February 10th, 2012 — Approximate Time: 7:15 AM

Asura Academy — Class C Dormitories, Rigel’s Room

Perspective: Rigel Ravin

The ceiling was always the coldest part of the room.

I stared at the grey stone slabs, my hands tucked under my head. Outside my window, the early morning fog of Solerenne was still thick, clinging to the spruce trees like wet wool.

I’m Rigel Ravin, a former slave who resided in the Elven kingdom. Kidnapped, sold off, when I was just a child.

To the high-born elves, humans were not people. We were tools that breathed. They looked through us, their expressions carrying the quiet, absolute pride of a race that believed it was closer to the gods than the dirt.

They made sure we knew our place every single second.

I remembered the wet mud. I had to kneel in it, my back bent low, serving as a stepping stool so they wouldn’t stain their silk slippers when mounting their carriages.

I remembered their decorative boots. I had to scrape the dried horse manure off the leather with my bare fingernails until the skin split and my nail beds bled.

I remembered the courtyard. I had to stand perfectly still in the freezing wind for 3 hours, holding a heavy iron lantern to light their garden parties, forbidden from shivering while they drank hot, spiced wine.

I had to wait in the corner of the stone floor, eating whatever leftover grease and marrow they left behind after the hunting dogs had finished their meal.

Eventually, I was sold to the Grelynn family.

The estate was massive, but the cruelty was just quieter. The mother looked at me like I was a wet stain on her expensive rugs, calling me a "dirty thing" when she had to address me.

The other maids avoided me like a plague carrier, whispering and sneering to show the master they shared his disgust.

The father was harsh, using a leather crop to strike my shoulders whenever I carried the heavy water barrels too slowly up the frozen hill.

The older sister used me as a moving target to practice her wind magic, laughing as the sharp, invisible gales left shallow cuts across my cheeks and arms.

Then, there was the wood.

I had been chopping oak logs in the backyard. The iron axe was heavy, my hands were numb from the frost, and my grip slipped. The blade bit deep into my index finger.

I clutched my bleeding hand, pressing it against my chest, sitting in the shadow of the stone wall. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to make a sound. Any noise would bring the whip.

A shadow fell over me.

I looked up, expecting the master’s crop.

Instead, a little girl with green hair and green eyes was kneeling in front of me. She couldn’t have been more than 6.

She reached out and gently held my bleeding finger.

"Does it hurt?"

"I-I’m fine. I’m a slave."

I pulled my hand back, terrified.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" As she reached out her hand toward me, using magic to heal my wounds.

I shook my head.

"Do you want to play with me?"

She smiled, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me up, she didn’t care about my rank or my species, all she cared about was my safety and happiness.

I wanted an explanation. Why treat me with kindness?

I wanted to ask her, where can I find heaven?

I wanted to know what was going to happen...? What kind of future is going to fall on me...

I wanted to know.

But now, those questions were of the past.

I raised my hand toward the ceiling, staring at my palm. Slowly, I closed my fingers, turning it into a tight fist.

Why am I in love now..? with you.

Leena.

I’m just your knight, a protector yet... my heart always wants to spend time with you.

The screen of my Dwarvian phone lit up, buzzing against the wooden nightstand.

I grabbed it. The sender name made me smile instantly.

"🌸 Riiiiigeeeel!! Are you awake yet?? 🌸"

I rubbed my eyes, typing back.

"I’m awake. What’s wrong?"

"Yay! 😆 We need to meet up right now! Come to the Whispering Clearing behind the training grounds!"

"The clearing? Why? We don’t have classes until later."

"Because Elfie asked me to help her practice! She wants to test some spell combinations and asked me to spar. But she’s shy, so I said I’d bring you! 💖"

"Elfie wants to practice after yesterday’s disaster? She cleared Floor 27. She doesn’t need practice."

"She wants to! And she was super cute when she asked! Please please please come? I want to help herrrrr! 🥺✨"

"Fine. I’ll get dressed."

"Yay! You’re the best! 🐱💕 Don’t keep us waiting, or I’ll use wind-skating to drag you there!"

"I’m on my way."

I tossed the phone onto the bed, a small smile still on my face. Just talking to her in the morning made the room feel warmer.

The phone buzzed again.

I picked it up, expecting another pink emoji.

"yo man"

The username was `koolboy223`.

Kaiser.

"yo man"

"What?"

"about that chicken money"

"i spent my last copper on bread so i can’t pay you today. give me 6 days?"

I sighed, shaking my head.

"I told you yesterday, it’s fine. You don’t need to pay me back. Consider it a gift."

"cool. in that case can i borrow another 10 silver"

"Are you serious? You just said you’re broke."

"yeah but if it’s a gift i don’t have to pay it back. that means i’m not in debt."

"That is not how loans work! And why do you need 10 silver anyway?"

"elfie wants strawberry shortcake with extra glaze. if i don’t get it she said she’ll freeze my door again. save a life rigel."

"Buy it yourself! Work a shift at the tavern! I am not funding your girlfriend’s sugar addiction."

"rude. is this how you treat a classmate in need"

"Yes, when that classmate is a leech."

"did the ragebait work"

"Yes, it worked. I am literally standing up in bed."

"nice. bring the 10 silver to the clearing. see you there."

"I hate you."

I stared at the screen for 3 seconds before throwing the covers off. My blood was actually pumping. The guy was a menace, a black hole of common-sense logic that existed solely to push people to their limits.

I stood up, pulling my training uniform over my shoulders.

I want to do everything for her, yet I can’t because of my human limits.

Yet... he can do it for Elfie... why?

Why is there such a gap between me and Kaiser....

I envy him.

---

The Whispering Clearing was empty when I arrived.

Dew clung to the long blades of grass, soaking the toes of my leather boots within minutes. The air smelled of damp earth and pine needles, the morning fog floating between the tree trunks like grey ribbons.

I leaned against a mossy oak, folding my arms. I looked toward the forest path, my heart doing a light, stupid flutter.

I hope she calls my name first.

Whenever she ran out of the woods, she’d wave her hands, her voice clear and bright, calling out to me like I was the only person she wanted to see. I stood there, waiting for that specific sound.

"Rigel!"

My head snapped up, a smile already forming on my face.

It was Kaiser.

He stepped out from behind a thick boulder, chewing some gum. His messy black hair was still damp from sleep, and he carried his training sword over his shoulder like a stick.

"Why are you here? Where is Leena?"

"I got here 5 minutes ago." Kaiser popped his gum. "I was hiding in the shadow of that tree because the wind is cold. You stood there looking like a lost puppy."

"I was not looking like a lost puppy."

"You were. Your tail was practically wagging."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, my smile completely gone.

"Where is the 10 silver?" Kaiser held out his hand, palm up. "The shop opens in an hour."

I reached into my pocket, pulled out the coins, and slapped them into his hand.

"Here. I’m a fool."

"Thanks." Kaiser let the coins clink into his pouch. "In exchange, I’ll help you out. I’ll give you some tactical advice."

"I don’t need your tactical advice. Your advice is usually just lying to the instructors or running away."

"It got us funded this month."

"It got us in debt."

Kaiser didn’t deny it. He looked around the clearing, staring at a patch of grass that had been scorched black and frozen over in a jagged pattern.

"Leena and Elfie often practice here after their classes."

"I know. They’ve gotten so much stronger."

"Yeah. They have."

I looked at him, my expression turning serious. The silence of the clearing felt heavier now.

"Did Axel really clear the dungeon? The board logged 8,140 credits."

"That’s what the system says."

"I don’t buy it." I stared directly at his neutral face. "Axel is strong, but clearing the lower floors, handling the collapse, and finding Osiris... there’s no way he did that alone without someone pulling the strings. You pulled something down there, didn’t you?"

"It was the best-case result." Kaiser didn’t look at me. "Axel got his glory. The instructors got their scapegoat. The academy got their records deleted."

"How is failing the class-wide exam and getting a 75% allowance reduction the best case?"

"Because Elfie is now the undisputed Rank Zero. The queen of this academy. It works out great for me."

My chest tightened.

He can do it.

He can manipulate the entire faculty, fake a dungeon clearance, destroy S-rank evidence, and turn his girlfriend into a living legend, all while sitting in the background pretending to be a useless commoner with 1 credit.

He can do anything and everything for the girl he loves.

Yet I can’t even get Leena back into her clan. I can’t even protect her from a single rogue without getting my wrists broken.

He is just a superior version of me that I can never reach.

It’s pathetic.

"Rigel! Kaiser!"

The voice finally came.

I turned toward the path. My breath caught in my throat.

Leena was running toward us, laughing as her long green braids bounced against her shoulders. She wasn’t wearing her uniform. Instead, she wore a gothic-style dress — a dark lace collar hugging her neck, a fitted black velvet bodice, and a pleated skirt that flared out as she ran.

She looked incredibly cute.

Elfie walked just behind her, wearing a light blue off-shoulder ruffle top and a short white skirt, stardust still faint in her pink hair.

My neck burned. I looked down at the grass, unable to keep eye contact.

Kaiser must be like me.

No one can look at them dressed like this and stay calm. He’s probably dying inside too.

I glanced at Kaiser.

His face was completely flat. His eyes were half-closed, his posture lazy, completely unfazed by the sight.

How is he calm?

This has to be complete BS.

"You’re both early!" Leena stopped in front of us, her green eyes sparkling. "Rigel, look! Doesn’t Elfie’s outfit look super cute?"

"It looks... fine." Elfie mumbled, immediately stepping into Kaiser’s space and grabbing his arm, her cheeks turning pink.

"We have 2 goals today!" Leena clapped her hands, her translucent elf ears twitching. "Goal 1: we have to find out about Elfie’s galaxy hands! We’ve been talking about it, and we think it’s super duper cool! We want to combine my wind currents with her stardust to make a cosmic vortex!"

"It’s not galaxy hands." Elfie pouted. "It’s just Celestial Singularity."

"It’s galaxy hands! And it’s cool!" Leena giggled. "And Goal 2: Rigel is going to help Kaiser train and fight properly!"

Silence fell over the clearing.

I blinked, looking at Leena. Then I looked at Kaiser.

Kaiser’s head turned toward me, his expression entirely blank.

"Did you know about this?"

"No."

What am I going to teach this guy?

He literally popped my shoulder out of its socket and sliced my elbow with a wooden stick last month.

He broke my wrists and then asked if I needed a tissue to cry.

I am supposed to teach him how to fight? You have to be kidding me!

This is a death sentence.

Leena stepped closer to me, tilting her head as she looked up.

"Rigel? Are you okay? You look like you’re overthinking again."

I forced a smile, my face stiff.

"Yes. I’ll train Kaiser."

Leena giggled, clapping her hands.

"Yay! I knew you’d help!"

Elfie stepped forward, letting go of Kaiser’s sleeve. She crossed her arms, her expression turning dead serious.

"Rigel has a very solid, heavy physical foundation. He is like a large rock. Kaiser lacks magic, so he needs to learn how to move his weight like a rock, block properly, and not get thrown into walls."

A rock? Is that a compliment?

"Specifically, you will teach him footwork and parrying." Elfie nodded to herself. "Kaiser always holds his sword like he’s trying to slice bread. He needs to hold it like a weapon."

I sighed, drawing my wooden training sword from my belt.

"Fine. Let’s see your stance, Kaiser."

Kaiser stepped into the center of the clearing, drawing his wooden blade with all the coordination of a newborn calf.

"I’ll try my best."

What followed was not a sparring match. It was a comedic circus.

Kaiser lunged forward, immediately tripped over a tuft of damp grass, and fell flat on his face.

"Ouch."

"Get up." I rolled my shoulders, keeping my voice level. "Keep your feet wider. Balance is everything."

Kaiser scrambled up, nodding with intense, fake concentration. He raised the wooden sword, holding it with both hands directly in front of his nose, completely blocking his own eyes.

"Like this?"

"You can’t see, Kaiser."

"If I can’t see them, they can’t see me. It’s a psychological advantage."

"That is not how eyes work. Lower the tip."

He lowered it, but dropped it so fast the hilt smacked him directly in the groin. He doubled over, letting out a wheeze that sounded like a dying balloon.

I closed my eyes, counting to 3.

"Stand up. Your hips are too high. Drop your weight, step forward, and thrust. Keep it controlled."

He stood, took a massive, theatrical step forward, and went straight into a split on the wet grass. His training pants made a loud, warning rip. He remained on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.

"My hips are too flexible. I think I broke my leg. Does the academy cover medical costs?"

"Get up. You didn’t break anything. Just stand."

He got to his feet, dusting off his knees. I took a slow step forward, raising my wooden blade to show him a basic angle.

"When I swing from the left, do not block it head-on. You don’t have the strength. Slide your blade down mine to push it away. Deflect it. Ready?"

"Ready."

I swung in slow motion, a simple, horizontal sweep.

Instead of parrying, Kaiser spun around in a full 360-degree circle like a clumsy ballerina. He ended up with his back completely turned to me, his neck exposed, and his sword pointed at the sky.

"It’s a spin parry. Very advanced."

"If this were a real fight, I would have decapitated you 3 times."

"But the styling points would be off the charts."

I gripped my hilt tighter, my knuckles going white.

"Focus. A basic overhead strike. Bring it down straight. No spinning. No splits."

Kaiser nodded, his face turning dead serious. He raised the sword high above his head, took a deep breath, and swung down with all his might. But his hands were wet from the morning dew.

The wooden sword slipped cleanly from his grip.

It flew through the air, spinning twice, and hit me squarely in the bridge of my nose.

A sharp thud echoed through the clearing.

I stood frozen, the wooden sword clattering to the grass at my feet. A dull throb was beginning to build between my eyes.

This guy popped my wrists last month with mathematical precision.

Now he is pretending he can’t even throw a straight swing without losing his weapon.

How does he have the stomach to play this pathetic act while hiding that monstrous strength? He refuses to use a single drop of it, just to keep his fool’s mask intact.

It made my blood boil.

"Stop it!" Elfie ran onto the field, throwing her arms out to shield Kaiser. "Rigel, you are being too strict! Why did you let your face hit his sword? You almost hurt him!"

I stared at her, my face completely flat.

"He threw his sword at me, Elfie."

"It was an accident! He slipped! He is very fragile, he doesn’t have magic to protect his body!"

Fragile?

The guy who cleared Floor 27 and broke my wrists like dry twigs is fragile?

He almost broke my nose with that throw!

"Okay, okay, stop!" Leena stepped between us, waving her hands. "We need a better solution. Rigel is too aggressive, and Kaiser’s combat is... well..."

Leena tapped her chin, looking at Kaiser.

"I observed 4 major flaws. Flaw 1: your stance is too narrow — your center of gravity is completely off. Flaw 2: your grip is too stiff, which slows your wrists down. Flaw 3: you have no magical shield projection, so you can’t absorb impacts. And Flaw 4: you keep closing your eyes whenever a swing comes close."

I stared at Leena.

He’s closing his eyes on purpose to make it look realistic. I know he saw the sword coming.

"I think I need a softer teacher." Kaiser sighed, looking down at his empty hands. "Rigel’s presence is too aggressive."

"Rigel, can you turn into a girl? Maybe that would help me focus."

My temple throbbed.

"What does that even mean? Why would I turn into a girl? How is that going to fix your footwork?!"

"Wait!" Leena snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up. "That’s it! Rigel, you should teach Elfie combat, and Elfie can teach Kaiser!"

I blinked. Kaiser and Elfie stared at her, equally confused.

"That makes perfect sense." Kaiser immediately nodded, his face deadpan. "Elfie is soft, she doesn’t yell at me, and she smells like strawberries. I learn better in comfortable environments."

"Wait, what?" Elfie’s cheeks flushed red. "I’m supposed to teach you?"

"Yes." Leena giggled. "If Rigel trains Elfie, Elfie’s Rank Zero combat skills will adapt to Rigel’s heavy style. Then, she can filter that information down to Kaiser’s level. It’s a standard two-tier pedagogical distribution system!"

A what?

"Exactly." Kaiser agreed. "It’s standard logic. Plus, this way, Leena can watch Rigel fight up close."

Leena’s ears twitched, a soft pink dusting her cheeks, but she nodded vigorously.

I looked at the three of them, completely exhausted.

"Fine. Whatever. Let’s do it."

Kaiser and Leena walked over to the wooden bench at the edge of the clearing, sitting down side-by-side.

Elfie and I stepped into the center of the grassy area. She drew her wooden sword, her bright blue eyes locking onto mine.

"Can you use that ability?" I looked at her hands. "The stardust stigmata?"

Elfie looked down at her palms, sighing. Her skin was smooth, pale, completely normal.

"I can’t. Even if I try, they don’t look like that. I don’t know how I did it or how to bring it out again."

Even if she’s a girl and my friend, she is far stronger than me.

A true Rank Zero.

But I can’t embarrass myself by giving up here. I have to do my best.

I raised my sword, stepping into a low, defensive stance.

"Come at me, Elfie."

Elfie nodded. She held the wooden sword with both hands, lunging forward.

But her weight shifted too early. She swung the blade with a wide, looping motion that left her side completely exposed. I easily stepped to the right, letting the wood pass by me. She couldn’t stop her momentum, stumbling forward until she almost fell.

I reached out, catching her by the back of her collar.

"Keep your core tight. You’re throwing your whole body into the swing."

She pouted, repositioning herself. She tried a high overhead block as I tapped her blade with a slow strike. Her grip was so loose that the impact vibrated through her hands, knocking the wooden sword cleanly out of her fingers. It clattered to the grass.

"My hands are too small." She grumbled, retrieving it. "And this wood is too light."

"It’s not the wood. Try a thrust."

She stepped forward, pointing the tip at my chest. But she telegraphed it so early, her shoulder tensing a full second before she moved. I simply tilted my hips, letting the point glide past my ribs, and tapped my wooden blade against her collarbone.

"You’re dead."

Elfie dropped the wooden sword entirely.

"This feels weird. It’s too clunky. I think I can do better."

"Then?"

Elfie closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, her small hands raised in front of her.

"Terra et Glacies, flectite formam... Hastam Caelestem."

A low shiver ran through the clearing.

Celestial mana, bright and pure, erupted from her palms, mixing with frozen crystals and white stone. The earth beneath her feet cracked slightly as a long, elegant spear materialized in her grasp.

The shaft was a pristine white-silver, wrapped in intricate crimson lines. At the crossguard, a large, blood-red ruby pulsed with energy, and long crimson silk ribbons trailed down from the collar, fluttering in the cold wind. The blade itself was white-silver metal, sharp and flawless.

"I like this more." Elfie spun the heavy spear once, the ribbons cutting the air. "It can act as both a wand and a sword."

"Oh! That’s so cute and pretty!" Leena cheered from the bench, clapping her hands. "Look at the red ribbons!"

"Nice." Kaiser called out, leaning back. "Very stylistic."

I stared at the gleaming spear.

I’m finished.

There is no way I can beat her when she has that, while I have a wooden stick.

"Rigel?" Elfie looked up, her blue eyes wide and pleading. "Can you teach me how to use this?"

I swallowed, nodding.

For the next 30 minutes, the clearing became a classroom.

I showed her how to shift her grip along the white shaft, using the length of the spear to keep distance. I taught her how to leverage her hips for quick sweeps, and how to slide her hands to recover after a missed thrust. She was a sponge, her movements losing their awkwardness by the minute.

"I think I’m ready." Elfie stepped back, spinning the spear into a low guard. "Let’s have a real fight."

"I can’t fight that with a wooden sword." I tapped my blade. "One strike from that metal tip and this wood will snap."

"I got you!" Leena jumped up from the bench.

She raised her hands, her translucent elf ears twitching. A swirl of cold wind and water droplets gathered around my wooden sword. The wood cracked, instantly encased in a heavy, crystalline blade of hard ice. The wind condensed tightly around the handle, forming a dry, comfortable grip.

"Thanks, Leena."

"Show her what you’ve got, Rigel!"

I gripped the ice sword. It was perfectly balanced, cold but comfortable.

"Don’t hold back, Rigel!" Elfie lunged.

She thrust the white spear forward. The movement was fast, but I deflected the metal tip with a quick parry, the sound of ice hitting metal ringing through the trees.

I stepped inside her guard, but Elfie quickly slid her hands down the shaft, using the butt of the spear to block my counter. She vaulted backward, using the length to keep me at bay.

"Leena said I need to keep my hips low! Like this!"

She swept the spear at my ankles. I jumped over the white shaft, bringing my ice blade down in a vertical strike. Elfie raised the spear horizontally, blocking the blow with the silver metal.

She is growing so fast.

Her combat sense is adjusting to the weapon by the second.

I pushed her blade down, lunging with a quick thrust. Elfie tilted her head, the ice blade grazing her hair, and brought her spear around in a sudden, blind sneak attack from my blind spot.

My instincts screamed.

I spun, my ice sword catching the silver tip just millimeters from my shoulder. With a twist of my wrists, I slid my blade down her shaft, disarming her. The white spear flew from her grip, landing in the dirt.

I held the tip of my ice sword a finger’s width from her throat.

Elfie blinked, then let out a breath, her face glowing.

"That was so fun! I never knew melee is that fun!"

"You’re a fast learner." I lowered the ice blade, letting it melt into mist. "Extremely fast."

"You both did amazing!" Leena ran over, holding two towels. "We’re going to get some drinks from the vending machines. We’ll be back soon!"

"I’ll help you carry them." Kaiser stood up, walking toward Leena.

"Hurry back." Elfie waved, sitting down on the bench to catch her breath.

I stood in the center of the clearing, the cold wind blowing through my hair.

I have to get stronger.

Leena is smiling now, but she is still exiled, still vulnerable to the whims of the high-born.

I cannot remain a weak spectator while Kaiser manipulates the world from the shadows.

I will be her knight. I will protect her, no matter what it takes.

---

Perspective: Leena Grelynn

"They’re really giving it their all, aren’t they?"

I adjusted the collar of my gothic dress, matching Kaiser’s slow, steady steps. The gravel path crunched beneath our boots as we walked away from the clearing.

"We need to make sure they stay well-fed. Rigel eats like a horse when he trains, and Elfie is probably going to want more cake. Training consumes so much energy."

"I’ll buy the cake with Rigel’s silver."

"You are terrible, Kaiser! You shouldn’t steal from your training instructor."

"It’s not stealing if he handed it to me. It’s called strategic allocation."

I giggled, taking a little skip over a puddle.

Elfie has gotten so much stronger and smarter in just 1 month.

I wish I could grow as fast as her. Sometimes it feels like I’m trailing behind, just watching them leave me in the dust.

I glanced sideways at Kaiser. He was walking with his hands in his pockets, his face as relaxed and blank as ever, not a single worry in the world. He didn’t even look like a student at Asura Academy. He looked like a tourist who had wandered onto the grounds by mistake.

"You know, it’s rare when it’s just the two of us."

"Yeah. We don’t talk much."

"And when we do, it’s mostly about Rigel or Elfie. We’re always in groups of 4."

"Usually."

"We’re friends, so we should talk more often. That way we’re better friends! We can share secrets, or complain about how stubborn those two are."

"I suppose that makes sense. Stubbornness is their primary trait."

I smiled, looking ahead at the tall stone spires of the main building.

"Elfie and you are like me and Rigel, just in opposite ways."

"Opposite?"

"Elfie does what Rigel does for me. She protects you, she leads you around, she fights for you. In all honesty, both of us are just in debt to them. We’re the ones being carried."

"True. We should be grateful to them and help them always. Being a burden takes effort, Leena."

"Hey! Don’t group me with you! I actually spar and use wind magic. You just get thrown around!"

"Getting thrown around builds character."

I looked up at the grey clouds shifting above the academy buildings.

Why is Elfie so selfish with Kaiser?

I understand they are childhood friends. I want to spend time with Rigel and care for him, but this is different.

Why can’t I be selfish like her? What makes their bond so possessive?

Rigel is honest. I know his strength, his guilt, his boundaries. He followed me out of Elven lands, and I try to stand beside him so he doesn’t carry the weight alone. It’s a balance.

But Kaiser is a complete blank. He sits in the back of the class, sleeps through lectures, and lets Elfie shield him from everything, yet she looks at him like he’s the one holding up the sky.

Why does she think Kaiser is so special she must possessively take care of him?

I can do things for Rigel too. I can try my best.

But since the start, it feels like Elfie has done everything for Kaiser while he just keeps it. Providing nothing in return...

Rigel has protected me from bullies since we were kids, but I don’t feel this suffocating need to lock him away or guard him like a treasure. I trust his strength.

But Elfie behaves like a single crack in Kaiser’s life would destroy her entire world.

Yet she smiles so much when she’s near him.

I remembered the time after the cafe meeting with Delyara. The top 10 rankings of academy girls based on beauty.

Somehow, Kaiser had taken control of that situation and ensured her safety and happiness.

He made Elfie smile even when she felt insecure and out of place.

Is that what makes him special? Surely not?

There has to be something else. Something Elfie sees that the rest of the world misses.

Elfie wasn’t stupid. She was a genius, a Rank Zero celestial magic user who could manipulate gravity itself. If Kaiser were truly just a lazy commoner, she wouldn’t cling to him like her life depended on it. She looked at him with an intensity that bordered on worship.

It made me want to find out why Elfie is like that. What kind of person was Kaiser Everhart under that lazy, blank mask? Was there a hidden side to him, or was he just incredibly lucky to have a goddess protecting him?

We turned the corner into the stone arcade leading to the courtyard.

Several Class B students walked past. When their eyes fell on Kaiser, their expressions twisted into immediate disgust and pity. They whispered to each other, shaking their heads.

"That’s him," one murmured, loud enough to carry. "The one who dragged Class C to the bottom."

Further down, two Class A girls sneered, murmuring quietly before walking faster to put distance between themselves and us. It was as if failing the exam was a contagious disease.

A group of Class C students leaned against the stone columns. They glared at Kaiser, their faces tight with annoyance, while a few others laughed quietly, finding amusement in his presence.

It’s unfair.

I felt a knot tighten in my chest.

Having been exiled myself, I knew exactly what it felt like to be cast aside because you didn’t fit the mold. The elves had judged me for my impurity. Now, the entire school was judging Kaiser based on a leaderboard count.

They looked at him like he was trash. They didn’t know him. They didn’t see how hard he tries in his own quiet way, or how he never complains even when the entire class yelled at him.

"Look who it is."

Daniel and Roman were standing right in front of the vending machines, blocking the path.

When they saw Kaiser, Daniel’s eyes narrowed, his hands balling into tight fists. He stepped forward, his boots clicking heavily against the stone floor.

"The class deadweight, taking a nice morning stroll."

Roman spat on the gravel, stepping forward to block our way completely.

"Must be nice having absolutely no shame. You drag our whole class down, ruin our grades, get us a 75% credit penalty, and here you are buying juice like you didn’t just spit in our faces."

"Move aside, Roman." I said, my voice losing its usual bubbly tone. "We just want to buy drinks."

"Oh, the elf wants to protect her little friend?" Daniel sneered, looking at me with a cold laugh. "Why are you even hanging out with this leech, Leena? He’s the reason we’re all broke. He’s a parasite."

Kaiser didn’t move. He stood there, his eyes half-closed, looking at the vending machine options.

"I think I want the melon soda." Kaiser murmured, as if they weren’t even there.

"Are you ignoring us, you piece of trash?" Roman stepped closer, his shadow falling over Kaiser.

"You think because Elfina protects you, you can walk around here like you’re somebody? Without her, you’re nothing."

"Just a useless dog."

...

I have to do something.