My stomach growled the moment I stepped inside the dining hall, and my mouth watered at the sight of the buffet.

  Somehow, I wound up pulling something Evelyn was typically guilty of: skipping nearly two meals due to busyness.

  I sighed.

  If Leona were here, she’d have forced me to have eaten at least three meals by now.

  I grabbed a polished silver tray and a large porcelain plate, then walked along the open spread. White wisps of steam rose into the air, carrying the scents of butter, baked vegetables, and perfectly seared meat. I helped myself to caviar-topped potatoes, a lush green salad with peeled tangerines, and a thick-cut, juicy steak grilled to a perfect char.

  As for payment, one flash of my academy badge was all it took to be on my way.

  I gazed up as I walked toward the tables. The dining hall itself was an impressive sight. It was ancient and enormous, built more like a cathedral than a place to eat. Vaulted ceilings of stone arched high overhead, ribbed with intricately carved dark wood beams, while enchanted light-stone lanterns floated mid-air, bathing the room in a cozy amber light. Several long oak tables stretched across the hall, their surfaces scarred by likely centuries of shared meals. At full capacity, I imagined the space must have felt like a royal banquet.

  Now, though, it was late. Most students had already eaten and retired to their dorms. Only a handful of stragglers remained in the enormous dining hall. They were hunched over plates with a book in front of their eyes, or engaged in quiet conversation with one another.

  I started toward a pair of students I recognized from my first class. However, I pivoted, seeing their heads snap up and the alarmed looks on their faces.

  Tsk. I’m going to have to work on my reputation if I don’t want to spend my entire academy life eating alone.

  With a resigned sigh, I chose an empty table near one of the tall stained-glass windows and sat down. Given it was well into the evening, the window’s colors were muted. But the image was still perceivable—a pink-tinted unicorn stabbing a blue wolf with its horn. Red-tinted glass, depicting blood spilling everywhere, filled the space. Not exactly the most appropriate image to complement a meal, but from my short tour of the academy, this building’s original purpose differed rather drastically as well.

  Ah—!

  The moment I sat and leaned over my plate, the rich scent of the food washed over me again and pushed every other concern aside. I quickly cut into the steak and took a bite.

  Flavor exploded across my tongue—smoky, savory, layered with something subtle that sank deeper, seemingly warming my very soul. It was… comforting, as if my whole self was being bathed in a golden, rich light.

  “I don’t know why,” I muttered to Apophis around my second bite, “but the food in this realm is ridiculously good.”

  The snake snickered from my shoulder.

  ~That is to be expected. As I have told you before, everything here is richer in mana—including what you eat. Your mana core has likely never absorbed this much naturally occurring mana before.

  A faint memory flickered in my mind.

  Way back when I’d been transformed into a Player, the System had mentioned that diet could impact the level of my stats.

  I paused, fork hovering over the green salad. “So… can my mana core actually grow from this? From eating food rich in mana?”

  Apophis’s tongue flicked past my cheek.

  ~It would take more than a few meals to be certain. But in short, yes. With sustained intake, your mana core will expand. But again, it won’t be overnight. It’ll take significant time.

  I glanced down at my plate, suddenly even more appreciative of every bite. And rather sorry toward Leona, who would have relished this food more than I, given her famished state in our own realm.

  “Hey! What are the chances I’d run into you here?”

  A familiar voice sounded from behind me, and a silver platter slid beside me with a soft clink.

  “Dmitry?” I turned, surprised to see the blonde young man dropping into the seat beside me. “Why are you eating dinner so late?”

  My eyes glanced at a large, ancient clock. It was almost nine in the evening.

  He shrugged and stabbed at one of his roasted carrots with a fork. “The remedial tasks the professor assigned took a while.”

  I frowned, recalling him being dragged off by the professor. “Wasn’t that… over nine hours ago?”

  Dmitry waved his left hand dismissively as he finished chewing. “No, no. Different professor.” He grinned then, dimples appearing at his cheeks. “I’m in hot water with practically all of my instructors, if you must know.”

  “Ah, I see,” I said, nodding.

  What little I knew of Dmitry, this hardly came as a surprise.

  “And you?” he asked, scooping up a generous spoonful of porridge. “What’s the so-called terrifying prodigy mage been up to on his very first day?”

  Terrifying prodigy mage?

  I inwardly sighed and decided to simply ignore the inaccurate description.

  “Studying,” I replied honestly. “I spent most of the day in the library.”

  Dmitry whistled. “The top entrance exam scorer spends his days studying. I suppose that shouldn’t be that surprising. And yet it somehow is.”

  “Though I used to practically live in the library myself.” He tapped his temple. “See, I have a photographic memory. If I read it once, it sticks. This ability has helped me a ton during my time here.”

  He winced, rocking his left hand side to side midair. “But anything spoken? Might as well not even bother listening. Lectures go in one ear and vanish. Professors just love that.”

  “I can imagine,” I said, setting my fork down.

  I could somewhat relate. Except in my case, it was everything. My memory evaporated like water on a hot stove if my sanity dipped.

  He glanced at my empty plate. “Are you done eating?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I was just about to head out.”

  He cast a quick cooling spell over his porridge, lifted the bowl, and downed it in one go. Then he stood, gathered both our trays, and stacked them neatly on a nearby return table. “I’ll walk you.”

  I hesitated. “Walk me where?”

  He tilted his head, studying me for half a second before snapping his fingers. “Dorms. East wing, right?” He mimed holding a small sheet of paper. “You showed me earlier. Far side of the boys’ quarters.”

  I blinked. “You remember that? Ah—right, photographic memory.”

  “Yup, exactly.” He shrugged, already turning toward the exit. “That area’s a pain to find the first time. Half the corridors loop back on themselves; legend is that the architect was drunk on a Loprey Potion when implementing the final enchantments."

  I grabbed my bag and followed him out of the dining hall.

  The stone corridors of the academy were quieter now, light stone lanterns casting long shadows across the floor. Our footsteps echoed softly as we walked, and crickets sounded nearby.

  Most students were inside by now, but we ran into a pair of girls on our walk, who hurried away upon seeing me.

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  I frowned. “How come you’re… so normal about me?”

  Dmitry glanced sideways. “Normal?”

  “Friendly,” I clarified. “Unlike that.” I motioned toward the girls.

  The way Dmitry behaved toward me stood in stark contrast to the rest of the student body.

  Dmitry scratched his scalp. “Ah, that?”

  He clicked his tongue.

  “I watched your entrance exam. And I told a couple of people what I saw—but it looks like the rumors spread like wildfire. I feel a bit responsible, to be honest.”

  “Ah.” I didn’t know what to say.

  It wasn't entirely his fault. But it didn't seem like he was not at fault in some way.

  “There’s even a rumor you restored Aegus’s arm,” Dmitry added casually. “Though I saw him earlier in remedial lessons, so I figured that part was nonsense.”

  I pressed my lips together.

  Damn it. That one’s on me.

  Dmitry caught sight of my expression in the dim lighting, and a grin slowly emerged across his face. “Wait, is there some truth to it?”

  I cleared my throat. “I brought it back. But temporarily. That’s all.”

  “Why only temporarily?” Dmitry asked, raising a brow.

  “Because he was being a jerk,” I replied.

  Dmitry nodded his head in approval. “Ah. That checks out.”

  We veered off the main path, down a narrow trail that cut through a small wooded section of the campus. It was quite a bit darker here, lit by old, dirty light stones on the sides of the path. It felt like an abandoned route.

  “Honestly,” Dmitry said as we walked, “I also just wanted to get to know you. I didn’t recognize your last name, yet you were brought in under… unusual circumstances.” He glanced at me. “And then there was your exam.”

  He whistled.

  “Where exactly are we going?” I asked as the brush thickened around us.

  “Ah, it’s a shortcut,” Dmitry replied, looking back at me. “Well, sort of—you’ll be less likely to get stuck going through the wrong portal this way. I use this way all the time.”

  As the eastern wing came into view, I felt a strange mix of relief and unease. The towers were six stories in height, with many glowing windows, though all too small for a human to crawl through.

  ~No exits should something go awry, Apophis commented from my shoulder, noticing the same. Though I imagine there are enchantments in place to avoid a complete disaster.

  Dmitry ducked toward what looked like a blank stretch of wall smothered in ivy and pressed his palm against it. The greenery rippled, parting just enough to reveal a narrow doorway.

  “Right this way, after you,” he motioned me to enter.

  I walked in, expecting some dingy stairwell.

  Instead, I found myself in a cozy lounge. Plush sofas were scattered across the room, low tables nestled between them, and entire walls were lined with bookshelves. Green and amber light stones glowed from shaded lamps, casting a warm, inviting haze over the space.

  “…Not bad,” I admitted.

  Dmitry grinned. “Right? Most of the guys don’t even know this place exists. Or this door.”

  I turned back and blinked. Where the doorway had been was now a solid stone wall that blended in seamlessly.

  “To get out,” Dmitry said, tapping a crack on the wall, “you press there. Easy, right?”

  I raised a brow. “How do you know all this?”

  “His great-great-something was the architect of this dorm.”

  A girl with shoulder-length brown hair and deep-set eyes sat up from one of the sofas, lowering the book she’d been reading. She eyed me with mild curiosity. “You must be the new student everyone’s been buzzing about.”

  “Luca, this is Regan,” Dmitry made the introduction.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, then hesitated. “But… isn’t this the boys’ dorm building?”

  Dmitry shrugged. “Technically.”

  Technically?

  I frowned. “I was told there were enchantments that prevented sneaking into each other’s dorms… Or was that a lie to scare students?”

  “It’s not sneaking around if I live here,” Regan said dryly.

  “The enchantments are there,” Dmitry added quickly.

  I blinked. “Then how—?”

  “Blame his ancestor for setting up a faulty enchantment,” Regan pointed toward Dmitry.

  Dmitry raised his hands. “Hey, don’t fault me. I never knew him; I only read about him. And four hundred years ago, it was a different era.”

  “Don’t blame the era; I’m a Magical History Major. He did the enchantments on the dorms while drunk out of his mind,” Regan added.

  “That too,” Dmitry agreed without offense.

  “There are loads of quirks with the dorms,” Regan said as she stood up and put her book back on a shelf. “You’ll realize it soon enough yourself. Ah—I’d better get to my star-alignment class.”

  She gave a small wave and stepped through the hidden door in the wall.

  As Dmitry led me out of the lounge and toward a wide staircase, he added casually, “Speaking of quirks—never use the third-floor bathroom. Five years ago, some guy even died in there.”

  “…What?”

  “Girls use it,” he clarified. “Same situation as Regan. The girls’ dorm has a mirrored problem.”

  “Why not just fix the enchantment?” I asked as we climbed up.

  We passed a few boys who began to whisper amongst themselves.

  “That’s him.”

  “I knew he’d end up here.”

  Dmitry paid no mind to them. “There have been attempts to fix it or do away with it entirely, but they always backfired, causing more complications. After opening a portal into the bottom of the Bleek Lake—painting of a merfrog on the second floor—the academy has given up on fixing the issue. They just accommodate the misplaced students to the best of their ability.”

  “Why not build a new dorm…?” I wondered.

  Dmitry laughed. “That’s a whole other bureaucratic problem.”

  ~Bureaucracy, the bane of progress in every realm.

  We passed a door sealed with strips of red ribbon, each one inked with crude warding sigils and slapped haphazardly across the frame.

  Dmitry nodded toward it as we walked by. “That was one of the girls’ dorm rooms. Or—was.” He lowered his voice into a whisper. “One of them went missing maybe two weeks ago. The rest vacated just in case it was another enchantment mishap.”

  My brows furrowed.

  “Alice Crest?” I inquired, recalling the name on the System screen.

  “The one and the same,” Dmitry said, continuing down the hall. “She caused quite a stir before disappearing. Turned the academy upside down. Got a professor sacked, even.” He shrugged. “That’s why I doubt the dorm enchantments had anything to do with it.”

  ~So that girl is the one who brought about a Celestial application, Apophis hissed.

  I slowed and glanced back at the door with the red ribbons.

  [[ Apophis, can those red wards be bypassed? ]]

  I kept my face neutral, relying on Illusion Magic to hide the exchange.

  ~Child play. Those wards are symbolic at best. Applied without understanding what they are meant to deter. You can just walk in, no problem.

  Good.

  My gaze lingered on the door a moment longer before I followed Dmitry down the corridor.

  I was curious who this girl was. Alice had managed to leave this wonder-filled realm and was on her way to ascend to Celestialism. And she was roughly my age, or even younger.

  Perhaps there’s a clue as to how she achieved it.

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