“What did you do to them in just one week? I was gone only a few days…” I complain to Shawu while pressing my finger against her forehead a bit harder than usual.

  When I arrived, my students were still working hard as always. After watching from the shadows for a few minutes, I sensed a subtle emotional shift in some of them. A part of the class reacted with fear toward Shawu, as if something terrible would happen if they failed to follow her instructions.

  “I didn’t do anything…” I keep pressing her forehead, and even use my gravity prison and Imra to hold her in place when she tries to escape. “Alright, alright… I just hit a few of them in some light sparring, or told them they didn’t have enough talent to use twin weapons.” I already imagined something like this. This class was also training for Shawu.

  “I’m sorry…” Before I could scold her, she apologizes with the face of a sad puppy. “Some of them frustrated me—they couldn’t keep up with the pace of the others, always falling behind. The good thing is none of them got injured. I held back during sparring.” Shawu strikes a proud pose when she finishes talking, then immediately returns to her puppy-eyed look when she meets my gaze.

  “Did you apologize to any of them? You’re a substitute instructor, you can’t just insult everyone who doesn’t have talent.” To be honest, she exceeded my expectations. I thought she’d end up sending someone to the hospital or temporarily expelling a few students.

  “Yes, I did!” Shawu looks offended by my question. I press a bit harder to squeeze out more information. “I really did. Areci forced me when she found out.” That makes sense. Areci must have noticed somehow.

  Areci is a special case—she truly sees everyone as weaker and believes no one of her rank can defeat her. At first I thought I’d meet someone arrogant who looks down on everyone, yet she’s changed over the years. She still thinks the same way, which is a risk, but at least she cares about the weaker ones.

  “Thanks for filling in while I was gone. You did… a decent job.” I give my friend a hug in thanks. Shawu was raised surrounded by talented people like her, so placing herself in the shoes of those without talent is difficult. At least she grew a little this week as a teacher.

  “How did your mission go? Did you fail and come back to ask for reinforcements?” she asks once I let her go.

  “You know who I am. Failure isn’t allowed.” I roll my eyes, then strike the same proud pose she used a moment ago.Shawu punches me in the stomach; I lower my defenses to take it—as her reward for helping me.

  “It’s done. I met a good group of people and they helped me a bit.” I feel a bit sad remembering Gator’s death, then recall how the Owl group is moving forward without forgetting their pain, and I had already decided to do the same.

  We keep talking about my experience, while I give instructions to each student without turning around even once. Those rumors about my eyes on my back have already started again.

  My teacher duties end, and my student classes end as well. Most classmates and instructors asked where I’d been; I lied, saying I had family issues and returned after solving them.

  With free time now, I’m training with my new toy. “Stop embarrassing yourself, I thought you were good at everything.” Brendu watches me float inside the training dome. At first she kept laughing, and now she’s getting impatient after watching me struggle for hours.

  At some point she took out her device to read the news. She only looks up to laugh or clap when I do something right.

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  “It’s not that easy. Try it yourself, Miss Perfect.” I deactivate the mana flow and teleport in front of her. I’ve already learned from my mistakes—I smashed my face into the floor again at the beginning, and Brendu nearly peed herself laughing.

  “I’ll be much better than you.” I hand her the bracelets, but when she tries to put them on, they expand and fall off. She presses one to adjust it, but nothing happens. “I can’t. My Imra and mana bounce back when I try to touch them. They must be restricted to one user. You’re the only one who can use them.” She gives up after several minutes and returns them.

  “What do you want for dinner?” I ask the princess while putting the bracelets back on. They adjust perfectly. After a moment I forget they even exist—they feel weightless, like a part of me.

  “I don’t know, let me think while you finish absorbing one of those things.” She looks at the cores beside her. I pick one, sit cross-legged in the center of the room, and place my hands on the core.

  I mix my mana and Imra as always to weave a skill or construct and try to break the core’s defenses. Its natural defenses break with some effort. I change my focus, using my ice affinity instead of natural mana, and the difference is clear—the defenses melt easily, as if a door opens for me.

  My body, my cube, my whole being feels an intense cold. I sense the temperature around and inside me plummeting. Wait… I don’t feel cold at all. It feels like the cold itself is sheltering me, keeping me warm and stable.

  The world around me changes. I’m still sitting in the same position, but surrounded by snow and fierce icy winds. What is this? I understand this isn’t reality—it feels too fantastical. Am I inside the core? Has my mind been pulled somewhere else?

  I try slowly to leave or find an exit; my mind finds it easily. Knowing I can leave whenever I want makes me calmer, so I focus on my surroundings.

  It’s freezing—deeply, endlessly freezing. The temperature keeps dropping, the winds intensify, and the snow begins to freeze further. I move my hand, find resistance, and nearly freeze it entirely. It’s strange to not suffer instant frostbite.

  I try using my Imra, mana—nothing works. Any movement outside a small radius starts to freeze me. I test dozens of combinations with no success. I use every affinity, all combined, then just ice with Imra—and nothing changes.

  I focus instead on understanding how the cold around me achieves what I want with my affinity: absolute zero. Every current of cold air steals what little warmth I have, lowering the temperature even further.

  I’ve been trying to do the same with my affinity—draining all heat, nearly freezing opponents with my cuts. After several minutes in this frozen world, I realize I’m on the right track… but still far.

  I can freeze things fast—less than a second when I focus—but I want instant freezing.

  Many minutes later I sense something different. No—this was here the whole time; I just didn’t notice. There are multiple cold Laws around me, mixed with the environment. That’s why I didn’t see them before.

  Happiness floods my body; I almost lose concentration. If things go well, I can improve my pseudo-Law here—two birds with one stone.

  I keep working hard to understand everything around me, remembering Susan’s metaphor about devouring the core like a fruit. When I consciously try to consume all of it, I feel no resistance—as if the core wants to be devoured by me.

  It feels similar to the bracelets. Are these cores part of the reward? Or are they drawn to me because I killed the monster that carried them? It doesn’t matter—if they want to be eaten, I won’t complain.

  I go slowly, savoring each bite. My understanding of my pseudo-Law increases a bit—barely noticeable—but my mind learns how to make my affinity colder, the information coming spoonful by spoonful.

  I stop when I notice something different. The space around me feels slower and more stable. This reminds me of something… I rack my brain. Not before school… not during… it must be something recent.

  I remember where I am—in the core of the Yeti-like monster I killed. My mind adds 1+1. This feels very similar to the Yeti’s ability, though the monster’s version was weaker.

  I try using my Banner as a foundation to learn something from that ability. I frown when it doesn’t work… something’s missing. My instinct tells me that if I keep devouring this core as if it were gourmet food, I’ll eventually understand the base of that ability.

  I leave the core after consuming part of it. Brendu looks up when she sees me move. “You took your time with that core.” I explain everything; she looks shocked. According to her, this only happens with certain special cores or grade 5 ones.

  I look at the yellow core, round like a giant mango, and smile. I don’t know how long it’ll take to devour both cores slowly, but I’m certain of one thing—I’ll see major improvement once I’m done. From today on, I’ll be eating these cores daily! I’m going to drain them completely!