After reinforcing himself through [Powerscaling], Ruvian wasted no time. He made the necessary preparations, then slipped out of his room.

It was late, and dangerously close to curfew, which was the hour when the academy fell under strict regulation. By this time, all scholars were expected to have returned to their assigned quarters, with corridor movement heavily restricted and monitored.

Under normal circumstances, scholars were required to remain within their dormitories, devoting the remaining hours of the night to rest.

Even those driven enough to pursue additional training were not exempt; access to the training facilities required formal approval from the faculty, often submitted days in advance.

However, Ruvian had no intention of heading toward the training center.

His destination lay elsewhere.

Silvena’s room.

And yes, he had every reason to be there, despite this late at night.

For good reason, of course.

Because tonight was not a matter of some frivolous breach of academy rules. No, tonight, he will be meeting with Silvena and Irene to discuss their next move; their plans for the Ashway Bazaar.

That was all.

And while he was at it, he also wanted to confirm Silvena’s condition.

’Hopefully, she is getting better.’

No, she has to be!

The academy dormitory was divided into four distinct Halls.

Celestia, Vermilion, Azure, and Obsidian.

Each carrying its unspoken hierarchy. Ruvian, by assignment, belonged to Obsidian. Silvena, on the other hand, resided within Celestia.

And so, that was where he was headed. The distance itself was not far, only a few minutes of walking at most.

As for how to bypass the security of the Celestia Hall?

Ruvian already had a plan for that. He already made an agreement with Irene to meet at a hidden place near the Celestia Hall.

After that, Irene would help him and secretly guide him into Silvena’s room.

’Well, I hope she is already there. I don’t want to get caught by any of the authorities if possible.’

’That would be very troublesome.’

Ruvian let out a light sigh.

Just then, he suddenly felt a faint prickle crept along the back of his neck.

It was so subtle that most would have dismissed it as nothing more than something tricking his nerves.

’Hmm?’

Despite that, Ruvian didn’t slow down his pace. He kept walking calmly at the usual pace he usually does while keeping his head forward.

Only his thoughts sharpened.

’Was I just overthinking it?’

Keeping his breathing natural, Ruvian finally walked along the corridor that stretched ahead in eerie silence that was lit only by dim mana lamps.

And again...

His instinct was warning him. It wasn’t something like mana dissonance. Not even sound or the presence of someone.

It was just... the feeling of being watched.

Something that he had developed in his past life.

Ruvian’s eyes narrowed slightly, the only crack in his otherwise composed demeanor. Without breaking his stride, he subtly adjusted his steps, grounding himself.

Then, he lightly circulated his mana.

To confirm his suspicions, Ruvian reached for a spell. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

[Heightened Sense]

A spell that he had only recently learned from Calyra, during those long hours they spent in the library.

However, as he leaned further into the spell and relied on his mana senses, Ruvian found nothing. There was no disturbance behind him or any kind of mana fluctuation at all!

Not behind the narrow marble pillars that lined the corridor. And not even within the dark corner of the corridor.

In the end, Ruvian slowly withdrew his mana and cancelled the spell.

’How weird. Was I wrong?’

Maybe he was.

Maybe he wasn’t being followed at all.

Maybe, it’s all because he wasn’t used to the transformation of the Third-Class Magus stage yet. After all, his body was no longer the same as before.

He had already reached the level of D-rank overall. His control over mana had improved, and so had his sensitivity.

’But also... now that I’m a third-class magus, detecting someone weaker than me, or even someone slightly stronger, is no longer beyond my reach.’

At the very least, he trusted that much.

But then again...

If the one trailing him was someone capable of concealing both presence and mana, then that changed things.

Such control was not something an average scholar could achieve.

That would mean someone from Class A.

Or a capable instructor.

Ruvian’s gaze sharpened slightly as that thought settled.

If it was someone from Class A, then only a few names came to mind.

The first was Calyra.

He had seen it himself during the Deepmarch Dungeon trip.

While the second person...

’I see, perhaps... it could be him.’

Ruvian exhaled softly, his expression remained calm, though his awareness quietly stretched once more.

’Well, let’s see for how long you’re planning to follow me.’

Ruvian thought, as he continued walking toward Celestia Hall.

*****

After that, he finally reached his destination.

From a short distance away, he could see Irene standing beneath a tree, waiting in quiet composure. She already seemed aware of his arrival.

Knowing this, Ruvian calmly raised his hand and pointed to his forehead. It was a simple signal, and Irene understood it right away.

Moments later, a voice echoed within his mind.

—’What is it?’

—’Nothing. I was being followed by someone. Just act normal, and follow my lead.’

—’...Understood.’

While they spoke through Irene’s [Telepathy] spell, Ruvian advanced at an even pace, eventually arriving beside her without attracting attention.

"So, what should we do for our first training session today?"

—’First, just go along with this conversation while you try to find out who they are,’

Ruvian sent another thought right after speaking.

—’Alright.’

"Nothing much. Just the usual sparring session. And, you’re late." Irene replied.

"Was I? I thought I came here just in time." Ruvian smiled lightly.

—’So, how many were following me?’

Irene sighed. "You really have a bad habit of being late, don’t you?"

—’Only one. I couldn’t tell who it was. He was using a concealment spell.’

Ruvian looked away a little and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry. Anyway, should we start training now?"

—’I see. Alright. That’s good enough. We can go now.’

"Yeah, we shouldn’t waste any more time. Come."

—’Understood.’

Irene ended the [Telepathy] spell and nodded.

At first, she was a bit hesitant as to why Ruvian was so casual at dismissing the person that was tailing him, but she decided not to press further, at least for now.

Without much effort, Irene moved her fingers lightly, while channeling her mana. Soon, the shadow beneath them deepened, its edges softening as though it had turned fluid.

Ruvian felt as if something was drawing him downward. Though, he didn’t react and simply let it happen.

The shadow rose slightly around their ankles, then higher, and finally, wrapped around them.

Within a few breaths, their figures sank fully into the darkness. The last trace of them faded as the shadow drew closed once more, returning to its natural shape.

[Shadow Fold]

With that, the space of where they were became empty.

*****

[???’s POV]

For a while, nothing moved under the tree.

The night felt heavy and quiet. The mana lamps gave off a weak light, barely reaching the ground. The shadow under the tree stayed still, like nothing ever happened there.

Then, slowly...

A shadow came and stood there in the dark, the very place where Ruvian and Irene were a few minutes ago.

His shape was unclear, like something was covering him. The disfigurement around him felt thicker, almost alive, hiding his face and body. It was hard to tell where he started and where his appearance ended.

He looked down at that ground.

Then, a small chuckle echoed.

"Hmm~ Aha ahahaha. Now this is interesting... who would have thought someone like that exists in Class E. My, my, he is such an intriguing anomaly."

"Though, that pretty little servant seemed to almost pierced through my spell. What a close call. I did not expect her to be that capable, it appears I was a bit careless."

He stayed there a little longer, just watching.

Then, slowly, he turned his body away, and began to leave the place without a single sound.

A hollow chuckle lingered in the night air before his next voice followed.

"Ruvian Castelor... don’t disappoint me."

"Because from now on..."

──────── ✦ ────────

[Chapter 143: Let Us Play for a While]