Dominic walked toward the gates, Calvin following closely behind. None of the nobles or anyone else seemed to notice them as they broke through the crowd. They even passed through the closed, gleaming gates as if they didn’t exist.

  Eh? Wait.

  Calvin blinked and stretched his hand to and fro; it passed right through the gate. He looked at his master in amazement.

  “How did you do this, master?” Calvin asked.

  “My, my, my,” his master replied, “so innocent and young, being surprised by everything.”

  “Yes, yes, I keep forgetting, but I’m repeatedly amazed by the sheer scope of what you can do,” Calvin said.

  His master grinned and puffed up his chest like a peacock—figuratively, of course—taking pleasure in the genuine praise.

  Calvin could see the pride and joy he took in showing off to his disciple.

  “There’s a lot I have to show you. Perhaps I could teach you more skills, beyond just subspace creation. Then again, most of them would require you to be at least a half-step demigod—an EX-Rank, at the very least. With the guidance of a demigod, you could learn skills at that level.”

  Calvin felt a twinge of disappointment. He was still weak.

  They continued walking, and Calvin didn’t let his disappointment linger. Being weak was no matter at all, after all. It could be fixed. And honestly, he couldn’t afford to be negative, not when he was in this amazing place.

  Starlight Academy, he was really, truly here.

  He took in the beautiful, well-kept grounds, and since no one seemed to notice them walking around, he examined the artifacts without any hesitation or fear. It was wondrous to see these marvels of technology—clearly cutting edge.

  He leaned closer to examine one particular artifact that had its own designated plot of land. When he pressed it lightly, to his surprise, it suddenly turned on. A holographic image popped up around him, displaying various monsters—minions, sub-bosses, and even what was supposed to be the boss—all of them were monsters he had encountered in the Relfow Dungeon, except for the boss.

  It seemed that no one had encountered the boss and had made it out alive, so they’d come up with a boss monster of their own. It was a giant thing, triple the size of even the sub bosses.

  “I wonder how well they match up to the real thing,” Dominic mused, walking around the training illusions and prodding at them with his finger. The illusory monster snapped at him, but when its teeth closed over his arm Dominic was no longer there.

  “We could test it.” He hesitated, however, before opening his subspace. “This is alright? We won’t get noticed if we mess up their training ground?”

  Dominic rolled his eyes while smiling.

  “What's so bad about being noticed?”

  Calvin blinked, about to explain why it'd be bad, before he paused. Right. He was no longer a mere orphan. Calvin shook his head, scoffing at himself. Even if the young orphan part of his mind felt convinced that they would be thrown out at the slightest provocation, that wasn’t who he was any more. And of course his master could handle anything and everything the academy could throw at them. Not that the academy would dare.

  Calvin was here because he deserved to be, because he was strong enough and valuable enough to get a proper education at the highest levels.

  He summoned his Subspace Fireball and released five minions and the sub-bosses, matching the number of holographic adversaries. He pointed at the holographic monsters—his pets seemed more interested in cuddling and licking him than fighting—and ordered, “Go!”

  They went.

  The battle wasn’t as quick as he’d expected, but it wasn’t long either. The holographic monsters weren’t exactly stronger than their dungeon counterparts, but he’d gotten used to overwhelming Relfows with numbers, so this was… new. One on one, his pets had to act more strategically and conservatively rather than rushing in with sheer overwhelming strength.

  But the holographic opponents had one other disadvantage compared to the real thing. They didn’t actually think for themselves.

  Alpha lunged for his holographic counterpart, twisted away and dropped beneath it, then clawed upward as his copy flew by overhead, tearing out the training copy’s stomach. Gamma retreated to match the pattern, then pounced on his copy’s back and bit it in the neck and didn’t let up.

  Within a couple minutes, the last of the illusory training targets flickered out, leaving only the faux boss.

  Calvin glanced at his master and smirked. Since he’d come this far, he may as well see what the people around here thought the Relfow dungeon’s boss would be like. He pointed at the final opponent and the battle began.

  Sura was walking out toward the training sim when the device flicked on of its own volition. She slowed, frowning up at the collection of unfamiliar holograms as she dug her copy of the sim schedule out of her bag.

  “I could have sworn there was no one…” She scanned the page, and, yes, her name was the only one in this timeslot. Then she frowned even harder at the clocktower, which showed that she was running a few minutes late, not early. There should be no one here.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  She scowled and drew herself up as she marched over to the control panel, fully prepared to give whoever thought they could poach her training slot a piece of her mind.

  When she reached the control console, however, there was no one present. Relfow Dungeon sim (S-Rank) in progress.

  Sura blinked and rubbed her eyes, searching first the control area, then the ongoing battle. No one. And yet the monsters were running and pouncing, clawing and biting as though fighting an invisible enemy. One who was apparently everywhere at once, since the holograms were visibly taking damage.

  One of the teachers? It had to be. No one else would be challenging the S-Rank sim, not even Lyra, the acknowledged genius of the academy.

  Despite her initial anger at her slot being poached, she couldn’t help but stand and watch. Even without seeing the adversary, the fight was entrancing. The advance and retreat, the subtle patterns of flow and strike… she felt like she was on the verge of some deeper epiphany just watching.

  She wished she could see the other side of the fight. How was someone staying so fully invisible? That was the kind of spell that only archmages could sustain more than a few moments, and most people only when standing still.

  She was almost disappointed when the last of the S-Rank minions flickered out.

  “P-professor Minerva, is that you?” Sura asked, peering around the corner of the projection artifact.

  She couldn't think who else might be using it at this level, but the swordsmanship master was supposed to be overseas still for months yet. Not even mentioning that Professor Minerva was good at swordsmanship, not magic, so there was no way she could really sustain such perfect invisibility. Unless they were fast enough that she couldn't even see them, a speed which Professor Minerva could… likely manage with ease.

  Maybe it was just wistful thinking on her part, immediately thinking of Professor Minerva. She did miss the blademaster's classes. Assistant Teacher Rachor was far inferior, in Sura's opinion.

  Instead of her beloved professor, she saw only the boss shimmer into view, who then immediately began tearing around the area, flailing as though it were fighting an entire army on its own. She jumped back with a squeak.

  "P-Professor?” She hoped whoever this was would grace her with a response, which most professors should, but…

  Did whoever fought the projection previously leave it running? But that shouldn't be possible. The artifact would only remain active so long as someone was within the field of its influence. Once the practice field was empty, it would cease running to conserve power.

  No, someone was there, fighting the boss monster... just, as she'd previously theorized, someone so insanely fast that Sura couldn't even see them. Or someone invisible, but she was growing less convinced of that possibility by the moment. Even the headmaster could only stay invisible for a few moments at a time.

  By all rights, she should go running for help. If the projector was malfunctioning, if it was setting out violent projections without their reactions tempered properly, someone could actually be hurt.

  Yet Sura found herself watching, just as mesmerized now as by the previous unseen combatants. The way the creature moved, so fast despite its bulk, the ways it flinched and reacted, it was strangely inspiring.

  Before she knew it, half her time slot had already gone by, just watching this strange one-sided fight. The boss faded away, collapsed on its side after its collective injuries grew too much for it to handle.

  She grinned and let out a brief cheer, feeling oddly exultant. She had nothing to do with the fight or its outcome, yet she'd been caught up in the drama of it completely.

  Then she blushed and glanced around, glad no one was there to see. The whole training field went dim as the device powered down, and she finally remembered why she was here.

  She dialed it down to the correct training level, feeling a strange sense of loss as the familiar basic monsters sprang up around her. Sura went through the motions, but her thoughts were elsewhere.

  How could she improve her own abilities to a level sufficient to deal with those kind of monsters? Because she'd always been ambitious, but until now it'd been a dull, distant thing. One day, she would put in the effort, when she had more time, when she had better resources. She would grow steadily along the same path that everyone else had laid down for her, achieving C-Rank, and possibly even B-Rank by the time she was old enough to retire.

  But after seeing this... B-Rank suddenly didn't feel like nearly enough.

  She restarted the projection, gripped her sword in both hands, and focused herself fully on the adversaries in front of her.

  Yes, she should push herself. Truly push herself. Risk it. She couldn't let this inspiration she was feeling spark out, not when she rarely felt so… motivated.

  Not this year, not this decade, but someday...

  I will reach that level too.

  “Hear that?” Dominic asked, nodding his head behind them toward the girl watching, frozen in wide-eyed surprise. “No one but a professor would be facing this normally. Your efforts have already elevated you far beyond the norm for this place.”

  Calvin couldn’t help feeling a bit smug at that. True, he had lost to the Relfow Dungeon’s actual boss, but he had dealt with everything else. And that put him at least the same level as a professor at Starlight Academy. That was pretty amazing—even he couldn’t deny it.

  Yes, he did have a literal god's help, but still!

  After much curiosity, pauses, and detours as they crossed the grounds—much to his master’s amusement—they finally stepped inside the Starlight Academy itself.

  Regal and luxurious decor adorned the place, as expected from a castle: chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, paintings of past, present, and future scenes depicting technological advancements on the walls.

  Occasionally, large maps were present, showing how to navigate the castle and what rooms were designated for which subjects, probably so the students wouldn’t get confused. Not that they needed it—his master could probably find any room without difficulty. But with the map, they didn’t have to ponder anything.

  They climbed to the third floor, where the professors’ and staff rooms were, including the headmaster’s office. A small golden sign with white lettering reading headmaster’s Room hung on a small shabby door at the very corner of the floor that seemed almost out of place compared to the rest of the luxurious surroundings.

  Dominic knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, a voice, old and wise, replied, "Come in."

  Dominic pushed the door open, with Calvin following closely behind him. Inside was a very old man, barely reaching the desk even when seated in a large chair. His beard was so long and large it seemed disproportionate to his small frame, and he wore a pointy hat.

  The headmaster sniffled as he looked up. "What brings you here, young men?"

  Dominic took out the royal seal and handed it to the headmaster.

  The old man’s eyes widened. "Oh, royal guests," he muttered. "Now, what demands does the king have of me? Does he want me to reduce the budget? Perhaps he wants me to assign a few students..."

  Dominic interrupted him. "I'm a demigod, and he wants you to let me train my disciple properly at Starlight Academy."