"There’s something there... a ghost is there!"

The terrified boy’s teammate quickly grabbed him by the arm and yanked him up. "Hey, have you lost your mind? What the hell are you blabbering about? Did the darkness scramble your brain or what?"

Right at that moment, from behind Lucian, Kaelen’s panicked voice rang out. He let out a loud squeak and scrambled backward.

"H-h-hey g-guys... ghost! A big ghost!" Terrified out of his wits, he shoved his face straight into the ground, wrapping both arms around his head and curling himself up into a tight, trembling ball.

"Oh come on, Kaelen, how much are you going to get scared of everything?" Sera grabbed him by the collar with both hands, trying to pull him up, though had absolutely zero luck.

"Come on, get up... sometimes you just have to face your fears..."

Lyria just stood next to Lucian, gently fanning herself and letting out a tired sigh.

However, Lucian noticed something slightly off. He slowly walked closer to the wall and peered into his own reflection.

System, analyze this wall.

[ Analyzing... ]

[ Breaking this wall purely with raw strength has an 80% failure rate. In short, breaking it with brute force is completely out of your league. ]

Do you have any useful information that doesn’t involve being annoying?

[ Yeah, listen here you sewer scum. You currently have 3 Silver Skill Stones. You can upgrade any of your skills — except for the Unique and Special ones — and use it to help break this wall. ]

Okay, okay. Any suggestions from your side?

[ Upgrade ’Villain’s Gaze’, and then analyze the wall again. Currently, the skill can go up to Level 3. ]

Fine, do it and analyze it again. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

[ Upgrading skill: Villain’s Gaze (Level 1 -> Level 3) ]

[ Excellent. Now Analyzing the wall again... ]

Oh, for fuck’s sake, this system talks way too aggressively sometimes... Lucian grimaced.

[ Alright, listen up, now you low-life vermin. The wall is imbued with simple illusion magic. Anyone who tries to look at their reflection will be hit with a hallucination. That’s literally it. So, if you want to break the wall, you have to conquer your fear first and then hit it. That is the only way it’s possible... well, assuming you even have the strength to begin with. ]

"Seriously? Didn’t they have any better ideas than this, just scaring the shit out of them?"

Thinking that, Lucian decided to test it out himself. He stepped closer and focused on his own mirror image in the translucent wall.

A figure in a strange cloak appeared in the reflection. Pale, milky eyes... no, they were silver. The person slowly pulled back their cloak.

"Mom?"

The moment he saw that face, Lucian suddenly started panting heavily. Bending forward, he clutched his chest tightly, gasping for air.

Okay... okay... this isn’t easy. I get it, I GET it.

Sera and Elira quickly rushed up from behind him.

"Darling, are you okay?" Elira asked, her usual cold tone laced with concern.

"Lucian, what happened?!" Sera panicked.

"I’m fine..." Lucian stood up straight, taking a deep, ragged breath to compose himself.

Seeing his reaction, Lyria stepped forward, trying to peer into the wall to analyze it herself.

"No, don’t do it," Lucian warned instantly. "Not unless you want to embarrass yourself in front of everyone."

Lyria paused, forcing an awkward smile. "Could you perhaps explain that a bit more clearly?"

Lucian glanced around at the other struggling teams before speaking.

"No one has managed to break this wall yet, so it’s obvious this task isn’t going to be simple. For now, whatever you do, do not look at your reflection in the mirror... let’s take some time before doing anything rash."

Just then, as if to prove his point, several more students across the area started stumbling backward in pure terror. One by one, they collapsed or screamed as the wall forced them to confront their worst, deeply buried fears.

The entire team realized the gravity of Lucian’s words.

"Just like I said, do not try to look into the wall, if you want to try hitting it, do it with your eyes closed."

Seeing the lingering sweat on his usually composed face, everyone took his warning seriously and gave a slow, solemn nod.

Off to the side, Lucian and Lyria’s attention was suddenly drawn to a specific team. Their teamwork was completely different from the chaotic mess around them. Every single male student in that party was wearing the exact same purple and white uniform.

"Black Mire Academy," Lucian murmured while narrowing his eyes.

"Hmm... they are quite the wreckers," Lyria mumbled right beside him as her gaze fixed on their coordinated movements.

He arched his brow.

"Wreckers? Are they famous... for something specific?"

Lyria nodded. "You see that girl over there?" She subtly pointed at a gloomy-looking, pale girl with long black hair. She had her fingertips pressed flat against the wall, almost as if she was trying to... sense it.

"Hmm, I know her. That’s Nyx Verya... the top prodigy of Black Mire."

It was a complete lie. Lucian had never seen or heard of her before; he just used ’Villain’s Gaze’ to Appraise her on the spot and casually dropped her name.

"Ah, so you know her," Lyria said, mildly surprised. "Yes, she’s a prodigy. But did you also know that she is... one of them?"

"What?"

"You know... one of those reincarnated heroes."

Lucian’s eyes widened slightly.

"Reincarnated? You mean, from another world?"

"Yep. And get this, here’s the interesting part." Lyria pointed slightly again, this time at another boy with silver-white hair and striking red eyes standing right behind Nyx.

"Riven Duskfall..." Lucian muttered.

"Correct. The rumors in their academy say that those two teamed up and fought against their entire second-year classes."

"What?"

"Yes, yes. Nobody knows the exact reason, though after seeing them take on entire classes like that, the academy’s headmaster couldn’t expel them even if he wanted to. After all, they are the absolute pride of the Frostfall Kingdom."

That is quite the image... Frostfall Kingdom, huh?

Lucian narrowed his eyes. Elira never mentioned them. She definitely must have known about those two.

He turned his head, glancing back at his own icy girl.

Elira was currently standing there with her eyes tightly shut, relentlessly punching the exact same spot on the wall with her bare, frost-covered fists. Right next to her, Sera also had her eyes squeezed shut, growling furiously as she repeatedly smashed her Molten Sword against the unbreakable surface.

It was blatantly obvious there was zero teamwork going on. The two of them were just engaging in some petty, mindless competition, treating the wall like a punching bag to see who was stronger. Behind them, Kaelen was desperately waving his arms, trying to calm them down, while Zeri was curled up like a cat, sound asleep on the freezing cave floor.

Lucian could only stare at his party’s chaotic mess and let out a long sigh.

"Lyria," Lucian said while turning his attention back to the aristocratic girl.

"How about we keep an eye on the other teams before we try breaking the wall ourselves?"

She arched an elegant brow.

"And what exactly are you implying by that?"

"I have a plan."

Lyria just stared at him in utter confusion, waiting for him to elaborate.

A little while later, Lucian and Lyria used Lucian’s ’Brenos Watch’ to turn themself completely invisible. Like sneaky moths, they began patrolling the massive underground area, silently observing the other teams.

"So... this is what you meant by ’a plan’?" Lyria asked deadpan.

"Well, isn’t it a good one? Observe and learn," Lucian simply smiled.

After walking for a bit, they stopped about fifteen feet away from the Black Mire prodigy group, keeping a safe distance as they watched.

A rather bizarre scene was unfolding in front of them.

"Hey, what do you think they are actually trying to do?" Lucian whispered, his eyes glued to the group.

"Just watch," Lyria whispered back, not taking her eyes off them.

"Whatever is about to happen, it seems interesting."

And interesting it was.

Nyx was lazily scratching her messy black hair, tilting her head all the way back as she tried to see the absolute highest tip of the towering wall. The further up she looked, the more she leaned backward, until—slip. She completely lost her balance.

Before she could hit the hard cavern floor, Other prodigy — the tall corpse manipulator with silver-white hair and red eyes, Riven — caught her smoothly from behind.

"Take it easy, Nyx," Riven chuckled softly. "I think you might need a little more height to look that far up."

Nyx just stared at him with an absolute deadpan expression for five solid seconds.

"Are you done?" she muttered.

Standing nearby, one of their other prodigy teammates — Cain, a curse debuff specialist — placed a finger on his lips and passed a sly, teasing comment.

"Oh, leader... looks like you’re enjoying holding her a bit too much."

Behind Cain stood the rest of their party: Vesper Nightshade, a female blood mage; Lysine Hollow, an enhancer; and Morven Shade, a poison specialist. Hearing Cain’s remark, all three of them giggled.