“Why are you here? Also, why are you covering your face?” asked Kane, confused. His former opponent was supposed to have failed the exam, yet here he was.

“None of your business,” replied Calypso in a hostile tone. He got up and leaned against the wall.

“Are you angry because of yesterday?”

“Angry? No, I’m perfectly fine, half-blood, in spite of the second-degree burn on my stomach, two of my ribs cracked, and on top of that, my beautiful hair, ruined! It took a whole day for a bunch of healers to heal me and afterwards, my father yelled at me and decided to never talk to me again until I became a full-fledged mage! Moreover…” His eyes gradually teared up as he went on with his rant.

Kane rolled his eyes, pretending to listen. He then noticed that Calypso’s voice and manner of speech had changed. His voice had become less deep and less formal. Obviously, Kane knew that it was pointless to ask him about that right now, so he put this observation back in his mind. The rambling lasted for a while.

“And finally, I had no choice except to enroll in Niflenia Academy as a class E student. To make matters worse, I have to share the same room with you! This is all your fault, half-blood!” Calypso caught his breath as he finished rambling.

“To be honest, it all started because you picked a fight with me. The only one you should blame is yourself,” said Kane.

Calypso gritted his teeth. “Shut your mouth! If only you did not exist, I—”

Kane pinched Calypso's mouth, just the same as he had done before. He stared at his light blue eyes at almost touching distance. “Listen here, prince. I don't give a damn about your life nor your problems. I do, however, understand why you're angry, so I’m willing to compromise. If you promise not to annoy me again, I will forget everything you've done to me and the two girls. I also won't annoy you either unless you start it first. Got all of that?” He released the pinch after he finished talking.

“Cut that out!” Calypso wiped his mouth and stumbled back. His contorted face turned red. “Despite everything you have done, you are proposing a truce?”

Kane gave a nod. “It’s for your best. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is to invoke my wrath. I won’t be as forgiving as last time.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, I’m giving you advice. Normally, I never propose something like this, but I also hate unnecessary, petty revenge. You will accept this if you are smart.”

“What if I do not agree?” Calypso folded his arms. His head tilted up slightly.

“Then, you’re an idiot, as simple as that. Just like any other common arrogant nobles whose pride is higher than the moon. I’m sure you’re not like that, right, prince?”

The prince pondered for a while. Clicking his tongue, he said, “I will accept your proposal. For your information, I am not scared nor meek. It is simply because I am no idiot,” he said.

“Good—”

“However!” Calypso interrupted. “I demand appropriate compensation. You have caused me a great loss, after all.”

Kane’s eyebrows twitched. He wanted to give Calypso a good beating, but he repressed that urge because he did not want to get into any unnecessary trouble. He took a deep breath before saying, “I don’t see why you would want compensation. You got accepted in the end, and your injuries are part of the risk for taking the exam.”

“I failed to get the special reward because of you.” He held his nose up in the air.

“The special reward, huh? Do you really need-” Kane reached into his bag and took out the rank 1 wand. “-this?”

Calypso narrow-eyed at the wand with a curious look. “A wand? Are you deceiving me?”

“I’m serious. This is the reward of being number one.” He extended his arm toward Calypso. “You can have this as compensation.”

The prince pinched it, taking a closer look. “A rank 1 wand… Is this it? Did you not become a class S student?”

Hearing his questions, Kane took pity and explained how to become a class S student along with Zumi’s and Athera’s class placement.

Calypso’s face darkened. He was silent for a while before punching the wooden wall beside him. “Damn it! I suppose I overestimated the special reward and was blinded by my ambition. Why did I not realize that beforehand…”

“Don’t worry, prince, yo—I mean—we are still young, so it’s fine to make mistakes. Now that you have acknowledged your mistake, make sure you learn from it,” said Kane in a condescending tone.

“Oh, shut up. What are you, an old man?” Calypso rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, back to my truce proposal!” Kane clapped his hands. “Have you changed your mind after knowing that? You also have received compensation.”

“Hmph, very well! I accept the truce.” Calypso handed back the wand. “I have no use for this. Take this back.”

Kane put the wand on his backpack. He then offered his left hand. “Now, let's begin the truce after a handshake.”

He looked at Kane’s hands with a blank expression, tilting his head. “What sort of intention do you have?”

“You don’t know a handshake, prince? Right, a royalty seldom initiates physical contact. This is what most people do when they agree to something—or meet someone new. Normally, we would use our right hands, but mine is broken,” explained Kane.

“That means, I must shake your hand to agree with the truce?” asked Calypso.

“Yes.”

Calypso stared at Kane’s hand for a while. He knitted his brows and appeared to be thinking hard about something difficult. He then finally shook Kane’s hand, gripping it hard enough until his veins popped out.

“Your hand is quite small… and weak,” quipped Kane, remaining unaffected by the grip.

“S-silence! Do not mock my hand!” He quickly retracted his hand. “We may have a truce;however, this does not mean I have forgiven you for what you have done.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kane tugged his ear. “If you desire revenge so much, we can have a rematch anywhere and any time you like. Keep it fair and square, though.”

“Tch! Whatever. Be prepared whenever you are, then, because I will become stronger than last time!” said Calypso.

Kane smiled a little. The last sentence reminded him of his childhood from his past life when he had lost the first time to his former rival. He decided to reply with what his former rival told him, “Sure, I will always be ready.”

After he said that, two grown men approached. They were carrying a big crate, carefully side-stepping at a brisk pace. Their sweat was dripping onto the floor throughout the hall.

“My prince, where do you want to place this?” asked one of them.

“Place that over there.” Calypso pointed at one of the cupboards.

“Aye, prince.” When their eyes met Kane's, they froze up. “Ah! You’re that half-blood from the exam!”

Kane tilted his head, staring at him full of confusion for a moment. “The exam? Ah, so you’re one of the twins. Did you receive your payment?” He remembered the conversation from when he’d been meditating in the cave.

“How do you know that?” Calypso furrowed his eyebrows.

“None of your business,” replied Kane with a mocking smile.

“You!” He then switched his gaze toward the two men. “Stop saying useless things!”

“I apologize, my prince. I couldn’t help but be surprised to see him again.” The man kneeled as his head was facing toward the floor.

“I’ll forgive you this time because it doesn’t matter that the bumpkin knows our secret. That man also already knows about this. Now go. You both can’t be here too long.” He extended his arm toward the door. They nodded and carried on the task before giving a hostile look to Kane.

“Using deceit and trickery, huh? Interesting.” Kane grasped his chin.

“I was forced to,” grumbled Calypso.

“Forced? What do you mean?”

“I’ve told you already. Stop asking me questions!” Calypso yelled as he continued to put his belongings into the cupboard. Kane shrugged, then started removing his cast and his clothing in preparation to sleep.

“W-what are you doing!?” Calypso averted his gaze.

“Hm? I’m taking my clothes off before I go to sleep. What’s wrong with that?” answered Kane nonchalantly.

“Sleeping nude!?” Do you have no shame?” he stammered.

“It’s more comfortable this way. Besides, why are you so embarrassed? We’re both boys.” Kane ignored Calypso and kept undressing his clothes.

“Arghh! I cannot believe this! To share a room with a shameless savage-” Calypso hurried to leave the room and slammed the door shut, “-is just the worst!”

“What a sissy,” muttered Kane. He then put his tribal wear in the closet, tucked in under the blanket, and dismissed the prince from his mind. Dealing with him was out of the question since he was just a mere child. In other words, he was not worth his time and energy.

Lying on the bed, he was thinking of a plan to find Xervatia. He’d been relying on Bokar’s associates to find her whereabouts, and so far nothing could be found, not even her trace. Chasing something without any clues was just a waste of time, so Kane decided to master magic first.

The dawn showed itself, shining in the night sky. Birds in the tree were chirping, filling the silence. Kane opened his eyes and stretched his left arm upward. He then stared at his injured right arm deeply, introspecting. He’d been too reckless when fighting the riese, so he promised himself to not overestimate his strength again.

“Zzz…”

A snore interrupted Kane’s train of thought. He turned his head to the source of the sound. It was Calypso. He was sleeping on the other bed, facing the wall.

“I thought you wouldn’t come back to this room. I guess you don’t have any place to stay,” muttered Kane.

After taking a bath in a shared bathroom, Kane entered the dorm room once more and saw Calypso still sleeping. He approached his closet, pulled it open, and wore the uniform. It fit him perfectly. Alas, he felt uncomfortable with layered clothing, so he rarely wore one unless he was in freezing weather. Kane wore all of the pieces despite that to not make a bad impression for now.

---

It was quite early in the morning, and yet the classroom was already full. The students were conversing among themselves whether in groups or as just two. The scene reminded him of some party in a noble’s house. Then, Kane also remembered an important lesson that he had learned while he had been a fledgling blacksmith.

Always build connections.

Knowing the right people, regardless of their age, would usually be beneficial in the long term. They would bring gifts, introducing more high-class people, and most importantly, bringing new customers. Kane couldn’t care less whether they were morally good or not as long as they respected his business. He used this technique until he had enough money and fame to support himself alone.

Although Kane currently didn’t own a smithy yet, building connections early wouldn’t hurt. Despite knowing that there was a high chance of them being unfriendly due to his race, there was no cost of doing it. He approached one of the groups. They seemed to be unaware of Kane’s presence until he said,

“Good morning, gentlemen. What were you discussing?” Kane put a rehearsed smile that nobody would notice was fake.

“Ew! Get away from us, you tainted blood!” They distanced themselves from him and talked among them again.

“I knew this would happen. Oh, well.” Kane gave up on that group and tried to join another one. He hated befriending racist people anyway.

The result was more or less the same as his expectations. They either mocked or were afraid of him. He kept doing that until he realized it was pointless after the third attempt. Kane sat down on his previous seat. After a while, Brian arrived and sat beside him.

“Morning, Kane. You should've told me first if you're going to school.”

“Sorry, I forgot,” replied Kane blandly.

“You seem to be upset. What happened?” Brian tilted his head, leaning toward the table.

“Nothing.” He finally looked at Brian. “But there’s something I’m curious about you.”

“Go on.”

“Why are you so friendly toward me? Also, why didn’t you talk to anyone here?” asked Kane.

“Oh, that.” Brian scratched the back of his head. “How should I put this… your unkempt and un-noble like appearance reminded me of my childhood playmates back in my hometown. And turns out, you’re pretty easy to talk to, unlike most of those nobles who see people based on their social status. They’re unwilling to befriend people who are below them, such as a son of a countryside merchant like myself... unless I grovel at their feet.”

What Brian described was exactly Kane’s experience in dealing with nobles. He concluded that the noble stereotype was true despite different locations and times.

“So, did they ask for your social status first before they allowed you to talk?” he asked again.

“Yes.” He nodded. “It pissed me off. So far, there’s only one nice noble in this class.”

Vauren entered the classroom and began calling names to fill the attendance. While halfway through, the door was pushed open abruptly. Everyone turned their heads to see. It was a male student. Nobody recognized him… except for Kane.

“And who you might be?” asked Vauren.

“I apologize for being late. My name is Calriss Layward. I had some… difficulty finding this classroom.” He bowed.

Kane knitted his brows. The boy was clearly Calypso, the prince of this kingdom, yet he stated an entirely different name. An alias, perhaps, but for what? Everyone should've recognized him already. At the very least, anyone who failed the test due to his trickery should've, yet that didn’t seem to be the case. He could only think of one reason: those people who got tricked ended up not applying to Niflenia again.

“Ah, so you’re the new student. I heard it from Sir Reynar. Please sit anywhere you like. Don’t hesitate to ask anything.”

“Of course,” he gave a slight nod.

As Calypso strode between the tables, the girls were whispering among themselves. They were praising, complimenting his appearance and stealing playful glances. When he responded to them with a gentle smile, they blushed and let out girly noises.

“Wow, he’s sure popular.” Brian bit his lip.

“Wait until they know his family background.”

“Family background? Do you know each other?”

As he asked the question, Calypso’s eyes met Kane’s. The prince was frozen in place, visibly confused but quickly readjusted his expression and posture. He sat on the empty seat on the back.

“He's my roommate. A son of an important noble figure that I don’t care to remember,” said Kane.

“No wonder. I bet that guy must be very arrogant and bossy,” pitied Brian.

“Eh, he's annoying but I can handle it. For now.”

*Thud!*

Vauren slammed the teacher’s table. All of the students immediately ceased their bickering. “All of you, I have an important announcement.”

“There will be a test today.”