Aeren was left alone in the VIP room after the two men departed.
He continued watching the stage where a student from the second year and another from the third year fought for hours. Eventually, the second-year student won.
After another half hour, the third match began and lasted even longer than the previous fights. Because of this extended duration, the first day of competition ended with only three matches.
Aeren left the VIP room after the match concluded. As he was heading to the library to read some books, Uria found him and stood in front of him, looking at the ground.
Aeren looked at her and asked, "What happened, Uria?"
Uria looked up at Aeren's emotionless face and said, "What happened during your quest?"
Aeren looked at her and replied, "Nothing happened."
Uria stared at Aeren for several minutes without speaking a word. A few seconds later, she left.
Aeren watched her retreating figure as she slowly disappeared from view. He remained in place and thought, Hmm, did something happen? Then Aeren vanished from his location.
Aeren went to the moon instead of the library and made some coffee there. He spent the entire night on the moon, experimenting with monsters he found around his café. Some died by his hand while others remained alive as he researched the abnormalities and differences between moon monsters and this world's creatures.
Aeren spent the whole night on the moon and returned to the stadium the next morning to watch fights. This routine continued for ten days. The first round ended on the tenth day, with only 26 S-class students remaining for the second round.
First-year students had gained more popularity than second and third-year competitors.
On Day 11, President Julie fought again, this time against a second-year student. She dominated the entire fight and advanced directly to the top 8.
Aeren watched all the first-round fights but didn't attend the second-round competition.
Instead, Aeren went to the library at night and began reading books. There were still so many monsters, spirits, and other beings living in this world of knowledge, and Aeren started spending more time there. He spent an entire month in the library, yet when he returned, only one morning had passed.
Hmm, how does time work in this library? Aeren thought to himself. Having nothing else to do, he went to his old café location where he had owned property.
When Aeren saw the place, construction was underway. Workers were building new structures and developing the area with high technology.
Aeren stayed there for hours, watching the construction.
He looked up at the sky, then left the place and headed back to the academy.
Aeren walked alone, looking at the ground, thinking, Hmm, this is the path I've chosen, and there's no way out anymore.
Aeren felt broken but didn't let the emotion show on his face. Once again, he disappeared.
Meanwhile, Uria was watching the competition with friends but couldn't focus on the matches. She had true friends before but now found herself alone with unfamiliar companions, rarely sharing anything personal.
"Uria, why are you so silent?" Ciya asked with worried eyes.
Uria looked at her new friend, Ciya. She had heard everything about Aeren and wanted to learn more from him, but Aeren hadn't given her answers. Uria also wanted to see if Aeren was still alive. But after seeing him, she thought, Why did I go there to meet him? and sighed internally.
"Nothing. I'm thinking about an old friend," Uria said with a tired expression.
Ciya noticed her friend's upset mood and asked, "What happened? You can tell me."
Uria looked at Ciya, sighed, and said, "I had many friends in the past, but an incident happened and they all died. Only one friend survived. That bastard doesn't feel anything for his old friends, and I don't know whether I should care about him or not."
Ciya looked at Uria and said, "Why are you getting upset? Just leave him. He doesn't deserve your kindness. If he doesn't even care about his friends, he doesn't deserve your friendship. Forget about him—he's not caring about you either. If you leave him now, it'll hurt a little, but if you wait until he becomes something more important, it'll hurt much worse. Just forget him."
Uria looked at Ciya and didn't say a word. She realized that if she revealed she was talking about Aeren, Ciya would force her to abandon him immediately. While she was contemplating this, she heard words that made her blood run cold:
"That bastard is still alive."
Uria heard Ciya's words and looked to see her staring at Aeren, who was surrounded by girls. His expression hadn't changed at all. Before Uria could react, Ciya jumped from her seat and leaped down toward Aeren.
Ciya looked at Aeren and shouted, "You bastard!"
She punched Aeren, and he fell to the ground, staring at the sky with empty eyes.
The other girls witnessed this and were frightened for a moment. These girls were Aeren's classmates who had come to hear his answer to their earlier confession, but before he could respond, Ciya had attacked him and continued punching.
"You bastard! If you had helped me, we wouldn't have lost Denvar!" Ciya's anger flared as Aeren continued looking at the sky, doing nothing.
Uria came to the scene and pulled Ciya away from Aeren. She looked at him for a few seconds, then Aeren disappeared before everyone's eyes.
Both Uria and Ciya were shocked by this unexpected incident. Uria looked at Ciya with a silent question, and Ciya replied with a nod, still looking stunned.
Uria looked at the spot where Aeren had been beaten by Ciya—it was now empty, as if the entire incident had been an illusion. Cheers erupted throughout the stadium.
The second round ended after 13 days, leaving the top 13 students. Of these, 3 had advanced directly to the top 8 competitors, while the remaining 10 would fight for one more week. After that, the main event would begin.