Once the three of them left, the place suddenly felt empty again.

Nathan Lockwood, seeing that Zoe Pierce had rested enough, walked straight to a massive tree.

The giant tree had grown in the mountains for an unknown number of years; it was so thick that even two people couldn’t wrap their arms around it. Its massive canopy blocked out the sun, allowing only a few stubborn rays to pierce through the gaps and fall to the ground.

Dressed in his training uniform, Nathan Lockwood pressed his long fingers against the uneven tree trunk.

"First, try to project your spiritual power."

"Your spiritual power can be gentle when used for soothing." His tone shifted. "But when you’re attacking, it must be concentrated."

"Give it a try. Use your spiritual power to carve a mark into it."

Zoe Pierce took a deep breath, slowly condensing her spiritual power. That part wasn’t difficult. The hard part was using her spiritual power as an attack.

Unlike exploration, which required little effort, she tried several times without getting the hang of it.

Nathan Lockwood walked over and clamped his hand around her wrist.

’Damn.’

Startled, Zoe Pierce instinctively tried to pull her hand away.

But Nathan Lockwood’s grip was firm, allowing no refusal.

’Why does it feel like he’s getting more and more comfortable grabbing my arm?’

With his hand wrapped around her wrist, Nathan Lockwood’s brow furrowed slightly. "Focus," he said, his voice cool.

Zoe Pierce snapped back to reality, quickly dismissing the thought and concentrating on her spiritual power. Soon, she understood why Nathan Lockwood was holding her hand.

His spiritual power was blanketing her own.

It was just like before, when he’d completely enveloped her spiritual power, only this time, he seemed to be guiding her.

He was trying to show her how to compress her spiritual power into a tangible weapon.

"Eyes on the tree. Pick a target. I’ll let go on the count of three, and you’ll strike with your spiritual power." He paused. The ends of her hair had unknowingly brushed against his rolled-up sleeve.

It tickled.

"Did you hear me?" he asked, brushing away the bothersome strands.

Zoe Pierce didn’t notice the small gesture at all. Or perhaps even if she had, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it.

All her attention was focused on her spiritual power. "I heard you," she replied, her voice clear.

"Three... two... one." He released his spiritual power. Zoe Pierce’s materialized, followed the path Nathan Lockwood had laid out for it, and struck the target.

Her eyes flashed with delight. She turned to look at Nathan Lockwood, her fair, elegant face radiant.

"I did it!" Zoe Pierce exclaimed.

She tried again. Once you take that first step, the rest isn’t so difficult.

Before, the sturdy tree had remained completely unchanged, but now Zoe Pierce could see her spiritual power had left a deep gash on its trunk.

"Try again. Attach your spiritual power to that rock under the tree," Nathan Lockwood said, his gaze sharpening. "Compress and detonate."

The name of the move sounded familiar to Zoe Pierce. She thought for a moment before it hit her.

’Isn’t this what Ethan Grant did yesterday?’

’Can my spiritual power do that too?’

But since Nathan Lockwood believed she could do it, Zoe Pierce took a deep breath and tried just as he’d instructed.

It wasn’t too difficult, but she still couldn’t quite control the degree of compression. After a few attempts, Zoe Pierce finally managed to blow up the rock, which was about the size of two fists.

The shattered rock and the gashed tree now looked exceptionally pitiful.

Only Nathan Lockwood was looking at Zoe Pierce with a complex expression.

’I don’t get it. Things were going fine just now. Why the sudden change in expression?’

"That’s enough," he said, releasing Zoe’s hand. "You did very well."

’It even confirmed my suspicions.’

’Zoe Pierce’s spiritual power... she can perfectly replicate the techniques of Alphas.’

’In fact, her spiritual power can do things that many Alphas specializing in a single type of attack can’t. She can change its form at will, with no side effects whatsoever.’

’Her spirit sea showed no signs of turmoil, only a relatively large expenditure of spiritual power. But compared to these advantages, that was no problem at all.’

’Once she fully develops, she might be even stronger than the average Alpha.’

"I want to try that move of yours—the one that removes the air—but I think I need to wait for my spiritual power to recover." Zoe Pierce’s spirit sea wasn’t small, but she had just used up a lot of power, so now she had to wait before she could experiment further.

She wasn’t in a rush, though. She had plenty of time, after all.

She had a good sense of her limits and didn’t need Nathan Lockwood to watch over her.

She sat down on a nearby tree stump, glanced at the sun now climbing higher in the sky, and took out a notebook.

But then Nathan Lockwood sat down next to her. She looked up at him, puzzled. ’What’s he up to now?’

Nathan Lockwood took her notebook and flipped through it. Since they weren’t allowed to carry their personal Intelligent Brains, they had to resort to the clumsy method of using printed notes.

It would be much more convenient to just use an Intelligent Brain’s projection.

The Intelligent Brains issued by the school only had tracking and communication functions, aside from being used to eliminate contestants.

After flipping through it, he said, "Pen."

Zoe Pierce snapped to it and quickly pulled a pen from her Space Button.

Nathan Lockwood took the pen and immediately began to boldly mark up the notebook.

Being an Alpha at the top of the academy’s pyramid required more than just an Alpha’s physique; it also demanded an intelligence far beyond that of the average person.

So when Erin Xavier and the others returned, they saw Nathan Lockwood with a pen in hand, marking something in Zoe Pierce’s notebook.

"Just memorize these," he said. He had marked all the key points for the school exam. As long as Zoe Pierce memorized it all, she shouldn’t have any problems.

The scene was a little strange.

It wasn’t just Erin Xavier anymore; even Chase Shaw and Miles Sherman could sense that Nathan Lockwood was doing too much.

He wasn’t the type to meddle, yet in the few days they’d been here, he had involved himself in Zoe Pierce’s affairs time and again.

Erin Xavier, in particular, rushed to Nathan Lockwood’s side and saw the notes he’d marked.

’Huh?’

It was just basic knowledge points for the school exam.

His large, doe-like eyes went wide with disbelief. He’d thought it was going to be something significant, but this was it?

Nathan Lockwood unceremoniously slapped the notebook against Erin Xavier’s face.

Erin Xavier was too stunned to dodge and took the full hit.

"AH—"

After a short yelp, Erin Xavier touched his face, staring at Nathan Lockwood in disbelief.

"You’re highlighting her notes for her?"

’What the hell is this? Some bizarre new strategy to get close to us?’

Erin Xavier simply couldn’t make sense of it.

’What’s gotten into Nathan Lockwood? He never gives idiots a second glance.’

’This Zoe Pierce is just too damn strange.’

Miles Sherman didn’t think Nathan Lockwood was the meddlesome type, either. He was always deliberate and thoughtful. Now, Miles could only come to one conclusion: Nathan Lockwood had ulterior motives when it came to Zoe Pierce.

’Is it Zoe Pierce’s spiritual power?’

’The one Chase Shaw just described... that soothing ability that made him feel comfortable for the first time in over a decade.’

"Shut up," Nathan Lockwood said. He handed the notebook to Zoe Pierce, then turned to Miles Sherman. "Miles, I need to talk to you."