Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Stale Days and Quiet Tension Two months passed. And the academy had grown stale. With the death of five students during the portal expedition, the school entered lockdown. First-years were barred from entering any portals. Training continued, but the excitement—the sense of purpose—faded. Of course, death wasn’t rare. Everyone understood the risks when they signed up. But this time was different. It wasn’t just that students had died—it was who had died. Evolved students. And it was targeted. The academy didn’t explain anything. Nothing about what really happened. Most students didn’t know that the bodies recovered had been stripped of their cores. That the wounds weren’t caused by a monster at all, but made to look like it. Without that information, rumors stayed mild. A few believed the lockdown was overblown. Others assumed the school just didn’t want more negative attention. As far as they were concerned, cursed kids dying in a portal was unfortunate—but not surprising. The academy had never been known for its transparency. And in the absence of facts, students grew restless. With no real missions, no real challenge, the weeks became a cycle of dull classes and repetition. Rhian also felt like the whole situation was dragging on too long. He didn’t care much for politics, but even he understood one thing, if the academy, the most prestigious institution for carriers, didn’t react to the deaths of their own students, especially cursed ones, it would reflect badly, so this was them probably reacting. But the silence was almost too careful. The restriction on portals and the absence of an official statement felt like an overcorrection. And that overcorrection made him wonder if something deeper was going on. He wasn’t alone in thinking that. More and more students were whispering about conspiracies, theories about who could be behind the deaths or why the school was covering things up. Iris had grown visibly anxious as those whispers spread. For her, the rumors cut close. If someone really was targeting cursed students, then only two remained, her and Rhian. And if that pattern continued, one of them could be next. Rhian understood her fear, but it didn’t hit him the same way. He’d thought about it, sure, but it didn’t eat away at him. Maybe it should have, but it didn’t. He’d tried reassuring her along with the others, even if most of what he said felt hollow. Truth was, he just wanted to get back to fighting. Back to killing monsters. He was tired of being locked in place, forced to wait while the academy held its breath. Training with Nia helped. Sparring with Aras and sometimes Iris gave him a small outlet too. But even that started feeling repetitive. Most of the other students refused to train with him, not out of fear, but out of contempt. He was cursed. That was reason enough. Ironically, he thought more of them would take the chance to beat him down, to prove a point. But most just ignored him altogether. And when they did look, it was with disgust, not challenge. That left him with only one reliable way to test himself, the simulation. The only place he could push limits without hesitation. The only place that didn’t care what he was. Well, they did care, but since Rhian had made a different identity for the simulation, it was fine. No one knew who he really was under the mask. He stood in the center of a large arena. The ground beneath him was worn from repeated combat, faded stone etched with old scars from magic and weapons. His avatar was nothing like him. Clad in sleek black armor that covered every inch of his body, he looked more like a futuristic assassin than a student. The helmet wrapped fully around his head, giving him a faceless, intimidating presence. He didn’t choose the look for stealth or misdirection. He chose it because it looked cool. It made him feel detached, like he could let go without worrying without anyone knowing he was a evolved. Across the arena, another avatar stepped forward. This one wasn’t hiding. He had short, spiked orange hair and matching eyes that glowed faintly with heat. His clothes were light, built for mobility, and already faint heatwaves shimmered around his frame. Rhian didn’t need to guess. The fire mystical aura pouring off the guy said enough. The student was confident, maybe too confident, standing with one hand casually on his hip like the match had already been decided. Rhian rolled his shoulders beneath the armor, already adjusting his stance. His heart wasn’t pounding, but there was a sharp edge in his chest. That hunger again. He was here to test himself. And this guy looked strong enough to make it worth it. Suddenly, two short blades formed in Rhian’s hands, their curved edges glinting beneath the simulation’s lights. He didn’t wait. His body shot forward with clean momentum, and while his speed wasn’t superhuman due to the limiter, his movement carried a sharp precision. His running form was different from before—lower, tighter, more controlled. Two months of practice wouldn’t make someone a master, but Rhian had something else on his side. His passive ability that boosted combat learning had started to show real effects. He didn’t just react faster, he read opponents better, anticipated patterns, and adjusted instinctively. That alone had shifted the way his spars played out. While he still hadn’t beaten Aras outright, other than Iris, who was weaker to him, he was forcing them to push further, enough that Nia had been pressed into activating her Triumph Lightning Body just to keep up. Aras, on the other hand, remained a puzzle. The gravity manipulator wasn’t flashy, but his pressure was suffocating. Rhian still hadn’t figured out how to counter him fully. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. He closed in on the fire mystical, blades tight in his grip. Then, just as he was about to enter striking range, his illusion activated. Four Rhians emerged in an instant, one leaping high, another flanking from the right, a third charging straight ahead, and the last slowing to a cautious halt. They moved as one, no delay, no flicker. Each copy sold the illusion perfectly. The fire user hesitated, eyes flicking between them. He made the only choice he could. His body glowed with heat, eyes snapping shut as a burst of flames exploded from his skin in every direction, like a wave of fire pushed outward, consuming the space around him. It was a smart move. A wall of heat surged toward the incoming figures, ready to burn through whatever reached him.