Standing within the chamber, Ruvian quietly studied the luminous panels displaying the results of his first-year batch, his gaze moving from na to na as he took in the outcos.
By now, most of the scholars had already completed their trials.
According to the novel as he rembered it, Zian had not rely endured the trial but also passed it, accompanied by several side characters who had likewise managed to succeed alongside him.
That mory was precisely why Ruvian had co here in the first place—to confirm whether events were still unfolding as they once had.
========
[Nas that cleared the trials]
[#1 - Julian Rozenberg (10:34)]
[#2 - Rosalin Varion (11:12)]
[#3 - Arlok Carnam (11:21)]
[#4 - Silvena D’Elvoire (13:02)]
[#5 - Ruvian Castelor (13:23)]
...
========
To his relief, everything remained unchanged, with the sole exceptions of Zian Herga and the strange, unaccountable presence of himself.
’Hmm... I cannot recall the exact details, but I am fairly certain the nas of those who succeeded in the trials remain the sa.’
’With the exception of Silvena, of course. Wow, she succeeded, as well.’
’It seems Calyra wasn’t able to overco this test either. Given her curses, that outco was hardly surprising. She was likely confused throughout the trial, as well.’
Noticing his expression, Airin gently placed a hand on his shoulder and offered her congratulations once more.
"You should be proud of yourself. You are one of the scholars from Class E who managed to clear the trials. Even across your entire batch, only 14 out of 400 were able to truly overco their weaknesses. The rest could only endure, and so, unfortunately, were not able to last even five minutes."
She paused for a mont.
"Ah, but still, don’t let that get to your head. Everyone faces sothing different in there. So people carry flaws that run deeper than they realize, and others are only just beginning to face theirs."
Ruvian gave a small shrug.
"Yeah, I get what you an. Still, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind."
Her hand gave his shoulder a light, reassuring squeeze before she withdrew it.
"For now, you should get so rest. The points will be distributed later, or tomorrow at the latest, soti over the weekend."
Then, she cheerfully added, "See you next week. And good work for today."
With that, the first week of orientation had finally ended.
*****
The next morning, long before the sun had risen, Ruvian was already in the training hall, pushing through a set of heavy lifts.
A barbell braced across his shoulders. Each side carried nearly 100 kilograms, a burden most grown n would struggle to lift even once.
Yet, he had already raised it nine tis.
His breath left his lips in steady bursts as he drove himself upwards.
"...Ten."
Stepping forward, Ruvian guided the bar onto the rack. The tal hooks caught it with a solid clack that echoed across the chamber.
"...That’s a good workout."
His strength was still rated at F , which was the very edge between an exceptionally strong adult and the elite human capability.
So before moving on to anything else, he intended to push every one of his F rank attributes to the precise threshold of E rank.
Later, Ruvian heard the slow creak of the heavy doors.
Glancing toward the entrance, he saw the panels parted, letting in the dim corridor light.
Honestly, it was not unusual for soone to enter. The hall was open to all scholars, after all. Still, at this hour on a weekend morning, and since he was alone, the sight drew his attention.
Imdiately, he recognized who it was, or to be more precise, he had expected who the person was.
Stepping inside the hall, the woman was clad in a form-fitting dark training uniform that molded to her figure and flaunted every contour of her body.
The fabric stretched daringly across her voluptuous chest that tapered into the narrow sweep of her waist and the slow, hypnotic flare of her hips.
Her short erald hair glinted faintly as it swayed, and her viridian eyes glead with a soft, drowsy allureness that only made her presence more wickedly inviting.
She stopped a step away, studying him from head to toe. Then yawned, covering her mouth with her hand, entirely unbothered.
"Mmm... you really are cruel," she said, her voice husky with sleep.
"Inviting a girl out this early on a weekend. Do you have any idea what kind of sin it is to separate a woman from her bed before sunrise?"
’Not this again...’
’I forgot that her character is always like this in the novel once she got very close to Zian...’
Ruvian quietly sighed and simply picked up a cloth from the rack beside him and wiped the sweat from his neck.
She tilted her head, watching him curiously, as if his indifference were the most fascinating thing to her.
"And here I thought that if a man asks to et alone at dawn, it must be for sothing interesting. But it seems like I was wrong."
She faintly smiled.
"I feel sad."
’No, you’re not!’
’There’s a fucking smile on your face, you wicked woman!’
Despite the chaos in his head, Ruvian gently folded the cloth before setting it down on the bench.
"If you wanted to sleep, you should have declined."
Her brows lifted slightly at that.
"Really? That’s it? Ha. You’re so cold. You were the one who invited , rember? Dragging out here when everyone else is still dreaming... Is this how you treat a beautiful lady?"
"Not to ntion that we’re all alone too. If soone saw us, they might get the wrong idea."
"Then, they should think more carefully. Also, I don’t concern myself with rumors. And you shouldn’t either."
Ruvian’s answer ca flat and imdiate, without even a glance in her direction.
Silvena smiled wider.
"You really don’t make this fun, do you?"
"For your information, I didn’t invite you here for fun."
Silvena humd.
"Alright. Alright~ Now I’m curious, what did you invite for, then? You received another divine revelation?"
Finally, Ruvian gave her a strong look in her eyes.
"Yes."
"Next week, our class will clash."
"Clash? Huh, so you’re telling Class A is matched up against Class E next week?" She let out a short, incredulous laugh.
"Seriously? Is the academy actually that shortsighted, or is this so kind of joke as an oracle that I’m not in on?"
She shook her head, disbelief plain on his face.
"No offense to anyone in Class E, but let’s be realistic here. Class A has the top scholars from the first year. Class E barely gets scraps in comparison."
"How is that supposed to be a fair matchup?"
Her gaze drifted off as if already picturing the outco. "I an, what’s the point of calling it a matchup if the result’s obvious from the start?"
She paused, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Unless the academy’s trying to prove sothing by setting them up to fail."
"About that, it wasn’t an official session." Ruvian added.
"Your instructor saw that Class E had an open period that day. The lecturer assigned to our class wasn’t available, so she used the gap to arrange a joint training session between our classes."
Brushing her thumb along her lower lip, Silvena finally spoke.
"I see. If that’s the case, why call here for sothing like this? It’s not as if we can change it, right?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Or... do you have a plan?"
Ruvian calmly shook his head.
"I’m not going to stop it," he said simply. "We’ll let it happen."
Silvena said nothing, but the glint in her eyes made it clear she wasn’t convinced.
Then, Ruvian added.
"However, when they called you to participate in that session, I wanted you to outright disagree with it. If possible, try to convince Calyra, as well. And you don’t have to worry about the points; it’s not an official session. As I said, they took their own initiative without getting approval from the academy first."
"Well, it’s not like I’m going to join a session like that," Silvena said, as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "I’d look like a complete bully if they paired up with soone from Class E."
She let the strand slip free and gave a small, amused shrug. "Though... I might try convincing Calyra, if she’s in the mood to listen."
"But what about you?" she asked softly.
"What are you planning to do during that session?"
Ruvian replied. "It may not an much to you, but that session is a valuable opportunity for , even without rit points."
Silvena carefully studied his words.
"I see. And one more thing, Ruvian... before I do what you’re asking, I want you to answer so of my questions in return. Maybe a lot, actually."
Ruvian stared at her for a while.
"Sure." Ruvian replied, unfazed.
"As long as they’re within my ability to answer."
──────── ✦ ────────
[Chapter 65: The First Piece Moves (1)]
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