Year 20 999 of the Aegis calendar, February 13.

A month had passed since Kieran joined the Transcendental Academy of Ostrion.

During this period, his strength had progressed by leaps and bounds. He had crafted several artifacts with Ryan's help, allowing him to purchase the Earthbound Stride movement technique, and with the remaining academic merit points, he had entered the earth elemental affinity training ground, the Earthpulse, several times.

With the time spent inside the Earthpulse, his two elements had now reached the second rank of elemental affinity.

Although his progress was rapid during that month, life at the academy was rather calm outside of his training sessions with Gallus. He occasionally encountered an elf who glared at him with Elseria, but none of them had come to cause trouble since his fight with Ryan in the combat arenas.

The only thing that bothered him at the academy were the other students in his class who whispered while staring at Elseria between each lesson. He couldn't do a thing to avoid these students, and with his senses, their whispers were clear as if they were standing next to him.
He lost count of the number of times he wanted to make a move against them, only to be stopped by Elseria.

Currently, the two were sitting in the 2-3 classroom, taking the lesson on the flora of the Aegis Alliance and those across the rifts.

Kieran, who wasn't listening to the lesson, moved his fingers in front of him as if typing on an invisible keyboard as he muttered to himself, "I still can't find anything... Should I take a walk into the city?"

Elseria, who heard him, couldn't help but turn her attention away from the lesson.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm looking for a gift for Ryan. It's his birthday tomorrow."

"What are you going to give him?"

"I don't know yet. I'm going to walk around the city after school to try to find something. Do you want to come with me?"

Elseria hesitated for a moment before accepting his offer, "Ok."

Kieran smiled at her answer.

The lesson on flora ended, and the Professor for the last class of the day entered.

The last class focused on the actions to take when a city undergoes an attack, including how to react, defend oneself, and evacuate if necessary.

Students were encouraged to approach problem-solving in their own way for the Professor's questions, and with each new class, the Professor's questions revolved around a new enemy attacking the cities using different means.

Although most students disregarded this class and did other things during this period, not taking it seriously due to their residence being located within the capital of Ostrion, one of the most protected zones of the Aegis Alliance, some of them listened attentively to the Professor's words.

"Hello, everyone. Today's class will be a bit different than usual. Today, we will review an incident involving a horde of crystal beasts that caused the destruction of a city. We will try to find a method that could have allowed a larger portion of the population to survive during this tragedy," said the Professor.

The Professor activated the holographic screen, and the image of a city surrounded by immense walls appeared on it. Kieran's face suddenly changed color, and his body began to tremble as unpleasant memories resurfaced in his mind at the sight of this city that was too familiar to him.

"All of you must have heard of the city you see on the screen. Ozryn, a city that once welcomed hundreds of millions of inhabitants within its walls, fell victim to a horde of crystal beasts. Now, all that remains are the ruins of its former glory and the hundreds of millions of inhabitants who once populated it have now reduced to a meager number of 37,253 survivors. I will be transferring data related to the events of that day, and with it, you will try to create a plan that would save as many people as possible," explained the Professor.

"What's the point of finding a plan now? These losers are already dead," said an imposing student before letting out a mocking laugh.

Kieran frowned at the student's words as he looked away from the holographic screen to stare at him.

"All this event was just a bad joke. The best guilds in this city were all foolish. The high-ranking members of the Thundershield guild fled on their own, only to encounter a herd of Diamond ranked crystal beasts that devoured them. The Cold Ocean guild sacrificed all its members to protect and help civilians escape, and the other guilds were no better. Only a minority of them created areas to defend against the horde, but even so, most perished. They were nothing but trash."

Elseria, who initially paid little attention to the student's words, now glared at him with cold eyes. Just as she was about to speak to silence the student, her gaze was drawn towards Kieran, who firmly held his right arm with his left hand. His right hand, concealed under the table, had changed shape, and its long, protruding claws extended as if they wanted to tear something apart.

The student, unaware of what was happening a few meters away from him, continued to talk.

"No plan will change what happened. The inhabitants of this city were all weak and deserved to die for..."

A sound of explosion abruptly halted the student's words, and before anyone in the class could realize it, the student's body had been sent flying into the classroom wall, which shattered under the force of the attack. The student's unconscious body fell amidst the debris that had once formed the classroom wall, and the mark of a hand seemed to be etched on his face.

A figure stood a step away from the unconscious student, her silver hair lightly floating behind her and her delicate hands tightly clenched. Her once golden eyes were now a deep blue, staring at the unconscious student.

"Who are you to decide that a person deserves to die?"

Silence engulfed the class as only her words could be heard. Each student observed her with a trace of fear in their eyes.

"Prin... Princess Elseria, what have you done?" said the Professor, stuttering at the scene before his eyes.

Elseria did not answer him and left the class under the gaze of the other students.

Kieran, who was still sitting in his place, quickly got up and followed behind her.