’Who is the rival you want to clobber so badly?’

Killian couldn’t give Jenovan an answer.

He strolled down the hallway, holding his sweaty shirt in his hands while Jenovan’s jacket hung on his shoulders.

A rival. What is the point of one?

I don’t plan to go down the same path as someone else, so why does it matter who gets there first?

Or isn’t that the whole point of rivalry?

He reached the receptionist and showed his card. The receptionist nodded and checked her log, but she raised her head again.

"Are you a prospect, Killian?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Killian shook his head even if he didn’t know what she meant. "Am I in trouble?"

She showed him her screen. "You are registered as a prospect, Killian. You are also partaking in a duel right?"

She sighed softly, and typed on her laptop again. "You always ask if you’re in trouble but I bet you just didn’t read the rules, did you?"

Killian felt a little guilty because she was right. He moved into her corner, and looked into her laptop.

She was his older sister’s friend who worked at the Warden’s organisation so he always just asked her all his questions instead of reading anything.

She tapped her screen. "See? A prospective to the academy. It’s like a promotion. Congratulations."

Killian’s eyes shifted to her. Promotion? "Why did that happen? I wasn’t told my rank got any higher."

The receptionist tapped the table, thinking of a good way to explain it to him.

"It’s your social status that got higher. Those who pass that duel get transferred to the North’s Academy."

Shivers ran down Killian’s spine, he stepped away from her shelf but his eyes remained on her laptop screen. North Academy?

Realization crashed on him, weighing a ton.

I signed a contract without reading it and it was to send me to the Rulers who wield Light?

"That doesn’t look like good news to you." She teased. "Well, Quara was definitely looking forward to it. But she lost her duel that year."

Killian tapped his legs, thinking of who to meet to take him out of the prospect list.

The North Academy was far away in the highest plains of their realm, and travelling between regions took days by public transportation.

He’d be away from all he knew for at least three months to compete with prodigies, while being an anomaly.

Everything could go wrong when he’s discovered while being far from home. "I have to withdraw," he said firmly. "I will talk to my Leader."

The receptionist hummed, then turned to him with a concerned look. "Would your dad be okay with that?"

Killian paused. He knew what she meant. She was close enough to his sister to know how their father had been greatly disappointed at Quara’s failure.

Since then, his sister has obsessed over physical exercise and training, something her father didn’t think was useful as elemental training.

"Who cares?" He folded his arms. "He has Keith going. That should be enough for him. He doesn’t care about me so my choice does not concern him."

The receptionist was quiet, before giving him an encouraging nod. "The place is really different from here. You meet foreigners, but they are on another level. It’s better if you go there as a guest Warden than as a transferred newbie."

Killian kept nodding at her words. He had to refuse George but with good reasons or he’d set his gaze of suspicion on him again.

He retrieved his card, thanked her, and walked away. Note to self. Always read your contracts.

The ride back home was slow because the bus driver kept stopping every ten minutes at a junction.

Killian got down and strolled to his street, thinking of how to write his first official letter as a Warden.

The WLog lit up with a thought, and he saw the pending notifications he was yet to address.

[Additional Benefits Available!]↓

He checked the benefits and as Jenovan said, there were just titles and a free one-meal ticket to the restaurant at the organisation.

The logic was probably that the Warden trained for a skill by locking themselves without eating.

[Permission To Integrate With Ablaze?]

"There’s no need to integrate Piercing Scorch with Ablaze or my Fire would be dependent on oxygen and not my mana." He swiped the notification to the side and it was deleted.

[Permission To Integrate With ....?]

[Reminder: NEW ELEMENT UNNAMED!]

[Reminder: NEW SKILL UNNAMED!]

He tapped the naming button, and after mere seconds of thinking, typed in their names.

[New Element Named] [Corrupted Fire]

[Innate Skill Unhidden]↓

Killian stared at the last notification. More terms I don’t understand. The absence of the Void weighed on him more than he wanted to admit.

He opened the dropdown.

[Innate Ability - Mimicry]↓

Killian stood at the center of the road, ignoring the car honks and the people hurriedly passing by him.

Does that mean that I do not need to eat an element to make it mine?

"He did say that he can swallow any element and make it his, but wouldn’t it be a skill I awaken later? Why is it innate here—"

"Hey, boy—!"

As the driver yelled, Killian moved immediately, acutely conscious of the stares he got from drivers and passersby. I should have opened this at home.

He used his house keycard before entering, and checked if the dogs were out. They weren’t. Father isn’t home yet. Possibly no one is.

Even if he shouldn’t care what his father’s opinion about the academy was, he didn’t want to have to deal with the psychological pain of speaking to him.

"Now, that innate ability." He stretched his body, and sat on the pavement to change to the house slippers. "Status—"

"Killian."

Killian’s limbs stiffened. His hands remained on his untied shoelaces.

"I want to speak to you. In my office."

Killian didn’t nod, or acknowledge that he heard him. He calmly continued taking off his shoes and changed to the slippers.

He stood up, facing his father.

Those dark brown eyes staring fiercely at him almost made Killian lower his eyes.

And he did. "I’m coming."

After getting a reply, his father calmly marched away, leaving the door open for Killian to follow.

Killian sunk to the ground, holding his face in his hands, regretting every decision he had made in his life that led to that moment.

He rehearsed every answer to a question he knew he would be asked, and every reaction he should have whenever in his father’s presence.

He inhaled deeply, and exhaled.

"This is shit."