Darkness. Phantom invisibility. And terror.

Every checkbox on the Nigh-phantom Imprint had been marked off by this person.

From the darkness that prevented one side of the room from being seen, the fact that the person in his shadow form was recorded but Ragnar didn’t see it—and also the terror that was inflicted by this person made it clear that this person was using the Nigh-phantom Imprint.

Perhaps there’s another imprint out there that was similar.

And this mysterious person was using it to pretend to be Kai.

’No, no, no... That doesn’t make sense. He would retaliate if this person pretended to be Kai.’

Matilda shook her head.

Ragnar hadn’t made a move again after so many days. If he really wanted to sabotage Kai, he would coax the other unaffiliated students to make one more group. Since he didn’t, Matilda thought this mysterious person pretended to be Kai and scared Ragnar to the point of making him back away.

But she quickly thwarted that thought.

If Ragnar believed it was Kai who was messing with him, then he would be more enraged.

Not scared.

’But these abilities... It’s really similar to Kai’s Nigh-phantom Imprint. Who is this person?’

For the next few minutes, Matilda reviewed the footage to make sure that she didn’t miss even a single detail. She didn’t. She watched the footage—from the moment the mysterious person entered the room to the moment another student, Andre, entered and found Ragnar hiding in fear under the desk.

At the end of it, she came out of the room with more questions than before.

On the following days, Matilda spared a moment of her time to walk past the student council room area. She got a few chances to come across Ragnar, and every single time, he was always with two other student council members.

The same people every single day, and both of them emanated a strong aura.

Far stronger than anyone from the freshman year.

It was obvious that Ragnar became even more cautious ever since that day—so he kept these two by his side to avoid being cornered like that night ever again. And Matilda found nothing strange around him.

No suspicious students.

Meanwhile, Kai entered the levy post and queued in line.

She’s avoiding me again.

Kai had been trying to make it up to Bree, talking more with her whenever he could or even asking her bluntly what he could do to make it up to her for giving the Crystallized Teardrop of Argus to Matilda instead of her.

But she paid his bluntness no mind.

One thing that made him frustrated was that she still remained the same. Still smiled.

Just that, there was a cold edge to her that could be felt clearly.

"It’s not like I could get something for her with our condition," Kai uttered aloud, massaging his forehead as he didn’t know what to do. But then, he remembered something. "Oh, right... There’s that."

Not too long ago, Kai visited the factory with Dorian.

Ever since he learned that Chester was desperate to kill a Star Beast to finish an achievement in the factory, the Rising Dragon achievement—Kai immediately went to take a look. And as expected, there are more achievements there.

However, one achievement line that most was interested in is the Rising Dragon achievement.

After Chester completed the first one, the Rising Dragon II achievement was opened.

It was to hunt down three Star Beasts in exchange for five hundred mana ores.

Not five hundred mana ores that would help an Angel with their weekly quota, but mana ores that were marked by the academy and could be used by the Angel directly. Normally, using mana ores is illegal for Angels.

But these five hundred marked mana ores are different—legal.

Kai wanted to get his hands on this achievement.

Five hundred mana ores should be enough to push him to grade-three Awakened Supernal.

No, it must be enough, as his mana absorption efficiency is perfect.

Not even a strand of mana would be wasted.

I can share the spoils with Bree, and I’m sure she’ll return to normal then. But three Star Beasts.

Just killing one Star Beast alone is already hard enough, needing several High Angels and also an imprint that directly counters that Star Beast. And since the Star Beast in the Fire Swamp is most certainly a different kind, Kai doesn’t know whether that’s going to be possible to do.

At least with his current strength, it would be hard to do.

Other than that, my other option is to go through the second level.

Kai thought about the Main Path of the Furies.

He was certain that going through the second level would give him something valuable, and he could give it to Bree as a token of apology. But the first level left behind a traumatic scar in him; he wasn’t ready.

Guess there’s no other choice. I need to hunt.

Killing a Star Beast alone would be hard—but as the First Son of the Primordial Night, he did not need to do it alone. Perion would help, and to make it safer, he needed to at least have one more person to help.

And his mind naturally went to Kaelmorath.

For that, I need three thousand usable exp.

"Next!"

Kai blinked his eyes as it was now his turn to hand over his weekly quota.

He was met with the familiar person behind the desk, but this person was sweating.

And the man’s eyes lit up when he saw Kai.

It seemed the students who came were all assholes—and zapped the man repeatedly by ringing the bell. "Ah, young man," the man stood up with a big smile on his face. "Need help in bringing that up?"

"No need," Kai returned the smile and lifted the heavy leather sack with one hand. "I’m not as rough as last time, fortunately."

"That’s good. That’s good."

"A rough day today?"

"Yeah, like always," the man began pouring the mana ores—into the counting machine. "It’s always going to be hectic every Monday. Other days are really quiet and manageable, but this day is really hard on me. Fortunately—my wife got a clearance to bring me snacks today. I’m more motivated today."

"That’s good news!"

"Do you want to try it?" The man handed Kai a piece of honeyed bread. "It’s really good."

"Don’t mind if I do." Kai accepted the bread and flicked it into his mouth.

Since it was made for the portion of a normal person, the piece of bread was nothing for Kai, but the flavour that poured inside was like food from paradise. Having to eat plain food made his tongue crave flavour.

And this honeyed bread was a burst of flavour.

"Please compliment the chef for me," Kai bowed slightly.

"I’m sure she’ll be ecstatic to hear an Angel complimented her baking," the man laughed, but his hands kept moving swiftly without pause. "Normally, we don’t get food like that. But she is a baker in the hive, so she got a fair share."

"Oh, speaking of the hive," Kai leaned toward the receptionist desk. "Can you get me seeds?"

"Seeds? Not flower?"

"What do you mean flower?"

"I saw you glancing at a beautiful lady on the street, so I thought you were pursuing her."

"Ah," Kai scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly at the comment. Seemed like he had been stealing glances at Bree too much. "No, she’s a friend, and she’s angry at me because I broke my promise."

"A man has to keep his word, or he’s no man at all, so you have to find a way to fix it," the man commented, not knowing that it stung Kai’s heart, as that’s what Bella used to say. "But what kind of seeds do you need? I can ask my wife for them."

"Any seeds. Preferably something glowing, but any seed is fine."

Noxian had helped Kai greatly over the past few months—ever since he had become the First Son of the Primordial Night. Now, he wanted to at least help Noxian do what he wanted. And decorate his domain a little bit.

Glowing plants, he thought, would bring a little life to Noxian’s otherwise bleak domain.

"I’ll see what I can get. Come back in a few days."

"Alright."

Soon, the man finished counting the pile of mana ores that Kai had brought.

It was a little bit over three thousand mana ores, so there were still some inside the leather bag.

Kai turned to leave, but then stopped mid-step. Something was tugging at his mind, unspoken but insistent, and it could be seen—all over his face. After a pause and a slight hesitation, he faced the man again, "About the flower... could you also get it for me?"

"Of course," the man chuckled at his request. "I’ll get the brightest and most pleasant one."

"Errm..."

"What is it? Do you need anything else? I’m happy to help."

"Just that I want two flowers..."

For a second, the man stared at Kai; his mind was still processing what Kai was asking.

And when it clicked, a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Oh, you Casanova... I didn’t know you’re like that. Two girls at once, huh? Personally, I believe in persistent pursuit of one true love. But hey—a man needs at least one backup." He chuckled. "Fine. Consider it done."

Kai wanted to say that it wasn’t like that, but the student behind him was already impatient.

His face was sour, so Kai thanked the man and left.

A few days passed.

It was a slow day inside the levy post, with a few students hanging around or taking the Accolade that some forgot to take. The man crumpled a piece of paper and threw it at the trash bin to fill his boring day.

He threw a few paper balls into the trash bin, and then leaned back with a sigh.

Just then, his gaze drifted to a small pouch set to the side and beside it, two buckets of flowers.

One held a cluster of glowing yellow blooms, the other a gathering of pale purple ones.

Because of the rough condition the hive was in, the people there were more friendly with one another, though have to be mindful of each other’s class. And since his wife worked as a baker, she knew a lot of people.

Getting the seeds and flowers was really easy.

Now, the man was waiting for Kai to return.

"Hope he came by soon or else the flowers would start to wither," He thought aloud.

And almost as if the universe was listening, the door was opened.

Kai entered the levy post, meeting the man’s eyes the moment he stood up.

But Kai wasn’t alone; there were four people with him, dragging many leather sacks behind.