The rest of the day passed in a blur of whispers and sideways glances. One by one, the professors entered the room, their eyes lingering on Haruto with a mix of confusion and suspicion. They muttered a few cryptic words to him before moving on with their lessons, as if they sensed the "Glitch" in his presence but couldn't quite name it.
When the bell for the break finally rang, the heavy atmosphere was broken by the arrival of Professor Elara. She stood at the doorway, her presence casting a long, intimidating shadow over the classroom. Her eyes locked onto Haruto, and her voice carried a chilling, low-frequency rasp that made the hair on everyone's neck stand up.
"Haruto. My office. Now."
The classroom went dead silent. The jealous glares from Kenjin and the curious stares from the girls vanished, replaced by a collective sense of dread. Haruto stood up without a word, his face a mask of boredom, and followed her into the dimly lit staff room.
As the door clicked shut, Elara turned on him, her eyes sharp as glass.
"The Wizard Quest is tomorrow, and here you are... wasting time in a classroom? What are you playing at?"
"I came to study Kallen," Haruto replied flatly. "I needed to see what he's become before the duel."
Elara let out a cold, sharp laugh.
"Then you've wasted your breath. Kallen isn't even here today. He's already in deep training, honing whatever 'gift' the system gave him. And you?" She stepped closer, her eyes scanning his lean, densified frame.
"This body... how did you build this in a single night? You truly are a box of surprises, Haruto. But remember—no matter how strong you think you've become, our deal still stands."
Haruto didn't flinch. He signaled toward the door, and a moment later, Ivory, Lustra, Bellona, and a still-brooding Toya entered the staff room. They stood behind him, their combined auras making the small office feel cramped and electric.
Professor Elara looked at the group and sighed, waving her hand toward the exit.
"All of you, go home. Whether you spend the next few hours resting or training to your breaking point, I don't care. Just stop wasting time here. The board is set for tomorrow, and the Academy has nothing left to teach you today."
As the group prepares to leave the Academy grounds, the realization hits them that the luxury they arrived in is no longer waiting at the curb. Kobi had mentioned the carriage was for transport, but apparently, it wasn't a permanent valet service.
Ivory suddenly stops in her tracks, her eyes thinking of the empty street where the royal carriage should have been. "Wait... it will not be here," she says, her voice rising in disbelief.
Haruto looks over his shoulder, feeling the fatigue starting to creep back into his bones. "What's not here?"
"The carriage!" Ivory exclaims, throwing her hands up.
"The royal transport is gone! Haruto, don't tell me we actually have to walk all the way back to the mansion?"
Lustra groans, leaning back against a stone pillar with a look of pure misery.
"Are you serious? Walk? In this heat? After everything that happened last night? This is a disaster. My legs aren't meant for manual labor."
Bellona, however, cracks her knuckles, a competitive glint in her eyes. She looks at the long road ahead with a smirk.
"Oh, stop whining. Think of it as a warmup. If you can't handle a simple walk back to the estate, how do you expect to survive the Wizard Quest tomorrow? This is training."
Ivory and Lustra both turn their heads in sync, giving Bellona a look of absolute, murderous annoyance.
Haruto lets out a sharp, dry laugh, shaking his head.
"Look at you all. One ride in a fancy carriage and suddenly you've forgotten how to use your feet? This is exactly how it was before. We walked everywhere."
He adjusts his collar, his "Physical Boost" making the prospect of a long walk feel like nothing to him.
"Don't get too comfortable just because Lilith gave you a taste of the high life. Stop acting like spoiled royals and start moving. We're losing sunlight."
Toya stands nearby, watching the exchange with his usual unshakeable calm. He doesn't look bothered by the walk at all—in fact, he seems to be enjoying the sight of the goddesses struggling with "normal" problems.
The group continued walking for a bit, the goddesses still grumbling about the heat, when suddenly Ivory spotted a familiar silhouette up ahead. Parked neatly in the shade was the royal carriage, and slumped over the driver's seat was Kobi, fast asleep.
"Oh! Look! The carriage is right there!" Ivory squealed, her mood doing a complete 180 as she ran toward it.
"Phew... thank the Heavens," Lustra added, her dramatic exhaustion vanishing instantly.
Bellona, Toya, and Haruto followed behind at a more measured pace. Ivory reached the carriage first and gave Kobi a sharp poke. "Good morning, sleepyhead!" she chirped.
Kobi jolched awake, nearly falling off his perch. He blinked rapidly, looking around in a daze.
"Huh? What? Is school over already? You guys are here?"
Haruto stepped up, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, school is over. We're heading home early to focus on practice. What happened to you?"
"Oh, sorry about that," Kobi said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and adjusting his cap.
"I wasn't at the gate because I got a bit tired waiting... I must have drifted off in the shade. My apologies."
"It's fine," Haruto muttered, signaling for everyone to get in.
"Just get us back to the mansion."
As they climbed in, Haruto looked at the three goddesses with a dry, knowing smirk.
"There. You got your carriage back. Happy now?"
Ivory and Lustra caught his eye and immediately looked away, nodding sheepishly but trying to maintain their dignity. They knew they were being babied, and they didn't exactly appreciate being treated like children, even if they were secretly relieved to be off their feet.
The carriage came to a halt in front of the mansion. As Haruto stepped onto the gravel, a cold, distorted vibration rattled his skull. A voice, ancient and sharp, echoed from inside his mind:
"Go to your room. Lock the door from the inside. Do it now, or I will be forced to 'recalibrate' your senses again."
Haruto gritted his teeth. He knew that voice all too well. The God of Creation was no longer suggesting; he was threatening.
"Everyone, get ready,"
Haruto said abruptly, his voice tight. He didn't wait for a response or look back at the confused expressions of the goddesses or Toya. He sprinted toward the stairs, heading straight for his sanctuary.
As he reached his door, he barked an order to Asobi, who was watching him from the hallway with a raised eyebrow.
"Asobi! Lock the gate behind me. Don't let anyone in. No matter what."
The moment the lock clicked, the physical world began to dissolve. The walls of his bedroom didn't just fade; they shattered into digital pixels, falling away into a bottomless abyss. The air turned thin and electric.
Haruto looked around. He was no longer in the mansion. He was standing in the Void, a realm of endless white and shifting geometric shadows. And there, floating in the center of the nothingness, was the light-emitting entity: AETHERIS.
The entity flickered like a dying star, its presence even more overwhelming than before. Haruto stood his ground, the "Physical Boost" in his body reacting to the divine pressure of the Void.
Haruto looked around the infinite expanse of the Void, his feet firm on the invisible floor. He wasn't staggering this time; his new body was absorbing the pressure with ease.
"I'll give you this much," Haruto said, his voice steady.
"The transition this time was a lot smoother. No headache, no nausea. Just... here."
AETHERIS pulsed with a soft, rhythmic glow, the light washing over Haruto like a calm tide.
"Haha, see? If you simply follow my instructions without resisting, the synchronization remains stable. It's much easier for both of us when the 'reincarnation' is compliant."
Haruto didn't look convinced. He crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing.
"Fine. Now tell me why you dragged me back here. And please, don't tell me you've gone and messed with the game rules again. I've already got enough on my plate."
A heavy silence filled the Void for a moment before the entity spoke again, its tone surprisingly relaxed.
"Relax, Haruto. Take a breath. I didn't summon you to rewrite the code this time. I simply came to talk. Consider this a 'pre battle' dialogue."
Haruto let out a long, genuine sigh of relief. His shoulders dropped, and for the first time in twenty-four hours, the tension in his neck vanished.
"Just to talk? Good. Because if you added another 'hidden difficulty' right now, I might have actually be dead for real but what talk"