The Institute of Ascension shone under the light of dawn. The white marble surface caught the first rays of sunlight and refracted it into a scatter of multicolored light that gave the tower an almost ethereal glow. Lazy wisps of morning mist danced around its base, curling and drifting in unnatural currents. High above, the tower disappeared into the swirling clouds themselves, the entire tower thrumming with centuries’ worth of magic.

  Levi breathed in the crisp morning air as he stepped off the carriage, murmuring a thanks to the driver. At the crack of dawn, the weather was cold but not freezing. Luxanne’s weather suited him well; Luminarche was in the western region of Koxus and boasted a fairly temperate climate. He was glad he hadn’t been reincarnated into the tundras or the deserts. Or worse, the swamplands.

  He leisurely made his way to the courtyards where he was supposed to meet Liliya. The Institute of Ascension’s central tower stood at the heart of campus grounds. Further inside were located the courtyards, gardens, stables, and outdoor training areas. He headed that way, navigating the winding path of vine-covered stone walls and tall immaculate hedges with a map in his hand.

  Turning the corner, he found a straight path ahead of him about ten meters long, towering hedges twice his height on either side. He strode onward, admiring the gorgeous flowers adorning the path, their petals still dotted with morning dew.

  Halfway through, Levi came to a stop. He sighed. And his morning had been going so well.

  “You can come out now,” he called.

  There was a moment of stillness. Then, several students emerged from the shrubbery on either side, the leaves rustling around them. Levi’s eyes flicked around. There were four in the front, three in the back. He was completely surrounded. Judging by their ages, they seemed to be a mix of senior and post-graduate students. They had intimidating expressions on their faces as they closed in around him, cutting off his escape routes.

  “Good morning,” Levi said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” He didn’t recognise any of them; they seemed to be unrelated to Winthrop’s group. Which made sense; the Institute’s student population wasn’t monolithic, and Levi’s counterpart had made a lot of enemies.

  “You’re taking the Ascension Trials with Liliya Volkov,” the leader said. Brown hair, blue eyes, a grim set to his face.

  Levi nodded. “I am.”

  “Withdraw,” he said bluntly. “Scum like you do not deserve to be paired with her. If you have any honor at all, you will turn back now.”

  “Hmm. I’d rather not.”

  “I wasn’t asking.”

  At the leader’s signal, the men drew their weapons and assumed their positions. Levi’s gaze sharpened slightly. Unlike the fight against Winthrop, these men were actually armed. He counted three knights with armor and swords, two warriors wielding axes, and one ranger with a bow. The leader himself seemed to be a mage, an oaken staff materializing in his hand.

  “Give up now, and you’ll leave with your limbs intact,” the leader said. “If not…” He narrowed his eyes. “We had thought John Winthrop would take care of you, but it seemed he had his own agenda. We won’t be so merciful. You'll live, but just barely.”

  Levi sighed. He had gotten far too little sleep for this. “Look, even if I wanted to withdraw from the Ascension Trials, I can’t. This situation really is out of my hands. If you have an issue, please take it up with my father.”

  This seemed to only enrage them. “Hiding behind your father again?” the leader asked, his voice harsh with contempt. “Have you no dignity, have you no pride?”

  Levi simply raised an eyebrow, casting a pointed gaze around. “Says the person ganging up on me seven to one…”

  “At this point, it’s no longer just about crushing you. It’s about sending a message.” The leader shook his head in disgust. “Bad enough you haven’t been expelled from the Institute yet. Now you think you have the right to team up with Lady Volkov? When she’d rejected all partnerships from those far more deserving than you?”

  Levi blinked. “Is that what this is about? You’re mad that I’m her partner for the Ascension Trials?” He paused. “Please don’t tell me you’re jealous…”

  He must’ve hit the nail on the head, because the leader’s eyes flashed with fury. “Enough talk,” he snarled. “It’s clear that trying to negotiate with trash like you is futile. This is your last chance. Will you turn back?”

  “I don’t think you’ll like my answer…”

  “Have it your way then,” the leader spat. He raised his staff and a red magic circle of intricate patterns formed at the tip. “[Fireball]–!”

  Levi’s finger twitched and a single Sever shot forward. He didn’t even bother pairing it with the Cleave; he didn’t need the additional penetrating force for this. The Sever blurred through the air so fast it was nearly imperceptible, slicing through the magic circle and shattering the spell before it could even form. Levi might not have been a druid, but the flowers on the path had been pretty.

  The leader blinked. “Wait. What?” He glanced down at his staff, as if to confirm it wasn’t malfunctioning somehow, before looking back at Levi. “How did you just…”

  Levi shrugged. “Magic?” He sighed. “Look, it’s far too early for this. How about we just call it a day and stop things here before someone gets hurt?”

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  The leader recovered from his confusion quickly. He sneered. “You’re the only one who’s going to get hurt here, Ironwood.”

  “Mmm. Sure I am.”

  Levi’s tone was mild as usual, but there was something about it that made his attackers glance at each other uncertainly. Perhaps it was the way he stood, his posture completely relaxed.

  “Hey boss,” the ranger spoke up hesitantly. “I think this might be a trap.”

  The leader looked at him incredulously. “Are you serious? This is Levi Ironwood. Use your [Institute Registry] on him — he’s level 14 for the Goddess’s sake! Who cares if he got his hand on some magic items? Grow a fucking pair, man!”

  This seemed to rouse them into action. Their gazes hardened as they readied their weapons. On an unspoken signal, they charged.

  Seven against one.

  It was almost a fair fight.

  Ranger Edgar Sterling watched from the backline with an impassive gaze as the warriors and knights charged in. He had been slightly disconcerted earlier by Levi Ironwood’s unnervingly unbothered demeanor, but a quick application of his passive skill, [Ranger’s Focus], had calmed his mind, a sense of tranquility settling over him. A follow-up [Institute Registry] had assuaged any remaining doubts he had.

  Edgar didn’t know what gimmick Ironwood had used to cancel Leopold’s [Fireball], but there was no way it would be effective against all of them at once. He had a feeling Ironwood’s confidence stemmed from some mistaken assumption that acquiring a magical item or two would somehow put him on even footing with them. Any real adventurer would’ve known it wouldn’t be enough, but Ironwood clearly wasn’t the sharpest arrow in the quiver.

  He nocked a [Piercing Arrow], but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be needed. Gathering seven of them to attack Ironwood had probably been a little overkill, but that just showed how much of a bone they each had to pick with him.

  Edgar himself had agreed eagerly when Leopold had asked him to join, despite already being an adventurer and only returning to the Institute for a semester of post-graduate studies. He shared a class with Liliya Volkov, which had rankled his pride at first – he was four years her senior – until he realized just how much of a genius she was.

  No, not just that. Her success couldn’t be attributed to genius alone. He had seen how much effort she poured into her training, how hard she worked to excel. It had inspired him. Humbled him, even. He had no doubt she could’ve coasted by and still easily ranked at the top of their class, but instead, she pushed herself harder than anyone else he’d ever seen before.

  It was for that reason that Edgar couldn’t forgive Levi Ironwood. That none of them could. Everyone in the seventh year and above had known about Liliya’s plans to take the Ascension Trials solo for months, the professors included. Some had even tried to talk her out of it, worried that she’d get herself killed. But she had persisted and persevered, and eventually her onlookers’ worries had morphed into a buzzing excitement at watching one of their peers make history.

  Then it had gotten out that she was being forced to pair up with Levi Ironwood for the Ascension Trials.

  Holy fucking shit.

  Edgar’s jaw tightened just thinking about it. It had been disgusting enough already that Ironwood hadn’t been expelled from the Institute for attempting to cheat the Ascension Trials. But for him to now so blatantly encroach on Liliya’s hard work and efforts like a parasite?

  It was unforgivable. Edgar had felt genuine rage rush through him when he first heard the news, so potent that it had managed to temporarily overwhelm even his [Ranger’s Focus].

  He wasn’t Liliya’s friend by any means. He had wanted to try befriending her, but she was unapproachable even on the best of days. Besides, there had been the ever-looming threat of her fiance to worry about. Edgar shuddered. Heir Theodore Montague was a… known entity, to say the least, nearly as infamous as Levi Ironwood – though for an entirely different set of reasons.

  But he digressed. The point was, even though Edgar wasn’t close to her, he greatly respected and admired her, enough such that he was willing to step in and take some more… drastic measures to ensure Ironwood wouldn’t ruin her plans.

  Granted, Edgar doubted the others in his group had similarly righteous motivations. He knew that one of the warrior and two of the knights had only joined because they had lost considerable sums of money on their bets and wanted revenge. The other warrior, knight, and even Leopold had obvious crushes on Liliya and were motivated by mostly jealousy. Edgar resisted the urge to shake his head. Hormonal teenagers. Edgar felt vaguely uncomfortable to be in the same group, but it was what it was.

  Edgar watched dispassionately as the two warriors reached Levi first. As the frontline tanks of their impromptu party, they were supposed to distract Ironwood and soak up damage – but honestly, that probably wouldn’t even be necessary.

  Both warriors ranked in the top 10 of the senior year; just one of them would likely be enough to defeat Ironwood. They wielded their massive axes like they were lighter than air, and Edgar knew for a fact their swings could cut through solid reinforced concrete like butter. Even more impressive were their Constitutions; a giant house-sized golem could step on them, and they’d walk it off with a minor headache at most.

  Edgar lowered his bow as the warriors let loose their attacks in unison, one slamming his axe down in a downward arc, the other slicing upward in a diagonal swing. Ironwood hadn’t even moved an inch from his original spot yet; knowing him, he probably didn’t have the Dexterity to react in time.

  It was already over–

  Levi Ironwood sighed, then simply drew two fingers across the air in a horizontal line. Instantly, the two warriors collapsed like marionettes whose strings had been cut, their axes falling limply from their hands.

  Edgar’s eyes widened in pure absolute shock. What the flying fuck?! He whipped his bow back up, notching back the arrow as far as it would go, even as next to him Leopold swore vehemently and scrambled to cast a [Fire Flower Barrage].

  His [Piercing Arrow] flew through the air so fast it was just a blur, surrounded by revolving flowers made of flames. Ironwood didn’t even bother looking at the combination attack, instead just giving his already-extended two fingers a flick. The arrow split down the middle in two, losing all momentum and falling to the ground, and the flames blew out like candles.

  “We could’ve resolved this peacefully,” Levi said from between the two. Edgar and Leopold whirled to him, both letting out panicked swears as they flailed backward. They hadn’t even seen him move. “I guess I can’t exactly fault you for attacking me, but still.” He sounded almost exasperated. “Couldn’t you have at least done this yesterday at a more reasonable time?”

  A bow and a staff went up, and both its users went down. Edgar hadn’t even seen what hit him. All he knew was that his world suddenly exploded in pain.

  As his vision slowly dimmed, he saw the remaining three knights charging at Levi. His eyes closed, and he didn’t see Levi gently brushing aside the knights’ blades like they were paper reeds and incapacitating them like their armor didn’t exist.

  All Edgar could think was a single repeating thought.

  How? How? How?

  How?