The auditorium still carried the aftershock of the instructor's abrupt departure.
Rows of white-and-gold desks curved in a wide semicircle around the central stage, the polished marble floor reflecting the light pouring through tall crystalline windows that stretched along the walls.
The glass shimmered faintly with embedded mana circuits, allowing sunlight to pass through in soft prismatic patterns that danced across the floor and the students' uniforms. Above, floating mana-lamps drifted slowly beneath the vaulted ceiling, their gentle glow maintaining the elegant atmosphere expected of Crownspire Academy.
It was a hall designed for prestige.
For discipline.
For the training of future rulers.
And at this moment, that entire hall had gone silent.
All attention had gathered around the final row.
Damon stood there, unmoving.
In front of him stood the beastwoman.
His golden eyes met the fiery orange gaze staring down at him.
Up close, the woman was impossible to ignore. She stood nearly as tall as Damon himself—something Damon had rarely encountered. Until now, only Duke Magnus had matched his height without effort. Yet this beastwoman stood at eye level with him as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Her build was powerful, every line of her body shaped by strength rather than grace. Toned muscles ran along her arms and abdomen which was intensified by her bronze skin, the defined structure of her abs visible beneath the slightly altered academy uniform she wore.
The white blazer with gold trims hung open loosely over her shoulders, while the front of her shirt had been tied in a knot just below her chest, revealing the sculpted strength of her core. The academy tie hung lazily around her neck as though she had only half bothered to wear it.
Golden ornaments decorated the belt around her waist, thin chains swaying lightly against the pleated skirt of the uniform.
Above it all rose the pair of curved horns emerging from her head, their dark surface glowing faintly where the flames danced along their edges. And a long tail swung behind her.
Her long hair flowed like molten fire down her back.
And her eyes—
Those burning orange eyes stared directly into Damon's golden gaze.
For a brief moment, it felt as though the air between them had ignited.
The temperature seemed to rise.
Behind Damon, Eric shifted nervously in his seat.
"W-why does it feel like the temperature just got hotter…?" he muttered under his breath.
Damon didn't even look away from the beastwoman as he answered calmly.
"Why should I?"
The beastwoman tilted her head slowly, as if considering the question.
Then she smiled.
It wasn't a polite smile.
But sharp, confident, almost amused.
"'Cause Ah want ya to," she replied, her voice carrying a rough, rolling accent that stretched the words with casual dominance. "Ain't that reason 'nough?"
Damon stared at her for a moment.
Is she an idiot?
Fighting someone without even a reason.
Before the tension between them could develop further, a furious voice suddenly cut through the air.
"You—!"
The female student who had been thrown aside earlier stormed back into the row, her short black hair whipping around her face as she pointed accusingly at the beastwoman.
"You wild bitch!" she shouted angrily. "I know your kind has no concept of decency or manners, but I was the one who spoke first!"
Her glare snapped toward Damon.
"You!"
Her finger pointed directly at him.
"I challenge you. Fight me!"
For a moment, Damon simply looked at the two of them standing before his desk.
The beastwoman with flaming horns.
The furious human girl.
He let out a quiet breath.
What a hassle.
His gaze shifted to the human student.
"And who," he asked calmly, "might you be?"
For a brief moment, the human girl simply stared at Damon as though she had misheard him.
Then her expression twisted into disbelief.
"You—…you don't know me?" she asked, her voice rising slightly in both confusion and indignation.
The beastwoman standing beside her let out a faint smirk, the corner of her lips lifting in quiet amusement as she watched the exchange unfold.
The human girl's confidence faltered for a split second, and her eyes instinctively flickered toward the rows behind her.
Damon noticed the movement immediately.
His gaze followed the direction of that glance and landed on the first row, where Lucian was indeed looking back toward the commotion with an expression that carried just enough concern to betray his interest.
What a lovesick fool, Damon thought calmly.
Trying to get justice for her sweetheart.
The realization only sharpened his mood.
When Damon looked back at the girl standing before him, the expression on his face had changed completely. The calm indifference that had been there moments ago gave way to something far sharper, his golden eyes narrowing slightly as a faintly delinquent-like sneer curled at the corner of his lips.
"What," he said slowly, his tone carrying a deliberate edge of contempt, "do you think I am supposed to recognize every Tom, Dick, and Harry who walks into this place?"
Around the auditorium, whispers immediately began spreading through the students.
"As expected from Damon.."
"That's Count Raventhal's daughter…"
"I thought he'd at least pretend to be polite…"
Damon ignored them all.
Inside his mind, the reasoning was far more straightforward.
I need to make sure that no one bothers me again after this.
Beside him, Eric had somehow produced a small notebook out of thin air.
The boy had already begun scribbling furiously inside it while muttering to himself with excitement.
"What a line…" Eric whispered in awe. "That was such a cool dialogue… I'm definitely going to use that someday."
Meanwhile, the human girl had taken an involuntary step backward.
Damon's expression had clearly unsettled her.
"I—I am from the House of Count Raventhal," she said, her voice wavering slightly as she tried to recover her dignity.
Damon's gaze remained completely unchanged.
"So what?"
The answer fell into the air with quiet finality.
A few students in the surrounding rows exchanged looks.
"He's still acting exactly the same as before…"
For a moment, the beastwoman had remained silent, watching the exchange with clear interest burning in her fiery orange eyes.
Then she finally spoke.
"If Ah take care o' her fer ya…" she said slowly, her rough accent rolling through the words as though the challenge itself amused her, "…will ya fight me?"
Several nearby students leaned forward in anticipation.
Before Damon could even reply, the beastwoman casually raised her wrist.
Strapped around it was a sleek metallic device that resembled a watch, though faint lines of mana flickered across its surface.
She pressed something on its face.
A sharp ding echoed through the air.
Almost immediately, the human girl's wrist emitted the same sound.
The girl instinctively looked down at the device strapped to her arm.
Her eyes widened.
"You—You lunatic!" she burst out angrily. "You actually used one of your Binding Challenges for something like this?!"
The surrounding murmurs immediately intensified.
"She used a Binding Challenge?"
"Seriously!?"
Damon, meanwhile, leaned back slightly in his stance, observing the entire exchange with quiet curiosity rather than alarm.
Then he tilted his head slightly toward Eric.
"Hey," he said calmly, "what exactly is going on?"
Eric's eyes lit up instantly, as though he had been waiting for this exact moment.
"Ohhh! That's right!" he said excitedly. "You slept through the orientation, so you don't know!"
He laughed loudly, slapping his knee.
"Hahaha! As expected from my boss!"
A few nearby students glanced at him with annoyance.
Ignoring them completely, Eric leaned closer and began explaining eagerly.
"You see, every student gets three chances to issue something called a Binding Challenge during their time here at the academy," he said, raising three fingers for emphasis. "If someone receives that challenge, they cannot refuse it under any circumstances."
He lowered his voice slightly as he continued.
"But once the challenge is completed, both parties are restricted from fighting each other again unless it happens during official examinations or academy-sanctioned events."
Damon listened quietly, his eyes returning briefly to the two girls standing in front of him.
Interesting.
After a moment, another question surfaced.
"What about that device?" he asked, nodding toward the watch-like object on their wrists.
Eric chuckled as though the answer were obvious.
"Oh, that?"
"That's a Manacron," he explained proudly. "It's issued by the academy to every student. It's actually an amazing piece of magical tech. It works as a communication device, a messenger system, a challenge registrar, a schedule tracker—basically everything."
Several nearby students nodded unconsciously.
One of them muttered quietly, "Yeah, you can even track breach alerts through it."
Eric shrugged casually as he finished.
"You should have gotten one from your dorm manager when you arrived."
Damon leaned back slightly as he processed the explanation.
So basically…
A smartwatch.
***
The arena of Crownspire Academy stood just behind the main academic halls, its architecture matching the same pristine elegance that defined the rest of the campus.
Vast curved stands rose in smooth tiers around a circular battleground at the center, the entire structure built from white stone and reinforced crystalline glass that shimmered faintly with embedded mana circuits.
Tall transparent walls arched upward toward the sky, allowing sunlight to flood the space while still containing the magical energies released during combat.
It looked less like a traditional arena and more like a modern magical coliseum.
Students filled the stands in restless waves of white-and-gold uniforms. The noise of excited voices echoed through the structure as word of the Binding Challenge spread quickly across the campus.
Some faces in the crowd clearly did not belong to first-years; a number of older students—likely from the second year—had gathered out of curiosity to witness the spectacle.
High above the arena floor, Damon stood near the top rows with Eric beside him.
Damon rested his forearms against the railing as he looked down toward the battleground below.
"Let's see what this fight is about," he muttered calmly.
At the center of the arena, the two challengers faced one another.
The black-haired human girl stood stiffly, trying to mask her unease, while the beastwoman across from her rolled her shoulders lazily as though she had only just begun warming up.
A faint humming sound spread through the arena.
Then a transparent dome of shimmering mana unfolded around the battlefield, rising smoothly until it sealed the combat zone beneath an invisible barrier.
At the same moment, a massive projection screen above the arena flickered to life.
Two portraits appeared side by side.
VALERIA RAVENTHAL — 1st Year
KHAIRA EMBERHORN — 1st Year
A ripple of murmurs passed through the crowd.
"Raventhal… she's from a count's house…"
"Emberhorn? That's a beast clan name…"
"I heard the Emberhorn clan specializes in fire…"
Down below, the signal for the duel was given.
For a fraction of a second, both girls remained still.
Then Khaira moved.
It wasn't a gradual shift or cautious step.
It was a burst of raw, explosive motion.
Her foot struck the ground and her entire body surged forward like a launched projectile, closing the distance between them in an instant.
Valeria barely managed to raise her arm before the first strike landed.
A heavy punch drove straight into her guard with enough force to send her sliding several meters across the arena floor.
Gasps erupted from the stands.
Before Valeria could regain her balance, Khaira was already upon her again.
Her horns flared brighter.
Flames burst outward.
A sweeping kick crashed into Valeria's side, lifting her off the ground entirely before she slammed back against the white arena tiles. Sparks scattered across the floor where Khaira's feet landed, and the heat from her resonance began to ripple through the air like a mirage.
The beastwoman did not stop.
She pressed forward relentlessly.
Another strike.
Then another.
Each blow came faster than the last, her movements brutal and direct, overwhelming Valeria's attempts to defend herself. Fire erupted with each motion, spreading across the arena floor in bright streaks that curled and danced like living creatures.
Within seconds, the entire battleground seemed to ignite.
Flames roared along the tiles, rising in fierce waves beneath Khaira's feet as she delivered the final blow—a downward strike that slammed Valeria into the ground with a shockwave that sent embers spiraling into the air.
Silence fell over the arena.
Khaira stood there, her breathing steady, her tail swinging slowly behind her as flames continued to flicker across the battlefield.
At her feet lay Valeria Raventhal.
Defeated.
Damon watched the entire exchange with the same calm expression he had maintained since the beginning.
But inside—
i-it's over?
j-just like that…?
The reaction echoed throughout the entire arena.
Students leaned forward in disbelief.
"That's it?"
"Raventhal girl didn't even get a chance to use her resonance…"
"She got completely destroyed…"
From one section of the stands, the beastmen students erupted into loud cheers.
"That's how it's done!"
"Emberhorn!"
"Burn them all!"
Meanwhile, the human students sat in uneasy silence, many of them avoiding eye contact with one another.
Beside Damon, Eric stared down at the arena with wide eyes.
"Whoa…!" he whispered. "She definitely has a fire-type resonance… and a strong one at that!"
His excitement only grew.
"And it looked like she's already reached the Manifestation Stage!"
Damon did not look at him.
His eyes remained fixed on the battlefield.
Resonance…
Manifestation…
If only that oddball professor had actually bothered explaining it…
Below, Khaira Emberhorn slowly lifted her head.
Her burning orange eyes scanned the stands.
Then they locked onto Damon.
A faint grin spread across her face.
She raised one hand and pointed directly at him.
"Hey!"
Her voice echoed clearly through the arena.
"Fight. Me."