Auron collapsed onto his bed the moment he entered his dimly lit room.


    Tonight, there would be no Stone skin grinding. No late-night experiments to squeeze out an extra fraction of an attribute point, just pure sleep.


    Before his mind could drift, a notification flickered in the corner of his vision.


    [System Notice: Passive growth is limited. Continue active training for greater efficiency.]


    Auron grunted.


    "Yeah, yeah… shut up."


    ***


    Morning at the Academy


    Hours passed fast before rays of sunlight flittered in Auron''s room.


    The academy erupted into a familiar morning buzz—students preparing for classes, beast tamers training their beasts and first-years desperately trying to establish themselves.


    At the Academy''s cafeteria designated for first year students, two young women occupied a table near the window.


    Calla and Elya, were seated, while a spirited expression was etched on Calla''s face as she spewed nonsense nonstop,"Did you even see that dead beast that was next to him, it''s humongous size?!, I bet it was a silver ranked beast and that guy? He just— bam!—killed it like it was nothing! Too bad we weren''t there to see how he killed it."


    Elya who was seated next to her shifted restlessly on her seat and sighed repeatedly as she looked at her friend as if she was looking at a lost cause.


    "Calla, aren''t you exaggerating a bit, i did some research and the beast we saw was an Iron ranked Procan python."


    "... What Procan Python nonsense?" she scoffed, crossing her arms. "You must''ve seen it wrong. There''s no way something that massive was only Iron-ranked. That thing was practically a mountain with scales!"


    Elya rolled her eyes. "Or maybe you just have a broken sense of scale."


    "And you have a broken sense of gratitude!" Calla shot back, animatedly pointing a finger at Elya''s forehead. "Aren''t you supposed to be thankful—"


    ***


    While Calla was spouting gibberish nonstop, A young man seemingly in his early teens, sporting black curly hair and the standard pristine Glaivemire beast tamer academy garb approached Where Calla and Elya sat .


    Mind if I sit?" he asked.


    Without waiting for a reply, he slid onto the bench beside Calla, casually eliminating all personal space between them, clearly this was a guy with an awfully thick face.


    Calla stiffened.


    Elya sighed.


    Cedric, heir to some important family had arrived.


    Unable to hide the lust burning in his eyes he looked at Elya .


    "So what are you talking about so spiritedly ladies....."


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    Before he could even finish Calla shot him a resentful glare before moving further from him and voiced out," None of your business Cedric, now get out of here."


    "Argh, still sore about last time, i told you it was a mistake, my Viper really didn''t mean to hurt your Snow fox during the last sparring session," While flashing a grieved expression.


    What did you expect, as a rich second generation heir, he''d studied all forms of pick up lines, this was just easy mode.


    Calla who had just been angry, looked at Cedric her big blue eyes widening in mock surprise, "Really?"


    Elya, who had been sipping her tea with barely veiled amusement, glanced between them. She knew Calla well enough to recognize the exact moment her friend''s temper started to boil.


    "You expect me to believe that?" Calla growled, turning fully toward him now, her blue eyes burning with accusation. "Your Viper just accidentally lunged at my Snowy Fox''s throat?!"


    Cedric held up his hands defensively, slipping into what he probably believed was an ''honest and sincere'' expression. "Come on, Calla. You know how aggressive my beast can be—"


    "It was just instinct!" Cedric pushed, flashing what he likely thought was a winning smile. "Besides… I''d never want to hurt you. I''d do anything for a beauty like you, Calla."


    For a brief moment, silence fell over the table.


    Then Calla smiled.


    A sweet, soft smile.


    Cedric''s heart soared.


    "Really, you mean anything ?" Calla voiced out sweetly


    "Of course", Cedric voiced out hurriedly.


    The technique was fucking working.


    And then—


    "Then shut the fuck up and roll out of here, you fucking retard!"


    Cedric''s mind short-circuited.


    "W-wait… what?"


    "Did I stutter?" Calla leaned in, voice dropping into a predatory whisper. "You think you can mess with my Snowy Fox and flirt your way out of it? You think I''d just let that go?"


    Cedric opened his mouth.


    Nothing came out.


    Elya, quietly watching, sipped her tea. "Should''ve seen that coming," she murmured.


    Silence stretched across the table.


    Cedric''s brain lagged. His pickup lines had never failed this disastrously before.


    His mouth flapped open. Closed. Open again.


    He needed a counterattack. A quick comeback. Something to salvage his dignity, unable to come up with one, he did the next best thing.


    He needed to make a dramatic exit. Something that would make him look cool, unbothered.


    He shot to his feet, chair screeching loudly against the floor. Too loudly. Heads turned. He flipped his hair, with all the fake nobility he could muster, declared,


    "Y-you know what, ladies?! You… you''ll never find a man like me!"


    Calla tilted her head, then grinned. "That''s the whole point, dumbass."


    "No, wait—what I meant was—" He took a step back, wildly gesturing. His foot, however, had other plans.


    It caught the edge of the table leg.


    And he tripped.


    Hard.


    His foot caught on the table leg, sending him sprawling onto the cafeteria floor with a thud that echoed through the room. The surrounding students went silent for half a second.


    Then the laughter started.


    Someone snorted. Another outright cackled. A beast companion—a small wind fox laying on a tamer''s shoulder—let out a high-pitched yap, which only made it worse.


    Cedric scrambled up, his face burning. "Sh-shut up! I—I did that on purpose!"


    Elya took a slow sip of tea. "Oh? You practicing falling for more women?"


    Calla grinned. "You must be. ''Cause you sure as hell aren''t standing on business."


    Cedric twitched. He was losing.


    One last shot. One last comeback.


    But before that.


    Someone snorted.


    Then another.


    Then the room erupted.


    "HOLY SHIT—DID HE JUST FACE-PLANT?!"


    "BRO HIT THE GROUND SO HARD HIS ANCESTORS FELT IT."


    "Cedric took ''falling for her'' way too seriously."


    Cedric froze.


    Then ran.


    There was no recovering from this now. The sooner he made his exit the better it would be.


    "Straight into the doorway. But before leaving, he shot them one last glare. Nobody had ever humiliated him like that before. He''d be back for payback—just you wait!"


    Then he made his tragic escape.


    "Wow," Elya murmured, stirring her tea.


    "That was a dramatic exit."


    Calla on the other hand unfazed by the spectacle she had just unleashed folded her arms, her expression turning uncharacteristically serious.


    ""That''s it. I''m finding him."


    Elya raised an eyebrow. "Who?"


    Calla exhaled in exasperation. "The guy who saved us last night, obviously!"


    Elya tilted her head. "I mean… technically, he didn''t really save us. He just pointed us back to the academy, and we ran like our lives depended on it."


    Calla scoffed. "And that''s exactly why we owe him. We were completely lost, and he gave us a way out." She leaned forward, voice dropping slightly. "Not to mention… that corpse."


    Elya hesitated.


    She didn''t want to admit it, but the beast''s body had been brutalized. No clear cuts, no external wounds, just a crushed husk. Something had obliterated it.


    And they hadn''t seen a single other person nearby.


    Just that one senior.


    Calla tapped her fingers against the table, lost in thought. "He didn''t stick around. Didn''t ask for thanks. Just told us to get moving and vanished."


    She clenched a fist.


    "I don''t know who he is, but I''m gonna find him. At least to say thanks."


    Elya sighed, rubbing her temples. "Yeah, good luck with that."


    Calla narrowed her eyes. "What''s that supposed to mean?"


    Elya shrugged. "Maybe he''s a ghost or something."


    Calla scoffed. "Ghosts don''t slay giant beasts and then act like it''s no big deal."


    Elya smirked. "You sure? ''Cause that''s exactly what a ghost would do."


    For the first time, Calla hesitated.


    Then, with renewed determination, she slammed her hands on the table. "Doesn''t matter. Ghost, senior, whatever—I''m gonna find him."


    Elya sighed again, leaning back in her chair. "I mean, do you even hear yourself? ''I''m gonna find him''—like that''s an easy thing to do." She gestured around.


    "There are hundreds of seniors at the academy, Calla. What''s your plan? Walk up to each one and ask, ''Hey, did you casually kill a giant beast last night and then disappear into the shadows like some kind of legend?''"


    Calla crossed her arms. "I''ll know him when I see him."


    Elya snorted. "Right. Because mysterious, powerful seniors just casually walk around waiting to be thanked."


    Calla huffed, but Elya smirked. "Face it. Unless he magically appears in front of you, you''ve got no chance."


    Meanwhile, somewhere else in the academy…


    Auron sneezed.


    He frowned, rubbing his nose.


    "…Someone better not be talking about me."