The study was buzzing with a new, focused energy. Ray, having just laid out his situation, looked at his allies, his focus absolute. This wasn’t just about stipend, it was about building a public, unassailable identity.

“Alright,”

Ray said, his voice cutting through the quiet of the study.

“Let’s get to work. Cassian, tell us everything you know about the ‘Scenario.’”

Cassian lit up, now fully in his element as the senior mentor .

“Excellent! Right, the ‘Scenario.’ It’s the great variable, and honestly, it’s the most heavily weighted part of the trials .”

He started to pace, ticking points off on his fingers.

“It’s always team-based, but here’s the hook: you don’t get to pick your team . The faculty assembles the squads to test adaptability. They’ll deliberately mix students, a Valor brute, an Arcanum magic, and a Statecraft strategist, all thrown together to see if you can actually cooperate or just fall apart.”

“So it’s a lottery,”

Eliza surmised, her expression thoughtful.

“Exactly. And the theme is a closely guarded secret,”

Cassian continued.

“Last year, it was ‘The Golem’s Heart,’ a combat and repair mission . The year before, ‘The Whispering Tomb,’ which was a negotiation and exorcism puzzle . We won’t know the theme until we’re standing at the entrance.”

Before Eliza or Cassian could speculate further, Rina interjected. Her voice was clear and confident, no longer the hesitant murmur of a servant.

“The theme may be a secret, but the staff who builds the ‘Scenario’ isn’t.”

Eliza and Cassian turned to look at her, surprised.

Rina continued, her new role as an operative sitting on her comfortably.

“I’ll use my connections in the kitchens and with the groundskeepers . They’ll know which professors have been requisitioning strange materials or working late in the sealed dungeons. I can find the theme.”

Eliza looked at Rina with a new, profound respect. A sharp, competitive grin spread across her face.

“Good,”

she said, her voice full of energy.

“Rina gets the ‘what,’ Cassian drills us on the ‘how’…”

She turned and smirked at Ray.

“…and Ray, you just keep being our impossible secret weapon.”

The war council was over . Cassian and Eliza, now energized and full of purpose, gathered their notes.

“We’ll be back tomorrow,”

Cassian said, his eyes gleaming.

“We will start the training then.”

They left, and the study door clicked shut, leaving Ray and Rina in the quiet, energized aftermath.

As the study door clicked shut behind Eliza and Cassian, the manic, ambitious energy of the war council faded, leaving a quiet, heavy silence in its wake. Rina began collecting the empty cups, but Ray noticed Sergeant Svane, who had been standing at his post by the main door, did not relax.

Instead, the stoic guard stepped forward. His professional mask was still in place, but his eyes, when they met Ray’s, held a new, profound, and deeply human gratitude.

Ray sensed this was a private matter.

“Rina, thank you,”

he said gently.

“Could you please prepare my room for this evening?”

Rina nodded, giving the sergeant a curious look before disappearing into the practice chamber, leaving the two of them alone.

This narrative has been purloined without the author’s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Sergeant, is something wrong?”

Ray asked.

Svane stood before Ray, his posture as rigid as ever, but his voice was a low, gravelly rumble.

“My lord,”

he began,

“I… I am also planning on applying for the Promotion Trials.”

Ray was genuinely surprised. He hadn’t considered that the faculty or guards would also take these trials.

“I didn’t realize… For what rank?”

“For 4th Rank Gold Aegis,”

Svane said, his voice thick with an emotion Ray had never heard from him.

“I must be candid, my lord. I have been in the peak stage of the 3rd Rank Silver Aegis for fifteen years. I hit my plateau. A battlefield injury from my early service… it left a blockage. My energy pathways were damaged. I believed my path to ascension as a soldier was at an end.”

Svane looked at Ray, his gaze unwavering.

“When you… healed me… after the fight with K. You didn’t just purge the contamination . The next day, when I was meditating… the blockage was gone… These past two months,”

Svane continued, his voice growing stronger,

“I’ve felt my strength increasing. It’s like something has been unlocked, and my internal energy is circulating in ways it hasn’t in over a decade. This morning, I was able to cast a 3rd-Circle spell twice… and I noticed my mental stamina could still go for one, maybe more. My limit has always been two 3rd-Circle spells. You didn’t just save my life, Lord Croft. You gave me my future back.”

The proud, stoic Silver Aegis, a man carved from stone and duty, executed a deep, formal bow.

“My first life-debt was for my life. This second debt… this is for my honor as a soldier. My advancement is your work.”

Ray stared at the proud, deeply grateful soldier bowed before him , completely taken aback. He had intended to purge a poison. He had no idea his Aetheric Suture skill could do that .

His internal committee, however, erupted in a flurry of staggered, awestruck analysis.

Healer: “This is unexpected! The ‘aetheric contamination’ K used was a ‘poison,’ but it must have acted as a dam lodged in his already-damaged pathways . When we used ‘Aetheric Suture’ skill to purge the hostile energy, we inadvertently cleared the original blockage as well! We didn’t just heal him; we restored him!”

Scholar: “The implications are staggering! Can aether-infusion be used to unlock potential in any target we used it on? What is the mechanism? We need more data! This is a new, unintended application of the host power!”

Courtier: “This is a political earthquake. We now have a Silver Aegis (soon to be Gold) who is bound to us by a debt he can never repay. I am sure this time his loyalty is no longer just to the Headmaster; it is to us. He is our sword, our shield, and now… our agent.”

As the archetypes celebrated their new asset, a cold, sharp thought from the World Weary Healer cut through the triumph.

Healer: “Wait. We didn’t just heal Svane. We used a similar technique on the two incapacitated Shadow Guards…”

Detective: “And who do they report to? The Headmaster. Directly.”

Courtier: “This is not good! Svane’s loyalty is personal, a private debt. But if two of Andrade’s own spies suddenly report a miraculous, career-altering boost in their power… our weak fluke performance is blown! She’ll know our power isn’t a fluke, it’s a cure. She’ll never let us out of her sight!”

Conman: “Whoa, whoa, easy, fella’s. Let’s not panic until we’re sure. Maybe it was a one-time thing? Maybe it only worked on Svane because of his old injury?”

Scholar: “Insufficient data! We cannot form a conclusion. We must analyze Svane first. We need a baseline. We need proof of what the ‘Aetheric Suture’ skill actually did.”

The internal debate, lasting less than a second, gave Ray his new, urgent objective. He looked up at Svane, his expression shifting from surprise to one of calm, clinical focus.

“Sergeant, would you permit me to examine you again? What you’re describing is… an important phenomenon. I need to understand it.”

Svane, still in his bow, straightened. Bound by his new, profound debt, he didn’t hesitate .

“As you wish, my lord.”

Ray stepped forward, placing a hand on Svane’s broad, armored shoulder . He activated Concurrent Partial Immersion and used the World Weary Healer’s ‘Diagnosis (Intermediate)’ skill, supported by the Serene Cultivator’s ‘Aetheric Perception’ skill.

System,compare current data to the scan from the night of the attack.

He commanded internally.

A clear, data-driven report bloomed in his mind’s eye.

[SYSTEM QUERY: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS – ‘SVANE ORBEN’]

[SCANNING HOST MEMORY… ‘SVANE ORBEN – PRE-HEALING’]

[…DATA FOUND.]

[STATUS: CHRONIC AETHERIC IMPEDANCE (LEFT MERIDIAN).]

[CAUSE: BATTLEFIELD TRAUMA (SCAR TISSUE). EFFECT: 50-60% REDUCTION IN MANA/AETHER CONVERSION EFFICIENCY.]

[PROGNOSIS: PERMANENT.]

[SCANNING CURRENT TARGET… ‘SVANE ORBEN – POST-HEALING’]

[…DATA FOUND. STATUS: ALL AETHERIC PATHWAYS CLEAR. IMPEDANCE: 0%.]

[CONCLUSION: The ‘AETHERIC SUTURE’ technique successfully purged the ‘AETHERIC CONTAMINATION’. The subsequent repair of chronic scar tissue was not an intended function of the skill, but a catalytic reaction caused by the introduction of the Host’s unique, reforged, and pure Aether into the subject’s damaged pathways. The Host’s Aether acted as a universal solvent, dissolving the ancient arcane scar tissue and restoring the pathways to 100% efficiency.]

Ray’s mind raced as the internal analysis confirmed his fears .

Scholar: “DATA! Yes! It’s confirmed! The host’s pure Aether acts as a universal solvent for arcane damage! We must test this further!”

Courtier: “Which means the Shadow Guards are a ticking time bomb! Their next physical evaluation, their next meditation… they will notice their own miraculous recovery! Headmaster Andrade will find out . Our timeline has just been drastically shortened.”

Ray pulled his hand back, his expression one of quiet awe, a genuine performance.

“It’s… better than I thought, Sergeant,”

he said, his voice filled with the Healer’s sincerity.

“The contamination K used was lodged in that old battlefield wound of yours . When my… when my patron’s energy… purged the poison, it seems the purity of that energy cleared the old blockage as well. Your pathways are no longer damaged. They’re… clear. You’re healed. Truly.”

Ray looked at the deeply grateful sergeant, a man who he now knew would follow him into any fire. He gave a slow, understanding nod, his mind already calculating how to manage the new, ticking time bomb of the Shadow Guards.

“Then we will both prepare for our trials, Sergeant. I wish us success together.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep