"However, I understand that my words alone may not be sufficient to please all of you." Amelia spoke through the silence, her calm demeanor unchanged, "With that in mind, I’ve prepared a small test for the recommended students too."
She remained at the center of attention, her chin turned behind her. She snapped her fingers, and the stage behind her shifted with a low rumble.
The stage moved beneath our feet, sending a wave of surprise through the crowd below. A massive, glowing stone began to rise from the gap in the floor, shimmering with an otherworldly light. Its surface pulsed faintly purple, almost as if it were alive.
The Principal quietly stepped aside, giving the stone space. Amelia glanced over the students, her lips curling into a slight smile.
"This Inspection Device will be the test for the recommended students, as well as," her hand waved toward Nebula, "the top five from the earlier test, who will use this to show off their Level and Mana."
Murmurs spread through the hall as the students exchanged curious glances. I folded my arms, watching the woman curiously. So she wasn’t joking, good thing I am prepared.
With a breath in, Amelia muttered something under her breath, a soft command in Dragon Tongue Magic. A wave of mana surged through the room, washing over the students. Those who had returned from the trial, battered and injured, gasped as their wounds disappeared. The fatigue left their faces as though they had never taken the test at all.
Then, with another murmur, Amelia snapped her fingers once more, and the top five students from the earlier test teleported on the platform beside us in a flash of light. Nebula was among them, looking slightly startled from the sudden teleportation. Her clothes were still stained with blood, but her injuries were healed.
The other top students, including Kael Drakovar, the youngest son of the Black Draconia Duke, all stood next to her. The boy glared at me, and I wondered what that was about. Did we have bad blood in the past? Ah right, the assassination attempt. Father informed me about the suspects at a later date. So it must be true given the way he was acting.
“Let’s start with you five,” Amelia said to Kael Drakovar, her gaze sharp as she gestured toward the massive stone. "You, touch the stone."
Kael stepped forward, his chest puffed out in pride as he wore a smirk. He reached out and placed his hand on the glowing surface of the stone. Instantly, the purple light of the stone turned black, crackling with dark flames that flicked at the air.
The entire hall gasped, watching in awe as the boy’s power flared. First, the black flame affinity was revealed, and then his Level and Mana.
[Level 23]
[Mana: 1,800]
The numbers hovered in the air, glowing above his head. The Drakovar bloodline was infamous for its raw destructive power, and though their Mana reserves were low, their black flames more than made up for it. In fact, it was a feature that their mana was low. It was so that their bodies wouldn’t crumble on their own from the destructive mana.
The smirk on Kael’s face widened at the crowd’s reaction, his arrogance growing as he reveled in the attention. The students murmured, impressed by his numbers, but Amelia remained unfazed, already motioning for the next.
"Sweetheart, you're next."
Nebula stepped forward, her hand trembling slightly as she pressed her palm against the stone. This girl was oddly nervous at times, despite her usual self. She had no reason to worry. The stone's purple light shifted once again, this time turning a deep crimson.
Never mind, she does have a reason to worry about…
Her Mana Affinity wasn’t normal. Blood bubbled from the surface of the stone, swirling around it like a dark mist. It was quite ominous.
Amelia’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Oh, the Blood Affinity? Rare for a… human.” She smiled at Nebula, who looked nervous under the weight of her stare.
Then her Level showed up.
[Level 31]
[Mana: 4,300]
Shock filled the hall. Kael's smirk faltered as he glanced at Nebula’s scores. She had easily surpassed him, her powers clearly something unique. The crowd was stunned as whispers spread like wildfire.
“That’s insane…! Her earlier scores were no luck. Isn’t she the daughter of Baron Carlstein? How lucky,” someone said.
“At this rate, by the time she’d graduate, she’d already be worth more than the Baron title.”
“Wait, wait… Isn’t she engaged to Iskandaar Romani?” someone from the crowd muttered, loud enough to be heard by everyone. Eyes turned to him and then at me.
“Yeah, I think I heard that too,” Professor Amelia confirmed, smiling at me. Uh, that smile felt weird. Did she not know?
The crowd had already erupted after her confirmation. That detail seemed to blow their minds even more than her score. A collective murmur rose from the audience, students turning to each other with disbelief and astonishment. I ignored it, my eyes fixed on the stage, though I could feel the weight of the stares landing on me.
“Anyways~ let’s continue,” Amelia clapped her hands and said. The rest of the top five students took their turns, each stepping forward to place their hands on the stone. Their scores were impressive, but none surpassed Nebula’s.
One student had an affinity for Water. [Level 21], [Mana: 2,300].
Another one had an affinity for Wind. [Level 20], [Mana: 2,100].
The last student’s affinity was Storm. [Level 23], [Mana: 2,500].
Their affinities were decent, and the last one’s were quite impressive too. Their levels were nothing to scoff at either, but they paled in comparison to Nebula’s. That fact once again left the audience in awe. In that case, couldn’t she be the most powerful student here?
“Maybe she’s stronger than the recommended students too…” Someone said, and as if prompted by that, Amelia turned to us.
"Now, the recommended students," Amelia said, pointing at Alaric. "You first, Prince."
Prince Alaric Roshmar stepped forward confidently, his face calm and composed as he placed his hand on the stone. The purple glow shifted to a deep, verdant green as faint mana vines wrapped around it. A soft, earthy light radiated from the stone.
[Level 25]
[Mana: 2,700]
"That’s the forest Affinity," someone whispered from the crowd. Alaric didn’t even acknowledge the murmurs, simply stepping back after his display.
The next to walk up to the stone was Solara Fenixia, the girl with fiery red-orange wings sprouting from her back. She approached the stone with a similar calm demeanor to Alaric, but her eyes were darker. I watched her carefully.
When she touched the stone, the air exploded into brilliant, roaring flames.
[Level 26]
[Mana: 3,200]
The Phoenix lineage in her blood was evident, and the hall gasped as the flames danced around her wings. She turned and stepped back without a word, leaving behind a trace of smoldering embers. I followed her movements, my mind busy.
Episode 2’s Boss Villain was indeed as powerful as ever.
Following her was the Naga princess. Sathari Nezehra slithered forward, her serpentine lower body gleaming in the light of the hall as she touched the stone. The purple stone turned a sickly green, hissing with a toxic mist.
[Level 24]
[Mana: 3,000]
“Poison Affinity…” someone muttered. The Naga’s gaze remained cold and indifferent as she stepped back into place, her tongue flickering out for just a moment.
Finally, it was the turn of Orion, the Crown Prince of Ethenia.
He strode forward with the confidence of a ruler, reaching out a hand. His hand touched the stone, and immediately, a brilliant golden light burst from the surface. The light radiated with the warmth of the sun itself.
[Level 35]
[Mana: 4,000]
“W-whoa! That’s crazy!” The crowd erupted in cheers.
His presence was undeniable, and his affinity—The Sun—was considered one of the rarest and most powerful. He basked in the applause, a faint smirk on his lips as he bowed a little and stepped back. The girls from earlier shouted even weirder stuff, making me shake my head.
“Now,” Amelia looked at me. “Come forward, Iskandaar.”
It was my turn.
My Demonic Qi swirled within me as I rubbed the back of my head, feeling the weight of the entire hall’s eyes on me. The whispers grew louder as I stepped toward the stone, but I blocked them out. Focus. It’ll be troublesome otherwise.
My hand touched the stone.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, sparkles of light, heat, and fire danced across the surface. It glinted as if small explosions were happening. Like the stars in the distant sky.
“No way…”
“The Star? The Star Affinity?”
The stone glittered with a brilliant light, sparkling like stars against a velvet night sky. A dozen gasps rang out from the crowd, filled with shock but more confusion. I didn’t pay them any attention.
Of course. This… wasn’t truly my affinity.
This show was what I’d been preparing for months. It was the thing that I barely completed in time on my day of departure when Lilian came to look for me.
In the letter from Amelia, she asked me if she could pull something like this. She gave me the option that I could reject it if I wanted to, but I agreed. I had to deal with the Demonic Qi sooner rather than later, so I took upon that task. Since leveling was impossible with the six-month Experience Points restriction, I focused on this instead.
I was “separating” my Demonic Qi, my true affinity—the Chaos Affinity—into smaller parts. It was a trick, but it wasn’t an illusion. Ice Affinity people could separate it into Earth and Water using this breathing style, and I too could do the same by separating Chaos Affinity into Star and Destruction. I was choosing to show Star here.
It was an ancient Qi Transformation technique from Murim, I didn’t know the details of it but the Heavenly Demon’s general martial arts knowledge helped me recreate it. So I forcefully split the chaotic elements of my power through a certain breathing pattern, which gave it the appearance of Star Affinity.
It felt like I was carrying the weight of a mountain on my shoulders to keep it active, but it worked.
All these thoughts passed through me in a second, and by then, some numbers appeared above my head.
[Level 33]
[Mana: 6,666]
“....” A heavy silence followed for a beat before the crowd erupted.
The noise was deafening, students losing their minds over the absurd mana count, even if my Level was lower than the Crown Prince’s.
I stepped back, my expression neutral. I could feel the eyes on my back, the weight of immense attention. It didn’t matter to me, I was rather unhappy that I couldn’t level up more. I wasn’t the only unhappy one, of course.
Kael’s jaw hung low as he looked at me as if I were an oasis in a desert. More than him, however, one pair of eyes, in particular, caught my attention.
…The Crown Prince’s icy blue eyes were glaring at me.
****
We were then divided into classes based on our capabilities. The ten students who took the stone test were placed in Class S, naturally, with thirty-five more students following us. Out of the four hundred candidates, quite a few had failed the earlier test and were disqualified. The rest were divided into Class A through Class D.
It was a straightforward system, yet it carried pressure because the students had already been divided into a hierarchy. You were either among the best, or you weren’t. Class S wasn’t just a title—it was a status. Thankfully, I was a part of it.
It… might have worked if I hid my strength and watched the plot move seamlessly, but that wasn’t why I came to the Academy. There was no need to come here if that was my goal. I’d like to keep some things the same, true, but I had come here to change stuff, to stop some horrible things from happening, and save some poor people.
Hiding my strength wouldn’t take me far. My trash reputation would finally start fixing itself, I think, after that exaggerated show earlier. After that, I’ll try to build a team for myself, and then…
“Haah,” I let out a slow breath, feeling the tension ease from my shoulders as I entered the dorm reserved for Class S students. It was grander than expected—lavish, naturally. My room was large, with elegant furniture and polished wood floors that shone under the dim light.
They allowed me two rooms, side by side, with a connected door for my maids. This was the case for every Class S student. In the other buildings, the regular students had more modest accommodations, and their servants were sent to separate dorms. It was clear that being in Class S wasn’t just about prestige; it came with great privileges too.
“Wow! This place’s huge,” Lilian’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Iska, look, isn’t this better than your room back at the mansion?”
She was already moving around, inspecting everything with that restless energy of hers. She often made me feel lighter with that personality of hers. She flopped onto the bed in the joined room—my bed—and sprawled out with a satisfied sigh. She seemed happy that she didn’t have to stay in the other dorm with the servants.
A small smile tugged at my lips. “I’m gonna take a bath and sleep,” I honestly felt quite exhausted from the long journey, along with the orientation.
Lilian sat up, blinking at me. “So early?” She glanced out the window, noting that the sun had barely set, casting the sky in hues of orange and purple.
“Well, yes,” I let out a heavy sigh as I finally relaxed my odd breathing pattern. I’d kept it up for the entire week while traveling—especially during the mana test—so that my demonic energy wouldn’t slip. Although Nebula and her maid couldn’t really sense it, I didn’t take the risk. We were traveling, how could I be sure that a powerhouse wouldn’t pass by and sense my Qi?
But now that I was here, with Lilian beside me, I could let my guard down.
Lilian tilted her head. “You’ve been on edge for a while. Something going on again?”
“Nah, not anything to worry about. There’s a Ball Event tomorrow evening,” I said, cutting through her question. “I need to be in top form for it.”
“A Ball?” She raised an eyebrow, surprised. “I heard about it, your sister was talking about it to me and that wrinkly vampire. But I didn’t think you’d attend that. Since you know how you haven’t bothered with events like this for months after Luciel’s birthday, right? I thought you didn’t care about these things.”
I shrugged. “Tomorrow’s one is different. It’s important since it’ll allow me to socialize with some people I want to get close to. Especially because… the savior of my lifespan will attend it.”
“Ohhh?!” She jumped up, grinning. “You found them?! Who is it?”
I glanced at her, my expression unreadable. “I’ll tell you later, calm down.”
“Tch,” Lilian clicked her tongue but didn’t press the issue. She knew when to let things go. “Fine, fine. I’ll go get your bath ready,” she said, turning around and heading toward the bathroom.
As she left, I allowed myself a moment of quiet, staring out the window into the fading light. Tomorrow’s event would be a little annoying, but it was necessary. I had to secure the help I could before the opportunity would turn into an enemy.
There was no room for mistakes.
****
“And this is the statue of the founding Emperor, the Hero of Legends,” Iaskin explained, gesturing toward the tall marble figure that stood proudly in front of us. Six other statues lined up beside it, representing the heroes who had once stood by the Emperor’s side.
Each of them was etched into the history of the Empire, the entire continent even, their presence larger than life.
I studied them with a distant gaze, Lilian standing beside me, her tail flicking as she eyed the figures curiously. The late afternoon sun cast shadows over the stone faces, giving them a more intimidating air than they probably deserved.
I knew little about them from the Game, it covered their descendants more than their lore, unfortunately.
“Well, they did build this place up nicely, I’ll give them that,” I commented at last. From the stories Iaskin shared, this world had layers that I never knew about. Naturally so. How could a game cover all of a real world’s information?
Lilian pointed at the third statue of the Emperor. “And what kind of power did this person have?” she asked, her eyes darting between the statues. She had already asked about two others before, it seemed she was adamant about learning about all of them. Iaskin smiled nervously. “Were they mages or warriors?”
“From the staff they’re carrying, they look like mages,” I said, trying to soothe her curiosity. However, my few words didn’t help. Thankfully, Iaskin was there to talk.
“It varied, actually. These two sometimes carried magic swords too. This group was honestly very quirky. The Emperor was a powerful swordsman, but the others? All different talents. Some fought with swords and grimoires both.”
“Wow.”
He moved to the next two statues, “Here, for example. The Bow Hero. He was a master archer who could strike down armies from miles away. Then there’s the Beast Hero, her strength was—”
“Hey, Ias!”
Before he could finish, a call cut him off from a distance. Iaskin glanced over his shoulder. He nodded in acknowledgment, then turned back to me. “Iska, I’ll be right back,” saying so, he ran off.
“Let’s wait for him,” I said, my gaze fixed on the last statue he had pointed at. My eyes narrowed as I studied the figure of a woman with wolf-like features. “Damn, Lilian, one of the heroes is a wolf girl like you,” I said, throwing a sideways glance at her. “You think your grandma knew her? Since well, she’s old and a wolf.”
“Huh?” Lilian looked at the statue and then at me. She looked confused, “Young master… that is my grandma. Vargathrian the Beast Hero? You didn’t know?”
“....”
“Vargathrian, the Beast Hero? You never heard of her?” she repeated, her voice casual like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I nearly choked on my own breath as I tried not to react. Why the hell did nobody tell me this? She’s one of the Hero’s descendants?! My mind raced with the implications, and I shot Lilian a wary glance. If the New Hero Assembly found out I was using a Hero’s descendant as my maid, they’d kill me!
I was not joking, those bastards were crazy like that. I groaned internally, and about then Iaskin returned. I pushed these thoughts aside and faced him. He looked a little worried and annoyed as he said, “I’ve got to go. Something urgent came up. Sorry, Iskandaar.”
I waved him off. “Nah, no problem. It’s almost time for the ball to start anyway.”
Iaskin nodded but then paused, his expression turning serious for a moment. “...By the way, just watch out for Kael Drakovar, alright? Father must have told you, and you saw how he’s been looking for trouble ever since that whole test fiasco. Stay sharp.”
I nodded back. “Got it. Thanks for the heads-up.”
With that, Iaskin ran off to join a crowd of friends. I looked back, searching for where he went. I spotted him among a crowd of his friends, and there, I recognized another man. I had a feeling, but I had hoped it was right. Iaskin was talking with him. So he’s already hanging out with that crowd, huh? It seemed I was a little late.
Because of his bad choice of a friend group, in the future, he’d turn to evil and be pitted against the Main Character and his team. He’d have to fight his sister, and he’d ultimately lose. His fate in the game wasn’t very nice.
“Please, I already lost my youngest brother two years ago, I can’t lose him too! My family will be devastated.” Riasmin’s plea from the game resounded in my head as I watched the sight.
“....”
“It’s okay, you’ll be fine. He’s a weakling,” Lilian must have mistaken my serious expression as a worry for Kael Drakovar as she tried to soothe me. She shrugged with hands behind her head and added, “I saw him yesterday. A weak little boy, you’ll stomp on him. Cheer up!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “True. Besides, if things go south, I’ve got you to handle it.”
She grinned, flashing her sharp teeth. “You bet.”
I smiled. Although she was trying to console me for another thing, it worked. Things will be alright this time, not like in the game. A thought crossed my mind as I looked at her, “By the way, want to attend another ball? One for servants. It’s near the main event, where all the servants get to know each other and stuff.”
Lilian wrinkled her nose. “Nah, sounds boring.”
I let the moment hang before adding, “The chef who’s doing the main ball’s food is working for that one, too. So world-class meals, you know?”
Her ears perked up. She dropped her hands and looked at me in silence. “...When does it start again?”
****
The grand castle loomed ahead, its massive doors parting open to reveal the party inside. A red carpet stretched toward the entrance, designed to guide the elite into the hall. After staring at it for a bit, I walked up slowly, blooming my Demonic Sphere.
The moment I entered, all eyes turned to me. Whispers rippled through the crowd, and I could feel their gazes like needles. People weren’t even trying to hide their curiosity, judgment, and awe in their eyes. I wasn’t just some random noble to them anymore.
I ignored them.
My focus was on something else. A person.
As I scanned the hall, searching for a particular face, a thought clung to the back of my mind. It’d be a real bummer if she’s not here.
Thankfully, my Demonic Sphere answered me soon after.
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