Value

Crazy.

That was the only word Anna could think of as she watched the boy stab the ice needle into his chest.

All the other students had carved their first glyph on an arm or a leg — it was just common sense. Why make things complicated when you could get the same result much more easily?

But that wasn't why she thought he was insane.

Having engraved her first glyph, she could now feel the presence of mana in people and objects alike.

And the blood in this lake... It was overflowing with it. If she hadn't passed through the gate of the realm herself, she might've thought it wasn't even blood, but mana in liquid form.

Of course, the blood she'd used to inscribe the glyph on her right forearm also contained some — but comparing the two was like comparing a puddle to... well, a lake.

It was completely insane.

At first, she thought the boy's body would explode after a few minutes.

She'd seen him shake like a leaf,

She'd seen his skin pale under the freezing tip of the ice needle,

She'd seen his gums bleed from clenching his teeth too hard,

She'd seen his legs and left arm turn purple from the lack of blood circulation.

Cain's eyes had long since lost focus, his arm moving like a robot that had repeated the same motion thousands of times.

But the most shocking part? He was still smiling.

From beginning to end, his lips stayed curled upward.

It was disturbing.

Anna shivered despite her ice affinity, wondering whether helping this madman had really been a good idea.

After two hours, he finished, passing out instantly.

The woman with gray eyes stared absently at the mark pulsing like a real heart on Cain's chest. It almost looked... alive.

Suddenly, the mana in the entire area surged toward Cain's limp body, entering him in waves, as if responding to the beat of his second heart.

She could feel it — she had just witnessed something enormous.

Something that would turn this world upside down.

*

A stunning figure with black skin and white hair stood in a lavishly decorated royal office, just as adorned as her body, which was covered in all sorts of jewelry.

She held her head in both hands, a half-empty whiskey bottle sitting off to the side of her desk.

She no longer knew why she drank — it had been far too long. It was in her genes now, like breathing. Though she hadn't been drunk in ages, no matter how much she downed.

She sighed.

"Damn kid's giving me a headache."

A holographic file hovered over her desk, like a simple sheet of paper.

She leaned back, massaging her temples.

"He's really a problem…"

His name was #8. First names meant nothing in this place, only the ID numbers of the collars mattered.

Not only had he missed two mandatory classes, but she had also had to monitor him for two weeks because of that strange state he'd been in.

And now this?

Bella had received an alert a few minutes ago, reporting the boy's new glyph. But that wasn't the problem. She got updates on all her little soldiers.

The problem was the quality of the glyph.

A glyph's quality depended on many factors, the most important being the accuracy of the reproduction, the blood type's compatibility with the glyph's element, and the Ith content in the blood.

There were five known levels of quality,

Poor, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and Perfect.

Poor allowed only twenty percent of the glyph's potential.

Basic allowed about forty percent.

Intermediate, sixty.

Advanced, eighty.

And Perfect, one hundred — hence the name.

But his glyph…

[Quality ???]

In over two centuries, she had never seen anything like it.

She grabbed the bottle again and brought it to her lips.

"I'm going to need this."

*

My head hurt. My body hurt. Even breathing filled me with unbearable pain.

I slowly opened my eyelids. I couldn't move a single muscle. I was completely paralyzed.

A cold voice greeted my awakening.

"You've been asleep for two days."

"I wouldn't call that sleeping…"

Every word tore at my vocal cords. My voice sounded completely foreign to me — deep and hoarse.

I remained still for several more hours before finally being able to move my limbs.

All of them, except one.

My right arm,

I couldn't feel it.

As if it wasn't even attached to my body anymore.

I had really screwed up this time.

Still…

I looked at the familiar design on my chest.

I'd done it!

At least, I think I had?

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me — did I succeed?"

"…"

No response.

I turned to Anna, who was looking at me strangely, and raised an eyebrow.

"Well?"

"Check your collar. And don't ever call me that again. I'm not your mirror."

That's what you think.

I did as she said and gently pressed the black collar.

-----------------

[Name] : [#8] 

[rank] : [Martyr]

-----------------

[Physical] : [12]

[Magic] : [16]

[Resilience] : [23]

-----------------

[Affinity] : [Blood]

[Glyphs] : [Heart]

-----------------

[Heart] [Quality ???] : Simple glyph allowing the use of the [Blood] element.

------------------

"HAHAHAHA…"

I finally did it! I could use magic now!

Even my stats had skyrocketed! I couldn't wait to test them. Even my skinny body had doubled in strength ! 

But… why was the quality just question marks ? Was it because I was too good? Yeah, that must be it. It couldn't possibly be anything else.

"Tell me, my beautiful mirror — what quality is your glyph?"

I swear I almost saw a vein pop on the woman's forehead. She looked mad for some reason I didn't understand.

"Advanced."

Mmh… so I'm the only one whose quality is hidden? Makes sense. I'm the best, after all.

Still, I glanced at the platinum-haired girl next to me.

"You waited here this whole time?"

She replied, still impassive,

"Yes. If you'd died here, I wouldn't have gained anything."

I wasn't sure if that was kind or cruel.

I sighed.

"Well, I guess it's time to go outside."

*

I went straight to bed, falling asleep like a log. I only woke up in the morning because of the rays of that damn sun. If only there were a button to turn it off...

It was Saturday—just two days left before the next theory class, and just thinking about it gave me a headache.

I had something extremely important to do.

Test my magic!

I headed to the physical training grounds. I'd only been there twice, but it was strangely always empty. Didn't anyone train around here?

I positioned myself in the center of the room,

And then I realized…

I had no idea how to do it.

I tried concentrating, touching the glyph on my chest, even imagining myself using magic—but nothing. Absolutely nothing happened.

Would I have to ask Amelia for lessons?

No way, not that snake.

Never again!

Maybe Ethan? He was the smartest one—he probably knew how to do it.

But how could I ask something like that from my servant? I always had to appear worthy in front of him.

"Imagine the energy flowing through your body to your glyph."

A soft voice I knew interrupted me—it was the woman who taught us. If you could even call a few minutes of class per week teaching.

I didn't ask any questions and began to follow her instruction.

I immediately felt a warm current flowing through every part of my body—except my right arm—until it reached my heart.

I felt the mark ignite, gently warming my skin—nothing like the pain from yesterday, thankfully.

But what now?

Instinctively, I tried to communicate with the glyph—or rather, I gave it an order.

I don't know why I did it,

But the result was clear,

A long, scarlet-red whip cracked through the air, echoing across the vast training room, even leaving a small mark on the stone floor a few meters away.

I did it!

I had to restrain myself from yelling out in pure joy!

Now I had to test its effectiveness—but how..?

"Hey, you."

I turned around at the sound of a male voice. Odd, it felt familiar somehow…

It was a boy with long blond hair. He looked familiar—I was sure I'd seen him somewhere before.

"Asshole—your redhead friend and you ignored me the other day. Now that we both have glyphs, let me show you the difference between one affinity and two."

Was he stupid? Why would I pay him any attention? He clearly wasn't dangerous—especially now that I could sense magic. His was weak, despite having that so-called dual affinity.

He really had a pride issue, unlike me. 

Still, he showed up at just the right time.

My smile widened nearly to its limit.

"What are you waiting for?"

He clenched his fists in anger—not used to being treated like that, apparently. Strange, for someone who was in prison before.

The boy waved his hand, and a small fireball materialized in front of him and shot toward me. I leapt to the side, barely dodging it. I was much more agile—no doubt I wouldn't have been able to avoid it before.

"Is that all you've got?"

I had to provoke him a little, or else he wouldn't go all out.

As I thought—he was really touchy. His face was red with rage. Fire suited him.

Another fireball formed.

"Come on, can't you—"

I stopped mid-sentence when I saw a second one appear.

Then a third,

A fourth,

Soon, about a dozen fireballs were floating in the air, ready to strike me at any moment.

"Surrender to me and I'll stop."

How generous. Too bad for him—Cain the Great Sorcerer bows to no one!

...Unless his life depends on it, of course.

Guess I'll test defense first.

A thick disk of blood materialized in front of me, covering almost my entire body.

"Alright, bring it on, blondie."

"Bastard!"

With a forward sweep of his hand, he launched all ten projectiles at the surface of my red shield.

I felt the heat grow stronger as they got closer.

My blood was boiling. This was the first wizard's duel I had ever fought—or even seen! It was exhilarating! I felt like I was in one of those fairy tales I used to read as a child.

I almost lost myself in it—but I had to stay in control,

Otherwise, I would kill him.

Without a doubt.

His spells crashed against my shield one by one. I could feel my strength waning with each impact. Apparently, too much magic could exhaust me. I'd need to be careful about that in the future.

My disk began to crack after the seventh hit, but it held.

On the eighth, the cracks widened across its entire surface.

It shattered on the ninth, leaving just one last projectile.

I wondered—what would happen if...

I summoned the same whip from earlier—it was what I was most familiar with.

It snapped against the fireball, slicing it in two and making it vanish into the air—as if it had never existed.

The boy's face went so pale you could almost see the veins underneath. His mouth hung wide open in shock.

"You done? It's my turn now."

After testing defense, it was time to try offense.

Hmm… What to do… Oh, I know!

I visualized a large sword and ordered my glyph to make it appear.

It floated in the air, over two meters long, and had no handle—I didn't need one for what I was about to try.

"Alright now… Try not to die."

With a thought, I sent the gigantic sword flying straight at the boy's stomach.

He didn't move.

He's going to dodge it, right?

Frozen in fear, the blond couldn't move. His brain had stopped working the moment he saw the blade heading straight for him.

Oh well—I'll just say he tried to kill me first.

But a second before it hit him, the sword froze in mid-air, stopped by an invisible barrier.

Hmm… Was that one of those famous magic shields?

Judging by the look on the boy's face—and the puddle on the ground—probably not.

"You're really ruthless, kid."

The same voice as earlier echoed behind me. I spun around and found myself face-to-face with our instructor.

She had stopped my sword. What a shame—I wouldn't know how sharp it really was…

"What's with that disappointed look? You really wanted to kill him just for talking?"

She could guess what I was feeling—even through my smile? I hated that.

"Well… I just wanted to test the effectiveness of the spell. Whether he lived or died was his problem."

I completely ignored the blond—he didn't interest me anymore.

"If I were you, I'd stop executing humans like flies. Life has value. I won't cover for you again."

She won't cover for me again? Had I already killed someone here? Was she talking about the ones in the forest? Or something else?

Either way—it didn't matter. As long as she was here, I'd take advantage of it.

"Professor, I had a question about—"

She cut me off.

"The quality determines how much of your glyph's potential you can use. I don't know why yours is hidden."

She could read my thoughts?

"No, I can't read your thoughts."

Hmm… I feel like I'm being tricked somehow...

"How did you stop my attack?"

I was curious—I was sure I could've cut the boy in two like it was nothing. So how did she stop it so effortlessly? And without even lifting a finger?

"I just wanted to stop it, that's all."

"..."

What kind of answer was that?

Was she mocking me? Or was there a deeper meaning behind those words?

Either way, I didn't have time to ask—she vanished again. It seemed to be a habit for instructors here.

I turned back toward the exit, locking eyes with the trembling, worthless boy on the floor.

Life has value, huh…

Then why don't I see any?