Chapter 289
Ghost?
IAM had walked through the door and looked around, his eyes quietly scanning the space in front of him. He immediately realised he was standing in an unfamiliar section of the combat grounds—one he was certain he hadn't passed through before. Still, he'd done his best to memorize every twist and turn that had led him here.
It was a habit he had built in Dushlok... a survival habit. Every detail could decide whether he made it through another hour. Because of that, he had trained himself to take in as much information as possible at every moment in time. It was exhausting—draining to the point it gnawed at the back of his skull—but it had kept him alive. And now, here, it continued to help him.
His memory being sharper due to his experience as a higher-level ascender only added to that ability, letting him hold onto small details longer and retrieve them faster.
He started walking forward, letting his fingers brush the wall lightly, counting corners, counting doorways, counting the odd muffled sound or hum that echoed through the halls. Nevertheless, even with everything working in his favour, he still got lost a few times. The paths twisted strangely, looping and crossing in ways that felt intentionally confusing.
And the more he moved, the more he noticed something else.
This area… felt different.
It seemed more restricted, more cut off. The air was quieter and through all the complicated hallways he had travelled, he had yet to see another person.
Blaze, why are you so cruel? You didn't even help your junior—dragging him into some quiet section of the combat grounds and then just vanishing, leaving him to fend for himself.
IAM kissed his teeth sharply. He should've followed Blaze the moment he stood up. If he had, he would've avoided ending up in this mess entirely.
He kept walking, footsteps echoing faintly through the empty corridor, and the thought nagging at him only grew louder. Then something struck him—enough that he actually stopped mid-step.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and tapped rapidly across the screen. A few seconds passed as he waited, staring with a blank expression.
Then slowly, a grin began to spread across his face. It stretched wider with satisfaction as the screen loaded exactly what he needed.
He remembered that on the first day, when he and the others were late to orientation, Reuel had pulled out his phone and opened the map to find where they were supposed to go.
IAM had been hoping he could do the same now—open the map and figure out where he was inside the combat building—and, lo and behold, the screen lit up with the layout. He stared at it as a grin slowly faded into a slight frown.
According to the map, the area he was currently in was meant mostly for Student Council members… and, surprisingly, for the vice principals as well.
That part caught him off guard. Did that mean they weren't too far from where he was standing now? If any of them happened to be sparring with one another…
IAM glanced around, wondering which direction they could be in. He hadn't noticed anything strange about the dozens of identical doors lining the hallway, and there was no pressure, aura, or even a hint of a fight. One would think that experts on their level would cause at least some disturbance, but IAM felt absolutely nothing.
Perhaps they weren't fighting right now…
Whatever the case, IAM knew he could always come investigate another time… perhaps he might even stumble across something interesting when he wasn't half-lost and irritated. For now, though, he pushed the thought aside.
He found himself more curious about something else: how he had even been allowed into this area in the first place. There had to be some method to restrict ordinary students from wandering in here, right? Yet he hadn't noticed Blaze do anything special.
Blaze had simply walked ahead and turned into a hallway like it was nothing—there was no scanning, badges or even talking to guards.
IAM frowned slightly as he replayed the moment in his head. Blaze must have done something different. He had to. Because if it was truly that easy, if a regular student could just wander in and discover that the vice principals used this area to spar, then others before him would have figured it out long ago. And knowing the academy's students, people would be lining up here every day hoping to catch a vice principal's attention or witness a spar from up close. There was no way a place like this would be so quiet, so empty, so… untouched.
IAM exhaled through his nose as he walked. The silence around him only made the thought more irritating. There was definitely something he was missing—some detail Blaze had used, intentionally or not, that IAM couldn't recognize yet.
Even if he did finally get out of the area, it probably wouldn't be that easy for him to return here again… unless he somehow became a member of the Student Council.
IAM paused at the thought. Maybe this was something he should actually push for. Being a council member didn't just come with status — it came with better resources, better access, and, most importantly, something he had heard recently: unlimited Hope Points.
Of course, he couldn't go around abusing it or there would definitely be repercussions, but it meant he wouldn't have to constantly worry about running out of money. That alone made the idea tempting.
And on top of that, becoming part of the Student Council would increase his chances of catching the attention of one of the vice principals. If they noticed him, if even one of them decided to bring him under their guidance, it could change everything.
He had already met two of them. One clearly didn't have a favourable impression of him, while the other had made it painfully clear that they wouldn't show any favouritism. So perhaps this was the only reliable way to get the other vice principals to notice him.
Of course, if it were truly that easy to become a Student Council member, everybody and their nan would already be wearing the uniform. He really had no idea what the actual requirements were.
Still, it was something worth looking into. When he and the others finally had time—after dealing with their punishment—they could bring it up together. Not only would they get the chance to argue for a lighter sentence, but they could also take the opportunity to ask about what it actually took to join the Student Council. Two birds, one conversation. IAM mentally jotted it down as a must-do.
Lost in those thoughts, he continued walking, letting his feet carry him automatically. It was only when a faint shift in the feeling of the corridor washed over him that he stopped. Something was different—it was subtle, but enough for his instincts to tug at him. He turned around slowly, expecting to see the faintly lit hallway he had just walked through.
Instead, there was a wall.
IAM frowned and pressed his palm against it. Then both palms. Then his shoulder. He pushed harder, but nothing gave. It stood there like it had always been there, like the corridor he'd walked through seconds ago had never existed.
Some sort of path formation? he thought, his brows narrowing as he stepped back. It would explain why he had never noticed the area's entrances. It would also explain why no one else wandered in by accident.
Whatever the case was, one thing was obvious: he had been pushed out of the restricted zone.
IAM checked the map again and resumed walking, paying far more attention this time. The layout around him began to feel more familiar with every step—more like a place meant for regular students. The ambient noise changed too, hints of distant footsteps and muted voices drifting through certain hallways. Bit by bit, the environment settled into something recognisable.
He was definitely out.
He put the phone away and, after walking for a bit, he finally saw another person up ahead. It was a girl—she was young, probably around seventeen, judging by her appearance and was probably a novice-level ascender. She was dressed in the standard training kit.
Relief washed over IAM. He quickened his steps, raising a hand slightly as he approached. "Hello… I'm slightly lost. Do you know the wa—"
He didn't even get to finish.
The moment she properly looked at him, the girl jolted as if electricity had run through her entire body. Her eyes flew wide, and with a startled yelp she jumped backward, her heel catching on the floor. She landed flat on her backside with a soft thud, her palms scrambling for balance as she pointed at him with a trembling finger.
"A–a— a g–gh— g-ghost!!" she shrieked, her voice cracked in sheer terror.
Her whole body was shaking, with her eyes locked on him as if he wasn't simply a fellow student who simply asked for directions.