By the time the morning had arrived, I had discovered something deeply unfortunate.
Advancing through core stages does not wash away the exhaustion required to advance.
I walked through the corridors of Aetherion Academy with my hand half-raised over my mouth, failing to hide a yawn that felt like it had been building since the night before. Sunlight poured through the absurdly high windows in clean gold sheets, covering the polished stone, silver walls, and the faint blue shimmer of Aether threading through the building's internal design.
It was effortlessly beautiful.
Which was slightly irritating considering the amount of effort I had put in yesterday, and the way I am feeling now.
The Academy looked far too vibrant for a place that expected students to survive on three hours of sleep.
'Codex, show me my core status,' I thought.
The Codex answered immediately.
[STATUS DISPLAY]
[TIER: IGNIS MASTER]
[COMPREHENSION: 8.4%]
[NEXT THRESHOLD: AETHERFLOW INITIATE]
[THEOREM SLOT 1. CHRONO: FIVEFOLD REVERSAL]
[THEOREM SLOT 2. ??????????]
[THEOREM SLOT 3. ??????????]
I stared at the seemingly invisible screen in front of me as I walked, taking note of two things in particular.
'Eight point four.'
It wasn't a high number.
But at least it wasn't zero.
After reaching Ignis Master last night, I had, for reasons that I was beginning to suspect were poor, decided to continue training with Ventus. The Codex had warned me that the training hall's structural integrity was compromised. It had also warned me that my judgment was questionable.
Then it had proceeded anyway.
Which meant, technically, it was an accomplice.
'At least it was worth it,' I thought. 'The Ventus work we did definitely pushed my comprehension further than I had expected.'
[ASSESSMENT: USER PERFORMANCE IMPROVED AFTER CORRECTIVE GUIDANCE]
'Ah. I see. Corrective Guidance. That's what we're calling it.'
[ALTERNATIVE LABEL: REPEATED FAILURE FOLLOWED BY BASIC ADHERENCE TO INSTRUCTION]
I almost tripped on a perfectly flat section of floor.
'Um? Excuse me?'
[USER WOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS FUNCTIONAL WITHOUT CODEX ASSISTANCE]
I stopped walking.
Several students moved around me, one noble giving me an offended glance as if I had disrupted the geometry of the corridor by existing too slowly.
'Are you calling me an idiot?'
[NEGATIVE]
A pause.
[OBSERVATION WAS PROVIDED]
'You're definitely calling me an idiot, aren't you?'
[OBSERVATION REMAINS ACCURATE]
I opened my mouth.
Not out loud.
Mentally.
Which made the impulse even more ridiculous.
Despite the Codex insulting me, there were other things the status screen showed that I was curious about
'I wonder what the "Theorem Slot" is about, and why there are question marks for numbers two and three.'
I had obtained the first "Theorem Slot" after experiencing the events of that memory relic Elya Veyrannis gave me.
An experience I don't want to go through again.
'Codex, can you explain what the "Theorem Slots" are?'
[USER REQUEST REJECTED]
"Huh?" I mumbled in surprised/
'Why not?'
[USER HAS NOT REACHED SUFFICIENT CORE STAGE FOR ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE]
'What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Are you saying you can't tell me because I'm not strong enough??'
[ACCURATE]
I couldn't help but sigh in response to what the Codex was telling me.
'Ok fine. I already expected that it would be difficult to get answers to all this, but I have to say, you sure love to pick and choose what information to give me, Codex.'
[...]
[USER'S STATEMENT IS INACCURATE]
'Oh yeah? Then why don't you go ahead and tell me the secrets to the "Theorem slots", kind of like how you told me how to achieve better comprehension and advance to the next core stage, last night.'
There was a brief silence before the Codex decided to stand firm and uphold its decision.
[USER REQUIRES SUFFICIENT EXPERIENCES TO OPEN THEOREM SLOT]
[ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE WILL BECOME OBTAINABLE AT HIGHER CORE STAGES]
"Yeah, yeah, I understand. I appreciate all the help you've given me anyway—"
"What help?"
Before I could turn around and see who I was supposed to respond to, something had struck me firmly in the middle between my shoulder blades.
"Yo."
I staggered forward half a step and turned.
Taron Caelvarin stood right behind me with a bright smile, looking disgustingly wide awake.
His dark auburn hair fell in its usual wind-touched mess around his face. Somehow it looked effortless. Somehow I suspected effort was involved anyway. His uniform was neat but worn with that casual looseness that made rules look like suggestions fortunate enough to have his temporary cooperation.
I stared at him.
"Do you always greet everyone by attacking their spine?"
"Only friends."
"I see."
"And enemies... occasionally."
"So, how am I supposed to make the distinction—"
Taron suddenly leaned in closer, examining my face.
Then he winced.
"Wow."
"What?"
"You look awful."
I blinked at him.
"Gee. Thanks."
"No, no, I don't mean that in a rude way; you just look really bad right now."
"Thanks, but you're not helping."
"You look like someone who decided to fight sleep, lost, then challenged it to a rematch, for several hours."
"I'm fine," I said. "I just stayed up a bit late."
Taron's expression changed immediately.
A smile spread across his face.
He leaned in with an exaggerated nudge of his elbow, eyebrows rising with theatrical implication.
"Hmmm? Doing what exactly?"
"Training."
His excitement vanished.
He clicked his tongue.
"Boring."
"What were you expecting from a first-year Aetherion student?"
"I don't know," he said, shrugging. "Something exciting, hopefully."
"Training can be exciting."
"Not when you do it."
"What do you mean? How else am I supposed to do it?"
"With mystery. Suspicion. Regret, and preferably, leading to a scandal."
"That sounds inefficient."
"No. It sounds fun."
I started walking again, and Taron fell into step beside me as if it had always been the plan.
A group of noble students ahead of us glanced back, noticed Taron walking with me, and immediately adjusted their expressions into something carefully blank. That was becoming more common. People were not openly commenting as much as they had at first, but they were watching more.
Taron either ignored it or enjoyed it.
Knowing him, it was probably both.
"Speaking of exciting," he said, "I've heard you and Elya have been talking."
I stopped again.
"No."
Taron stopped too, turning with a delighted smile.
"Oh? No, you say? Well, that's not what I heard."
"It was one time," I corrected. "And she approached me."
"That still counts."
"Yeah, well, she handed me some weird book and disappeared. I haven't seen her since."
Taron's smile faltered into curiosity.
"A weird book?"
"Don't worry about it."
"That is exactly the kind of sentence that would make people worry about it."
"Then do me a favour and worry about it quietly, preferably when I'm not around."
He looked at me for a moment.
For once, he did not immediately push.
The expression on his face softened slightly, not into seriousness exactly, but into recognition. He had noticed the boundary.
"Fine," he said. "Then I shall do so quietly, but around you."
"Do you have to do it around me?"
"I can attempt to."
"That's not what I was implying."
"Haha, we should hurry, or we'll be late to class."
We continued down the corridor.
The room for Anti-Beast Tactics was located in one of the Academy's practical theory sections, not far from the larger lecture halls used by Professor Naeric. The door was tall, arched, and marked with a carved beast silhouette surrounded by three circular runes. When we entered, I immediately noticed the difference from Naeric's classroom.
The layout was similar: tiered seating, a central teaching floor, and a broad projection wall at the front.
Although this room was brighter than the others.
There were tall windows that ran along one side and overlooked one of the many Academy outer terraces; a distant line displayed the sparkling light of some of Valoria's major towers overpowering the morning haze.
The floor was marked with faint grid lines, likely for tactical demonstrations or beast movement projections. Several reinforced panels were embedded into the walls, and near the central floor stood a metal frame holding what looked like skeletal models of various beasts.
Some had claws.
Some had horns.
One looked like it had way too many legs.
I decided not to look at that one for long.
Students had already begun filling the seats. The class was mixed, though more nobles were present than commoners. That made sense. Anti-Beast Tactics sounded practical, prestigious, and useful for heirs expected to one day lead expeditions, patrols, or House-controlled territories.
I found an empty seat halfway up the room and sat.
A second later, Taron sat beside me.
I turned my head.
"Why are you sitting next to me?"
He looked at me as if I had asked why water was damp.
"Cause we're friends. Why? Can I not sit here?"
For a second, I didn't answer; it wasn't because the question was complicated.
But because he had said it so plainly.
Friends. Not just brief allies.
Not just a useful commoner.
Not just an interesting anomaly.
Not just a regular person involved in strange incidents.
But a "friend."