The lake remained still.
Suspiciously still.
Above its surface...
The battle was raging.
The giant serpent was attacking.
The students were fighting.
Magic filled the sky.
And chaos was mounting.
But down below...
There was something far more important.
Kim stood by the lake.
And a few steps away from him...
Stood Leon.
Both were looking at the water.
Not at the monster.
Not at the battle.
Then, Leon spoke suddenly:
> "How long did it take you to find out?"
>
Kim replied calmly:
> "Less than it took you to hide that you had."
>
For a second...
Silence reigned.
Then Leon burst into laughter.
But inside...
He was astonished.
It had been years since anyone had hit him with that kind of comeback.
Most people fall into two types.
They are either fools.
Or they are trying to show how smart they are.
But this guy...
He was different.
He wasn't trying to prove anything.
He wasn't looking for attention.
And that is the most dangerous kind.
Leon raised his eyes toward the lake.
> "What do you think?"
>
> "Shall we go down?"
>
Kim smiled.
He knew this game.
An offer of cooperation.
But true cooperation does not exist between two people who are constantly testing each other.
And yet...
> "Why not?"
>
He replied quietly.
In the next instant...
The two of them dove into the water.
They vanished into the depths.
While above the surface...
No one noticed.
Even Iris was too busy fighting.
As for the giant serpent...
It was growing wilder.
As if it were trying to stop anyone from approaching the depths.
But it was too late.
Down below...
The water was darker.
Colder.
Ancients.
A strange sensation.
As if the lake wasn't natural at all.
Then...
The door appeared.
Right in front of them.
A massive stone door.
Covered in ancient inscriptions.
And before the door...
Two giant statues.
Knights.
But something about them was wrong.
As if they weren't statues.
But real bodies turned to stone.
Leon stopped.
As for Kim...
He was studying the inscriptions.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
> "A trap."
>
He said it calmly.
Leon smiled.
> "I was about to say the same thing."
>
He stepped closer to the door.
But before he could touch it—
He stopped.
Then he backed away.
Because Kim hadn't moved.
And that alone was enough.
If someone like Kim doesn't approach...
There is a reason.
Seconds later...
Iris arrived.
She was panting.
And furious.
> "You two..."
>
> "You left me back there?!"
>
But before she could finish—
She touched the door.
Just a light touch.
In the next instant...
The entire lake shook.
BOOM!!!
The eyes of the two statues snapped open.
Streaks of blue light flared inside their helmets.
Then they moved.
For the first time in centuries.
The water trembled.
As for Leon...
He closed his eyes.
Then he sighed.
> "Just as I expected."
>
As for Iris...
She glared at him in anger.
> "Why didn't you tell me?!"
>
He smiled.
> "Because you didn't ask."
>
Elsewhere...
Kim smiled silently.
Because he wasn't even looking at the two statues.
He was looking at the inscriptions.
Ever since his arrival...
He had been reading them.
Analyzing them.
Then he realized something.
Something no one else had noticed.
The two statues...
Were not the guardians.
They were the key.
The real guardian...
Was behind the door.
And when he understood that...
For the first time since his arrival in this world...
A tiny smile appeared.
A smile that made even the surrounding shadows seem darker.
Because he realized something else.
If he could open this door...
He would get something far greater than exam points.
Something that might grant him his first real piece on the chessboard of this world.
And at the top of the Academy's tower...
Elder Eldar had risen from his seat.
His eyes were locked onto only one screen.
Kim's screen.
Then he whispered:
> "Who are you, truly...?"
>
"The clever solve riddles...
But the manipulators look for the one who made the riddle in the first place."