Across from him, the two girls stood frozen, eyes darting between his dirt-smudged face and the corpse of the Procan Python.


    Silence stretched.


    "D.....did....y.you... kill that beast ?


    Which division.... and..... year are you in the academy ."


    Auron sighed.


    Elya, the more serious of the two, narrowed her eyes. " Who are you?"


    Auron had about three seconds before this two little cuties questions got significantly worse. He needed to redirect the focus.


    "You''re asking a lot of questions for two girls sneaking around in the middle of the night," he said, tilting his head. "Lost, are we?"


    Elya stiffened. "We''re not lost—"


    Calla groaned. "We''re so lost."


    Elya shot her a glare, but Calla just crossed her arms and huffed. "Come on, Elya, we''ve been wandering in circles for over an hour! If we don''t find our way back, we''re gonna have to sleep in a tree!"


    Auron raised an eyebrow. "You might, but I doubt you will survive the night." He rubbed his temple. "I assume you''re from the academy?"


    "Obviously," Elya muttered. "Glaivemire Beast Tamer Academy, First-Year Division."


    The academy was split into different divisions based on experience and ranking. First-years were fresh recruits, still training and proving themselves. Second-years had contracts and battle experience. Third-years were either prodigies on the verge of graduation or failures clinging to the academy desperately.


    Then there was him.


    Auron Raventor, a third-year with zero beast contracts and the academy''s favorite punching bag—at least until he got his hands on a system that let him devour power instead of taming it.


    "Right. And you two geniuses thought a midnight stroll outside the academy walls was a great idea?"


    Elya crossed her arms, looking unimpressed. "We were training."


    "Training to get lost?" Auron smirked. "Because you''re doing a fantastic job."


    Calla coughed, covering another laugh, while Elya scowled. "We wouldn''t be lost if Calla hadn''t insisted we take a shortcut through the eastern path."


    "How was I supposed to know it led away from the academy?!" Calla huffed. "Besides, you''re the one who said, ''Trust me, I have a great sense of direction!''"


    Auron sighed. "Alright, alright. I get it. You''re lost, you''re blaming each other, and you still haven''t figured out how to get back." He pointed over his shoulder. "The academy''s that way. Try not to walk into any more trees."


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    Calla eyes brightened. "Really?!"


    Elya, however, wasn''t buying it. She eyed him suspiciously. "And how do you know that?"


    Auron smirked. "Because unlike you two, I didn''t flunk survival training."


    Calla grinned. "See? I told you we needed a guide!"


    "You did not say that!" Elya snapped.


    Auron ignored their bickering, stretching his arms as he fully explored his new strength. His muscles still felt stiff, but at least he wasn''t toppling over like an idiot anymore.


    "You two should head back before someone realizes you''re missing," he said. "The instructors will eat you alive if they find out you left the academy at night."


    Calla''s face paled. "Oh crap. If Instructor Dain finds out, we''re dead."


    Elya groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This is your fault."


    "Excuse me—"


    Auron tuned them out, his focus shifting back to the corpse of the Procan Python. He still had a problem—his strength upgrade had left him ridiculously overpowered for his current skill level. If he wasn''t careful, he''d end up crashing through walls .


    Which… admittedly had its appeal.


    Auron smirked to himself. "Alright, you two. Go on, get back before you end up on tomorrow''s missing students list."


    Calla saluted him dramatically. "Aye aye, Hero."


    Auron blinked. "Hero?"


    Calla grinned. "Well, you did save us from getting lost aand managed to kill a Big bad beast, right?"


    Elya sighed. "Let''s just go."


    As they turned to leave, Auron exhaled. He still had work to do, after all he was no Hero, just a guy with ambitions, dark ambitions. He had the strength—now, he just needed to control it.


    But first he redirected his gaze back to the Procan python, approaching it''s head where beast cores were located,


    he began rummaging," Come on, come on, give me a fucking beast core,"


    After all it was a peak iron rank beast and the odds of finding beast cores increased significantly with the increase in strength of ranked beasts.


    Of course this odds did not usually tend to play favourably on iron rank beasts.


    Just as he was about to abandon the corpse of the Procan python all hope dashed away, he noticed a small blue orb shimmering with faint inscriptions, a fucking beast core huh?


    Turns out his luck attribute wasn''t for show.


    The familiar system interface had popped up again in his line of vision the moment his hand had come in contact with the beast core.


    (Do you wish to absorb a skill from the beast core?)


    Ignoring the notification, Auron placed the beast core in his pocket, for now he had more pressing issues to take care of.


    First, go back to the academy cause he was tired as hell, he felt like he could sleep forever, Also find a quicker way to learn how to control his strength, if he couldn''t control it now at the iron rank didn''t it mean he''d just be a walking apocalypse, unable to control the power he wielded which in that case wouldn''t be too good for him.


    Shifting his thoughts back, Auron walked back to the Academy, while making a mental note he couldn''t afford being weak any longer, Hunting at night was dangerous and if he didn''t have the skill and strength to back


    him up he''d end up serving himself for dinner to some beast out there.


    The world out there was harsh and to survive he had to be smarter.


    ***


    Back at the academy, Auron was faced with another problem.


    For a normal student, sneaking back in would be a nightmare.


    For someone who could probably rip the gate off its hinges? A test of restraint, that is if the gate hadn''t been reinforced, but that wasn''t a chance he was willing to take.


    He scanned the perimeter, making sure no patrolling instructors were around, then took a deep breath and moved.


    His body surged forward—


    Too fast.


    His feet barely touched the ground before he overshot his mark, forcing him to twist midair and grab onto a ledge—one that crumbled the moment his fingers clenched.


    Auron bit back a curse, landing in a crouch. The impact sent tiny cracks spiderwebbing beneath him. He exhaled through his nose.


    "Right. Need to dial it down before I punch a hole through my own damn dorm."


    Meanwhile.


    Behind him, on the highest balcony of the instructor''s tower, a figure of a young lady could be seen gleaming under the moonlight revealing a pair of crimson eyes gleaming with curiosity.


    Instructor Lena Rune.


    One of the strongest individuals in Glaivemire Beast Tamer Academy.


    By all logic, her petite frame should have made her look fragile, but that illusion shattered the moment she moved.


    Her instructor''s uniform—a sleeveless, high-collared coat with silver trims—was form-fitting, emphasizing the dangerous contrast of soft curves on a body built for war. She leaned against the balcony, hips shifting lazily, but her gaze? Nothing that hinted a lazy demeanor.


    Her silver hair, long enough to brush against the floor, swayed as the night breeze toyed with it, giving her an almost ethereal look. Combined with her porcelain skin and doll-like face, she could have been mistaken for something inhuman—a celestial beauty sculpted from moonlight itself.


    But that face? Deceptive.


    The real Lena was a predator wrapped in silk.


    And right now? She''d found something interesting.


    "Peak Iron Rank? Already?" She tilted her head, silver strands cascading over her shoulder like liquid moonlight. "Oh, Raventor… what exactly are you hiding?"


    Her fingers drummed lazily against the balcony , but her mind was sharp—calculating. A discarded heir, a failure of a beast tamer, and yet here he was, slipping back into the academy, his presence radiating a strength that should have taken months to cultivate.


    Fascinating.


    "And here I thought your bloodline had finally rotted."


    She exhaled, the smirk on her lips deepening. Oh, this was promising. Perhaps this forgotten little Raventor had some use after all...