I walked out of the healing clinic and marveled at the sight in front of me.
The aether-powered carriage—unlike the one I bought for the orphan kids—looked like an early car prototype. Sleek, metallic, humming softly. Instead of an engine, it ran on pulsing aether crystals mounted in its core.
There was a man standing beside it. He looked young, lazy, bored. But I recognized him immediately. Long, flowing black hair. That half-lidded gaze that made you feel like he was always about two seconds away from falling asleep.
Professor Quinn Veylar. My homeroom teacher. A magical instructor at Eden Academy.
He glanced up and gave me a casual wave. "Hello, Amit. I'm here to take you to the academy."
"Hello, Professor Veylar."
His gaze flicked to the crown hovering above my head—just for a moment. His eyes widened slightly before the emotion was snuffed out like a candle. He turned around and hopped into the driver's seat.
The carriage door slid open automatically.
I stepped inside, sank into the seat, and as soon as I got comfortable, the carriage set off.
The capital surprised me.
I expected dirt roads, chaos, peasant stench. Instead, the city was clean, almost pristine. It seemed everything ran on magic here. Trash bins floated, lampposts glowed with embedded runes, and I could swear a cat teleported across the street.
"Hope you don't mind me asking," Professor Veylar said casually, eyes still on the road. "What's with the grey crown floating above your head?"
I froze for a microsecond. Then shrugged. "Just a souvenir I picked up."
He clearly didn't believe me, but he let it drop. Still, the question lingered in my mind.
Why didn't this crown show up in the original game?
I am proof it existed—after all, it's what awakened the original Amit, isn't it?
This fake world sure is full of mysteries.
About twenty minutes later, the carriage glided to a stop.
"We've arrived."
Professor Veylar stepped out. "I have business elsewhere. The headmaster wants to speak with you immediately. Don't keep him waiting."
Before I could say anything, his figure blurred—and vanished.
Teleportation. Noted. I need that spell.
I hopped out of the carriage.
In front of me stood a castle pretending to be a school.
The carriage drove away on its own, and I couldn't help but mutter, "What was the point of Professor Veylar picking me up if the damn thing drives itself and he can teleport?"
I shook off the useless thought.
Eden Academy was huge.
The guards at the gate recognized me instantly and let me pass.
Students were walking around the campus, and the whispers started immediately.
"That's the ruffian who got suspended in his first two weeks."
"Amit Neant, the lazy bastard, is back."
"Don't let him hear you, or he'll ambush you, hahaha!"
"Seems the academy will let anyone walk around these days."
They didn't even try to be subtle.
I kept my expression calm, but a flicker of anger stirred inside me.
I didn't feed it. Not now.
Then I saw him.
White-haired. Red-eyed. Handsome in that annoyingly protagonist way.
The uniform marked him as a first-year.
Hamon Adams. The main character of War on Zelks. Humanity's last hope against Monistar.
It was surreal seeing him in the flesh.
He didn't miss me, either. His eyes narrowed. A subtle pulse of aether washed over me.
Squire Rank, damn he was already this strong within just 4 weeks of starting the academy?
Weaker than Thraalvex, but not by much. And something told me I'd have to go all-out to beat him.
Still, something flared inside me. Pride?
Who was he to look at me like I was the NPC?
I smirked. "Why are you looking at me like that? If you want to fight, just challenge me already."
He looked surprised I responded at all, then sneered. "Being the coward that you are, I'm sure you'd try ambushing me again. I'll wait for the ranking tournament… assuming you even make it that far."
I was honestly disappointed he didn't bite. Still, I turned and made my way toward the staff wing.
Thanks to Amit's memories, I didn't get lost. Not yet, anyway.
It didn't take long before I found myself standing in front of a heavy wooden door marked: "Headmaster's Office."
Before I could knock, a deep voice called out from inside.
"Come in."
I frowned slightly. Didn't even need to knock. That's a emperor ranked mage for you
I pushed the door open.
Sitting behind a grand desk was an older man with neatly combed grey hair streaked with glowing blue. His gaze locked onto me with quiet intensity — calm, but piercing. It made something instinctive in me bristle, but I didn't let it show. I walked forward and took the seat across from him.
The man in question was Olenar Graves the headmaster of Eden academy and the strongest human in the kingdom of Alastia excluding the empress one of the four sovereign ranked awakened alive.
The old man was a monster beyond belief and was someone who could kill me as if I was a fly
"How are you feeling?" he asked. "I know what you went through couldn't have been easy."
"I'm fine," I replied smoothly. "Just... still in shock about everything that happened."
He gave a slow nod. "Professor Warin filled me in on the details. I have to say, your performance was extremely impressive. But I'm curious—how exactly did you do it?"
Ah. Time to play the humble student.
"I don't think what I did was all that special," I said, offering a faint, sheepish smile. "I'm sure someone like you could've done better under the same circumstances."
The headmaster chuckled. "Flatterer. But let me tell you something. When I was your age, even with all the accolades — one of the greatest geniuses Alastia had ever seen — I nearly died fighting a Squire-ranked mage while still at Soldier rank. And I cheated to win."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"But you? You slew a Squire-rank Zelk Captain. A being trained for slaughter. And you walked away with a few cuts and bruises."
I said nothing. Couldn't lie — no doubt he had some form of lie-detection magic active. But I wasn't about to spill everything, either. Silence was safer.
He seemed amused by my quiet.
"I won't press you for details," he said, leaning back. "But let me assure you — the Academy is on your side. What you did at Tintor... that deserves recognition."
He waved his hand, and two books materialized with a shimmer of aether. He slid them across the desk toward me.
"One is a skill book: [Save Impact]. The other is a three-star level sword art named The Devil's Hunger. Survivors of the Tintor incident mentioned how you wielded a aether sword during the fight. I figured this might help."
I bowed my head respectfully. "Thank you, sir."
Now I really needed to get to my dorm — those quest rewards weren't going to claim themselves.
"You may leave have fun with your rewards you have earned it" the headmaster said.
I stood, pocketed the books, and left without another word.