Genius Slyvia

As soon as the sun began to rise, Squire Master Lancy woke everyone by banging two pots together. The ringing in Ray's ears was dreadful. Gary, on the other hand, slept like a baby—until Ray kicked him in the stomach to stop his snoring.

The students were required to pack everything away—the fire pit, the tents, and their provisions—before loading them back into the carriages. Thirty minutes later, they were on their way again.

A couple of students in the carriage grumbled about the journey.

"Does Avrion Academy not have a teleporter? Why are we traveling by carriage?"

"Yeah, Roland Academy has one, and Avrion is supposed to be on par with Roland. Yet, they can't even afford a teleporter?"

A girl sitting at the back of the carriage twitched in irritation, growing more and more annoyed at the conversation. Finally, she couldn't stand it any longer and stood up.

"Didn't you two learn anything? Avrion Academy is stationed at the front lines of the battlefield with the Shadow Plague. What would happen if war broke out and we lost Avrion?"

The two students stared at her blankly, failing to grasp her point.

"It would mean our enemies would have access to the teleporters, allowing them to travel anywhere in the kingdom."

She sat back down, muttering to herself.

Ray recognized her immediately—Slyvia Heart. She had long silver hair reaching her waist, a symmetrical face, and a presence that demanded attention. By human standards, she would be considered beautiful.

But that wasn't why he knew her. At Renny Academy, term after term, the knowledge test rankings were posted, and every single time, Slyvia's name was at the top. There wasn't a student who didn't recognize her.

A few hours later, the carriages came to a halt. This was their designated camp for the night. Thankfully, this time, they had stopped at an abandoned castle to use as shelter.

They gathered in the castle's dining hall to sleep. Each carriage group formed its own unit, led by a knight.

As they entered the dining hall, the students curiously examined the ruins. The castle was in shambles—stone pieces scattered everywhere, with gaping holes in the walls and ceiling.

"What happened here?" Gary asked aloud.

The knight escorting them answered, "This is the result of one of our wars with the Gala Kingdom. We would still be fighting today if not for the Shadow Plague."

"What do you mean?" Gary pressed.

Slyvia couldn't hold back and explained, "Once the kingdoms learned the nature of the Shadow Plague, they signed a truce. Although temporary, we've agreed to team up against our common enemy."

The students, exhausted from the journey, were relieved to be indoors and quickly settled in for the night.

This time, the guards took shifts atop one of the castle's towers, allowing them a better field of view to watch for approaching threats.

Ray saw no need to use Dragon Eyes tonight. Instead, he found a gap in the wall and slipped out. He planned to head to the nearby forest to hunt magical beasts. Just as he stepped outside, he felt someone tugging on his sleeve.

"Where are you going at this time of night?" Slyvia was gripping his arm.

"To hunt beasts." He saw no reason to hide it. He might be a student at Avrion Academy in name, but ultimately, he lived by his own rules.

"Are you mad? You may be able to defeat basic-tier beasts, but what if you run into an intermediate-tier? The knights won't be there to save you." Her eyes were wide with shock.

"Don't worry. I've already defeated a few." With that, Ray twisted his arm free and sprinted toward the nearest woods.

Upon entering the forest, he confirmed they were still in Fanged Boar territory. He summoned Noir, who remained the same small wolf cub as before.

Ray was pleased—they were still in an ideal hunting ground. The Fanged Boars were slow, making them perfect targets for Noir to train against.

They found a lone Fanged Boar. Ray commanded Noir to attack while keeping his hand on the hilt of his sword in case something went wrong.

The boar was twice Noir's size, but that didn't matter. The cub was too fast. Noir bit the boar's legs multiple times, slowing it down further, then ended the fight with a decisive bite to its neck.

[Basic Tier Crystal Obtained (1)]

[Would you like to absorb?]

[Yes] [No]

Ray grinned. This was great news—it meant he didn't have to personally kill a beast to obtain its crystal. Noir's kills counted as his own.

This was precisely why he wanted Noir to fight. He needed to understand how the system worked.

He fed the crystal to Noir, boosting the cub's strength by eight points, bringing its total to thirteen. They continued their hunt, targeting isolated Fanged Boars to test whether the crystals truly enhanced Noir's abilities.

With each crystal absorbed, Noir's fighting skills noticeably improved. However, after a while, the Fanged Boars stopped dropping crystals, just like the wolves and monkeys in the Black Forest had before.

Noir's points had reached a total of 32. With his experiment a success and nothing more to gain from the wild boars, Ray decided it was time to head back to camp.