Chapter 23: Chapter 23: The Balcony of Shadow

High above Aurelius Academy, the warning crystals exploded with crimson light.

The entire command tower shook with the sound of alarm bells as rows of massive tracking arrays flashed violently across the circular chamber. Administrative mages jumped to their feet in panic while streams of blue mana raced through the engraved floor patterns beneath them.

"What was that?!"

"A massive mana surge just appeared inside the Lower Abyss!"

"Impossible—that reading is too high!"

One of the senior monitoring mages nearly dropped his crystal tablet as numbers spiraled wildly across the floating screens.

The energy spike had erupted from the deepest part of the Whispering Ravine.

For a split second, the reading mimicked the birth of a rogue Calamity-class beast.

Then—

It vanished.

The crimson screens flickered violently before stabilizing into static.

"What happened to the signal?"

"It’s gone!"

"No... not gone. It’s like something suppressed it."

The nearest crystal suddenly cracked down the center with a sharp snapping sound.

The mages exchanged nervous looks.

Deep below the academy, hidden behind layers of fog and damp stone, Qhuin’s [False Veil] routine quietly swallowed the remaining traces of vampire mana before the tracking arrays could fully lock onto the source.

Only fragments remained, enough to terrify the tower, but not enough to identify anything.

Far above the panic below, Professor Valerius stood alone on the academy’s highest balcony.

Cold wind swept through the mountain air, causing the edge of his black cloak to snap sharply behind him. Beyond the railing stretched the distant outline of the Whispering Ravine, buried beneath layers of thick white fog.

Inside the heated corridor behind him, several veteran professors gathered together in small groups.

None of them bothered to lower their voices.

"Look at him," one elderly professor muttered bitterly. "Standing there like some conquering war hero."

Another scoffed.

"A stranger appears from nowhere with no noble registry, no beast contract, and no political backing, yet the Principal hands him an elite Class A position."

"It’s absurd."

"A beastless instructor teaching tamers? The academy has become a joke."

Valerius remained motionless, with his golden eyes fixed on the ravine.

The professors continued.

"In Solaria, a Tamer’s worth is their beast. Without one, you’re just a swordsman pretending to matter."

"And yet the Principal favors him."

The oldest among them folded his arms coldly.

"It insults every bloodline in this academy."

Still no reaction, Valerius simply stood there in silence while the wind rolled through the balcony.

To him, their complaints felt painfully small and meaningless.

He had spent years hunting monsters that wore human faces. Vampire lords who drowned entire cities in blood. Compared to that, noble teachers whispering behind his back barely qualified as noise.

His gloved hand shifted slightly at his side.

And suddenly—

Memory returned, three months ago.

Valerius remembered the exact moment his blade severed the neck of the Vampire lord Qhuin.

He remembered the feeling of steel cutting through flesh, and the explosion that followed.

A violent storm of crimson progenitor mana erupted from the dying vampire’s core and collided directly against Valerius’s holy relic.

Reality was torn apart, the sky cracked open like broken glass.

Valerius still remembered being dragged into the collapsing void while fragments of ruined buildings and burning blood floated around him.

Then, in the darkness, when he opened his eyes again, he had been lying face-first in bloody dirt beneath unfamiliar stars in a different world.

Suddenly barriers immediately surrounded him.

Academy guards appeared from every direction with summoned beasts and drawn weapons.

Valerius had prepared to kill until his final breath.

Then the Principal arrived even now the memory made his golden God’s Eye ache.

The man had descended from the academy gates without sound, dressed in simple dark robes, no visible mana, or beast.

Yet the pressure radiating from him had nearly forced Valerius to one knee.

When Valerius activated his God’s Eye to inspect the stranger, blood exploded from his left eye and his vision had nearly shattered.

He never saw the Principal’s full status.

Only endless question marks.

The ancient Tamer looked down at him calmly while academy guards stood frozen around them.

He didn’t ask about who he was or how he got here, he only said a single command.

"I have a vacancy in my combat department."

The Principal’s voice had been calm and absolute.

"If you wish to breathe the air of my world, you will train my students."

A pause.

Then the final sentence.

"Obey, and you survive."

The memory shattered apart as a crushing pressure suddenly filled Valerius’s skull.

A deep voice echoed directly inside his mind.

[Investigate the anomaly in the Lower Abyss.]

The balcony stones cracked softly beneath Valerius’s boots.

[Find the source of the rupture.]

Valerius’s golden eyes narrowed, only one being inside Aurelius Academy could send thoughts across an entire mountain fortress with such terrifying force.

The Principal.

Even after three months in this world, Valerius still could not measure that monster properly.

His God’s Eye had analyzed ancient vampires, cursed kings, and abyss creatures before. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Principal was the first existence that nearly blinded him just by existing.

Valerius slowly lifted his gaze toward the distant ravine.

The mana eruption had already disappeared, but his instincts remained uneasy.

Something inside the Lower Abyss felt wrong.

Then—

"My, my. The older professors certainly have a lot of free time today, don’t they?"

Valerius didn’t turn around

The smell of vanilla biscuits and clean parchment already told him who it was.

Assistant Professor Elizabeth stepped onto the balcony with a bright smile resting on her face.

Her white-and-gold academy robes fluttered gently in the wind as she leaned against the stone railing beside him.

Behind them, the veteran professors immediately fell silent.

Elizabeth glanced back toward the corridor innocently.

"Professor Valerius," she asked sweetly, "doesn’t it bother you at all? They call you a beastless fraud almost every day."

The hallway became completely still, and everyone waited for a reaction.

Valerius adjusted the collar of his cloak slightly.

His eyes never left the ravine.

"I do not concern myself with the opinions of the weak."

The silence broke instantly.

One professor nearly choked, another’s face turned bright red with fury.

"You arrogant—!"

A senior instructor stepped forward angrily with one hand on his blade.

"How dare you speak to the founding faculty of Aurelius Academy like that?!"

Valerius walked straight past him, not even sparing him a glance.

Heavy boots clicked calmly against the stone floor while the furious professors stood frozen behind him.

Elizabeth blinked once, then she giggled.

"Oh dear," she laughed softly while hurrying after him. "You really don’t know how to make friends, do you?"

By the time the enraged professors stormed into the courtyard below, they froze at the sight of waiting near the academy gates.

A massive winged shadow descended from the clouds.

Aurelion.

Elizabeth’s Sun-Winged Griffin landed heavily across the stone road, golden feathers glowing faintly beneath the cloudy sky.

Before Elizabeth could even climb onto the saddle, Valerius vaulted onto the griffin in one smooth motion.

The beast didn’t resist him not even trying to shake him off.

The watching professors stared in disbelief, high-rank beasts normally rejected anyone except their contracted master.

Yet Aurelion accepted Valerius’s presence without complaint.

Elizabeth stood there for a second in surprise.

Then she laughed brightly.

"Oh my! You really are impatient."

She climbed onto the saddle behind him just as the griffin spread its enormous wings.

Wind exploded across the courtyard.

The professors shielded their faces as Aurelion launched into the air and flew directly toward the mist-covered ravine.

Elizabeth wrapped one arm lightly around Valerius’s waist while looking down toward the distant Lower Abyss below.

Her smile remained sweet and gentle, but deep inside her pupils, something dark flickered briefly, something cruel.

"I heard little Lina’s group was assigned to the lower sector," she said softly.

Her voice sounded almost playful.

"She’s my favorite student."

The griffin dove deeper into the fog, as Elizabeth’s smile widened slightly.

"I’d simply be heartbroken if some rogue beast tore her adorable little bunny apart before we arrived."