Another week slipped by in a blur.
The latest version of Spiked Water Arrow finally worked, and after seven days of relentless tuning, Alex completed the spell. The final mana cost settled at 100—a far cry from Water Spear's punishing 315.
Half-fusing the elements had been the key. Wind blended with water just enough to reinforce form and rotation, without demanding heavy control. As a hidden benefit, the water muffled the sharp hiss the wind would normally create. And because the wind provided rotational force, the projectile reached far higher speeds than before.
Today, Alex was testing the spell using tinted water instead of poison.
Standing sixty meters from the dummy, he steadied his breathing and aimed. With a soft whistle—barely audible—the arrow ripped through the air. It landed slightly off-center, but accuracy wasn't today's concern.
If the spell was correct, the tinted water would leave only the damaged portion of the dummy stained red. Anywhere else meant failure—meaning another month lost and another visit to the drawing board.
He approached the target with shaky hands. He had already spent a month and a half building this spell, and he still needed to train it intensively before the end-of-year test in four and a half months. On top of that, he planned to kill the noble shortly after or even before. Since the moment his test results went public, his name and face would spread across the continent. For better—and definitely for worse.
If he wanted the assassination to succeed, he needed to strike while he still enjoyed anonymity.
During these weeks, Alex had even stopped writing down the potion recipes he dreamed of, thinking of every minute he spent writing the potion formulas as wasted.
When he reached the dummy, he froze.
The spell worked. Perfectly. The deep puncture in the dummy was fully marked red—no leaks, no splatter.
But instead of excitement, Alex released a long, shaky sigh. It wasn't triumph. It was relief. One more weight off his back.
Spell complete, Alex immediately turned to training it alongside Water Scape. He was already inside the training facilities—no reason to waste time.
He summoned several pools of water throughout the room and activated Water Scape. Unlike most spells, Water Scape transformed his own body into water, letting him travel between water sources in an instant. A brilliant escape and infiltration tool—but not without drawbacks.
First, it required direct contact with water to activate, though he could compensate by creating pools himself. Second, if he ran out of water mid-travel—if the pool that formed himself dried, evaporated, or dispersed—the spell would forcibly break, leaving him helpless.
Alex trained both spells repeatedly until he nearly emptied his mana reserves. He refused to use mana potions for this; those were strictly reserved for Senturion Control. Instead, he rearranged his schedule—mana gathering first, mana control second—to handle the drain more efficiently.
Once finished, he headed home.
He was exhausted as always. His sleep schedule barely existed anymore, and his body was beginning to show the damage. But he kept moving.
Halfway home, someone stepped into his path.
Alex raised his head—and froze.
Tessa stood there, expression torn between worry, anxiety, and anger.
"You're killing yourself," she said bluntly.
She had waited long enough for Alex to return to his old self. But day after day, he only deteriorated further.
"I never asked," Alex replied, cold and defensive.
Tessa's face twisted. His words stung far deeper than he realized.
"How can you be so blind? Do you even understand how much worry you put on people who care about you? Why are you doing this to yourself?!" Her frustration swelled alongside her fear.
"Because I have promises to keep, Tessa. And my time is limited. Now, please let me go. I have things to do." He tried to step past her.
He didn't want to push her away. But the promises he made to Marc weighed heavier than anything else. In his mind, he had to choose between two evils:
Push Tessa away to fulfill those promises…or stay close to her and fail, living with that guilt for god knows how long.
For Alex, the choice was obvious.
Tessa stepped in front of him again. "Are you really planning to make all nobles pay?"
Her voice trembled—not with anger this time, but fear. She was beginning to realize she might be looking at the early stages of a future mass murderer.
"Not all," Alex replied sharply. "Only one. And I have to hit him before the end-of-year test. The moment I get recognized, it's over. Now you see the shit I'm in. So kindly move."
He brushed past her, this time with clear irritation.
Tessa didn't stop him.
It was the most information she had managed to draw from him since his return. And she knew exactly who needed to hear it.
Scarlett.
The two had been exchanging quiet reports about Alex ever since the teacher approached her weeks ago. Scarlett claimed it was purely professional concern… but Tessa was no fool. She saw the truth.
Teachers weren't allowed to show favoritism. Yet Scarlett was worried—just like she was.
But what Tessa learned today raised more questions than answers.
'How does he plan to find the noble? How will he do it? Will he succeed? Won't he end up hunted?'
Alex had no power, no noble blood, no connections. If he killed a capital noble, the response would be immediate and merciless. The nobles' house would hunt him to the ends of the continent.
Tessa swallowed hard.
'I have to stop him. I have to get him to abandon this suicidal plan. And if he doesn't… if he still intends to kill that noble by the end-of-year test… then I'll walk away from him. Forever.'
She cared for Alex—at least the Alex she once knew. The sweet, gentle boy who smiled easily, who was clever, cunning, hardworking, and just a little laid-back. That Alex she treasured.
But her care did not extend far enough to endanger herself and her family.
If he kept walking down this path…there wouldn't be anything left to say.