"And a member of the Seven Radiant Blades."

Leo almost lost his balance for a second.

Who survives meeting two Upper Rank beings at the same time?

He quickly steadied himself and lowered his voice so the other students nearby wouldn’t overhear.

"How?"

Lucien rubbed the back of his neck before answering.

"When I first arrived in the forest, I got dropped into some swamp region. Honestly, it was terrible." He grimaced slightly. "At first I thought surviving the swamp monster there was already bad enough, but things got worse after I encountered the Eldrath being."

Leo frowned. "You fought it?"

"Not willingly."

Lucien shrugged lightly.

"She noticed me almost immediately and attacked without saying anything. I barely managed to survive for a few minutes." He glanced at his hand quietly. "That alone drained most of my Aura."

Yin Li slowly walked over from the fire while carrying a bowl, though his attention was clearly focused on the conversation instead.

Lucien continued.

"Right when I thought I was about to die, someone interrupted the fight."

Leo already knew the answer but still asked anyway.

"A Radiant Blade member?"

Lucien nodded. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"I didn’t get a proper look because the fight started instantly, but yeah. One of the Seven Radiant Blades."

Even Leo became silent after hearing that.

Upper Rank battles were not things students casually witnessed and survived. Most Aura Farmers could go their entire lives without even seeing one.

Lucien leaned forward slightly while resting his elbows on his knees.

"The difference in strength was ridiculous. Trees were disappearing from the shockwaves alone. The swamp basically collapsed after they exchanged attacks a few times."

Yin Li swallowed nervously. "And you stayed there watching?"

"I stayed there trying not to die." Lucien corrected him. "The moment the Radiant Blade member forced the Eldrath being back, I ran."

"Smartest decision you’ve made today," Leo muttered.

Lucien ignored the comment.

"After escaping, I eventually found a few students fighting that minotaur outside. We worked together for a while, but I ended up killing it after everyone else got overwhelmed."

"And that’s why you ran out of Aura," Leo concluded.

Lucien nodded once.

"After that, we found this cave and decided to use it as a temporary shelter." He pointed toward the cave entrance. "Harris sends his tiger around nearby regions to scout and bring students back slowly."

Leo glanced toward the entrance briefly before looking back at Lucien.

"So everyone here just plans to hide for three weeks?"

Lucien laughed weakly. "Do you have a better idea?"

Leo opened his mouth slightly, then paused. "...Fair enough."

Yin Li suddenly handed Leo a wooden bowl.

"Try this instead."

Leo looked down at the steaming meat inside the bowl suspiciously. "If this tastes bad too, I’m reporting you to humanity."

"You speak too much for someone getting free food."

Lucien snorted quietly while watching the two of them.

Leo finally took a bite. This time he paused for a second before nodding slowly.

"...Okay. That’s actually good."

Yin Li immediately folded his arms proudly.

"Of course it is. You people were out there burning meat like forest barbarians."

Several students near the fire protested immediately.

"We were starving!"

"Cooking is harder than fighting!"

"The minotaur kept smelling weird!"

Yin Li looked offended. "You don’t blame the ingredient when the chef lacks talent."

Lucien started laughing again while Leo quietly continued eating.

For the first time since arriving in the forest, the atmosphere around them felt almost normal...almost. Because no matter how calm the cave seemed, everyone still understood one thing.

Outside the cave were goblins, monsters, Eldrath creatures...

And somewhere within the forest, members of the Seven Radiant Blades were still fighting beings powerful enough to destroy entire regions.

After the scrumptious meal, most of the students went to sleep while ten of them including Leo and Lucien kept watch.

Leo glanced at the white tiger and frowned. ’Show off.’

Not wanting to stare at the beast anymore, he turned to Lucien. "Don’t you think something here’s not right?"

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

Leo leaned in slightly. "The illusions. Everything. I don’t think these are even illusions. It’s more like we were sent to the original timeline."

Lucien stayed quiet for a few seconds after hearing Leo’s words.

The fire crackled softly nearby while several exhausted students rested around the cave. A few remained awake near the entrance alongside Harris and the white tiger, but the overall atmosphere had calmed down considerably after the meal.

Leo kept his eyes on the cave wall while speaking quietly.

"Think about it properly," he said. "Normal illusions don’t behave like this."

Lucien frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

Leo leaned back against the stone behind him.

"An illusion should have limits. Fixed events. Fixed movements. Fixed outcomes." He glanced toward Lucien. "But this place reacts too naturally."

Lucien’s expression slowly became thoughtful.

Leo continued. "The goblins reacted to us properly. The forest changes depending on where we move. The creatures hunt us independently. Even the students were scattered into different locations instead of following one set path."

Yin Li quietly walked over and sat near them while carrying another bowl for himself.

"So basically," he muttered between bites, "you’re saying this place isn’t functioning like some replay memory."

Leo nodded once.

"It’s more like..." he paused briefly while trying to phrase it properly. "Like we were inserted into the memory itself."

Lucien’s eyes narrowed slightly after hearing that. The pink-haired boy looked toward the fire silently before speaking again.

"Not watchers," he muttered.

Leo nodded again. "Exactly. Usually in historical illusions, people observe events or relive fragments already decided beforehand." He pointed toward the cave entrance. "But here? We can interfere with things directly."

Yin Li frowned. "The goblins we killed stayed dead."

"The minotaur too," Lucien added quietly.

Leo’s gaze hardened slightly.

"And you said one of the Radiant Blades saved you."

Lucien immediately understood what Leo was implying.

If this were merely a memory reconstruction, then events should have progressed exactly as they originally happened regardless of the students’ presence. But Lucien surviving had already changed something.

Silence fell amongst the three students.

Lucien finally exhaled slowly. "So you think the illusion somehow connected itself to the original timeline."

Leo nodded."Not completely. But enough to make everything real."

The words themselves sounded absurd, yet none of them could deny the possibility anymore. The injuries and exhaustion were real. The fear they felt from the Eldrath creatures was definitely real.Even Aura consumption remained consistent.

Yin Li rubbed his face tiredly. "That is a very disturbing thing to casually explain."

Lucien folded his arms.

"But why would Miss Krystal create something like that?"

Leo’s eyes narrowed slightly. "She wouldn’t create it halfway."

Both boys looked toward him. "If she intended this to be a survival test, then making it partially real already makes sense." Leo shrugged lightly. "Real danger creates better growth."

Yin Li immediately frowned. "That woman genuinely enjoys suffering."

"No arguments there," Lucien sighed.

Leo continued calmly.

"But the problem is the scale."

His expression became more serious. "The goblins and monsters are manageable. Dangerous, but manageable." He glanced toward Lucien. "But original versions of the Seven Radiant Blades and the Eldrath Executors?"

Even saying the names felt ridiculous. Those were beings from an older era before the Aura System fully modernized cultivation.

Outsiders. Monsters among Aura Farmers. People who survived wars between realms.

Sending students anywhere near beings like that made absolutely no sense.

Lucien lowered his voice slightly. "I don’t like where this is heading to."

Silence fell again then Leo suddenly spoke, a hint of discovery appearing on his face.

"If this really is connected to the original timeline..." He paused briefly. "Then that means the original version of Miss Krystal should also exist somewhere in this forest."