The walk home with Natasha was filled with silence.

But just as they had walked a few meters, Amon opened his mouth to initiate a conversation, asking:

"You encountered the youth?"

"The silver haired teenager?" Natasha nodded.

Amon was immediately bewildered.

The youth could come back from the dead?

It was truly astonishing to think about.

Amon recalled correctly that he had killed the star beast youth with the Heaven Rendering Sword Art.

'It seems the Behemoth Tower is some kind of simulation,' Amon mused in his heart, making a few guesses.

'This simulation is to try to screen out the true geniuses from the… normal ones.' Countless thoughts flickered in Amon's mind about the true existence of the tower.

After a short few seconds of thinking, Amon shook off his reverie and asked lightly:

"Did you purposely choose to quit because of the bet?" This was also something Amon wanted to clarify.

Natasha, on the other hand, just shook her head.

"What I told the instructor is the truth. That youth is truly strong… I didn't want to risk it. I might have won but that's uncertain. I don't like engaging in uncertainties. When I fight, I plan to ensure I win the fight."

Amon was slightly speechless by her conviction.

He saw her in a new light.

Before, he thought Natasha just loved fighting, but now it seemed she only loved fighting to win.

When it was a hopeless or uncertain situation, she didn't have any interest in engaging in it.

She was starkly different from Amon.

"I see…" Amon commented in a low voice.

Natasha grinned and asked:

"So? How was it?"

"What?" Amon looked puzzled.

"Your battle with the youth of course!" Natasha said matter of factly.

Amon thought for a moment as they walked.

"It was… quite interesting, I guess," he muttered in a faint, uncertain voice.

"Did you have the upper hand throughout the fight?" Natasha asked with a look of intrigue on her face.

"Something like that." Amon replied with a smile.

"Come on! You're sounding too dry!" Natasha said, punching Amon lightly on the shoulder.

"I heard from the murmurs of a few students that the star beasts we face inside the star gate are geniuses from the various star beast races!"

"Star gate?" Amon was dumbfounded and stared at Natasha in confusion.

Natasha glanced at Amon, puzzled.

"You didn't know that was a star gate?"

"I… wasn't informed," Amon said dismissively.

However, a vein popped on his head in anger.

'Damien. That irresponsible, lazy instructor.' Amon was internally furious.

How couldn't he mention such a simple detail?

No wonder he felt the place was strange, and there seemed to be something mysterious about it.

Amon lampooned, 'Normally, my understanding of star gates is that they are occupied by star beasts and they favor star beasts with deadly star beasts ruling over the whole star gate. However this has overturned my understanding of star gates.'

'Perhaps the reason star gates are so deadly is that they have been altered by the star beasts in such a way that it will be favorable to them. The terrain, and everything else…'

Amon's mind flickered with a calculative mindset as he tried to guess a few things.

What if, just like the Celestial Star Gates, there were unique star gates that were beneficial to humans?

'No. It's an inconceivable thought. If there was something like that, humanity would have advanced further than they have now…'

Amon tried to shake off the thought, but recalling how greedy the human heart can be, a solemn expression appeared on his face.

There just might be unique star gates like that, but they were being kept a secret from the public…

Natasha tapped Amon repeatedly to garner his attention.

Amon turned to her with a wry smile on his face.

"Sorry for being distracted. I was thinking about something."

Changing the topic, he said, "When next do you plan to enter the star gate?"

"I'll be ready in a few days…" Natasha replied confidently.

Amon nodded, and the two fell silent, having nothing much to talk about again.

In the silence of the night, the two walked side by side until they reached their houses.

Amon escorted Natasha to her place, unsure if she could maneuver her way around the whole area.

"Thank you. I can pretty much handle myself from here."

"Okay. Good night." Amon waved her goodbye.

Natasha also waved in Amon's direction.

"Goodbye…" she said before entering her house.

Amon strode back to his house and entered without hesitation.

Noting that there were only barely a few hours before morning arrived, he decided against sleeping and instead opted to condense his thirteenth core.

He had a vague feeling that he was extremely close to forming it, and within the next few days he should be done with the process.

…

The night passed peacefully, uneventfully even.

Amon opened his eyes to the new morning.

His vision was clear and despite sleeping for more than two days, there was no sign of fatigue on his face.

He stood up and freshened up before heading out to class.

On his way out, he visited Natasha, and both of them walked down the path to school together.

As they passed by a few students, people were pointing at Amon and Natasha, and most of those they encountered were muttering incomprehensible words.

With Amon's enhanced perception, however, he could hear them clearly.

"The golden couple. One of them cleared all the levels of the star gate while the other one cleared nine levels."

"Exactly. According to rumors, because of their romance, she decided against clearing it and supported the teacher who was opposing his instructor."

Amon heard all sorts of outrageous things that morning, and he was speechless.

The youths truly had their way of altering the truth of the matter.

He glanced at Natasha, who had a slight blush creeping up her cheek all the way to her green blindfold.

"Don't worry about the gossips. It'll gradually die down…" Amon said dismissively.

"Okay," Natasha replied, her voice almost a squeal.

Thankfully, they had reached the location of the classes, so without hesitation she rushed into her class without even bidding Amon farewell.

Amon glanced in the direction she left in, puzzled.

"What is wrong with her?"

With a shake of his head, he no longer dwelled on the situation and walked into his own classroom.

The moment he entered, he noticed Damien casually dozing off on the desk.

"Damn, is this becoming a habit?" Amon exclaimed before muttering in his heart.

'You're a clone for crying out loud. Why do you need to sleep so much?'

Amon felt exasperated at Damien's behavior.

He had no demeanor of a peerless expert at all.

He walked up to the desk and knocked on it lightly.

Damien still remained asleep, causing Amon to be even more astounded.

'Aren't you supposed to be a gifted one?' Amon raised a brow curiously before banging on the desk to draw Damien's attention.

Finally, Damien lazily opened his eyes without a care in the world.

With a languid yawn, he stretched and stood up.

"Oh, it's morning already?" He noticed Amon standing there and cast him a curious glance.

"Yes it is." Amon replied as he walked to a seat nearby.

Suddenly, Damien's eyes sharpened as though he had sensed something.

"Come here kid," he demanded.

Amon glanced at Damien in confusion, never seeing his instructor put on such an expression.

Complying, he approached the instructor.

Damien took Amon's hand and pulled down his cloth to reveal Amon's bare skin underneath.

His eyes sharpened as he stared at it.

Amon hadn't even noticed it before, but there on his skin was a small crack…

"This… is not good," Damien commented, his frown deepening.

Amon stared at Damien with a look of confusion as he glanced down at the crack on his hand.

"Instructor Damien… What happened?"

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