Kael sat on the infirmary bed.
Stella’s words continued to echo in his mind.
"Maybe I’ve been overestimating myself a bit. I’ve been too focused on training my body and copying techniques. I completely neglected my own affinity."
The realization bothered him more than he wanted to admit.
Ever since arriving at the academy, he had relied heavily on two things: improving his physical abilities and abusing the advantages granted by his cheat skills. Whenever he encountered a technique he liked, he copied it. Whenever he found soone stronger, he adapted.
It had worked so far.
Too well, perhaps.
He had beco so focused on what other people could do that he barely spent any ti understanding what belonged to him.
After all, Darkness wasn’t just another elent.
Even in the ga, Darkness was rare.
Extrely rare.
Kael slowly got off the bed.
His body still felt sore, but compared to the pain he experienced inside the simulation room, it was almost nothing.
Walking outside the infirmary, he imdiately spotted Charlotte sitting on one of the benches.
Her head was lowered.
Fast asleep.
Kael stared at her for a mont before lightly tapping her forehead.
"Huh?! Who’s that?"
Charlotte jerked awake.
Seeing Kael standing before her, her eyes widened.
"You’re up already?"
"They said with the damage you took you would be recovering for at least a week."
Kael stretched his arms.
"Well, I feel spectacular."
Charlotte looked unconvinced.
"We’ll resu training tomorrow," Kael continued. "Although my head still feels a little fuzzy, so I might not stick to my usual schedule."
"Don’t worry."
Charlotte imdiately stood up.
"I’ll co wake you up tomorrow."
Kael paused.
For so reason, Lilith’s face flashed through his mind.
Knowing her behavior...
That sounded like a terrible idea.
"Wait a minute, I’m not sure that’s—"
Kael stopped halfway.
Then another thought crossed his mind.
Actually... they might never et each other.
The academy was huge and Lilith seed to be avoiding him.
There was no reason their paths had to cross.
Probably.
"Never mind," Kael said.
The two walked back toward the dormitory together.
The evening was quiet.
Most students were either preparing for the tournant or enjoying the remaining weekend.
When they entered the elevator, Kael couldn’t help but shake his head.
"Both boys and girls staying in the sa dormitory building is either a terrible decision by the academy or a terrible decision by the ga developers to aid in the story."
"Not that I’m complaining."
"At least not yet."
The elevator stopped.
Kael stepped out.
"Good night, Kael."
Charlotte waved from inside.
"Rest up. I’ll wake you tomorrow."
Kael turned.
For so reason, hearing that felt strangely abnormal.
"Good night too."
His reply ca out slightly awkward.
Charlotte smiled.
The elevator doors closed.
Kael continued toward his room.
Today had been exhausting.
Between fighting Sean, experinting with illusions, nearly frying his nerves inside the simulation room, and getting lectured by Stella, he felt ntally drained.
Opening the door, he entered his room and collapsed onto the bed.
But sleep didn’t co.
Instead, Stella’s words returned once again.
"You’ve got the basics of mana manipulation down but you haven’t mastered it."
"But if you continue down this path, you may never unlock your aura."
Kael stared at the ceiling.
Then sat up.
"Guess sleeping can wait."
Crossing his legs, he began circulating mana throughout his body.
Unlike before, he deliberately slowed the process.
He wanted to feel every movent.
Every fluctuation.
Every reaction.
Dark mana flowed through his mana core.
Cold.
Heavy.
Silent.
It felt completely different from ordinary mana.
In the ga, Darkness could be used to either increase Gravity or Density of an object or Devour both objects and living beings.
But it belonged to the category of conceptual attributes.
Among the four conceptual elents—
Light.
Darkness.
Ti.
Space.
—Darkness was considered one of the most difficult to understand.
Not because it was powerful.
Because nobody fully understood what it actually was.
Different users interpreted it differently.
So used it to erase.
Others used it to conceal.
So used it to consu.
And a few used it to distort perception itself.
Even among the people who possessed the affinity, no two fighting styles were exactly alike.
Kael pushed mana toward his hand.
Nothing happened.
He pushed harder.
Still nothing.
"Co on."
A thin layer of black mana briefly appeared around his fingers before imdiately dispersing.
Kael frowned.
His control was terrible.
Until now, he had mostly used mana automatically based of what he copied.
The assassin’s weapon enhancent thod.
Flash Step and Shadow Step.
Physical reinforcent.
Everything was based on established patterns.
He copied.
Then improved.
But now he was trying to do sothing from scratch.
And it showed.
Kael stood up.
If ditation wasn’t working, then there was only one thing left to try.
The Celestial Sword Style which seed like a bad idea.
Picking up his practice sword, he moved to the center of the room.
He took a deep breath.
The first form naturally entered his mind.
Guiding Light.
The foundation of the entire style.
A strike that moved directly toward its target without hesitation.
Normally he reinforced his body with mana before using it.
This ti he did sothing different.
He poured Darkness mana directly into the technique itself.
Imdiately, sothing felt wrong.
Very wrong.
The mana reacted violently.
Almost as if it didn’t belong there.
Still, Kael pushed forward.
His body moved.
Then disaster struck.
Instead of moving in a straight line—
Kael shot sideways.
CRASH!
The kitchen table exploded.
A chair flipped over.
Several utensils scattered across the floor.
Kael lay buried beneath the wreckage.
Silence filled the room.
Then—
"Ouch."
He slowly sat up.
His sword was still in his hand.
The kitchen was not.
Kael stared blankly at the destruction.
"I used the first form."
Guiding Light.
The simplest form in the entire style.
A perfectly straight strike.
Yet sohow he had crossed half the room diagonally and crashed into his own furniture through his kitchen.
That definitely wasn’t supposed to happen.
Kael stood up.
Slowly.
Dusting himself off.
He examined the sword.
Then replayed the movent inside his mind.
The mont he infused Darkness mana into the technique, the trajectory changed.
The technique itself remained the sa.
But the mana altered how it expressed itself.
Almost as though Darkness wanted to twist the path.
Or hide it.
Or bend it.
"I need to test that later."
His eyes felt heavy.
His body felt heavier.
The mont he sat on the bed, exhaustion finally caught up with him.
Within seconds, Kael fell asleep.
Knock.
Knock.
Far away, another conversation was taking place.
Professor Ralph stood outside Stella’s office.
"You seem pretty invested in Kael Draven."
Stella looked up from her paperwork.
"Do I?"
Professor Ralph frowned.
"I know Lady Draven is a powerhouse."
"But your interest in the boy could get him killed."
Stella leaned back.
"You’ve seen his talent."
"You’ve seen his growth speed."
"Soone with that level of potential needs to be pushed harder."
Professor Ralph crossed his arms.
"Or broken faster."
Stella laughed.
"You sound concerned."
"I am."
Professor Ralph didn’t hesitate.
"With the way you’re pushing him, you’re either going to break him or kill him."
"It’s only a matter of finding out which happens first."
Stella remained calm.
"You’re underestimating him."
"No."
Professor Ralph shook his head.
"You’re overestimating him."
"I looked into the reports."
"You sent a first-year student into a D-Rank dungeon."
"That wasn’t a test."
"That was practically a death sentence."
Stella didn’t imdiately respond.
After a few monts she simply said,
"But he survived."
"He did more than survive."
"He cleared it."
Professor Ralph frowned.
"That doesn’t justify it."
"What if he died?"
"What if the other students with him died?"
Stella tapped her desk.
"You and I both know the academy doesn’t care about what-ifs or students life."
"The academy cares about results."
Professor Ralph rubbed his forehead.
"I’m still trying to understand what the Principal saw in you."
Stella smiled.
"The sa thing I see in Kael."
Professor Ralph stared at her.
Neither spoke for several monts.
Eventually he sighed.
"I’ll leave you to your thods."
"But rember this."
"If anything happens to Kael Draven..."
He paused.
"...not even the Principal will be able to protect you from Lady Draven."
The room beca quiet.
Lady Draven.
A na that had once shaken entire nations.
A woman who disappeared from public sight after Kael’s birth.
Most people had forgotten her.
But not everyone.
Professor Ralph turned and walked away.
Leaving Stella alone.
She remained seated behind her desk.
Silent.
Thoughtful.
Unknown thoughts passed through her mind.
Then her gaze shifted toward the academy grounds beyond the window.
Toward the dormitory where a certain troubleso student was sleeping.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"You’re finally starting to think for yourself."
"And that’s far more dangerous than your talent."
Outside, the academy remained peaceful.
But the closer the tournant drew, the more that peace felt temporary.
User Comments
0 comments from readers