All three students were stunned.

None expected that Kai would be so daring as to drink the vials right in front of their eyes.

"Do you have a death wish...?" the leading student said in sheer disbelief.

"What?" Kai tossed the vials aside and raised a brow, though the students couldn’t see it with the mask on. "Am I supposed to comply and hand over my hard-earned rewards because you asked me to? I’d rather use them and die than give them away."

"No, you stone-brain!" the student cursed. "You can’t simply drink them instantly like that!"

"Huh, why not?"

"Your body can’t handle that much raw energy, you fool! You’ll overload and explode!"

"Wait, what?"

Kai paused.

He drank the vials out of spite, but he hadn’t taken into account the side effects it would bring.

Despite only knowing about that right now, he cleared his throat, "O-Of course, I know about that. But it doesn’t matter to me," He took out another vial from his pocket. He had only drunk two vials earlier. "I still have one more."

"Give that one to us, and we would call it even!" the student’s eyes flashed excitedly.

His reaction alone showed that it seemed he only really needed one.

And that meant the one who sent these students only needed one.

I thought it was Ragnar, but it was Chester.

Chester had only gotten two vials of Crystallized Teardrop of Argus.

According to Ragnar, it took three vials of the Crystallized Teardrop of Argus for a Supernal to gain near-immunity against the corruption of Pest-class Star Beasts. And since the two new cultivated clouds are opening soon, Chester had every reason to want another vial.

One that would give him that near-immunity.

It would only be possible for him to gain another one by taking it from another.

Kai was the perfect target.

Now that he knew who the person behind these students was, he nodded inwardly. "I’ll give you guys this vial after we exchange places. I’m back against the wall here. If you decide to gang up on me even after I gave away the vial, I wouldn’t be able to run."

"Fine!" the leading student gestured for his friends to move away.

Slowly, Kai walked through them, heading for the exit while holding the vial in his hand.

If any of them made a move, he’d crush the vial instantly without a second thought.

Once he was right on the exit, a smirk curled beneath his mask. Instead of handing the vial, he pocketed it and regarded the three students as though they were the idiot triad. "You guys must be genuinely dumb to have believed me. But hey, that’s a good thing for me."

Kai turned around and sprinted, running straight to the dormitory building.

"Son of a bitch!"

"He fucking tricked us!"

"Get him!"

Ignoring the curses hurled towards him, Kai barged into the dormitory through the back door, catching the attention of a few students in the corridor. He sprinted as fast as he could—and made a turn when he reached the main entrance.

Just there, across the corridor, he saw the person he was looking for.

Bree turned at the sound of rapid footsteps and froze, bewildered to see Kai charging toward her at full speed. She raised her hands in confusion, frowning, but before she could speak, he sidestepped, slipped around her, and took cover right behind her.

His hands clamped onto her shoulders, using her as a shield from the chasing students.

"Come on, bastards!" Kai pointed at the three students over Bree’s shoulder. "Come on! If you have the balls, attack me right now!"

"Shit, that’s Bree. She’s a High Angel."

"If we accidentally hurt her, we can’t bullshit our way around."

"Stop fucking talking! I know what the fuck would happen if we get her involved," the leading student cursed, silencing the other two. He stared at Kai, "Hiding behind a woman? And you consider yourself a man?’

"Do you think that’ll provoke me?" Kai laughed at them. "Go on. Run back to your master."

Despite his reluctance, the leading student cursed under his breath and turned around.

He had already lost his chance to steal the vials, so there’s no point pursuing Kai anymore.

Other than spite, of course.

"Just watch your back, Lesser Angel. Don’t let us catch you."

"If I ever get my hands on you, I’ll make sure to rip out that nasty tongue of yours."

Kai gave them the middle finger again as they walked away, defeated.

"Phew—that was close," He wiped the sweat on his forehead, relieved that he got out of that situation perfectly. "Seems like your clinginess has its own perk, thanks a lot, Bree. Saved my ass the—"

He paused when Bree slowly turned, showing her restrained smile.

A vein bulged on her forehead.

"Kai..." Her voice could have frozen a flame. The kind that sent a chill down the spine. "Did you just use me as a shield?" She ground her teeth a little—infuriated. "I have been waiting for you for hours. And when you finally show up, you have the audacity to use my status?"

Before he could even answer, her hand already shot out.

She pinched his earlobe and yanked it hard.

"Ow, ow, ow—!" Kai hissed in pain. "Hadn’t your menstrual phase passed yet? Why are you still grumpy?"

Bree pulled even harder at his audacity to talk about that, "It’s my third day today."

"Alright, alright! I’m sorry! I should’ve asked!"

"Sorry is not going to cut it."

"Fine, I’ll make a damn group!"

Almost instantly, she released his ear and latched onto his arm, bubbly warmth flooding back into her expression, as though a switch had been flipped. She even aimed a sweet smile up at him, all innocence and sunshine. The shift was so fast—so seamless, that Kai felt a small chill.

It was like she kept a drawer of personalities and could pull out a new one at will.

"What should we name this new group of ours?" She asked, pulling Kai to his room.

"It sounded like you already have a name in mind," Kai sighed. It was obvious enough that she had thought about these things. "I don’t think you would accept any name other than the one you already have in mind."

"How could you say that?" She slapped his shoulder gently.

"In that case, I was thinking the name should b—"

"Let’s go with the Amrbosia Pact. It meant an immortal pact. It’s good, don’t you think?"

"..."

Kai decided that he couldn’t avoid creating a group.

Incidents like earlier, where students tried to bully him in giving away his valuable resources, would never happen again if he were a part of a group, especially when his group has multiple High Angels in it.

As annoying as Bree was regarding this matter, he was thankful.

She made it absolutely clear that he can’t avoid this.

Having a group is mandatory so that the students from other groups couldn’t mess with them easily, avoiding things like what happened with Dorian and him earlier. Not to mention, this would also be the first step to becoming eligible for the Red Prince title.

The moment I’m most afraid to jump is the moment I have to. That’s what Bella said.

Kai spent an hour digesting the energy from the Crystallize Teardrop of Argus.

Considering that those three students thought him insane to drink two vials at once, as if he’d signed his own death warrant, Kai was expecting to suffer a backlash. But to his quiet surprise, he didn’t suffer anything.

It doesn’t affect him at all.

He could feel his mind pulsing and his body adapting in real time, but there was no pain.

Not even discomfort.

Just a well-welcomed change.

Once he was finished, he opened his eyes and looked at the last vial in his hand.

Earlier, he deliberately did not drink this last vial to bait the three students into giving him clues as to the person who sent them to steal his vials, which he now knew to be Chester. But that wasn’t the only reason.

He glanced at the vial in his hand.

Do I even need to digest this one, too? He turned the thought over. No. I don’t think I do.

Kai needed the resistance he would get from digesting two vials, but he wasn’t so sure about digesting the third one. Ragnar said the Divine Lock would be more resistant to the corruption from the Star Beasts.

But he has a Primordial Lock, not a Divine Lock.

It made him doubt whether he needed it or if it could even work on him.

Remembering what had happened to his Halo, he was fairly certain the vial’s energy would be devoured by the Primordial Lock if it drifted too close. Better to hold off. Save it. See if he actually needed it later rather than waste it now.

If he didn’t need it, he could give it to someone.

Maybe Bree or Dorian.

Kai glanced to the side and let out a sigh.

On the bed, lying down right beside him was Bree, and Talitha was massaging her foot.

"You don’t really need to listen to what she asked," Kai said firmly, his gaze cutting toward Bree with open judgment. She was exploiting Talitha’s goodwill without a shred of mercy. "In case you forgot, I’m the one you’re assigned to. Not her."

"As your future wife, she should also listen to me," Bree sneered—and averted her gaze back on her phone, playing an arcade game of a snake eating items while avoiding the walls or its own tail. "Besides, she didn’t have anything to do anyway."

"It’s okay, really..." Talitha offered a sheepish smile.

"Are you not supposed to be seen with me?" Kai glanced at Bree with confusion.

"Most of the grey-masked Angels are preparing the new cultivated clouds," Bree answered without even looking. "I can stay here all day long if I want to without being caught. And you can’t kick me out since you used me earlier.

Just finish what you were doing, and tell me when it’s done."

"I am done," Kai leaned back on the wall.

"What about that last vial? Aren’t you going to digest it, too?"

"Nope. Imma hold it."

Kai saw the puppy eyes Bree was giving him, knowing exactly what she wanted.

But he didn’t buckle.

"Stop looking at me like that, I won’t give it to you." He clicked his tongue. "Maybe later."

"Alright, later it is," Bree threw her legs off the bed and stood up. "Let’s go, then."

"Go? Go where?"

"Since you’ve decided to make a group, we need to register it, no? Let’s do it right now."

"Right now? Can’t we deal with this after I deal with my weekly quota?"

"Nope. The faster the better."

"Fine."