The cold room felt unusually stuffy. I was afraid… and it was embarrassing. Maybe dying has given me the confidence that, truly, I won’t ever die, but with someone who can brainwash people with a flick of their wrist, true death was on the table.

  The red-haired dragon looked down at me. “We meet every day at nine for three hours, participation is mandatory, miss even one and you’re out. Any more than that is voluntary.” She turned around her tail accidentally smacked me in the face.

  “Watch it!” I pushed the thing away.

  Mousei shrugged. “Ain’t used to a tail.” She gestured at the pedestal. “This is the tribulation altar.” Louize, a dragon kid with 40 SE, was standing in the middle of the glowing thing with closed eyes, her copper hair fluttering from an invisible force. “It’s the most valuable artifact here. Puts you into your worst nightmares, and once you conquer them, you’ll get stronger.” Mousei nodded to herself with a thin smile. “Though there’ll always be nightmares to conquer.”

  “That’s a little… extreme.” The urge to run away had grown stronger, but beneath the fear, there was morbid curiosity. What was I afraid of? “Can I try it?”

  She chuckled, putting a hand on my head and roughing up my hair. “When Louize leaves.”

  “Don’t do that!” I tried moving her hand away, but it was like trying to push against a wall.

  Mousei removed her hand and pointed at the mats. The three-eyed girl was sitting there. “Once we go through the tribulation, we have to meditate, usually yields an emission or two.” She tilted her head. “I think I forgot something…”

  This didn’t feel good at all. “What did you forget?”

  She shrugged again, and her tail smacked my head again.

  “Control your backside sausage!” I took a deep breath, glaring at the woman.

  “You’re funny.” She smiled widely. “We do near-death comas on weekends, good for strong mental. There’s also the willpower training on Wednesdays, good stuff. You’ll fit right in.”

  This place was mad. Why did Ivaldie recommend it to me? “Does Siege teach anything?”

  She slapped her head. “Of course! The growth mindset lectures… Ehh, you’re onyx, you won’t need 'em.”

  “So let me get this straight. There’s the nightmare pod, the willpower training, near-death comas, meditation, and… lectures. Are those the best ways to increase SE?”

  “Yep, pretty much.” She cracked her fists. “If you wanna think of something better, go ahead, tell Siege. That’ll make the week more fun.” She laughed. This place was insane.

  “I’m free to leave anytime, right?” I just had to be sure I wasn’t going to die here. I looked at Louize, she was still on the altar.

  “Once you leave, you can’t come back. Those are rules.” Mousei nodded to herself.

  A crackle resounded through the room. Louize opened her eyes; her SE rose to 41. Maybe there is something here. I needed to get stronger, to prepare for the otherworldly horrors…

  The copper-scaled girl clutched her fists and let out a loud scream, tears started falling from her eyes, as she frantically looked around. Mousei mumbled, “Not another panic attack.” Maybe I shouldn’t be here at all.

  The child panted, backing away as if everyone here was a monster. “Get away!” She shouted. Mousei didn’t seem to care; her aura flared powerfully, burning like a forest fire, and in a blink, she dashed towards Louzie, smacking her on the head.

  With a thud, the kid fell down unconscious. My throat went dry. “Are you insane? Why did you hit her?”

  Mousei lifted the dragonling by the head and threw her across the room, right on the mat. “I’m too tired to nanny.” She shrugged. “Still wanna try the altar?” Mousei was a psychopath. “Or are you a coward who won’t last a week?” There was a teasing glint in her eyes.

  Any reasonable person would have left by now. I certainly should have left. Yet, the timer was ticking. Every day, the invasion was closer. Whatever this torture device was, it couldn’t be worse than dying. I wasn’t a coward. My starpower flared unconsciously. “I’ll try it. Just don’t hit me if I freak out.” At that point, I hadn’t registered exactly what I was doing. Strengthening made me feel invincible.

  “Stand there, close your eyes, and enjoy.” Mousei grinned, looking at me proudly.

  I took a deep breath and stood on the altar. Closing my eyes, I tried my best to relax. “Is it doing anything?”

  When I opened my eyes, I was flying in space. It was as beautiful as ever – an endless expanse of possibility. I could stare at it forever. I slapped my cheeks. There was no time to admire the scenery; I was about to face my most terrible nightmare.

  “Hello!” Friedrich walked out of a dark spot in my vision and waved. The colors of his body were in negative... even his voice was distorted.

  “Are you fucking serious?” I looked around, trying to figure out why there was a negative version of my old self here.

  “What did you expect? The altar isn’t all-powerful, you know, and this is like the most basic thing.”

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

  I sighed. “Just get to the point, evil me.”

  He gasped, faking offence. “Evil? How could you say that? I’m not the one who’s trying to indoctrinate children.”

  I couldn’t resist the urge to roll my eyes. “The galaxy is going to get blown up, I might as well do whatever I want.”

  Negative me nodded. “Very nice, so have you ever felt an urge to do terrible, unspeakable things?” He smirked. “Who am I kidding? Of course you have. Want to act on them? The galaxy will end anyway.”

  This situation was beyond absurd. “I can get anything I want without compromising my weak morals. Try something better.” I pointed at the guy, who scratched his head.

  “Ehm… You won’t have another chance if you die, that’s it.”

  “I know that.” I stared at the white dwarf below; the altar really recreated this scene. It was impressive. “Is this the best you’ve got?”

  “Look, man, I’m trying. You’re not making my job easy.”

  “What’s your job anyway? Are you a metaphor for accepting your Id? Cause I did that. I’m free to myself and my desires.”

  Suddenly, the negative me gulped, his eyes widened. He stared at the cosmic ceiling. “Wait, wait, wait! Hey, don’t do it, it’s just bravado, he isn’t really honest to himself.” From the white dwarf, a massive pillar of light pierced through the negative me and annihilated him.

  The silence of space was deafening; I could hear my own heartbeat. “That’s it?” I looked around, confused. The same star started shining again. “Hey, you don’t have to vaporize me, right?” I swung my hands, trying to swim away, only to remain in place.

  My vision turned white, and pain overwhelmed my body for a second. Then I opened my eyes, staring at the crouching Mousei, who poked my nose. I slapped her hand away and stood up.

  Your SE has increased to 13.

  “This was a huge letdown…” I looked at the altar in disappointment. There wasn’t even a good reason to fear this thing. It couldn’t even make a proper evil me.

  Mousei, pet my head roughly. “Good job, new blood! I think you set a new record for the shortest first time.”

  I withstood the painful handling, if only because I couldn’t do anything about it. “Is that good?”

  She grinned widely. “First times are either very rough or super easy. The altar is only learning about you. The second time is more fun.” Mousei scratched her tail. “Kay, you can leave now.” Her mouth opened wide suddenly. “Actually, don’t! I remembered. I stashed a whole bag of sweets!” She walked towards the blackboard and moved it to the side, taking out a plastic bag from the hole in the wall, filled with glowing marshmallows.

  “Here, kid! Have some.” She put her clawed hand into the bag, grabbed four of the marshmallows, and threw them at me.

  My mind went into overdrive as I let starpower strengthen me further. I grabbed two from the air, but two others fell on the ground. “Thank you?” I immediately put one into my mouth, sating the burning hunger with soul-cleansing sweetness.

  “Don’t mention it. Now go, we’ll see you tomorrow.” She opened the door.

  I left the ELEVATE classroom more conflicted than ever. Was I forever doomed to meet crazy people? At least the psychopathic redhead was cute, if not for the tail lashings. “Fucking hell…” The corridor was exceedingly empty. Not a soul in sight.

  It looks like Steel went to check out her other courses. Or maybe she wanted to take a break. I wouldn’t blame her; if I were mind-controlled, I’d do worse things. I’ll check on her later. I popped another marshmallow in my mouth, melting in its sweet embrace.

  With a set goal, I marched on. In front of a spotless, clean door stood a line of dragonlings, mostly of blue colors - sapphires. That was the queue to apply to the Technique Design course. I took my place in the line and waited patiently, ignoring the whispers of the kids.

  “Is he the human?”

  “He can’t be an honorary dragon.”

  “So weak, I could eat him.”

  They were getting more annoying by the second, but my saint-like patience won out. Thankfully, I didn’t have to memorize faces anymore; they were always crystal clear in my mind.

  “Hey!” A girl in front of me poked my shoulder. “You want to make evil human techniques?” She smiled far too brightly for that question. Maybe I should be more annoyed.

  Still, I indulged the curious thing. “I want to make cool techniques. Mainly, I want to make a geist manifestation technique that can make me a subservient, humanoid geist. Maybe something aesthetically pleasing.”

  The girl blinked at me slowly. The whispers in the hall quieted down. “That’s stupid. Are all humans stupid?” She spoke first.

  A sigh was appropriate for the situation. “You just haven’t known the convenience of a personal servant.” I stared at her. “If you’re only focused on killing, you don’t need to make techniques. Just throw big rocks or explode things.”

  She seemed to think for a second and then nodded. “It was nice to meet you, human.” Her turn came up, and she walked inside.

  I was going to be next. The whispers of those behind me still grated on my nerves, but none approached me. Was it such a big thing for a human to be here? Avennture was right there, but no one whispered about him.

  “I heard this guy is a descendant of the human biocrafter. They all look naked without scales…” Or maybe they did.

  After five minutes of waiting, the girl left the room with a bright smile. “Good luck!” She said, smiling.

  I straightened my cape, took a deep breath, and stepped in. It was a classical lecture hall, if all the desks were made by high-class artists. On a desk near the lectern, sat a cute witch… A cute dragon witch, with tiny horns, a blue mantle, and a witch hat. She stared at me sternly, which wasn’t at all threatening.

  Professor Azzurra

  Species: Dragon-Tiershen (Improved Genome)

  Standing Emissions: 248

  Age: 31

  Affinity: Sapphire

  “Greetings, Professor Azzurra, it is my pleasure to meet you.” I politely bowed, trying to hold back my curiosity about her outfit.

  Her expression didn’t change at all. “Come here.” She said with an unusually quick speed. Her voice was cute, too.

  She stopped looking at me and started writing something down with an eternal quill. With a monotone voice, she asked me, “Do you have a recommendation?”

  I gulped… “No,” I said, hiding my nervousness behind confidence.

  She wrote so quickly it was as if symbols appeared out of nowhere. “Have you made any techniques?”

  My mind struggled to think of an excuse or something to show. I knew no techniques… There was one thing. “I made a basic technique that launches strengthened projectiles at high speed.”

  Azzurra lazily lifted her eyes. “Describe it.”

  I took a deep breath, ordering the information inside my head, letting the strengthening accelerate my thoughts. “The principle behind it is basic. To concentrate the pressure of the force form behind a small empowered construct. I solidify the starpower into a perfect sphere, while extending the strengthening within, and then launch it with the force form.” My words didn’t make her interested at all; my nervousness was growing higher and higher, and my palms were sweating. “The process of shooting can be done with a quick cycle…” I was at a loss for words; I didn’t know I needed a technique to enter the course. “T-that’s pretty much it.”

  She sighed, putting a hand on her chin. With a bored voice, she spoke, “Student Magnus, there is no need to reinvent paper.” Azzurra shook her head. Disappointment seeped into her tone, “You are rejected. Come back when you think of something more original.” She looked back at the paper and started writing.

  I couldn’t make myself breathe… This was devastating.