Chapter 51: Training Grounds & Maelis

[…Soo… what exactly are you doing here?]

“…What do you think, you dumb bitch?”

[…]

“I’m here to train, obviously.” Gray rolled his eyes.

He stood inside one of the academy’s training rooms. In front of him was a mannequin with a plaque that read Master-level.

[Still, isn’t that too much for you?]

“Of course it is. I just want to see how strong my strings actually are. Their sharpness depends on how much mana I pour into them… so, theoretically… if I use enough mana…”

More than sixty percent of his reserves drained away as he wrapped a string tightly around the mannequin’s neck.

“…it should be able to pierce even a Master’s head.”

Pull!

Clang!

The wire snapped tight, yet to his surprise, the mannequin’s head didn’t even have a mark.

“Hm?” Gray’s eyes narrowed.

He gritted his teeth, funneled the rest of his mana into the string, and yanked again with all his strength.

Clang!

This time, a faint scratch appeared on the mannequin’s skull.

“Tsk…” He clicked his tongue.

“Not enough, huh? I guess the gap between a peak advanced-stage and a real master is bigger than I thought.”

[What did you expect? From what I’ve seen, a Master-level user can condense their forcefield, while an advanced-stage user cannot.]

“…Forcefield?” Gray raised an eyebrow.

“Explain.”

[It’s simple. At the Master stage, they learn to pull that energy inward instead of just leaking it everywhere. They condense it, make it like armor that wraps around their body. The stronger the mastery, the denser and harder that shell becomes.]

Gray tilted his head slightly, thinking.

“So you’re saying… they basically turn mana into a second skin?”

[Exactly. To you, that mannequin looks like wood and steel, right? But imagine the moment you reach Master, every inch of your body is covered in something harder than that. That’s why your strings barely scratched it.]

Gray stared at the thin line carved into the mannequin’s head. His lips rose into a crooked grin.

“…Interesting. So, if I can cut this…” He tapped the mannequin’s skull with his knuckle, the metal ringing faintly.

“Then I can cut through a Master’s neck too.”

[In theory.]

“In theory’s good enough for me,” Gray smirked, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“Then… I just need to increase the quantity of my mana. But for that, I’ll need resources like mana crystals, herbs, elixirs…” His voice dropped into a mutter.

“Damn it… should’ve stolen more necklaces from my sister.” He shook his head slightly.

Right now, Gray had a little over two hundred gold coins. Enough to let a common family live comfortably for generations if they were frugal.

But for mages and knights?

Two hundred gold might as well be pocket change.

After all, the resources spent to grow stronger are very expensive.

[Well… why not just threaten Selene? Get her to hand over resources in exchange for keeping her little secret from her boyfriend?]

“…That is tempting,” Gray muttered, lips twitching into a sly grin. “But if I had the choice, I’d rather aim higher. Much higher.”

[Don’t tell me—]

“The northern duchess,” he said without hesitation.

“Selene’s mother. She’s probably the richest woman alive, besides those rats in the Chamber of Commerce.”

The thought made his smile widen, but then his expression changed slighly. His eyes narrowed as a familiar figure stepped into the training grounds.

And just like that, his grin sharpened.

Fwoop!

His body shimmered, his appearance shifting seamlessly into Maelis’s ideal lover.

Then, he hid his student ID inside his sleeve before stepping out of the training room.

[Be honest… You just want to fuck your stepsister, don’t you?]

’Not exactly. But if the chance drops into my lap… I’m not saying no.’

Gray’s smile was faint, almost lazy, as he strolled straight into Maelis’s path.

And as if fate was allowing him to act the way he wanted, Maelis happened to be using a rare machine—one of a kind in the academy.

A training device that threw mana spheres in rapid succession, forcing the user to dodge and sharpen their reflexes.

Perfect.

He could just “wait for his turn”.

Gray leaned against the wall near the machine, slid a cigarette pack from his pocket, and tapped one free.

Flick.

The lighter sparked.

“Pfuu…”

He inhaled, then exhaled slowly, a thin cloud drifting through the air.

The scent reached Maelis almost instantly. Her nose wrinkled, her lips parting in disgust as she spun around sharply.

“You disgusting fu…” She stopped mid-bite, her sharp words faltering as her eyes fell on him.

Her chest rose and fell once.

The hostility in her expression wavered, freezing at the edges, as if the fire in her throat had been stolen away.

Gray’s gaze hardened as he pulled the cigarette from his lips, staring her down with a cold glare.

“The fuck you want?” he muttered sharply.

“If you’re done, hurry up and let me use it.” He jerked his chin toward the machine.

Then, deliberately, he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, right in her face.

“Cough… kougkf…!”

Maelis coughed, swatting the air, her brows knitting together in fury.

“You disgusting bastard. Can’t you choke on that thing somewhere far away from me?”

“Oh, shut up already. Just keep dodging your little mana balls so I can use that machine sooner.” Gray rolled his eyes.

Her teeth clenched.

“You’re lucky I can’t blast that smug face of yours in the training grounds.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved lazily, putting the cigarette back between his lips.

“Keep moving, princess.”

Scowling, Maelis turned back to the training machine, resuming her evasive drills with sharper, angrier movements than before.

Gray leaned against the wall, letting the seconds pass, smoke curling lazily around him until the cigarette finally burned down to the filter.

He flicked the stub to the ground, grinding it under his heel.

“Thirty seconds well wasted,” he muttered, pulling out his pack to grab another. But when he opened it…

Empty.

His brows furrowed as his expression actually darkened.

“…Fucking hell.”

Gray cursed under his breath, staring into the empty pack.

Maelis caught the little frown on his face, and her lips curled up into a faint smile.

“Out already? Guess even your bad habits can’t keep up with your mouth.”

He didn’t even glance her way, just leaned back against the wall, ignoring her jab completely.

That annoyed her a little, but then, her mind wandered.

She remembered one of her friends shoving a gift into her hand a while back: a premium pack of cigarettes.

She had never touched them, never cared about that kind of thing, so they’d just sat in her spatial ring gathering dust.

Now, watching him sigh and stare blankly at the sky as if the whole world bored him, an idea slipped into her head.

This could be her chance.

A little push to get closer… to raise her favorability with him.

Her fingers brushed her spatial ring, and she pulled the pack out without a word.

“Catch,” she called suddenly.

Gray blinked and barely turned his head before the pack hit his palm. He looked down at it, then up at her, surprise flickering across his face.

“I don’t smoke, so you can have them,” Maelis said, trying to sound casual.

Gray’s eyes lit up just slightly as he flipped the pack open. He pulled out a stick, placed it between his lips, and lit it.

He exhaled, not even looking at her, but his voice came low and careless:

“Thank you, princess.”

The word landed heavier than she expected.

Her cheeks warmed, and before she knew it, she was turning her face away to hide the faint blush that spread across her skin.

’Sweet,’ Gray thought to himself, leaning back as smoke trailed from his lips.

His eyes moved back to Maelis, watching the way she moved around the machine.

After a moment, he decided to show some interest as if her little act really had pushed her up in his favor.

“What’s your name, Princess?” Gray asked casually, blowing out a thin stream of smoke.

Maelis instantly stopped what she was doing as soon as she heard his words. Her eyebrows rose in surprise as she turned to him.

“You really don’t know me?”

Gray scoffed at her words, pulling the cigarette from his lips.

“I’m not a noble. I don’t care about every big family out there. So, no, I don’t know. Even if your face was on the front page of the papers, I wouldn’t know. I don’t read that stuff.”

Her lips curled into a wider smile. His blunt way of speaking… it fit exactly into the kind of guy she liked.

“So you got into Gloria Academy just with your own talent?” she asked, her tone filled with interest.

Gray tilted his head, letting smoke roll lazily from his mouth.

“Not really. I just went with the flow and somehow ended up here. People say Gloria graduates get the best jobs and big money. So, I thought, why not? Truth is, I’m broke as hell.” He shook his head with a crooked grin.

“No money?” Maelis frowned slightly. “Then how did you even get here without paying for the train and travel fees?”

“Simple,” Gray said, locking eyes with her.

“I took the knight exam and got a silver-knight rank badge. That was enough for those.” His lips curled up slighly, back into that lazy smile.

Then, leaning back, he added, “But still, you didn’t answer me. What’s your name? You might not be so bad after all.”

Her cheeks warmed at the casual remark, but she let out a small laugh.

“A pack of cigarettes was enough for that?”

Gray nodded right away.

“A premium pack.”

She laughed again, shaking her head before finally stepping closer and holding out her hand.

“My name is Maelis D’Aurélion, daughter of Duke Caelis.”

Gray looked at her hand for a moment before gripping it firmly.

“Emryn,” he said with a faint smile.

“No surname.”

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