"Why the smile?"

She asked, and White turned to the sky, saying,

"I don’t know. It’s just... I know a lot of sad stories, but this is the first time I’ve seen one end so beautifully."

"With me being able to escape after everyone I know got killed?"

She whispered.

"No."

White said, turning to her.

"It’s the dream. To go out there and look for more, so they don’t suffer the same pain as you... that’s the beautiful ending."

He recounted, before his wrist crossed over hers and he let himself fall off the railing, disappearing from view before reaching the fifth floor.

BEEP!

A beeping noise caught Morgaine’s attention, and she turned to her watch, finding the notification that made her pause.

{+100 Cyberpoints has been credited to your account from White DeadClaw.}

"I told you not to worry about—"

She was saying, but then saw his new last name and laughed instead.

"Idiot."

She said with a grin, which soon froze, then softened into a smile.

"Goodnight."

She whispered downward before turning from the railing and going inside her dorm room.

---

{Your challenge has been marked as an automatic loss after you failed to show up!}

{A total of 90 points has been automatically deducted and sent to your challenger.}

{Cyberpoints Possessed: 195}

The panel flashed on White’s runic watch as he sat on the bed.

"That’ll still last me a couple days."

Then he rolled back onto the bed.

His thoughts wandered over everything that had happened that day.

Bad as it looked, getting locked up in that realm and all, his conviction had only been strengthened, and what he needed to do was now fresh in his head.

Besides, he had come to understand a couple of things that had always been mysteries to him, and had also gotten to feel how someone truly cared for him, while hearing a beautifully sad story.

"Today might just be one of my best yet."

White mused.

He knew what needed to be done now, and he wasted no time pulling the strings.

His hand reached for the other wrist where the runic watch that gave him access to Humanity Ascension rested, and he dialed a number.

Just seven seconds later, a holograph popped up.

"White Sinclaw."

"Commander Zoltan. I need something."

"Please say it. I will relay it to the Supreme Commanders immediately."

"No. It’s not a request to the Supreme Commanders."

"It’s a request... for you."

---

White was returning to the library after class had finished for the day when his runic watch lit up, showing a pending holograph.

He tapped it, and the familiar voice of Commander Zoltan came through.

"Come to the grassland drop area."

He said, and White severed the connection before taking a detour.

---

30 minutes later...

The glass doors of the library swung open, and stepping in was none other than White.

The library was as deserted as ever, but that was perfect for him.

He moved to his usual corner and brought out the books.

This time, he also brought out an unusual one.

A large grimoire-like book whose surface was covered in glowing blue runic lines.

This was what he had received from Commander Zoltan.

The manual that had come with the Aether Pulse Orb. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

This was his only chance to learn exactly what Aether Pulse was, and most importantly, how to further his Lumen Cultivation Stage, which he had been stuck in ever since with no idea what the stage even meant.

He opened the first page and began diving in, but his expression quickly furrowed with faint annoyance.

He flipped to the second, then the fourth, then the fifth page, the annoyance only worsening before White sighed.

"Runes. The letters are in runes."

His eyes unconsciously lifted to a higher shelf, where a manual titled Introduction to Rune Deciphering rested.

That should teach him how to decipher the runes, after which he could then comprehend the grimoire.

But then he looked down at the table and noticed the other books.

He hadn’t finished his End Project, and it was due in the next couple of days, immediately after which the exams would begin.

This was a bad time to start learning an arcane language.

In the end, he could only force the grimoire back into his bag.

"At least I have it. I just need some time, and I’ll begin the deciphering."

He consoled himself before opening a page on Essence Elements and quickly beginning to read.

12 Hours Later

BEEP!

The beeping disrupted the silence, and White turned his attention to it.

It was an alarm notification showing that his time was up.

He spent a few seconds making an inner summary of what he had read, before packing the books back into his bag and heading to his dorm room to drop it off.

But just half an hour later, he stepped out again, and massive wings shot out of his back as he took to the skies in a specific direction.

His sharp eyesight already allowed him to see two people chasing one another on a bridge beneath which a blue stream flowed into the distance.

---

"Get back here, Nova!"

Morgaine shouted from behind as Nova flapped her wings, sending herself moving faster ahead.

"Try to catch up, slow—BAAM!"

Her face slammed into something soft yet hard at the same time, sending her flying backward, and she landed right in Morgaine’s hands.

"Got you!"

The pink-haired girl said with a grin, catching Nova’s nose and giving it a squeeze that must have hurt badly.

She protested, but was ignored before Morgaine eventually let her go.

Nova’s hands held her throbbing nose, but her angry eyes soon turned into the distance, where she found White reclining against the bridge wall, both hands in his pockets while he whistled into the air, feigning ignorance.

"You..."

"Oh, hey Nova. Didn’t see you there for a..."

"You traitor!"

She shouted as Wings flapped sending her reaching for him.

"Hey...I don’t have anything to do with this."