Outside on the training grounds, the apprentices under Maximus and Brant sat in a group, murmuring something among themselves. One of them standing in the center raised his arms. “I saw it with my own eyes; he hurled the spear at the monster, which gave us the opening to take it down.” Another one, a noble girl, jumped to her feet. “Yes, he had blood all over him, and his right arm twisted, but he didn’t back down, not one bit.”

  The apprentices under Maximus cheered his name — nobles, gentry, lowborn alike. Meanwhile, the ones under Brant just glanced at each other, laughing and mocking. Some admired Cassandra. Some admired Aidan and Victor, but nobody mentioned Sera, Elaira or Jon. In fact, they got called cowards.

  Toward the side, Sera stopped Elaira from attacking everyone. Cassandra tried to talk to them, but Sera stopped her as well. She took a few deep breaths and crossed her arms. “We were weak. If Ray hadn’t interrupted, we would’ve lost or worse, died.” Victor patted her shoulder. “The three of us were weak too, not just you guys.” She pushed his arm off and looked at Jon and Elaira. “Think about it this way: there are two people; one is admired by many, the other by no one. So who will get more recognition? Of course, the former.” She paused for a moment. “We are the latter. We just need to put in more effort if we want to get recognised.”

  She patted both their backs. “Ray got recognised because he put in the extra effort. We can do it too.” Elaira and Jon nodded in agreement as they looked away.

  “What are you guys doing?” Mei Zhi asked, walking toward them. Jon’s face lit up, and he ran towards her, knelt and raised his arm. “My lady, you are the moon that lights up the darkness within my heart. Without you, I am nothing but a mere grain of sand across the vast sky.” Mei Zhi blinked, Sera, Elaira and Aidan stared at him, their eyes wide. Cassandra chuckled while Víctor looked impressed. Before Mei Zhi could respond, Aidan spoke, his eyes still wide. “What the hell? Did you come up with that? How?” Jon turned to him, a smirk plastered on his face. “Love is a poem only an artist would understand.”

  Victor stopped beside Sera. “He recovered from shame pretty quickly.” Sera shook her head. “He’s always been like that.” His gaze turned toward her, his eyes glancing down at her. She glanced back, her eyes squinted. “Why are you looking at me like that?” His lips angled in a smirk as he looked away. “Nothing.”

  Aidan stole glances at Cassandra, standing beside her. Elaira’s gaze hovered over all six of them; Sera and Victor. Aidan and Cassandra. Jon and Mei Zhi. “What the hell?” she said, her voice a whisper.

  The wind grazed her, carrying the leaves lying around. She shook her head, her eyes closed and walked to her dorm room. “Idiots. Is this even a time for flirting?” The rest continued talking. Mei Zhi took Jon’s hand, her fingers lingering over his. “How did the journey go? You must be tired, my lord.” Jon shivered under her touch and coughed, rising slowly. “It was tedious without you.” Mei Zhi stared at him, her eyes empty. How simple this guy is. “You should rest.”

  Sera and Victor kept staring at them when he glanced in her direction. “You should rest too.” Sera stretched her arms. “Yeah, you too.” They shook hands and agreed to meet for dinner. Victor took Aidan and Jon with him, while Cassandra and Sera returned to their rooms. Jon waved to Mei Zhi. “Let’s meet for dinner, Vivian.”

  She waved back with a smile, which disappeared when he turned. “How annoying. But that line was pretty good.” The sun glistened over her as she stood in the middle of the ground surrounded by the chatter of the other apprentices. “Since that guy got his arm broken, he can’t fight alongside me, so I’ll have to figure out a way to beat that wench Lysa.” She rubbed her forehead, her brows furrowing. “I couldn’t even land a hit on her yesterday.” She rocked her head and took a deep breath. “I just need to train more.”

  Back inside, Ray sat on the bed, staring out the window. Lysa, still sitting on the chair with her arms crossed, tapped her finger to her elbow. “Well, what will you do for a month?”

  “Read, eat, sleep, repeat, I guess.” He turned to face her and shrugged. She burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. “Julia didn’t lie when she said you were lazy.” She let out several slow breaths, calming herself down. “How can you be lazy and hardworking at the same time?”

  Ray stared at her as she still kept chuckling. “It depends on how I’m feeling. Anyway, forget about it. Can you help me master my internal harmony in smell?” Lysa slowly calmed down, wiping her tears. “Yeah, why no-”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Also internal harmony in taste and touch.”

  Lysa’s smile disappeared; her face hardened. “Are you sure? You could die.”

  Ray squinted his eyes and stared at her for a moment. “What are you talking about?” Her gaze remained fixed on him as she stood. “You’re smart; you know how one masters internal harmony for taste.” He scratched his chin, looking away. “Yeah, by eating poiso — Oh! Yeah… you’re right, I could die.”

  Lysa stared at him for a moment in silence, then chuckled. She stood and patted his back. “Let’s start with the nose part first, okay? Starting now, try to hold your breath as long as you can. While eating, reading and when your arm gets better, then even while fighting.”

  Ray looked at her and nodded. With a smile, she then turned around and then stopped. “Oh yeah, the souvenir. I’ll give it to you later, okay?” And she exited the room, leaving him alone. He took a deep breath and held it, counting the time he lay down, staring out the window. A few moments later, he let out a heavy breath, his heartbeat racing. “A minute — that was a minute.”

  This will take a lot of time.

  Outside the room, Lysa smirked, leaning against the wall and then walked down the hallway. The other apprentices in white and maroon walking around greeted her. Iuna called out to her from the back. “Lysa! Wait!” She turned, her gaze landing on Iuna’s figure hurrying down the hallway.

  “I’m going to introduce the brats- I mean apprentices under me — to Harmony.”

  She nodded, crossing her arms, and Iuna pointed to her, saying. “I want you to do it.” She tilted her head. “Why?”

  Iuna scratched the back of her head. “You know, I’m not good at explaining things. The only thing I like is fighting.” Lysa let out a quiet sigh. “Ask Max. I have other things to do.” And turned around, but Iuna jumped in front of her and put her palms together. “Please!”

  “Iuna,” Lysa said, her voice low, looking straight into her eyes. “I said, I have things to do.” Iuna flinched and looked down at the floor. “I-I understand.”

  Lysa passed her and climbed up the stairs while she stood, turning slowly. Her shoulders dropped, and she exited the building. While looking for Maximus, she spotted a group of apprentices talking. She crept up near them and stood listening for a moment, then placed her hand on one apprentice’s head. “What are you guys doing? Slacking off? Where’s Max and Brant?”

  The apprentices jumped to their feet a few paces away from her, except the one she placed her hand on. One of them, a girl, stepped forward. “Maximus asked us to rest after the hunt.” Iuna let go of his head, and he ran to his group. “Then go rest. Why are you here?” The apprentices under Maximus rushed back to their respective dorms, while the ones under Brant stood still, unable to speak, staring at the ground. Iuna sighed and waved them off, and they too ran back to their dorms. She looked around, her ears focusing to find Maximus. She smiled and jumped onto the academy to find him lying, his eyes closed. “Why do you like this place so much?” She asked, sitting down near him.

  “It’s closer…” He pointed upwards. “To the sky.” Iuna stared at him, her eyes unmoving. “I know that; you always say the same thing. I’m asking for another reason.” He opened his eyes and turned to her. “There is no other reason.” She let out a quiet sigh and shook her head. “Okay, fine. Listen, we should introduce the apprentices to harmony. What do you say?”

  Maximus stretched. “Alright. We’ll do it tomorrow; my apprentices need to rest. Tell this to that guy too.”

  “No need, I heard,” Brant said, sitting in a lotus position, holding his staff horizontally. Iuna and Maximus turned to look at him. “You would think with the way he looks his path would be monk, but I always forget his path is that of an assassin; no wonder we can’t hear or see him unless he wants us to.” Iuna said with a faint smile.

  “I can; I have better sight and hearing than you two.” A smirk formed on Maximus’ lips.

  “Shut up. Your path is a hunter; I am an axeman, of course your sight and hearing are better.” Iuna retorted, trying to smack him, but missed as he rolled away.

  The wind ruffled around them, and all three turned to face the two new footsteps on the roof of the academy. “Long time no see, Iuna.”

  A wide smile appeared on Iuna’s face as she rushed toward the voice. “Maya!” and hugged her.

  “I see you’re as quiet as ever, Brant.”

  Brant opened his eyes, attaching the staff to his back. “Glory to the infinite light… and you’re as rough as ever, Brandon.”

  Iuna, still hugging Maya, asked, “Why are you here?” Maya draped her arm around her shoulder and pinched her cheek. “To meet my cute little sister. And Elaira, the girl I’m sponsoring.”

  “You two shouldn’t be here.” Maximus’ voice carried over the wind. “Lysa will not like two former criminals inside the academy.” Maya waved her hand. “Former. We now work for the vice headmaster. And he has more authority than she does.”

  “He does, but do you think Lysa cares about authority? She would kill the king himself if he got on her nerves.”

  Maya’s face hardened for a second before a smile appeared. “But she wouldn’t because she respects the headmaster and vice headmaster.”

  Maximus let out a deep sigh and stood. “I guess that’s true, and since she isn’t coming here to kick you out; she probably doesn’t mind you being here.”

  Inside the academy, outside the headmaster’s cabin, Lysa looked out the window. “Some eyesores are here. Whatever.” The cabin door opened, and she entered, greeting the headmaster. “Apologies for not accommodating you yesterday, Lysa. An important guest had arrived.” She shook her head. “It’s fine, sir.”

  “So, what did you want to discuss?”

  She closed the door behind her and took a seat. “The wyvern I killed… I found its eggs.”