"What happened to you?" Evelyn’s voice came behind Killian.

She grabbed his arm, looking at his bloodied face with concern. "Did someone beat you up? Show me who did it."

Her eyes aggressively scanned his shirt, and she noticed that unlike his trouser, he had less blood from the neck down. She adjusted her posture.

"Or did you get dragged across a floor of red substance? This smells like blood, though." She grimaced but didn’t move away.

Killian lowered his head. He had hoped halfway through walking down the hallway to find a bathroom before meeting any of his friends.

After all, like everyone else, they’d be a little apprehensive about seeing a bloodied person randomly standing in an academy filled with teenagers. ’The only guilty one here is you.’

"Excuse me? You are not going to tell her I did it!"

’Would you hate it?’ Killian smiled. ’You are fond of Evelyn, aren’t you? Does she know you are a cunning entity who forced your vessel to go through so much pain?’

There was no response and Killian’s smile faded. He couldn’t even pay back the Void if he wanted to. He faked a tired sigh.

"Some coordinators carelessly spilled prop blood on me."

Evelyn clicked her tongue, unfurling her balled fist. "Prop blood? So random." She pulled him with her as she went back how she came. "And if you had have followed us earlier, you wouldn’t have met them. What were you really doing back there?"

"Training stamina," Killian lied smoothly.

"Brilliant," She said sarcastically. "You nearly missed my match now. It will have been over by now."

Killian looked towards the arena he had just come from. If there had been a match happening now, wasn’t it the one he had just come from? He looked back at Evelyn’s shirt and halted.

Evelyn stopped instantly as she could no longer move him when he wasn’t moving on his own free will. She turned, and slightly pulled him but he didn’t budge. Her forehead creased.

"Did you get promoted?" Killian asked, staring at the platinum badge clipped on her uniform. That was the same one he had.

"And did you eat a tree?" Evelyn asked back. She tried to pull him from his spot again, but he didn’t move. "Why is it suddenly hard to move you?"

The accuracy of her words made Killian clear his throat, he ignored her question and continued moving. "Is there an awakening crystal around here? Did you get promoted after trying it?"

"It’s already been three months since we first awakened. It’s typical to try again for newbies who might unlock their real potential afterwards." She touched her badge fondly. "You could have advanced too. You have been training consistently for a while now."

Killian said nothing and watched Evelyn walk ahead. They had both started at the bottom so naturally he was happy that she was moving ahead and unlocking her through potential.

But it still made him feel distant.

Due to his situation, he always had to train away from her and Juda and they never saw each other grow as a group. Part of that was also because he didn’t trust anyone to keep his secret.

Another important part was that he didn’t want to have to burden them with such a secret if he could hide it properly himself.

"Did Keith also get promoted?" Killian asked quietly.

Evelyn slowly turned to him before shaking her head. She sighed, as if she had been expecting the question. "He didn’t gain a Rank. He had actually dropped a Rank. He’s the only one to do so."

Killian looked anywhere but at Evelyn, feeling embarrassed for his brother’s sake. Not gaining a rank was one part, but it added insult to injury to drop a rank.

Then Evelyn laughed heartily before walking away.

That confused Killian because he couldn’t tell if she was joking about what she said, or laughed at his face because she disliked his twin brother.

’Actually it could be the latter, and I couldn’t blame her.’ He continued leaving with her, and she added.

"The coordinators told him he had dropped to C-Rank Higher because he had failed his last mission and took an ’easy’ second mission at a C-tier realm to qualify for the academy trials."

Hearing her emphasis at ’easy’, Killian knew it was the coordinator’s words, because C-tier realms were anything but easy.

They just didn’t promise death to the average newbie as quickly as B-tier realms. And these coordinators didn’t have a problem with sending newbies to B-tier realms either.

Evelyn continued. "According to our regional leader, Keith finding out he dropped a Rank wasn’t even through the crystal itself, the coordinators had verbally told him after the test."

’Wait... Doesn’t that mean the coordinators could be wrong?’ Killian’s steps slowed faintly.

Evelyn noticed but kept speaking. "It has been put into the system and Keith was given a C-Rank Higher badge. The funny thing is, he accepted it and the regional leader believed it was better for him."

Killian’s expression remained calm, but his eyes narrowed slightly. "That’s still a high rank handed to him for no reason. And the real ranking of the crystal could have been hidden from us before now."

Killian stayed silent for a while after saying that. He didn’t think Keith had actually gotten weaker. If anything, it sounded like the academy forced him back down so he could grow correctly.

Within the academy trials, his inexperience will show clearly and when he gets paired up with other B-Rank Wardens, he would get crushed by them.

And if he did win all his matches with sheer aggression and resolve, he would still have a violent backlash on his health.

’Keith has always relied heavily on only raw strength and confidence. Maybe someone higher up finally noticed that.’

Still... It probably hurt. Especially for someone like Keith.

Evelyn looked at him from the side. "You’re thinking too much again. Karma got him. You shouldn’t care."

Killian looked away. "Maybe. He’s still my younger brother after all."