By the end of the discussion, Leo finally understood one thing clearly. Whether the reconstruction was real or not no longer mattered.

Miss Krystal had willingly thrown newly awakened students into a historical death field connected to the fall of the Seven Radiant Blades. That alone meant she was chasing something far bigger than ordinary survival training.

She was not necessarily an enemy. But if her goal required risking the lives of students to test the boundaries between illusion and reality... then circumstances alone were enough to make her dangerous and dangerous people could eventually become foes.

At first, Leo had thought this was merely an illusion because of how the Aura System announced his kills as "Memory Of" rather than treating the creatures as truly living beings.

But now that he thought about it properly, the wording itself felt strange. Why would the Aura System specifically differentiate them?

Why not simply classify them as illusions entirely by not announcing their kills?

Leo slowly frowned as another possibility surfaced in his mind. Perhaps the Aura System itself could not fully determine what this place truly was.

That thought alone disturbed him far more than everything else they had discussed tonight because the Aura System was not human.

It did not make mistakes easily. Hell, it never made mistakes.

If even the System treated the creatures inside Morva Forest as something existing between memory and reality... then maybe this reconstruction had already crossed a boundary it was never supposed to touch.

Not wanting to dwell too much on the matter, Leo walked toward the entrance of the cave and sat down near one of the larger rocks overlooking the dark forest outside. The cold night air brushed against his face while distant noises occasionally echoed from deeper within Morva Forest. Some sounded like monsters while others were simply strange sounds carried by the wind. Behind him, the cave remained lively despite the late hour. A few students were still awake talking quietly.

Yin Li had gone to sleep and Lucien was sitting somewhere deeper in the cave where a healer-type student was finally tending to his wounds.

Leo ignored them and focused inwardly instead. The more he thought about today’s battles, the more dissatisfied he became with himself. His Vestiges were useful, but his actual combat ability still lacked stability. Against weaker creatures like goblins, he could maintain control easily, but once stronger enemies appeared, his flaws became obvious.

His Aura reserves were too small, his body still lacked enough endurance, and most importantly, he relied too heavily on instinct during fights. That might work now against weaker foes, but against true Aura Farmers or Eldrath beings, instincts alone would eventually get him killed.

He slowly looked down at his hand while faint traces of Aura moved beneath his skin. Since awakening, he had mostly focused on understanding his Vestiges rather than properly improving himself as a fighter. The problem was that Vestiges were only tools. No matter how powerful they became, the person using them still mattered more.

Lucien had proven that already. Even after exhausting his Aura completely, the pink-haired boy still managed to survive a battlefield involving Upper Rank fighters. Most students would’ve died instantly in that situation.

Leo exhaled quietly and leaned against the stone behind him. His control over [Shell Of Dread] was improving slowly, but the Aura drain remained irritatingly high. [Grinning Mist] was useful for confusion and pressure, yet it consumed Aura continuously the longer it stayed active. [Yielding Spine] remained his most reliable Vestige during direct combat, but even then, it lacked versatility against larger enemies.

The tiger creature from earlier proved that clearly enough. If the beast had continued chasing them properly instead of disappearing, Leo honestly wasn’t sure how that fight would’ve ended.

For the first time since entering the forest, Leo started thinking less about surviving the three weeks and more about what came after it. If this reconstruction truly involved the Seven Radiant Blades and Eldrath Executors, then eventually stronger creatures would appear. Stronger enemies meant stronger students would fail the test. The current calm inside the cave would not last forever. At some point, everyone here would be forced back into the forest again whether they liked it or not.

His thoughts paused briefly when he noticed movement outside the cave. The white tiger Harris controlled slowly walked past the entrance before disappearing into the darkness again for scouting. Leo watched the creature silently for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes slightly.

Summoned creatures were far more useful than he originally thought. Not only could they scout dangerous areas, they could fight independently and gather information without risking the summoner directly. Compared to his current Vestiges, the tiger gave Harris far more battlefield flexibility.

’Atlantis should really give me my creatures soon.’

Leo clicked his tongue softly. He hated admitting it, but he was starting to understand why people valued summoner-type abilities so highly. A properly controlled creature could completely change how a fight developed. Shroud would eventually fill that role for him once he earned and properly developed it. Until then, he needed to become stronger himself rather than depending entirely on future possibilities.

After sitting there quietly for a while longer, Leo slowly closed his eyes and began circulating Aura through his body again. Since sleeping fully inside Morva Forest felt like a terrible idea, he decided using the remaining quiet hours to stabilize his Aura flow would be far more useful. If tomorrow became worse than today, then the only thing that would truly keep him alive was growth.

The flow of Aura was far rougher than Leo expected. The moment he circulated it through his body, he immediately noticed how unstable his control still was after continuously using Vestiges throughout the day. Small traces of pain spread through his veins while his Aura moved unevenly between his branches.

He frowned slightly but continued regardless. Aura exhaustion was not something that disappeared after resting for a few hours. If anything, repeated overuse usually exposed flaws in circulation more clearly.

His first Aura circulation happened back at the academy during one of the introductory classes. At that time, it was basic and extremely unstable. Although what he was doing now was still simple, it was far more refined than his first attempt because he had already experienced maintaining Aura flow during real combat against the Lesser Smiling Husk.

Most newly awakened Aura Farmers ignored that stage and focused entirely on gaining stronger Vestiges or abilities, but Leo understood that poor Aura control eventually became a major weakness later on. No matter how powerful a Vestige was, wasting too much Aura during activation would eventually drag its owner down during longer battles.

That was exactly what almost happened to Lucien earlier. Against weaker opponents, raw talent and instincts were enough to survive, but against higher ranked enemies, efficiency mattered more than explosive strength.

Leo slowly adjusted the flow around his chest and shoulders while keeping his breathing steady. He could already feel slight improvement compared to when he first awakened. Back then, his Aura moved wildly whenever his emotions became unstable. Now it obeyed him more naturally, though there were still moments where activating multiple Vestiges at once caused instability.

[Shell Of Dread] especially consumed more Aura than it should for its current stage. Maintaining its defense while simultaneously using [Grinning Mist] quickly drained him dry.

The more he thought about it, the more obvious his current weakness became. He lacked balance. His Vestiges focused heavily on pressure, disruption, and direct combat, but he lacked proper mobility, range, and battlefield awareness. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Even Yin Li strangely covered some of those weaknesses better despite acting like an idiot most of the time. Lucien was even worse to compare against because the pink-haired boy somehow adapted naturally to almost every situation thrown at him.

Leo opened his eyes slightly and stared toward the dark forest again. Somewhere beyond the trees, monsters, Eldrath beings, and possibly even members of the Seven Radiant Blades were still moving through Morva Forest.

The reconstruction did not pause simply because the students decided to rest. That alone made the entire situation feel more unsettling. If this place truly functioned like a merged timeline, then events were still progressing even when nobody observed them.

A quiet sound came from behind him before Lucien slowly walked over and sat beside him near the cave entrance. The healer had apparently finished treating his injuries because most of the blood had already been cleaned away, though his uniform still looked terrible.

"You’re training?" Lucien asked quietly.

"Trying to fix my terrible Aura efficiency," Leo replied.

Lucien laughed softly. "You say that while already fighting better than most students here."

"That says more about them than me."

Lucien rested against the stone wall and looked outside. "Still thinking about the reconstruction?"

Leo nodded once. "Partly."

"And the other part?"

"Myself," Leo answered honestly. "Today proved I’m weaker than I thought."

Lucien stayed quiet briefly before shaking his head. "No. Today proved you adapt faster than most people here."

Leo glanced at him.

"Most students panicked after the first monster attack," Lucien continued calmly. "Some are still shaking inside the cave." He pointed toward the darkness outside. "You ran through a forest while being chased by goblins and a lower world beast and still had enough awareness left to analyze the reconstruction afterward."

Leo looked away again. "Instinct isn’t enough."

"No," Lucien agreed. "But surviving long enough to improve matters too."

Leo nodded slightly and closed his eyes again while focusing entirely on circulating his Aura.