Thinking about how exhausted he currently was, Nova couldn’t help but let out a bitter sigh.

  ‘Who would’ve thought that just protecting my soul with a layer of mana would put me on the brink of collapse from exhaustion,’ he thought. ‘It’s best if I get some more rest… I can’t even move at the moment.’

  He had just thought that when his eyes shut.

  Hours passed. The sun reached its apex before slowly descending toward the horizon.

  The moon’s brilliance made itself known, announcing that evening had arrived.

  Nova, lying on the sofa, stirred slightly.

  Moments later, his eyes snapped open. The heavy fatigue that had weighed on him that morning was now only a faint remnant. His deep blue eyes sparkled with renewed life, reflecting the faint light streaming through the window.

  ‘I fell asleep again,’ he thought.

  The first thing he noticed was his body that was now relaxed and refreshed.

  Without hesitation, he pushed himself into a seated position.

  Soon, a flood of memories from the previous day rushed in, filling in gaps he hadn’t realized existed.

  Nova mentally went through the events, and once he was done, he couldn’t help but grumble softly.

  "That guy seriously only invited me to keep Thomas busy? And here I thought he was looking out for me, when all he did was look out for himself. Now that I think about it, he did seem way too eager to have me there," he muttered in a joking tone.

  “That guy” obviously referred to Jack, who had invited him to the meeting the previous day under the excuses of “staying sane” and “it’s important.”

  Nova couldn’t believe the real reason he had been invited was just to act as Thomas’ drinking partner while everyone else quietly minded their own business.

  What kind of meeting was that? At this point, could it even be called a meeting?

  He sighed, but a small smile soon formed on his lips. ‘It wasn’t too bad, though.’

  Slowly, he stood up, took a moment to look around, and, seeing nobody, quietly left.

  Back in his room, Nova plopped down on the sofa and cast a brief glance at his soul, or at least at the place where it resided, wanting to check if the barrier he had spent many hours forming the previous day was still intact.

  After all, by the time he had finished covering his soul, he was so exhausted that he had no energy left to even peer into it.

  But much to his relief, the barrier he had spent so much energy creating was still in place.

  With that, the sense of urgency he had felt to protect himself from mental attacks quickly faded, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

  Nova murmured to himself, “I’ve gone through body strengthening and mental defense. The only book left is the one on movement technique. After that, I can keep improving my blacksmithing and array skills. As for the spear… it’s too time consuming right now. I’ll wait until I’m inside the portal, where, from what Erevan said, time passes twice as fast as on Earth.”

  He took out the book on movement technique and began reading.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  This was the first time he had encountered a movement technique, something very different from his understanding of One with the World (Footwork). Since the latter was a state and not a skill.

  Just as spear skills built on the foundation laid by One with the World (Spear), movement skills were built on the foundation of One with the World (Footwork).

  For now, he wanted to get a general understanding of how the movement technique worked. Only after that would he begin practicing it.

  ////

  Univara Academy

  It was night.

  Mana filled street lamps lined the streets, casting a pleasant contrast between the darkness of the night and the glow of the mana.

  Two figures walked along the street. They looked to be in their late teens or early twenties. One was a skinny young man with short black hair, and the other was a young man with sharp eyes and a head of medium length brown hair.

  At one point, the skinny young man turned to his friend and joked, “Aaron, with everything that’s been happening these past few days, your ranking is bound to increase.”

  Aaron frowned, despite knowing the words were meant as praise. He said lowly, “That’s not even funny, Andy. Don’t forget, you and I are both in danger.”

  Both were ranked students at Univara Academy.

  Their fame didn’t stop there, they were among the top 50 in the academy. In fact, Aaron’s rank was as high as the top 20, while Andy was in the top 40.

  Students from other academies, and anyone paying attention to the yearly Birth of Deities event, knew their names.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Andy waved his hand. “As long as I’m with you, what’s there to worry about? And… didn’t you notice? None of the top 30 were targeted. That just goes to show that only bottom ranked people like me are in danger.”

  He grinned and patted Aaron on the shoulder. “And you, my friend, are ranked in the top 20. With you around, I’m as safe as I can be, hehe.”

  Aaron’s frown deepened. He felt like his friend was taking the situation far too lightly, betting too much on his own luck, when even Aaron himself wasn’t feeling calm.

  At other times, Aaron might have laughed at Andy’s joke, but lately the academy didn’t feel as safe as it used to. Many students had been found dead on campus.

  It was strange. The academy was full of surveillance arrays, and teachers frequently patrolled the streets. Yet, even with those precautions, students were still dying.

  The most disturbing part was that the person, or people, responsible hadn’t even bothered to hide the corpses.

  He didn’t know if they left the corpses out of confidence that they wouldn’t be caught, or out of sheer arrogance.

  Aaron clearly hoped it was the latter, because if it were the former, the situation would be even more dangerous.

  Despite his current relaxed appearance, his nerves were as taut as a bowstring, and his eyes kept darting from side to side.

  “Enough. Let’s pick up the pace and head home,” Aaron said, and without waiting for Andy’s reply, he slightly increased his speed, each step covering several meters.

  Andy was startled. He hadn’t expected his friend to suddenly leave him behind.

  “Wait! Don’t leave me alone!” he shouted.

  He scrambled to catch up, his tone slightly hurt. “I didn’t think you’d start running without a word.”

  Aaron side eyed him. “This isn’t a joking matter. We need to—”

  Before he could finish, he noticed something strange. The sound of the wind had vanished.

  His steps faltered, and his eyes narrowed as he scanned their surroundings.

  “Why did you stop?” Andy asked curiously. He hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

  Aaron slowly said, “Something’s wrong.”

  Andy tilted his head but stayed silent, scanning their surroundings.

  Seconds passed. Nothing happened.

  “There’s really—” Andy began, but suddenly—

  Spurt!

  His eyes widened as his fingers instinctively went to his throat. He felt something wet. Before he could even see what it was, he toppled forward.

  The light in his eyes dimmed, then finally went out.

  “ANDY!” Aaron cried out, his voice cracking as he looked at his friend lying in a pool of blood. A shiver ran down his spine.

  I need to get out of here and warn the teachers that we’re under attack.

  His head snapped around, and he quickly drew his sword from the Inventory.

  “Why are you hiding? Come out and fight!” he shouted. Mana rapidly coursed through his body, ready to attack, but his feet were already moving backward.

  His heart was pounding in his chest.

  This was the first time he found himself in such a dire situation.

  He couldn’t see it, but behind him, a figure clad in black had appeared, holding a bloodied knife in a reverse grip.

  As the figure raised the weapon, Aaron’s mind screamed at him to dodge.

  Without thinking, he decided to trust his instincts and stepped to the side but, before he could dodge…

  Spurt!

  The knife plunged deeply into his nape.

  “N-No…” Aaron muttered, his body going limp as he collapsed.

  The figure in black didn’t spare him a glance and vanished as silently as it had appeared.

  When the early rays of dawn finally touched the academy, a scream rang out. So loud that it woke every student.

  Bonus Chapter Count: 0

  Extra chapter for each milestone              Ratings 91/200

  ?????????? 40%

  Reviews 8/20

  Followers 652/2000

  ?????????? 40%

  Whoever wants to help and read advanced chapters can check out my .