Scarlet lifted the unconscious Kai in her hands before turning around to face the students. She spoke calmly, "I apologise for our mishandling of the incident that has just passed. Please assure your parents that a thorough investigation would be done to prevent such incidents from jeopardising the safety of our students in the future. With that, you all are dismissed for the day. Please leave in an orderly fashion, thank you."

Slowly, the students began leaving the training hall, the earlier incident still fresh in their minds as they discussed actively about it. Scarlet then thought, "Time to go to the infirmary to patch him up. I hope his parents won't lambast the school about this…"

Preoccupied with her thoughts, Scarlet didn't realise that one of the students wasn't heading towards the exit. Adeline slipped inconspicuously among the crowd before bending over and picking up a pen-like object on the floor. Subsequently, she headed towards a corner of the training hall, delving deeper into the darkness. There, obscure from the others in the training hall was a large, shadowy figure.

Adeline spoke resolutely, "So it was indeed you, Huth. How did you even get here unnoticed?" The shadowy figure stepped forward from the darkness, revealing a tall muscular individual. However, his most defining traits were his eyes which gave a blue glow and his ears which were pointy.

Huth replied, "I promised his Highness that I would ensure the safety of the princess at all costs. As for how I was able to avoid that nature guardian spirit, it seems like you have forgotten my Enigma ability." Adeline hit her head lightly to reprimand herself for forgetting such a simple yet important matter.

Huth's eyes had the ability to detect mana signatures from any object which was common to all their people who had such eyes. What was unique to Huth however was his ability to replicate the exact same mana frequency and wavelength, allowing him to bypass mana detectors such as Terran with ease. It also enabled him to control the Duelbot and raise its level at will as he had simply replicated the mana waves emitted by the controllers used by Victor and his colleagues.

As for the runic barrier, Huth revealed that he had tampered with all the runes in the training hall prior to their arrival, giving him sole control of the barriers. Adeline nodded as Huth gradually revealed the truth of the events which occurred. However, one thing she didn't understand was the reason Huth chose Kai as his "victim".

Adeline knew that Huth wouldn't really murder Kai, as he generally avoided killing where possible. This doesn't mean that he would hesitate to hurt him gravely though, if it meant finding his answer. Huth spoke quietly, "The boy you named Kai is an interesting fellow. When your class stepped in here, I could already detect an anomaly in his mana signature. It's not that of a human, it's closer to the mana signature emitted by us."

Adeline expressed surprise as she gasped, "Are you saying he's one of us?" Huth replied, "I wouldn't exactly say so, but he's definitely related to us in some way by blood. Perhaps a half-Sylph?"

Adeline examined Huth's expression. It looked like he was telling the truth. Huth continued, "There are 2 more pieces of evidence to substantiate my claim. Firstly, that weapon of his is no ordinary magic weapon. From its mana signature, I can deduce that it contains Saintwood as its core."

Adeline was genuinely shocked at hearing this statement. Saintwood was a very rare magic material sourced from the bark of the gigantic World Trees that used to be abundant in the old Sylph territory. Now, after years of persecution and invasion, the Sylphs were thought to be extinct but had actually carved a small territory in the uninhabited Forest of Pangaea, a place which houses the last of the World Trees.

Adeline quickly retorted, "Having a weapon made of Saintwood means nothing. He could have been given the weapon as a present or seized it from one of our own." Huth calmly replied, "That's true. That's why the next piece of evidence is more crucial. Didn't you notice he possessed a Luminos in his left eye? That's a trait unique to our race and is the source of our Enigmatic powers if we have any."

After hearing Huth's words, Adeline felt a strange sense of relief. She had felt the awakening of a Luminos, but thought that it was merely her imagination. With Huth's confirmation, she had felt at ease. After all, Huth had his Luminos activated throughout the encounter unlike her, as she couldn't draw any attention to herself.

Adeline nodded in agreement as Huth explained further, "Even though it only expressed itself in one of his eyes, to think that his Luminos possessed such a frightful ability…" Adeline was interrupted from her own thoughts when she heard Huth's statement. She enquired, "What do you mean?"

Huth replied coolly, "You know that mana is the essence of life. All living things possess mana and magic users are simply individuals who can process their mana from their raw form into other phenomena while non-magic users can only use it in its raw form." Adeline snapped impatiently, "Don't tell me what I know. Get to the point already."

Huth, unfazed by her impertinence, continued, "What if I told you his Luminos had the ability to erase, yes, you heard me right, erase an unknown amount of mana in an area around him? That was the reason why the runic barrier weakened and I momentarily lost control of the Duelbot."

Adeline was stupefied by the news. To be able to erase mana in a certain area by a certain amount was previously unthinkable. After all, like energy, mana obeyed the law of conservation as it couldn't be created or destroyed but only converted from one form to another and transferred from one place to another. This explained how mana is replenished within living organisms as there is simply a constant exchange of mana between them and their environment, much like oxygen in respiration.

Mana is the foundation of magic and more importantly, life. If the amount of mana erased increased further, wouldn't it be possible to extinguish life itself by erasing all the mana an individual had? The endless possibilities with that power was indeed scary.

Huth tried to assure her, saying, "For now, his power is rather weak with a limited range, not to mention that it consumes quite a bit of his mana to use. As long as he doesn't master it, he shouldn't be a great threat to us. Nonetheless, you should continue to keep tabs on him while proceeding with your mission."

Adeline nodded her head as she took in a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She said, "You're right, Huth. I'll continue watching him to see if he would pose a threat to our people and report to Father. Go now before you're discovered." Huth acknowledged in silence as he melded with the shadows and disappeared. As Adeline left the training hall, she began plotting her next course of action…

Scarlet watched with concern as Kai lay on the bed motionless. Even though all his external wounds were patched thanks to the healing magic of the infirmary staff and her colleague, Samuel, who specialised in support magic, mana deficiency was Kai's greatest issue now as he had pushed himself over the limit.

Fortunately, Samuel had some mastery in runes, having wrote a few on papers that were currently stuck onto Kai's body. They were recovery runes that facilitated greater absorption of mana from the surroundings into their target. Samuel estimated that Kai would be awake in a few hours.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Scarlet felt a tinge of guilt as she blamed herself for not being able to take better care of her student. She was shaken from her thoughts by the sound of soft footsteps. It was a blue-haired girl holding a pen-like object in her hands.

Scarlet said, "You're Adeline right? I guess you're worried about Kai too. Is he close to you?" Adeline blushed as she shook her head, replying, "No…I only came here to return this." She then placed [Cavalier] on the table beside Kai's bed before rushing off.

Scarlet smiled, she knew when a lass was in love. After all, she too was once in a relationship…Scarlet quickly shook her head and returned to reality. There was no point dwelling in those painful memories. He won't ever come back again, that was the simple fact she had resigned herself to. From that incident, she had never dared to fall in love ever again, for fear of being heartbroken especially working in dangerous line like hers.

In any case, to raise the next generation was truly fulfilling to Scarlet. Though she bore the look of a stern warrior, when it came to her students she had the gentlest of hearts.

Scarlet's thoughts were disrupted by rustling sounds as Kai regained consciousness and attempted to get out of bed. Scarlet swiftly apprehended him, chiding, "Where're you going, young man? You've just awoken from a minor surgery so you shouldn't be moving about!"

Kai, who was noticeably in pain, grimaced, "I promised my sister I'll be home today to share with her my first day of school…ugh, I guess I was saved, huh?"

Scarlet sent him a fierce look  as she declared, "You're not going anywhere today. We've informed your parents that you'll be staying in the infirmary for the night. So stay here and focus on resting!" Kai could tell from her tone that she wasn't kidding, so he obediently remained in bed.

As night came, Kai simply spent his time reading through materials from his course that he had bought before the school term started. Eventually, he grew sleepy and drifted off to sleep amidst his reading. Scarlet, now feeling assured that Kai won't attempt to leave, switched off the lights and left for her dormitory within the school.

Kai awoke refreshed as he felt that his body felt a lot lighter with less pain. He quickly dressed up in the fresh uniform provided as he returned [Cavalier] to his pocket. Kai wondered who exactly returned his weapon to him for he was certain that it wasn't Ms Scarlet since her focus was all on him when he fell unconscious.

Deciding to solve the mystery another time, he quickly packed his stuff into his bag as he jogged towards the venue of his first class for the day.

His first period for the day read, "Combined Session". Usually, lessons such as First Aid were taught during such sessions as all the students from the various courses were gathered together, but since it was only Day 2, it simply meant that it was going to be another orientation session for the students to make new friends from all over.

As Kai entered the hall, he noticed that everybody's eyes were on him as he sheepishly made a beeline for the least crowded space. There, to his pleasant surprise, he found Adeline standing alone.

Kai greeted her warmly, "Hi Adeline, so glad to see you here!" Adeline returned a smile and said, "I hope you're feeling better from yesterday. If you're interested to listen, the school is currently opening an investigation on the matter but it seems that apart from some tampered runes, they couldn't find any other incriminating evidence to lead them to their suspect. I hope your parents weren't too shocked by this incident? Don't exert yourself too hard today, okay?"

Kai felt a little embarrassed at her kind remarks and replied, "Thanks for your concern, I'm feeling a lot better already. I've heard from Ms Scarlet that my Dad's reaction was surprising. After all, he said it was good for students to go through realistic ordeals to shape them into stronger individuals and since I wasn't dead, he felt no need to blow the matter up, entrusting it to the school entirely. I guess my Dad's the sort of parent who believes in tough love, he's in the military after all hahaha!"

Adeline smiled brightly and Kai was about to engage in further conversation with her before he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he came to face a well-built boy with brown hair who was around his height. This was the very same boy who had enlightened him about the Titan Slayers.

Accompanying him were 3 others, firstly, a girl with the same coloured hair neatly tied in a ponytail with a moderate bust, next, a bespectacled lanky boy with spiky black hair and finally, a small petite girl with orange hair of shoulder length. Kai had recognised them all from his orientation group yesterday.

The boy with brown hair offered his hand in a handshake and grinned, "Nice to meet you, Kai. The name's Julian. We'll be fellow students in the Spell Knight course. Joining us is my twin sister Julia, the girl with the ponytail over there. The other 2 are our friends, Shen and Jean, who are attending the Soldier and Magician courses respectively."

Shen, with a disinterested look on his face, said, "Wow, Julian, you really spilt so much information about us such that we needn't have to bother introducing ourselves. Thanks for saving me the trouble, mate."Julia chided him, "Shen! You don't have to be so rude right? Anyway, your fight yesterday was so cool, you're really good with the spear, huh? Who trained you?"

Kai was feeling a little uncomfortable as Julia edged closer to him. She was pretty and had a good figure but for someone he first met he felt that she was a tad too friendly and curious.

Julian quickly pulled his sister back, apologising, "Sorry, my sister can get a little too excited around strong people, especially guys." Jean, the orange-haired girl, pointed towards Adeline and asked shyly, "Kai, why don't you introduce your friend to us?"

Kai cursed himself silently for not introducing Adeline before stammering, "T-This is Adeline, my first friend here." Adeline smiled as she nodded her head in acknowledgement. Jean went over to Adeline's side and started chattering with her, Julia joining them as they engaged in girl talk.

Meanwhile, the 3 boys sat together discussing their aspirations. Julian asked, "Kai, you want to be an adventurer huh? Well, one thing that makes our school so popular is its connection to the various guilds out there. After all, apart from written tests and school-based examinations, another way we are assessed is through our performance in quests. These can be undertaken alone but most of the time, people travel in groups."

Kai became increasingly curious as he asked, "How are these groups formed? At least in the context of the Academy?"" Shen stoically replied, "Well, there's no formal tasking in our Academy per se. Students can belong to various groups on different quests. However, there're some who are so close that they have literally formed permanent groups, never joining any other.

Actually, to be honest, we are intending to set up our own group and you're welcome to join us, Kai. You're practically hot property that everybody's waiting to snag up but I assure you that we're the best out there with our optimal size and complementing strengths."

Kai was taken aback by the sudden invitation, "You guys want me to join you? We've only just met…" Julian placed a reassuring hand on Kai's shoulder, "If you're worried about your abilities, don't be. Shen put it rather coldly, but it's true that you're in high demand for your capability. I just want to say that our group prioritises friendship over results and at the end of the day, the choice is yours, Kai." Kai began to deliberate on the offer presented to him and after careful consideration, he announced his decision, putting a smile on Julian's face.

Meanwhile, the girls were also chattering among themselves, though Adeline felt a little awkward at the turn of events. After all, these people would never approach her if she wasn't Kai's acquaintance. Nonetheless, even though she had to keep her identity as a Sylph secret, it was nice to enjoy some company once in a while.

Jean broke the ice by asking, "How long has it been since you got to know Kai? You two seem rather close." Adeline blushed before replying, "I only got to know him yesterday, we aren't that close…"

Julia quickly teased, "Well, you two look so chummy together, it would be hard to think otherwise! Anyway, it would be nice to have a strong boyfriend like him, I can totally see him as one of the strongest first years with that weapon of his."

Adeline nodded unconsciously. She knew that Kai had a lot of potential, especially with that Enigma ability of his. However, in his current state, he was at most close to Expert tier with that spear of his. Adeline would have to continue keeping tabs on Kai, recognising that he would either be a great asset or a great enemy to their race's fight for resurgence.

Their chatting came to a halt when the school bell rang, signalling the end of the Combined session. Kai rejoined Adeline and her newfound friends and asked, "Are you gals having combat magic class now? Shall we go together if that's the case?" The girls all nodded and they left together for the next venue.