Just as Brant left the premises, the Freshers were issued badges signifying their new status. The cold metallic emblem bore the academy's insignia of black dragon head with a mark of '1' in middle and was meant to be worn at all times.

Leo felt a sharp glare settle on his back. He ignored it completely.

"Lily, let's go to Aurelius Hall and check what all this is about," he said calmly.

"Mhm!" Lily replied enthusiastically, almost bouncing on her heels.

"Miho, what's your rank?" Lily asked, turning back.

"M-my rank is 994… with 15,674 points…" Miho answered softly.

Leo's expression turned thoughtful the moment he heard that.

"Which means more than nine hundred admitted students scored above fifteen thousand," he muttered. "The highest score in previous trials barely touched twenty thousand… Wow. This generation is tough."

Lily nodded in agreement.

"Yes. I heard the scores were pushed up because of demon activity and the beast tide." As she spoke, a sharp glint flashed through her eyes before quickly fading.

Behind them, the girl named Karen had been calling out loudly ever since Brant left. Her voice rang again and again, but Leo and Lily treated it as nothing more than background noise. Only Miho seemed flustered, her shoulders stiffening, though she handled herself well by refusing to look back.

Standing beside Karen was a slim man with a bow slung across his back. A tri-pointed cap shadowed his eyes as he observed Leo's group with clear interest.

"Hm… I wonder if they'd be willing to learn the location of that territory beacon," he murmured to himself.

Leo led the way toward Aurelius Hall, circling the academy grounds rather than taking a direct path. By the time they reached their destination, they had completed an entire round of the ground floor. The upper floors loomed above them, clearly restricted to those with authority. The journey had taken nearly four to five hours, during which they even stopped for lunch at a student-run restaurant where culinary specialists showcased their skills.

They learned that the academy's internal training areas for professors and instructors were surprisingly limited. Only academic classes were held within the main structures. Most combat classes took place in the wild, and depending on the instructor's whims, a single class could last an entire week.

After further inquiries, they discovered that students could rent shops to sell any merchandise they acquired. This included entertainment venues—some even projected recorded movies captured in the wild or hosted drama performances. Everything operated on AC. High-traffic locations like cafeterias and official buildings demanded rent as steep as 1,000 AC per day, while obscure areas went as low as 50 AC per day.

They also learned about the monthly rewards tied to student rankings.

1st – 100,000 AC

2nd – 70,000 AC

3rd – 50,000 AC

4–10 – 20,000 AC

11–50 – 10,000 AC

51–100 – 5,000 AC

101–500 – 2,000 AC

501–1,000 – 1,000 AC

1,001–2,000 – 500 AC

2,000–4,000 – 100 AC

4,000+ – 50 AC

"Wow, looks like we earned some nice credits from the trial—around four times more than average," Leo remarked.

Lily, however, narrowed her eyes as she focused on the second-ranked name.

"Leon… Who is he?" she asked sharply. "Why is he second and I'm third? And he scored exactly 250,000 points? How does that even make sense?"

Even Leo was intrigued. Someone surpassing Lily in trial points was no small matter.

"I wonder what his strength is," Leo said thoughtfully. "At least Pseudo 3-star."

"Hmph!" Lily huffed. "Whoever he is, I'll defeat him and take second place beside you."

"Hoh?" Leo teased, a smirk forming. "Not first? Not planning to defeat me?"

Lily flushed crimson and looked away.

"I-I just don't want to hurt Shyra and Niri…" she said quietly, memories of Leo's spanking surfacing unbidden.

"I tamed two more beasts during the trial. Don't you want to know?" Leo added casually.

"You already said one is too big to be taken anywhere near a settlement," Lily replied. "Just how big is it? And the other one shouldn't be that big, right?"

"Well, that one is indeed big," Leo said slowly. "But the other… her personality is a bit cold. Her entire family was slaughtered right in front of her."

Lily's expression softened instantly.

"Is that so…" she murmured, sadness creeping into her voice.

By then, they had arrived at Aurelius Hall. The massive building buzzed with activity. Students crowded the counters submitting mission completion reports. Others traded beast materials, haggled loudly over prices, or scanned the notice boards for new tasks. Some were outright quarrelling over loot distribution. It was chaotic—but organised chaos.

One glance at the mission board revealed a wide array of tasks.

Beast extermination.

Area surveillance.

Reconnaissance.

Resource gathering.

These were academy-issued missions, offering anywhere from a few hundred AC to as high as 5,000 AC. Leo noticed that the highest-paying ones often involved gathering information about the unknown—mapping undiscovered areas, venturing into uncharted territories, or harvesting resources from regions not yet fully documented.

Another section displayed commissions issued by instructors, professors, and even students. Most revolved around resource gathering, with payment negotiable based on yield.

But it was the next section that truly caught Leo's attention.

The highest-paying missions involved clearing dungeons, exploring secret realms, and conducting investigations or solving cases in distant cities. Any mission that required leaving the academy's zone paid up to 1,000,000 AC—an obvious reflection of the risk of real death.

Yet one mission dwarfed even those.

A bounty of 10,000,000 AC.

It called for the elimination of a Wyvern that had emerged after the integration of the Beast World just outside the academy area. A side note added that even conducting a detailed investigation could earn 1,000,000 AC.

Leo didn't linger on it. That wasn't his purpose here.

"Leo… will you really establish your own territory?" Lily asked softly.

"Yes," Leo replied without hesitation. "I don't want to be under anyone or follow their stupid orders."

Lily nodded, determination blazing in her eyes.

"Alright! Then I'll join as Deputy Leader of your territory—and its very first member."

Even Miho spoke up, her voice trembling but resolute.

"I-I'll be with my sister too. I want to join as well!" she said, gathering her courage.

Leo nodded in response.

But to establish a territory, one crucial thing was needed.

A territory beacon.

---

A/N: I will try to publish bonus chapter soon.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.