By the time I got back from training, I felt like a half-dismantled mannequin.
Nothing broken. Just pain vibrating in places I didn't know could hurt.
I dragged myself into my room—only to find it occupied.
Darius was sitting on my desk, cleaning his knuckles like he'd just finished a fight.
Aria had stolen my bed again, legs crossed, humming some noble melody like she owned the place.
For a moment, I just stood there, staring.
Do these two even have rooms of their own, or am I the family's emotional support punching bag?
"Ever heard of personal space?" I muttered.
Aria grinned. " Little brother you are alive ". She said this squirming, Aria has the kind of cute childish vibes even though she is 25 .
"Barely," I agreed, limping past her.
Darius raised a brow. "You look less like roadkill today. Progress." Darius said it this looking as uninterested as ever. Sometimes I really don't get my siblings.
"Guess my bones are starting to get the memo," I said, dropping into the chair opposite him. "So. Since you're both so comfortable in my room, maybe you can help me with something."
Aria tilted her head. "Depends. If it's about how to dodge Father's punches too late."
"I want to know about the competition," I said flatly. "For the academy trials."
That earned me silence. Then disbelief.
"You?" Aria blinked. "The same guy who spends his free time staring at walls and pretending we don't exist? Or the same guy that is uninterested in every thing ".
"Yeah, that guy," I said. "I'm aiming for first place."
They laughed. Loudly and hard . So hard , to the point they started coughing.
I waited for them to finish. They didn't.
So I stared.
That shut them up.
Darius leaned forward, studying me. "You're serious. I'm impressed, are you sure you my little brother". He said still stifling a laugh
"Very and by the way can't I be serious once in a while" .
He sighed, rubbing his jaw. "Alright. You want names? Let's start with the obvious the royal twins, Aurora and Auren Ardenthal. Aura of the Sun, born prodigies. Their bloodline burns like a star; they literally radiate light when they fight. It's… unnerving.
Aurora is like precision and control . Aurean is mostly chaos and raw power and they literally combine against a serious opponent. Scary right?
Huh? Twins that are practically one . That would be troublesome.
Aria joined in, tone dropping. "They're monsters. Rumor says they've both hit B-class in talent. Maybe A. Together, they fight in perfect sync twin resonance. You'd be facing two people who move like one. I think they beat a high tier experts before as adepts . Yikes .
Note to self: never let them flank me. Target rhythm disruption maybe bait one into breaking formation.
"Next," Darius continued, "House Doeneviel. Pure fire maniacs. Their heir, Caelth… battle junkie. The kind who fights for fun and grins when he bleeds. Heard he once shattered a mana crystal with his bare hands."
Fire type, aggressive, thrives in chaos. Counter with tempo control stay unreadable. Let him burn energy early. He'll cook himself.
"House Maelora," Aria said, lowering her voice. "Healers, technically. But their prodigy Seren—she found a way to weaponize healing aura. It's twisted. She can regenerate and attack simultaneously. You hit her, she gets stronger."
Fantastic. An immortal. I'll need anti-aura suppression maybe find a way to overload her regenerative circuit.
Darius leaned back, cracking his neck. "That's just humans. Outside that, there's the dragonkin. The heir, Ryn Dralor — pure nightmare. His will burns through armor. They say even his breath carries heat strong enough to melt a master's shield."
Dragon physiology plus mana combustion. Probably high stamina, low agility. If I can outmaneuver, I can win. Maybe.
Aria frowned. "Elves and spirits might join, but they keep to themselves. Arrogant, old, and annoyingly skilled. You won't beat them with brute force."
Elves. Precision freaks. Spirits use emotions if I am going to fight a spirit I need what to use to disrupt their emotions. Basically, all the problems I don't need yet.
I leaned back, letting their words sink in.
Every detail slotted itself neatly into mental boxes. Weaknesses, patterns, theoretical openings.
Alright… so the top of the food chain is a set of solar twins, a fire lunatic, a healing sadist, and a walking furnace. Perfect.
I rubbed my temples. "How do the trials work?"
Darius shrugged. "It changes every year. But there are always three rounds. The first is usually… virtual."
That made me pause.
"Virtual?"
"Yeah. You get placed inside some illusionary domain or trial world. Tests your instincts, reaction time, survival skill, all that. It's… not real, but it feels real."
My mind froze for a moment.
Virtual reality. In a world where people still have castles and use daggers and swords.
I blinked.
Then sighed.
This world screams medieval knights, bloodlines, blades but they've got VR tech? I never even played that in my old life . How did I not notice before? Mana cores replacing electricity… of course. I'm stupid.
A dry laugh escaped me. "Of course it's VR. Why not?"
Aria frowned. "You're laughing again. That's never good."
"Don't mind me," I said, waving a hand. "Just realizing I've underestimated the level of insanity in this world."
Darius chuckled. "Then you'll fit right in."
Maybe. But deep down, I knew one thing for sure.
If the academy was the stage for the future's monsters, I wasn't walking in to participate.
I was walking in to hunt.