Raviel walked out in the hallway and didn't stop until the door was far behind him.

Then his legs shook, once, twice and gave out.

He slumped against the cold wall, back sliding down until he was in half sitting and half crouched position.

His chest rose and fell hard as he sucked in the air, one shaky breath after another, he focused on his breathing till it became normal.

His hands were trembling even though the pressure was gone.

"Shit!..." he muttered under his breath.

He pulled the vial he had received earlier from his pocket, uncorked it, and chugged it in one go. The cold liquid burned slightly as it went down his throat.

A few seconds later, comfortable warmth spread throughout his body.

He felt the crunch in his nose undo itself, the nose cartilage knitting itself back together with a slight dull ache. He felt the pain in his ribs vanishing and the swollen thigh being healed at a rapid pace.

He let his head fall back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"....haaa!" He exhaled, "feels ...damn better now".

Raviel sat there for some time. Soon his ears caught the sound of incoming footsteps.

Raviel glanced from the corner of his eyes and saw a small group of students, who probably came from the enrollment exam heading in his direction.

A boy noticed him sitting against the wall and slowed down and gave him a curious look.

"Hey", the boy said. "Did you also give the enrollment exam".

Raviel pushed himself up with a groan, brushing his back slightly. "Yeah".

The boy grinned and stuck out his hand. "Whoaa...nice. I'm Henry"

Raviel shook it. "Raviel"

Henry turned slightly and gestured beside him. "And this is Eve. She is my friend".

The girl gave a small wave in Raviel's direction.

Raviel smiled politely. "Nice to meet you"

Henry laughed softly as the girl tapped his shoulder. "Aah!! We are getting late, we have to head out somewhere. Wanna come together with us".

Raviel glanced at both of them and shook his head. "Nah I've got something important to take care of".

Henry nodded, understanding. "Fair enough, hope you pass the exam, buddy".

The two walked together off, their voices fading down the hall, while Raviel remained where he was, his smile slowly disappearing as he tapped on his Arctic.

Raviel started walking again, just as he passed few paths, his Arctic vibrated against his wrist.

Once.

Then again.

It wouldn't stop.

He frowned and lifted his arm.

A notification glowed on the screen.

[ Raviel Thanarion— Congratulations on passing the N.O.V.A academy's entrance exam ]

[ Please tap on the notification to see the full details ]

He stared at the notification for a bit longer, then let out a quiet breath. "These guys really like to do things fast, don't they...."

His thumb hovered above the icon, with a sigh he pressed on it.

=========N.O.V.A=========

Student Name: Raviel Thanarion

ID: 194757382

Program: First year (3rd gen batch)

Rank: 11 (based on performance and time limit)

Alloted class: Class 1-S

Balance: 20 N.c (Nova credits can be used for utilizing specialized state of the art training facilities. All the transactions can only be used inside the academy grounds)

Note: Classes will begin from tommorow.

=============================

Raviel skimmed past through the details.

For a moment, he just stared at the screen.

Then his lips curled up into a small smile.

Rank: 11

Not first, not some absurd number, or a story breaking miracle but still a miracle nonetheless.

He exhaled, leaning against the side wall.

"Yeah.... I am pretty sure, this is going to surprise everyone".

He knew it better than most, even if his raw Stat somehow had managed to climb till the D+ rank, even if had barely came in contact with an abysswalker due to that mysterious skill, and survived that encounter. He knew that he was weak in many other places, his weapon work was not refined as well as the clan heirs or the top students. Compared to those people who had trained since beginning, he was still lacking.

And yet rank—11

Good enough. No it was more than good enough.

His eyes flicked downward.

Balance: 20 N.c

Nova credits, the stuff that was impressive to read in the novel as it was mentioned that using the NOVA credits you could use the most beautiful and intricate training system the mankind had ever developed, seeing this he was even more thrilled as he could finally get some training and guidance to raise his Mastery on katana, ever since he had trained with it in the past days, he could never raise the Mastery over nine percent, though he knew the reason behind it:

He didn't even knew about the fundamentals of katana, so all he had done was swinging his katana mindlessly for the past few days.

But in this place, he could finally get his chance to improve his weapon training under the guidance of specialists.

Scrolling down, he saw the last part.

Classes begins tommorow.

Assigned class: Class 1-S

Raviel let out a low whistle.

Because, Class 1-S was the place where he would finally meet the characters which he had read in the novel, his heart was beating loudly, as he was excited to see the people, whose stories he had once read behind his phone screen.

"....Guess it will not really be simple from onwards now".

The thought didn't felt heavy.

Instead it felt exciting.

Raviel pushed himself off the wall and started walking toward the main area he'd come from earlier. His steps were calm now, the tension and pressure which weighted him, finally bleeding out of his body.

Just as he passed a wide corridor lined with floating holographic emblems, his Arctic buzzed again.

He glanced down.

A map unfolded across the holographic screen, showing the academy layout in clean blue lines— lecture halls, training zones, medical wings, and a massive residential section, research area, grounds, and much more as he zoomed in at verious parts, they were tucked slightly away from the main campus.

A short message appeared beneath it.

[ Dormitory allocation in progress.]

[ Please wait a few minutes. ]

Raviel snorted quietly. "Bastards did all the things fast, and are now telling me to wait. Figures"

He slowed to a stop near an open seating area and leaned against a massive marble pillar, casually zooming in and out of the map. The place was ridiculous in scale. Calling it an academy almost felt like a joke — it was more like a small city built for training.

"Well finally, I can get a real tour of this place".

He muttered, "Let's get started now, shall we"

_______________

Inside a quiet glass-walled cabin, Jeanne sat at the end of a long table, one leg crossed over the other. Several holographic screens floated in the air, displaying maps marked with several red warnings and few purple dots.

"The new rift in Finland stabilized faster than expected," one official reported.

"Japan's situation is getting worse," another added. "Their president has formally requested a discussion about a collaborative research facility near the breach."

Jeanne listened without much reaction, her chin resting lightly on her hand.

That was when a woman with short dark hair leaned back in her chair and stood up lazily.

"Jeanne, before we drown in politics," she said, stretching her arms, "our top priority should be maximizing safety for the first-year expedition teams."

Her name was Aria.

The room went noticeably quieter.

A few of the staff exchanged glances, some of them were visibly sweating now. Jeanne wasn't just the headmaster of Nova — she was one of the highest-ranked awakened in the world. Calling her out so casually wasn't something most people dared to do unless they had a death wish .

Jeanne turned her head slightly and looked at Aria.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then Jeanne smiled.

Internally, she just sighed. Just say you're bored, Aria.

Aloud, she said calmly, "We'll continue this discussion later. The expedition protocols can be revised this evening."

Aria's face instantly lit up. "Perfect."

She flashed Jeanne a thumbs-up, spun on her heel, and practically jogged towards the door at the other end of the seat she was sitting on.

"Catch you later," she called out, already halfway out of the room.

The door slid shut behind her, leaving the rest of the cabin in awkward silence.

Jeanne let out a slow breath and waved her hand.

One by one, the holographic screens blinked out. Maps vanished. Reports dissolved into the air. The cabin fell quiet.

She leaned back in her chair and muttered under her breath, "Unbelievable."

Then, louder and far less polite,

"Where the fuck do you always disappear to, Jax, when I actually need you?"

No answer. Of course not.

She rubbed her temples, clearly done with meetings for the day, and stood up. Whatever was left on the agenda could burn for all she cared. Someone else could deal with it.

As she walked toward the window, her irritation slowly faded, replaced by something closer to anticipation.

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