Time passed swiftly at the Academy. The once wide gaps between students' strengths slowly began to narrow as the days went by. Training, sparring, theory, and dungeon simulations—everything was designed to push the first-years to their limits. And it was working.
Arthur was the first to break through. He had been relentless in his pursuit of power. When he finally hit Level 2, it sent waves through the student body. He'd been strong before—but now? Now he was on another tier entirely.
But then came Emilia. Quiet, methodical, and terrifyingly efficient. She even more impressive. Less than two weeks after Arthur's breakthrough, Emilia ascended to Level 2 as well.
Two first-years at Level 2, both within just six months of enrollment.
Aiden felt the shift more than anyone else. In his previous life, it had taken them full year before any first-year broke into Level 2. And now? They were accelerating far beyond that timeline. Arthur, Emilia, even others in their batch—everyone was improving faster than they should have.
His influence was changing things.
Aiden smiled to himself. This was good. Very good. If they had any hope of surviving the next calamity, everyone needed to be stronger than they had been in his past life. They needed to be monsters in their own right. Because what was coming… would not wait.
He himself stood at the peak of Level 1. His core hummed with lightning energy, vibrating at the edge of transformation, but it wasn't enough. Not yet. Even with resonant fracturing helping him accelerate faster than ever before, there was still something missing.
A push.
That push, as always, could only come from combat—from real battle against monsters that threatened his life.
In his past life, he'd had no shortage of opportunities to fight. The world had been falling apart, after all. But now? The Academy's structure and safety protocols made it much harder. To enter a real dungeon gate, students needed to be at least Level 2. That was the baseline requirement before the Academy would authorize access.
And that was a problem.
There were two categories of gates: Blue and Red.
Blue Category 1 Gates typically housed monsters and bosses between Level 1 and Level 2—still dangerous, but manageable. Red Category 1 Gates, however, were on an entirely different level. Even the weakest of their bosses were solid Level 2s—sometimes even Level 3. Entering a red gate while still at Level 1 was suicide.
What Aiden needed was simple: a Blue Level 1 gate.
Unfortunately, the Academy wouldn't hand him access on a silver platter. He'd have to go outside the system.
With that in mind, Aiden made his move.
He left a note for Emilia—brief and vague—knowing full well that if he told her in person, she'd insist on following. He couldn't have that. Not this time.
Then, dressed in civilian clothes, he left campus and made his way into the city.
The first stop? The bank.
Several months ago—just days after his regression—Aiden had made some "very informed" investments. Some rising companies, some failing. With a few strategic options, leveraged purchases, and one or two suspiciously well-timed sales, his initial $1,500 had ballooned into $150,000. Then he flipped it again.
Insider trading? Maybe. But who was going to stop him? The SEC didn't exactly have protocols for time-traveling teenagers.
$150,000 turned into a clean $1.5 million. Not bad for a few hours of clicking and some future knowledge.
With the funds withdrawn into clean cash and digital assets, Aiden moved quickly. He approached a mid-sized private guild, one that specialized in low-risk dungeon farming. With enough money, anything was possible. After a short negotiation—and a generous tip—they agreed to give him temporary access to one of their reserved Blue Level 1 gates.
But before diving in, Aiden made a detour.
In a rundown part of the city, he stopped at a shabby apartment complex. The stairwell smelled of mold and the buzz of fluorescent lights flickered above him as he knocked on one of the doors.
It creaked open, revealing a scrawny man in his early twenties, with unkempt hair and a wild look in his eyes.
"Who the hell—?"
"Gideon," Aiden said calmly. "I have a proposition for you."
The man blinked. "Do I know you?"
"Not yet. But you will."
Over the next hour, Aiden explained just enough to pique Gideon's interest. Resources. Lab access. Full funding. A research grant under Aiden's name. In exchange, Gideon would work exclusively on developing a new field: Spelltech.
The fusion of magic and technology.
Gideon scoffed at first. "Mana and circuitry don't mix."
"They do," Aiden said, placing a thick stack of research papers on the table—blueprints he had rewritten from memory. "You just haven't figured out how yet. But you will. This time, you'll have a head start."
Gideon didn't know what to say. His brain was racing.
And just like that, Aiden moved him out of the slums into a fully equipped lab-apartment hybrid. The man would change the world. He just didn't know it yet.
With that errand done, Aiden finally turned his attention to the gate.
The Blue Category 1 Gate was quiet at first. Inside, a misty forest spread out around him. The trees hummed with faint mana signatures and the growls of low-level monsters echoed in the distance.
He cut through them like butter.
Level 1 goblins. Mistreavers. Thornspitters. None of them posed any real threat. With his new $15,000 sword—a finely crafted obsidian-edged weapon—and a set of premium throwing knives, Aiden was untouchable. His form was sharp, his instincts honed.
Then he found it.
A Direwolf. Level 2. Snarling and covered in dark-gray fur, its eyes glowed with primal fury. Unlike the lesser beasts, this one was smart. It stalked, it baited. It even tried to fake a retreat.
Aiden smirked. "That's more like it."
The fight was brutal. He moved like lightning, slashing, ducking, weaving through the Direwolf's fangs and claws. The beast nearly took his arm off twice, but Aiden's throwing knives blinded one of its eyes, and a perfectly timed lunge buried his sword deep into its ribcage.
The Direwolf collapsed, howling one last time before the light faded from its eyes.
Aiden dropped to his knees, panting. Blood dripped from a gash in his arm, but he was smiling.
He sat down cross-legged, centered his breathing, and began to meditate. The lightning Core within him throbbed violently, responding to the battle, the bloodshed, the triumph.
Then—
Breakthrough.
The sensation hit him like a wave. Energy flooded his body. Muscles tightened. His senses sharpened. Mana coalesced and settled, stronger and purer than before.
Level 2.
The third first-year to break through. And he'd done it in just six months—nearly three years faster than his previous life.
But before he could even enjoy the moment…
The air trembled.
The dungeon's walls began to glow faintly. A swirling red vortex opened beneath him, pulsing with energy.
His Chaos Core reacted instinctively, resonating with the gate.
"No—wait—"
He was pulled in.
Swallowed by the red gate.
And just like that, Aiden vanished.
Into the unknown.