And so, two days pass just like this, with Nimirea waiting for her plan to come together.

  She had come to the Academy with the only purpose of infiltrating Jacob Cloud’s group of Champions. She had wanted to get close to him by letting him play the hero and save her in order for him not to have any suspicion of who she really was. Then, as the next part of her plan, she was ready to separate him from the other Champions as the Dark Champions made their way into the Academy.

  There, during the mid-semester tournament, without Jacob to help them by telling them the weaknesses of the Dark Champions, they would immediately all lose to them in front of everyone. And she knew that the Headmaster wouldn’t interfere—the Prophet had said as much.

  How very much in character for such a selfish creature to believe that their Champions needed to take care of themselves and that it would ruin their Karma if he interfered. But how could they take care of themselves if all they ever did was to receive powers greater than they have ever been without having to sacrifice anything in return?

  * * *

  Nimirea steps onto a jagged rock formation and takes a look around. The salty breeze tickles her nose for a moment, and she’s reminded of distant childhood memories with her father—very distant.

  They condemned him to be humiliated for the rest of his very long life when she was barely seven.

  She still remembers that very vividly, before he left—when he still spent time with her.

  After that, he left Nimirea behind in a temple, instead of bringing her along. He had said it would have helped her have a normal life to be distanced from him.

  After, he used his exile as an excuse to distance himself from his parental duties when, in Nimirea’s opinion, he could have simply let her go with him. She didn’t care about him being exiled—if anything, as she grew older—she realized just what kind of great man her father was.

  Yet, he only came to visit when she staged her own capture for barely a fraction of the upheavals she has been involved in.

  And he looked so happy to talk about Jacob…

  Her father, a High Elf that would almost never age, was a rarity, something unique even in Verdia, where almost all Elves, including the Royal Family, were not actually the same of their ancestral fathers, the High Elves, stronger, nigh-immortal like Dragons, creatures that rivaled the Three Great Races in many aspects.

  She, as a Half Elf, daughter of a High Elf and a human, has had a hard life in Verdia.

  Nimirea shakes her head, exhaling away the air full of memories, and she looks at Jacob.

  Soon, you will understand what true pain is.

  * * *

  “Where is the entrance?” Nimirea asks the Fake Champion.

  “Up there,” Jacob points at the very top of a tall cliff at the center of this massive rock formation in the middle of the ocean. It could almost be confused for an island if not for the complete lack of any lifeform.

  “These are the worst Dungeons,” she tells him. “They’re often hidden away and if a new one spawns in such a location, it can take decades to track the spillage of monsters to it. They’re so remote that when monsters evolve wings or the ability to swim far, it’s very hard to track them all the way back to a place like this.”

  “That makes sense,” Jacob replies, clearly not knowing much about the topic.

  What a fool.

  “But you could just injure or starve a monster enough that it would want to return to the Dungeon, no? Dungeon monsters are naturally attracted to their natural habitat. Have it believe its life is in danger and then stalk it all the way back here. At least, that’s what I’d do.”

  Nimirea looks at Jacob and opens and closes her mouth.

  “Fair, I suppose.” Then, she takes a moment to ponder, “what if the monster doesn’t go back?”

  “Just kill it,” Jacob smiles at her. “If a monster cannot show its usefulness, you just wait until another does. It’s just a matter of being patient or not. You don’t need decades in order to eliminate such a scourge. Just… a few weeks and a bunch of patient Knights.”

  “Knights don’t strike me as the patient type,” Nimirea says.

  “You would be surprised,” Jacob says, giving his back to her as he starts to hike toward the Elite Dungeon.

  She can’t wait to enter the Celestial Tower.

  She knows why Jacob wants to dive into this place so bad: it’s because of Baalrek’s inheritance.

  The Prophet told her that Jacob’s Karma is very tightly intertwined with an old, much older strand of Karma—and that belongs to Baalrek, King of Infernals, Vice Principal of the Academy in another era.

  And she plans to make sure Jacob gets stuck in the Dungeon while looking for Baalrek’s inheritance. She’s already planned this down to the smallest detail.

  As they hike, Jacob suddenly asks her a question.

  “What do you think about becoming a Knight? I’ve always wanted to ask but never really had the occasion to.”

  “What do you mean?” Nimirea is taken aback by the question.

  “You are very powerful and you fought for justice in the Kingdom of Verdia. But, why not become a Knight, instead?”

  “What?” Nimirea feels her blood pressure raising. “What are you trying to say, that I should have abandoned my people in favor of making my fortune as a Knight?”

  “No, I’m saying that you were too weak to make an effective change. Instead, if you had joined the Academy instead of becoming a rebel, you could have gathered power—I mean, you could have even helped people under the protection of the Academy as long as you didn’t explicit break any laws. In a way, you could have intervened in injustices under the protection of the Headmaster.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “The Headmaster doesn’t care about Kingdom-level spats, Jacob,” Nimirea says, correcting him.

  “No, of course he doesn’t,” Jacob replies. “What I’m saying is, let’s say you have a minor lord taking advantage of someone. There might be a Quest posted that is not exactly about that. But you go there. You find out that the lordling is involved in something illegal. Now, you can deliver him to justice.”

  “And let his friends let him walk free.”

  “I meant, you can take his head, Lady Nimirea under the right pretext.”

  “That’s what I was already doing,” Nimirea replies in an irritated tone.

  “You could have done the same under the Headmaster’s protection.”

  “Jacob, the Headmaster doesn’t care for—“

  “I don’t think you’re listening to me. The Headmaster doesn’t care about solving those disputes himself. But he cares about the sanctity of the Academy beyond anything you might even imagine. If a Knight got killed by the local government—or even just imprisoned—because they carried out their duty without breaking any law, the Headmaster would intervene immediately.”

  Nimirea stops hiking for a moment, furrowing her brow.

  “You’re saying that I made a bad choice because I didn’t choose to submit to the caprices of a creature who believes to be the ultimate judgment of all that’s right or wrong? I chose to stake my own life for a cause, Jacob. I’m not sure you understand.”

  “Nope,” Jacob shrugs. “I’m not sure I understand, indeed. Maybe, some things are just beyond me.”

  “Maybe they are,” Nimirea says, feeling her muscles tense.

  You don’t understand sacrifice. You don’t understand what it means to give everything in order to have a fighting chance. You might not be a noble, but Karma just gave that Skill to you and you don’t even know how to use it. You think that the Headmaster would ever care so much? How naive.

  Finally, they reach the entrance of the Celestial Tower and Nimirea flexes her digits, cracking them, and savoring the despair that she’ll see upon Jacob’s face once they’ll go back to the Academy and see all his fellow Champions broken on the ground.

  She can already picture the scene in her mind: they lie on the ground, bloody and battered, most of them unconscious, with a few barely able to keep their eyelids open. And those will look at Jacob, who’ll go back to the Academy with the leader of the Dark Champions, feeling betrayed—it doesn’t matter that he’s weak. He was supposed to lead them, to make sure that they would stay on the right path.

  He doesn’t understand it, but that’s what the leader of Champions was supposed to do. Being strong is useless. The very fact that he came here, thirsty for power instead of elevating his fellow Champions shows his blindness. He has one of the ultimate Skills when it comes to leading a group, and what does he do? He comes here with me?

  Nimirea sees a small encampment outside of the large, azure portal that brings one inside the Celestial Tower.

  “Who’s there?!” A guard sternly asks, baring a glaive toward them.

  “Jacob Cloud, Champion from the Academy,” Jacob replies. “I booked two spots for the Elite Dungeon. Are you with Prince Lenaer?”

  The guard looks at Jacob up and down before moving his eyes to Nimirea.

  “You! You’re the traitor!” The aura of the man explodes forth, revealing him to be at Advanced Diamond Rank.

  I could crush you like a fly, Nimirea thinks with irritation coursing through her body.

  “You won’t touch my friend,” Jacob says, walking in front of Nimirea.

  How self-servingly good of you. What a Knight.

  “She had been exonerated from her crimes through trial by combat. Therefore, she’s now as free as she can be. And, as a student of Ytrial, she’s under the protection of the Academy and the Headmaster. Do you have the authority to declare war on the Academy on behalf of your Kingdom and let your kings and queens fight the Headmaster? If not, stand down.”

  The guard seems taken aback.

  Nimirea’s eyes widen slightly when she sees the guard stand down and bow slightly.

  “I apologize for bringing offense to the Academy. His Highness is donning his equipment. We arrived a few hours ago. Since you’re here, we’ll go inside soon.”

  “Thank you,” Jacob says. “We won’t be in the way. I’m looking for something very specific in the Dungeon. I won’t stake a claim on any of the loot of the monsters that the parties kill.”

  “I will talk to His Highness and alert him of your presence, then,” the guard says stiffly.

  “Thank you. Please, also, alert him that I have something to show him before we enter.”

  The guard leaves and Nimirea looks quizzingly at Jacob.

  “What did you bring?”

  “I knew there would be problems with the group, so I brought something to pacify them. A little surprise.”

  A gift? To these animals? How disgusting.

  She truly can’t understand how Jacob would want to negotiate with such monsters.

  I suppose it makes sense. He’s a future Knight under the Headmaster. He must be political.

  Nimirea and Jacob wait at the entrance of the Dungeon, on the same jagged rock that make up this island.

  Soon, she sees an heroic-looking Elf in a golden armor come along and give her a cursory, disgusted glance before planting his feet in the ground and addressing Jacob.

  “I see that you have brought an Elf… you should have chosen better, Champion. I’ve gotten news of this traitor. She might have been saved by the foolish intervention of yours in her trial, but she does not satisfy the requirements I set. She’s an Half-Elf. Having bought the majority of spots, I asked for Elves, real Elves to be the companion of whomever would have come.”

  Nimirea is now very curious to see what Jacob will reply. She knows that, legally speaking, the Prince is right. Yet, she has also made sure to have rumor reach that bore that this Champion is someone dangerous. So, even though Jacob doesn’t know it, he’s just being tested. Once he shows some resistance and guts, he’ll be granted access to the Celestial Tower.

  “I never intended to follow your rules,” Jacob says. “At no point, in fact, I was ever interested in them.”

  “Excuse me?” the Royal Prince is taken aback. Nimirea, too, is surprised.

  “I just needed your men. I suspect you’re pretty strong if you’re the heir to an entire Kingdom. I bet you’re pretty much at Peak Diamond Rank, right?”

  “Who do you think you are to speak so casually to our King?!” one of the guards bark.

  “Jacob, what are you doing?” Nimirea whispers.

  Is this idiot going to ruin my plan?! If he keeps doing this, they might actually not grant us access?! Who raised this guy, wolves?! Where did he learn his manners?!

  “Well, it doesn’t matter too much. I would have never come here without reinforcements anyway,” Jacob says. “Vyrrak.”

  Vyrrak?

  Nimirea suddenly feels a cold blade pressed against her throat.

  “What’s happening?” she asks, confused, looking down. “What’s the meaning of this, Jacob?”

  “You know very well what this is,” Jacob replies. “Did you really think you could outsmart me? I was one step ahead of you the entire time. You fell into my trap, idiot.”

  Now, Nimirea’s surprised face, the careful mask she has been wearing for so long, slowly mutates into a dark snarl.

  Then, from a dimensional tear, nine Champions come out and surround her.

  “How did you know who I really was?” Nimirea clenches her teeth. “I hid everything about myself perfectly. I had the perfect cover.”

  “Did you?” Jacob smiles.

  Nimirea tries to track down what could have given away who she really is, but she has to admit she actually has no idea how Jacob could have gleaned anything about her real identity.

  “You must have access to a source of information that I did not consider,” Nimirea says coldly. “Well, if you think that this is enough for me, the Guide of the Dark Champions—”

  “OH!” Jacob exclaims. “That’s who you are!”