Still nothing.

Even after resting and returning the equipment, Kai hadn’t been stopped by the students guarding the Grassland Grey. Normally, if not during mining, the student guards are going to visit them after the mining session.

But nobody came.

At this point, even Matilda started to feel confused as to what was going on.

Regardless, since there was nobody who came to inspect the mined mana ores and exact the tax, Kai and Matilda walked away with all the mined mana ores intact. As odd as that was, this was good for them.

Once they were done, they went to the neighbouring cultivated cloud—Maple Red.

As the name indicates, the entire cloud was covered with red maples. Red leaves littered the ground; there were also flowing rivers, and the air was fresher than Grassland Grey. Richer in mana compared to the Grassland Grey.

Even under the moonlight, the redness didn’t dim.

Mana ores in Maple Red can be found underground, not in rock formations like it was in the Grassland Grey. Fortunately for them, there was a new mine, and they mined there until they got each three hundred mana ores again.

Since midnight had already passed, Kai and Matilda decided to mine again.

The daily limit of mining was reset at midnight, so they were allowed to do that.

Might as well since they were already there.

Of course, mining consecutively with minimal rest exhausted them completely. It took almost four hours to complete the third mining session, and by the time they finished, the golden sun above was already climbing the sky.

It ascended, touched the Blue Void, and was eclipsed—the world washed blue sunlight.

"Are you okay?" Kai glanced at Matilda.

He insisted on mining the third session, forgetting that he came here with Matilda, so she was also forced to keep mining. Now, her walk was wobbly. Unlike him, who doesn’t need sleep and who can stay up late with no problem, she needed to close her eyes and let her mind rest.

Now, he was worried whether she could even ride the Pegasus.

"Do I look alright?" Matilda looked at him and pointed to the bags under her eyes.

"You shouldn’t have forced yourself to mine," Kai shook his head. "You could’ve slept."

"It’s fine, I’ll sleep after we get back."

"You do remember we have morning exercise, right?"

"I don’t need you to remind me."

"Just saying."

After putting the equipment back, Kai walked out and saw a student standing there.

He recognized this student.

It was Norman, one of the students, who cornered him in the training chamber with Roan.

"I’m going to check and count your spoils," Norman said, forcing calm into his voice despite the visible tension that seized him the moment he saw Kai. Even his hand drifted to his cheek in an unconscious reflex, tracing the phantom sting of the slash Kai had carved into him with bare hands. "Hand the sacks over."

"Don’t be harsh on me, will you?" Kai threw the sack at Norman’s feet.

Matilda also did the same.

It took only a few minutes.

He took out a few mana ores from each back and placed them on the side for everyone to see.

"Exactly three hundred mana ores on each sack," Norman nodded and stood up again. "I will take five percent tax from you," He looked at Matilda, and then shifted to Kai. "And also take twenty percent from you. Fair?"

"Fair," Kai didn’t argue.

Angels got taxed ten percent, so twenty percent for a Lesser Angel is fair.

It stung all the more when he recalled how Roan had demanded fifty percent on his very first day—not for the mining spoils, but for protection. In a twisted way, Norman had gone easy on him. And that was more than enough.

Kai wasn’t going to amass the weekly quota from this anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

"Did you do something to him?"

Matilda looked back at Norman, frowning in suspicion.

For Norman, a student from Ursa Minor known to be bullies to act like this, she was almost certain that something had happened. Normally, he would no doubt squeeze a Lesser Angel dry, leaving close to nothing of the spoils.

"Just got an agreement with Roan," Kai shrugged nonchalantly.

"Right..." Matilda drew the word out, dripping with sarcasm. "An agreement."

Later, the morning exercise came.

Professor Bork is the one leading Class 1-A, which was their class, and Class 1-B. The morning exercise consists of running around the academy premises, training mana control by using the Legacy Imprints on an open field right outside the main gate, and then sparring.

Nothing fancy, but fundamental.

One that Kai found hardest was training mana control.

It was done by not wearing the mask.

From the banters of other students, attempting to use Legacy Imprints while suffocating made it incredibly difficult to focus, let alone control the mana flowing from their Divine Locks. And that made for a perfect training method.

If one could consistently cast a Legacy Imprint under such duress, their mana control would have reached an entirely new level.

At this point, nobody has even succeeded in casting their Legacy Imprints, even once.

Kai looked around, watching the students struggling and failing.

Some had collapsed to their knees, drenched in sweat from the mere attempt to activate their Legacy Imprints. Others clawed frantically at their masks on the side, desperate for one deep breath.

Every student was clearly struggling.

But Kai didn’t understand why.

Is it really that hard?

Kai looked down at his hand and cast the Dark Discharge into it.

He did it easily.

Exactly like how he normally does it while wearing the mask.

"What are you standing around there for?" Professor Bord came out of nowhere from behind, looking down at Kai with a sharp, condescending gaze. "Not only are you a Lesser Angel, but you’re also lazy? I’m starting to wonder how you even survive the Blood Rite."

"I can cast my Legacy Imprints no problem," Kai replied.

But this only prompted Professor Bork to snort.

"Can you now? In order to cast a Legacy Imprint, in this state would require a Supernal to be perfectly in tune with their Divine Locks. It would take months or years for some to even hope to achieve that. And you’re saying you can do it with no problem? Please." He walked away, infuriated by Kai’s bold claim. "Run a hundred laps around the academy after this—for lying to me."

"Huh...?" Kai was at a loss for words. "Isn’t he going to at least tell me to show it to him?"

He clicked his tongue in displeasure.

Instead of giving him a chance to prove it, Professor Bork instantly assumed that he was lying.

But then again, for a Lesser Angel to achieve that is indeed quite impossible.

Kai shook his head, deciding the professor wasn’t worth his attention, and his gaze wandered. It landed on Bree. Unlike the others laboring desperately like fish out of the water, she made the attempt as well, but there was no fire in it, no conviction.

She was present in body alone.

She was half-measuring it, like her mind wasn’t in the moment.

Or at least, that was what Kai initially thought—until he noticed her head bobbing unsteadily, her eyelids sinking with unmistakable weight. Forget casting her Legacy Imprint; Bree was struggling just to remain upright.

Is she... sleepy?

Considering he hadn’t met Bree last night, she must not be mining.

Then what was she doing? Kai was curious, but then he recalled something.

About the eerie silence last night on Grassland Grey.

Her aura is also weak. Her mana hadn’t recovered yet, so she must’ve done something last night.

Later, when the sparring came, Kai got the chance to approach Bree without inciting Professor Bork’s anger. A guy sat beside her earlier, and the two talked, so Kai didn’t approach her. Not until the guy left.

He seemed to also realize Bree was sleepy and didn’t have the strength to talk.

Kai had sparred with another student.

Both were going easy, testing each other until Professor Bork stopped them.

And once he finished, he went to sit beside Bree.

He sat down beside her, and she didn’t even realize it.

Sensing that someone was beside him, Bree, who was tucking her legs close and burying her face against her knees, raised her head. She glanced to the side with red eyes and realized that it was Kai.

"It’s not normal for you to seek me out first." She buried her face again—voice muffled. "Is this about that guy from earlier? I could tell he was interested, but I told him to fuck off. So please, do me a favor and spare me the jealousy."

Huh...? I didn’t even think much about that guy.

Kai came to her because he had something to ask.

And he also thought it was better this way—him approaching her. That way, it would look like he was the one begging Bree for help instead of her offering help. Given his status, he had to be careful about how he interacted with her, or any student for that matter.

"Last night... is it you?"

"Was it me what?"

"Nobody approached me on Grassland Grey to check my spoils. Did you do something?"

"How do I even do that?" Bree turned her face to look at him. "You’re overthinking it."

"Then why are you so sleepy?"

"It’s that time of the month. Considering my Patron God, the cramps are worse for me."

Kai wanted to say that it was bullshit.

But seeing her arms wrapped around her stomach—like she was holding herself together, he decided to believe her. The suspicion still lingered, but if she said it wasn’t her, then he’d take her word for it. It didn’t really matter now, anyway.

"I need your mind for something," Kai said while keeping his gaze forward. "Do you mind?"

Fixed on the sparring between two students ahead.

"Of course, I don’t," Bree forced a smile. A sarcastic one. "Even though I feel like my stomach is about to rupture at any moment, I don’t mind helping you at all. There’s nothing I would not do for you." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Alright, alright," Kai raised his hands. "I won’t bother you."

"You already bothered me. Just tell me already."

"I want to pressure the academy, but I need to be known by the people on the surface. Do you know a way to do that?"

"Good thinking," Bree breathed heavily, contemplating what Kai could do to achieve that. It’s not going to be easy, but if he could, then he would indeed be able to put pressure on the academy. "Oh! How about becoming the Red Prince? That’s the most sure-fire way to be well-known on the surface."

"Red Prince? What’s that?"