Opening his eyes, Enrico woke up in bed yawning. It seemed that his five hours of rest were already over, and from what he was hearing outside, Jonas was already gathering the students to leave.
'Better get going, I ended up falling asleep while trying to communicate with the original.'
[You know, you should've slept longer. The place was so peaceful without you.]
'Funny coming from someone louder than me.'
He wished he could've trained a bit more before going back because he planned to head to that warehouse dungeon as soon as they returned. He couldn't waste any more time—Kai, Valença, and Serenya might advance to the third circle before him.
'Sorry, but this time I'll be selfish and go alone.'
It would be risky to enter that dungeon alone, and at the same time, not bringing anyone to grow stronger with him felt wrong. But he needed to do this because he understood their personalities very well.
'The higher the wall, the more Kai and his friends will want to climb it. The higher the wall, the more the girls will want to reach me.'
If he kept advancing ahead of them, they would always push themselves harder. But if they simply surpassed Enrico, they might start to slow their pace.
'I can't let them slow down their growth... but when the time is right, I'll give them the breaks they need.'
After all, he couldn't force them the same way he forced himself. When the war began in a few years, they wouldn't have time to rest—so it was good to let them enjoy these moments of peace or fun.
Leaving the room, he joined everyone else. This time, he stayed completely silent in the carriage, since he would be entering the aquatic fake dungeon. He was close to obtaining the third fake dungeon, so he had to finish off the last boss to move on to the next one once he returned.
'Is he sleeping?'
Elaris looked at him while creating and dissolving an ice flower—something she did to pass the time. Turning her gaze toward Lira, she frowned as she remembered the embarrassing incident at the hot springs.
'How does she have the nerve to sit there with that neutral face after what she did?'
When she had gone to the baths and saw that the girls were trying to peek at Enrico—with comments about how it was already their second time seeing him—she found it disrespectful and punished them by keeping them away from him for a day, using her authority as the Student Council President.
'Today I'll make sure they stay away from him all day.'
Among them, Aoi and Lira were the ones most likely to resist—one had started it, and the other had given her the idea. Lira was only here because she was rank 2, but that didn't mean Elaris would let her say a word.
Seeing Lira start to approach him, Elaris raised her hand in front of her face with a serious look. Lira just gave a playful huff.
"You think you can stop me from talking to him?"
"Maybe not. But if I send a message to the administration about your misbehavior, they might suspend you for a few days."
"So that means I'd be forced to stay away from Enrico?"
When Elaris nodded, her eyebrow rose slightly as Lira calmly walked back to her seat. During these past weeks, Lira had often watched Enrico, trying to figure something out about him, but had barely spoken to him—just a hello, good morning, or goodbye, always with a slightly crazed look.
'She was never much of a talker anyway.'
They didn't exchange any more words during the trip back until they arrived at the academy, where Enrico seemed to have woken up. He approached Elaris.
"Elaris, on Monday I'd like you to train with me."
"Train? Alright, I'll be waiting."
Leaving the carriage, followed by Lira's eyes, Enrico went straight to Kai and dragged him off somewhere. Behind them, Valença and Serenya were the first to move to follow.
"Where do you think you're going? I said you're grounded."
"Damn, she saw us."
Enrico led Kai to the warehouse, ignoring the argument going on behind him. Once they arrived, he made a request.
"Kai, I need you to do something for me."
"Of course, what is it?"
"I'm going to do some special training inside, and I need you to make sure no one comes in while I'm in there."
"Wait, special training? Can you tell me about it?"
"Maybe in the future. For now, I just need a guard who won't leave for an entire day. And remember—not a single person gets in."
"Got it."
Excited to see how strong Enrico would become afterward, Kai nodded quickly and stood guard at the door, gripping his sword.
[Did you really have to trick the boy?]
'If I didn't, he might've left the spot, and that would've ruined my chance to form a pact after finishing this arc of the story.'
Entering the warehouse, Enrico closed the door and headed straight for the designated spot where the hidden door was. The place was quite clean, mostly because they always tidied up after meeting there.
'Better hide the vases somewhere safe while I'm gone.'
After securing the vases he had protected for so long, Enrico went to the closet and opened it at once. Placing his hand inside, a flicker of magic appeared at his fingertip. As if responding to that power, a portal opened, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside. It was a good thing he had made sure to be alone in the room.
"I think I'm going to puke."
He felt dizzy while spinning nonstop inside the portal. When another portal opened ahead, he saw a massive castle before him. Holding his head, he tried to steady himself.
"This portal is really different from the others... maybe because it's sending me to a place where time flows differently."
[Smart. The first time I did it, I got dizzy too. You get used to it eventually.]
'Do you do this all the time, by any chance?'
Looking down, he realized he was falling near the castle and dug his fingers into its wall, piercing it to slow his fall, slightly damaging the structure due to the force.
"Well, let's get started."