The air in the pocket dimension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Principal Morgana Thorne, the Arch-Witch of the Genesis Era, did not recoil from the terrifying, endless void of Kaiser's true eyes. Instead, she leaned closer, completely ignoring the oppressive, gravity-warping nature of his Abyssal mana. Her emerald eyes, glowing with a predatory, academic lust, mapped every flawless contour of his face, every luminescent strand of his pure white hair.
She reached out, her fingers—adorned with rings of condensed starlight—gently tracing the sharp line of his jaw. Her touch was scorching hot, a stark contrast to the absolute-zero chill of Princess Valeria.
"An Abyssal Core," Morgana whispered, her breath smelling of dark, sweet nebula smoke. "Not demonic. Not elemental. Pure, unadulterated void. And yet, you possess the physical body of a human boy. The sheer paradoxical nature of your existence should have torn you apart the moment you took your first breath, Kaiser."
"I have a very strict diet and a good exercise routine," Kaiser replied smoothly, not moving an inch away from her touch. He kept his pitch-black eyes locked onto hers, allowing the [Alluring Abyss] passive to continuously weave its dark magnetism around her.
Morgana let out a low, throaty laugh that sent a shiver straight down his spine. It was a sound of genuine, dangerous amusement.
"Arrogant, too," she purred. She slowly dragged her thumb across his lower lip, her emerald eyes darkening. "Do you understand what the Inquisition would do to you if they felt even a fraction of this aura? They would bind you in holy iron, drag you to the Grand Cathedral, and burn you at the stake for fifty years."
"Which is exactly why I put so much effort into my disguise," Kaiser smiled, the white hair beginning to darken at the roots as he slowly pulled the [Aura Cloak] back into place. His eyes shifted from the terrifying void back to the harmless, aristocratic sapphire blue. "I assume, since I'm not currently being dragged to a pyre, you have a different extracurricular activity in mind for me?"
"Perceptive," Morgana stepped back, taking another slow drag from her pipe. She exhaled a cloud of smoke that morphed into a miniature, dancing dragon before dissipating. "I have lived for over three thousand years, Kaiser Warborn. I have seen empires rise and fall, dragons hunted to near extinction, and gods turn to dust. I am, quite frankly, terribly bored."
She walked back around her leviathan-skull desk and gracefully sat down.
"You are the most fascinating puzzle that has walked into my Academy in a millennium. I will not break my new toy by handing it over to those zealots in the Inquisition," Morgana declared, tapping her ash into a crystal tray. "However, I will not let an unchecked Abyssal anomaly wander my halls without a leash."
Suddenly, the space around Kaiser compressed. He didn't even have time to trigger [Otaku's Insight].
Morgana was suddenly standing directly in front of him again, having bypassed physical space entirely. She pressed two fingers firmly against his collarbone, right over his beating heart.
A searing, agonizing heat pierced his skin. Kaiser gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out, though a sharp hiss escaped his lips. The smell of burning flesh briefly mingled with the nebula smoke.
"There," Morgana whispered, stepping back.
Kaiser pulled his collar to the side. Etched into his skin, glowing faintly with a deep purple hue, was an intricate, ancient rune that looked like an eye wrapped in thorny vines.
[SYSTEM WARNING: High-Tier Spatial Tether & Bio-Monitor Applied.]
[Source: Principal Morgana Thorne.]
[Effect: Target can track the Host's exact location, physical condition, and mana fluctuations within a 500-mile radius. Attempting to forcefully remove the seal will result in the immediate detonation of the Host's heart.]
Kaiser swallowed hard, staring at the terrifying red text of the System.
"A tracking collar," Kaiser noted, looking back up at her with a remarkably stable smirk. "Kinky. Though I usually prefer to be bought dinner first."
Morgana's emerald eyes widened in genuine surprise, before she threw her head back and laughed. It was a rich, booming sound that shook the floating grimoires in the room.
[Target: Morgana Thorne. Emotion detected: Immense Amusement, Deepening Fixation.]
[Affection updated: 18% -> 22% (She thoroughly enjoys your audacity. She has officially claimed you as her property.)]
"You are a delightful little monster," Morgana smiled, sitting back down. "That mark is a tether. It ensures you do not blow up my school. In exchange for wearing it, and keeping my boredom at bay, I will grant you unrestricted access to the Forbidden Vaults beneath this spire. You may study the dark texts there to learn how to control that abyss of yours."
"And what exactly does 'keeping your boredom at bay' entail?" Kaiser asked cautiously.
Morgana's eyes gleamed with a predatory light. "Every Friday evening, you will report to this office. You will allow me to cast spells on you, draw your blood, and test the limits of your anomalous core. You are now officially my personal lab assistant. Dismissed, Rank 300."
Kaiser bowed perfectly from the waist. "As you wish, Principal Thorne."
As he turned and walked out of the pocket dimension, pulling the wooden door shut behind him, he let out a massive exhale, leaning against the cold stone of the hallway.
"System," he muttered. "Did I just sell my soul for a library card?"
[Affirmative. However, the Forbidden Vaults contain Mythic-Tier skill books. Cost-benefit analysis indicates this is a highly profitable transaction for Host's survival.]
"Good," Kaiser cracked his neck, feeling the heavy, latent power in his chest. "Now, where's the cafeteria? I'm starving."
The Grand Dining Pavilion of Zenith Academy was less of a cafeteria and more of a heavily militarized banquet hall.
Just like the lecture halls, the food was strictly tiered. The center of the room featured floating crystal tables laden with roasted mythical beasts, enchanted wines, and ambrosia for the Top 100 Elites. The outer edges of the hall, near the drafty windows, featured long, splintering wooden benches for the lowest ranks.
Kaiser approached the 'Omega Tier' serving line. A bored-looking goblin in a hairnet slopped a ladle full of grey, gelatinous 'Nutrient Paste' onto his wooden tray.
"Looks delicious," Kaiser deadpanned, taking his tray to the absolute furthest, darkest corner of the hall. He sat down alone, stirring the grey sludge with a wooden spoon. It smelled like wet cardboard.
He had just raised a spoonful to his mouth when the ambient noise of the massive pavilion instantly died. Thousands of students stopped talking, forks hovering mid-air.
The temperature plummeted.
Princess Valeria Vespera had entered the pavilion.
She wasn't holding a tray. Two terrified Academy staff members were floating a silver platter behind her, piled high with Emperor-Tier Griffin Steak, frosted winter-berries, and a goblet of shimmering blue mana-water.
She bypassed the Elite tables entirely. The Top 10 Elites, who had stood up to offer her a seat, watched in utter bewilderment as the Crown Princess ignored them, marching straight toward the drafty, low-tier corner.
Kaiser sighed, slowly lowering his spoon. Here we go.
Valeria stopped at his table. She waved a hand, and the staff hurriedly placed the lavish silver platter directly in front of Kaiser, pushing his wooden tray of grey sludge off the table entirely. It hit the floor with a sad splat.
Without a single word, Valeria sat down on the splintering wooden bench opposite him. She folded her delicate, white-gloved hands on the table, her glacial silver eyes locking onto him with terrifying intensity.
"Eat," she commanded, her voice ringing clearly in the dead-silent hall. "You are entirely too thin. I will not have my... I will not have a student of this Academy collapsing from malnutrition."
Kaiser looked at the perfectly seared Griffin Steak, radiating rich, warm mana. He then looked at the Princess, who was staring at him like a hawk watching a particularly interesting mouse.
"Your Highness," Kaiser smiled, resting his elbows on the table. "While I appreciate the charity, isn't it a bit unseemly for the Crown Princess to be feeding a Rank 300 peasant?"
"I do not care about ranks," Valeria stated coldly, though a faint, barely visible flush touched the tips of her ears. "I care about efficiency. And your current diet is inefficient. Eat it before I freeze your jaw and force it down your throat."
Before Kaiser could pick up the silver fork, a heavy, resounding SLAM echoed through the corner.
The entire student body jumped.
Seraphina Warborn stood next to their table, radiating pure, volcanic red aura. She slammed a golden plate down directly on top of the Griffin Steak. On the plate was a massive, sizzling, A-Rank Hell-Boar cutlet, dripping in spicy sauce.
"He is a Warborn, Princess," Seraphina growled, her golden eyes flashing with raw, territorial jealousy. "He doesn't need Royal charity. Our family provides for our own."
She practically shoved Kaiser aside to squeeze onto the wooden bench next to him, sitting so close their thighs were pressed together. She glared across the table at Valeria.
Valeria's silver eyes narrowed into dangerous, icy slits. The temperature in the pavilion dropped another five degrees. Frost began to spread across the tabletop, inching toward Seraphina's golden plate.
"Knight-Candidate Warborn," Valeria's voice was devoid of all warmth, a lethal blizzard contained in a whisper. "Your step-brother requires high-density mana meat to repair his pathetically weak core. Your spicy boar will merely upset his frail stomach. Remove it."
"His stomach is fine!" Seraphina shot back, her crimson hair starting to float as her mana flared, actively melting the frost creeping toward her plate. "And he prefers spicy food! Don't act like you know him, Princess. You've spoken to him twice!"
"I know," Valeria leaned forward, the air around her practically cracking with absolute-zero pressure, "that he was eating garbage until I intervened. Now move, before I report you for insubordination against the Crown."
"Try it!" Seraphina yelled, her hand resting dangerously close to the hilt of her training sword.
The entire pavilion was frozen in absolute horror. The Crown Princess and the Blood Iron Duchess's prodigy daughter were about to tear the dining hall apart. And in the center of the impending elemental apocalypse sat the Rank 300, F-Tier weakling.
Alaric, sitting at a Rank 190 table, looked like he was crying tears of sheer, incomprehensible frustration.
Kaiser, meanwhile, was utilizing [Otaku's Insight] at maximum capacity to analyze the sheer absurdity of his life. Two devastatingly powerful, gorgeous girls were currently engaging in a lethal proxy war over who got to feed him lunch.
If I choose the Princess, Seraphina's Tsundere jealousy will turn into actual hatred and my ribs will be powder by sunset, Kaiser calculated. If I choose Seraphina, the Princess will freeze the entire dorm block out of obsessive spite.
There was only one solution. The classic harem-protagonist gambit.
"Ladies, please," Kaiser sighed dramatically, reaching out and slicing a piece of the Griffin Steak, and a piece of the Hell-Boar cutlet. He speared them both on the same silver fork.
He popped both pieces into his mouth at the same time.
The rich, delicate mana of the Griffin clashed violently with the explosive, spicy heat of the Hell-Boar. It was a culinary disaster. Kaiser chewed rapidly, swallowing the chaotic mess with a painfully forced, radiant smile.
"They are both absolutely magnificent," Kaiser proclaimed, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "The flawless refinement of the Griffin perfectly balances the fiery passion of the Boar. It's a symphony of flavor. Truly, I am blessed by both the Empire and my Family today."
Silence.
Valeria and Seraphina stopped glaring at each other. They both slowly turned their heads to look at Kaiser.
Valeria's icy glare melted slightly, replaced by a deep, fascinating flush. He praised my refinement, her mind echoed.
Seraphina's volcanic anger sputtered out, a massive blush coloring her cheeks to the tips of her ears. He called my food passionate, she thought frantically, hyper-aware of how closely their legs were pressed together under the table.
[Target: Valeria Vespera. Emotion: Deeply Pleased, Possessive.]
[Affection: 24% -> 26%.]
[Target: Seraphina Warborn. Emotion: Flustered, Reluctantly Satisfied.]
[Affection: 25% -> 28%.]
Instructor Varg, who had been watching the scene from the staff table with his hand hovering over an emergency lockdown rune, slowly lowered his arm, shaking his wolf-eared head.
"That kid," Varg muttered, taking a bite of his own meal, "is either going to unite the Empire, or burn it to the ground."
"Now," Kaiser smiled, picking up his fork and dividing the rest of the meal equally, "if you two are done measuring your auras, would you mind passing the salt?"