"Now, it's time for me to play my role," Alter Lucien said calmly, as if everything was going exactly as planned.
Lucien could only watch helplessly. He was trapped within his own body, completely stripped of control. Now, he was nothing more than a secondary soul—an isolated observer within his own consciousness.
Before Alter Lucien could walk away, Lucien suddenly spoke. His voice was flat, yet carried an inscrutable undertone.
"One last question... What should I call you?"
Alter Lucien raised an eyebrow, momentarily hesitating. He considered the hidden meaning behind the question. But there was no sign of defiance from Lucien. He truly seemed resigned... or perhaps he had simply accepted reality.
A smile formed on Alter Lucien's face. "How about... Lucien?" he said, deliberately challenging.
Lucien didn't react. He remained silent.
A moment later, Alter Lucien's form began to change, his body slowly dissolving into shimmering mana particles. The energy dispersed into the void, vanishing without a trace.
Now, Lucien stood alone in the overwhelming silence, trapped within his own subconscious. He had no way of knowing what was happening outside, no way to glimpse what Alter Lucien was doing. All he could feel was emptiness, leaving him standing there in quiet helplessness.
—
Outside, Alter Lucien began adjusting to his new body. He felt mana flowing through his Veinflown channels, trying to understand the limits and unique aspects of a human vessel. Compared to his previous spiritual form, this body was much heavier, more solid—but also more limited.
"Not ideal... but it will do," he muttered.
He had to adapt to this vessel quickly. After all, a human body had weaknesses that a Spirit did not. Lower endurance, limited energy reserves, and a biological system that required constant maintenance.
"First step, stabilization," he thought.
Clenching his fist, he focused on the mana flow within this body. The sensation was different. If his previous form had been pure energy, now he could feel something more tangible, yet also more fragile.
One thing about Ethereal sigil users was their high sensitivity to mana. Even among his peers, Lucien had an unusually strong affinity. But that didn't necessarily mean he could utilize mana better than others. There were still limitations, such as his relatively low Mana capacity.
"I need more time to adapt."
But time was not a luxury he could afford to waste. His control over this body was still imperfect, and the Academy was filled with scrutiny. If he acted recklessly, it wouldn't take long before someone became suspicious.
The ongoing exam would be the perfect cover. As long as he acted like the real Lucien, no one would suspect a thing.
With one eye closed, he began reading the mana flow around him. Spirits lurked in the darkness, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but they didn't seem to perceive him as a threat. Among all the energy currents, he sensed something else—weak, fading mana.
"Someone is injured nearby," he noted.
Blink!
A strange flash suddenly pierced his mind. His left eye flickered between red and silver, spiraling momentarily. A sharp pain stabbed through his head, forcing him to acknowledge an important truth.
"My soul is exhausted..." he realized. "Without enough affinity, my control over this body won't last long. I need to do something..."
Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind to stabilize himself. As the pain subsided, he followed the scent of blood, which was growing stronger.
His steps led him down a dark corridor, where bloodstains marred the stone floor. The trail dragged into a narrow passage.
When he arrived, Alter Lucien found a small chamber where a man lay motionless against the rocks. He looked like an ordinary hunter, but the severe wound on his right shoulder had pushed him to the brink of death.
Alter Lucien crouched beside him, studying the figure.
"What happened to you?" he asked softly, though he didn't expect an answer. The man's condition was too dire—his breathing was shallow, his body barely moving, and his consciousness flickered on the edge of oblivion.
But scenes like this were nothing unusual in the labyrinth.
Many hunters spent their lives here, hunting Spirits to sell their Cores. It was a common business, especially among the lower ranks.
Alter Lucien's gaze traced the wounds on the man's body, then shifted to the faint mana residue on his back. His instincts immediately told him that this was no ordinary Lesser Spirit attack.
"So that's what happened..." he murmured, nodding slightly. Now he understood why this man had ended up like this.
Earlier, to lure Lucien in, Alter Lucien had intentionally created mana leaks in certain areas—including this one. Most likely, the leak had attracted something that shouldn't have been on the second floor.
His eyes settled once more on the lingering mana residue.
"This is the mark of a Noble Spirit," he thought.
The residual energy was clearly from a being far stronger than a Lesser Spirit. Judging by its intensity, this Noble Spirit could be comparable to an Expert Blacksmith in terms of raw strength.
Alter Lucien pondered for a moment, considering his options.
"How would a human react in this situation?" he asked himself.
He tried to determine whether the best course of action was to help the man or leave him to die.
Despite observing humans for a long time and understanding many aspects of their existence, he still couldn't fully grasp how they experienced empathy or made decisions based on morality.
The longer he thought about it, the more complicated it seemed.
He stared at the man with an unreadable expression. Human lives were fragile, and this one was at its end. If he walked away now, in a few minutes, the man's last breath would escape him.
But did that really matter to him?
No.
Yet, one thing did catch his interest.
The Noble Spirit's trace. If a creature that powerful had descended to the second floor, something unusual was happening—and there was a good chance his mana leak was the cause.
If so, then this Spirit's presence had likely already drawn attention from others.
After careful consideration, Alter Lucien decided this situation wasn't important enough to involve himself in.
It was likely the Academy had already taken notice and was watching from afar.
There was no need for him to interfere. His priority was to maintain his cover as Lucien, blend in with the other students, and survive in the Academy. For that, his focus should be on completing the exam.
Without hesitation, he rose to his feet and walked away, leaving the man behind in silence.
A few moments later, the man's breathing stopped. He was dead.
From the shadows, a figure in an Academy uniform emerged. The man glanced around, then let his gaze settle on the lifeless body in the middle of the narrow chamber. He sighed.
—
Alter Lucien carefully analyzed the situation, considering every detail he had gathered so far.
"The primary objective of this exam is to collect Cores from Lesser Spirits," he muttered, his voice calm yet calculating. As an entity from the Spirit world, he had no emotional attachment to these creatures. They were simply resources, nothing more.
He understood the structure of the exam.
"It's a team-based trial. Right now, I have two teammates—Elara Moonveil and Victor Runevele," he recalled.
He then thought back to the previous battle.
"Lucien destroyed six Lesser Spirit Cores in his duel against Kael Draven. The number of Cores still in his possession is one," he noted.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a dark purple crystal, observing it for a moment before tucking it away again.
Alter Lucien had been watching Lucien from the shadows for a long time. Ever since Lucien first stepped into the labyrinth, he had observed him through one of his avatars, gathering invaluable data on his every move.
He had studied more than just his combat abilities. He knew his thought patterns, habits, even the subtle way he spoke and reacted to others.
"Seamlessness is key," he thought. "If I act too differently from the real Lucien, I'll draw unwanted attention."
The greatest challenge didn't come from the other students—it came from the academy itself.
Unlike Eldenridge, which had once been easy to manipulate, this academy was filled with powerful individuals who could sense even the slightest anomaly. They had experience, strict surveillance, and methods to identify intruders.
A single mistake could be fatal.
On top of that, the body he now inhabited was far from ideal.
Alter Lucien realized that when he merged with Lucien's Mana Core, he hadn't brought his full power with him. A large portion of his abilities was still left behind in the labyrinth, and only a fragment of his true self remained within him.
In terms of strength, he was currently only at the level of a Greater Spirit—far weaker than his original existence.
"With this frail human body, I have to grow and develop like an ordinary human," he thought.
Understanding his limitations, he began formulating a strategy.
"Lucien is known for being calm, but not entirely passive. He has a tendency to be sarcastic in certain situations, yet remains strategic in every step he takes," he analyzed.
Whether in battle or everyday interactions, Lucien always displayed a measured demeanor. He never acted recklessly, and when it came to using mana, he was always efficient.
However, there was one major flaw that couldn't be ignored.
Alter Lucien lifted his hand, palm facing upward. A swirl of blue mana began to gather, shimmering faintly, yet failing to solidify into a tangible form.
"Because of his overwhelming affinity with Ethereal, his Sigil has never fully materialized," he murmured. "Or... perhaps someone deliberately made it that way."
His thoughts drifted back to Lucien's battle against the Phantom Eye.
During that fight, he had seen Lucien's Sigil manifest—a glowing blue hammer—but it appeared incomplete, like a mere shadow or illusion of its true form.
"It hasn't changed from five years ago."
The fragments of information in his mind began to piece themselves together, forming a clearer picture.
Yet, whether due to his nature as a Spirit or some other reason, he found himself unable to materialize the Hammer Sigil. Perhaps this was one of the fundamental differences between humans and Spirits—Spirits couldn't create Sigils.
Of course, for now, this wasn't a major concern. Once he gained complete control over this body, his soul would gradually merge with the Mana Core and fully replace Lucien. When that moment arrived, forming the Hammer Sigil would no longer be impossible.
"Alright," he muttered.
"Time to find my two teammates."