The afternoon classes finally came to an end.
The students of Class 1-A gradually packed their belongings and began leaving the classroom. Conversations filled the room as groups of friends discussed the upcoming theory examinations, while others talked excitedly about their performance during the First-Year Tournament.
Some were already making plans to spend the evening studying.
Others planned to head straight for the training grounds.
Within only a few minutes, the once lively classroom had almost emptied.
Only two figures remained.
Kael had already disappeared the instant the bell rang, leaving the classroom faster than anyone expected.
Meanwhile—
Zion Crawford remained seated in silence.
His expression was calm, but his eyes carried an unusual seriousness.
Throughout the previous week, one question had refused to leave his mind.
He had accepted his defeat.
He had accepted Kael’s victory.
What he couldn’t understand...
...was how.
The Kael he remembered before the tournament wasn’t someone capable of defeating him.
Even after watching every single match, Zion still couldn’t completely understand how someone could evolve so drastically in such a short period.
His growth wasn’t natural.
Yet...
It also didn’t seem artificial.
That contradiction bothered him more than his loss.
Finally, he stood from his seat.
His footsteps echoed softly across the classroom as he walked toward Lyra, who was organizing several documents on her desk.
She noticed him almost immediately.
"So Zion is there anything I can help you with," Lyra asked.
"I want you to tell me what training Kael went through before the tournament, I heard that, both you and Miss Stella oversaw his training," Zion asked.
Lyra stared at him for a moment.
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"So that’s what’s been bothering you."
She leaned against her desk before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Well, your information is quite wrong I didn’t oversee his training. It was Stella that crazy woman,"
She paused briefly before pushing herself away from the desk.
She paused, floating towards the door before, indicating for Zion to follow closely.
"Well, if I told you you wouldn’t believe me, So, its better I show you,"
She said, heading toward the hallway.
Zion silently followed.
The academy’s corridors were much quieter now.
Only a handful of students could still be seen walking between buildings.
Most had already headed toward the library, cafeteria, or training fields.
As they walked, Zion continued thinking about Kael.
Every battle...
Every strange technique...
Every impossible improvement.
None of it made sense.
Eventually, he broke the silence.
"Kael was the 1000th student in Class D, so how did he gain access to the Simulation room," Zion asked.
Lyra laughed softly.
She had expected that question.
"Well, his class assignment was a bit different from people in class D, While, people in Class A and B where sent to, D rank Dungeons. with a team while, Class C and D where send to E rank Dungeons miss Stella actually sent the last 5 people of the year to a D Frank Dungeon which included Kael Draven,who also raided the dungeon, solo, with no help from his party, and that was two, months ago just after the Ogre test,"
She spoke so casually that Zion almost stopped walking.
"He wasn’t strong then, he should still be at E rank, at the very least,"
Zion stared at her.
He wasn’t questioning her honesty.
He simply couldn’t believe what he had heard.
A D-Rank Dungeon.
Solo.
Immediately after the Ogre Test.
That wasn’t bravery.
That bordered on insanity.
Even talented students usually required coordinated teams before attempting such a dungeon.
One mistake...
One wrong decision...
One unlucky encounter...
Death.
That was the usual outcome.
Yet Kael had walked into one alone.
Zion replayed everything he knew about Kael in his head.
His relaxed personality.
His constant jokes.
His laziness in class.
Sleeping during lectures.
Complaining about homework.
None of those matched someone willing to gamble with his own life.
He frowned.
Something about Kael still didn’t fit together.
Lyra noticed his silence.
"You look like you’re trying to solve a puzzle."
"I am."
"I’ve never met someone like him."
"Neither have I."
They continued walking through another corridor.
The walls here were lined with portraits of legendary graduates.
Former heroes.
Great mages.
Sword saints.
Scholars.
Individuals who had left their names in history.
Lyra glanced toward one of the portraits.
"You know..."
"People call talent unfair."
"But talent only determines where someone starts."
She folded her arms.
"Drive determines where they finish."
Zion remained silent.
Drive.
That word described Kael frighteningly well.
He remembered the tournament.
Even after suffering injuries that should have ended the match...
Kael never stopped moving.
Never stopped adapting.
Never stopped attacking.
It wasn’t simply talent.
It was something much scarier.
Determination that bordered on obsession.
After several more minutes, the two finally arrived at a large reinforced door.
Unlike the ordinary classrooms, this section of the academy felt almost mechanical.
Runes glowed faintly along the walls.
Mana conduits pulsed beneath the floor.
Several academy staff members could be seen entering and leaving with crystal data tablets in their hands.
Zion immediately recognized the place.
The Virtual Simulation Observation Wing.
The heart of the academy’s combat analysis system.
Everything students accomplished inside the Virtual Simulation Room was recorded here.
Every victory.
Every defeat.
Every movement.
Lyra placed her hand against the glowing rune beside the entrance.
The heavy door slowly slid open.
"Come."
"It’s time you see exactly why everyone here thinks Kael Draven is completely insane."
Inside, dozens of floating screens filled the room.
Several academy operators sat before complicated magic consoles, carefully monitoring countless simulations running throughout the academy.
The atmosphere was surprisingly lively.
The moment Lyra entered, several people looked up.
"Oh Miss Lyra to what do we owe the pleasure," Professor Raphael asked with, a calm relieved smile, after all he had been one of the main organizers, for the tournament so he had been relaxed ever since it ended.
"Well, a certain student of mine is curious about Kael," Lyra stated.
Raphael’s eyes immediately shifted toward Zion.
"Oh, young master Zion," Raphael greeted.
Before Zion could reply, one of the operators couldn’t help himself.
"Wait, you guys are asking about that mad student Draven,"
Another operator laughed.
"Yeah that guys Drive is absolutely insane."
"Yeah," Another One tried to, interject—
Professor Raphael simply raised one hand.
The room instantly fell silent.
The operators immediately returned to their work.
Zion looked around, genuinely surprised.
"Well he seems, quite popular among them," Zion said visibly impressed.
"Cough."
Professor Raphael cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking.
"Because what they are saying is actually true, for what he did during the two weeks before the tournament, Began, even made me fear for his life and sanity which I still question till today," Professor Raphael stated.
Even Lyra nodded.
"I honestly thought Stella had gone insane."
Raphael sighed.
"She probably did."
Several operators quietly nodded in agreement.
One of them even whispered,
"We thought we’d have to call the academy healers every single day."
Another added,
"There were times we thought he actually died."
Raphael ignored the comments.
Instead, he walked toward one of the larger projection crystals.
A massive screen lit up.
"Well, with that being said, Come with me, let me show you, what he has been up to this past week," Raphael said, escorting them to the device that recorded Kael’s Training video.
The crystal flickered.
Soon, an image appeared.
Kael stood inside the simulation arena.
He looked noticeably thinner than he did now.
His body still carried countless bruises.
Around both wrists and ankles were thick suppressing bands.
Across his shoulders rested several enormous training weights.
Beneath his feet...
Six Gravity Formation circles glowed brilliantly.
Zion frowned.
"...Five times gravity?"
One operator nodded.
"It remained active the entire time."
Another added,
"He wasn’t allowed to deactivate it."
Lyra folded her arms.
"Stella wouldn’t even let him remove the weighted bands."
Raphael quietly smiled.
"That wasn’t even the worst part."
The recording finally began.
The simulated battlefield stretched endlessly.
Before Kael stood dozens of monsters.
He slowly drew his sword.
Without hesitation—
He charged.
The recording continued.
Zion remained completely silent as Kael fought beneath the crushing sixfold gravity.
Every movement looked heavy.
Every swing of his blade demanded an absurd amount of effort.
Even walking seemed difficult.
Yet Kael never once complained.
The recording sped forward.
Hours became days.
Days became weeks.
Every single day followed the same pattern.
Fight.
Collapse.
Heal.
Fight again.
Over and over.
The first week had been nothing but failure.
Kael repeatedly challenged the simulated Rank 20 student.
Each defeat was brutal.
Broken bones.
Deep cuts.
Complete exhaustion.
Yet every time the simulation reset...
He stood back up.
Without hesitation.
Without complaint.
Without even taking a longer break.
Zion slowly narrowed his eyes.
"So this..."
"...is how he became stronger."
The footage accelerated again.
By the second week, something had changed.
Although the fivefold gravity and weighted restraints remained exactly the same, Kael’s movements no longer looked sluggish.
He moved naturally.
Almost as though his body had finally accepted the crushing burden.
Raphael folded his arms.
"It was around this point that we all realized something was wrong."
Lyra nodded.
"Normal people adapt."
"He evolved."
The recording showed Kael defeating the simulated Rank 20 student.
Then Rank 19.
Rank 18.
Rank 17.
The victories came one after another.
There was no celebration after each win.
No smile.
No satisfaction.
Each victory simply marked the beginning of the next impossible challenge.
"He climbed all the way from Rank 20 to Rank 10 under those conditions," Raphael said quietly.
"And Rank 10 became his first true wall."
The screen displayed Kael fighting the Rank 10 student.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every defeat looked hopeless.
Yet he refused to stop.
One operator quietly muttered,
"I stopped counting after the seventieth loss."
Another scratched his head.
"I think it was over a hundred."
"No."
A third operator corrected him.
"It was over two hundred."
Even Zion’s normally calm expression shifted slightly.
Two hundred losses...
Against the same opponent.
Yet Kael had never quit.
Finally—
The recording showed Kael landing the decisive strike.
Rank 10 fell.
The room remained silent.
Nobody applauded.
Because everyone already knew what came next.
Raphael sighed.
"Then..."
"He reached Rank Five."
The projection changed once more.
A massive Tigerkin warrior appeared.
The same opponent Kael had fought during the tournament.
Only now...
The simulation was far stronger.
Kael charged.
The battle lasted barely seconds.
He was defeated.
The simulation restarted.
He challenged again.
Defeat.
Again.
Defeat.
Again.
Defeat.
Again.
Defeat.
The cycle repeated endlessly.
Every single time...
Kael got back on his feet.
Zion unconsciously clenched his fists.
Even Auriella’s fight against him during the tournament suddenly made more sense.
He had already experienced hundreds of impossible battles before stepping onto that arena.
Raphael pointed toward the screen.
"He stayed here until he finally defeated Rank Five."
The recording reached its climax.
Kael finally brought the Tigerkin down.
He collapsed immediately afterward.
Several operators instinctively smiled.
They still remembered that day vividly.
One laughed.
"I thought he’d finally go home."
Another shook his head.
"No."
"He immediately selected his next opponent."
The room became quiet again.
The screen slowly revealed the final simulation.
Standing across from Kael...
...was Zion.
The simulated version silently drew its weapon.
Kael smiled.
Then charged.
The battle ended almost instantly.
Defeat.
The simulation restarted.
Defeat.
Again.
Defeat.
Again.
Defeat.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The defeats became impossible to count.
Raphael looked toward Zion.
"Well there you have it, you were the only opponent, he couldn’t defeat, during the two weeks, of his intense training,"
Zion stared quietly at the frozen screen.
"But, he defeated me in the tournament," Zion said silently to himself.
No one answered.
Because even they couldn’t explain what had happened during the tournament.
Just then—
One of the operators suddenly raised his hand.
"Um Professor Raphael a Top Ranked Student Stepped into the Simulation Room,"
Raphael turned around.
"Whose the person that stepped into the training room," Raphael asked Back.
The operator quickly checked the monitor.
"Its Kael Draven and, he’s asking for the exact conditions, that Miss Stella requested of him before the tournament,"
The entire room froze.
Raphael blinked.
Lyra’s face immediately darkened.
Zion’s eyes widened.
"...He’s serious?"
Another operator hurriedly checked the request.
"It says..."
"’Sixfold gravity this time around.’"
"’Weighted restraints.’"
"’No healing assistance unless unconscious.’"
"’Full combat restrictions exactly as before.’"
The operator slowly looked up.
"He wants the exact same settings."
Lyra covered her face with one hand.
"That boy doesn’t plan on studying for his exam," Lyra complained.
Raphael let out a long sigh.
"I was hoping he’d rest for at least another week."
One operator laughed helplessly.
"I guess peace was too much to ask for."
Zion stared toward the monitor that displayed Kael calmly walking into the simulation chamber.
For a long moment...
He said nothing.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
"I wonder how would the fight go this time around," Zion muttered.
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