"Tch. It ran away. What a scaredy-cat..."
Solomon muttered bitterly as he walked forward. A little ahead of him, Azriel knelt on the ground, staring at the monument that once stood as one of humanity's greatest achievements.
Perhaps the fact that it still stood—despite everything that lurked around it—was proof that humanity hadn't fallen either.
Solomon could've chased the creature, but that wasn't his priority right now.
No.
His focus was on the boy kneeling before him.
The wind howled, tugging at Azriel's obsidian-black hair.
'It really is him… to think he's been alive all this time,' Solomon thought.
He already had a rough grasp of what had happened here. The sudden spike in mana from Azriel's location had driven him to hurry as fast as he could.
'That creature… it was at least Abyssal-ranked.'
He stopped a few paces behind Azriel, eyes fixed on his back. The boy looked so fragile—like if the wind blew just a bit harder, he might vanish altogether.
'I wonder what he saw…'
But Solomon wouldn't comfort him. Not Azriel.
Not the boy who had supposedly survived the void realm alone.
Not the heir of the Crimson Clan.
Not the one he had such high hopes for.
A full minute passed in silence before Azriel finally spoke, his voice calm but tired.
"If you had arrived even a second later, I would've died. Thanks."
"So, the prince has learned how to be appreciative."
"You learn a thing or two when you spend what feels like a lifetime in another world," Azriel replied with a dry chuckle, finally rising to his feet and turning around.
"Ha! You look like a homeless person!"
Solomon scanned him from head to toe, ignoring the twitch at the corner of Azriel's mouth and the cautious look in his eyes.
His gaze landed on Azriel's frozen shoulder.
"Oh? Did you lose your space ring in the void realm?"
Azriel shrugged.
"Something like that."
"Right, right. Take this."
Solomon tossed a small vial filled with a glowing, emerald-green liquid toward him. Azriel barely caught it before it hit the ground.
"Woah!"
"Dammit, careful!" Azriel snapped. "Do you know how expensive these are?"
Solomon burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! Since when did you become so stingy about money?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? I've always been cautious with money."
"Pfft! Sure you have. Just drink the potion. The wound isn't that serious—this should be enough."
"Dammit..."
Grumbling under his breath, Azriel complied, and Solomon watched with amusement.
'Heh… he's more lively than before.'
'Though… I wonder what he saw that brought him to tears.' His eyes drifted briefly to the dried tear marks on Azriel's cheeks.
'Well, not my business unless he decides to tell me.'
With that, he took a few steps closer.
*****
'Dammit, this guy always gets on my nerves.'
Solomon kept circling him like a bored predator studying prey.
Azriel sighed.
'Well, at least it's keeping my mind off what just happened…'
He clenched his fists behind his back.
'I need to strengthen my mind… I can't let something like that break me again.'
Resolved, he finally turned to the crimson-haired man watching him far too intently.
'Fucking creep.'
"What are you doing?"
"Hmm? Me? Nothing. Just curious about the boy who managed to survive two years in the void realm. So... how'd you do it?"
"How else? I ran whenever I saw a void creature and hid in places they didn't go."
A lie.
He couldn't tell Solomon the truth—not unless he wanted to be called crazier than Solomon himself.
But that didn't matter.
If Azriel was good at one thing, it was lying.
He could lie as easily as he breathed.
And he would do it without hesitation, if it gave him the advantage.
He had something no one else in this world did:
Knowledge.
Even if they asked him to elaborate, he could always describe a place the protagonist would later be sent by the system—long before anyone else could know of it.
"Ran and hid, huh? Sure." Solomon narrowed his eyes. "But I doubt that's all there was to it. That doesn't explain how you're so... strong now at your age."
"You're thinking too deeply. I only killed the creatures I could manage, harvested their mana cores, and survived however I could. Strength is a side effect of necessity."
"Hmm. Right, right. So, what rank and grade are you now?"
Azriel hesitated for a moment, then gave in. There was no point hiding it from Solomon.
"Grade 3 Intermediate."
The moment he said it, he felt it.
The air shifted.
A predatory smile stretched across Solomon's face, and the ground beneath him trembled slightly.
'This fucking maniac...'
"Ha! Grade 3 Intermediate? Just from surviving the void realm for two years? What would happen if you received proper training... or stayed there longer..."
He murmured the last part to himself, his crimson eyes locking with Azriel's.
"Say, Azriel... how about you and I ditch everyone and go live in the void realm for another five years, huh? You're already used to it."
Azriel froze.
'He's serious… This lunatic is actually serious…'
"H-haha. You always had a weird sense of humor... Anyway, we should probably get going. Uncle Ragnar's probably worried—the drone got consumed by that weird void creature, remember?"
Solomon clicked his tongue.
"Tch. Fine, fine. The old man's probably losing his mind by now. If only that void creature hadn't sensed my presence so quickly… I would've had it."
Azriel gave a bitter smile, though inwardly he sighed with relief.
'I swear, he needs to get his head checked…'
And yet—he understood.
From Solomon's perspective, someone this young surviving in the void realm for two years, fighting and killing enough to rise to a Grade 3 Intermediate?
It was an anomaly.
Something only the protagonist could match at this age.
'Not that anyone even knows about the protagonist yet. Not until the academy…'
'Wait… what day is it even? Has the academy already started?'
He shook the thought away.
He'd find out when he was somewhere safer.
Solomon suddenly turned and crouched down.
"Get on."
"Huh?"
"What? Or would you prefer I carry you like a princess instead?"