"I got fifteen members already..."

A student walked out of his room while his eyes remained fixated on his phone.

He was looking at a list of names, all of whom are the students who agreed to be a part of his new group. Considering how miserable it was for him to always need to pay tax for the mana ores he mined, the sight of this list made him elated.

Andre looked at the list and saw freedom.

No more need to go mining every single day like a slave; it was a dream for him to be able to relax a little, even as an Angel. Now, that dream was within his grasp. All he needed was to make the last final steps.

Sure, he’s not as strong as the leaders of the other four groups.

But he could absorb all of the groupless students into his group and dominate that way.

Dominate with numbers.

Excitement carried the student through the corridor; his long white hair stirred behind him as though caught in a phantom wind, moving even when he stood still. He made straight for the academy’s main building without slowing.

His pale grey eyes stared ahead with purpose, traversing through the hall with speed.

A few grey-masked Angels guarding the place still gave him a glance.

But the stupid grin plastered across his face disarmed them. No one with bad intentions could smile like that. They let him pass without question. Minutes later, he stood before a door with a sign above it that read: ’Student Council’.

Andre knocked on the door.

No answer.

"I heard from the seniors that Ragnar does not have a room. He always slept in the Student Council room," Andre frowned, certain that Ragnar was inside. He knocked on the door for the second time, but there was still no answer.

Impatient, Andre twisted the doorknob and pushed it open.

It was unlocked.

Confused, Andre nudged the door open a crack and peered inside. Desks. Rows of them. He pushed the door wider and stepped in—empty. No one. "Where did he go?" He straightened, forehead creasing in thought. A faint noise tickled his ears. "What’s that sound...?"

He heard a faint sound coming from inside the room.

Andre entered the room and realized it came from the desk at the center.

Unlike the other desks that were simple and seemed to be made of wood and plastic, this one was made entirely of strong wood. It was on the other side, facing the door, with a big window right behind it.

Just one look made it clear that it belonged to the Student Council President.

And the sound came from there.

Andre approached the desk, and the sound became clearer.

It sounded like a whimper—quiet, stifled, someone in distress. Worry quickened his steps as he moved to check. Andre rounded a desk, then stopped short. Someone was huddled beneath it like he was hiding from something.

Once the figure turned, his eyes widened in shock, "Ragnar...? What happened?"

...

For the next few days, Kai and the others devoted themselves entirely to mining the required mana ores. It was uneventful and repetitive, but this is the kind of normalcy all of them were hoping to get.

No trouble.

Just mining and fighting a few Awakened Monsters.

Considering how big the Fire Swamp was—and the fact that they were on the opposite end of it, far away from where the Ichor Legion made camp, there was no clash between them. Heck, Chester probably doesn’t know about Kai and the others being on the Fire Swamp.

Mana ores piled up quickly.

Perion located the mana ore clusters, while Kai and Matilda broke them.

Days of repetition had honed their skills into something more efficient. Their pickaxes found the weak spots with unerring precision now, each strike landing exactly where it should. What once took effort now took less than a minute.

A boulder cracked open, its mana ores bared.

Gathering ten thousand mana ores came faster than expected.

At the end of the third day, the group managed to gather the mana ores. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

On the fourth day, Kai and the others went to meet Professor Kimberly. She regarded the group with mild surprise—two High Angels, two Angels, and one Lesser Angel. Stranger still, one bore the bloodline of an Olympian God, while another was disabled.

Quite a diverse group.

"Professor Kimberly," Kai stepped forward, deciding to be the one who does the talking. It was voted by everyone that he’ll be the one who does these things as their leader. Of course— with the exception of Bryan. "We came to register our group."

"Are these all the group members?" She swept a finger at the students behind him.

"Yes," Kai nodded. "There are five of us. Exactly the minimum amount to make the new group."

"And the sponsoring professor?"

"Got it, too."

Kai took out a badge from his pocket and handed it to Professor Kimberly.

She studied the badge, not recognizing it at first glance.

"It’s Professor Evie’s badge."

"Ah, so that’s why I didn’t recognize it. Okay. What about the mana ores?"

"We have them. Where should we submit them?"

"Just bring it to the levy post and tell the receptionist it’s for a new group," Professor Kimberly took out a slip of paper and started writing something on it with a pen. "What is the name of this group? And who will be the leader?"

"Ambrosia Pact," Kai went with Bree’s suggestion. "And I will be the leader."

Almost instantly, Professor Kimberly’s hand stopped.

She put down the pen and lifted her gaze, staring at Kai while intertwining her fingers.

"You, a Lesser Angel, are going to be the leader?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"No, not a problem. Just that to proceed with this, the required mana ores are tripled."

"Tripled...?"

Moments later.

"Bro, this is fucking bullshit!" Dorian kicked a trash receptacle out of sheer frustration, placing both hands on his waist as he chuckled in disbelief. "Triple the amount, for fucking what? Ten thousand is a lot already, and now we’re supposed to mine thirty fucking thousand?!"

"I mean," Bryan shrugged his shoulders. "We can just change the leader?"

"No."

Dorian, Matilda, and Bree refuted the notion firmly almost at the same time.

It was so stern and united that Bryan was taken aback.

"Alright," He raised his hands in surrender. "I’m just saying. No need to be mean."

"Fuck. It’ll take us more than a week to gather the rest." Dorian clicked his tongue in disgust. "You were right. Someone’s definitely working against you. I call it absolute bullshit—that the academy jacked up the ore requirement just because the group leader is a Lesser Angel."

Since they were going to be a group, Kai decided to be open with them.

He told the others about the fact that someone was actively trying to stop him from making a new group. Of course, Dorian and Bryan refuted the idea as that’d be too ridiculous. But now, they have started to believe.

Everyone agreed with Dorian one hundred percent.

For starters, there had never been a single instance where a Lesser Angel revived the stupid Blood Rite, let alone becoming the leader of a group. There shouldn’t even be a rule addressing a situation that never happened before.

Especially in a situation that the academy probably deemed impossible.

"Let’s get back to mining," Bree added. "We’re only wasting time by lamenting on it."

"I agree," Kai nodded. "It’ll only be a matter of time before the other students make a group. Just yesterday, the Rising Phalanx group was already created. One more slot, and we’ll be locked out. Let’s hurry."

Kai walked on ahead, followed quickly by Dorian and the complaining Bryan.

Behind, Bree was about to follow them, but Matilda caught her arm.

"Hmm?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Didn’t you hear what Kai said?" Bree freed her arm from Matilda’s grip. "There’s no time."

"Do not try to avoid me." Matilda’s voice stopped her mid-turn. "I saw you earlier. When the professor told us about the tripled mana ore requirement, everyone was shocked—everyone except you. You already knew, didn’t you?"

"I’ve read the rule book. Wow, I know more about things because I read."

"Unfortunately for you, I’ve also read the rule book—and there’s no rule stating that a Lesser Angel needs triple the mana ores to form a group if they are the leader. So, the question is, how did you already know?"

Something was going on with Bree, and Matilda could feel it.

She wasn’t entirely certain Bree was behind it, but she was sure of one thing: Bree was involved somehow. Perhaps she’d known about the quota change all along—and kept quiet, hoping to use the situation to inch closer to Kai.

Either way, Bree is hiding something, and Matilda wants to know what.

"Let’s not waste your breath when it’s really not your business," Bree said coldly.

It was the first time Matilda saw her this ice-cold in a while.

Before Kai entered the picture, Bree had been admired by many—but her cold demeanor kept anyone from getting too close. She’s the cold princess who only talks when necessary. And for a brief time, Matilda had assumed that was simply who she was.

However, that changed entirely when Kai appeared.

It was almost as if there was a switch in her that she flipped, activating her cheerful persona.

Matilda initially thought that she acted differently depending on the other person.

Everyone does that.

But perhaps when it comes to Bree, this switch was a glimpse of something deeper in her.

’What are you hiding, Bree...?’ Matilda stared at Bree’s back with a deepening frown.

Later that night, after mining, Kai returned to his room.

He’d been sleeping in the wild for days, rolling in mud, and every muscle now craved a proper bed. The week ahead would be really brutal, twenty thousand mana ores left to gather—and he wanted to feel real sheets beneath him before the rough nights resumed.

Kai walked out of the bathroom and stopped.

On the side, Talitha’s eyes rounded when she saw him, only wrapped in a towel.

It took a moment before she could avert her gaze.

"Sorry..."

He apologized, always forgetting that the bathroom was right beside where Talitha slept.

After wearing clothes, Kai lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

For the last couple of days, he hadn’t gotten lucky enough to enter the House of Night. It made him think that the chance of entering it through the Deep Slumber had lowered ever since the second floor was now accessible to him.

Kai sighed and closed his eyes, "Deep Slumber."

He has zero expectations this time.

If he entered the House of Night, then great. If he didn’t, then it’s fine, too.

And only when he had zero expectations did Tyche, the Goddess of Luck, smile at him.

Kai opened his eyes and found himself inside the void again.