Moments later, Logan drifted off to sleep, dragged under by sheer exhaustion.

Draining more than a hundred years of lifespan was anything but easy.

And having just three months left to live on top of that only made the ordeal heavier.

He decided internally to resurrect Evelyn within whatever time remained, and then gradually lost consciousness.

Time dragged on lazily, the dragon’s wings beating in slow, rhythmic silence.

Daenerys remained laid back, watching the peacefully sleeping face of Logan, the wind brushing lightly against his features.

"Handsome..." she said with a smirk, readjusting her dark glasses.

A flash of light erupted in her hand and a moment later, a new lollipop appeared between her fingers.

...

Before long, Logan woke up, his mind still a little fatigued.

The first thing he did was glance around. The sight briefly stopped him cold.

Tall trees rose into the skies. Buildings made entirely of glass panes filled the scenery, catching the light in wide, clean sheets.

It was as though he’d returned to life back on earth, only several times more refined than anything he’d known there.

"Welcome... to the northern origin city..." Daenerys greeted warmly.

Logan shifted his gaze to her for barely a second before his eyes moved back to his surroundings.

In the novel he had only a vague imagination of this place, but now, standing inside it, he understood how truly beautiful it was.

"This is simply... incredible..." he muttered under his breath.

The dragon swooped downward, rushing toward the tree line of a nearby forest. Gasps and shouts erupted from below at the sight of the massive creature looming overhead, darkening the sky. But the noise subsided quickly as the dragon vanished from their line of sight.

A few more seconds, then it slowed and came to a stop atop a mountain.

"Good job, Drogon." She lightly patted the dragon’s head, running a slender finger along its snout. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Here," she extended her jade-like hands toward Logan.

Hesitating for barely a fraction of a second, he took hold of her slender, warm fingers.

She pulled him upward. Logan stood half a head taller than her.

"Easy there, boy..." Daenerys teased. "You might just make me fall for you." She gave a wink after finishing those words.

Logan didn’t know exactly why, but something in him already knew his days at the origin academy would be interesting.

No. It wasn’t that he didn’t know. He dreaded his predicament.

’Daenerys...’ He was certain he would never have a moment of peace with her. That was simply the kind of woman she was.

Flirty. Assertive. The sort who went after what she wanted without a second thought about consequences.

And from the way she eyed him like prey...

’I’m fucked, aren’t I?’ Logan ran a hand through his hair and kept his expression neutral.

"You’ll settle in nicely for some time. The academy begins recruiting in a week. Use that time to practice and sharpen your chances of enrolling."

She paused. Her eyes swept over him slowly.

"Speaking of which... I hadn’t asked previously. You should have awakened, right?"

Logan nodded.

"What origin path?"

"An ability awakener." Logan chose his words carefully. "I awakened SSS-rank space affinity."

He watched the expression on Daenerys’ face shift from faint surprise to something quieter and more measured.

"Really..." She raised a gentle finger, her gaze beneath the dark glasses searching his.

"Hm..." she muttered after a few seconds. "You don’t seem to be lying. It seems this week’s academy entrance will be interesting. There are six others with S-rank and above origin paths. Watch out for them."

Logan sat with that, his mind moving quickly through the numbers.

In the novel, he had noted four for the second years.

Since he was a year ahead of where the story began, it meant he would be entering as a second year.

’In essence, two of those wielding S-rank origin paths died?’ The grim realization unsettled him briefly.

These were S-rank origin path wielders. They didn’t simply die.

Now there were two unknown variables folded into the entrance examination.

Logan’s mind moved fast.

From here forward, he had to be careful. Whatever had killed those two could still be out there, already choosing its next target.

Possibly him.

Logan let out a slow, tired breath.

Three months to live and now this.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind." Daenerys leaned forward slightly, interrupting the quiet.

Logan smiled faintly. "Not exactly."

"Come, let me lead you to where you’ll be staying for now. You can explore the city freely. There’s the fight dungeon where you can earn money and skills, and the marketplace for whatever you need."

The two walked together after that, Daenerys filling Logan in on things he already knew and a few that sat in the gaps of his knowledge, details the novel had never bothered to put into words.

...

Ten minutes passed.

A young man stood in front of a single bedroom apartment, studying the wooden door frame, then glancing back at Daenerys.

"Try to maintain a distance from the local gangs. I’ll come pick you up when it’s time for the academy."

She flicked a finger forward, tossing something toward him.

He caught it without thinking.

"This is a minor space technique I happened to have. Learn it in the meantime."

She lingered. That teasing smile curved at her lips again.

"Don’t miss me too much. I’ll come visit you later tonight." A wink. The kind that sent a quiet, unwanted shiver down his spine.

Logan glanced down at what she’d given him and felt a flicker of surprise he kept carefully off his face.

’How does she have this?’ He smoothed his expression before it could betray him.

"Thank you for the origin technique."

"You’re amusing," Daenerys said lightly, and then she was gone, her figure dissolving like fading mist.

Logan stood there a moment, staring at the empty space she had left behind. Then he used the key she’d handed him, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

He locked it behind him and took in the apartment.

Warm. Quiet. Compact.

A parlor, a bedroom, a bathroom with both a bathtub and a shower, a kitchen stocked with everything it needed, and a few other small amenities. A television sat flush against the wall.

Logan moved through it slowly. Simple on the surface, quietly luxurious underneath.

He dropped into the chair, then finally raised the item she had given him.

A small green crystal rested in his palm.

This was how most high-rank origin techniques arrived.

There were grades: Uncommon, Common, Rare, Mythic, Legendary, and beyond. They weren’t ranked purely on power. Versatility mattered. So did how fully they allowed one to express the effects of their origin abilities.

Logan already knew this technique.

Thinking it through, he could trace exactly how the protagonist had eventually gotten his hands on it. In the original story, the heroine would ask her mother for it, then pass it along to him.

’Unfortunately, it’s mine now... another cheat taken from him...’ A faint smirk tugged at his lips.

Origin techniques below the common grade came uncrystallized. Middle rank and above took on a solid, crystallized shape.

And the one sitting in his palm was middle rank.

"Let’s see what this is about..." he thought quietly, the smirk still there, as he slowly infused his origin energy into the crystal.