I opened my eyes and a blinding light suddenly assaulted me, causing me to squint them as I cautiously looked around.

I didn’t think hell would be so bright

As I shot up from the bed, the only color I could see around the room was pure white. When the familiar smell of the hospital room finally entered my nose, I quickly connected the situation.

That bitch almost killed me.

I thought back to the match I had with Eliana as the scene of hundreds of blades continuously played in my mind. I wasn’t sure whether it was the work of [Recall], but I could vividly remember every single blade floating in the air, I could even go as far as pointing out which blade could have dealt the killing blow, but…

I am still alive.

That was enough to convince me that someone had stepped in to protect me. Since my [Future sight] skill had already predicted my death, then Eliana ‘regaining her cool’ was a possibility I immediately discarded.

I wonder who it was?

Among the students, Roran was the only one with the ability to do that, but that possibility was also discarded after recalling his type of personality from the past iteration.

“Eh!?”

An unexpected voice escaped my mouth as I suddenly realized something. On the side of the bed, a girl with long black hair sat there, adorned in her academy uniform. She was asleep, but at first glance, one would have thought otherwise.

She was sitting normally and her head was also perpendicular to the chair — the type of position someone would sit while working at an office.

What kind of scary skill is that?

Something else was off about her. Unless you were directly looking at her, her presence seemed to fade to the point of non-existent whenever you took your eyes off completely.

Aurora Dragnok, just what the hell are you turning my sister into?

As someone who knew about the future, I was both grateful and terrified.

I turned my back and looked out the window, it was already nighttime. Since we will be staying at the dorms from today onwards, it shouldn’t be too far from here.

I reached out my hand to shake Lily up, but as if a beast had suddenly invaded her territory, her eyes shot open and for a brief moment they turned into slits - like those of a cat - before returning to normal right afterward.

Lily seemed confused for a moment but eventually smiled as she causally spoke,

"You are finally up.”

“Yeah, the exam was so boring I decided to take a quick nap,” I responded in kind with a confident smirk on my face.

“Yea, right…”

Her expression seemed to change right afterward as she stared at me with frustrated eyes. I had seen this face many times before and knowing her, she wasn’t angry at my recklessness in fighting a stronger opponent, nor was she disappointed by my weakness.

Even in the past iteration, I could only describe her behavior as some sort of coping mechanism she might have developed when we still lived together as kids.

In her eyes, Ian is never wrong.

That likely meant this frustration she felt would be directed to someone else…

Will Eliana be fine?

I stood up from the bed and grabbed my stuff from the small table next to me.

“What are you doing?”

Lily asked in a strong tone but I simply shrugged as I responded,

“I’m already fine. I don’t intend to sleep here.”

I replied as I walked past her, but she didn’t object and quickly followed after me. In truth, even if half my face was missing, I would rather take my chances sleeping at the dorms than this place.

Especially when I know ‘he’ works here.

In the past iteration, a few years after graduating from the academy, I learned a lot of interesting things about some of the ‘incidents’ that occurred during my time at the academy.

Incidents that were publicly announced as accidents for the sake of ensuring peace and hiding agendas. Even as a student, I would have never guessed that so many parties were involved in trying to bring down the academy - or the Empire in broader terms.

One of the doctors working here was one of these variables, a spy sent by a very crafty criminal with the highest bounty in the world.

At the moment, I had no way of dealing with that doctor, so I intended to ignore him for as long as possible.

We finally reached the ground floor of the infirmary and left the building. I had to practically drag Lily outside since she kept insisting on talking to the doctors before leaving.

As we made our way through the empty streets of the academy, the only thing in sight was the road ahead as the surroundings were covered in darkness with the street lights being our only light source. It was an intentional design made to keep the students alert whenever they decided to walk at night.

“So how was the exam.”

I decided to ask as a pleasantry, though I was comfortable with the silence between us, the ire darkness around us made me feel like I was walking alone.

“Meh. It was fine I guess, I won my match by the way.”

She boasted with a smile and I squinted my eyes in confusion. In the past iteration, this didn’t happen.

“Hey, what’s that look? You don’t believe me?”

”Ah, no that’s not it. Which professor did you fight?”

“I think it was Simon or something.”

An image of the professor formed in my head as I started to contemplate. It wasn’t an impossible feat but a student beating a professor would surely become the talk of the academy.

According to my memory, Roran and Lithe were the only two students who should have “won” against the professors.

Now Lily too?

Wait, is this my fault?

I suddenly remembered my statement from the morning when we were still traveling to the academy, though I said it without much thought, it seemed I had unintentionally lit a fire under her.

‘We might finally be able to settle the score’

That was really all!?

I sighed out loud as I made a mental note to always think before speaking. If a single sentence could distort the future this much, then whatever actions I take might end up having unintended consequences later.

As my thoughts aimlessly moved, we finally reached the dorms and as soon as we entered, both of us went our separate ways.

The academy was insanely huge, and since the dorms were separated by gender, they put as much distance as they could between their buildings.

As I walked for a few minutes, tall buildings started to appear and I quickly reached into my pockets. A quick glance at the bottom of the card and I was able to tell which building I was assigned to.

H-M 8-3-12

The student cards could change at will whenever the academy decided to do so, therefore data could be manipulated without the need for the student’s input. After a few more minutes, I finally found the building and looked up at it. It was different from the middle-class buildings and seemed to be even a bit taller.

I quickly glanced at the time on my smartphone before casually opening the door.

20:34

I hadn’t thought about it, but the seniors at the dorm buildings had wired ‘initiations’ that first years were required to attend. Depending on the building you got, you might end up as some senior’s minion for the rest of your academy years.

I’m sure their little meeting is already over at this time around.

As I opened the door in a more relaxed mood, the interior of the high-class dorms greeted me. It was a high-quality facility with a mostly white interior similar to the one I had seen at the infirmary. As I walked in, I glanced at the man working at the reception and simply nodded my head in greeting.

He didn’t seem to care as he casually nodded back and went back to his business. I immediately faced the stairs and walked towards them, but suddenly some loud voices reached my ears followed by hushed steps.

“Yeah, hahaha. Who knows, he might kill you in your sleep.”

“Yea as if I w—.”

A group of students suddenly walked down the stairs and stopped the moment they saw me. There were 6 of them and they didn’t look like first years.

“Oh, what do we have here?”

The student standing in the middle of the group was the first to speak as he glanced my way with a confident smile on his face. He was someone I was familiar with, though we had never interacted during my time at the academy, I had seen him a few times during the war.

He walked towards me with a slow stride and his friends followed. The boy had dark blue hair tied into a ponytail. All of the students were wearing casual clothes, but mostly gym clothes.

Are they going to train at this time? How studious...

When we were finally close, the ponytailed boy held onto his chin and started to look me down as if sizing me up.

“Who the fuck is this?”

“Was he at the meeting?”

His friends behind him also scrutinized me as they asked among themselves with confusion on their faces.

“Ah, I see. Green eyes and messy hair. You must be that kid they were talking about.” The ponytailed boy finally spoke as if he suddenly remembered.

Is my hair that messy though?

“Wait… you mean the one who beat the Scarlet Arsenal!?”

“Shit, for real!?”

“He doesn’t look strong though.”

I didn’t beat her though.

Though they all seemed surprised, it didn’t seem like they were intimidated as they soon started to smile while mocking me.

Still, to think they would have already found information about that. That meant that instead of throwing their power around, they actually used the ‘initiation gathering’ as a valuable source of information on first years. It was so much different from what happened to us in the middle classes.

These guys are much more cunning.

“It seems you are quite the celebrity among the first years. So just this once, I will grant you a pass for missing the meeting. You see, inside this building, my word is law.” He came to my side and placed his hand on my shoulder while looking straight into my eyes. His eyes were sharp with no sign of doubt or weakness in them.

A second-year student, yet still considered one of the strongest students in the entire academy.

One of the Ten Kings of Rezen Academy.

The 8th seat, Tim Hellfen.

“Do you understand?” His voice deepened with a mix of magic power infused in them. At the same time, a sharp pain ran through my shoulder as if it was about to break from his grip. I tried to keep my cool and simply nodded at his statement.

“Ukh!?”

I coughed out loud as my stomach suddenly churned in pain. Before I knew it, I was already on my knee while holding my stomach in pain. The time it took him to release my shoulder and punch my stomach with the same hand was too quick for me to even see.

As my vision got blurred, a figure suddenly kneeled next to me while holding my shoulder again. Tim grabbed it much softer than last time and smiled as if proud of his act of kindness.

“That was not a proper answer, so I will give you another chance. Do you understand?”

My head started to boil with rage, but I held myself back from acting out as I tried to speak through pained breaths.

“Haah.. I-I… u-understand…”

I finally managed to say and Tim seemed satisfied. He stood up and clapped his hands before turning around.

“Then, I will see you around, green newbie.”

He left with those words and his friends laughed along as they followed him behind.

I will make you regret this.

No. I shouldn’t be thinking like that.

Tim Hellfen was a powerful asset, therefore there was only one thing I needed to do. I smiled as a sudden idea flowed into my mind, and as if all the pain had completely healed, I instantly forgave the arrogant Tim.

I will make you submit to me and become my pawn.

The thought was enough to raise my mood as I got up from the floor with a smile. The gears in my mind started to grind as multiple plans started to formulate in my mind.

“Right. As they say, revenge is a dish best served cold.”