“You. A word.”

Ceres, somehow, felt the need to apologize to me as she rushed outside the moment we heard the bell, saying she had a special session with Pan Petras. As if I should feel saddened or bothered by her absence.

But when I was about to cross the door to go for our break, Professor Bel called me. This time, he hadn’t cut the break short, yet I still wanted to go to the canteen to buy something to eat—as fast as I could.

To my relief, it didn’t seem like the professor wanted us to talk in the classroom as he began to walk toward the door. Without even waiting to hear my reply, the man directed me to the left, taking me to the exact opposite side of the canteen.

“I read your report—I’m glad to know your score on the written exam wasn’t a fluke.”

“Did I get a high score?” I asked without being able to hide the happy surprise in my voice. Apart from the results in the race, Ergos hadn’t shared our scores for the written exam. Only if we passed or failed.

“Ah, we don’t give them anymore, right? I forgot why we even hide this shit, makes no sense to me.” As Belenus walked in the corridor, almost every first-year student who glanced at him would either jump, be startled, or start to walk faster.

The only few who did neither of those things would pay more attention to the person walking beside him, and to the lack of uniform and armband. And as I briefly met their cold stares, I could almost hear their thoughts.

‘Why is someone like Belenus Kairon talking with someone like him?’

Yet before I could get too lost in my thoughts, Belenus' next comment brought me back.

“You ranked first in the written exam.” When I almost tripped the professor laughed, his next words dripping with mockery.

“How else do you think you managed to get into the waiting list, with that shitty placement in the race? Sure, you got one highlight—but Ergos creates these highlights for our sponsors. For publicity.”

Which basically meant the true purpose of the highlights was not about the students who showed potential or their placement on the admissions.

It was about choosing the best shoots to make Ergos look good.

Still, first place…I was expecting to get into the top five, all things considered. Perhaps even the top three. But, well, thinking about it, I shouldn’t be surprised. I did orchestrate races for a living, for almost a decade. I had to take pride in that, at least.

“The races you usually watch, they are mostly underground races, right?”

I don’t know if I imagined, or if Professor Bel did lower his voice when he spoke. Regardless, my muscles tensed as I avoided his gaze.

“Does it even matter?”

The man chuckled, the left eye covered by the eye patch facing me. “Listen here, I don’t care the type of races you usually frequented. Your personal life is of no concern of mine.”

“Then why are you asking?”

Professor Bel’s sly smile sent a cold shiver down my spine, and even after he replied, I was unsure if it was due to excitement or nervousness.

“It’ll be best to show you.”

Belenus took me to an empty classroom, its windows giving a clear view of one of the gyms. Some students had booked the place and were taking turns flying and practicing maneuvers with their dragons.

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Before I could ask anything else, the man took and opened a flask from his pocket, the liquid silver floating until it became an orb—floating next to one of the windows.

“Tell me what you see.”

I furrowed, glancing from the professor to the orb, to the dragon outside. Did he want me to compare them, or do the same thing I had done the day before?

Ignoring my hunger, I began to observe the riders outside, looking at the recording being displayed in the orb every now and then.

Not even two minutes had passed when I spoke, unable to contain my annoyance.

“What is even there to see? It’s more of the same.” As Vex, almost every single one of those riders was better than me. I simply had no grounds or morals to judge and criticize them.

As Jackal, however…I wasn’t ranked first for nothing.

I knew how to choose my riders.

“No originality, no flow, wasting too much time with unnecessary maneuvers, not taking advantage of space and tools—that pretty much summarizes it, right?” Belenus Kairon spoke in my stead, showing that he did in fact read my report.

I nodded in reply, still observing the students at the gym.

In terms of technique, they were good. I could see the control they had in their dragons, the maneuvers well practiced. But that was all there was to it. Although most dragons were quite mediocre and ordinary, a few did catch my eyes—but their potential was being wasted. I would never try to get any of them in my races, as Jackal.

Professor Bel then turned to face me, a wild glow in his eye. “Tell me this: why did you choose my electives?”

I blinked, staring at him as if he were asking me what color was the sky.

“Because I need to get an edge on my competitors. Compensate what I lack.”

“But you suck at the very basics right now. Why not choose an elective that focuses on the fundamentals? My electives are on a more advanced level than where you stand now.”

Was he serious? Or was he testing me?

“Since when can someone gain an edge by learning the basics? I know I’m…below the required level right now.” I clenched my fists, the bitterness of my failures still vivid and pungent. The burn on my leg and the bruise on my shoulder still hurt, reminding me time and time again what I had been unable to do. “But I can’t allow myself to get stuck at this level just because I didn’t master the basics.”

I couldn’t let others walk over me—surpass me—when I still had to win against her.

To achieve my revenge, I had no right to stay where I was, wailing in self-pity about my failures. I had no right to keep contemplating why others were better than me. I had to focus.

I needed to keep winning, or at least make sure I would fill my gaps in the best possible way to ensure I could win.

“That’s why it’s so obvious.”

For a moment, I even forgot Professor Belenus was there, almost being taken aback by his voice. It took me a few moments to recall what we were talking about, yet even when I did, I was still confused.

“What do you mean?”

“Underground riders are more…crafty. Creative, you can say. Which is why a lot of underground students, or the ones who mostly watched underground races, struggle with the way things are taught here. It’s why most of them quit in the first three months.”

He put the liquid silver back into its flask, motioning at the gym’s students with his head.

“Those students, like most students on Ergos, received proper training to be here. The basic principles you are struggling so much with were hammered down in their heads until their eyes and fingers bled, until they knew it by heart. They can name maneuvers with just one glance, they know which steps follow each movement—they were taught to be perfect dragon riders. And perfection comes at a cost.”

A cost…

Somehow, I could not help myself but be…surprised. By that man, by his speech. Knowing who he was, the things he had accomplished, and where he worked, I expected Belenus Kairon to be another disgusting citizen from the upper city. Like so many other professors were.

Yet once again, he seemed way more aware of how the world functioned than most people I had met. And for some reason, the fact that Belenus was not someone I could easily hate and despise, but rather someone I could almost respect…

Annoyed me, just a bit.

“You brought your dragon today, right?”

I paused at the sudden question, taking a few seconds to reply.

“Yes, I was going to check on him before the break was over.”

The man waved his hand, starting to walk toward the door. “No need for that. You will see him soon enough.” And once again, the grin on Professor Bel’s face made a shiver go down my spine. But this time, I knew the exact reason why. “Our next lesson will be outdoors.”

For his words made my heart race with excitement.