The murmurs across the auditorium gradually faded until the hall fell into complete silence, every student's attention shifting toward the stage.
A woman had just arrived.
She walked onto the platform with an almost lazy stride, her fluffy baby-pink hair bouncing softly around her shoulders with every step. The strands were light and voluminous, giving her an oddly harmless appearance that contrasted with the reaction she had triggered in the room. Draped loosely over her body was a white lab coat that looked as though it had been thrown on without much care, the sleeves slightly rolled and the pockets weighed down with small tools and folded papers.
She lifted a hand to cover her mouth as she yawned openly.
When she lowered it, her half-open pink eyes drifted across the auditorium in a slow, unfocused sweep. There was something airheaded about the way she tilted her head afterward, like someone who had wandered into the wrong place but decided to stay anyway.
"What were you all talking about?" she asked casually.
No one responded.
The silence only deepened.
Damon shifted his gaze slightly to the side.
Eric was no longer sitting beside him.
He paused, then glanced downward, sensing movement near his leg. Leaning forward just slightly, he looked beneath the desk and released a quiet sigh.
"What's the case?" he muttered.
Eric was crouched under the table, his entire body trembling as though he were hiding from a natural disaster.
"T-that witch…" Eric whispered in horror, his voice barely audible. "Shouldn't she be in the lab?!"
His eyes darted toward the stage before he quickly lowered his head again.
"What is she doing here…? Ahhh… I should have never come here today."
He clutched his hair dramatically.
"What if she spots me?"
A moment later he froze, as if a new thought had struck him.
"…Wait. What if she doesn't spot me?"
Hope flickered briefly across his face.
Damon's lips twitched faintly.
Just what kind of phobia is this?
Before Eric could spiral further into his panic, a clear and sincere voice rose from the front rows of the auditorium.
"We were simply speaking about trivial matters, Instructor," the student said politely. "If possible, we can begin the lecture right away."
A few students behind him murmured their agreement.
Damon's attention shifted toward the source of the voice.
The speaker sat in the very first row.
Even without prior knowledge, his presence was unmistakable.
Sky-blue hair fell neatly around the young man's face, the soft color catching the overhead light as though it reflected the open sky itself. His eyes were the same shade, calm and clear, holding a depth that seemed almost unnaturally serene. A gentle smile rested naturally on his lips, and his posture was perfectly straight without appearing stiff, giving him an air of quiet dignity that drew attention effortlessly.
Damon studied him for only a brief moment before turning his gaze away.
So that's our protagonist.
Lucian.
The hidden heir of Fractured Crown.
His interest faded almost immediately.
Whatever.
On the stage, the pink-haired instructor puffed her cheeks slightly, clearly unimpressed.
"How boring," she said with mild disappointment.
Her eyes drifted lazily down toward the papers resting on the podium before she waved a hand dismissively.
"Well then," she sighed, "let's get this lecture over with."
The pink-haired instructor rested both hands on the edge of the podium, leaning forward slightly as if she had suddenly remembered why she was standing there in the first place.
Her half-open pink eyes drifted lazily across the auditorium, pausing here and there without any clear focus, before she lifted one finger into the air as though she had just arrived at a brilliant realization.
"Alright then," she said in a soft, almost sing-song voice. "Since everyone seems so eager to learn…"
Her tone suggested the exact opposite.
"Let's talk about something important."
She turned and picked up a piece of chalk, though instead of writing immediately, she spun it idly between her fingers while speaking.
"You've all probably heard about Breaches, right?"
Her head tilted slightly as she asked the question, fluffy pink hair shifting with the motion.
"For the past four centuries, they've been the biggest threat to the world. Nobody knows exactly why they started appearing, and nobody knows exactly when the next one will open."
She paused, tapping the chalk lightly against the board.
"But we can predict them a little."
Turning toward the board, she lazily drew a small swirling circle.
"Before a Breach forms, the surrounding mana begins acting strangely. It twists, distorts, and becomes unstable, like water starting to boil. The stronger the distortion, the stronger the Breach that will appear."
She drew several numbers beside the circle.
"One through six," she said, pointing to them one by one. "Level one Breaches are the easiest to deal with, while Level six… well…"
She yawned again mid-sentence.
"…those are the ones where entire armies sometimes disappear."
The chalk clicked softly as she set it down.
Then she clasped her hands together and smiled faintly.
"Now then, can anyone tell me what exactly exists inside a Breach?"
Her pink eyes wandered slowly across the auditorium as she asked the question.
Under the desk beside Damon, Eric's whisper immediately returned.
"T-tell me she's not looking at me," he muttered anxiously. "She's not, right? She's definitely not."
Damon clicked his tongue softly in annoyance but didn't bother answering. Instead, he continued observing the room.
Several students had begun quietly discussing the question with their neighbors.
In another section, a pair of beastmen leaned back in their seats, scratching their heads impatiently.
"What's with all this talking?" one of them grumbled in a low voice.
"Yeah," the other muttered, crossing his thick arms. "When do we actually start fighting something?"
Before the murmurs could grow louder, a student from the elven group rose smoothly from his seat.
His posture was straight and composed as he spoke.
"There is no fixed structure inside a Breach," he said calmly. "In some cases, it may connect to an entirely different dimension. In others, it forms something resembling a dungeon or labyrinth. Some Breaches expand to the size of a baron's territory, while others remain as small as a single building."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"There have also been recorded instances where a Breach recreates an event from the past. The only known way to close one is to fulfill the specific conditions tied to that Breach."
The instructor nodded enthusiastically, her fluffy hair bouncing slightly.
"Hmm! Hmm! You're right!"
She clapped her hands once as though pleased.
"Then let me ask something else."
Her eyes wandered lazily across the hall again.
"What happens if a Breach isn't closed?"
This time a human student stood from the middle rows.
She spoke with clear confidence.
"The known effects are that an unstable Breach may begin pulling nearby people inside. The uncontrolled mana distortion can also damage the surrounding environment, affecting vegetation, animals, and nearby settlements."
She paused before finishing.
"In extreme cases, it can threaten human lives as well."
The pink-haired instructor nodded repeatedly.
"Right, right!"
The human student sat back down with visible satisfaction.
Before doing so, she glanced sideways toward the elven student with a proud smile.
The elf responded with a small smirk of his own before calmly returning to his seat.
Damon watched the exchange with quiet interest.
Hmm.
There's already a racial rivalry here, huh.
The pink-haired instructor leaned slightly against the podium, her shoulders drooping as though the simple act of standing upright had suddenly become exhausting. Her fluffy hair shifted gently as she tilted her head back and released another long yawn, covering her mouth lazily with the sleeve of her lab coat.
"I'm tired now…"
The words slipped out absentmindedly, almost as though she had forgotten she was standing in front of three hundred students.
Oddly enough, despite how soft and casual her voice sounded, every person in the vast auditorium heard it clearly.
She blinked slowly, her half-lidded pink eyes wandering across the hall before she continued speaking in that same airy tone.
"Well then… you students are here at this academy so that you can train yourselves to fight against and close those Breaches."
Almost immediately, a ripple of excitement passed through the auditorium.
Students leaned toward one another, whispers of anticipation spreading through the rows.
"So we'll actually get to fight them?"
"I heard Level Three Breaches already require full combat teams…"
"My cousin said some students get deployed even before graduation…"
The murmurs carried a mixture of fear and excitement, the restless energy of young people imagining their future glory.
The instructor blinked again, seemingly only half aware of the reaction she had caused.
"Almost all of you who are here," she continued while lazily gesturing with one hand, "possess a resonance of your own…"
Damon's posture changed instantly.
His relaxed demeanor vanished as his golden eyes sharpened with focused attention.
Finally.
Something worth listening to. I can finally understand what this resonance is… and what this body's resonance might be.
For the first time since entering the auditorium, his full concentration settled on the stage.
But just as the instructor seemed ready to elaborate, she suddenly stopped speaking.
Her eyelids drooped further.
Another yawn escaped her lips.
"Ummm…"
She blinked again, as though trying to remember what she had been saying.
Then she rubbed the corner of one eye with the back of her hand.
"I feel like… there has already been too much information fed into your little minds today."
The students exchanged confused glances.
Her voice continued drifting lazily as she spoke.
"We'll talk about the stages… and the process of advancing through them… in the next lecture."
She waved her hand dismissively.
"So… you are free to do whatever you want now."
The final words almost dissolved into the air as her attention drifted somewhere else entirely.
Damon's fingers tightened against the edge of his desk.
His body leaned forward slightly, disbelief flashing across his face.
No.
Wait.
What the hell?
It hasn't even been an hour.
How can the lecture already be over?
Can she even do that?
Meanwhile, the pink-haired instructor had already stepped away from the podium and begun walking toward the exit with the slow, relaxed pace of someone leaving a casual conversation rather than abandoning a lecture hall.
The entire auditorium watched her.
Three hundred students followed her movement in stunned silence as she reached the door.
Just before exiting, however, she suddenly stopped.
She raised a hand and lightly smacked her own forehead.
"Oh."
Damon's eyes immediately lit with renewed focus.
Yes.
Of course.
She can't just leave like that.
She must continue the lecture.
Now she'll finally explain resonance…
The instructor turned slightly back toward the hall.
"Hehe… I forgot to introduce myself."
Her smile was as absentminded as ever.
"I'm Lunaria Fluffiel."
And with that, she stepped through the doorway and disappeared into the corridor.
Damon remained completely still in his seat.
His eyes were wide.
His expression was frozen somewhere between disbelief and silent outrage.
For a brief moment, the auditorium was so quiet that the faint rustling of clothes could be heard.
Then, from the seat beside him, laughter burst out.
"Hahahahaha!"
Eric popped up from his hiding position, stretching his arms with exaggerated relief.
"That witch finally left! I seriously thought she was going to notice me!"
He wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead before turning toward Damon with sparkling admiration.
"I can't believe it worked! She didn't even look in our direction! It must be because I was hiding next to you, Boss. Your aura protected me!"
Damon slowly turned his head.
The movement was stiff and deliberate, accompanied by the faint cracking sound of bones shifting in his neck.
When his golden eyes finally settled on Eric, the expression in them was so cold that it felt like the temperature around them had dropped several degrees.
It was not merely annoyance.
It was a death glare.
But before he could say anything—-
A loud slam struck the desk in front of Damon, the wood rattling under the force as a furious voice burst through the auditorium.
"You, worthless young master, I chall—"
The angry female voice was cut short.
Before Damon could even lift his eyes to see who had spoken, the figure in front of him was abruptly thrown aside, chairs scraping loudly as she was sent stumbling away across the row.
Something else had already stepped into her place.
Now, another pair of fiery orange eyes stared directly into Damon's.
A heavy voice rumbled from above him.
"Hey."
Damon's gaze lifted slightly.
He could see a pair of horns that were on fire.
"Fight me."