After our little meeting with the Cadet Council President, Michael and I exited the office and began walking down the hall.
Vereshia worked much faster than I expected.
We hadn’t even turned the first corner before my phone buzzed with a text.
Thalia had accepted my offer.
My dear twin sister, the future duchess of Luxara, had agreed to drop her search for the culprit who practically burned down her whole apartment and many other — in exchange for a title match with me.
Normally, you can’t just outright challenge the Ace.
There were strict rules to climbing the academy rankings. Say you were ranked 101 in your first-year batch and wanted to become the Ace.
How would you do it?
Simple.
Your first option — slow but safe — was to excel in academics and missions. If you proved your worth, the Academy Officials might promote you, letting you jump ranks without ever lifting a fist.
The second option — faster but riskier — was direct combat. You could challenge the Cadet five ranks above you. Win, and you took their spot. Lose, and… well, tough luck.
For nobles who got in via recommendation letters — skipping the Evaluation Exam altogether and never getting a proper rank — there was another.
They could challenge anyone below the top twenty.
For example, my sister was ranked 25 right now. She did it by challenging and beating the previous 25th-ranked Cadet.
When that guy lost against her, he was pushed down to rank 26, disrupting everyone else’s rank under him as well.
Then there was the third method.
A little underhanded, but effective nonetheless. It was to blackmail a high-ranking Cadet into challenging you.
Yeah, while you couldn’t challenge them, they could challenge you.
Whether you accepted or declined was up to you. But if they chose to stake their rank in a duel… well, that was fair game.
That was exactly what I had set up for Thalia.
And not just her.
Prince Willem and Princess Alice would get their shot at my Ace title too.
Of course, they’d all lose. But at least it would be fun watching them try.
As we walked, Michael finally spoke up while trailing slightly behind me. “Hey.”
“Yeah?” I asked without looking back.
“How… did you know Thalia would accept?” He questioned, sounding more than a little curious despite himself.
That was an easy one.
“Because she’d rather put me in my place herself than let the Council suspend me.” I shrugged. “Oh, and also because she lost to me during the team test.”
That loss had to be a devastating one for her.
She let down her dear daddy by losing to a failure like me, after all.
She must’ve been itching for a rematch to prove her worth… to prove that I had only won by a fluke.
Even though she knew damn well that wasn’t the case.
“Hey, can I ask you another question?” Michael’s voice reached me from behind.
I rolled my eyes. “Would you stop if I said no?”
Ignoring me entirely, he pressed on. “Why does your sister hate you? I mean, I get that you’re not the most likable person in general, but she really seems to despise you.”
I scowled.
“I don’t know. Why do any siblings hate each other? Inferiority complex? Jealousy? Because I ate her dessert when we were five? Our mother loved me more? Take your pick.” I waved a hand dismissively. “Or maybe she just has terrible taste in brothers. She seemed to like our other ones well enough.”
Michael hummed thoughtfully. “You say that, but from what I have seen and know, your sister is smart. Wasn’t she considered a prodigy or something? She doesn’t seem like the type to hold pointless grudges.”
I let out a dry laugh. “You give her too much credit. She’s petty as hell. Way more than even you.”
Michael narrowed his eyes. “I’m not petty.”
“Sure,” I scoffed. “You’re also not delusional.”
He glared daggers at me for a moment before continuing. “But seriously, it seems personal. Really personal. I don’t have any real brothers or sisters, but I doubt whatever’s going on between you two is just normal sibling rivalry.”
I didn’t answer immediately and eventually looked away. My fingers curled slightly at my sides.
I didn’t like that he was right.
Because deep down, I knew it wasn’t just pettiness or competition between me and Thalia.
There was something more. Something we had never said out loud.
I sighed. “Okay, I don’t know why she hates me. We were close when we were little. But as we grew up, our father started paying more attention to her. He declared her his successor. After that, we grew distant. She stopped talking to me. And before I could figure out why… she started resenting me.”
“You never asked that reason?” Michael inquired.
I shrugged. “I… was kind of scared of her. She was strong. Way stronger than me. And when we sparred, she stopped holding back. She started actually hurting me. So… I began to avoid her as best as I could.”
Michael took a deep breath but said nothing.
I turned to him, raising a brow. “What?”
“Nothing,” he muttered with a his head.
I frowned, and then grinned.
A wide grin twisted across my face. “Aww, wait. Do you feel bad for me? You thought I was just a natural-born bully, huh? You never considered I might have my own tragic backstory?”
Michael sneered. “Please. Your backstory is hardly tragic. And no matter how bad someone’s past is, it doesn’t give them an excuse to be a jerk.”
With that, he picked up his pace and overtook me, walking ahead.
•••
The Academy had countless training halls, dojos, and gyms — some were used to conduct combat classes and others were open for Cadets to workout by themselves whenever they wished.
For the Top Ten, though, the facilities were a step above. We could book private training halls to ensure no one could disturb us for our duration there.
After all, if you were testing a new Acquire Card or refining your Innate Power, you wouldn’t want the whole Academy knowing what you were capable of now, would you?
And so, I found myself standing in one of those private training halls.
The walls here were reinforced with high-density alloy, enchanted to withstand even the most volatile abilities.
A monitoring system stood in the corner, allowing Cadets to review their training later if they wanted.
I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck. I wasn’t here to train.
I was here to learn the technique that made the protagonist of Spirit Realm Chronicles one of the strongest Awakened in existence… at least in his own league.
And speaking of the protagonist — Michael had accompanied me here. After all, who else but him would teach me this technique?
He was standing a few meters away, tapping buttons on the monitoring system console.
I tilted my head. “What exactly are you doing?”
“Turning off the cameras,” Michael replied.
I laughed. “Wow. Whatever the secret to your strength is, it must be serious if you’re going this far to hide it.”
Michael didn’t stop working as he answered, “It is. So listen closely. Don’t tell anyone what I’m about to teach you. If you do, people won’t just come after me — they’ll come after you too.”
I feigned ignorance, smirking. “Now I’m really curious.”
Michael finally turned to face me, his usual expression replaced by something far more serious.
“You should be,” he said. “Because once you learn this, there’s no turning back. So here’s my warning — if you misuse this power… I’ll personally kill you. I’m already taking a gamble by giving it to an immoral bastard like you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Dramatic much?”
He ignored me, stepping away from the console after making sure that the cameras were off. Then, with a sharp gleam in his eyes, he spoke:
“Alright, listen up. What I’m about to teach you isn’t something you can find in any Academy manual. No instructor could teach it either. In fact… I don’t think any human possesses this knowledge.”
I crossed my arms. “Sounds illegal.”
Michael scoffed. “Oh, it absolutely is.”
I grinned. “Go on.”
He took a deep breath, gesturing for me to follow him to the center of the room.
“The ‘secret’ behind my power isn’t some martial art, hidden treasure, or alchemical enchantment potion like you might have guessed.” He paused, letting the words sink in. “It’s a technique.”
“A technique?” I repeated. “So it is a martial art.”
“No,” he shook his head. “It’s an Essence Circulation technique.”
I widened my eyes, acting surprised as best as I could. I didn’t want him to suspect I already knew what he was talking about.
“An Essence Circulation technique?” I blinked, looking shocked and incredulous. “That’s impossible. You can’t feel Essence until you reach [B-rank], let alone learn a Circulation Technique. Are you seriously telling me you can already sense Essence?”
Michael met my gaze, his expression unreadable. Then, after a few seconds, he nodded. “Yes. And that’s exactly what I’m going to teach you.”