Expelled?!

Ray couldn't believe his eyes. The beast they had all struggled against had finally been defeated. The black scimitar Sir K wielded had to be a high-tier beast crystal weapon to have sliced through the Minotaur's thick hide. Even with the use of Ki, their own weapons had been utterly ineffective.

As the beast's body collapsed, another notification appeared in Ray's vision.

Mana Eater was a skill similar to Mana Drain, but with a distinct difference. While Mana Drain absorbed the mana of beasts and people, Mana Eater consumed their elemental attributes. The Minotaur, for instance, had possessed a lightning elemental affinity. If Ray touched the corpse, he could potentially strengthen his own lightning-based abilities.

At the moment, however, it seemed like a useless skill—Ray didn't have any abilities that required elemental attributes. Still, he had a few theories on how he could use it in the future. There wasn't time to dwell on that now.

The real problem at hand was Sir K. He was approaching, and none of them knew how he would react. The academy's rules were clear: no student was allowed to enter the red door without explicit permission. The punishment was immediate expulsion.

Sir K strode toward them, his chest piece smeared with streaks of blood from the fight.

"As soon as you arrived, the horned wolf ran away, sir," Ray said quickly.

While Sir K had been fighting the Minotaur, Ray had unsummoned Noir. He could perhaps come up with an excuse for Gary and Monk, but if a master knight discovered Noir, it would cause far greater problems.

Sir K didn't acknowledge the statement. Instead, he handed each of them a light crystal before stepping toward Jasmine. Without hesitation, he slung her unconscious form over his shoulder and simply commanded, "Follow me."

He turned and started heading back in the direction they had come from. He said nothing, but the weight of the silence only made Monk more nervous. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Are we… are we going to be expelled from the academy?"

Sir K stopped walking and turned to face them. His gaze scanned each of them, scrutinizing their injuries, their exhaustion, their very presence.

"You should all consider yourselves lucky to be alive," he said finally. "Never mind expulsion—if that beast had retained more of its magical power, even I would have struggled greatly."

Monk still looked apprehensive. "So does that mean…?"

Sir K sighed. "In any normal circumstance, yes, you would be expelled on the spot. But the truth is, we need knights like you. To have survived against a King-Class beast is no small feat. It would be a waste to cast out students with such potential. We will keep this matter between us."

A wave of relief washed over them, but Gary still had one lingering question. "How did you even know we were down here?"

Ray had been wondering the same thing. His initial suspicion had been Jasmine, but looking at her now—injured and barely conscious—it was hard to imagine she had sent for help.

Sir K's expression remained unreadable. "The Lurker informed me."

"Who's the Lurker?" Gary asked immediately.

"You students have learned enough secrets for one day. Once we pass through the red doors, not a word to anyone. Even with my position, there is only so much I can do."

They continued walking in silence until they reached the giant iron doors. Sir K stopped again. "Which one of you opened this door?"

Before the others could react, Ray spoke up first. "It was open when we got here."

Monk and Gary exchanged glances but understood Ray's intention. They nodded in agreement.

Sir K studied them for a moment, then simply turned away. "Wait on the other side."

They obeyed, stepping through the doorway. They couldn't see what he was doing, but the giant iron doors began to shift and close. Sir K darted through just before they locked into place, resetting back to how they had first found them.

As they turned to leave, Ray suddenly heard a soft, gentle voice.

"Come back when you are stronger."

He stopped, glancing at the others. No one else seemed to react. They hadn't heard it. He resumed walking without a word. The voice was familiar. It was the same one from his dream.

After climbing the spiral stairway, they finally reached the red door. Just like before, there were no guards. Sir K secured the entrance with a new lock, making it appear untouched. Then, handing Jasmine over to them, he instructed, "Take her to the hospital. I also suggest the rest of you get checked as well."

Before he could leave, Gary hesitated, then blurted out, "Do you think we could… maybe have the Minotaur's beast crystal?"

Sir K had extracted the crystal the moment he had slain the beast. Ray had secretly hoped the system would have claimed it, but luck wasn't on his side this time.

Sir K scoffed. "This is my prize. I didn't get injured just for you little twerps."

Without another word, shadows enveloped his body, and he vanished from sight.

They followed Sir K's instructions and took Jasmine straight to the hospital. She remained unconscious, and the doctors informed them that she would need several days to recover. Gary, having suffered a fractured arm, was fitted with a cast. Monk, despite being in better shape, had sustained minor burns and bruises.

Ray, however, had a strange experience. Initially, the doctors insisted he remain in the hospital for a few days. Though he had no severe external wounds, they detected multiple internal injuries that required monitoring. But after only a few hours, follow-up tests baffled the medical staff—his internal injuries had vanished. The doctors chalked it up to faulty medical equipment during their initial assessment.

After another day of observation, Ray was free to go.

The mysteries surrounding his body, his abilities, and now the new voice in his head only continued to grow. But for now, his focus was set on one thing: getting stronger.