His corpse collapsed, and a pool of blood formed, looking pitch black in the darkness.

Dead silence fell over the clearing. The only sound left was the maiden’s ragged sobbing. A few seconds passed, and then—

[Ding! Mission Complete: Save Rithra.]

[Rewards have been sent to your inventory.]

Lucian took a long breath, released it, and broke the silence in a flat voice. "Well, all clear... we should leave before anyone else shows up."

Behind him, Sera was visibly shaken. Even with the mask on, her body language made it obvious she was in shock. Elira, however, remained perfectly neutral, as if the slaughter was just a detail, nothing worth reacting to.

"Lucian..." Sera whispered. "You... you killed them?"

Lucian turned and looked her in the eye.

"Yes, I did. If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to save her."

"Still... you could have at least warned us before doing this kind of thing!"

Inside, her mind was reeling.

What is wrong with him? His aura — no, even his mind has changed. It’s like he’s a different person.

"I did tell you, you know this."

He made a quick gesture with his finger — the same signal he had used to stop Sera when she first tried to step forward.

Sera opened her mouth to say something, but the words died in her throat. She looked at his hand, then back at him, and stayed silent.

Lucian turned and walked toward the maiden, bent down to reach for her hand.

"Are you okay?"

The girl’s red eyes were fixed on him for a longer second. unblinking. Then, something unexpected happened. She scrambled back, clutching her traditional, flowery frock. Suddenly, a purple ripple distorted the air around her, and in a flash, she transformed into a small black raven. Without a sound, she took flight.

The three of them stood there, stunned, watching her ascend. Lucian pulled off his mask, watching as the entire cloak to shrink back into its mask. He didn’t look away from the bird. High above, the raven paused for a split second, casting one last, sharp glance at Lucian’s face with its red eyes before disappearing into the canopy.

A shapeshifter? Rithra... why can’t I remember her? It feels so — Oh shit, shit, shit...

Fuck. It clicked. Rithra!

Yes I know it, I remember now... the author mentioned her. Rithra, the time-passenger raven with time manipulation skills. Shit, how the hell did I forget that? In the original story, when the Hero is in the final exam tournament with the whole class, he saves Aria from these knights. That’s when Rithra gets impressed and opens a dimension rift for him.

Lucian rubbed his face and let out a strange, dry laugh — the kind that left Sera and Elira looking at him in total confusion. Elira pulled off her mask, stepping right behind him to study his expression.

Seeing this, Sera didn’t hesitate. She ripped her mask off and pushed past Elira, standing directly in front of Lucian. She shot Elira a heavy, smug look, as if to say: ’I’m the one closest to him.’

Is she seriously trying to challenge me? Elira thought, her face flat. Does she even have a clue what Lucian and I have already done together?

Lucian calmed himself and dropped his hand,and looked at Sera, who was still staring smugly at Elira’s emotionless face.

"Sera."

Her attention caught his eyes instantly.

"I think you should leave now."

"What? Why?" her eyes widened. She pointed an accusing finger at Elira. "Tell her to go too!"

Lucian glanced down back at Elira and then at Sera’s feet.

"You’re in your nightwear and you’re not even wearing slippers. Elira and I have work to do here. Just go, I’ll open a rift for you."

"No! What work? Tell me! What is so important that you need to be alone?"

She glanced at the dead bodies nearby, her face twisting into a disgusted, mocking pout.

"Is this what you do? Sneak out of the academy at midnight? Are you a contract killer now? Have you started doing assassin work? Tell me!"

Sera was past the point of patience. Lucian could see the resolve in her eyes — she had made up her mind. She wasn’t going to let Elira win, and she certainly wasn’t going to be a coward and give up on him anymore.

Lucian just smiled, looking at this rare, stubborn side of her. He reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Fine, you can come. But before that... let me give you something first."

Hearing this, a satisfied, toothy grin spread across her face again. She puffed out her chest, showing off to Elira, who just kept staring with that same flat expression.

Lucian extended his hand.

System, buy an electric baseball bat.

[Purchase confirmed. -1000 FP]

The bat materialized in his grip out of thin air. While Elira didn’t blink — having grown used to his strange abilities, However, Sera was seeing this level of magic for the first time. Her mouth fell open, stretching into the shape of a perfect egg.

The bat that appeared looked like a completely ordinary baseball bat. There were no sparks, no lightning — nothing.

Did this System scam me again?

Thinking this to himself, he handed the bat to Sera.

"Here, take this. There are a lot of unknown creatures around here. Keep it for safety."

She took the bat and inspected it closely. She tapped it with a finger, then took a stance and swung it like a sword. Still nothing. No electricity.

Lucian sighed. He glanced back at Elira.

"Let’s move."

She nodded. and they set off into the dark. Sera followed immediately, her bare feet stepping over the rough, cold forest floor. Lucian glanced down at her feet again and stopped.

"Sera, Get on my back."

The words made her mind short circuited.

"What?"

"We will grab something for you to wear from your room later. For now, we need to move deeper inside before another knight raid shows up."

Sera stood there, stunned by the way he was acting. The way Lucian was behaving so maturely — even the idea of body contact seemed normal to him now — was completely new to her.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and, in the next second, leaped onto him.

"Wait, wait! Let me adjust!" she grunted.

Five seconds later, She was glued to his back like a mama bear clinging to her cub. She didn’t miss the opportunity to glance back at Elira.

With her eyes half-closed and a confident blush creeping onto her face, she threw Elira a look of pure triumph while adjusting herself with an air of superiority, as if she had officially ’claimed’ him.

Elira? Her reaction was the same as always—a flat, doll-like stare. Whatever was going on in her head, she wasn’t letting it show. Besides, if Sera ever found out the truth about what had actually happened between Lucian and Elira, she’d probably die of sheer embarrassment on the spot.

They moved further in before the group finally came to a halt. They were still in the Outer Ring. Based on their current levels, this area was relatively safe, and going any deeper meant facing unknown creatures they might not be ready for.

Lucian knew this. Elira had briefed him, and he had already made up his mind — this was the perfect spot for testing his new skills and grinding stats.

Lucian let Sera down and opened a rift.

"Go back and change, put on something you don’t mind throwing away."

Sera didn’t quite catch his meaning. She stared at him confusedly for a moment, before hurried through the portal into her dorm room without asking any questions. On her way out, she grabbed the sword from the door floor as she vanished inside.

The moment she was gone, Elira — who had been silent for a while — moved in. She pressed herself right up against him, almost sticking to his side. She rested a hand on his shoulder and whispered.

"Darling... you know how much I love observing you. So why won’t you tell me? What did you do to those knights? I still can’t figure it out."

Lucian looked into her eyes, trying to read her. Then, a practiced smile formed on his face.

"I know how you love stalking me, Still..." He gripped her shoulders and pushed back slightly to create some space.

"Tell you what — instead of explaining, how about I just show you?"

Elira’s eyes lit up. She nodded eagerly, almost five or six times in a row.

Hehe, I can’t exactly explain to her that after spending two years in a time cube, my body has basically become a walking slicer. With this new wind affinity, my fingers work just like swords. ’Finger Blade’... yeah, maybe that’s what I should call this move.

He started to turn back toward the forest, but before he could even take a step, his senses spiked. He felt it — something was lurking right behind the thickets.