"Haa…"
Ion covered his pale face, his disheveled hair soaked with sweat. His gaze was filled with confusion and bewilderment.
A moment ago, he had returned to his sea of soul. This time, instead of sending his consciousness to the sphere that had already repaired his spiritual dome, he directed it toward the crystal of his soul core. He skimmed through some memories on the surface, but every time he tried to go deeper, a sharp pain stabbed his soul.
Yet the memories he saw made his blood churn from how strange they were.
He saw a game Alfred used to play. If it were any other game, it wouldn't matter—but what he saw was Arthur Grellmuk, the princess of House Rofilyon, and the princess of House Valerian depicted inside that game as its protagonists… He saw Arcane Academy, and also… he saw himself—Ion Drakis.
But before he could see more, a deep pain struck his soul, forcing him to retreat. He truly couldn't read any further.
Ion was now facing a truth that, if it fell upon someone with weak will, would shatter their world completely.
Had his world turned into a game?
Or were they inside some cursed game?
He thought and thought for a long time before running his hand through his hair and letting out a long sigh.
"This is something far bigger than me right now… I need to clear my mind from this drama first before thinking about anything else." he said with a frown as he looked at his messy, sweat-soaked state.
He went to take a shower, washing away the exhaustion gnawing at his soul.
As soon as he finished, he felt refreshed, returning to his previous state before he had lost consciousness that morning. Once he stabilized his mental strength, it became easy for him to regain his composure.
Ion headed to the kitchen, but the moment he opened the door, a vein throbbed on his forehead at the sight before him.
The kitchen was in complete chaos, as if a battle had taken place. Broken utensils, spoons scattered across the floor, and cracked eggs spilled everywhere.
He turned his gaze toward the fridge, and his aura nearly erupted when he saw the ones responsible for this mess.
He shouted angrily, "You two damn idiots! Do you want me to throw you back onto the streets where I found you?!"
As his furious voice echoed through the kitchen, the culprits turned toward him.
The first was holding cheese, stuffing it greedily into its mouth. The second held lettuce…
They looked at Ion—then made sounds.
"Quack, quack."
A goose… The goose pointed at the cat beside it, as if blaming it for the mess.
And it seemed the cat understood, because it immediately responded with a threatening sound toward the goose, as if they were about to start another fight.
Seeing this, Ion placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose, almost cursing his past self for pitying these two strays.
First, the cat—he had found it injured in one of Astria's capital alleys, so he took it in and treated it. But the cat saw him as a golden opportunity to escape the life of a stray, so it clung to him and followed him everywhere… and in the end, it succeeded.
As for the goose, he had found it in one of the gardens he visited. It tried to steal his food from a bench he was sitting on while enjoying the view. Out of kindness, Ion thought it hadn't eaten in days, so he took it in as well—never realizing that this behavior was simply its nature.
He still remembered the day he entered the academy: a cat following behind him, and a goose sitting on his head like a king upon his throne, looking down at his subjects. The guards tried to stop him, but he showed them the dean's invitation—and shamelessly lied that the dean had allowed him to bring them.
It didn't take long before he regretted that decision. His room had turned into an animal battlefield. He used to laugh every day watching them fight, and sometimes even taught them strange tricks suited for them.
But things got worse when he taught them too much.
In the end, their fights started destroying furniture, curtains—and today, the kitchen…
I need to buy a Life Ring quickly… only with a Life Ring can I store them in a spatial ring where they can fight to the death without damaging my room.
He really wanted to scold them and make them stop, at least until he ate something—not because he was hungry, but because eating made him feel slightly better.
"I'll call a maid to clean again. It's best if you two restrain yourselves this time, or don't blame me for what I'll do to you, you savages." he said threateningly before leaving, putting on his formal student uniform, and heading into the academy corridors. He wanted to find a place to rest for a bit.
By chance, he passed by one of the training fields, which seemed to be occupied by Class B of the second year.
He watched them spar for a moment before turning to leave.
Just as he turned his heel, he heard a gentle voice calling him:
"Yooo, Ion, come here."
He turned and saw who called him.
A woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, with short green hair and beautiful emerald eyes.
It was Professor Elara. He didn't understand why she had called him.
He hesitated for a moment before walking toward them. He felt more than 300 pairs of eyes on him, but he didn't feel nervous.
As soon as he arrived, he gave a slight bow toward Professor Elara as a greeting.
Elara smiled as she looked at him. He barely bowed—could that even be called a bow? But she didn't care about such formalities.
"I heard from your instructor that you lost consciousness during training this morning, so I was a bit concerned when I saw our top-ranked student casually walking around." she said, observing him from all angles.
The truth was, she had called him because she sensed something strange about him. His aura, which used to feel like a compressed flame ready to explode at any moment, had become deeper and more restrained. If it were someone much weaker than her, they would think he was just an ordinary, untrained human.
"Thank you for your concern, Professor Elara, but I'm in perfect condition. My fainting was due to intense training and not getting enough rest." he said in a flat tone, though his eyes concealed a slight caution.
He wasn't naive enough to believe her reason. It seemed she had sensed his change but hadn't confirmed anything yet—so she was trying to extract information. That's why he gave her an answer she couldn't dig into.
"That's good, Ion. You should balance effort and rest, especially in your condition." she smiled at his cautious reply and didn't probe further—it had only been curiosity.
Suddenly, another voice cut in:
"Professor Elara, is this Ion Drakis—the top-ranked student this year? Weren't you exaggerating a bit in praising him? He looks pretty ordinary. Is this really the level of the younger generation?"
Ion turned toward the speaker.
A student with brown hair and brown eyes. What stood out most was his larger build compared to the others in his class. Ion felt a slight pressure emanating from him.
Before responding, Ion's gaze shifted slightly behind the brown-haired boy.
He saw a girl with long blonde hair and sky-blue eyes.
Ion recognized her—from Alfred's memories inside the game Exodia.
Rin Evelyn. One of the game's heroines.
She narrowed her eyes slightly when she felt Ion's gaze linger on her.
Ion quickly returned his gaze to the brown-haired boy and Professor Elara. It seemed they had been talking before the boy turned to him and said:
"What do you think about a duel? No mana, no weapons—just aura."
Ion smiled upon hearing that.
Because right now…
that was exactly what he needed.
Battle.