Who Are You?

"How are you feeling? Better?" Leah asked warmly.

"Yeah, much better. This time..." Ryan hesitated, unsure of how to express his gratitude to his sister. After all, he didn't have much to offer in return.

"Aww, it's fine... no need to say anything. You're my brother, remember, only I get to bully you," Leah said with her usual confident tone, causing Ryan's heart to warm.

"By the way, why didn't you go to the academy?" Ryan asked, trying to change the topic.

"Because of the mess you caused at Blade's Edge Cliff. The headmaster decided to block off the back mountain to prevent anything like this from happening again. With all the noise, it's impossible to cultivate, so they gave us the afternoon off."

Ryan smiled awkwardly. He hadn't expected to stir up such a big commotion on his first day at the academy.

"By the way, this is a letter from your teacher," Leah said as she pulled out an envelope from her chest, with Ryan's name clearly written on it.

Ryan took the letter, confused. "Why is the teacher writing to me? He's never even met me." He quickly tore it open and skimmed through it.

The letter essentially said that, with his talents, Ryan was unfit for training at the academy. The academy had made an exception by admitting him, but instead of showing gratitude, he had injured other students. The decision was to expel him and revoke his academy badge.

The most infuriating part for Ryan was that not only was he being expelled, but they also refused to refund any of the tuition fees. His face darkened with anger.

Leah, noticing Ryan's growing frustration, curiously asked, "What does it say?"

Without saying a word, Ryan handed her the letter. When Leah read the contents, she slammed the letter onto the table in anger.

"This is outrageous! Ryan, don't worry, I'm going to talk to Father."

"Don't... Sis, ever since I walked into the academy, nothing's gone smoothly. I only joined to prove a point. Now that I've been kicked out, there's no need to force it. Staying there would only make things worse," Ryan said weakly.

Leah looked at her exhausted brother and thought to herself, "He's been through so much lately. Pushing him to go back to the academy might cause more trouble. Maybe this is the best outcome for him..."

Leah gradually accepted that Ryan wouldn't go back to the academy. "But... they can't get away with this. You've never even been there for a day, so why shouldn't they refund the tuition? That's a thousand gold coins!" she said angrily.

Although House Stark was wealthy, a thousand gold coins was no small amount, and this was clearly an act of bullying. Leah refused to let it go so easily.

She comforted Ryan for a while and then headed towards Harry's location.

After Leah left, Ryan sat alone in the chair, his gaze distant. A fog seemed to cloud his eyes as he deeply felt that "the weak are always oppressed, with no right to resist." His heart was full of bitterness.

People are like this—when you're down and out, some see even your existence as a burden. There are always those who want to step on you, and no one will listen to your reasoning.

Ryan snapped back to reality, and his eyes landed on the badge with the word "Norton" etched on it next to his pillow. He grabbed it angrily and threw it on the floor. He then picked up a chair and hurled it at the badge. "To hell with Norton Academy! Do you think I care about it?"

At that moment, a woman's voice echoed in his ears, "Getting angry over a piece of junk isn't a skill. If you really want to make a name for yourself, you should tear down that so-called 'Norton Academy.' Then, you can crush everyone who's ever looked down on you."

"What did you..." Ryan started, but then he realized the voice couldn't possibly be from Leah. Her usual teasing was nothing like the arrogance in this tone.

He turned quickly and saw a woman dressed in white, lying casually on his bed with her legs crossed. She had a smile on her face, as if eyeing her prey, and her alluring figure radiated a primal charm.

Though her beauty was striking, Ryan was so startled that he stepped back. "Who... who are you?"

The woman, noticing Ryan's reaction, covered her mouth and chuckled softly. "Don't worry about who I am. What I want to know is—do you want to become stronger? Do you want to tear down that academy and crush everyone who has ever bullied you?"

Though Ryan was hesitant to believe it, the idea of gaining strength filled him with longing. He nodded firmly, for more than anything, he yearned to change his current situation.

"Good! Not only can I make you stronger, but I also have a way to help you cultivate elemental power," the woman said calmly, without the slightest change in expression, as if Ryan's predicament didn't even faze her.

"Why should I trust you?" Ryan asked, still wary of this mysterious woman.

"Because I saved you," she replied, and in an instant, she appeared right in front of him, as though she had teleported.

With a simple motion, a dark green light shot from Ryan's pendant, transforming into a dagger in her hand. She twirled it before him and asked, "Do you remember this?"

Ryan stared at the dagger, confused. He couldn't recall ever seeing it before, shaking his head.

"When you fell off the cliff, you grabbed something. Don't you remember?" the woman pressed.