Caelum jumped directly into the flames, fully expecting the layer of water surrounding his body to evaporate instantly.

However, nothing happened.

The blazing crimson flames swirled around him violently, yet the moisture covering his body remained completely unaffected.

"Anasta–!" Before he could even finish shouting her name, a sudden pop echoed within the flames as a small fire chicken materialized out of nowhere.

Caelum instinctively caught the creature with ease.

"Cauk?"

"?"

Both of them stared at each other in mutual confusion.

The tiny fire chicken tilted its head strangely, clearly sensing that the person holding it was not its contractor, while Caelum himself wondered why Anastasia had summoned an actual bird instead of the fluffy spirit balls most students had been getting so far.

Then suddenly, a streak of fire erupted from the little chicken’s body.

Unlike ordinary flames, however, this fire carried a deeper and more intense color, mixed with bloody crimson and brilliant orange hues as it shot upward into the sky.

At the same moment, the flames surrounding Anastasia calmed down completely.

She blinked slowly before looking toward Caelum in confusion.

For a brief instant, a phoenix-shaped mark appeared upon her forehead before fading away once more.

"Caelum?" Anastasia muttered softly, still confused about why he had suddenly appeared inside the summoning flames.

Meanwhile, Volka stared upward with his jaws slightly open as he looked at the small fiery bird soaring through the sky.

"A Phoenix...?" he muttered under his breath.

At that moment, he felt that he had jinxed the dragons having contracts with her in the future.

Dragons and Phoenixes were infamous for their rivalry.

Both races viewed themselves as rulers of the skies, and throughout history they had constantly fought for supremacy.

Meanwhile, the surrounding students looked utterly astonished after witnessing Anastasia seemingly summon two spirits at the same time.

"As expected of the princess..."

"She summoned two birds?"

"Wait... doesn’t that small one look like the bird used for Mckn legs?"

The atmosphere instantly became noisy again.

Volka, however, turned his attention back toward Caelum.

"Why exactly did you jump into the flames?" he asked while grabbing the boy by the collar.

"My friend was burning, did you expect me to just stand there and watch?" Caelum replied honestly.

Volka paused.

"...Those flames were never dangerous to begin with..." he said eventually, though he stopped himself from explaining further after realizing Caelum obviously lacked the necessary knowledge regarding this phenomena.

’Right, it is not that he would suddenly gain knowledge out of thin air,’ he though.

Still, even he had to admit the child’s courage was genuine.

"Go back to your position," Volka ordered while lifting Caelum before casually dropping him back outside the summoning circle.

Thud!

Caelum landed directly on his butt.

Glaring at Volka with a faintly resentful expression, he walked back toward Anastasia and handed the fire chicken over to her.

At this point, Anastasia now had two spirit creatures beside her.

One was the tiny fire chicken.

The other was a small yet incredibly beautiful and graceful fiery bird perched proudly atop her head while glaring at Volka.

The temporary dragon instructor immediately felt offended for some reason.

"Enough commotion! Let’s continue the class..." Volka declared while pretending nothing strange had just happened.

***

Unknown Plane — Unknown Location.

Three figures stood before a grand treasure chest while countless corpses littered the surrounding battlefield.

The dead belonged to numerous races and species.

Humans, elves, dwarves, beasts, angels, demons, and even several unknown creatures lay scattered throughout the shattered landscape as though an apocalyptic war had taken place there.

Among the three surviving figures, one man suddenly dropped to his knees before clasping his hands together solemnly.

"I no longer think this was a good idea... I apologize, everyone," he said while praying sincerely for the dead.

"May all of you have a better next life."

"You should stop with those ridiculous antics," a female voice replied coldly.

"You were personally responsible for killing most of them."

"But that still does not mean they shouldn’t receive a happier future afterward," the man replied while finishing his prayer with complete seriousness.

Afterward, he turned toward the third member of their group.

"I still resent you, you know," he complained. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"You were the one who dragged us into this drifting dimension, we could have simply stolen the treasure after everyone else escaped."

"You fail to understand the gravity of this matter," the third figure replied while raising its hand.

Unlike the other two, this being did not appear human at all and resembled some kind of miniature beast instead.

"You and your ridiculous plans nearly got us killed when that hidden entity appeared!" the female voice snapped irritably.

"Silence! I refuse to listen to women with personality issues!" the beast-like figure shouted back.

"Now let me open this treasure chest with my precious hands!"

The atmosphere immediately became tense.

The kneeling man rose to his feet as eight enormous wings spread open behind his back.

The strange part was that four wings radiated holy energy while the remaining four emitted demonic energy.

At the same time, the woman summoned a magnificent bow into her hands before condensing a terrifying arrow made entirely from hyper-compressed mana.

The arrow released such intense pressure that it looked as though it could explode apart at any moment.

Meanwhile, the beast-like figure prepared itself to open the chest, even hopping slightly to match the enormous size of the treasure container.

Then, the chest opened, yet nothing dramatic happened.

Inside the grand treasure chest, was another treasure chest.

"What?" the woman muttered blankly.

"The map clearly stated there was a great treasure capable of changing fates here," she added suspiciously.

"Are you sure you read it correctly?"

"Why do you always doubt our capabilities?" the winged man asked with complete sincerity.

A vein bulged visibly on the woman’s forehead.

"Keep your mouth shut! Neither of you idiots even knows how to read maps properly!" she shouted greatly furiously.

"You two were confidently walking south while claiming it was north! We only found this place because I stole the map from both of you! And we only managed to ambush everyone because of me!"

"Silence, woman! Let me focus on opening the treasure peacefully!" the beast-like figure declared.

The three of them immediately became alert again.

However, inside the second treasure chest, was another treasure chest.

A strange scene continued afterward.

A man, a woman, and a beast repeatedly argued while opening treasure chest after treasure chest, only to discover yet another chest hidden inside every single one.

Eventually, after opening the final box.

They discovered a tiny ticket resting inside.

For a few moments, absolute silence filled the entire place as a normal ticket with the words [Rule Breaking Ticket] simply fluttered with wind.

Then all three simultaneously lost their composure.

"A Rule Breaking Ticket?!" the woman screamed.

"Does this place think we are kids?!"

"I suddenly feel the urge to destroy everything in my path," the winged man muttered darkly.

"Let us leave immediately," the beast-like figure declared.

"I no longer wish to remain in this cursed place."

The three of them cursed loudly for several minutes, each wearing increasingly ugly expressions.

"A joke just happened before my eyes and I was unable to respond properly..."

"The name of this treasure is too offensive..."

"Ha! If this thing truly breaks rules, then I wish to descend into the Earthly Plane and find myself a wife!" the beast suddenly declared proudly.

"As if anyone could tolerate your personality long enough to marry you–" The woman abruptly stopped speaking.

All three stared in shock.

The Rule Breaking Ticket had suddenly begun dissolving into particles of light.

"Jojo... why are you glowing?" the winged man asked slowly.

Jojo looked down at himself as his eyes widened.

In the very next instant, he vanished from the drifting dimension entirely.

For several moments, the remaining two figures stood there silently.

"...I genuinely have no words anymore."

"Which lunatic designed such a plain-looking treasure?" the woman yelled furiously.

"How could that stupid ticket actually break the rules?!"

Both of them immediately began lamenting the fact that they had not made wishes earlier.

After all, the entire situation was unbelievably dumb.