“That’s enough.”
Suspended in mid-air, the petite girl unfolded a magic shield, blocking the spells from Isabena and Charles.
Beside her, a freshly opened spatial rift crackled with energy.
Without a doubt, it was Liya who had intercepted the attack.
Behind her stood the regular class students, who had already let go of their wands—utterly powerless and out of the fight.
“You’re eliminated. Your tokens now belong to them.”
With that, Liya summoned the two students’ tokens to her hand and then handed them to Isabena.
“Simple.”
Charles rotated his wrist, eyeing the dejected regular class students who had just been eliminated.
He mocked loudly, “What a bunch of losers. Next time, just hand them over to us and save yourself the trouble.”
“Charles.”
Isabena gathered magic at the tip of her wand, shaping it into several flame arrows and pointing them straight at Charles.
“Uh…”
Charles was caught off guard by Isabena’s sudden threat.
“I’m only cooperating with you because of the group assignment. If you act up again, I won’t hesitate to finish the exam on my own.”
Facing Isabena’s overbearing gaze, Charles had no choice but to swallow his retort and compromise, “Alright, alright, I’ll shut up.”
Isabena lowered her wand and strode ahead without another word.
“So damn annoying…”
Charles glared fiercely at Isabena’s back, silently vowing to make her pay for this one day.
Liya watched the two leave, then glanced at the magical clock manifesting in her hand.
Nearly half the students had already been eliminated, including some from the elite class.
However, not a single case had yet occurred where a regular class student had taken an elite class student’s token.
There were still two full days until the end of the exam.
With a sigh, Liya lay bored atop her floating magic staff.
It had been an entire day since she’d eaten Lin Yue’s cooking—she was suffering…
Who would have thought, the greatest trouble for a sixth-rank Magus would be missing out on delicious meals.
But what could she do?
Everything he cooked was so new and strange; she’d never seen such dishes before.
They were as unique as his appearance.
“Maybe I should go see what he’s up to. After all, I can just teleport wherever there’s trouble.”
Liya muttered to herself.
No sooner said than done.
She turned, tore open a spatial rift, and headed for Lin Yue’s location.
“Eighth one.”
Lin Yue stowed away the tokens from the fourth team that he and Allen had defeated together, then stood up.
“Haa… Haa…”
Allen knelt on one knee, clearly exhausted.
As time went by, the opponents they encountered only got tougher.
In the final rounds, every battle was a decisive moment that could determine their ranking.
After all, you could inherit all the tokens your opponents had stolen, making stamina management crucial.
There were over a hundred participants in this exam, with twenty students from the elite class.
Besides those who’d already shown up, there were still several notable figures to keep an eye on.
Lin Yue recalled how, in the game, Allen could pick which companions to recruit.
He sank into thought.
“I’m rested. Let’s move on.”
Allen stood, patting Lin Yue on the shoulder.
After a day and a night of looking out for each other, they shared an unspoken understanding.
“Don’t push yourself. Every fight from here on out could eliminate us. Let’s find somewhere to hide first.”
They took some time and found a small lake surrounded by massive stones.
After tidying up, the sky began to darken.
“Why am I always camping out in the wild no matter where I go…”
Staring at the iron pot he brought, and the freshly caught fish from the lake, Lin Yue couldn’t help but complain.
At dinner, Allen and Lin Yue sat by the campfire, holding wooden bowls filled with fish soup as they chatted idly.
“Lin Yue, who would’ve thought you’d be as good at this as a country kid like me.”
“And you’re supposed to be a noble…”
Allen looked genuinely puzzled—how could someone be so different from his status?
But one sip of the fragrant fish soup chased those doubts away, replaced by pure delight.
“Delicious! Lin Yue, you’re a true culinary god!”
Allen licked his lips and drained the bowl in one go.
Why does it feel like you’re mocking me in a roundabout way…
But there probably aren’t any weird puns like that in this world, so Lin Yue could only smile wryly.
“Got kicked out by my family, so I had to learn a few skills to survive. Otherwise, I would’ve never made it to this academy.”
“So the rumors about you being thrown out of the Hawk family are true…”
Allen seemed genuinely surprised, apparently one of those who suspected there was more to the story.
“It’s not just a rumor, and it’s not false…”
But it had given him plenty of chances to slip through the cracks.
“So you’re just an ordinary student, like me? For some reason, that makes me happy.”
“Ah, I don’t mean to mock you. It’s just—knowing you’re like me makes me feel a sense of camaraderie…”
Allen grinned, somehow certain that Lin Yue lacked the arrogance that nobles carried in their bones, and instead had the same honest soul he did.
“Drink up before it gets cold.”
Lin Yue kept a calm face, but inside he was slightly shaken.
The protagonist’s intuition…
“You’re right.”
Suddenly, an icy, indifferent voice—completely out of place for two grown men—sounded between them.
“Whoa!”
“What the—?!”
The two of them leapt up in shock, one jumping to his feet, the other falling backward.
Neither had sensed anyone approaching.
“L-Liya?”
Only when he saw the girl with the magical hat and pale violet hair ladle a bowl of soup from the pot did Lin Yue react.
When did she even get here?
“Good evening… Mmm, there’s a unique freshness to it tonight…”
She murmured to herself, then ran over and sat down close to Lin Yue.
“That’s… Professor Liya from the start of the exam!”
Allen recognized her too.
Seeing her drinking soup so contentedly, his jaw nearly hit the ground.
“Yeah…”
Lin Yue covered his face in disbelief.
Why did this girl suddenly show up?
Wasn’t she supposed to be the safety officer?
“Next time give a warning—you nearly scared us to death…”
Lin Yue muttered as he scooped out a fish from the pot, intending to put it in Liya’s bowl.
“I only drink the soup, not the fish.”
Whether it was because she disliked picking out bones, or just hated the fishy smell, Liya—faced with Lin Yue’s cooking—unusually refused.
“Don’t be picky. I worked hard to catch those.”
Like a strict older brother, Lin Yue tried to insist.
“…Okay…”
Unable to resist, Liya used magic to lift the fish, deftly plucking out each bone and removing the head.
Once finished, Liya finally took a bite and found it wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d feared.
After all, this was Lin Yue’s cooking—if it tasted awful, that would be truly strange…
“By the way, did you practice your magic today? No slacking off, right?”
“I’m in the middle of the exam. Where would I find the time…”
“True.”
Watching the two interact as if they were family, Allen was utterly baffled.
This is…a sixth-rank Magus?
Allen felt his worldview crumble.
In his mind, every sixth-rank Magus transcended the mundane, wielding dominion over nations.
Yet the girl before him looked more like a mischievous child from his own village.
“So, you two are…?”
Allen couldn’t help but use a respectful tone.
Even if he’d grown close to Lin Yue, his brain was having trouble keeping up.
“Long-term meal ticket and cook. That’s all.”
Lin Yue explained.
“Just treat her like air. Don’t worry about her; once she’s full, she’ll leave on her own…”
How am I supposed to ignore her?
This is a sixth-rank Magus, one of the most powerful beings in the world…
Allen waited until Liya had finished every last bite before daring to sit down, replaying the day’s events in his head—but he couldn’t make sense of any of it.
That night, Lin Yue took the watch while Allen drifted off into deep sleep.
Lin Yue tossed a silver coin in his hand, watching it gleam in the moonlight.
Clack.
He caught it, then spoke into the empty air, “It’s late. There shouldn’t be any idiots still fighting, right?”
At once, another spatial rift tore open, and Liya floated out, striking an utterly lazy pose.
“The first day was so busy, and there was nothing good to eat. I almost couldn’t take it…”
“Is that so? We can’t have our sixth-rank Magus working overtime, now can we.”
Lin Yue grinned, pocketing the coin.
“I hate when you use that tone…”
Clearly, Liya disliked having her title made fun of.
“Sorry, sorry… That was careless of me.”
Lin Yue apologized with a smile, then gazed out over the still waters.
Hearing him admit fault, Liya didn’t press further.
She sat beside him and said, “Lin Yue, I’ve always had a strange feeling…”
For some reason, Liya sounded uncharacteristically serious, her amethyst eyes fixed on Lin Yue’s, as if searching for an answer.
“It seems like you understood me from the very beginning—even better than I understand myself…”
“I once read in an ancient tome that those who master the Laws of Time disappear from the world. The Astrologer’s Prophecy says it will only reappear when the world is on the brink of destruction. Could it be that you…”
The Laws of Time?
There was a mention of that in the game, but only in the finale—used as some legendary part to build the ultimate mecha.
It shouldn’t have anything to do with the current story…
“Me? If I had that kind of power, I wouldn’t have been thrown out of my family.”
Lin Yue brushed off Liya’s suspicions, and indeed, she couldn’t see anything in his gaze.
They sat in silence for a while, before Lin Yue spoke first. “Liya, could you do me a favor?”
In his eyes shone the same seriousness that Liya had shown before.
“Tomorrow… no matter what I do, don’t interfere. Please.”
Hearing him use such a sincere, almost pleading tone for the first time, Liya’s heart trembled.
After a moment’s thought, she replied, “Alright.”
One short word—filled with trust.
“Thank you…”
Lin Yue stood and let out a breath of relief.
“You should get some rest, too. I’ll go for a walk and save my sleep for after the exam.”
Liya opened another spatial rift.
With a faint smile, she turned and left.
“……”
“Sigh…”
Lin Yue closed his eyes, wondering how he could keep to the original story when events had gone so off-script.
“Guess I’ll walk by the lake for a bit.”
…
Moonlight spilled over the still lake, casting rippling reflections.
A fair figure stood in the water’s center, like a beautiful spirit—captivating, yet untouchable.
Isabena had removed her Avelina Academy uniform, folding it neatly atop a large stone on the shore.
Her long, moonlit-silver hair hung to her waist, slick and smooth from the water, clinging to her skin and tracing the contours of her slender form.
The lake was clear to the bottom, its cool touch washing away the day’s exhaustion.
She closed her eyes, savoring a rare moment of tranquility.
Her long lashes cast faint shadows in the moonlight as her fingertips brushed the water’s surface, sending ripples outward.
“After a whole day of fighting, I’m covered in dust…”
She carefully scrubbed herself clean, her mood light.
She’d waited until the middle of the night, making sure Charles was sound asleep before sneaking out to bathe.
Now, no one should see her.
“Hmm hmm hmm~”
She hummed to herself, only to remember a certain vexing figure.
That guy… who knows how he’s doing now?
Probably already eliminated.
Isabena expected nothing from him—in fact, she hoped he’d be thoroughly beaten by the commoners he used to look down on, so he’d never be able to lift his head again.
Tch.
Why am I thinking about him at such a beautiful moment…
This pleasure of secretly enjoying what no one else can is an irresistible thrill for any human.
Suddenly, faint footsteps reached her ears. Isabena’s eyes snapped open, those usually cold gray eyes instantly filled with vigilance.
She instinctively shrank deeper into the water, leaving only her head and shoulders exposed.
Her silver hair floated on the surface like a blossoming water lily.
“Who’s there?”
Her voice was icy and sharp, shattering the calm at the lakeside.
Hearing no reply, Isabena quietly gathered her magic, ready to burn everything around her to ash.
“If you don’t come out, it won’t just be burns you’re dealing with…”
Still, no answer.
Isabena began chanting, “Great spirit of fire, grant me your blessing—”
This crazy woman!
The hidden figure slowly stepped out, lest she unleash some apocalyptic spell.
“Can I just say—it really wasn’t on purpose…”
Isabena’s eyes widened when she saw who it was.
Her pupils shrank as she shouted, “You!”