"..None of you should think about resting for the next week or so."

Professor Thornwhisper's cold voice echoed throughout the confines of a small room. Lined up in front of him were the twenty or so cadets who had been selected to represent the Aurora Empire.

Unlike the Nurs Ancifa Empire, which ruled by suppressing the citizen's power, the Aurora Empire was one where strength mattered the most.

Power struggles often occurred because of this.

But it was the way that the Aurora Empire operated. The strong survived, and the weak were cast aside.

It was something that everyone present knew, and yet,

"Should I discard all of you?"

They had lost.

Pathetically at that.

Professor Thornwhisper's gaze coldly swept the cadets. In particular, his gaze paused on three figures.

"Aiden, Jessica, and Kaelion. Step forward."

The atmosphere turned oppressive under his voice.

Besides Kaelion who stepped forward without showing much of a reaction, there were hints of hesitation in Aiden and Jessica's faces.

Regardless, they soon stepped forward.

".."

Without saying anything, Professor Thornwhisper walked around them before raising his fist.

Bang

"Ukh!"

Aiden's body lurched back as the Professor's fist hit him directly in the stomach, forcing him back several meters.

"Ukeh..! Ukeh! Akh!"

Puke started to flow out from his mouth as his eyes widened in pain.

That was merely the start.

Bang!

A kick flew in the air, landing squarely on the cadet's cheek, twisting his body to the side.

The sound of the impact was loud, and yet, nobody made a sound while they watched from the side.

Bang, bang, bang

The sounds continued. They were endless, and they only stopped once Aiden was no longer moving.

It was Jessica's turn next, and she too was subjected to the same treatment.

"Ukah!"

Bang!

There were no protests from the other cadets.

They could only watch as their three leaders were mercilessly beaten to the point where they were on the verge of death.

Such was the law of the Aurora Empire.

This was the culture that was bred into them, and what was currently happening was merely their own way of beating the weakness out of them.

"Hoo"

Lifting his blood-stained fist, the professor's gaze turned to face Kaelion who stood without so much as an expression.

"You"

His cold voice echoed quietly within the room, sending chills down the spines of some of the cadets.

Professor Thornwhisper was usually cold, but today Today they could tell that he was especially angry.

His source of anger was none other than Kaelion.

"Why did you stop?"

".."

Kaelion didn't answer and merely looked back at the Professor.

Bang!

His head smacked to the side as a fist flew to his face.

"Answer me."

Blood dripped down from the side of Kaelion's cheeks.

Tracing his thumb over the wound, he answered.

"I was bored."

"Bored?"

Professor Thornwhisper laughed. His laugh bellowed throughout the entire room before eventually coming to a stop as his cold gaze bore down on Kaelion.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I can't see what sort of reaction you were making during your match?"

He pressed his finger against Kaelion's shoulder.

"You were scared."

"."

"You gave up because you were scared."

Kaelion bit his lips.

Scared?

He clenched his teeth.

"I"

Bang!

The first came, and his head smacked to the side. A familiar pain washed over him, forcing his mouth shut.

Bang, bang

The fists came into barrages, each stronger than the other.

Professor Thornwhisper didn't hold back at all.

Blood spilled throughout the entire room as Kaelion fell to the floor while the Professor mounted him from the top and smacked his face from left to right with his large fists.

It was a gruesome sight, and yet

Nobody said a thing while they watched in silence.

Such was the fate of those from the Aurora Empire. Everyone was used to such a scene.

Kaelion too.

And thus,

Bang!

He could only accept the punishment.

Even as his consciousness started to blur.

After all,

This hadn't been the first time he had been treated as such.

***

Rustle~

A gentle breeze wafted through the air, scattering the leaves of the trees. Silence took over the surroundings as a figure walked into the forest, shattering whatever silence took over.

"Cough! Cough!"

Leaning against one of the trees, Kaelion coughed several times. Blood leaked from his mouth as he leaned over, and took several deep breaths.

"Haa Haa"

He stared at his trembling hands.

"J-just why isn't it stopping?"

His entire face was covered in bruises with cuts all over the place.

Several hours had passed since the beating, and the pain had subsided.

Usually, after such beating, he'd rest.

And yet,

"I Haa can't sleep."

Glaring black circles formed beneath his eyes, and as he looked around, he felt his entire chest grow heavy.

Images of the cadet from before replayed in his mind over and over again, forcing him into this strange unknown state that he couldn't tear himself away from.

It was as if something was crawling the depths of his mind, and influencing his thoughts.

"J-just!"

The constant reminders were like nightmares.

They haunted his mind constantly, forcing him out of sleep. He found himself unable to sleep, and before he knew it, he was standing in the middle of the forest that was resting outside of the Academy.

"Just what in the hell.!"

"What are you so worried about?"

".!"

A certain voice tickled his ear, and Kealion's expression hardened as he pressed his foot forward to distance himself from the voice before turning around and launching several magic spells in the direction of where he had been.

Bang! Bang!

His reaction was incredibly fast, and it took no more than several seconds for all of it to happen.

Dust and debris scattered everywhere, hindering his vision.

It took several seconds for everything to calm down.

Once it did, all Kaelion could see were small craters on the ground.

But,

"Nothing."

There was nothing.

"Haa"

Kaelion's head flicked to surveil the surroundings. His eyes scanned every nook and cranny of his surroundings, and yet, regardless of how hard he looked, he couldn't find any trace of anyone.

"That"

He was sure he had seen someone.

It couldn't be that he was imagining things again, right?

"No, you weren't."

A voice whispered in his ear again.

Kaelion's head flicked again as he felt his heart jump out of his chest. Twisting his body, he elbowed the area behind him.

Swoosh!

But just like before, all he met was air.

"Haa Haa!"

Looking around, Kaelion's expression hardened.

"Show yourself!"

"..Sure."

A reply came shortly after and Kaelion's head flicked towards one of the trees.

Finally

He managed to spot the figure he had been looking for.Sitting on top of one of the tree branches, he looked down on Kaelion.

"It's you"

Finally, Kaelion managed to see the figure that had been haunting him.

He wasn't sure whether to feel relief or anything else.

Regardless, at this very moment, his only thoughts were to eliminate the figure before him.

The source of his weakness.

Swoosh!

Kaelion wasted not a single second. Raising his hand, over a dozen magic circles floated behind him. His hair scattered, and the mana in the air grew extremely dense and thick.

He was just about to unleash the spells when a hand pressed against his shoulder and he felt something cool run down his body.

"Calm down will you?"

"Uh!?"

Kaelion felt his entire body grow cold.

Blinking his eyes, he noticed that the figure that had been sitting on the tree was long gone.

'When!?'

Kaelion's breathing grew even rougher as he silently swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

All sorts of thoughts were running through his mind, and just as he was about to do something, the hand that pressed over his shoulder left and the cadet raised both of his hands.

"Well, I'm not here to fight you."

He took several steps back, and Kealion turned his body to face him.

They were only a few meters apart.

.And that was when Kaelion finally noticed something.

"You"

The man that stood before him.

He was nowhere near as strong as him. In fact, he seemed to be a lot weaker just from his mana signature.

Around the early stages of Tier 3.

"Who are you?"

The cadet smiled.

It was a smile that made Kaelion frown.

"You already know."

"..I don't."

"Do you not?"

Brushing his hair up, a face finally was revealed, and Kaelion felt his body tense.

That face

"Do you know who I am now?"

"."

Kaelion didn't answer.

Taking a few deep breaths, he managed to calm himself down before finally speaking.

"The previous Black Star."

"Correct."

Kaelion closed his eyes.

In that moment, his mind finally cooled down and he started to recall everything that had happened so far.

It wasn't long before he opened his eyes again, and his expression turned cold.

"Illusion."

He muttered a single word while looking around.

"Everything It's all been an illusion."

Kaelion's thoughts were rather fast.

"I did hear that your emotive magic was rather impressive. I didn't know that you had illusion magic. Coupling the two together, you were able to render me into this state"

Covering his mouth, he laughed a little.

".That's good."

He raised his head to look at Julien.

"You're good, but"

His eyes narrowed and the previous fear that had been seeping into his mind vanished without a trace.

"That's it."

Confidence started to resurge within him.

"..Now that I know how you did it, I no longer feel scared. You were merely playing tricks with my mind."

He raised his hand, and magic circles floated all over the place.

"So long as I know this, your Emotive Magic won't work on me. Yes, I'll just tell myself its all fake."

Julien's hair scattered at the enormous pressure, and Kaelion stared at him with a cold gaze.

"Now that you can no longer use such tricks on me, what are you going to do?"

".."

Julien remained quiet while staring back at Kaelion who had his gaze fixed on Julien.

"Don't even think about casting an illusion. I've already locked eyes with your main body."

"Heh."

Finally, a reaction.

Laughing slightly, Julien lowered his left hand.

"You've caught me."

He looked rather laid back.

As if he wasn't bothered by the situation. As if he didn't care that Kaelion had managed to read his moves.

".Don't mind me. I was just practicing something I had seen before. You just ended up being my target because you were strong."

Target...? Practicing?

Kaelion's eyes narrowed and the mana in the air became denser.

Unbothered, Julien continued to speak,

"With that being said"

Kaelion was just about to unleash his spell when he heard a low snap.

Snap

".!!"

The snap echoed loudly within Kaelion's mind.

It was loud and powerful.

At that moment, Kaelion felt his mind grow numb. He could hardly think, and the mana agglomerating around him scattered.

Before he even had a chance to figure out what had happened, his legs gave up and he fell on both knees.

Thump!

The last thing he remembered was Julien's voice and the sound of approaching steps.

".What's the point of being strong if you can't even think properly?"

That was when an overwhelming pain engulfed his chest.

It was a pain that he couldn't describe with words.

"Arghhhh!!"

But it soon became clear to him.

What he felt was anger.

....An overwhelming amount of anger.