It wasn't pretty. The larva was torn and dusty. Her whole body burned, and the pain was unbearable. Even breathing was an effort. But the ant lay still. The larva lay next to it, weak.

Even in her state, the larva's ego did not diminish. 'Hehehe, I expected this. That ant didn't stand the slightest chance,' she said in pain.

With her last bit of strength, she dragged the ant's body into the grass and collapsed into sleep.

By morning her body was mostly healed, though she still hurt terribly. She didn't hesitate and immediately claimed her reward. She landed on its dead body and began devouring it.

Its taste was incredible. Even though dung had been tasty, this was another league entirely. Within moments, nothing was left of the ant.

[You have unlocked a mutation: Ant's Legs.]

The larva looked at the message in awe. Black ant legs sprouted from the sides of her body. Suddenly they retracted back into her flesh and then extended again. The larva could control them.

Then the larva ran around the tree with them. Her movement was about five times faster—finally, she didn't have to wait an eternity to cross just a few meters.

-----

The remaining three weeks passed, and Flain upgraded Transparent Wings. Now he was standing with Itai and Flor in front of the airship.

A man with long purple hair approached Flor. "Ah, you must be Flor Wahraid. A pleasure, I am Zroi Urdan," he said.

"Oh, hello, it's been a long time since we last met," said Flor.

Flain smirked. The Academy was coming again, over and over.

Soon the airship arrived, and the students entered the Academy. This was followed by the headmaster's speech and the contest for rooms.

Flain acted exactly as he had in the previous attempt; he didn't want his trials to get mixed up. Otherwise, he might think he had done something in this attempt when it actually happened in another.

His memory was fresh, but with so few attempts the chance of confusion was minimal. Still, one had to remember that Flain was immortal, and the number of attempts would grow.

Of course, in this attempt he wiped out the bandit camp, but that would become routine in every attempt, since both his strength and his army's strength were meant to increase. Naturally, unless something happened to Itai—something Flain was careful to prevent—because Itai was an important chess piece.

Phase 1 and 2 were easy. Flain cleared Phase 1 first, and Phase 2 as the fourth.

Next came Phase 3, which he cleared as the seventh, mostly because it had fairly lengthy floors; otherwise, he could easily have ranked higher. Luckily, there was no Athrylith floor this time—otherwise he would have ended up much worse off. Not as bad as before, though, because now he was stronger, had a sharper mind, and knew what floors might appear.

The other students looked at Flain with awe. He was only a baron's son, and it was unheard of for someone of his status to reach such heights. Many from the higher classes began to see him as a threat, and those from the lower ones as an idol.

Of course, Flain's supposed "father" was only a newly-made baron who had recently earned the title. But few people knew this, and it was unusual for new barons to have children, since most focused on training to advance to higher titles.

Flain stood before the old man who was announcing the results of the *True Oak Competition*.

The students looked at each other tensely. Many eyes also fell on Flain, something he wasn't entirely used to. In attempt 13, apart from the fact that he managed to fight Cru and clear Phase 1 first, he hadn't done anything that would put him in the center of attention.

"First place, Lia Woldern. Second place, Flor Wahraid. Third place, Akio Keshiru. Fourth place, Cru Enirt. Fifth place, Eran Girflodor. Sixth place, Rey Zveroi…" the old man began to list.

Flain smirked. Fifth place was ideal. In attempt 13 it had been Rey in fifth, but it looked like Flain had taken it this time.

Now even more eyes were fixed on Flain, since it was officially announced that he had reached the top five students. But many still considered it luck and thought his room wouldn't last long—after all, he was only a baron's son. How could someone like that be so strong?

The students began to disperse, some disappointed with the rooms they got, others excited.

Flain was about to leave as well, but was stopped by a girl in bronze, revealing clothing, her eyes wide open. It was Naomi Swet.

Naomi pestered Flain after every phase. He usually ignored her, but she was persistent.

Flain had no reason to treat her kindly; his reputation in the Academy would soon worsen anyway.

"So you got a better room than me? I never would have thought that someone like you would be better than me at anything," she said with a smirk.

Flain was curious about her clothes, though he already had some theories. So he asked her directly.

Naomi covered her chest. "You pervert? Why are you staring at me like that?" she screamed.

Flain's cold expression didn't change in the slightest. "Answer," he said.

"Oh, the boy is tough. Anyway, the kind of clothes I wear are important for my fighting style. Normal students can't wear anything but uniforms. But since my daddy is one of the few friends of the headmaster, he arranged it," she said.

Just as Flain had expected. Since she carried two daggers, her fighting style had to be fast, and she needed clothes that didn't restrict her.

Naomi moved closer to Flain and grabbed his chin, licking her lips. "You look so sweet, I wonder how your blood tastes."

Flain grabbed her hand and applied such pressure that Naomi instinctively jumped back.

"We'll meet again, honey," she said and left.

Flor and Itai had been watching from behind Flain. "Flain you are lucky, all the girls are interested in you," Itai sighed.

The three of them walked together and then parted ways in front of their houses.

Flain planned not to do anything major that week so everyone would think he had gotten his room by luck. The reason was simple: he wanted the Academy to remain in the same state as in attempt 13. If he started his plan too early, it would influence it too much...

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