In the afternoon, Haru found himself on the balcony of his room, reading Lilithine’s notes.

Open notebook, drawings, diagrams, scribbled notes.

"So I need holiness..."

He thought of what Eugin had told him: "Mana serves as an engine. Holiness as a mold."

"However..." he murmured, "...Vandris’s diary says the opposite. For Vandris, holiness is like a channel..."

He drew Vandris’s diagram in the notebook, concentric circles, runes connecting.

He took his pencil, placed it over the diagram and imbued it with mana, focusing, energy flowing from his body to his fingers, from his fingers to the pencil.

Then the pencil began to glow faintly in pale gold.

He tried to mold the mana into shape, following the diagram, trying to create "margin" as Eugen said.

But he failed, his energy dissipated, the glow faded, the pencil returned to normal.

"Something’s missing..." Haru thought, frustrated.

And he sensed that it would be what Lilithine would give him with the [Touch of Goddess], he needed more contact.

"Damn it..." he stretched his body, tired.

He then picked up the book Eugen had recommended, "Astraeus Eldrath: Summary".

Haru opened it to a random page.

>

𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℑ𝔪𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔞𝔩 𝔄𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔶 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔡 𝟹𝟺𝟽 𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔞𝔤𝔬 𝔟𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔉𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔱 𝔈𝔪𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔯, 𝔄𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔢𝔲𝔰 𝔈𝔩𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔥, 𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔯..."

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔶 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔯𝔰. ℑ𝔱 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔰, 𝔦𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔈𝔩𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔡 ’𝔞𝔯𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔰.’

𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔳𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔶... 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔄𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔢𝔲𝔰 𝔈𝔩𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔢𝔩𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡."

<

Haru closed the book, took a deep breath because he was clearly tired of studying for now.

"So that’s it... the academy for Eldrath was a filter to separate the worthy from the unworthy..."

"Hey, man! We should talk..."

Haru turned around, it was Golden standing in the doorway with a serious expression.

"About what...?"

"There will be a massacre tonight..."

"What!?"

"Do you want to hear it or not!?"

Silence.

Haru closed the book...

There they were, sitting in the middle of the room, Haru on the bed, Golden in the chair.

"That’s right... I almost forgot about that boarding school thing..." Haru thought.

"Baptism," Golden said.

"And how do you know that...?"

"Sources..." Golden replied. "The academy isn’t your friend, and as such, you need links..."

Haru remembered Flavius telling him and Genius about an artifact capable of capturing Gamers (Codex Veritas).

And now Golden was telling this...

"Like father, like son..." Haru thought. "Nah! I’m out," he said aloud.

"What!?"

"I’m out!" Haru said.

He remembered Flavius. "Every time I was with your dad there was trouble. The last time I had to come out of a dimension... or whatever that was!"

"Dude..." Golden leaned in. "If room 217 doesn’t get out of this, we’ll be the laughingstock, and you don’t know how strong the second-year guys are... imagine the others..."

"Anyway..." Haru retorted, "...didn’t you say ’each to their own’? Why does it bother me?"

"Because it involves the room. And the room isn’t just me."

Haru sighed, knowing he was right.

"Alright... when is this baptism?"

"Tonight..."

"And what did your link tell you?"

Golden smiled slightly, took the folded paper from his pocket, and handed it over.

Haru opened it and read:

```

FRESHMAN BAPTISM

Annual tradition of the Imperial Academy

RULES FOR THIS YEAR:

1. Veterans (2nd/3rd year) attack freshmen at midnight

1.1 Don’t worry about the 4th year, Eugen will take care of them

2. Objective: "Baptize" with public humiliation

3. Freshmen who resist: gain respect

4. Freshmen who flee: become jokes all year long

5. Professors do not intervene (permitted tradition)

PRIORITY TARGETS:

- Rooms with "promising (noble) freshmen"

- Room 217: CONFIRMED ON THE LIST

```

Haru looked at Golden.

"Who gave you this?"

"Like I said, I have links here. I always have."

Haru reread it, processing it. "So... the veterans are going to officially attack us and the teachers are letting them..."

"How many veterans?" Haru asked.

"About ten for our room."

"And there are only two of us."

Silence.

"Shit..." Haru murmured.

He sighed heavily. "But then... what will they do to us? Didn’t your link tell you about it?"

"No..." Golden replied. "At least he warned us there would be a baptism today. We have an advantage over the other rooms..."

Haru picked up his chin, thoughtful.

"So... the room that falters will be the target of ridicule..."

"Yes..." Golden confirmed.

"Okay. All that’s left for us is not to be the worst."

"What do you mean?"

"Let’s focus on just being the best. Not first, nor last."

Golden processed: "So what do we do?"

"We surprise them... get it? What if we’re not in the room...?"

Haru continued: "Well, in cases like this, that’s all that’s left. They’re about ten veterans. Fighting head-on is dangerous. What I can do is gauge their strength... and then get out of there."

Golden nodded.

Night fell at the academy, and before dinner, Haru took the opportunity to tell the girls about it so they would be prepared.

Isabela was worried: "Are you sure you’ll be okay?"

"Yes. It’s tradition. Teachers allow it."

Kira growled: "I can help..."

"It’s not like each wing has its own baptism, I think... Stay in your room. Protect Yukihime."

...

Moments later, there they were in the room, Haru and Golden.

Golden had just finished sharpening his swords, two short blades, checking the map, rope, food, and more equipment.

"You prepared all this before even telling me...?" Haru asked. "As if that wasn’t enough... you use two swords..." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Two are better than one," Golden replied, putting them away. "All this because, unlike you, I like to stay alive."

"And now what do we do?" Golden asked.

"Hide..." Haru replied.

Hours later, the academy began to grow silent.

Haru was sitting on the balcony, looking at the academy, distant lights, veterans walking in groups.

It was the feeling of predators preparing their prey.

The security guards in the courtyard of the men’s wing began to withdraw, one by one, leaving everything empty.

Moments later... everything was heavy silence, before the storm.

The bell rang, signaling that it was already midnight. Once, twice, three times. And immediately:

Screams in the hallways, violent banging on the doors, macabre laughter, running and the sound of people pleading.

"OPEN THE DOOR, FRESHMEN!"

"IT’S STARTED!"

"BAPTISM!"

Golden whispered to Haru: "Shit. They’re already here."

Haru signaled to stay hidden.

He began to mentally review the plan:

"Whatever happens... Golden can’t be arrested. One of us must escape to save the other. In that case, when they enter..."

The door to the room was stepped on, literally kicked until it came off its hinges.

Veterans entered, ten of them, as Golden’s link had predicted.

All partially masked, with random things: black cloths, animal heads (wolf, raven, bull), tribal paintings. One of them looked at the list.

"Room 217..."

"One of the rooms with promising newcomers."

Haru left the balcony and went to them.

The veteran looked at the silhouette made by the moon behind: "Let’s bet... So this is Valtherion’s bodyguard?"

Another laughed: "Turn on the light so we can see! And Flavius’s son? Hahaha...l."

They tried to turn on the room’s magic light, but it wouldn’t turn on, nothing happened.

"What the hell...?"

Golden, under the bed, began to prepare to leave, but he started to feel something strange.

He didn’t feel the mana circulating in his body, as if something was blocking it.

"Damn... are they inhibiting mana...?"

Then he smelled something in the air, sweet, nauseating, and wrong.

It was Nelumbra powder, a plant that temporarily blocks mana flow. "Shit!"

It seemed like the entire interior of the building had this problem, ventilation spreading everywhere.

"And to get out of here unnoticed... I’d need to use an absurd amount of dash. I wonder if Haru has sensed it...?"

"The light won’t turn on... where’s the other one!?" The veteran shouted, looking around.

Haru pulled Vorath, the sword appearing in his hand out of nowhere.

"Wait a minute..." a veteran almost recoiled. "How did he summon the sword if we’re inhibiting mana...?"

Haru assumed a fighting stance, holding Vorath, but feeling an absurd weight.

He could wield the sword, but the weight wasn’t like that, it was like holding lead.

"Unless I’m out of mana!"

A veteran advanced, quickly, unarmed, just his fists.

Haru dodged to the side, with a heavy, too slow movement.

Golden ran out from under the bed, straight to the door.

"WHAI..." Haru yelled.

He didn’t finish; a veteran punched him in the face, almost knocking him out.

Haru let Vorath fall, his heavy sword hitting the ground.

Golden was caught at the door, three veterans blocking it, grabbing his arms.

"Hahahaha!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Almost there, room 217! Almost there!"

They gathered them in a spot in the hallway, other freshmen also being dragged along.

"If you resist, you’ll get a beating!" a veteran warned.

"Why didn’t you say something sooner!?" Golden complained, looking at Haru. "They inhibited the mana with Nelumbra!"

"Your link should have said that! And screw it! You should have waited!"

"Wait for what!?"

"Hold on..." a third veteran said, throwing two magical chains.

They were chained together, foot to foot, ankle to ankle.

The chain shone golden, impossible to break without magic.

"Feet!?" Haru exclaimed in astonishment.

"...are you serious..." Golden grumbled. The veteran smiled: "In Astraeus... no one survives alone."

"Come on! Stand up! The Baptism is just beginning!"