After dropping Misha off at her dorm, Ethan made a beeline back to his room. The exhaustion weighed on him like a cloak, but his mind was still buzzing with everything that had happened. Despite the ck of sleep, the night had been surprisingly productive.

  He tossed his bag aside and flipped open his notebook. One moment stood out above all: his conversation with Ravyn Albright. He hadn’t expected someone as aloof and famously brilliant as her to be so willing to talk, let alone offer personal advice. And yet, despite barely knowing him, she had spoken to him without hesitation—sharp, efficient, and honest.

  According to Ravyn, Ethan’s main issue with casting Second Grade spells was his overly meticulous method—painstakingly drawing each rune one at a time like he was copying a textbook. It worked well for First Grade spells, but Second Grade and beyond required too many runes to be handled one by one. His casting would never be fast enough that way.

  The solution? Verses.

  Ravyn expined that more advanced spellcasters learn to group runes into verses—a kind of mental shorthand that allows the mind to recall and shape multiple runes at once. Once the brain starts recognizing rune clusters as single units, casting speed dramatically improves. It was the key to not only mastering Second Grade spells, but potentially preparing for Third Grade as well.

  Fourth Grade spells, she had said, required yet another technique entirely—but that was a problem for another day. Right now, she told him, his focus should be on mastering verses.

  He smiled to himself as he scribbled down everything he could remember. Thank you, Ravyn, he thought silently. Her advice had been a spark in the darkness.

  He was tempted to start practicing right away. But Ethan knew himself too well—once he started, he wouldn't stop until he succeeded, and he couldn’t afford to colpse before css. So, instead, he forced himself to take a quick bath, hoping it would cool the heat bubbling inside his thoughts.

  After drying off, he stared at his bed, then back at the clock. No arm clocks in this world... or at least none that I’ve seen. If I fall asleep now, not even Hen could save me.

  And so, he made his decision.

  He grabbed his things and headed for the cssroom. If he was going to crash, he might as well crash there—bald or not. Besides, wasn’t this part of youth? Reckless, exhausting, half-delirious but pushing forward anyway?

  As he crept through the quiet Academy halls, a strange excitement danced under his skin. The stillness was eerie. No cshing swords, no lectures, no Daniel shouting something ridiculous—just the soft echo of his own steps.

  It feels like one of those manga scenes, Ethan thought. Sneaking through school in the middle of the night to steal answers from the teacher’s desk...

  Of course, he wasn’t here to do anything shady. He was just an extremely early student on the edge of colpse, with noble intentions and a severely broken sleep schedule.

  But the silence was... unnatural.

  The halls were always noisy. Even at dawn there were usually some kind of murmurs, footsteps, or magical mishaps buzzing in the distance. But now, there was nothing but the low hum of early morning air and the soft creaks of the old wood.

  Ethan climbed the stairs, turned the corner, padded down the hallway.

  Still nothing.

  No surprise ambush. No Professor with glowing red eyes waiting to assign surprise homework. Just the Academy, holding its breath.

  He reached the door to his cssroom, slowly pced a hand on the handle, and pushed it open.

  Click.

  Inside, he found—

  Someone was already there.

  Sitting at one of the desks, bathed in the faint orange glow of the rising sun, was a figure. Quiet, composed, back perfectly straight, flipping through a thick spellbook with almost robotic focus.

  It was Eliza Frost.

  Ethan blinked.

  Of course it was Eliza. Who else would voluntarily show up at this ungodly hour?

  She looked up, cool gray eyes locking with his, expression unreadable. “…You’re early,” she said, her voice quiet but not unkind.

  “Could say the same to you,” Ethan replied, trying not to sound like someone who was very possibly hallucinating from ck of sleep.

  There was a pause. Then Eliza tilted her head slightly and said, “You look... worse than usual.”

  “…Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  She went back to her book.

  “So, what are you reading?” Ethan asked, blinking hard to stay awake as he dragged a chair over and slumped into it.

  Eliza frowned at being interrupted again, her fingers freezing mid-turn of the page. But after a brief moment of hesitation, she answered—if only to silence him.

  “An old book of spells,” she said ftly. “I’m trying to understand them, but they make no sense to me…”

  “Want me to give it a try?” Ethan offered, leaning forward with a flicker of interest lighting his tired eyes.

  Eliza narrowed her gaze. “How much will that cost me?”

  Ethan grinned. Smart girl. Although I love making money, right now my priority is taking a nap.

  He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… how about… you wake me up when the professor arrives?”

  “Can I use a water spell?” Eliza asked immediately, her voice deadly serious.

  “…Fine. Just don’t completely soak me,” Ethan sighed, already regretting this negotiation.

  "Deal. If you can cast this spell, I’ll wake you up the moment the professor walks in," she agreed, extending her hand.

  Ethan shook it, sealing the deal—and then Eliza handed him the book.

  The moment his fingers brushed the cover, a chill raced up his arm—sharp, biting, and unmistakable.

  “Dark Magic…” he muttered under his breath.

  In the deathly quiet cssroom, even a whisper seemed to echo.

  “WHAT!?” Eliza shot to her feet, her voice cracking like a whip through the still air. “HOW DO YOU KNOW!?”

  “I’m… strangely sensitive to it,” Ethan said, managing a half-dead smile as he zily opened the book, oblivious to the seriousness of what he had just exposed. His eyes skimmed the pages. "And these runes? They can't work like this with regur mana. It just doesn't make sense."

  Eliza narrowed her eyes, her entire posture sharpening with suspicion. “Is that so?” she asked, voice icy.

  “Yeah, yeah…” Ethan mumbled, completely absorbed now. “Let’s see… this looks like Devour… and this one... hmm…”

  He flipped casually through the pages, chasing the meaning like a starving horse chasing a dangling carrot—completely unaware of the sheer panic blooming beside him.

  Eliza stared at him, horrified.

  He knows Dark Magic.

  And he’s treating it like he’s solving a crossword puzzle!

  “WAIT—YOU KNOW DARK MAGIC!?” she blurted again, louder.

  “Shh!!” Ethan hissed, cringing and covering one ear as if she were stabbing him with her voice. “Could you not yell every time you’re surprised? It’s not a big deal. I just picked up a few runes here and there. I’ll finish this in a minute, so sit tight.”

  Eliza stared at him as if he’d grown another head.

  "Here and there?"

  Dark Magic isn’t something you ‘pick up here and there’!

  It’s forbidden! It’s dangerous! That book—

  Before her spiraling thoughts could take over, Ethan straightened up with a bright, almost triumphant grin.

  “Got it!” he said cheerfully. “It’s just a simple contract spell.”

  Eliza leaned in warily. “A contract!? With what? A devil!? Like Devil Summoning!?”

  “No, no, nothing that dramatic.” Ethan waved a hand zily, wobbling slightly as the exhaustion gnawed at his body. “It’s a Grade 1 spell. No way something that weak could summon a devil.”

  “Then—”

  "Here, let me show you—"

  Without waiting for her answer, Ethan began casting. Thanks to all his recent practice with the Dark Sonar spell, his runes formed rapidly—so quickly that Eliza barely had time to react.

  “No, wai—Ahhh!!!”

  She gasped as she felt it: invisible chains wrapping tightly around her, pressing against her skin. Her natural magic resistance fred, but the curse dug deeper, overwhelming it. A strange, cold energy seeped into her body, binding something inside her womb.

  And just as suddenly as it came—it was gone.

  “What did you do to me!?” Eliza shouted, pale and wide-eyed.

  “I cast the spell. Wasn’t that the deal?” Ethan said groggily, barely holding onto consciousness.

  “No! Are you insane!?”

  “I’ve done my part... so I’ll take a nap now...” Ethan mumbled, before slumping forward onto the desk, his face buried in his arms.

  Eliza stared at him, disbelieving. She half-expected him to pop up and continue teasing her. But his breathing soon slowed, his shoulders rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

  He was completely, utterly asleep.

  Eliza blinked.

  “…You really did fall asleep,” she murmured.

  Her gaze flicked back to the book lying innocently between them, then back to the boy.

  “…What did you do to me?”

  She knew she wouldn’t get an answer. Not now. Maybe not ever.

  Her gray eyes darkened with uncertainty as she slowly reached into her bag and pulled something out: a dagger. The narrow bde, etched with faintly shimmering runes, caught the morning light. She held it in her gloved hand, weighing it, her expression turning cold and sharp.

  Should I kill him?

  He knew about the dark magic hidden in her family's book. If he exposed it—if he talked—her family would be ruined. Everything her family built, everything they protected, would colpse.

  She pressed the dagger lightly against his neck, the cold steel kissing his skin.

  It would be easy. One quick strike. No witnesses. No questions. Just silence.

  But...

  Her grip trembled.

  She looked again at Ethan’s sleeping face—peaceful, unguarded, without the usual smirk or teasing glint. Just a boy, exhausted from trying too hard.

  Slowly, she withdrew the dagger and tucked it back into her bag.

  She folded her arms and leaned back, never taking her eyes off him.

  “…I’ll trust you this once," she whispered, her voice like a bde. "But if you betray me..."

  Her eyes narrowed, her resolve hardening.

  “I’ll take you down with me.”

  And so she sat there, silent, watchful, her gaze never leaving the boy who slept so carelessly at her side.

  Shwaa!

  The instant Professor Alden stepped through the door, a ball of water smacked straight into Ethan’s head, drenching him on impact.

  Ethan shot upright, coughing and sputtering, blinking wildly as the cssroom around him burst into ughter.

  The girls near him—especially Eliza—looked far too amused.

  It took a moment for Ethan’s sluggish brain to piece things together.

  Right… I asked Eliza to wake me up in exchange for a favor…

  What favor again...?

  He strained to remember, but all he got was a blur of exhaustion and desperation from a few hours ago. Maybe his brain had simply shut down and refused to store the memory.

  Either way, he was awake now, and that was proof enough that he had fulfilled whatever deal he'd made.

  Good enough.

  Professor Alden, meanwhile, had finished setting down his materials and frowned upon noticing Ethan, dripping like a drowned rat.

  “What happened, boy? Did someone prank you?” he asked dryly, not even waiting for an answer. With a flick of his hand, he cast a quick spell, and the water evaporated instantly from Ethan’s clothes and hair, leaving only a faint steam.

  “There. No excuses. Let’s begin!”

  Professor Alden cpped his hands sharply to gather the css’s attention and unched straight into his lecture.

  “Today, we’re moving beyond Mana Circution. I think you’ve all had enough of that for now. Instead, we’re finally entering the main topic that gives our lesson its name: Mana Manipution.”

  He paced slowly at the front of the room, voice clear and commanding.

  “Mana manipution is something you already do. It’s not difficult—because it’s a part of you. But the question is: is it really necessary to train it? The short answer: Yes.”

  He paused, letting the word sink in.

  “Just like running strengthens your stamina and lets you run longer and faster, constant training in mana manipution enhances a whole array of skills: efficiency, spell control, power output, and much more.”

  He tapped the chalkboard, where a list of complex advantages sprawled out in cramped handwriting.

  “But,” he continued, waving the board off, “you’re not here to become researchers. You’re here to become Adventurers.So instead of memorizing every single benefit, you’ll learn the best way we adventurers know—through practice.”

  Turning to the table, Professor Alden reached into a rge bag and pulled out a strange object: a metallic cube about the size of a small melon, with glowing edges and faint lines crisscrossing its surface.

  “This,” he said, lifting it for the css to see, “is a training artifact I call the Cube. Around its edges, you’ll see eight points where lights can appear.”

  He pced it down carefully.

  “Here’s how it works: you inject your mana into the center. Once you do, lights will begin to blink at random. Your job is to manipute your mana to gather at the parts that light up.”

  He smiled faintly, almost mischievously.

  “Simple, right?But here’s the catch—When you succeed in gathering mana into a lit section for three seconds, the pattern resets and a new random set of points will light up.If you gather mana into the wrong part and hold it there for more than three seconds—game over.”

  Eliza raised her hand. “How do you win the game?”

  Alden gave a sharp chuckle. “You don’t.”

  Confused murmurs spread through the cssroom.

  “At best, you compete for the longest time you can stay in. There’s no 'winning'—only endurance and improvement.Just like real life. No final victory—only survival and constant progress.”

  The css fell quiet, the weight of his words settling over them.

  Cpping his hands sharply, Professor Alden grinned with a glint of challenge in his eyes.

  “Well? What are you waiting for? Come over and grab yours right now!”

  Once everyone had a Cube in hand, the room became a battlefield of concentration and frustration.

  Mana fred and flickered as students struggled to direct it into the blinking lights, only to have the Cube reset the moment they managed it—or, worse, buzz angrily and shut down when they slipped.

  Groans of failure and occasional muttered curses filled the air.

  Actually, as it turned out, Professor Alden had lied to them.

  Ethan realized it midway through the exercise—but by then, it was too te.

  The supposed “three seconds” grace period wasn’t consistent.

  With every successful attempt, the Cube subtly sped up. The blinking lights shifted faster, the time allowed to respond shrank.

  What started as a rexed, almost leisurely exercise became an intense, frantic battle of reflexes and focus.

  By the twelfth correct iteration, the window had shrunk so much that they had less than a second to react.

  Mana fred wildly across the room as students scrambled to keep up—most failing spectacurly.

  Despite the mounting chaos, despite the tiredness hanging over him like a wet bnket, Ethan found himself… enjoying it.

  The rush.

  The pure, mindless focus.

  It pulled him along like a riptide.

  And then—

  Before he even realized it—

  Professor Alden was cpping his hands again.

  “That’s it for today! Bring the Cubes back!”

  As Ethan stood and stretched, he blinked around the room, mildly surprised. The entire css had passed in what felt like minutes.

  Was all that training effective? he wondered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

  I don’t know… but it was definitely fun.

  "I took the liberty to clock your times, for those who are interested." Professor Alden decred in an amused voice.

  The results were posted casually on the board a few moments ter, almost as an afterthought.

  First pce: 1:58, Eliza Frost, of course—calm and terrifyingly efficient to the very end.

  Second pce: 1:55, Nora, a girl Ethan barely knew, a quiet healer from another group who had flown under the radar.

  And third pce… 1:54, Ethan Cross.

  But before he could even begin to celebrate—or process how the hell that had happened—Professor Alden’s voice boomed through the room, slicing through the rising chatter.

  “Don’t be satisfied with your results just yet!” the professor barked, arms crossed, his sharp eyes sweeping the css.

  “Let me warn you ahead of time: your next test will be to maintain the Cube’s operation for a full three minutes!”

  A collective groan of despair rippled through the students.

  Three minutes!? Most of them could barely survive thirty seconds once the Cube went berserk!

  Alden smirked, clearly enjoying their suffering.

  “We’ll continue practicing next week. Until then—rest, recover… and come prepared.”

  He gave a final nod.

  “Css dismissed!”