Kai stood motionless, eyes looking ahead, but saw nothing.

His mind replayed what Matilda said to him earlier, that perhaps there is someone who was watching the Angels run things. If that were true, it would make a perfect case. The academy couldn’t root out people with a snap of their fingers.

They needed a reason.

Just like how the Chancellor raised the quota for him, so that there’s a legitimate reason.

Angels are under the doctrine to be the protectors of mankind.

To be the cannon fodder.

But the surface and perhaps the Demons don’t think like that.

Kai knew for certain that the surface thought differently. Down there, Angels were considered as Demigods, exactly the same as Demons. If the public ever learned what the academy in the First Sky truly did to the Angels, riots would erupt.

Activists would flood the streets, shattering the gilded image overnight.

It was probably why there is no documentation on how Angels lived in the sky.

To make sure the people on the surface didn’t know.

Since the people don’t know anything, it can only mean the Demons are also in on it.

Some Demons, like the Demon Man, came to the First Sky so they knew what was going on.

Just that, they didn’t care. Or at least tolerated.

Kai could check whether the Demons have any limit to their tolerance.

But it’s a hassle, and he also didn’t want to.

As much as he wanted not to be biased, he couldn’t. It’s hard.

Much better for him to stick with a certain side.

For him to really put pressure on the Chancellor, he would need to be known by the people on the surface. Once he achieved that, not only would the Chancellor be forced to leave him alone, but he could also demand the Angel status again.

I need to find a way to achieve that.

"Are you ready?" Matilda’s voice snapped him out of his daze.

She had been settling the Pegasus in the stable and was now ready to mine.

Kai blinked his eyes and nodded before he stared ahead.

It was only now that he realized what was before him.

Kai had stepped onto a cultivated cloud once before—during the Blood Rite. Ixos. Back then, he’d been stunned that a cloud could host mountains and hills at all. But what lay before him now made Ixos look modest.

It stole the breath from his lungs.

Before him are vast plateaus suspended over sheer cliffs that plunge deep.

Narrow paths wound across the terrain like pale threads, linking one rise to another—while natural arches of stone bore entire fields upon their backs. Grassland hung over empty air as if the world itself had forgotten about gravity.

A waterfall could be seen dropping from one of the grasslands, splashing into the river.

Dominating most of the areas are the endless spreads of wind-brushed grass and scattered clusters of hardy shrubs. Night had swallowed the color from the land, leaving it muted and even ghostlike.

A faint fog clung to the ground, drifting lazily along the paths and pooling at the edges.

Along the way, Matilda had explained to him the general things he needed to know to mine.

First of all, the freshmen had four cultivated clouds, which are Stream Blue, High Gold, Maple Red, and Grassland Grey. Each one hosted different terrain and held a distinct concentration of mana ores. And though these cultivated clouds belonged to the academy, there were student groups that governed them.

Right now, they were on Grassland Grey.

It was governed by the Stygian Collective led by a student named Draksa.

A High Angel with the bloodline of a Divine Beast Ladon, a hundred-headed snake monster. It does not have a high rating in Lower Olympus, but Draksa has five Divine Locks, which made him the leader of the Stygian Collective group.

Other students with no affiliation could mine in Grassland Grey.

But those who came from other groups are strictly prohibited.

"It’s so open..." Kai muttered and pointed ahead. "I feel exposed walking through that."

"At least we would know if someone is following us," Matilda shrugged.

She brought Kai to another hut not too far away, and inside was the required equipment for anyone to use. There are stacks of pickaxes, hardened gloves, and a meter that Kai doesn’t know the use of.

"Shouldn’t there be someone guarding this hut?"

"Should, but after the Blood Rite, not many students remained, remember?"

"Right," Kai forgot about that. He took the equipment Matilda handed over and then couldn’t help but ask. "So, is there any reason specifically why you brought me to Grassland Grey? Is the Stygian Collective passive?"

"Not really. I’m a part of their group," Matilda answered nonchalantly—and then turned to face him, who was surprised that she was a part of the group, but did not become the leader. "What? Do you want to go to Ursa Minor’s cultivated cloud? Still fighting Roan?"

"Ursa Minor has one?"

"Yes. They have the Maple Red. Higher concentration than Grassland Grey, but not by much."

"Mana concentration... What is the rule for that?"

"What do you mean?" Matilda asked while wearing the hardened gloves. "What rule?"

"I mean, if the mana concentrations of each cultivated cloud are different, then each cloud has a different amount of actual mana ores to mine. I reckoned there must be rules for outsiders like me, right?" Kai tugged on his hardened gloves, flexing his fingers against the stiffness. "Like a daily mining limit or something."

"I guess I can’t keep the bad news any longer," Matilda let out a deep sigh.

One that made Kai frown.

He was spot on.

Matilda told him about the rules in place for all of the cultivated clouds.

Each cloud imposed its own daily mining limit, and outsiders paid a tax to the ruling group.

Both figures were entirely at the group’s discretion. For the Stygian Collective, the limit was three hundred mana ores per day with a ten percent tax. That left Kai with a maximum of two hundred and seventy ores daily. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Over five days, he’d amass only thirteen hundred and fifty.

Nearly two thousand short of his weekly quota.

Kai started chuckling.

He placed both hands on his waist and looked down, shaking his head in utter disbelief.

"I’m a part of the group, and I can give you the rate of a group member. And I also can help you amass your weekly quota, you don’t need to worry about anything," Matilda said, feeling the aura around Kai was growing. She could tell he was getting worked up. "The clouds are still being watched, though not as strictly. You don’t need to take the risk of violence."

"Are you the leader...? No." Kai chuckled and drew a circle with his finger, gesturing for her to keep talking. "And let me guess. That limit and tax rate you mentioned, that’s for ordinary Angels, isn’t it?" His jaw tightened. "So, a Lesser Angel gets it even worse."

Matilda didn’t answer instantly.

She knew that this would devastate Kai even further.

Of course, the class system of the academy still has its reach here.

Everything in the sky is tied to that system.

"Yes, but still, I can help you gain the rate for High Angels. It’s possi—"

"And what if I mined on all four cultivated clouds?" Kai cut her sentence short. "On Stream Blue, High Gold, Maple Red, Grassland Grey—everything. Will there be any problem? Can I do that?"

Matilda bit her lower lip.

As much as she wanted to give him some good news, there was none.

"Stream Blue and High Gold are off limits. The groups controlling them forbid anyone outside their ranks from mining." She paused. Knowing that this would only make Kai angrier. "The Maple Red is open, but the limit and tax rate are similar to—"

Before she could even finish, Kai had already walked away.

His face was red from the anger boiling in his blood right now.

"FUCK!"

Kai bellowed in frustration; his voice stretched far and echoed against the towering cliffs.

It was the Chancellor. He was the one responsible for this without a doubt.

And as the most powerful figure in the academy, he would not set a flimsy trap. No—his traps were precise, dangerous, designed to ensure Kai could never meet the weekly quota through ordinary means.

Three thousand mana ores are the magical number.

The number that Kai wouldn’t be able to reach, no matter how hard he tried.

"And what?" Kai turned, laughing in disbelief. "You want me to hold back? Restrain myself?"

"If you resort to violence, the academy will have grounds to execute you. They’re waiting for that. You told me about this just earlier."

"They won’t catch me in the act. I did it during the Blood Rite. I can do it here. I will infiltrate the other clouds and get the mana ores I need."

"I can ask around. Bree would help if she knew—I’m sure. Just don’t do anything stupid. Do not be rash."

"And say what? That a Lesser Angel needs charity?" Kai pointed around the open space with an accusatory finger. "How are you going to give me the ores anyway? After a mining session? If other students saw you giving me the mana ores, what then? If they saw Bree help me, what then? If the academy became suspicious, what then?!"

"For Zeus’ sake, Kai!" Matilda’s eyes blazed. "It’s going to be fine! You’re not alone!"

"No," Kai waved his hand and walked ahead. "If I have to use violence to get people to let me mine, then I’ll do it. Go on and report me, I don’t care. Report me like a fucking snake, you are. Just know that if you do that, I’ll use everything in my power to make sure to use my last day to kill you."

He had been patient.

Back when he was forced to kill the innocents, he stayed silent.

Back when he was demoted, he sucked it up.

No more.

If he was going to die, then he would rather die while fighting back with no fear in his heart.

"There’s a way!" Matilda shouted, stopping him mid-track.

Kai doesn’t want to listen, knowing that it was probably rubbish again. He didn’t want to let his life hang in the hands of others. Especially not to Matilda. He would rather do it his own way than depend on her.

Rushed footsteps echoed from behind as Matilda grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Listen to me."

"What?!"

Kai glared at her sharply.

"Let’s do what we came here to do. Let’s mine as much as we can, and when we are ready," She paused, staring deeply into Kai’s abyssal eyes. "We’ll go to the new cultivated clouds. We will mine there even if we have to fight a Star Beast."