Aeron stood there, frozen. The S-rank aura subtly held him in place. His limbs were stiff, and every breath scraped the back of his dry throat.
Her gaze held him in place, trying to see through him. Searching for something even he didn't know existed.
'Oh hell no.'
As if moving through glue, he turned around, breaking eye contact.
And walked.
'Nah, why she looking at me like that?!'
Then even faster.
'If she calls me now... I'm transferring.'
.
Aeron stared at the neatly packed sandwich he had just paid for from the cafeteria. He had decided he wouldn't eat there until much later. The Spades had a private cafeteria catered toward nurturing top talents. Along with amazing delicacies, it was a hub of drama; Aeron believed the risks outweighed any desire to watch it unfold.
Currently, there were two concerns pestering him.
Professor Clark.
And credits...
Aeron was a thrifty person, but he was also a foodie. He stared at the sandwich in his hand and perched himself carefully against the bench, his mouth watering. Slowly, he unwrapped it, hands trembling.
'Five credits...that's a quarter of a training potion.'
Closing his eyes, he took a big bite.
'Training can wait...'
Snrrff…
'Thank you for sending me here, almighty being.'
Tears of joy and pain trailed down the side of his face. He wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve.
Sniff… sniff…
'Five credits… but worth it.'
'Yeah… bucket list: get rich, eat all the delicacies in Caelis.'
.
.
.
Cafeteria
Xavier was the oldest, and his siblings were twins still in high school. His parents were happily married and they had enough.
Neither rich nor poor.
But they had enough.
'I miss them.'
The academy itself held luxuries beyond anything his life had ever offered him, but he kept his astonishment quiet, his thoughts silent. Along with it came people like Luke, and he knew he had to stay level-headed when dealing with those who held status and power.
It was a surprise for him to make it this far, let alone be ranked fifty in the top academy in Karethia. All of this was thanks to his—
'Master.'
"Hey Xavierrr, what are you brooding about?"
The voice knocked him out of his reverie. He looked at the girl sitting across the table from him. Her fiery red hair was short, resting comfortably on her shoulders. Her eyes were red as well, but a darker shade, tinted with black that sometimes gave him shivers.
She was cute but acted quite rough and tomboyish.
His first friend.
They had met and helped each other during the entrance exam. Thus, her rank.
Rank 23 — Scarlett Draven.
Xavier was sure she was much stronger than she let on, but she must have held back.
"Nothing, just lost in memories."
"Well, Mr. Lost in Memories, you have ten minutes to finish those sandwiches before our next class."
Xavier's brows shot up in alarm, an expression Scarlett found cute.
"Wow, our SS+ torch is flustered."
Xavier narrowed his eyes at her, mouth half full.
"What does that make you? The S+ candle?"
She frowned, lips pouting. The tips of her hair flared slightly and the surrounding temperature rose with it.
"Candle? This candle can burn too, you know?"
Before she could say anything else, a large shadow loomed over the table. The shadow cleared his throat slightly.
Xavier and Scarlett turned to look at the figure, craning their necks to see his face.
It was Luke.
His buzz cut, height, and barbarian build made him easy to recognise. His face was neutral, his gaze fixed directly on Xavier.
The air thickened as they stared at each other.
Xavier's trait couldn't detect any malicious intent, but Master had told him not to rely on it too much. The only thing he could truly trust was his instincts.
Luke exhaled slowly.
The cafeteria was already silent. Some students were recording, ready to spread any new gossip material.
"I was thinkin—"
"Luke Orfax... thinking? Are we in a different dimension?"
Two sharp glares shot toward Scarlett. She raised her hands in mock surrender and closed her mouth.
"Like I said, I believe, Xavier, we got off on the wrong foot. I have apologised to the kid and wanted to recogni— interfi— reconcile, yes reconcile, with you."
He paused, clearing his throat once more before bowing slightly.
The motion was stiff, clearly something he rarely did.
"My name is Luke. Luke Shaw Orfax. Rank 13. I hope we can strive to become stronger through adversity in the coming years."
It started at his neck and gradually rose to his face. It wasn't long before his whole head was flushed red, almost blending into Scarlett's hair.
Scarlett struggled to hold back her laughter, her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk's. Xavier felt tempted to poke them but restrained himself to focus on the matter at hand.
His eyes remained locked on Luke's as he asked calmly,
"Is it because of my potential that you chose to apologise?"
"No."
Luke spoke quietly while glancing around.
"It's because we were comrades under Kyle's dominance. After that, I had already chosen to make up for what happened, regardless of your talent."
This time, Xavier flushed slightly.
'Comrades under his dominance… Is there no other way to phrase that?'
Now Scarlett was trembling as if she had been crippled. Her hair matched her face in colour and the strain of holding back her laughter was obvious.
Xavier grinned through his blush and held his arm out, ignoring the spasming chipmunk across from him.
"Well, Luke, let's strive to become stronger through adversity in the coming years then."
He chuckled lightly. A large calloused hand gripped his firmly.
Mid-handshake, Scarlett finally broke down laughing before the two of them joined in.
'Maybe it's not so bad.'
The bell rang.
It was time for training.
.
.
Every student was adorned in a perfectly fitted black suit bearing the Eclipse crest.
A golden sun split in half by a horizon, followed by a silver moon.
The suit had no special functions except to allow ease of movement.
Girls couldn't help but glance over their shoulders a few times, noticing the sculpted physiques of the male students—especially Xavier and Kyle. The boys, on the other hand, stood like frozen chickens, constantly flicking glances around while clearing their throats. The sound echoed through the large training hall.
A strange tension filled the air as the girls and boys stood on opposite sides, hesitation clear on their faces.
No doubt rankings would form soon.
Aeron, however, had more stressful things to worry about than a bunch of hormone-filled eighteen-year-olds.
'It's gg. I have no memories on how to use mana. What weapon does this guy even use? Why couldn't I spawn with memories at least? I'm pretty sure I don't even have parents here… just like my past life.'
He bit his thumb, muttering incoherent words.
'Wait, that doesn't matter right now! What can I train if I don't even know how to train?!'
Aeron was panicking internally.
'And she's on her way right now. How did this guy even get a place at this academy?'
Once again, the sound of heels announced her arrival.
The suit seemed woven into her skin. Every movement radiated attraction. Her toned stomach rested beneath her mature bust, forming an hourglass figure many girls could only dream of.
The higher one's rank was, the more integrated they became with Caelis itself, naturally increasing the appeal of its inhabitants.
Her passive traits certainly didn't help.
Gone were her glasses.
Only a pair of glowing amber eyes remained as her gaze swept over the gulping students.
There was no doubt she existed outside the rankings, alongside Lyra, Angelina, and Catheryn.
Aeron quietly moved as far behind the crowd as possible, slipping casually through the sea of entranced students.
He was ready for what would happen any moment now.
Without warning—
his body folded.
The pressure crushed down on him like a falling mountain.
For a split second, something inside him snapped.
The world changed.
Threads.
Thousands of faint blue lines stretched across the hall.
Each thread linked with one person.
Aeron traced each link, looking at where they were most concentrated.
And at the center of the web—
Eliza Clark.
Then it vanished.
He crumpled to the floor.
It felt as if a slab of concrete had been dropped onto his back.
'Never mind… not ready.'
His face pressed sideways against the floor as he stared at the still-standing students.
'So not ready.'
No one noticed his crippled position. They were too busy resisting Eliza's aura.
No student besides Aeron had fallen completely.
Groans and the faint cracking of bones echoed throughout the hall.
Any fantasies they previously had about her were washed away.
The Amber Witch.
"This is strength."
Her pressure felt different from the seniors.
The seniors' aura was heavy and powerful without a doubt.
But hers?
It carried will.
It carried experience.
It carried her existence.
It dug deep into the bones as if embedding a message into the students themselves.
Weak. Pitiful. Naive.
It all came at once.
Will collapsed almost immediately, followed by several others.
Some egos flared in rebellion.
Only to be crushed beneath another devastating wave of her aura.
Some students coughed blood.
Others fainted outright before crumpling to the ground.
It wasn't a sudden fall, but a slow surrender—as if the pressure attacked their minds rather than their bodies.
This was the difference in levels.
As more students dropped like bowling pins, only twenty remained standing alongside Xavier.
Their teeth were clenched tight, veins bulging.
Eliza smiled lightly.
They had all been caught off guard.
No one had been spared.
The Amber Witch.
Or better known—
The Crimson Siren.
Her smile faded slightly.
"Truly the golden generation."
Just as she prepared to release the pressure and wake the students, her senses detected subtle movement.
Had her aura not been spread across the room, she might not have noticed it.
'Why am I still awake?'
'Please sleep.'
'Pretty please.'
It was the boy the principal had insisted she move into Spades.
Her thoughts about him had been mixed.
Mostly negative.
There was nothing remarkable about his appearance.
Messy brown hair.
A slightly built frame.
An average boy with average looks.
What irritated her most, however, was his presence.
It was annoyingly faint.
Difficult to detect.
Even harder to focus on.
Like trying to find an ant using only your ears.
Everyone had a presence.
No matter how small.
But his was different.
It slipped in and out of her senses—even to someone at the peak of the food chain.
Aeron lay flat against the floor, pleading with himself.
He heard the familiar clicking of heels approaching.
'Oh yeah… she's right there, isn't she? Surely Xavier will wake up, right? Please buddy. PLEASE.'
The hall had fallen silent.
Aeron knew she was standing right beside him.
So he remained still.
Even if the chance of fooling an S-rank was nearly zero.
'Come on OP cheat… don't cheat on me now.'
At least he thought he was unmoving.
His legs occasionally twitched.
Eliza watched them with a raised eyebrow, perhaps slightly amused.
Her expression, however, remained composed.
Eventually the sound of her heels faded away.
Aeron released a long, stressed sigh.
'Thank you, cheat.'
He slowly opened one eye.
Someone was kneeling in front of him.
'Wow.'
'Did someone wake up already?'
The person was facing him.
He immediately shut his eyes again.
'Shit! I forgot no one wakes up until she wakes them up.'
'She also specialises in illusions too. It's gg.'
His legs started shaking again.
Aeron groaned and rolled over before slowly pushing himself up.
His joints cracked as he stretched.
He yawned casually.
Then he met her eyes.
Eliza was crouched right in front of him.
Watching him.
His heart rate skyrocketed.
She was beautiful.
But so were roses.
And roses had thorns.
"Miss Clark, your pressure is really strong. I aspire to be like you one day!"
He smiled with exaggerated enthusiasm. There wasn't much about her in the show aside from guiding the students through their academy years.
It made it difficult for Aeron to understand her true personality.
She stood up and stepped closer.
Although she was slightly shorter than him, Aeron felt microscopic in her presence.
"You know."
She paused.
"If you could remain conscious during that test… it says something."
Still smiling nervously, Aeron replied,
"W-What does it say, Miss Clark?"
"I imbued three attributes after the physical one."
"Pride."
"Greed."
"Lust."
Aeron gulped.
'…Why are these tests sounding increasingly illegal?'
"If you acknowledge your weakness, you pass pride."
She stepped closer.
"If you give up something you don't truly need, you pass greed."
Now she was barely half a metre away.
Aeron could smell faint lavender.
Suddenly—
four Elizas surrounded him.
Their eyes curved gently, radiating a dangerously attractive aura.
A faint nausea crept into his stomach as his head began to spin.
Any movement would cause him to touch her.
Yet he felt no desire to do so.
"If you feel no desire for me… you pass lust."
She leaned closer.
Aeron stared at her glossy red lips.
He gulped.
Then slowly opened his mouth.
"My stomach needs the restroom, Miss."
"The principal is right there too."
Her clones dissolved into mist.
Eliza froze.
Aeron took the chance.
And ran.
No hesitation.
No looking back.
Just one step after another.
'Yeah… something definitely went wrong.'
He was far too average for this.
.
.
She woke up with a headache. Gradually she sat up, sweeping her purple hair aside. Groans of fellow students surrounded her.
Lyra prepared to get up quickly, leading as the model student. As she had done so all her life.
Something had changed now, though. In front of her a broad-backed monarch was already standing, spotless as if nothing had happened previously.
'I am no longer the best'
The thought was both refreshing and burdensome. Hiding the grimace beneath her long hair, she stood up and straightened her back, preparing herself for the next task the professor would throw at them.
"You good?"
The voice appeared in her head. She simply replied,
"Yes"
Kyle's eyes glanced at her briefly before facing the witch again. Those eyes held something Lyra had been familiar with all her life. It was well hidden but she could see it
The expectation.
And the desire to hold her.
It was nothing new, but perhaps she had expected something better from Rank One. She pushed away her restless thoughts, focusing back on her talking.
"-I want you all to simply gather your mana to the tip of your fingers and wait."
A simple task. Her affinities were space and ice. Ice was quite common so her mastery over it was solid. Her father was the guild master of The Winter Court, a Mithril-grade guild, ranked two across Karethria.
However, space was rare, simply due to the dangers it held. Teleportation points were controlled by formations and runes, but the affinity itself couldn't be manifested so simply.
Formations opened the door to the element. Affinities attracted the element itself.
The cold mana travelled through her arms before concentrating on her fingers. Across the hall, a student had mana surrounding their hands but could barely make it any smaller. If they were unstable, their hands would simply explode.
Simply put, their control was,
'Crude'
She showed no reaction outwardly. Angelina followed closely behind her; her mana was warm and full of life.
"Now based on your element, I want you to simply control your mana and react accordingly to the water"
Across the hall, formations lit up. Dozens of water droplets rose into the air, suspended across the arena like a frozen constellation.
A creative but difficult task. Across the hall, mana flared but she didn't pay it attention. She looked at her droplet and lifted her hand.
Ice froze. I wasn't just cold. It was able to condense.
Reduce the kinetic energy of particles.
It was stable and most importantly.
It listened.
Space...refused.
Her fingers curled slightly.
'Control.'
Her eyes closed.
A faint chill spread through the area. Before it could go any further her finger curled even more. The chill condensed, forming tendrils of frost. Each tendril sought out the droplets of water.
It curved, bent and slithered past students like a weaving snake.
Each droplet crystallised differently.
Some froze instantly.
Others formed delicate lattices of frost that spread like blooming flowers across their surface.
But not a single one shattered.
Each one hardened into spheres completely transparent, turning into flawless spheres of clear frost.
All eyes turned to her. Every one of her fingers of her raised hand were now surrounded by a thin layer of icy blue mana.
She raised her right hand in a slow raising motion. The spheres followed her actions floating gently.
Higher and higher.
Until they were nearly at the ceiling.
Her lashes fluttered open.
Her right hand snapped shut.
Mana obeyed.
The spheres shattered.
Crystal fragments dissolved into a cascade of snow, delicate flakes drifting slowly through the vast hall.
For a moment, no one moved.
No one spoke.
Every student seemed to share a single breath.
The snowfall continued, quiet and graceful, settling across the arena floor like the first winter of the year.
It was—
ethereal.
Eliza's lips curved faintly.
But Kyle did not smile.
His eyes remained fixed on Lyra.
Locked onto those pale violet eyes.
Entranced.
'Beautiful.'