Ash heaved a heavy sigh as he exited the Training Hall.
It was late at night already, and his body was incredibly sore—nothing unusual about that.
This was already a normal occurrence for him, as he always pushed his body to its limits during every training session. He also ensured to read vastly about the world, consuming information on the world that not even the novel exposed.
For example, certain cultural aspects of the world, or even theories regarding Spells and Spirit Arts, as well as many others.
Just because he knew the novel inside and out didn’t an he couldn’t learn more.
’It might eventually get to a point where my knowledge becos obsolete, which ans I have to keep with the tis and supplent what I already know…’
Everything that had already happened was a mix of the original story and altered events.
That ant future events would follow the sa trend.
’I can already see a few things that will be changed… one of them being Arius Inkwell.’
In the original storyline, he remained in Alpha Class, and the only one to get demoted was Dexter Morgause. However, in a strange twist of reality, Dexter was still in Alpha Class in this reality and Arius was now a Beta Student.
’Which ans one of two things will happen…’ Ash reasoned. ’It’s either the subplot regarding Dexter happens to Arius instead, or he gets to scale through this entire event without any repercussions.’
The forr was highly unlikely to happen, while the latter was more preferable to Ash, as he would need Arius for future events.
However, he couldn’t control everything.
’A lot is on my plate at the mont, so while I hope for the best, I have to consider the worst as well…’ He sighed.
’Take care of yourself, Arius.’
**********
[anwhile…]
"Can you help … daddy?"
There was a brief mont of silence after Arius said this, almost as if his father was processing all the information and seeking the best way to redy his son’s plight.
After a few more seconds of silence, he finally spoke.
"Unfortunately, our family doesn’t have much pull in the Northern Territories, so we can’t do much about the activities in the Akashic Academy."
"A-ahh…" Arius’ heart sank as soon as he heard those words.
"Still, I’m disappointed that they would do this." The deep, mature voice continued. "We enrolled you there, rather than our territory in the East because we wanted you to have the best."
"Well, if they’re the best, they wouldn’t do this to soone like !"
"Agreed."
"Please, daddy… there has to be sothing you can do! If you don’t do anything, I’ll be stuck in this disgusting Beta Class and I won’t participate in the Exchange."
A sigh escaped his father’s lips.
Then, he spoke.
"You have to be patient, Arius. I’ll make sure to personally deal with this and find a way to help you, so just wait for the news, okay?"
"R-really? You’ll help ?"
"Of course! But you have to keep this to yourself… understood?"
"Yes! Yes, of course!"
"Alright then. Also, make sure not to use that device again until I’m done with all the preparations."
"But… how will I know when you’re done."
"Trust , you’ll know."
Arius chuckled as he heard the smug voice of his father.
"I trust you, dad! I’ll wait for you." He nodded, a bright grin taking over the despairing expression he previously had.
"That’s my boy!"
Now that his father was personally taking action, all he had to do was bide his ti until he could have his ultimate revenge.
"Hehehe… hehehehehehe… hahahahaha!!!"
**********
[The Next Day]
"Bright and early, huh? I like that!" A big smile was plastered all over Ash’s face as he looked at Dustan, who was already standing in front of his dorm room once it was the designated ti of 3AM.
It was a weekend, which ant their training began that early in the morning.
"Of course! If we’re going to participate in the Exchange, we’re going to need all the training we can get."
"Dustan…" Ash began with a sigh.
"I an, we only have a month to prepare, so we better start giving it our all."
"Dustan, look…"
"Co on, what’s the holdup? Let’s begin alrea—!"
"You’re not going to participate in the Exchange." Ash had to raise his voice to interrupt him, causing Dustan’s excited expression to instantly turn sullen.
This quickly evolved to surprise.
"Wait… why not?"
Ash shook his head and sighed, then he began to jog away from him.
"Co… jog with ."
Dustan showed so hesitation at first, but the two soon began jogging side by side and Ash explained everything to him.
"The Exchange is very cutthroat, Dustan… and I am not confident that you’re up for the challenge in your current state."
"I can handle it!"
"No, you can’t. Trust on that." Ash shook his head and sighed. "Besides, I’ll be needing you to operate in the background and run so errands for while I’m stuck with the Exchange."
Upon hearing this, Dustan clenched his fist and frowned.
He stopped jogging and chose to stand still, glaring deeply at Ash, who promptly ca to a halt as well.
"Anything you’re dissatisfied with?"
"You…" Dustan pointed at Ash. "Right now my Familiar is stronger than yours, and after all that grueling training for months, I’ve beco as strong as you… if not stronger."
"Is that really what you think?" Ash scoffed at this declaration.
"O-of course, if we’re not factoring our… ahem, other Familiars… then yeah!"
Ash shook his head, slapping his hand on his face.
"It seems I’ve been taking it too easy on you…" He muttered. "For you to think, not only that you can challenge my authority, but that I am weaker than you are."
This ant only one thing.
"You need so re-education."
"What’s that supposed to a—?" Ash raised his finger, stopping Dustan before he could say another word.
"To the Training Hall… now."
Ash suppressed his demonic smile, already having malevolent intentions buried in his mind.
’By the ti I’m done with you… you won’t be able to raise a single complaint against ever again!’
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