“Now, throw all the spirits into my dire, Lilli!”

  Headmaster Evastor’s voice echoed through the office as Lilli anded her spirits toward him.

  They materialized, their forms shifting as they shot light.

  Without effort, Evastor dodged it with no effort.

  “Good trol,” he remarked. “Now like we practiced use the spirits around you to manipute the objeearby. “He sidestepped arike, his expression remaining calm.

  “Even without a sigil, the power of your spirits is still rgely unknown to this world. Therefore, this gives you an advantage.”

  I stood in the office with Alex, watg Lilli as she trained.

  We watched through a gss window.

  It had been a week sihe Royal Ball. Nothing much had happened sihen—except for training Lilli and Elnora.

  At the end of the ball each party member was given permission to take on item from the kingdom’s treasury.

  I had chosen a grimoire.

  Alex picked a pair of ented earrings.

  Lilli took the only journal in the kingdom about spirits.

  Elnora selected a g with an emerald at its ter.

  Both Alex’s earring and Elnora’s ring’s dispyed stat boosts.

  Something I could measure using the interface allowed me to ihem.

  With a simple swipe up and right, I could summon it at my will.

  Navigating the interface, well that was another matter entirely.

  The interface dispyed several is I could select from: A backpack, journal, notebook, and map. Four tabs appeared before me just like teology straight from my past life.

  Dismissing the interface was easy; as swipe left, and it vanished

  Over the past week, Elnora has been refining her magid swordsmanship, her progress has been rapid.

  Lilli has also rapidly improved—though sacrifig sleep she is now able to trol her spirits and her swordpy has begressive.

  Surprisingly, sihe ball Arior the Royal family has bothered us.

  They seemed to be watg from a distance for now.

  I had chosen to y low, dedig myself to the grimoire while keeping my eye on Lilli and Elnora’s training. As of Alex… well, he has been busy.

  Snooping around the kingdom, gathering information on the Polemos, and listening to every whisper about my family’s name.

  This time, I wouldn’t be caught off guard.

  This time, I could trol the oute.

  Headmaster Evastor stood ihe training area ected to his office—a rooftop garden designed for bat practice.

  Surrounded by derees and thick bushes, it resembled a miniature park perched atop the academy. Despite its serene appearahis space was meant for battle.

  "Now, just as the book suggests, Lilli—el the spirits around your sword and unch them at me!" Evastor anded.Lilli nodded, gripping her sword tightly. The yellow spirits swirled around the bde, their glow intensifying as they pulsed with energy. With a swift motion, she directed them forward. The spirits bounced off trees and bushes before verging toward Evastor.

  This time, he didn’t dodge. Instead, his dragonoid tail swung forward, intercepting the attack with a sharp g. The impact rippled through the air, but he remained unmoved.

  The out a hearty ugh.

  "At st! After a week, you've finally mao nd a hit on me!" He grinned. "e, Lilli. Time for a break!"

  Lilli had grown immensely over the past week. When she first started, her endurance had been g—she could barely maintain her spirits for extended periods. Her swordsmanship had always been above average pared to other students, but Evastor had refined her movements, honing them to plement her rapid, secutive strikes.

  Now, she was faster.

  More precise.

  More dangerous.

  Breathing heavily, Lilli wiped the sweat from her forehead before stepping inside. She dropped onto the bench beside us, grabbing a gss of water and downing it in one go.

  She didn’t speak—her mind was elsewhere, lost ihought.

  "e on, Elnora!" Evastor’s voied across the training ground.

  It was her turn.

  Elnora, though she had struggled at the beginning, had grown at an astonishing rate. pared to Lilli, who faced the challenge of mastering a new and rgely unstudied form of magic, Elnora wielded her emerald-green mana with precision and fidence.

  Every movement, every strike of her sword, was trolled and deliberate, following Headmaster Evastor’s instrus with unwavering focus.

  "Now, Elnora—strike!" Evastor anded.

  Swoop!

  Her bde cut through the air, aiming straight for the Headmaster. He raised his tail once more to block, abs the blow with ease. But Elnora didn’t stop there.

  Twisting mid-air, she summohe wind to propel herself downward, increasing the force behind her strike. Her sword crashed against his tail again, leaving a faint bruise.

  As she leaped back, she whispered a single word—Apergia.

  Her mana fred, spiraling outward like an emerald tempest. Without hesitation, she lunged fain, striking at Evastor.

  He dodged—but before he could reposition, she was already there, meeting him with atack from below.

  A blur of motion, she reappeared behind him, her bde cutting once more, nding another blow.

  It was as if her body moved on instinct, reag faster with eagagement, adapting to her own magic as she fought. Perhaps it was her elveage that granted her such heightened sensitivity to mana.

  But if that were the case, why didn’t the other elven students—who were undoubtedly skilled—dispy such rapid growth?She struck again.

  This time, Evastor blocked her sword with a single finger.

  Elnritted her teeth, stepping back, her emerald eyes locked onto him with fierce determination.The Headmaster chuckled. "Not bad. Now, let’s try a few other spells."

  Elnora’s expression shifted—her lips curling into an eager smile."Okay!" she replied, readying her bde.

  Each time Elnora practiced with her magid sword, it was like she grew strong, like a muscle being ditiohrough stant use. The spells she casted were a in the elven tongue each flowing from her lips with effortless memorization. It was so iing watg her train.

  After some time, Elnora stepped away from the training grounds, her breathing steady despite the physical training.

  Headmaster Evastor followed closely behind her, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

  "Agh! I love it when she gives me that determined look—it so fiesty!" he squealed, giddy with admiration.

  Elnora simply smiled, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. The Headmaster was pletely harmless, but his deep sense of admiration—no, belonging—toward her was undeniable.It never crossed into uliory, and Elnora didn’t seem to mind.

  "Did you see that, Ryn?" she called out as she strode toward me, reag for my hand and log her fingers with mine. Her grip was warm and firm.

  “Now! I’m going to be more useful to you in battle!” she said, beaming with pride.

  I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “You’ve always been useful—both of you have.” I said gng at Elnora and Lilli. Lilly, however, was pletely out. She sat with her head resting against Alex’s shoulders, fast asleep from exhaustion.

  “Shhh,” Alex whispered, raising his fio his lips.

  Elniggled softly before turning bae.Meanwhile, Headmaster Evastor had settled nearby, flipping through Lilli’s journal preparing for the lesson.

  Elnora tugged my hand. “e with me,” she said, leadioward the Headmasters training ground.

  There, a bench overlooked the entire academy, a serene view of the horizon. She sat down first, then patted the spot beside of her, fshing me a pyful smile.

  I joined her.

  "Do you mind if I ask you something, Ryn?" Elnora’s voice was soft, thoughtful.

  I turo her. "Yeah? What is it?"

  She hesitated for a moment, the my gaze. "I keep seeing memories of your other life… I know they haunt you and I know you want to move on.”

  “W-we talk about it if you’d like.” She said her face seemed worried.

  I exhaled, trying to gather my thoughts. The memories were like shards of gss—painful to touch, difficult to piece together.

  "When I was younger," I began, then paused.

  "...My parents didn’t mean to have me. And instead of treating me like their son, I was... ed. No, worse—I was abused.

  stantly.

  Verbally.

  Physically.

  It opped." I swallowed hard.

  "So, I became bitter. Angry. And I enlisted in the military."

  Elnora remained silent, listening ily as I forced the words out.

  "I climbed the ranks, became my try’s top strategist. I thought if I was the best, if I proved my worth, maybe… maybe I could silehe past. But the bitterness never left."

  She didn’t speak right away. Instead, she shifted closer, ing her arms around me in a gentle embrace.

  "Thank you," I murmured, resting a hand on her back, grounding myself in her warmth.

  "When I came into this world," I tinued, my voice quieter, "all that trauma—from my childhood, from my previous party—it just followed me. And you guys didn’t deserve that." I sighed, emotion tightening my throat.

  Elnora pulled back slightly, just enough to look me in the eyes. "But you’re trying, Ryn. Even though no one else knows about your past life, we see how much you’ve ged.

  Sihe first time we met you… you’re not the same person." She pced her hand over mine, her touch steady and reassuring."I-I’m sorry, Elnora," I admitted, my voisteady. "I’m just… not good at expining how I feel. These feelings of mihey’re—" I hesitated. "They’re o me. And I don’t even know what they are."

  The words felt heavier as I spoke them aloud.

  "I just… I just want to be who I am now. Not who I was."

  Elnora’s eyes softened. A few stray tears slipped down my cheeks, and she reached up, wiping them away with her thumb."My turn," she whispered, smiling.

  A small, shaky chuckle escaped me through the emotion.

  "What yoing through are emotions," she said gently.

  "I know they’re difficult, but you just ime. Be patient with yourself." She squeezed my hand.

  "Take all the time you need."

  Elnora tilted her head slightly, the sunlight catg in her hair as she looked at me.

  "It’s okay, Ryn," she murmured.

  I let myself rest my head on her shoulder as she brushed her fihrough my hair.

  As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of gold and violet, I finally aowledged something I had avoided for so long—my owions.

  Chapter: 20. Grimoire's Secrets