Later that day, Kai wiped the sweat on his brows and panted heavily.

He was on all fours on the ground after a gruelling second class—as Professor Hera taught the students yet another training exercise to further increase their control over winged boots. One that demanded immense physical finesse.

"Get used to this training exercise," Professor Hera said and looked at the watch on her wrist, checking the date. "The academy expected you to be adept at using winged boots in one or at most two weeks’ time. At least good enough to fly from Cloud Alpha to the cultivated clouds without falling.

"Anyone who couldn’t would receive a punishment by then. Class dismissed."

She flew back to the academy, leaving the students sprawled on the ground.

Most of them were completely spent, lying in place to catch their breaths.

Only a few remained standing; five of them, to be exact, which were Chester, Matilda, Barbara, Bree, and another High Angel. Kai would’ve been a part of them, but like always, he was used to help Professor Hera teach the training exercise.

Among every student on this clearing, he was probably the one who spent the most mana.

"Are you okay?" Matila reached out her hand.

"Yeah..." Kai accepted it and rose to his feet. No need for them to keep their distance now, as they are a part of the same group. And group members aren’t prohibited from being close, even if one is a Lesser Angel. "Just need to catch my breath."

"Alright; then I’ll go on first. I feel sticky."

"W-Wait!"

Kai shot out his hand despite his exhaustion and caught Matilda’s wrist, stopping her.

"Care to hunt with me tonight? I need a lift to the Fire Swamp."

"Can’t today. I already made plans."

Not expecting her to decline, Kai paused, but eventually gave her a thumbs up.

It was a bummer that she couldn’t accompany him, but it doesn’t matter.

I thought killing Awakened Monsters with Matilda would be easier.

In order for him to gather enough usable exp to learn Kaelmorath’s next Ending Fragment, he would need to gather one thousand usable exp. And gathering that much would require him to kill a lot of Awakened Monsters and devour them using the Deep Slumber.

But since she can’t, he’ll have to ask the others for help.

Kai was about to walk back to the dormitory, but his eyes caught sight of Bree.

She was closing in, arms already beginning to open in a way that spelled nothing but trouble for Kai. "No—stay right there! Don’t come any closer!" Kai warned, scrambling backward in an attempt to put distance between them as his voice pitched higher. "You are not going to do anything when we’re in public."

"Oh? Does that mean I can do things when we’re not public?" Bree asked with a devious wink.

"You know that’s not what I meant."

"How am I supposed to know what you meant? In any case, see you tonight."

Kai was stunned.

He hadn’t planned anything with Bree tonight, so it must’ve been her own mind again.

"I’m going to hunt tonight," Kai said, stopping her mid-track. "I won’t be in my room."

"You’re such a flirt," Bree covered her mouth—and giggled. "Do you really want me to go to your room that bad? Of course, I’m talking about hunting together. If you want me to sleep in your room, just say so."

She blew him a kiss and quickly walked away, giving him no chance to shoot a reply.

"Eugh..." Kai rolled his eyes. "I’m quite sure you’re planning to go to my room—had I not have a plan to hunt tonight."

He headed back to the dormitory.

Along the way, Kai came across Dorian and Bryan standing on the side of the street—looking in the direction of the main building. He followed their gazes and saw three students walking toward the main square.

Out of the three, he recognized two—Ragnar and High Angel Hensen.

"I hope both of you aren’t planning something stupid," Kai said as he approached them from behind.

"Look at them," Dorian nudged his chin towards the group of three and crossed his arms. "I have been keeping a close eye on them. And these last few days, for some reason, High Angel Hensen is sticking close to that guy like a bodyguard."

"Ragnar," Kai corrected.

"Yeah, Ragnar..." Dorian’s eyes narrowed. "I wonder what’s going on with them."

"Did he really almost get executed—because he tried to kill a damn senior?" Bryan turned to Kai; his tone was that of a kid in disbelief. "I wanted to believe him, but he can be full of shit sometimes."

"Who’s full of shit again?" Dorian smacked his lips in annoyance. "If anyone here is full of shit, it’s most likely you."

"Yeah, it’s true," Kai nodded. "He’s almost publicly executed on the square."

"Holy..." Bryan’s eyes widened—almost as if he was picturing how terrifying it would be to be executed publicly. However, inside his mind, that’s not the case at all. "For Zeus’ sake, that is as badass as one can get!"

"Huh...?" Kai blinked in confusion.

He thought he heard it wrong, but he didn’t.

"Just imagine telling that story to the girls." Bryan struck an immaculate pose; elbow propped against the street lamp and features arranged into what he clearly believed was a protagonist’s smoulder. A romance protagonist’s smoulder. The effect would’ve been perfect if only he had a rose stem clenched between his teeth. "A senior mocked me, so I tried to kill because I’m not someone to be mocked."

He paused for effect.

"The guard Angels got to me first—lucky for him, or he’d be in the underworld by now. I was sentenced to public execution that day, but... I survived." His eyes glittered; his lips curled into an arrogant smirk as he imagined the girls shouting his name, swooning at his feet. "One at a time, girls... One at a time."

Kai and Dorian looked at him as if he was an idiot.

Even the students passing by looked at him with clear judgment.

And frankly, Kai and Dorian were embarrassed to be associated with this creep.

But then again, everyone knew they were of the same group.

"Coming to hunt tonight?" Kai ignored Bryan and turned to Dorian.

"Why not?" Dorian shrugged. "I’m in the mood for some ass-kicking, anyway."

Kai nodded, as the more, the merrier.

Just then, his heart suddenly made a violent throb and a fierce migraine assaulted his mind.

He clasped his head and clutched it as if clutching harder would help ease the pain.

W-What’s happening...?

Kai gritted his teeth and looked skyward, seeing that the sun was already down; the class had taken longer than normal and nighttime had already arrived. His eyes turned black, and using his connection to the night, he beckoned it to tell him why he was feeling like this.

As soon as he did, his vision blurred.

Once the blur cleared, he saw a feminine phantom—a figure of darkness across from him.

She was walking left and right almost as if she was searching for something or someone.

Dorian and Bryan were still staring at Ragnar and High Angel Hensen, oblivious to the figure of darkness that was standing right before them. And that confirmed it; the phantom was only visible to him.

A private vision meant for his eyes alone.

And the night seemed to be tugging at his consciousness, drawing him to the void.

Drawing him to the House of Night.

Kai had never felt something like this before, as normally, he would need to be lucky to enter the House of Night. Now, it felt like he could enter it for sure as soon as he shut his eyes, and that’s not good.

He can’t pass out in the middle of the street.

Is the night calling me? No... Someone is calling me. Mallory?

Realizing that it was Mallory, Kai quickly made his way to the dormitory.

He didn’t even say anything to Dorian and Bryan before he left.

Dragging himself back to his room proved far more arduous than he’d anticipated.

By the time he stumbled into the dormitory, he was already leaning heavily against the wall, using it as a crutch to keep himself upright. The moment he pushed through his door and shut it behind him, his legs gave out entirely, and he tumbled down the stairs in a graceless heap.

Not because he lost balance, but because he thought it was faster that way.

Brak—!

"Oh, my Zeus!" Talitha emerged from her side of the room when she heard the crash. "Kai?!"

"I’m fine! I’m fine!" Kai rose to his feet, standing as straight as an arrow to show Talitha that he was completely fine. Or at least, he thought he was standing straight when in reality, his head was against the wall as if it was too heavy for his body to carry. "Just a migraine."

"Migraine...? Angels can’t get sick."

"This is a magical sickness!"

"O...kay?"

"Never mind that," Kai pointed at his bed. "Can you bring me the bucket and the pouch?"

"Here," Talitha quickly grabbed them—and handed them to Kai, though she was confused as to what he was going to do with them when he could barely walk. "Is there anything else you need? Medicine from the infirmary, maybe?"

As opposed to answering, Kai dropped to the ground.

All he did was blink too long, and his mind was pulled into the House of Night.

Talitha quickly rushed to help him.

She reached for the bucket of flowers—and the pouch of seeds, intending to set them aside before carrying Kai to the bed. But before her fingers could close around them, they vanished, dissolving into shapeless lumps of darkness that swallowed the light around them.

"Huh...?" She tilted her head, confused. "What happened?"

...

Meanwhile, Kai opened his eyes and saw the void once again.

Even though he was already inside the House of Night, the calling was still influencing him.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as when he was in the real world.

Kai rose to his feet and looked down at his hands, watching both the bucket of flowers—and the pouch of seeds manifested—in his hands. His eyes stared at the flower. "I’m really stupid for even trying this, but let’s do it anyway." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Seeing how good of a reaction he got from Bree when he gave her the flowers, he thought he would try his luck giving it to Mallory.

Initially, he wanted to give it to Matilda, but changed his mind.

"Not everyone is the same," Kai exhaled deeply through his nose and stared in the direction where the pull was coming from. "But I hope she also liked flowers."