Kai stole a glance at Bree—staring at the side of her face and focused on the beautiful fine details of her that he hadn’t really noticed. Her skin was so smooth that it looked like a doll’s—and the mark that descended from her temple had a glittering effect to them.

He stared at her intently as if he was trying to read her mind.

Frankly, he was flattered.

For her to give something that was even more important than her life to him is unthinkable.

Someone like her viewing him so highly is nothing short of a pipe dream.

But that night, she really would give it to him if he made a move.

It’s reality.

Kai wanted to be happy that she would go that far for a nobody like him. He really wanted to be happy. However, whenever that happiness reached his neck—the thought of not knowing the reason she was like this towards him pushed it back down.

A barrier that prevented him from really taking her seriously.

He knew that he ought to ask her, not stay silent like this and act like everything is fine.

But he couldn’t.

I’ll... I’ll make a decision once I’m stronger.

Kai averted his gaze.

On the other hand, Bree could feel the intense gaze that he had been giving her. She pretended not to know, waiting for him to say something that he was bottling up. But disappointed when he turned away. ’Just ask me. I’ll have the courage to tell you if you asked me. How long are you going to stay silent like this?’

As the students gathered, a man approached them.

Or approached Kai, specifically.

"Excuse me..." He flashed an awkward smile, scratching the back of his head.

"Hmm?" Kai looked at the man and recognized this person; he was the one who almost died to the Star Beast because of Chester. The man who was hiding inside his house. "How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"N-No! I’m unharmed, thankfully," He sucked in a deep breath and bowed. "Thank you for saving and speaking up for me earlier today."

"What are you saying? Matilda is the one who saved you."

"I already give her my thanks—but I saw that you also tried to save me. And you also spoke up for me to that High Angel. I wanted to say thank you. Nothing good has ever happened to me ever since I lived here, so this really means a lot to me."

Kai patted the man’s shoulder.

Everyone seemed to be feeling the exact same way, and that’s all because of the academy.

Because of the class system that forced them to live a miserable life.

"Just take care of yourself if you want to thank me," Kai smiled genuinely, showing his rows of white teeth. "Stay safe. If you do not mind me asking about it—who is the Angel from your family?"

"I think he’s already gone," He smiled weakly. "His name is Rakha."

"R-Rakha...?" Kai’s throat suddenly turned dry; his eyes widened in surprise.

"Do you know him?"

"Yes... I know Rakha. He and I are on the same Blood Rite."

Hearing this, the man balled his hands into fists, dreading the question he was about to ask.

"How... How is his last moment? Do you know? Don’t lie to me, please."

"He died a noble death; trying to save a friend."

It wasn’t a lie.

Dorian had already told him about Rakha—the fact that he survived the ambush gone wrong and tried to infiltrate Team Coeus’ camp to rescue Dorian. Unfortunately, he came across Lion and died.

His death was noble.

Regardless of how hostile Rakha was during their first encounter, he became a friend.

And died a friend.

"Don’t give up hope," Kai watched in solemn as a few tears drizzled down the man’s cheeks as he looked up to the sky, almost like he was looking at Rakha up there in paradise. "I’m sure he would want you to keep on living and hope for a better day. No, I’m certain of it. He’s quite the hard-headed."

"Yes, he was," the man smiled inwardly.

Since the students were still gathering, Kai went to the man’s house as he wanted to pee.

He talked for a bit right after to give more memories about Rakha for the man—and when he bid his farewell and exited the house, he saw someone was waiting outside. An old man was leaning against the wall.

And when he saw Kai, he straightened his posture.

"May I help you?"

"Are you a friend of Matilda?"

"Yes, I am." Kai paused for a second—and then realized the similar features this old man had with Matilda. Features that made it undeniable that he is Matilda’s father. But to be sure, Kai decided to ask, "Are you Matilda’s dad?"

The old man simply smiled and held Kai’s hand, "Young man, I wanted to ask for a favour..."

Moments later.

"Are you pissing or jerking off?" Dorian asked the moment Kai returned. "What took you so long to come back if you’re only pissing?"

"Got caught up with something," Kai ignored his remarks. "And in case Bree hadn’t told you about it yet, I saw Rakha’s older brother and talked a bit with him. Why don’t you go see him before you leave?"

"I don’t want to," Dorian averted his gaze.

One could see pain in his eyes.

But then again, he was the one who saw Rakha’s last moments, so Kai didn’t press further.

It must be horrific, considering they were dealing with Lion back then.

"Where’s Bryan?" Kai looked around, seeing no sign of that horned dumb man.

"He’s such a pussy. Scared of being caught grouping up with us by Chester, so he’s probably hiding somewhere," Dorian swept his eyes around, searching for Bryan on the ground, certain that he was squatting somewhere. "Just let him be."

Once the students gathered, they started to make their way back to the academy.

Like earlier, the professors went on ahead.

Along the way, when night was approaching, Bree flicked her fingers and turned to Kai. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"We still need to mine," She said, remembering that they can’t afford to skip even one day of mining. Still needed a lot of mana ores to gather thirty thousand mana ores. "Are we going straight for the Fire Swamp or what?"

"Going to take a shower first," Dorian commented, hands intertwined behind his head.

Bree looked at Kai, waiting for him to answer.

But his eyes were still elsewhere, and he didn’t seem to hear what she said.

"Kai," She shook his arm—trying to get his attention. And then she followed where his gaze was at, "What are you looking at?"

"Hmm?" Kai blinked and then realized Bree was talking to him. "Nothing, nothing. What did you say again?"

"I’m asking if we’re going straight for the Fire Swamp."

"Let’s freshen up first and then meet up at the Aerial Stable as usual."

"Okay."

Upon arriving at the academy, Kai immediately went to his room and hopped into the shower.

He felt itchy after what happened at the hive.

But he quite frankly forgot that there are parts of him that were smeared by the acidic slime, which burned his skin. "Are you okay in there?!" Talitha knocked on the bathroom door—and shouted when she heard Kai puffing and grunting inside. "Need my help?!"

"No!" Kai replied, also shouting. "I’m fine!"

"Should I give you the berry you got from Professor Evie?!"

"No need! I’m saving that for worse situations!"

"I’m going to get healing creams from the infirmary! Once you’re done—wait for me to come back! Don’t leave yet!"

Kai wanted to refuse as he needed to go to the Aerial Stable—but Talitha did not wait around for his answer. Her footsteps could be heard ascending the staircase even from the bathroom, so he had no other choice but to wait her out.

At this point, she’s used to seeing him coming back wounded and battered.

She probably expected to do this soon enough.

It didn’t take long at all for Talitha to return with a healing cream from the infirmary.

Kai sat down on the bed bare-chested, and Talitha was sitting behind him, applying the cream on the blisters across his entire body. "I heard grade-two Awakened Supernal has regenerative ability; how come these blisters are still bad like this?" She asked in confusion.

"A Star Beast did it," Kai hugged a pillow—and hissed in pain when Talitha applied the cream on the worst blister on his upper back.

She then tapped his back, signaling for him to turn around.

He turned to face her, and she rose onto her knees, closing what distance she could.

Considering how much taller and bigger he was compared to Talitha, she needed to do that.

Her fingers, cool with cream, found his face with deliberate gentleness.

"It’s probably why it isn’t regenerating as it normally should."

"A Star Beast? What is it?"

"A stupid skeleton monster covered in acidic slime. It’s my first time fighting a Star Beast, and I can’t believe how strong it was."

"Really?" Talitha asked, still fully immersed in applying the healing cream. "Must be scary to fight it."

"I am scared, but seeing the normal people there even more helpless than me against it helped me swallow my fear," Kai replied, replaying the incident on the hive earlier in his mind. "But don’t worry, I don’t think Abigail is around the Star Beast. She must be with the other students in a safe area."

"I’m happy to hear that," She nodded, really glad to hear that.

All she knew was that the freshmen were given a day off to visit their families.

She was happy to hear that, as it had been a while since Abigail met with their parents.

Hearing about the incident was scary, but Kai’s assurance made her calmer.

"What about you? What have you been doing all day?"

"Gardening—with the other servants. Since the students are all away—we have the garden to ourselves. I’ve planted a few flowers and plucked a few ones that could be placed inside the reservoir. To freshen things in this room. I hope you don’t mind."

"Nope. Just do as you wanted with the room. As long as you didn’t trash it, then I’m not going to complain."

Talitha giggled at what he said and then leaned away; her lips curled into a smile, "I’m done. You can go now."

"Alright," Kai quickly wore a black shirt, hissing a bit as the blisters still stung, and then faced Talitha again. "I’m going to mine some more. Oh, also, don’t wait up tonight. I think I will be sleeping somewhere else."

He quickly ran up the staircase, leaving Talitha alone again in the room.

Forgetting about something, he returned and took a vial hidden in the corner of the room before ascending the staircase again. Talitha watched him come and go and raised a brow. "Sleeping somewhere? Where?"