When I looked to my side, I realized I wasn’t alone in bed. My sudden outburst had woken a red ball of curly hair. Lilith stirred, blinking sleep from her eyes, only to freeze when she noticed the situation. Her face turned beet red as she realized we were both very much naked, with her resting nestled close to me. She scrambled back in surprise, pulling the sheets up to her chest.

  "Oh no! I’m sorry, Sam! I shouldn’t have… I… This needs to stay between the two of us, please! If people at the academy found out about this, I’d lose my job, and you’d probably get expelled too! Oh no, this is bad. What have we done!?" Clear panic laced her voice as she rambled, her eyes darting everywhere but at me.

  "Please, calm down," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I’m sorry—I don’t remember much past ordering my fifth pitcher. And I’m mad about it, ‘cause this is the kind of thing I’d really like to remember, trust me." I gave her a reassuring smile. "Look, I’ll get dressed and we’ll figure everything out, okay?"

  "O-Okay," she nodded, cheeks still blazing. I slipped out of the bed, noticing how her gaze lingered on my back as I pulled my pants on, one leg at a time. When I reached for my shirt, though, I found it shredded to pieces—basically rags now. I raised an eyebrow. "Well, looks like I’m gonna need a new shirt," I muttered. "Wanna help me pick one out?"

  She bit her lip, glancing at the clock. "I’d love to, but I have to get to the lab as soon as possible. I need to start putting plans in motion, and I have to review the essays from the Elite in the artificery department. I’m already stretching my time thin." Her voice softened. "And you should be in class. The sun’s already high in the sky."

  "No problem," I replied, throwing on my inquisitorial trench coat still in academy grey. I gave her a playful bow. "Please, have a good day, my lady."

  Her cheeks darkened even more. I darted out of the room before I could embarrass myself further, heat crawling up my neck as I realized how I’d spent the night. I could still feel the warmth of her hand resting over my chest as we slept. Weirdly enough, I felt better than ever. My mind was sharper, my vision clearer. It was like I had been a rusty machine soaking in oil all night. Every movement felt precise, like clockwork. Even the silver energy that usually just sat in my body now flowed, circulating slowly and softly. It also felt a bit denser, though not by much.

  Did I have a breakthrough? Is this how they felt? I thought to myself as I made my way to the market, kicking myself for not remembering what had to be a key moment in my rise to power.

  As I was contemplating my body's situation, I realized I was being followed by an invisible presence that had trailed me all the way from Miss Makina's place to the market. I turned a corner, readying a dagger and positioning myself for an ambush. When the invisible figure rounded the corner, my dagger rested against their neck.

  The magical glow I saw around people and objects had also grown sharper; otherwise, I would’ve never spotted the ghost stalking me.

  The invisibility spell flickered out, revealing Hope's face, a wry smile plastered across it. "Well, aren’t you a little rascal," she teased, her eyes gleaming. "I didn’t expect you to spend the night like that. You do remember I’m supposed to be your shadow, right?"

  "Did you…?" I began, my eyes narrowing.

  "Oh, I saw everything," she said with a mischievous grin. "But I decided to let the two of you have a bit of intimacy." She winked at me before vanishing in a plume of mist, her voice whispering in my ear. "If you hurt her, there will be hell to pay. Don’t fool around with my best friend's heart, Sam. Now carry on with your day before you draw too much attention to me."

  I must have looked like a tomato because she burst into giggles before disappearing completely. I’d forgotten I was being shadowed the whole time. Wait… did she see everything? Well, I guess if it had been a real problem, she would’ve stopped us… right?

  When I reached the clothing shop, I nearly lost it with excitement. They had a few shirts that I absolutely needed. There was a purple and gold plaid shirt that would be perfect for school. I also picked up green, blue, and red plaid shirts for everyday use. But what really caught my eye was a liquidation rack filled with Hawaiian shirts in multiple color patterns. I ended up buying every single one in my size and threw on a purple and gold one with flower and leaf motifs. NICE.

  Feeling more stylish than ever, I walked down to the academy with a grin and a bag full of new shirts, dropping them off in my room before heading to class.

  I arrived barely in time for the start of the afternoon class. Apparently, the hunting course had been changed to keep everyone safe.

  "Good morning, students. My name is Instructor Leo," said the wiry elf with a whistle clenched between his teeth. "I will be your new teaching assistant. Apparently, for mysterious reasons, beast power levels seem to be on the rise across the continent. Which is actually great news for any adventurer hunting for beast cores and materials. However, since the hunts are impossible for the staff to supervise due to time shortages, the class will be replaced with a new course developed by the Dean himself, called Beast Slaying 101."

  Apparently, Kladius had been spending every moment he wasn’t with me out in the field, capturing wild specimens—not just for the Elite class, but for the whole damn school. Thousands of beasts, caught in just a few weeks.

  "For today's introduction to the class," Instructor Leo continued, "you will split your four-man squads in half. Each half will have to slay a stage two beast at minimum. Once you slay your first beast, I will release two more. This will continue until a total of seven stage two beasts have been released. After the last one is slain, a stage three beast will be released, if you choose to continue. If you succeed in slaying a stage three, two more will be released, and so on, up to seven stage threes. At that point, we move up to a single stage four. If you manage to slay that, you will have passed this phase of the course. Understood?"

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Yes, sir!” all the recruits yelled at the top of their lungs. Everyone but me. Since when did they all answer together?

  “Ha! Young Lord Samael, are my instructions too hard for you to understand? Give me twenty handstand push-ups!” Instructor Leo barked, his eyes gleaming with condescension.

  “Asshole,” I mumbled under my breath before getting into the handstand position. Despite the difficulty of the exercise, my body felt incredible. I ended up completing the set with unexpected ease.

  “Damn, now I don’t just look like a ripped Paralympic gymnast, but I can move like one too? Nice.”

  When I stood back up, Leo’s expression was priceless. He did not appreciate the smug grin plastered on my face. I leaned over to Wojtek, who was snickering beside me. “I think he might be the kind to hold grudges,” I whispered.

  Wojtek chuckled. “Yeah, he is. He just got the position right before you came to the school, which wouldn’t normally happen for a high Stage 2. But he’s some sort of elven prince. I heard he took your beatdown as an insult.”

  “Well, that’s understandable, I guess.”

  Jibby and I were the first team called into the caged part of the arena, which was about the size of a hockey rink. Kladius sat among the students, reading a book and chatting casually with a few of them. As I stood up, he looked up from his book for a moment.

  “Samael!” he called out, voice booming across the arena. “You can use the thing. I talked with some people, and they had to agree—schools are meant to be training grounds. Have fun out there.” He gave me a nod and returned to his reading.

  Good I now a new ace in my sleeve, I believed Jibby and I had a good chance of going far. She’d had a breakthrough recently and started carrying a sling of homemade grenades to complement her gun. She’d also gotten incredibly quick at reloading, practically a blur in motion. If the government contract came through, I had no doubt she’d end up being my designated instructor for firearms training. She was that good.

  We had a quick chat to come up with a plan of action, deciding to keep our artificery as a trump card to maximize its effects. We stepped into the cage; I unsheathed my saber, and Jibby pulled out a rapier that I recognized as Maria’s.

  The first beast type was known as Wind Wolves. About five feet tall at the shoulder, they were famous for their pack tactics and their ability to manipulate wind to double jump or change direction mid-air. Their claws were razor-sharp, and their teeth could tear through steel armor like it was paper. I wanted to pet them so hard but they wouldn't let me sadly.

  Jibby and I exchanged a nod. We’d been training together long enough to know each other’s moves, making us a deadly pair of glass cannons.

  Then the whistle blew, and the first wolf was released. Jibby and I dashed to its sides, flanking it to create an opening. The wolf locked onto Jibby and pounced, leaping with a sharp direction change mid-air to snap at her side. My lack of mana and runes made me practically invisible to it—an oversight that would be its last. Before it could come into Jibby’s range, an arc of silver flashed behind its ears, and its head dropped cleanly from its shoulders, spurting blood in a final burst. Jibby dodged the spray with ease.

  Wolves two and three entered, having seen the whole thing, and both rushed at me, dismissing Jibby entirely. She swiftly planted her rapier into the back of one’s skull, while my saber flashed, leaving a deep gash across the other’s neck. We moved with brutal efficiency.

  The next second, four wolves started circling us, anger brimming in their eyes. Their synchronization was impressive, but Jibby and I were outclassing them by too much for it to matter. Every slash we delivered was fatal, and within less than a minute and a half, all four wolves were dead. No one asked if we wanted to continue—Leo simply released the Stage 3 beast immediately, cracking open the next gate to release a giant centipede, dark purple smoke seeping from the jagged spikes along its many legs. It moved with terrifying speed—faster than most Stage 3 students for sure.

  "Careful! I think the legs are poisonous!" I yelled, drawing the Triplet.

  BANG!

  Nothing. The slug just bounced off. "FUCK!"

  BANG!

  Jibby had taken a perfect shot, hitting the centipede square in its eye socket. The creature collapsed instantly. She began reloading, her fingers moving with practiced speed. Just as she slammed the last round in, the next two centipedes entered the arena. I already had Handy in my hand and delivered a shot that rivaled Jibby's in precision. Her idea of targeting the eye to bypass the exoskeleton was brilliant, but I could already tell the Triplet wasn’t going to cut it against something this thick was that realy only a stage 3?

  We were now at three versus two, and the damn centipedes were perfectly synchronized, their legs clacking with deadly precision. I switched back to my saber and dashed beneath one of the monsters, slicing at its softer underbelly as Jibby shot the other one dead. I rolled out just in time to dodge the vicious swipe of its spiked legs.

  Unfortunately, my plan had a flaw. I was swept by the centipede’s legs, slashed across the arm, legs and chest. I retaliated, severing a few of its legs to buy space, but I could already feel the poison burning through the cuts. My skin flared hot, then went numb. My elbow was prickling like ants were crawling beneath it—a terrible sensation when trying to swing razor sharp sword.

  "JIBBY! FRAG THEIR ASS!" I shouted.

  But before I could finish, she was already lighting fuses and lobbing frags over their heads. The blasts sent goo splattering over both of us. I was barely managing to deflect a flurry of strikes with my saber. "Holy fuck, these bastards are strong!"

  "TABARNAK! DIE, MOTHERFUCKER!" I screamed.

  THUMP!

  As I swung, a razor-thin line of golden light extended from my blade, slicing cleanly through all of the centipede’s legs and leaving a deep gash along the arena wall.

  Before I could even process what happened, the Dean entered the arena, and both monsters’ heads exploded in an instant.

  "Samael, Jibby please come to my office after dinner."

  He turned to Leo, his voice dropping to a snarl. "As for you, Leo, you are fired. Consider yourself lucky no students were gravely injured, or I would have had you executed before the end of the week. Class is dismissed for the day. Both of you drink this, it's an antidote before leaving the arena."

  Please, an instant before you depart," insisted Leo, rushing toward Jibby. "I need to apologize to the miss."

  I felt the hair on my neck rise as he approached her. About five yards away, he pulled a dagger and lunged at Jibby. She didn't expect it at all. My still-poisoned arm was too slow to do anything.

  The dagger flew toward her, and I launched myself forward, using my body as a shield—not really thinking, just acting on instinct to save her. But the dagger was faster than I was. I watched it close in on Jibby's throat, time stretching and slowing down as if mocking my desperate attempt.