It was the middle of June.
Winter had arrived on the Ascent Isles.
Yes, winter. In June.
While the rest of the Central Safe-Zone was being baked under a cruel summer sun every single day, we Apex Cadets up here in the sky were layering on jackets and scraping frost off our windows.
The streets were always covered in snow, and the training grounds had to be cleared before drills.
Someone in my dorm building had already slipped on the stairs this morning. Twice.
…No, it wasn’t me!
And yet, despite the cold afternoons and freezing nights, I couldn’t just wrap myself in blankets and hibernate like a brown bear, no matter how much I wanted to.
Because half-yearly exams were starting tomorrow.
Everyone was busy — either studying or training.
Even the main characters were occupied with their side quests.
Juliana was still helping Ivan with his love life.
It had been six weeks since I assigned her that little project, and if I had to guess, she was probably wrapping it up by now.
Michael, Alexia, Lily, and Kang — my former Squad members — were out on another mission.
Yes, I had left their squad. Some random healer had taken my place as their fifth member.
It was my decision to leave.
I figured Michael wasn’t comfortable with me there — and I definitely wasn’t comfortable being on the same team as Lily.
So it worked out for all of us.
Honestly, it was better for my mental health to stay away from the heroes anyway. Dealing with them was too much drama.
And too much work!
In the last two months alone, they had gone on two missions — two whole missions! Without even a proper break in between!
It was like they were trying to work themselves to death!
I could never.
So, I decided to step out.
As for the villains… well, I wasn’t sure what my twin sister was up to these days. But knowing her, she was probably studying too.
What else would she be doing?
The royal twins — Willem and Alice — were busy participating in sparring matches and issuing open challenges every other week.
They had been the talk of the Academy for quite some time now.
But I couldn’t care less about them, either.
Not right now, at least.
Because right now, I should have been in bed.
Under five blankets. With hot cocoa. Pretending to revise my syllabus while actually contemplating the meaninglessness of exams.
Instead, I was outside.
In the snow.
Standing before the half-incinerated remains of Wing 3B of my dormitory building.
And my ear was being violently twisted by none other than Vereshia Morrigan — the esteemed Cadet Council President, third-year Ace, and… as I had just found out… an expert in the art of torture.
“Do you feel remorse yet? Do you?!” she hissed, still pinching and rotating my ear like a stress ball.
“Lady Vereshia!” I groaned, trying to pull away. “I need that ear! It balances my face! And how the hell are you so strong?!”
She ignored me. Of course she did. “Three months, Samael. Three! Whole! Months!”
“I was going to get to it!” I yelped as she gave another twist. “Eventually!”
Before I could say anything else, she grabbed my chin with her free hand and made me look forward.
In front of us, the building’s wing looked like it had lost a fight with a dragon. The windows were shattered, the walls were half-caved in, and the concrete was charred.
Someone had thoughtfully hung a hand-painted sign at the entrance that read:
[CAUTION: DO NOT ENTER. DESTROYED BY OUR ACE!]
“I’m going to ask you once,” Vereshia said, barely keeping her voice low and steady, “why hasn’t the reconstruction started?”
“I…” I let out a long sigh. “I may or may not have forgotten about it.”
Vereshia gave me a deadpan look that could’ve flattened mountains. At times like these, her red eyes looked even more threatening than usual.
I started sweating.
Okay, in my defense, I didn’t actually forget about it.
I just kept delaying it.
Because, in my heart, I felt like it was a future-me problem.
Well, future-me had officially arrived. And Vereshia was dragging him around like a delinquent puppy in need of re-housetraining.
“Samael! This isn’t a joke,” she gritted her teeth and finally let go of my ear. “There will be a surge of exchange Cadets right after exams. We’ll need every single dorm building, including this pile of regrets.”
“Okay! Fine,” I rolled my eyes like I was the one doing her a favor instead. “I’ll handle it. Contractor. Blueprints. Funding. Bureaucratic nightmares. All of it.”
Vereshia gave me a long look, then nodded. “Good.”
“But I’m not lifting bricks,” I raised a finger.
She scoffed. “I wouldn’t trust you with them.”
“And I want naming rights,” I lifted a second finger.
Vereshia squinted. “Naming… rights?”
I nodded with a cheeky grin. “I’m thinking something like’The Ashes: A Wing Reborn.’ It has a mythical ring to it.”
“…Absolutely not,” she denied.
I wasn’t discouraged. “How about ‘The Samael’s Center for Responsible Decision-Making’?”
She turned away and started walking.
Unfazed, I continued pressing on. “‘Dorm Infernum’? No? ‘Room Temperature: Hell’? Wait! What about — ‘The Smokin’ Wing’? Lady Vereshia, come on, don’t walk away—!”
But she was already gone.
I turned back to the ruins and shoved my freezing hands into my coat pockets.
“Well,” I muttered, “this will teach me not to keep ignoring my problems.”
It didn’t teach me.
After a bit of calm silence, I was also about to walk back off when my phone buzzed. I looked it up and scowled instantly.
[Cadet Samael Theosbane. Your Exam Schedule Has Been Finalized.]
[Subject One: Hunter History, Culture, and Ethics (Advanced)]
[Time: 07:00 AM. Location: Lecture Hall Gamma.]
[Note: Late arrivals will not be admitted.]
Great.
Now I had only sixteen hours to cry, pretend to sleep, and wholeheartedly curse whatever lunatic decided that a subject about memorizing the names and heroic deeds of prominent Hunters would be a good idea.
•••
The morning of the exam came like any other.
I woke up in a panic.
Not because of the exam.
No. That would’ve been responsible.
I woke up because someone was screaming in the hallway.
I opened the door and saw a half-dressed Cadet sprinting past, shoes in one hand, tie in the other, yelling something about the discovery of time distortion territories and their effects on our world.
Another guy was furiously banging on a vending machine by the elevators. “I need my pre-exam lucky bean cake! I need it! I need it!”
And someone else — no idea who — had apparently decided now was a good time to summon a Spirit Beast using his innate power.
His summoned creature was an ethereal bear.
Yes.
A literal bear made out of spectral energy.
…Wearing a tie.
These kids had truly lost their minds.
“I hate this place,” I mumbled while brushing my teeth with the sort of numbness only academia can produce.
By the time I made it to Lecture Hall Gamma, the exam was minutes from starting.
The room was freezing. Naturally.
The only warmth came from the collective suffering of seventy-two Cadets huddled together like sheep awaiting slaughter.
At the front stood our invigilator — Instructor Emeritus Helkan Grivven, who looked like he hadn’t smiled since the invention of ink.
Hunter Culture was actually Professor Rexerd’s subject. He was supposed to be here. But since he’d ‘mysteriously’ disappeared, Instructor Grivven was here to fill the role.
His eyes scanned the Cadets with the kind of quiet intensity that suggested he’d hunt down our entire bloodline if we so much as thought about cheating.
“Take your seats,” he droned. “Don’t talk. Don’t draw any Cards. Don’t even blink.”
He handed out the question papers with the same energy one might use to distribute cursed objects.
I took a deep breath and started reading mine.
—
[Hunter History, Culture, and Ethics (ADVANCED)]
Instructions: Answer all questions. Use only the space provided. Do not summon sentient entities for help. Do not read minds, either. Just don’t use your powers!
Question 1: Who was the first Hunter to sail the Sea of Screams and successfully cross into the land ruled by the Dying Sun? (10 marks)
Question 2: What was the name of the first Southern Monarch? What were his great accomplishments that are remembered even today? And why is his reign considered a failure? (10 marks)
Question 3: If you were in place of Thira the Great, would you have sacrificed thousands of low-ranked Hunters just to save seven S-rankers during the siege of Crown of Thorns? Justify your answer. (30 marks)
Question 4: Why are love potions illegal in all Safe-Zones? (Trick question. Or is it?) (5 marks)]
—
That was just the first set.
We’d be given three more. One every hour.
“Okay,” I muttered, chewing my quill. “I know one of these. Maybe.”
A girl behind me let out a quiet sob. She sounded like she had already lost all hope.
Someone two rows ahead tried to cheat — only for his answer sheet to burst into flames.
Instructor Grivven didn’t even blink. “Go ahead. Try it again.”
He didn’t try it again.
Neither did any of us.
Thirty minutes in, I’d written four paragraphs, doodled a sword, blacked out for two minutes, and written ‘ask Juli later’ in the corner of three questions.
At one point, a Cadet across the room raised her hand and questioned, “Instructor, hypothetically, if we’re possessed by a senior Cadet without our consent—”
“You’ll fail,” Grivven said flatly.
“B-But it’ll happen without our consent!”
“Tough luck.”
I went back to my paper, trying to remember how Thira the Great — a renowned Huntress who lived about a century ago — sacrificed thousands of men in her army just to save a few strong Awakened… and if I’d do the same in her place.
My honest answer would’ve offended quite a few people, so I went with the ‘morally correct’ one.
No, I wouldn’t do it.
Yes, every man is equal and we shouldn’t prioritize the strong.
Things like that.
By the end of the exam, my hand was cramping, my brain felt like a toasted marshmallow, and I was pretty sure I’d hallucinated the last half hour.
I handed in my answer sheet with all the dignity of a man walking to his execution.
“Sleep well, Cadet?” Grivven asked as I passed, rubbing my tired eyes.
I blinked. “You’re not allowed to use sarcasm on Cadets as an Instructor. It’s not in the Academy Code.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Neither is arson. And yet here you are.”
…Oh wow!
Wow!
Suddenly everyone remembered I committed arson, huh?
Make one mistake and society won’t ever let you live it down!
Shaking my head, I left the hall — shoulders sagging, stomach growling, soul hovering just slightly outside my body.
One exam down.
Five more to go.
And then… several more practicals.
…Gods, I hate academy life.