December 20th, 2025
The final day of Glacial Sphere Academy’s second term arrived. The auditorium buzzed with voices, seats filled to the brim as every student gathered for the closing ceremony.
"Congrats to us for reaching the top twenty!" Christian bead proudly.
"What do you an us? I got top ten!" Rex snapped back instantly.
And just like that, the two of them launched into their usual bickering.
Whitney only exhaled deeply. The mont she received her ranking earlier, every bit of tension in her spine lted away. No more worrying. No more refreshing her smartwatch. She stretched her arms and leaned back. Her gaze drifted to her right.
Angela was intensely tapping away on her phone, jaw clenched like she was in an actual battle. Next to her, Edge was playing the sa ga, matching her pace and even matching her annoyed little grunts.
Then she looked to her other side.
Cypher had his eyes closed. She doesn’t whether he was sleeping or simply pretending to avoid talking with soone. Considering his behavior these past months, she suspected the latter.
Whitney made a face. She wasn’t about to talk to Rex and Christian—they’d just annoy the living daylights out of her—so she half-heartedly leaned toward a pair of nearby students, eavesdropping.
"Ah, I’m so jealous! You’re going to Supre Syndicate?"
"Yep. I’m gonna work there so hard that they won’t even think of letting go."
Of course. Real-world training.
Starting next month, every guild across the world could hand-pick up to ten students. Then the chosen students would, in turn, select one guild to train under for six months. After that, they’d switch to another guild for another six months.
A full year of experience.
And at the end of it, the Global Heroes Alliance would evaluate them and officially appoint them as Heroes. From there, the students would enter guilds, private associations, or groups around the globe as licensed Heroes.
It was a huge turning point for all of them. A path that determined their futures.
"Hey Pierre, didn’t Royal Dominion contact you?"
Whitney’s ears perked up.
With Sovereign Legion’s downfall, Royal Dominion was the unrivaled... well, perhaps not yet. Royal Dominion was still vying for first place alongside Supre Syndicate and RedHoods.
"Yeah, I’m glad. Royal Dominion was always my first choice."
"Oh right, I heard Cypher is going to Sovereign Legion?"
"Sovereign Legion, huh...? Why them?" another student whispered. "Didn’t half of their executives resign?"
"Exactly. Why would he choose a sinking guild?"
Hearing this, Whitney suddenly felt displeased as she clicked her tongue.
Cypher chose to go to Sovereign Legion. When she asked what the reason was, he simply said, "Remi once told that I should consider joining Sovereign Legion."
Whitney had wanted—really wanted—to force Cypher into joining her guild instead. It would have been easier. Better. Convenient. But the mont she heard Remillia was the one who advised him, she shut her mouth.
If it was Remillia... Then there had to be a reason. There was always a reason. So Whitney bit her tongue and didn’t ask further.
At that mont, a deep voice rang out from the speaker. "We will now announce the final rankings and comnce the closing ceremony."
Every student turned toward the stage.
The lights dimd slightly as the giant screen behind the podium flickered to life, illuminating rows of eager and anxious faces. The whispers died down. Even Angela paused her ga, and Edge slowly lowered his phone.
Cypher remained as he was—arms crossed, eyes closed, looking completely unbothered. Whitney wasn’t sure if he was bored or simply above all this.
The Headmaster stepped into the spotlight, his expression dignified. "For the second term of Glacial Sphere Academy, we comnd all students for their perseverance and achievents."
Rex straightened in his seat, nudging Christian smugly. "Watch and learn, peasant."
Christian clicked his tongue. "Shut up, number ten-wannabe."
The screen flashed:
————————————
Overall Ranks
1. Cypher Knoxx
2. Edge Killian
3. Ezekiel Craine
4. Whitney Owen
5. Angela Forbes
...
10. Rex Harrison
...
...
20. Christian George
————————————
"I’m rank fifth again because of that damn Arithmancy," Angela imdiately grumbled, slumping in her seat.
Whitney gave her a sideways glance, carefully choosing her words. "Angela... I heard you’re going to Brimstone Mountain again?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry. I won’t be going to Royal Dominion," Angela replied with a shrug, waving her hand as if brushing off the topic.
Whitney blinked, processing the news. "Again? You were just there last break, right?"
Angela nodded. "Yeah. Claude sent in a recomndation letter for . With that, I was allowed a special exception. Don’t worry—I’ll be coming back, so save a seat at Royal Dominion, okay?"
"Wait... you’re coming to our guild?" Whitney asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Angela said with a confident nod.
Whitney’s chest should have felt lighter—she should have smiled at the news. But she didn’t. Every ti she tried, her thoughts flickered to that person. And the truth about Raphael, the secret she carried alone, gnawed at her. It was as if a weight pressed down on her, keeping any happiness at bay.
She forced herself to nod. "Okay," she said quietly, her voice lacking its usual warmth.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
March 1st, 2026
It was the day GS Academy’s third-year students officially stepped into the real world under the title of Trainee Hero.
Whitney stood in front of Royal Dominion’s grand guild building with Ezekiel, Rex, Pierre, Kaelan, Junichi, and Zera gathered behind her.
"Young Miss, did Royal Dominion only choose us six?" Kaelan asked for the third ti, sounding like a broken record.
Whitney’s eyebrow twitched. She spun around and glared at him. "There are three magicians too. And stop calling Young Miss."
"I apologize, Young Mi—" Kaelan froze when he saw Whitney’s fist rise ever so slightly. He swallowed his words imdiately.
"Hah! Only I am the one who can call Whitney Young Mi—"
Whip!
Rex shut his mouth instantly as Whitney cracked her whip on the ground, the marble floor beneath them splitting like thin ice.
"Rex," Whitney said with a calmness that was far more terrifying than anger, "I swear to the goddess, I will kick you out and ship you straight to whatever guild Christian joined."
Rex puffed his cheeks and looked away, but didn’t say another word.
Whitney massaged her temples. Just imagining Rex and Christian together in one guild again made her feel the ghost of a migraine forming. Thankfully, fate—or perhaps the goddess—had separated those two disasters.
"Let’s continue, shall we?" she finally said, pushing the doors open and leading the group inside.
"Welco to Royal Dominion," Kian Hall, the newly appointed vice-leader, greeted them with bright energy. He had clearly been waiting—standing right in the lobby—and when he saw Whitney at the front of the group, he gave her a respectful bow.
Whitney returned the gesture with a polite smile.
Then Kian’s attention shifted to the group behind her. "I’m sure you all already know who I am. And I’ve reviewed all of your profiles, so let’s skip the introductions. Since it’s your first day, I’ll give you a tour around the guild. Follow ."
He walked toward the elevator, Whitney naturally falling into step beside him while the others trailed behind.
Their first stop was the second-floor lounge.
The mont the doors opened, the apprentices saw an enormous, polished space filled with: fifty state-of-the-art virtual reality capsules, fifty high-end computers, over a hundred tablets containing tens of thousands of books, plus all kinds of training equipnt, sports gear, and even a built-in refreshnt bar.
Kian proudly pushed open the lounge door. "This is the lounge where—"
He abruptly stopped.
All fifty capsules were empty. All the sports equipnt untouched. All the tablets unused.
Instead, at least fifty people were cramd together in one tight circle around a single computer monitor.
Kian blinked. "Why are there so many people here?"
One mber finally noticed him. Upon seeing Kian, his eyes lit up. "Ah! Vice-leader! Co here—quick! A new rcenary just joined Talon!"
"Talon?" Kian’s eyes widened. He hurried toward the crowd, excitent overtaking him. "Really?!"
Without hesitation, he dove straight into the sea of heads, completely forgetting he had a group of new apprentices staring at his back.
"Umm..." Zera mumbled, unsure what to make of the chaotic scene.
"So... what do we do?" Kaelan asked, scratching his head.
"Are we gonna wait for him, or should we just continue the tour ourselves?" Pierre said.
"Beats ," Junichi shrugged.
On the far side of the lounge, Rex was already fiddling with a VR headset. "Hey, Whitney! Can I try this VR gaming room now?!"
Whitney closed her eyes for a mont and rubbed her temple. It was their first day—and sohow, she already felt tired.
Without a word, she marched toward the tightly packed crowd, wedged herself through, grabbed Kian by the collar, and dragged him back toward the group.
But not before her eyes briefly landed on the monitor that everyone was obsessed with.
————————————
Talon’s New rcenary: Introducing ’Tigris’
Need a swift solution to chaos? Summon this rcenary. With lightning-fast reflexes, she will strike down danger before it strikes back.
Book an appointnt now!
————————————
"Tigris?" soone murmured, raising a brow. "Talon’s new rcenary is Tigris? Is this the sa Tigris that’s been all over the rumors?"
"I guess so. But why can’t we see anything else even with our IP address?" another complained.
"Huh? That’s because we aren’t partnered with Talon. If you want to see the extended introduction, pay for it yourself."
"You know that costs 50 million Glacium, right?" a third person said, horrified.
Talon’s special website wasn’t just exclusive—it was ruthlessly expensive. Even the tiniest scrap of information required a fortune.
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