Chapter 235: Profaned Recreation!?

Whup-whup-whup!

Surprisingly, the imperial family had a backup dispatch aeroplane—the same kind they used to escort us to Berian—but this time, they clearly weren’t taking any chances.

Four other aircraft flanked us on all sides, each one packed not only with power-armored gunmen but also with mages now flying alongside them.

I couldn’t help wondering how that conflict was going. Last I knew, Azrael and Corvus were the only forces the Academy or Imperial Family had deployed in response to the elven attack.

“Marcellus really didn’t want to come with us?”

From the opposite side, Lillian spoke up, directing the question at Julius.

“No. Apparently, he had more work to do. I even saw him vehemently refuse the imperial guard they sent to escort him.”

“Think he’ll be okay?”

“Probably. He shouldn’t be long. As long as he can make his district self-sustaining for a while, he’ll probably catch up to us.”

FWOOSH!

The aircraft surged forward the moment we crossed into Eryndor’s territory. The other four peeled away, creating distance as they continued to patrol the airspace around us.

“Prepare for landing!”

The pilot up front shouted, but that would’ve taken too long—and Evelina seemed to agree. Of course she did. I was willing to bet the only thing on her mind right now was getting a perfect score on the exam.

“Shall we, Cael?” Evelina asked.

“Seriously?” Julius asked, dumbfounded.

“This is just a lot faster, isn’t it?” I replied.

[Darkfire Step]

[Dark Step]

Both of us reappeared on the landing pad, and the moment we did, multiple guns snapped toward us. Every soldier looked tense and trigger-happy, no doubt still smarting from the harsh reprimand they’d received after their first failure.

“HVT Three and Two have arrived! Get them out of there!”

One of the imperial guards shouted, his helmet color distinct from the rest, as several other soldiers rushed in and formed a circle around us.

“Please follow our lead!”

***

The whole after-boarding process was… something. You’d think they’d just escort us somewhere safe or send us home, but no. Apparently that would somehow compromise the academy’s defenses.

It took them a full hour before we were finally allowed to walk around on our own.

Magical testing, health checkups, therapy — they even brought in priests to look us over.

They really wanted the full package, huh?

Magical, physical, mental, and even spiritual wellness.

And this definitely wasn’t just because of the elves. The priests alone made that obvious. This had the inquisitor’s influence written all over it.

“That was way more convoluted than I expected,” Evelina complained, pinching the bridge of her nose as she walked beside me, her other arm wrapped around mine.

“Like… therapy?” she added.

“I kind of enjoyed it, honestly.”

“Of course you did. You just liked confusing the therapist with your answers.”

“Good thing we teleported, then. Saved us some time.”

“Yeah, but we should’ve just teleported straight to the dorms or our estates. We still wasted too much time…”

Evelina sped up a step ahead of me, then turned around and stopped me with a finger to my chest, a challenging look in her eyes.

“I trust you’ll actually study while we’re separated?”

Separated? What does she mean?

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Please. Do you really think the two of us would get anything done if we stayed together? Of course we’re living in our own dorms while the exam is coming up.”

“Wait, that’s kind of sudden, y’know?”

“Trust me, I hate it just as much as you do, but… maybe if you get a perfect score, I’ll treat you. Sounds fair?”

A treat…? But…

Being apart from her, after literally living together for weeks, sounded like torture. I couldn’t even imagine waking up alone without her beside me.

But a treat…

Knowing her, it would definitely be something I’d like.

Maybe I should give in for now.

Besides, a perfect score shouldn’t be that hard. I also need to catch up with Kevin and Vivianne’s progress anyway. And she was right: if we stayed together, I’d definitely forget about all that.

“Fine…” I relented.

“Good boy.” She crossed her arms, then sighed. “Don’t worry, even if you fail the challenge, I’ll still give you something.”

She closed the distance between us and pressed a kiss to my lips.

“For now, good luck with your studies. You’ll need it if you actually plan to rule by my side someday, instead of just running my errands.”

She fixed my collar, held my gaze one last time, then wrapped herself in darkness and vanished, teleporting away — presumably back to her dorm.

[Dark Step]

Before I could even take another step, someone else suddenly teleported right in front of me, right as Evelina vanished.

And it didn’t take a genius to figure out who it was.

Who else would pop straight to my side the moment I arrived?

“Master!”

Kevin lunged toward me, grabbing both of my shoulders. His eyes were wild, bright with a tired kind of excitement. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, but his energy said he was more wired than ever.

“How’s your progress…?”

“Incredible. No, more than incredible! That strange purple magic you used before—I think I’ve managed to recreate it!”

Wait. Recreate it? What do you mean, recreate it? Didn’t it require both divine and chaotic elements?

“You… what!? H-How!?”

“I examined all the places where you previously used that magic and figured out it was a combination of an element similar to light and dark.”

Similar? That’s the understatement of the century.

“And?”

“All it took was tweaking some formulas, and I replicated it. So you’ve been using something called profaned magic this whole time, huh, Master? You really are impressive.”

Wait.

What!?

He replicated profaned magic just by tweaking formulas!?

“Where did you get the light attunement from!?”

“Hm? Oh, that? I just got it naturally when I had a breakthrough.”

S-Seriously?

I’m starting to think that calling him a prodigy might be an understatement.

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