With the incoming midterms, cadets were allowed to rent training grounds for a few hours each day. Although there were a lot of cadets, there were just enough for everyone to train without any issues.

In one such training ground.

"What are you doing?"

Aoife halted her practice to turn around.

Drip. Drip...!

Her entire body was soaked in sweat as a large metallic block dropped on the area before her.

Bang--!

Frowning, she looked at her team members.

Her eyes jumped a little when she noticed both Evelyn and Leon huddled next to the other team members, staring at the mana display in their hands.

It was a rather expensive device that allowed citizens to watch streams and recordings.

Aoife also had one.

She often used it to watch her performance back in the play.

"We're supposed to be training. What are you doing checki--"

Aoife's words halted mid-sentence. Stepping to the side, her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her.

Appearing on the screen was a familiar group.

[Ak! You're licking me!]

[The fuck are you putting your hand over my mouth for?]

"....."

Aoife's mouth opened in an 'o' shape as she watched the screen.

But if that wasn't enough...

[Johnathan Monroe. Karl Redhouse. Amelia Clementine... They're all high-level prospects just like you. Do you feel anything competing with such cadets?]

[....Who?]

Right then and there, Aoife almost smacked her forehead.

"...."

"...."

She wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Raising his head, Leon looked around. His gaze met with Aoife's and Evelyn's. The two of them looked at him with the same expression and sighed almost simultaneously.

"He's done it..."

"We're fucked."

"...."

Indeed, they were spot on. The moment the clip was streamed, it immediately made waves and started to be shared everywhere. Knowing how the media worked, it took no time for titles to appear.

[Who? A bold statement! Confidence or arrogance?]

[The Black Star announces his utter disregard for the incoming Academies.]

Shortly after, a Q and A was released.

It was from one of the cadets whom Julien had disregarded.

Johnathan Monroe of Montel Institute.

It went on as follows;

Q : What do you think about Haven's Black Star statement?

A : Quite frankly, nothing. I've also never heard of him. My only target is Aoife, whom I believe is the true Black Star.

Q : Are you saying that you don't take him seriously?

A : Who?

Q : I see what you did there.

The release of the Q and A sparked a new wave of conflict. To add fuel to the fire, the other two members joined in to release their own statements.

A : There's a rumor that he's the weakest Black Star in Haven's history. The standards seem to have fallen rather low.

- Karl Redhouse of Rodnea Academy.

A : Not interested. I have another target in mind.

- Amelia Clementine of the Silver Wing Institute.

Before the midterms could even start, sparks had already started to fly. Things were so heated that the topic became one of the most talked about throughout the Empire.

Just when everyone thought things couldn't get any more heated, a new interview was released.

This time, it was with none other than Haven's Black Star.

Q : There's a lot of buzz regarding what you said. Do you have anything to say to that?

A : No.

Q : Eh... Then, what do you have to say about what your competitors have said?

A : Haven't seen.

Q : You haven't?

A : No.

Q : Then... Do you have anything to say to the other Academies?

A : No.

Q : Should I repeat what they said...?

A : Annoying.

The interview ended there, but the buzz it created was even fiercer than before.

All of a sudden, Julien had become one of the central figures of the midterms.

With all attention focused on him, his performance in the midterms would be heavily scrutinized.

Unconcerned with all of this, Julien practiced with his team.

He was just about to spar with Anders when Kiera approached him.

"Hey, do you seriously not care?"

Stopping, Julien frowned.

"About what?"

"The interview thing, you know?"

".....no."

"Oh."

Kiera scratched the side of her face. It seemed like she wanted to ask something but was unsure of how to ask.

"What?"

"So, like..."

"Do whatever you want."

"Really?!"

Kiera's eyes lit up.

Looking at her briefly, Julien turned his attention away from her. He wasn't too bothered to figure out what she wanted. He just let her be. Wasn't as though she wasn't going to do it if he didn't give her permission.

"Yes."

"....!"

A new interview was released shortly after that.

Q : With a lot of the fire on your team captain, your team is currently under a lot of pressure. Do you have anything to say to that?

A : Yes.

Q : What is it?

A : Suck my ba-

***

There were only three days left until the midterms.

Classes had already stopped a week before the midterms. With cadets from the other Academies coming into the Academy, the air was rather tense.

All teams were getting ready for the upcoming evaluation. The same was true for my team as we all woke up early in the morning to train.

3 am.

"Fuck, kill me... Why are we doing this so early in the morning?"

We would start the day with physical training. Running for ten kilometers for the first ten minutes, and then going to the weight rooms to train our bodies.

Such was the plan.

5 am.

Clank--!

"Come here! I'll fuck you up!!"

We would then move to the dummy area where we spent the next few hours sparring against them. Kiera appeared rather aggressive today.

I didn't pay much attention to her and just focused on the dummy in front of me.

Time passed on like that.

It was now 8 am.

The team was now sitting at a large table where we all had our breakfast. Everyone seemed to be somewhat nervous about the coming examinations. Especially when considering the scale of the entire event.

"Are you not nervous?"

Overhearing Josephine's question, I turned to face her.

".....Nervous?"

Was I nervous?

I was extremely nervous. If I were to fail the examination then I would be in a lot of trouble. It wasn't something that I could fail.

It was for that reason that I pushed even more than before.

Still, I couldn't show that I was nervous. It wasn't because I didn't want to show weakness or something meaningless like that.

It more had to do with the fact that as the leader, I couldn't show them that I was nervous. A nervous leader wasn't a good leader.

So for that reason, I shook my head and replied.

"No."

"Wow~ Here I am, shivering every day."

"You and your nonsense again..."

Kiera grumbled by the side, scooping some of the cereal in her mouth.

"All ywo fwuking do... much... iws twalk a lot of nwonsense... munch."

"Ugh, speak after you swallow your food."

Gulp.

"I do whatever the fuck I want."

"Yah, yah. I saw."

"Kaka. What did you think of the interview? Did you see their reactions?"

"It's disgusting."

"You say that, but the same applies to you."

"That's disgusting."

"Enough you two. Stop trying to start a fight. After you're done, let's go to the training grounds. They're going to announce the name of the event soon."

In response to Luxon's words, Kiera and Josephine quieted down and hurried to eat their breakfast. Unlike the two, I kept at my pace.

While it was indeed true that the 'team event' would be announced today, that would be in two hours.

There was no need to rush.

"Eat slowly. We'll train more."

"Uh?"

"Ah? We're training more...? What sort of..."

I felt all eyes pause on me. I didn't pay attention to the looks they were giving me. Cleaning my mouth, I stood up.

"Team sparring. Let's go."

"....No way, we just came back from training."

"What sort of...!"

Ignoring their words, I headed out of the canteen and proceeded to head back towards the training grounds.

There was no time to spare.

Along the way, I sighed.

"Come on, make it quick...."

By now, I was just waiting for the quest window to pop up. Every day, I would wake up to check if I received a new notification.

With how things usually flowed, it was bound to happen.

I just hoped it'd show up early so that I could better prepare for it, but...

"It's not coming."

Regardless of how much I waited, the notification never came. There were only three days left now, and the more things were delayed, the more disadvantageous things would be for me.

I was just waiting at this point.

'Either nothing happens and the entire event is a good one, or something will happen and the quest window is going to appear soon.'

To be honest, I was leaning more towards the latter.

After getting a better idea of the sheer size and power of the organization, all hopes of the Academy thwarting whatever schemes they had disappeared.

While it was true that Delilah was present, thinking about the faceless man, I quite frankly didn't think she was as strong as him.

Rather, I thought she was inferior to him.

And not by a small margin.

"Crazy."

It was a crazy thought.

For someone to be stronger than Delilah...

Just what was stopping him from conquering the entire world?

"Haa."

The more I thought about the faceless man, the more nervous I became. But even so, I had no choice but to look ahead.

I still had time...

Not much, but I had time.

"!" Just as I took another step forward, the world around me froze and I lost control of my body.

'Ah, there it is...'

A vision.

'As expected, some bullshit is about to happen.'

The world around me started to shift and turn. Blinking twice, I found myself inside a small restaurant.

Two unfamiliar people stood on the opposite end of the table. Their figures appeared to be quite hazy, making it hard for me to decipher their appearance.

No, in fact, the entire vision appeared rather blurry.

'What's going on?'

It was the first time that I had experienced a vision like this. It was odd.

"What do you think?"

Even so, I had no choice but to pay close attention to the conversation. All information was vital.

"....Well, I don't know. The situation is messed up. There's a lot of attention currently focused on Haven and the Chancellor."

A lot of attention focused on Haven and the Chancellor?

I perked up my ears to listen carefully.

"It can't be helped. After the incident during the midterms, there's been a lot of complaints. The Royal family is using the situation to take her down a notch."

"Ugh, how annoying. It wasn't even her fault."

"Not her fault? She's the one overseeing Haven. It's her responsibility to look after these things."

"Please. You know damn well it's not her fault. She may be strong, but she isn't omnipotent. If there's anyone to blame, then blame the inspectors. This is all their fault, to begin with. Had they not been so lazy...!"

"Stop, you don't know that."

"But...!"

The conversation started to get heated from that point. Straining my ears, I tried to pick up for any more words.

".....Oy."

But before I knew it, I was back in the training grounds.

Before me, Kiera stood.

Sporting a frown, she looked at me.

"What are you doing?"

"...Nothing."

I brushed her words away. However, from the corner of my eyes, I glanced at the notification that popped up.

My heart dropped.

[ Main Quest Activated : Midterms.]

: Character Progression + 207%

: Game Progression + 11%

Failure

: Calamity 1 + 15%

: Calamity 2 + 15%

: Calamity 3 + 15%

'....So the main storyline is starting.'

The stakes suddenly increased dramatically, and so did the rewards. Silently clenching my teeth, I brushed the notification to the side and stared at my group.

With heavy expressions, they all appeared to be stretching.

I pursed my lips.

"....About training."

Everyone raised their heads to look at me. Even though I hadn't said anything, Kiera's expression suddenly changed.

So did Josephine's.

"You wouldn't dare...!"

"No!"

I didn't care for their screams and curses.

Stretching my arm, I muttered,

"We're doubling it."