Somehow, that terrified her more than anything else.

And as if that wasn't enough—

Her injuries weren't healing.

She drank seven high-rank healing potions.

Seven.

And yet her body was recovering at the pace of a wounded snail dragging itself through tar.

What kind of attack was that?

In any case, she wouldn't be participating in the inter-academy anymore.

The academy healer had been gentle when he said it but the words still hit like a slap.

"Your mana circuits are unstable. You'll need at least a week before you can channel safely again."

A week. Exactly long enough to watch the tournament start without her.

And worse, someone else would get her spot.

But before she could think more, the door to the infirmary opened as a white haired boy with violet eyes walked in.

His head down.

"I am sorry, Seles." Lucien bowed. "It's all because of me."

Seles didn't say anything for a moment and just acted like she was holding her tears back.

This act always got her what she wanted.

Then with a carefully breaking voice, she said, "I—it's alright Lucien. It wasn't your fault."

—

Lucien looked at her, somehow more guilty than before.

I am sorry for being so weak, Seles.

I am sorry.

He didn't say that out loud.

Instead he just left the room with quiet resolve.

I swear I will have an answer for the humiliation you had to suffer today.

—

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