The Vice-Chancellor's face went stiff. 'What is this guy trying to do?' Test it yourself? Against who exactly? The Vice-Chancellor stared silently. "....Are you sure about your request?" "I am certain." "I won't go easy.

If you can't take it, then there's a chance that you might get injured." "That's fine. I don't have a problem with that." "You sure sound confident." "Because I am." The situation turned serious all of a sudden. To those around, the situation didn't quite make sense, but those listening carefully understood something.

The Vice-Chancellor was going to personally test the claim with his own strength, and were Julien failed to meet his standard, then there was a chance he would get seriously injured. It was a baffling turn of events. One that made those from the Haven side suddenly grow nervous. "Does this have to happen?" "Why do you need to check if both sides said that it happened?" "Wouldn't it be better if he just sparred with Leon to show that he wasn't lying?" "How about it?" But why?

The Vice-Chancellor eyed Leon. Listening to the last proposition, he decided to give the cadet one last shred of mercy. But. "I'm good." He didn't take it.

No, he didn't seem to be remotely interested in taking it. Staring into those eyes, the Vice-Chancellor understood something. 'I'm his objective.' But why? Clench.

The Vice-Chancellor clenched his fists as his eyes turned cold. "Very well." He turned back and waved his hand. "For now, everyone step back." His gaze lingered over the Professor from Haven. Their eyes met and with a subtle nod, the Haven Professor understood the intentions and moved the cadets back. As the cadets dispersed, Julien remained still on his spot. "Julien." Leon furrowed his brows at the sight of him. "Is your decision set?" "Yes." Julien calmly patted his clothes.

Aoife, who stood by the side also didn't seem very convinced. It had been a while since she had last seen his strength. She had caught glimpses of it during the time when he fought the Archbishop, but she hadn't seen much given that he had been defeated by Kaelion.

He was certainly strong, but his opponent was the Vice-Chancellor of the Bremmer Academy. He sat right beneath the Monarch seat. How could Julien deal with someone like him?

If the Vice-Chancellor wanted, he'd be able to swat Julien with the swat of his hand. "On second thought, I don't think" "Shut up." Kiera cut her off all of a sudden. As Aoife turned her head, she saw Kiera staring at Julien with narrowed eyes. "I am stubborn, right?" "Come again?" What did that have to do with the situation? Kiera changed her gaze to meet Aoife's. "I didn't think it was possible, but he's far more stubborn than I am.

There's no point stepping in. He's already made up his mind." "Ah." Aoife found herself unable to say a word back. Indeed, Julien's decision was set.

It was only Aoife who didn't understand this. Only then did she relax and take a deep breath. As she did, she glanced at Leon.

He seemed completely fine as if none of this mattered to him. However, upon closer look, Aoife noticed his slightly trembling right hand as he tightly gripped the hilt of his sword. It was one of those rare times when Aoife saw Leon appear extremely focused.

Aoife could see that he was prepared to act out at any given second. Only then did she relax and look back at Julien. 'I guess he does care about you.' It always looked like the two hated each other, but that looked like the furthest thing from the truth. At least, in Aoife's eyes.

And what about her? What would she do if Julien was in danger? Aoife didn't need to think long and hard. 'I'll do the same.' She may not deserve to be the Black Star, but since she had the title, then she didn't plan on bringing shame to the name.

Just like Leon, she was ready to jump in at any second. Aoife didn't need to look back to know that everyone else was of the same feeling. Julien set himself comfortably at the center of the space.

On the opposite end stood the Vice-Chancellor. Everyone's eyes were on the two. From the anxious gazes of those from the Haven side to the confused gazes and almost baffled gazes of the rest.

Julien could feel all sorts of gazes on him. "....." He understood where they came from. His actions were that of a crazy man. The Vice-Chancellor was amongst the strongest people within the capital, and yet, he was asking someone like that to test his skills.

And not only that, he had done so in such a provocative manner that left no leeway for himself. If Julien were to fail then the most likely of conclusions would be a very heavy injury he wouldn't be able to recover any time soon. 'Yes, this is good.' But this was exactly what Julien wanted. The entire scenario...

It was something that he desired. 'How long has it been since then?' Julien thought back to his experience during the time when he tried to absorb the Dragon's Will. Those times had been some of the most traumatic of his life. He had seen and experienced so much during those times.

To the point where he almost broke as a person. No, he did break. Just barely, he managed to keep his sanity.

Only by sealing the memories of such times was he able to keep enough rationality to go on. But now? He didn't have to.....He understood who he was.

He was in control of himself. And he understood his own emotions. For that reason, he wanted this.

He wanted to fight the Vice-Chancellor to see just how far his current self had grown. As Julien's eyes blinked, the color of his eyes changed again. Julien was unaware that this was happening, but as the color of his eyes changed, the emotions within him started to fade.

The current Julien... He had reached the point where he could now directly seal whatever emotion he wanted to seal. Fear.

Gone. Anger. Gone.

Sadness. Gone. Joy.

Gone. His face was blank, and his gaze grew deeper. He was slowly coming to an understanding.

But what? What was he understanding? The Vice-Chancellor frowned upon seeing the weird state Julien was in. 'What is he doing?' He didn't understand what was going on.

Staring at the cadet's face, he couldn't see much of a change in him. He still looked the same as before, and yet, his eyes seemed even deeper than before. The Vice-Chancellor, with all the wealth of experience he had, was someone who could tell how strong someone was with just a look.

He had been confident before that the cadet before him was weaker than the other cadet, but he started to have doubts all of a sudden. '....Could I have been wrong?' It was odd. Very odd. He was never the type to doubt himself in these types of situations.

And yet, he found himself doubting his own assessment. It was strangely exciting. "I'll attack five times, and if you can withstand five attacks of mine, you will be allowed to attack once." Originally, the Vice-Chancellor only planned on attacking five times before calling it quits. If the cadet before him could withstand five attacks of his, then he was more than qualified to have said what he said.

The last attack on the other hand was different. If the cadet could withstand his attacks, and still be capable of fighting back, then things were different. Perhaps...

The Vice-Chancellor thought of a certain woman. A terrifying one that took the Empire by storm. Staring at the cadet before him, he pursed his lips before shaking his head. 'I'm getting ahead of myself.' Taking a deep breath, the Vice-Chancellor lightly raised his hand. "I will begin now." And pressed it against the air.

Seven small magic circles formed at the same time. He didn't give time for the cadet to prepare at the circles fully formed in seconds before the air twisted and with a loud 'pop' seven high-speed ice shards flew in Julien's direction. Xiu!

Xiu! Xiu! Blood sprayed everywhere as the shards cut at Julien's clothes, grazing past his legs, abdominal area, and face.

Drip...! Drip. Staring at the scene, the Vice-Chancellor paused. "Why didn't you dodge?" "....." A strange silence followed after his words as Julien slowly raised his head.

Despite the cut on his face, he looked unperturbed. "Oh?" "This little damage for a free attempt?" Then, his reply came. ".....There was no need to." "Oh?" "This little damage for a free attempt?" "Ah." It was then that the Vice-Chancellor understood and his lips twisted up slightly. "I see." How long had it been since he felt so irritated? The cadet in front of him was certainly doing great. "I won't go easy then. If you do the same thing, then I'm afraid you won't be able to walk for at least a year." The Vice-Chancellor pressed his hand against the air again. "Four more attempts." At the same time that he got ready, something changed about Julien.

The Vice-Chancellor couldn't quite put it in words, but he hesitated slightly. His finger trembled briefly, and he paused. 'What's this...?' The Vice-Chancellor felt the beat of his own heart. Putting everything together, he understood what was going on.

Right. He was feeling fear. 'No, but how is this possible?' The Vice-Chancellor's face hardened as he got rid of the emotion. Looking back at the cadet, who stood still, the air around him crackled. 'How come I didn't feel it?

When did he influence me?' The difference in rank between the two was vast. While it was true that ranks didn't quite matter with Emotive Mages, the Vice-Chancellor refused to believe that such young Emotive Mage had influenced him of all people. It made no sense. 'It must've been a lapse on my side.' At the same time, he pressed his hand against the air again.

This time, the number of circles went from seven to fourteen. The direction in which they were aimed made it impossible for Julien to do the same thing as before. Xiu!

A familiar 'popping' sound echoed through the air as the ice shards tore through it with speed that the naked eye couldn't follow. Be it speed, power, aim, and quantity. The attack was on a completely different level than the previous one.

Many of those watching could hardly react to the sudden attack. Only a few could follow it, and even as they were able to, their expressions hardened. But what about Julien? 'Ah, this...' He stared at the incoming attacks with an air of familiarity.

A familiar memory surfaced in his mind. It was during the seventh cycle. In an illusion where he found himself wishing he could die over and over again, he experienced something similar.

Even now, he could recall the numerous alerts that had popped up in his vision. A maddening experience that almost broke him. Such was the seventh cycle, and as he stared at the incoming attacks, Julien couldn't help but smile as he brought his hand forward and clenched it into a fist.

Kwang! Everything stopped the moment he did. "Uh?" In the eyes of all present, fourteen chrystals appeared hovering in the air. Yes, hovering.

Almost as if time had frozen for them. But... "What are those?" With a squint of his eyes, the Vice-Chancellor finally saw them. Circling each and every shard with pin-point precision was a small...

Thread. ***