Ryan Shine, the Star Instructor of Karath Academy—and formerly a member of the great Shine Family before being expelled—had nonetheless built a name for himself within the academy. He earned the prestigious title of Star Instructor, and no one in the kingdom dared act disrespectfully in front of him. This title placed him on par with the nation's Heroes, just one rank below the heads of the Six Great Families—who themselves stand below the King. In terms of power hierarchy, he could be considered third in rank, directly after the King.
He had received an order from the Academy Director: he was to take Shion Lan as his student, which he would do only after the upcoming battle against the Dark Crows, serving as a witness to Shion's true skills. Even so, Ryan had already heard about Shion's remarkable ability to complete a mission so difficult that no one else even dared to accept it.
Now, having arrived in Region 14, he entered with the students. As he swept the area with his advanced aura perception, he quickly detected Shion's location—along with two fifth-level beside him. After passing by, he approached that location, followed by the other students.
Upon arriving, he noticed something unusual:
"Wasn't Shion a water-element user? Why is he using fire now?"
Shion Lan's aura had shifted, leaning more toward fire than water. He also overheard the muttering of the students:
"Isn't that woman Beliza Sano, the older sister of Glass Sano?!"
"Yes! And if that's Beliza, then the other must be Rona Flair!"
"Right—both of them are famous as The Queens of Fire and Ice!"
"They were fierce rivals in the academy, always battling for first place! I'm a huge fan of both!"
"True… but why on earth is Shion Lan with them?!"
Shion was calmly explaining the spell (Paths of Fire) to Rona, completely unbothered by the commotion that was about to erupt.
He thought to himself:
'I realized something dangerous when that brat Shi Yun Lan asked me why I can't access the second vein again…'
He exhaled slowly.
'His past-life memories won't help him learn like before. He learned techniques of the first vein before learning (Aura if Death), which allowed him to absorb skills correctly. As I saw during my fight with him, all concepts of strength collapse when he uses his aura—he can use any technique even without understanding its essence, producing incomplete strength, but (Aura of Death) compensates for it.
As for me, I must train the techniques myself again. I can relearn the elements alone—that's easy. But learning high-level techniques alone is almost impossible…'
Annoying voices began entering his ears. He turned toward the source with mild frustration and found the student battalion standing behind Star Instructor Ryan Shine. Their expressions made their thoughts obvious—especially the two nuisances: First Prince Jaiden Joul and his older brother Shun Ranus.
Before anything could escalate, both Beliza Sano and Rona Flair stepped forward to greet Ryan:
"Greetings, Instructor Shine."
"Ah, greetings, Queens of Fire and Ice. How have you been?"
"I am Fire Mage apprentice Amy, and I have officially joined the Magic Tower."
"And I have become Wind Hero apprentice Wendy, part of the Rain Battalion."
While they spoke, a student suddenly shouted:
"Beliza! What are you doing with that boy?"
Her pleasant smile instantly turned into a cold stare that pierced the speaker.
"And what business is that of yours?"
"Huh?! Well… we're relatives. You shouldn't speak to me like tha–"
"And what of it? Your father may be the current family head, and my brother the heir, but that does not give you the right to speak that way."
Shion thought:
"Her brother is the heir… does she mean that boy, Glass Sano?"
But the conversation did not end there.
Beliza spoke again:
"Instructor Shine, we're here under the orders of our teachers to train Shion Lan a little and assist him with something."
Rona added:
"These were direct orders from our instructor as well as the Region Chief. One of the Shadow Force was present too."
Everyone froze for a moment as the situation dawned on them:
Shion Lan had drawn the attention of two Heroes-in-training, a Region Chief, and even a Shadow Corps member. If the speculation was correct, he had previously caught the attention of four seventh-level individuals. And now—with Fire and Ice Queens (both level five) personally supervising him—some students felt awe, others envy, and many felt pure hatred.
'They really didn't need to say all that…'
Shion sighed inwardly.
After a bit more trivial chatter, a soldier approached the group. After giving formal respect, he said:
"Shion Lan! The Region Chief requests your presence urgently."
---
In Aiten's Office
Shion stood silently before Aiten, waiting for him to speak.
"There has been a request from Director Tim Ayr," Aiten said. "I am to assign you to the Shilte Unit, after we discovered and punished Krow for being manipulated into causing trouble in Region 14."
Shion gave him a puzzled look.
"What do you mean? I'm only a second-year student, and I helped in the best way I could. I don't think I'm obligated to do something insane like this."
He pointed to himself:
"My strength may be level three, but I still have only one star. My stamina is extremely low—that makes this dangerous."
Aiten sighed.
"What you don't know is that those two women—those two Heroes—have become quite interested in you. They say your aura is completely abnormal, and that attracted a lot of attention. I also think Ark has become curious as well."
"In other words… they're actually interested in the Radiant Star Instructor, aren't they?"
"You're starting to understand. That's why the Director believes you must stay with Instructor Ryan Shine—so that you remain free."
Shion blinked.
"Then what does this have to do with placing me in the Shilte Unit instead of Instructor Ryan's unit?"
Aiten explained:
"Ryan is a Star Instructor. No one is allowed to be his personal student. As you've seen, not many even know your real instructor. People want to pull you in to get closer to him. But Ryan has no interest in that. The Director himself ordered him to take you in. Of course, you will only be his student inside the academy. I'm sure your original instructor will understand."
"As for placing you in Shilte Unit… that's because First Prince Jaiden Joul and your brother Shun Ranus are in the other one. We think both intend to harm you during the battle. So we placed you elsewhere."
He added:
"At the end, we'll simply say that Instructor Ryan observed your skills and was impressed, so he decided to take you as his student. A clever arrangement, if I say so."
Shion fell silent, thinking:
'The Director really did protect me with this… but what does he want in return? The inheritance of Shi Yun Lan is extremely powerful. No one can truly harm me—but I don't want to reveal that. I wanted a way to protect myself until I grow stronger. The Director helped me… but what's his price?
Do I accept an arrangement with unknown conditions?
Or do I face everyone alone, risking my path to increasing strength?'
After weighing everything, he finally gave in.
"Fine. I agree to the Director's proposal."
After Shion left for the Shilte Unit, Aiten leaned back in thought.
"The Director told me exactly how Shion would react—from thinking, to objecting, to the method to convince him, even the amount of time he'd take. Director Tim Ayr… is truly terrifying."
He remembered Shion's expressions as he pondered.
"Those weren't the thoughts of a young student, but of someone who thinks deeply, takes wise steps, and never rushes. And he clearly wasn't happy when he agreed—he must have realized the Director wants something in exchange. Yet no one in the kingdom knows what goes on in the Director's mind…"
---
In the Shilte Unit
Shilte was introducing Shion Lan to the unit. Everyone began training for the upcoming battle.
Shion saw strange ring-like constructs on the ground, each projecting an image of a Dark Crow. The soldiers trained by fighting these illusions—most were quickly defeated, but several seasoned fighters managed to destroy the images swiftly.
"These drills are definitely useful," Shion thought.
He stood before one of the rings and poured some water-star power into it. Because of his star's strength, a level-3 Dark Crow manifested.
"This should be entertaining."
He drew his sword. When he saw a moment of weakness during its attack, he made a clean cut through the raven's neck with a single blow.
He stared at his blade.
"That's it?"
The ring activated again.
This time, the Dark Crow was stronger and faster—but still level three. It lunged, and Shion avoided the first attack with a simple body tilt. With a backward slash, he severed the neck again.
"…"
"…."
"Screw this! How long has he been killing Dark Crows?!"
"For almost an hour now! He's killed more than fifty!"
"This is not normal!"
"He even started using his techniques after the twentieth kill—and he still ends it with a single strike!"
Shion, now drawing significant attention, faced a much more aggressive crow. Its speed surpassed even the stronger varieties. As Shion dodged its rapid attacks, he thought:
"These rings were made to amplify the crow's strength within the same level—but this isn't realistic. Even if a Dark Crow is enhanced by a domain and potions, it wouldn't reach this level. I should mention this to Lady Amy later."
Shion moved with immense speed, preparing his stance as star-aura flowed.
"(Star Tide)!"
He struck at close range, concentrating multiple cuts and thrusts into one point—splitting the crow cleanly in half.
"Let's see my limits with the Stellar Summet…"
The Dark Raven reformed again, now with increased aggression. Shion, using his best techniques and full knowledge of the crow species, defeated it easily across ten more rounds.
He thought:
'This raven is now equal to me—and to Shi Yun Lan's level. But the difference is that Shi Yun Lan has absurdly powerful techniques and the Annihilation Art. He constantly released (Aura of Death), and his combat instincts were abnormal. Predicting his moves was nearly impossible.
But this crow, unlike him, has strength but normal patterns. I can read it easily. And I know everything about their species. I could fight ten at once.'
In the next round, the ring malfunctioned. The crow appeared but couldn't move—and died standing.
"It seems this ring is broken."
He picked up the ring, intending to take it to Amy—only to find the soldiers staring at him with eyes wide open…