The next day, the academy was louder than usual.
Students gathered across the training grounds, standing in loose groups as instructors arrived one after another. Unlike the Ranking Match, this wasn't about strength—it was about direction.
Each student had been assigned an instructor based on their class.
Some instructors were specialists, masters of a single path—mages, warriors, archers, healers. Others carried broader experience, knowledge spanning multiple classes. Those instructors naturally drew more students, sometimes six at once, sometimes four.
Raze stood beside Tamao at the edge of the field, hands in his pockets, observing quietly.
Most students looked relieved when their instructors arrived—recognition flickering in their eyes as techniques and paths were explained.
Then their instructor arrived.
He didn't look impressive.
No aura of pressure.
No visible mana fluctuation.
No weapon in hand.
He looked… ordinary.
Almost bored.
Raze's gaze narrowed slightly.
This man doesn't know my class.
Not because he was hiding it.
But because he truly couldn't see it.
Beside him, Tamao stiffened.
For her class, it was worse.
Impossible, even.
An Illusionist Chains user wasn't something you "studied" from books. It was a class so rare that most instructors had only heard rumors—if that.
She clenched her fists, uncertainty flickering across her face.
Raze exhaled slowly.
So this is how they're doing it.
Not guidance.
Observation.
And perhaps—
Filtering.
He glanced once at the instructor standing before them, expression unreadable.
Let's see what you're really here for.
Each group was led to a separate training room.
The room assigned to them was… average.
Plain stone walls.
A few weapons resting carelessly in the corner.
Several worn training dolls standing motionless along the far side.
Nothing special.
Their instructor entered first.
Then sat down.
He didn't look at them.
Didn't introduce himself.
Didn't even ask their names.
He simply leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes half-lidded—as if their presence didn't matter.
Raze stayed silent.
Tamao stood beside him, shoulders tense, gaze lowered.
The silence stretched.
Finally, she spoke—quietly, hesitantly.
"…I don't think he even knows about my class."
Raze turned his head slightly, acknowledging her without interrupting.
She hesitated, then continued, her fingers curling against her sleeve.
"Do you think… they're treating me like this because of my performance in the Ranking Test?"
Raze answered without hesitation.
"I don't think so."
She looked up, surprised.
"There wouldn't be one instructor who understands your class," he said calmly. "If this were about punishment, they wouldn't bother assigning one at all."
Tamao didn't respond right away.
But the tightness in her shoulders eased—just a little.
Raze shifted his gaze back to the instructor, who still hadn't moved.
Tamao lowered her gaze again.
"…But I want to become stronger," she said quietly.
Her voice wasn't trembling—just tired.
"I know I'm capable of it. I really do."
Her fingers tightened at her side.
"But right now…"
She trailed off, the words refusing to come.
Raze didn't rush her.
The room remained still, the instructor unmoving in his chair.
Tamao took a slow breath.
"…it feels like I'm standing still."
Raze glanced at Tamao.
Her shoulders were tense, her gaze lowered—but her words carried resolve.
He exhaled quietly.
Then he stepped forward.
"If you're not going to teach us anything," Raze said calmly, eyes fixed on the man lounging in the chair, "then why don't you leave this room and sleep somewhere else?"
The instructor's brows twitched.
Slowly, he straightened.
He looked down at Raze and scoffed.
"Listen, kid—"
And then the arrogance poured out.
"Don't talk to me like you know better, kid," he said, eyes half-lidded. "I'm tired. Spent the night with a very warm companion."
His gaze flicked past Raze—to Tamao.
"Why don't you stop pretending to be tough and try hitting on that girl behind you?" he added with a crooked grin. "Though… with your class and that average face of yours, I doubt any woman would be interested."
The room went still.
Tamao stiffened.
Raze didn't move.
But something in the air shifted."Oh?" Raze tilted his head slightly, voice calm. "If you're exhausted just because you spent the night with your companion, then give her to me."
The instructor froze.
Raze continued evenly, eyes unwavering. "I promise—she won't come back to you. You'll finally be able to sleep peacefully."
For a brief moment—
A soft sound escaped beside him.
Tamao let out a small, quiet laugh before she caught herself, quickly lowering her head.
The room went still.
The instructor's face twisted.
The chair behind him screeched as he shoved it back and stood up fully, mana flaring unconsciously.
His eyes burned with fury.
"How dare you," he snarled.
Now the air itself felt tense.
The instructor opened his mouth to speak—
"Enough."
Raze cut him off, his voice sharp and cold.
"Let's end this," he said calmly. "I'll beat you."
His eyes locked onto the instructor.
"And you'll walk out of this room."
The instructor's face twisted with anger.
"Fine, kid," he snapped. "If you want a fight, you'll get one."
He cracked his neck once and stepped forward.
"I'm not some academy toy. I've fought demons. I've hunted beasts. I've survived battlefields you couldn't even imagine."
His gaze flicked briefly to Tamao.
"So come—both of you," he said mockingly. "Let's see how far you get with your Body Enhancement class… and that girl's chains or whatever it is."
Raze's eyes narrowed slightly.
So he knows our classes.
He took a step forward.
"I'm enough for you."
The instructor burst out laughing.
"Arrogant," he scoffed. "Just because you reached A-Tier, you think you're special?"
He spread his arms.
"Alright. Show me."
The room fell silent as the two of them moved into position.
The fight was about to begin.
The instructor moved first.
No warning.
No signal.
His fist shot forward like a cannon.
Raze shifted.
The punch missed his face by inches—but the air itself exploded.
Boom.
The shockwave ripped past Raze's cheek,
Raze's eyes sharpened.
So that's the power behind it…
He twisted on his heel, slipping past the instructor's reach, body moving with minimal motion—efficient, precise.
Another punch came.
Raze ducked.
The fist smashed into the floor.
The ground caved inward, fragments of stone blasting upward like shrapnel.
Tamao stumbled back, eyes wide.
The instructor grinned.
"Still standing?"
Raze didn't answer.
He stepped in.
Fast.
His elbow drove forward—aimed not to strike, but to test.
The instructor raised his forearm to block—
Impact.
The sound was dull. Heavy.
The instructor slid back half a step.
His grin vanished.
Raze's feet settled lightly against the floor.
No wasted movement.
No strain.
Just control.
His expression hardened.
This kid—
He clicked his tongue.
"Fine," he said coldly.
"I'll get serious."
Mana erupted from his body.
It surged outward, dense and violent, then wrapped around his arms, condensing until they glowed faintly with pressure.
The air screamed.
He vanished.
A blur crossed the room—
Impact.
Raze barely had time to raise his arms.
The punch crashed into his guard.
The force blasted through him, boots scraping violently across the stone as he was driven back several steps.
The wall trembled.
The instructor straightened, satisfied.
"Now you know who I am."
Mana surged again.
He lunged.
Another punch—faster.
Stronger.
Raze twisted at the last moment.
The fist missed his face by mere millimeters, the pressure tearing past him and gouging deep cracks into the wall behind.
Raze's back hit stone.
Cornered.
The instructor smiled.
"Now you're done, kiddo."
Raze exhaled.
Then—
He grinned.
"Not now."
Mana responded.
Not explosively.
Not violently.
It flowed.
Wrapped cleanly around Raze's arms, copying the same reinforcement—precise, controlled.
The instructor's eyes widened.
"…How—"
Raze stepped forward.
And punched.
The instructor crossed his arms in defense.
BOOM.
The impact detonated through the room.
He was hurled backward, boots tearing across the floor as he was pushed far harder than Raze had been moments ago.
He barely stopped himself from crashing into the wall.
Silence fell.
Raze lowered his arm.
Same technique.
Same reinforcement.
He staggered back to his feet.
His expression twisted—not just anger.
Something uglier.
Disbelief.
"…It took me months," he said hoarsely. "Months to master that technique."
His mana flared again, harsher this time, unstable.
"And you just—"
He didn't finish.
He charged.
Stone cracked beneath his feet as he rushed Raze, mana screaming around his arms.
Raze moved too.
Both closed the distance in an instant.
Two fists drawn back.
Two reinforced strikes—
But at the last moment—
Raze's foot froze.
Just for a heartbeat.
A thin layer of condensed mana locked it to the floor.
No one noticed.
Except the instructor.
His punch slipped.
Just an inch off.
Enough.
His balance broke.
Raze's fist connected.
THUD.
The impact drove the air from the instructor's lungs as he was slammed to the ground.
Before he could react—
Raze was on him.
Straddling his chest.
No mana.
No techniques.
Just fists.
One punch.
Then another.
And another.
Each blow dull, heavy, precise—aimed to hurt, not kill.
Stone echoed with every impact.
The instructor raised his arms too late.
Too sloppy.
Too panicked.
Raze's expression never changed.
Cold.
Focused.
Like this was already over.
The instructor lay pinned beneath him, breath coming out in broken gasps.
Raze's fists stopped mid-air.
Blood stained the floor. The man's face was swollen, unrecognizable, one eye barely open.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then—
A soft clink.
Something slipped from the instructor's collar and hit the stone between them.
A pendant.
It cracked open as it fell.
Raze's gaze dropped.
"…?"
He slowly reached down and picked it up.
The instructor's hand shot out weakly, fingers trembling as they tried to grab it back.
"D-Don't—" his voice broke. "Please… don't look."
Raze froze.
That alone was enough to make him suspicious.
He ignored the plea and looked.
Inside the pendant—
A photograph.
On one side, the instructor himself, younger, smiling awkwardly.
On the other—
Another man.
Standing close. Too close to be coincidence.
Raze went completely still.
The rage that had filled him seconds ago evaporated, replaced by something blank. Confused. Almost… stunned.
Behind him, Tamao hesitated.
"…Raze?"
She stepped closer despite herself and peeked over his shoulder.
She blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then her lips twitched.
And she burst out laughing.
"PFFT—!"
She clapped a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking. "S-Sorry—! I just—!"
The instructor turned his face away, mortified, covering his eyes with his arm.
"Stop laughing…" he muttered weakly. "Please…"
Raze stared at the pendant for another second, He remembered his words.
he sighed.
Deeply.
"…I regret every word I said earlier."
Tamao laughed even harder.
Raze closed the pendant, set it gently on the instructor's chest, and finally stood up.
"…You're lucky," he said flatly. "For a moment there, I thought this was something serious."
The instructor didn't answer.
He just lay there, utterly defeated—in every possible way.
Raze stood up.
The instructor struggled to sit, wincing as he did. His voice came out low and broken.
"…Please," he said. "Don't tell anyone."
Raze looked down at him, expression unreadable.
"Fine," he said calmly. "Then you'll keep what happened here to yourself as well."
The instructor nodded immediately. Too fast.
"I will. I swear."
Raze stepped aside and gestured toward the door.
"Get out."
The instructor didn't argue. He pushed himself to his feet, nearly stumbling, clutching his pendant tightly as he moved.
Without looking back, he left the room—steps uneven, shoulders shaking.
The door closed behind him.
Silence returned.
Tamao slowly exhaled.
"…That was intense."
Raze slid his hands back into his pockets.
"Yeah," he said.
"…So," she said quietly, eyes still fixed on the door the instructor had fled through, "should we request a different instructor?"
Raze shook his head.
"No."
She looked at him.
"From now on," Raze continued calmly, "I'll teach you."
For a moment, Tamao didn't respond.
She just stared at him—really looked at him this time.
Not confused.
Not mocking.
Just… reassessing.
"…You?" she asked softly.
Raze met her gaze, expression unreadable.
"If you want to get stronger," he said, "I won't waste your time."
Tamao's fingers tightened slightly at her side.
Then, slowly—
She nodded.