"That was some bullshit speech I've ever heard in my entire life," Adam said the moment Elizabeth stepped into her room.
Elizabeth stopped mid-step. She turned slowly, eyes narrowing. Then she looked at the guard beside her, who stood stiff and alert at her door, staring straight ahead.
She looked back at Adam.
"He… he didn't react," she whispered. "Why didn't he react?"
Adam floated lazily in the air with a blank expression. "He can't see me."
Elizabeth's brows knitted tighter. "What do you mean he can't see you? You're right there."
Adam sighed dramatically. Then, with the straightest face he could manage, he said:
"I died. I became a vengeful spirit. Now I wander the palace haunting random princesses. I blame your family for everything."
Elizabeth's eyes went wide. "Wh—"
Adam burst into loud laughter.
She flinched. "What is wrong with you?!"
"I'm joking," Adam said, wiping a tear. "Relax. I made it so only you can see me. Everyone else will think I'm dust, wind, or whatever nonsense they believe in."
Elizabeth stared at him like he was a problem she had to study for a week. "…Why would you do that?"
"Convenience," Adam said simply. "Also avoids unnecessary screaming."
She opened her mouth, paused, then closed it. She took a breath, gave up trying to understand him, and walked further inside.
Adam followed, still floating. "Now, where's Rebecca?"
Elizabeth froze for half a heartbeat, then sighed. "She's at the Academy."
Adam frowned instantly. "Academy? Seriously?" He clicked his tongue. "I didn't take her for a girl who enjoys school. Training? Yes. Killing? Yes. Classes? Hell no."
Elizabeth stared at him like he was speaking an alien language.
"What do you mean 'didn't take her for a girl like that'?" she asked slowly. "Rebecca has been with me since we were small. She's always gone to the Academy with me. She likes it there."
Adam blinked.
Then blinked again.
He tilted his head. "…She likes school?"
"Yes," Elizabeth said, confused. "Why is that strange?"
Adam rubbed his forehead. "Because the Rebecca I know called schools 'prisons for idiots.' She once beat up a physics teacher because he said she had potential."
Elizabeth's jaw dropped. "What—"
Adam waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Different world. Different trauma. Same Rebecca though."
Elizabeth didn't know whether to be offended, concerned, or curious.
She crossed her arms. "So you broke into my room, hid yourself from guards, and asked me where she is because… what? You want to go see her?"
"I want to confirm something," Adam said. His tone slipped from playful to serious in a second. "If she's really my Rebecca."
Elizabeth swallowed lightly.
Something in his eyes made her uneasy.
Before she could respond—
A loud voice echoed outside her window.
"Princess! Preparations are ready!"
Elizabeth snapped her head toward the sound.
Adam floated down, expression sharpening.
"Well, looks like you're up," he said. "Guess we go to this Academy of yours."
Elizabeth whipped around. "We? You're not coming—"
Adam smirked.
"Too late. I've already decided."
He vanished.
Elizabeth's heart jumped.
"…Why do I feel like my peaceful life just ended?" she whispered.
IMPERIUM ACADEMY
This wasn't a school. It was a grinder.
They fed you in and spun you until you either became a weapon or dust. Everybody knew it. Most pretended not to.
The place was built like a mountain you had to climb, but most people never got past the first slope.
The Outer Division.
The Gate of Mortals.
This is where they dumped everyone at the start.F-ranks mixed with C-ranks, all shoved into crowded dorms and brutal training yards. The instructors here didn't teach. They yelled. They punished. They weeded out the weak. You moved up by fighting, by surviving, by being better than the kid next to you. Most didn't.
The Inner Division.
The Path of Cultivators.
If you made it out of the Outer Division alive,or if you woke up with a B or A-rank talent, this is where you landed. Here, they started actually training you. Advanced combat. How to refine your talent, pull the energy from the world into yourself. They'd even throw you into a cage with a mana beast to see if you could stay calm enough not to die. The competition was worse here, because now you could see the top, and everyone was willing to break your legs to get there first.
The Prime Division.
The Hall of Nobles.
This was for the chosen.S-rank talents. The sons and daughters of the great noble houses. Here, you got personal tutors. You learned secret family arts, bloodline techniques passed down for generations. This was where the future lords and ladies were polished. One slip, one show of weakness, and your own family might replace you with a cousin.
The Apex Division.
The Realm of Legends.
The peak.The place nobody talked about openly. Only Legendary Rank talents walked here. The kind that came once in a generation. The Empire didn't just train them; they worshipped them as future kings, future generals, living disasters waiting to be aimed. An Apex student had more authority than most teachers. They got their own private chambers for cultivation, direct mentorship from Imperial commanders, access to techniques that could level a city. Elizabeth's name was already written here. She just had to walk in.
Inside the Walls.
The Academy wasn't just divisions. It was a world.
The Talent Crystal Plaza: A wide-open square dominated by a huge, glowing crystal. This is where they tested you. Where your progress—or lack of it—was displayed for everyone to see. It was a place of public triumph and utter humiliation.
The Beast Grounds: A massive, walled-off forest and rocky terrain filled with captured mana beasts. Students were sent in for "live experience." If you died, your name was quietly added to a memorial list in a back office. No ceremony.
The Cultivation Towers: Tall, silent spires humming with concentrated energy. Students meditated inside, under immense pressure, trying to force breakthroughs. Some came out stronger. Some came out broken.
The Forbidden Wing: A locked sector at the northern edge. Rumors said it held ancient, dangerous texts and sealed artifacts. Students who were caught trying to break in were simply removed from the academy rolls the next day. Nobody asked questions.
The Combat Arena: The heart of the academy's savagery. A colossal, sand-floored pit surrounded by tiers of stone seats. This is where duels happened. Where ranks were challenged, pride was destroyed, and legacies were born in blood and cheers.
The Ladder of Power.
Your talent decided your life. It was that simple.
F-Rank: Barely a flicker. Sent to the Outer Division as a formality. Most ended up as servants or left the academy entirely.
E-Rank: A glimmer. You might make something of it with brutal work. Maybe.
D-Rank: Standard. You could hold a sword and channel a bit of energy. A soldier's rank.
C-Rank: Promising. You had real potential. If you were ruthless, you could climb.
B-Rank: Elite. You were someone to watch. A future officer, a respected guard captain.
A-Rank: High-value. Noble houses would take notice. You were guaranteed a good life, power, respect.
S-Rank: A prodigy. Treated like a treasure. Automatically placed in the Prime Division. The future of the noble class.
SS-Rank: Extreme rarity. A talent that could define a family's rise to power. Treated like royalty.
SSS-Rank: Once in a century. A national asset. The Imperial family itself would take an interest.
Legendary Rank. A myth to most. A fact for the royal bloodline. It stood above all others. It wasn't just a talent; it was a destiny. It shaped history.
The Grind.
This was the cultivation part. The part that sounded like old myths but was as real as the food in the mess hall.
Students learned to refine their talent, to pull the world's energy—they called it mana—into their bodies. They'd sit for hours, trying to compress that energy into a core inside them, making it denser, stronger. They spoke of breaking through "Talent Stages," each breakthrough unlocking more power, sometimes even new abilities. They'd train until their bodies unlocked pathways called Talent Veins, letting them channel power faster, harder.
In the Outer Division, this was a slow, grueling slog. In the Apex Division? Breakthroughs happened under pressure, like diamonds forming. For them, getting stronger wasn't an option. It was an expectation, every single month.
This was the Imperium Academy. Where you learned to rule, to serve, or to be forgotten.