Chapter 72: Is Killing Allowed?

Kranos glanced at the five cultivators tailing him. They were all in the Foundation Establishment realm, but none of them posed a threat to him. His gaze lingered on the young man in front—clearly the leader. Kranos recognized him as one of the few who had managed to create a mid-grade array.

With that, he instantly understood their intentions. He shook his head inwardly.

“Childish…”

“Why are you tailing me?” he asked calmly, his voice laced with indifference.

At the same moment, the Azure Sky Sword appeared in his hand, radiating a chilling aura.

Sensing the sword’s presence, the group instinctively shuddered. For a moment, it felt as though Kranos had transformed into a ferocious beast.

The young man at the front stammered, “T-To ask for some pointers…”

Kranos narrowed his eyes, staring at him sharply. But instead of lashing out, he asked the real question that had made him stay and entertain them.

“Is killing allowed in the academy?”

His words caused all five students to freeze, their expressions shifting to terror. The young man’s face paled instantly. But then, as if recalling something important, he shouted defiantly,

“If you kill me, my connection to my badge will be severed! The academy’s protective array will immediately lock onto your mana signature—you won’t be able to escape the instructors!”

Kranos frowned slightly at that. He had asked because he was already planning to find a way to silently eliminate his elder brother one day. He hadn’t expected the academy to be this strict about student deaths.

Having gotten the information he needed, he no longer paid them any attention. His figure vanished in an instant, using spatial teleportation to return to his dorm.

The remaining students let out sighs of relief.

“Thank the heavens…” someone muttered.

They were certain that if Marco hadn’t spoken up, Kranos might have truly killed them.

One of the boys turned to the young leader.

“Marco, what you said about the badge—is it true?”

Marco nodded solemnly.

“Of course it is. Ever since the terrifying war with the demons on the battlefield, the academy has enforced strict rules to prevent infighting among students.”

Kranos returned to his dorm room.

A week had already passed since the last test, leaving him with just under six months to undertake a mission. He knew without a doubt that the mission would be tampered with—just like how his descent into the academy had been sabotaged. He couldn’t trust any of the instructors; he didn’t know their true loyalties, and any one of them could be the mastermind’s subordinate.

Settling in, Kranos decided not to overthink it. He had just one month to master Rank Two arrays. At the same time, he needed to cultivate and understand how array cores were created—and what distinguished them from regular mana circuits and lines.

With a sigh, he leaned back.

“If only I had a clone skill…”

Unfortunately, such skills were incredibly rare and could only be stumbled upon through luck. The academy didn’t even possess a technique of that caliber.

He closed his eyes and focused on cultivating, condensing mana strands for a short while before returning to his array practice. He was particularly curious about how much more difficult formations would be.

Since he had already mastered Rank One arrays, he opened his array book and flipped to the section on Rank Two arrays.

“Rank Two arrays involve superimposing two array cores on top of one another. You must double your mana output to draw them simultaneously, while also maintaining the link between both cores.”

Kranos frowned as he finished reading. The difficulty had clearly increased dramatically.

After some contemplation, he calmed his thoughts and began studying how to draw two superimposed array cores.

“Although the array cores are stacked, the mana circuits must be distinct… doubling the number altogether,” he mused.

Realizing that Rank One pens and papers would be useless, he decided to step out. He needed Rank Two materials to even begin drawing the proper formations. This limitation existed because he was still a beginner-level array master.

Time flew by, and in just over a week, Kranos had grasped the basic concepts of Rank Two arrays.

Unfortunately, despite his understanding, he failed every single time he attempted to draw them.

Two more weeks passed.

Finally, Kranos fully mastered the Rank Two array structures. His success rate had improved drastically, but—

“My points! I’m almost out of points!”

His eyes were bloodshot, and even his aged soul wanted to cough up blood.

Rank One array papers cost 100 points. However, the price jumped to 1,000 points for Rank Two resources. After more than 100 failures, he had burned through over 100,000 points.

He could only shake his head and sigh.

“In life, certain sacrifices are necessary.”

He understood that the more arrays he mastered, the closer he would get to creating a Time-based array core—one that could grant him a truly unique effect.

Soon, the month the instructor had allotted had come to an end.

Kranos rose from his focused cultivation, took a deep breath, and exited his dorm. He arrived at the familiar testing building, where a few other students were already gathered, waiting for the instructor.

About an hour later, she arrived. During that time, a few more students trickled in. However, the number was noticeably fewer than before—over thirty percent had failed to return.

Kranos could guess the reason.

“They ran out of points…” he thought.

The instructor noticed the reduced turnout as well but didn’t dwell on it. She had witnessed this happen repeatedly during her years at the academy.

One by one, she called on the students to demonstrate their Rank Two arrays.

But disappointingly, none of them had succeeded in mastering them. Not a single one. After all, none had gone as far as Kranos—who had spent an exorbitant amount of points on resources and failures.

When Kranos stepped up, he drew his Rank Two array as calmly as ever. Smooth lines, flawless execution.

The instructor let out a soft, almost melancholic sigh.

“Geniuses truly are built differently…” She gave him a serious look.

“Young man, with the time you have, you should consider immersing yourself in the study of Formations. Even though the class won’t begin for another five months, having a head start will benefit you greatly.”

Kranos nodded in acknowledgment, though he had no intention of following that advice.

“No… I won’t study formations—not yet. My priority is mastering arrays and comprehending my unique array core.” At this thought, he couldn’t help but voice a question that had been lingering in his mind.

“Instructor,” he asked, “what causes array cores to have different effects?”

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