He immediately slapped both hands firmly over his eyes and nervously blurted out.

"I didn’t see anything! Master... I’m here."

He stood there awkwardly, bracing himself for some weird noise from inside, or for Myra to throw out one of her usual teasing remarks. But there was nothing... only a heavy, dead silence filling the room.

Slowly, cautiously, he lowered his hands. Myra wasn’t on her bed. He swept his gaze across the spacious quarters, but she was nowhere in sight. The entire room was completely empty.

"How careless can she be... leaving without even locking the front door?" he muttered under his breath.

He walked over to a nearby desk. Myra’s favorite wine bottle and a half-empty glass were sitting right there. Everything looked completely normal; the only thing missing was the master herself.

Suddenly, the faint rustle of clothing and the sound of the door opening came from right behind him.

Creak—

Lucian spun around at lightning speed, fully expecting to see Myra.

But it wasn’t Myra standing in the doorway... It was Elira.

She leaned against the doorframe for a few seconds, her sharp eyes meticulously scanning every corner of the room. Finally, she stepped inside, taking one last look at the surroundings.

"So... this is your Master’s quarters."

"Yeah, looks like she’s out for the day," Lucian replied, casually placing the green stone he was holding onto the table.

"Let’s go... we’ll meet Myra—I mean, the Master — when she’s back."

He began guiding her toward the exit with a light nudge on her back. But suddenly, Elira’s senses flared.

She spun around with startling speed, closing the distance until she was inches from his chest. She leaned in, sniffing him deeply. Lucian didn’t even flinch. There wasn’t a trace of embarrassment on his face; perhaps after that ’kiss incident,’ he had become immune to her proximity — or maybe those two years of grueling training had forged his mind into something far more stoic.

"Uhh... could you stop doing this?"

Elira looked him straight in the eyes.

"Your scent... it’s changed. Mmm... it’s like metal."

Lucian narrowed his eyes.

’’Is she for real? She can actually sniff that well? I even took a bath, and she can still pick up that scent?’’

Before Lucian could utter a word, Elira’s hands began to roam. They glided over his biceps, moved up to his shoulders, and traced down toward his abdomen. They were just about to slide even lower when—

"Hey, hey—"

Lucian snatched her wrist just in time, halting her hand. ’What am I going to do with her? These weird habits of hers...’

Without a hint of hesitation, Elira looked up at him and said, "You’ve become stronger."

"Yeah, yeah, I’m strong... Now let’s get out of here."

"Wait, you’re forgetting something."

"I’m not. Now, let’s go,"

But Elira didn’t move. She pointed toward the desk, her sharp gaze fixed on the stone Lucian had intentionally left behind.

"That... I left it there for the Master. Now come on." Lucian placed a hand on her shoulder, gently ushering her out of the room before heading toward their classroom.

Throughout the day, Elira found herself constantly watching him. Her instincts were telling her that something had shifted. In Lucian’s aura, she no longer sensed the restless energy of the past. Instead, there was a strange, profound stillness — a sense of absolute tranquility that seemed to radiate from him.

Leaning toward him at their shared bench, she lowered her voice to a whisper.

"lucian..."

"Hmm?"

"You seem really different today."

Do I?"

She shook her head...

The rest of the day blurred past in that same quiet, heavy rhythm.

...

..

.

The night had grown deep and dark.

Far from the Academy, at the northern border of the Forbidden Forest, an old and worn-down carriage came to a halt. The horses scraped their hooves against the ground restlessly, as if they could sense an approaching danger.

A figure wrapped in a long cloak stepped out of the carriage. In the darkness of the night, their face was completely hidden. Panic was visible on the driver’s face; seeing the figure descend, he spoke immediately:

"Miss... do you even know what place this is? People consider it a sin to even stop here at night... and you intend to step inside?"

She didn’t stop.

The driver tried again, his voice louder this time. "This Forbidden Forest has been a death trap for even the greatest heroes. At night, the beasts and scavengers come out. No one who goes in ever comes back!"

Silence fell for a few moments. Then, she turned slightly and spoke in a cold, flat voice:

"The second squad of the knight patrol will be passing through here soon. Leave before they arrive." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

A cold, direct response. The driver went silent. Without saying another word, she walked toward the forest. The darkness swallowed her whole.

As she ventured deeper into the jungle, the leaves rustled. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. Large, terrifying eyes watched her from the shadows of the bushes, tracking her every move.

Suddenly—

A grotesque creature lunged from the trees. It had a twisted body, an unnaturally long neck, and jagged teeth. Its eyes reflected nothing but pure bloodlust.

The figure didn’t stop. Just one lightning-fast slash... and in the next moment, the creature’s torso separated from its neck and fell to the ground. In the night’s darkness, even its blood appeared pitch black.

Seeing this, all the other eyes that had been peering from the bushes fell silent. Now no beast dared to come in her way. All of them watched quietly as she ventured deeper into the jungle.

After walking for several hours, the figure came to a halt. Her gaze caught sight of a solitary house in the distance between the trees.

She removed her cloak. In the moonlight, her blue eyes began to gleam. The cross-shaped earrings with red gems swayed in her ears with the breeze.

With a deep smile, she stepped toward the house...

Is it myra?

...

After dinner at the Academy, Lucian returned straight to his room. He didn’t have time to waste—his mind was already racing with plans. After a quick bath, he sat down on the bed to meditate.

He practiced the "Mana Flowing Meditation" he had learned under Myra’s guidance for nearly 30 minutes. As the mana began to flow through his body with a steady rhythm, he slowly opened his eyes.

Before him, the system’s blue screen glowed, displaying a new mission:

[Fate Correction Mission]

Objective: Settle things between you and Seraphina’s.

Reward : you will prevent your own demise for a full six days from today. 5k fate points. 2k mana points.

Lucian frowned and fell into thought for a moment. The system was giving him this "Fate Correction" mission for free this time. He had a strange gut feeling — why was the system suddenly being so generous? But given the circumstances, he didn’t ask any questions and tapped ’YES’ without any expression.

Ding!

[Mission Time Remaining: 2 Hours]

Task: Travel to the Forbidden Forest to liberate ’Rithra’.

[Note: The mission will activate upon your entry into the Forbidden Forest.]

Lucian’s eyes widened slightly.

Rithra...? Why does that name feel so familiar, even though I can’t remember it

Any other guidance, System?

He asked, but there was no answer.

He let out a cold sigh. "Fine then..."

As he prepared to leave, Lucian suddenly remembered the promise he had made to Elira — that he would take her along whenever he went on a Night Raid.

He walked over to his desk and started looking through his things.

"Let’s see... I put it somewhere here. Yup, found it."

In his hand was a slip with a room number written on it, along with a key. Lucian grew a bit serious looking at the key.

"What am I supposed to do with her? She trusts me far too much..."

For a moment, he felt a fear that this excessive trust might overwhelm him. A strange chill crawled down his spine.

He quickly grabbed his sword and stepped outside.