Everyone seated in the classroom turned their attention to Ezra the moment Veda called his name, asking for his thoughts. Their gazes gathered on him, some curious, some expectant, and a few still carrying the faint tension from the earlier discussion.

Ezra didn’t react immediately.

He sat there glancing down on the table for a brief second, his fingers tapping lightly against the table, then he spoke.

"Like you guys said... the trial will be about time."

"Yeah," Veda nodded, following his line of thought.

"But what’s the issue there?" Mariam asked, leaning forward slightly, confusion clear in her eyes. "It’s based on how fast you clear each floor, right?" She turned to Veda, then back to Ezra. "So why are we even confused?"

Ezra shifted slightly in his seat, his tone calm but firm as he explained.

"The issue is... from a certain floor, the difficulty of winning the Akai will increase so much that they don’t expect many people to actually defeat the rankers from that point onward."

The room quieted.

"That... actually makes sense," Nickolas said slowly, nodding as realization settled in. "Looking at the names we just mentioned, from rank four upwards... I don’t think it’ll be easy for anyone to beat them."

He paused, then glanced around at the group, his tone becoming blunter.

"And I’m sorry to say this," he added, looking at both highlines and lowlines, "but most of you probably won’t even reach that point."

No one argued, not even feeling insulted.

Instead, many simply breathed in and out slowly, accepting the reality of his words.

"The clue is already there," Ezra continued, his voice steady. "We were told that the illusions will be from when they were Novice Alchemists... and the highest rankers will be in their Binder rank version."

Veda’s eyes widened slightly, finally understanding what point Ezra was getting at.

"So, what will happen is this," Veda said, folding his arms as he stared at Ezra. "From the first floor up to the last Novice-level opponent, the trial will be about speed... how fast you win the Akai and progress climbing each floor."

He paused briefly.

"Then once you reach the first Binder-rank opponents... it changes."

His gaze sharpened.

"It becomes a test of how long you can last against them."

"Yeah... that’s exactly what I think," Ezra replied simply.

A quiet sense of relief spread through the room.

It wasn’t filled with loud signs of relief, but it was noticeable since understanding something always made it less terrifying.

Still, not everyone felt at ease.

"Sir Veda," a boy raised his hand, his voice slightly tense as he spoke. His fingers curled tightly against his chest. "I’m worried about the people we’ll be facing."

Veda turned to him.

"Hm...Please explain why?"

"Well, they are known as the best in their generation," the boy continued carefully, making sure his words came out clearly. "So how are ordinary people... people like us, who aren’t even that talented and are just relying on your strength and others to survive... supposed to beat even the lower-ranked ones... not to mention the higher ones?"

His words settled heavily amongst the group, many nodding slightly because his words made sense.

"It’s true," Tracy sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Even the lowest-ranked among them could probably beat ten half-star Novices here."

She glanced around.

"And, even I’m not sure how far I can go."

"Don’t you think you’re overestimating them?" Ezra said flatly.

"What?" Tracy pointed at him, clearly annoyed. "Not everyone is like you...a mysterious beast hiding in the shadows."

Mysterious beast?

Ezra narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression still blank.

"Have you all forgotten," Ezra continued, resting his chin on his palm, his elbow on the table, "that the reason we are even here in the first place... is because of this ’talent’ you keep labeling them with?"

His words struck each person in the group directly, except for Veda and Nickolas, who were just watching them.

The image the group held of the top ten... wavered.

"Argh!" Tracy slammed her hand on the table. "Yes, they are talented!" she shot back, glaring at him. "The issue is that in their generation...and even before ours...they were already at the top from the beginning."

"Is that why," Ezra replied calmly, his gaze steady, "the current ranking is filled with grandparents... and not even uncles, fathers, or aunties?"

The room froze for a second looking stunned again.

"Are you trying to piss me off?" Tracy glared at him.

Immediately, whispers began to spread majorly amongst the girls.

"Is he saying Mrs. Bianca isn’t talented?" one girl muttered quietly.

"Isn’t he overestimating himself?" another added.

The murmuring grew, spreading from the girls to the boys, the tension slowly building again while Ezra watched them unmoved in the slightest.

These guys are too stuck on their idols... they’re forgetting what this trial is really about.

His eyes scrolled through the people murmuring about what he said.

"Okay, okay," Veda clapped once, cutting through the noise.

The classroom fell silent instantly.

"I understand why you all feel offended," Veda said calmly. "But honestly... Ezra is right."

They all looked at him, disbelief clear on their faces.

"Don’t misunderstand," Nickolas stepped in quickly. "The training we are receiving now is completely different from what those oldies, generations went through."

He leaned forward slightly, speaking with confidence.

"Do you really think Mr. Reggie, as a half-star Novice, could face an army of Ground Apes like we did?"

No one answered.

"And how many of them were even Full Alchemists at our stage? Not to even talk of now." he added.

He glanced at Ezra briefly.

Tsk...It pains me trying to defend you even though you obviously don’t give a shit.

"But what Ezra means is simple," Nickolas continued. "The versions we are facing... are not the experienced ones, instead they are the inexperienced versions of the top ten. People who grew in silence only to become strong later on."

With his words sinking in too the others, realization spread.

"Oh..." Tracy looked down at the table, suddenly very interested in it, her face flushing slightly, now understanding how easily her mind was clouded because of how she rated the top ten.

"Everyone," Veda said, drawing their attention again.

"We have all gone through dangerous, life-threatening situations... and we’ve grown because of it."

He paused, looking around at each of them.

"This is something people who grew up safely in their homes... could never understand. Once upon a time," Veda continued, "we were just spoiled clueless nobles. Some of us didn’t even know how to properly throw a punch."

A few people lowered their heads slightly while listening.

"But now..."

He looked at them again.

Their faces, a bit serious now instead of worried expressions and forceful calmness.

"We have gained strength, mental fortitude, and skills that can take us far."

His voice grew firmer.

"So don’t fear them just because they are called the top ten of Ashenlocke."

He raised his fist slightly.

"We are the future of this family and we will prove it... by wiping the floor with these illusionary versions of them."

The atmosphere shifted with the energy returning, people raising their hands.

Some smiled and some nodded with confidence... slowly building.

"Alright," Veda said, stretching his arms slightly. "Let’s go rest and meet again tomorrow to decide how we’ll start the trial."

As soon as he finished speaking, chairs moved, people began standing, conversations breaking out again as they prepared to leave.

Ezra stood up as well.

Quietly.

Without drawing attention and slipped into the flow of people exiting the classroom and disappeared among them.

As he walked through the corridor toward his room, the sound of footsteps echoed softly around him. Some candidates passed by, some headed to their rooms, others still talking in low voices.

Then...

He stopped.

A figure sat in front of his door, wearing a scarf and a hoodie covering most of her face.

"Gena," Ezra said, looking down at her.

"Eh..." Gena mumbled; her voice drowsy. "Hmm..." she turned her head left, then right, then slowly looked up at him.

"Oh... it’s you."

She stretched her arms lazily as she stood up.

"If you’re already this sleepy..., why didn’t you just go and rest?" Ezra asked, tilting his head slightly, his arms folding.

"I know..." she rubbed her eyes, her voice dragging. "But I had to tell you something big happened... in my group. And some other important things I found out today."

She leaned her back against his door.

Ezra glanced around briefly.

Candidates were still passing by.

Talking and moving.

"You, sure you can even talk properly in this condition?" he asked.

"Oh? Are you worried about me?" she smiled lazily, placing her hand lightly on his shoulder.

Ezra looked at her, clearly unbothered and ignoring what she said. His eyes held no emotions on it, that clearly told Gena – ’he didn’t give a slight fuck about her’

Gena paused, then clicked her tongue.

"Tsk... why is it only Lady Vera that can get a reaction from you?"

"It seems you’re awake enough," Ezra said, ignoring her comment again as he reached for his silver card.

Click.

The lock scanned it, green light blinking as the door opened.

Gena’s eyes widened.

Wait...Is he going to invite me in?

Her ears slowly turned pink as her thoughts began to drift, her imagination running ahead of her without control, building things that weren’t even there, yet felt real enough to make her heart beat faster.

"Ez..."

Before she could even finish calling his name...

"Gena, I’m also tired, so let’s meet up during dinner," Ezra said plainly, his tone calm and without any extra meaning.

Then...

He closed the door, right in front of her face.

"Huh..."

Gena stood there, frozen for a moment, her hand still slightly raised as if she had been about to say something more.

The sound of the door shutting echoed faintly in the quiet corridor.

She blinked once, then twice.

Her mind slowly caught up to what had just happened.

Ezra’s presence...

Gone.

And then...It hit her.

What she had been thinking just now.

"Ahhhhhhh...!"

She dropped to her knees suddenly, grabbing her hair with both hands as her whole face flushed deeply, the heat spreading all the way to her ears.

"Gena, you idiot..." she whispered to herself, her voice low but filled with embarrassment.

Her shoulders trembled slightly as she lowered her head.

What was I even thinking about...?

Argh...

Idiot... idiot... super idiot...

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, as if trying to erase the thoughts from her mind.

After a few seconds, she slowly lifted her head and glanced at Ezra’s door.

It remained closed.

She let out a small sigh, then pushed herself up to her feet.

Brushing off her clothes lightly, still avoiding thinking too deeply about what had just happened.

Without saying anything more...

She turned and walked away down the corridor.