Students who mined late in the night are practically scarce.

Since Matilda and Kai would probably be the only ones heading out to mine at this moment, the grey-masked Angels would be suspicious of them easily. Even if they keep their distance, it would still be suspicious.

Frankly, Kai didn’t believe the enforcers were going to do anything.

At least not until they found more concrete evidence that Matilda was helping him.

Kai is a Lesser Angel, and this will be his first time mining.

He would need to act like he was following Matilda in silence to learn the way to the assigned cultivated clouds, but he doesn’t feel like acting it out. Moreover, it was still risky as the grey-masked Angels could simply interrogate them, which was a hassle.

Instead, he would avoid being detected using the Nigh-phantom.

Just like he normally did during the Blood Rite.

I should probably bring my weapon.

Kai was fretting whether he would bring his new black scimitar.

Both Bree and Matilda told him that the assigned cultivated clouds for the freshmen are safe.

But he didn’t want to be caught defenseless.

"Let me go to my room first."

"Alright."

Kai and Matilda headed to the basement, and he stopped her from entering.

"Stay outside."

"Don’t take too long."

Matilda was confused as to what could possibly be in his room for him to be like this.

However, she didn’t insist.

Even until now, the trust between them is still far from being fixed, so this is understandable.

Of course, though that was one of the reasons why Kai told Matilda to stay out, the real reason was that he wanted to use the Chalice of King Orestes. It’s a magical item that he couldn’t explain where it came from.

It’s best for nobody to know, especially Matilda.

Kai headed down silently.

He checked Talitha and saw her still sleeping soundly.

Perhaps it was the first time she’d slept without needing to worry about anything, because she was out cold. Slept like a log, which was a good thing for him. He retrieved the chalice swiftly from its hiding place and knelt on the floor.

"Pour on a weapon," Kai read the description again, and then nodded.

He placed the black scimitar on the floor and tilted the chalice, pouring it along its length.

Nothing happened for a few seconds.

But when the entire chalice was empty, the blood that was splattered all over the floor began to gleam with a reddish hue. It crawled like it was alive and seeped into the black scimitar. At one moment, blood stained the floor.

Now, it was spotless again.

Every drop of blood seeped into the black scimitar seamlessly.

Kaio watched the weapon transform.

Its shape stayed the same, but the mana that was contained within it grew significantly. Just a second ago—it was already humming with more mana than the Permafrost Gloves that Kai had during the Blood Rite.

Now, the black scimitar had gone beyond the average Grade 1 Enchanted Weapon.

A red sheen then crawled into existence, dying the sharp part of the blade deep crimson.

Deeper than the color of blood.

...

[Blood-phantom Scimitar]

Item Grade: Grade 1

Boost: +25 Strength, +50 Speed, +15 Mana

Effect(s): Anything sliced by it will be branded by the Fatal Whispering Wound. Anything that is branded with this effect would hear damned whisperers from the Furies—and the inflicted wound will be harder to heal.

...

Kai read the description and couldn’t hide his amazement.

Even now, only his mana stat has reached over fifty points. And yet this weapon would give him a total of one hundred and seventy-five points from simply wielding it. His speed stat is the one benefitted the most.

"What do the whisperers do? I bet it’s nothing pleasant, but I need to see it for myself."

He deliberated on slicing himself with the sword, but opted out of it.

Remembering what had happened inside the Furies’ domain, cutting himself with the scimitar would be nothing short of foolish. Unless he was a masochist who yearns for agony, trying it would only be moronic.

Regardless, he was pleased with this outcome.

It almost made going through the first level of the Furies’ domain worth it.

Almost, but not quite worth it.

Kai rummaged through the cardboard boxes, careful not to make too much noise and wake up Talitha, until his fingers found a white cloth. It was not as thick as he had hoped, but it was large enough.

He wrapped the black scimitar in it, fashioning a temporary scabbard.

Carrying around the scimitar by the handle would only make people on guard around him.

So, this is his fix for the time being.

Outside, before leaving the dormitory building’s premises, Matilda stopped him.

"I’ll be walking on ahead, and you find a way to get out of the academy premises unseen. I’ll be waiting for you about a mile north of the main gate. Even though there are some grey-masked Angels outside, it’s far less than inside."

"Alright, you go on ahead. I have an idea."

"I don’t mind waiting, so take your time."

Matilda went on ahead, walking leisurely towards the main gate.

Nobody was on the street other than a few grey-masked Angels, patrolling the streets in pairs.

As soon as she walked out, Kai’s eyes shimmered with mana.

"Nigh-phantom."

After using the Nigh-phantom Imprint countless times during the Blood Rite, Kai learned some things. A few factors that could influence the imprint. Frankly, the imprint is extremely strong as an ability.

He can stand in front of someone without them noticing as long as he has enough mana.

Normally, with how high his mana stat was, he shouldn’t be worried.

But now, he was dealing with the grey-masked Angels.

Kai didn’t know for sure how strong they were. They wore something that masked their mana, making even a rough assessment impossible. But it was almost certain they were stronger than him. Far stronger.

Grade 4 Awakened Supernals, perhaps, like the Keepers in the Blood Rite.

Or maybe even higher, at the rank of Aspirant Supernals.

However, because of their strengths, Kai needed to be creative in using the Nigh-phantom.

There are three factors that influenced the Nigh-phantom’s mana requirement. First is a direct intent to find him. Second is the environmental and situational conditions. And lasty—third, the collective strength of every target in the vicinity.

Right now, the grey-masked Angels have an indirect intent to find him.

They are patrolling to keep the students in line, so as a student, they were also looking for Kai.

And with their strengths, Kai needed to pay really close attention to the second factor.

That was precisely why he slipped out of the dormitory entrance—almost as soon as Matilda stepped out. Her presence would serve as a distraction for the grey-masked Angels. One he would be exploiting to reduce mana usage as he moved through the shadows.

It was working.

Kai stayed in the shadows and out of the grey-masked Angels’ line of sight.

Every time they turned to look at Matilda, he quickly made his way past them.

He repeated the process dozens of times until he finally reached the levy post.

"Even with my current mana, maneuvering over those enforcers left me with only half of my entire mana reserve," Kai sighed deeply, surprised that it was still this draining even though things went smoothly.

He shook his head and raised his gaze.

Before him is the levy post.

It was a small building that’s four-story high, not too far away from the main gate.

Kai stepped through the door—and scanned the room. Empty as expected. Across from him stood the long receptionist desk, vacant and still. At least, he thought it was vacant—until he drew closer.

A man has his forehead against the table, snoring loudly.

He doesn’t emanate any mana.

Since he wasn’t wearing a uniform, Kai reckoned this man is an Angel’s family member.

Like Talitha, he was also put to work here.

Kai pressed the service bell, and it rang loudly. But it didn’t only ring. He startled back as the man behind the desk jerked upright and froze. His eyes stretched wide, and every muscle in his body froze solid, as if he’d been struck by lightning.

No, he really had been electrocuted.

It wasn’t only after three seconds had passed that the man’s body finally slumped back down.

"S-Sorry..." Kai leaned forward to check. "I didn’t know. Are you hurt?"

"It’s fine," His eyes lifted, and Kai could tell he was smiling behind that faceless white mask. "No apology necessary, young man. At this point, I’m practically immune to it. And besides, as you said, you didn’t know."

He paused, and the smile seemed to sharpen. "But I’m not used to an Angel apologizing."

Kai frowned.

And then he realized that the other Angels must’ve been ringing the service bell ceaselessly to mess with this man, finding it funny. "A decent human being would apologize if he did any wrong," He replied with a stern voice.

"You’re right, but you’re not exactly a human being now, are you?" the man said.

A question that made Kai pause.

It also made him hyper-aware of the difference between them.

He was towering over the man, and bigger to the point that they looked like they came from two different species. Perhaps Kai still considered himself a human, but most considered Supernals as Demigods.

Considered him a Demigod.

And these thoughts left him with mixed feelings.

"In any case, what do you need?"

"I wanted to check my weekly quota."

"Do you have your badge with you?"

"Yes."

Kai handed his student badge and waited, still trapped in thoughts.

He only blinked when the man finished processing it.

"Lesser Angel Kai, correct?" He asked, and Kai nodded. "You still have three thousand mana ores to collect. There are only five more days before the collection day, so be sure to work hard before that day comes."

"Three thousand...?" Kai was stunned.

Just mining a few hundred alone took a long time back then.

And that was with the help of Perion.

Amassing three thousand in five days sounded like an impossible task, especially with classes.

Kai quickly recovered when he saw the troubled look the man was giving him. "What is it? You can tell me what’s wrong. If it’s something that I need to know, then please tell me."

"Ah... Just that the punishment section is weird," the man looked down at the parchment in his hand. "Normally, it would be a penalty that’ll raise the quota next week or get a worse accolade. But yours... Your penalty for not reaching the quota is public execution."