Taking a deep breath after voicing the second requirement, Principal Artemis sighed without looking back at the students.

Hearing absolute silence behind her, Art pointed at the timer once again before saying her last words.

"For these two weeks, there will be no classes or required activities that you must attend. That means, for this time, you can do whatever you want."

"There are only two rules."

"You cannot leave the grounds of Aetherhelm Academy at any time during this challenge."

"And, you may not attack any of your fellow students on campus...unless it is allowed because of a professor's challenge."

"If any of these rules are broken, you automatically fail the entrance test and will be kicked out."

"Of course, this excludes the artificial habitat requirement. In there, there are no rules...anything goes."

With that, Art walked down the stairs of the stage and promptly disappeared from the sight of the students.

The first requirement was...doable.

Athen could spot at least twenty professors in the plaza, so he did not doubt his ability to pass one of their exams.

But, the second requirement was...easy and hard.

Letting out a dry cough, Athen glanced to his side, immediately making eye contact with Hybris, who was still glaring at him with a fierce expression.

Yeah...hiding sounded like a good idea.

However, the exam wasn't entirely bad news.

For the two weeks of the entrance exam, every professor had to always be on campus to assign tests to students.

That meant that, for the time being, there was no way the student Athen had stolen the diamond invitation from could be notified and arrive.

The teachers would be far too busy with their tests to realize the admission mistake, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to leave the campus to notify the student.

And...even if the other student arrived after, it would be too late for him to partake in the entrance admission test, complicating the entire situation even more.

If Athen passed this admission test and simultaneously made a name for himself, he would be in the clear for a while.

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Snapping out of his thoughts, Athen glanced upwards at the banner, which still read "[336:00:00]."

The test and timer would begin tomorrow, so today was essentially a free day.

First and foremost, Athen wanted to discuss his situation with Kai and find his dorm so he wouldn't waste time during the admission test.

Seeing Athen stand up from his chair, Kai followed suit, trying his best to ignore Alice's gaze, which was locked onto his figure.

Paying no mind to the ranked students ahead, Athen strolled through the aisle with his head up and eyes looking directly forward.

However, just as Kai exited the aisle behind him, Athen heard a sudden voice from behind him.

"Wait, please!"

For some reason, Kai instantly sped up and stepped in front of Athen upon hearing the voice, attempting to hide behind him.

Shaking his head at Kai's antics, Athen ignored the voice and continued forward, being amongst the first students to exit the plaza.

Before he attracted any more attention, Athen needed to discuss his current identity crisis with Kai.

The name "Kai" shouldn't be the one getting attention...it should be "Athen."

As the other hundreds of students sitting down regained their composure and began to leave their seats, Athen and Kai quickened their pace, not wanting to get stuck in a crowd.

Kai was a celebrity, so if the nametag on Athen's shirt was spotted, there would surely be problems leaving the plaza.

But, just as Athen stepped foot onto the path leading out of the plaza and into the forest, he felt something suddenly grip his right hand.

The pressure gripping his hand wasn't tight at all, as Athen could easily continue walking and force his hand out.

It was gentle...and delicate.

Surprised, Athen immediately turned back and opened his mouth in shock.

However, no words came out.

In front of Athen stood a familiar silver-haired figure who was gasping for breath while holding onto his hand.

Her silver-colored pupils trembled and raced around her eyes as she looked up at Athen, attempting to make eye contact with him.

Regaining his composure, Athen stood still and stared at the girl, softening his expression.

He had already made an enemy out of two people, Alice and Hybris, in the top ten ranked students.

Maybe...it was time to make some allies.

Seeing Athen staring back at her, Delphi immediately let go of his hand as a rose-red tone colored her cheeks.

Shifting her gaze down at the floor, Delphi stammered some nonsense for a couple of seconds before finally saying something discernible.

"a-ah, I just had a question."

Staring at the girl in front of him, Athen slowly nodded his head, prompting Delphi to continue.

"What is your name...? I didn't quite catch it back on the cruise ship."

Hearing those words, Athen and Kai grimaced as they briefly made eye contact.

Seeing Kai nod his head as if he understood his internal thoughts, Athen immediately grabbed Kai's shoulder and yanked him toward Delphi.

"This is my friend...Ren, and I'm K-kai."

Hearing Athen's response, Delphi confusedly cocked her head to the right and questioned.

"So...Kai, you didn't attend the dinner party, but your friend, Ren, did instead of you?"

As Athen nodded his head in approval and prepared to turn back around as other students headed toward them, he suddenly felt the temperature around him suddenly decrease.

Shivering despite wearing the heavy academy blazer, Athen glanced up at the sky, noticing a single snowflake falling from the light blue sky above.

How was the sun...not melting it!?

Despite being completely visible to the bright yellow sun, it had not dissolved a bit and maintained the perfect snowflake formation.

At that moment, a sudden voice, softer and more elegant than ever, sounded from below him.

"Athen...what a pleasant name...does it by any chance belong to you?"

Before Athen could even react to those words, he felt a sudden force grip the back of his collar and drag him forward.

"We have to go now, or your nametag will be spotted, and we'll all be screwed."