Lucia took a moment before mentioning the next rank.

It was not a long pause, but within the silence of the Eastern Grand Hall, it felt heavier than it should have. The lower half of the top ten had already been addressed, and now every student in the hall understood that the next name would mark the beginning of the top five.

Even the most exhausted students seemed to gather a little more awareness, their eyes shifting toward the magical screen above the stage and then back toward Lucia, waiting to see whose name would come first among the highest-ranked students of their year.

Lucia glanced down at her clipboard, her expression unreadable as the enchanted surface glowed faintly beneath her fingers. Then she tapped it once, causing the large magical screen above the stage to ripple before forming a new image.

"Rank five," Lucia announced clearly. "Chris Rature."

The moment the name left her mouth, the atmosphere among the students shifted.

It was not loud. No one dared make it loud with the Headmaster, Sir Kaelen, Sir Regulus, and the other authoritative figures watching from the stage. But the reaction was still there, moving across the second years like a silent wave. Some students exchanged surprised glances. Others looked toward Chris immediately.

A few had expressions that showed they did not care much either way, while others seemed quietly satisfied, as if the prince’s continued decline confirmed something they had already believed about him. There were also those who looked uncomfortable with the result, especially those who still respected Chris’s strength and believed his combat ability alone should have kept him higher.

Because this was not the first time.

Since returning to the academy after the war and the long break that followed, Chris Rature had declined in rank again.

Once could have been dismissed as circumstance. Twice was harder to ignore.

Chris stood among the crowd, his uniform damaged, his dark hair disheveled, and several healing marks visible along his face and arms. He looked exhausted, but not defeated in the same way some of the others did.

Even battered, there was still an unmistakable sharpness to him, the kind of presence that came naturally from power, status, and pride sharpened too often by praise. Yet the instant his rank was announced, his expression tightened.

It was barely visible at first.

A slight grimace. A faint narrowing of the eyes. The smallest shift in his jaw.

But then the anger came.

It rose quickly behind his eyes, hot and immediate, directed not at Nalim, not at the assessment, and not even at himself.

His rage turned toward the names he knew must now be above him. The students who had climbed higher. The students who had outperformed him in the eyes of the academy. The students who had taken positions he believed should have belonged to him.

Still, outwardly, Chris barely reacted.

He remained silent.

But those who knew how to read people could see the storm building behind his expression.

On the magical screen, Chris’s time in Nalim began to play. The first highlight showed him standing in a scorched section of forest with lightning crackling violently across his arms as several Horror-class demons charged toward him. He moved with terrifying speed, appearing beside one demon before it could fully react and driving a lightning-coated hand straight through its core.

Another clip showed him leaping across jagged terrain, lightning bursting from beneath his feet as he crossed a ravine and struck down three Feral-class demons in rapid succession.

Then came a scene of him facing an Advanced Horror, his Lightning Magic surging with enough intensity to turn the surrounding trees black as he overwhelmed the creature with raw speed and destructive output.

No one could deny the power being displayed.

No one could deny the talent.

Yet despite that, the atmosphere did not brighten for him.

Sir Regulus stepped forward once more.

For a moment, he did not speak.

He simply looked at Chris.

The silence that followed felt sharper than anything said before it. Regulus’s gaze remained steady, almost cold, as he studied the prince standing within the crowd.

The hall seemed to become even quieter, as if many students understood instinctively that this evaluation would not be as gentle as the previous ones. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Finally, Regulus spoke.

"Chris Rature," he began, his voice calm and measured, yet colder than it had been when addressing Dylan or Erica. "I can see the frustration in your eyes."

Chris’s expression stiffened.

Regulus continued without hesitation. "I can see the anger as well. It is pouring from you clearly enough that you are not hiding it nearly as well as you think."

Several students went still.

Even some of the authoritative figures on the stage turned their eyes toward Regulus with faint surprise. Sir Kaelen’s expression did not change much, but his gaze sharpened slightly, clearly noticing the bluntness in Regulus’s opening words.

Lucia remained at the pulpit, but even she glanced toward him for half a second.

Regulus did not soften.

"Personally," he said, "I find both your frustration and anger worthless in this moment. You brought this result upon yourself, and in truth, you should be grateful that you remain within the top five at all."

The words landed heavily.

A few students looked genuinely shocked. Others lowered their gazes quickly, either to hide their reaction or avoid being seen enjoying it.

Chris’s face darkened, but he said nothing.

Regulus’s voice remained steady. "Because you are royalty in this kingdom, you seem to believe you have it all, can do it all, and stand above it all. But you are none of those things."

The silence in the hall became almost painful.

Regulus continued. "Do not misunderstand me. You are an outstanding student. A great one, even. Your talent is real. Your efficiency with Lightning Magic is exceptional, and in terms of raw potential with that affinity, I see in you the possibility of surpassing even me one day."

That praise did not soften the atmosphere much, mostly because everyone could feel the criticism waiting behind it.

The screen shifted to another highlight.

Chris stood alone in a rocky stretch of Nalim while an Advanced Horror closed in from above. Lightning gathered around his body, and in the next instant, he vanished into a streak of white-blue light. He appeared behind the demon midair and drove a spear of lightning through its spine before landing on the ground as the creature collapsed violently behind him.

Another clip showed him cutting through several Horrors in quick succession, his movements direct, aggressive, and overwhelmingly powerful.