(Arin's Perspective)
Piercing morning sunlight stabbed at my heavy eyelids. I blinked a few times, trying to adjust my vision to the familiar white room. The sharp sting of antiseptic mixed with the earthy scent of dried herbs assaulted my nostrils instantly.
"Awake at last, Sir Knight?"
The biting voice came from the administration desk. Edna was scribbling something with a quill pen, pressing it down so hard onto the paper it looked as if she were venting a personal vendetta against the notebook.
Behind her, the glass shelf usually stocked with herbal ingredients looked pathetic. The section typically filled with stimulant and sedative vials was now completely bare.
"You know, Arin," Edna turned slowly. Her eyes radiated a cold, murderous aura. "Taking ingredients without permission is theft. Depleting the stock in a single night is vandalism. My total loss is around five hundred gold coins. Do you think I am a walking bank?"
I sat up slowly on the edge of the bed. My joints still felt slightly stiff from the brutal fight against the Alpha last night, but there was no significant pain. My body's regeneration capabilities were working at terrifying speed.
"Sorry about that. After all, we are a research team, so technically this lab is mine too, right?" I replied with a hoarse voice, trying to grin to break the ice.
"Lab of your ancestors! This is my private lab, you fool! I did ask you to be on the team, but at least ask for permission first. Do you know no manners? Now, how do you plan to pay? With your kidney? Or your heart?"
Edna's temper exploded. She marched over and poked my cheek with a sharp index finger.
"But Edna, I have something more valuable than a kidney."
I pointed to the corner of the room. There, beside my pile of dented armor, lay a large bundle tied with rope.
I slid off the bed, grabbed the roll, and carried it to Edna's desk.
THUD.
The object landed heavily on the wooden table, causing the ink bottle to rattle violently.
Edna, who was about to curse again, now had eyes wide as saucers. Her mouth hung slightly open. Her trembling hand reached out to stroke the silver-black fur glistening under the sunlight.
"T-This is..." Her voice caught in her throat. "An Alpha Dire Wolf pelt? The one with twenty percent magic resistance?"
"Take it," I said casually while stretching my shoulder muscles. "That is compensation for your medicinal ingredients, my hospitalization fees, and... an introductory gift for my research partner."
Edna's ferocious face vanished in the blink of an eye. Her expression shifted drastically into the wide grin of a cunning merchant who had just won a grand lottery.
The price of a whole Alpha pelt on the black market could be ten times the loss of her medicinal ingredients.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Arin!" she exclaimed cheerfully, hugging the smelly skin without a shred of disgust. "Next time you want to steal, feel free to take from the top shelf too! I don't mind!"
I just snorted in amusement. It turned out the line between doctor and merchant was very thin in this world.
Two hours later, I had locked myself in the private laboratory newly granted by the Academy.
The school was still on post-exam break, so the corridors of the research building were dead silent. It was the perfect time to brew the Cryo-Stabilizer Elixir for Elena without interruption.
On the workbench, the Blue Crystal Flower I retrieved from the cliff yesterday glowed dimly. This plant was extremely sensitive. If heated with ordinary fire, its magical properties would evaporate uselessly.
I used a special alchemy furnace with a blue spirit flame that maintained a stable temperature. Slowly, the flower did not melt, but sublimated.
Cold blue vapor rose, swirling beautifully inside the coiled glass condensation tube like a trapped spirit.
Drop by drop, bright blue liquid fell into a small vial at the end of the tube.
"Stable enough," I muttered with satisfaction looking at the result.
This was not just medicine. This was the key to holding leverage over one of the strongest noble families in the kingdom.
After tucking the vial into my inner jacket pocket, I moved my armor and weapon from the hospital room to my dorm room.
Some students passing by watched me carry the expensive equipment with sharp, curious gazes. Whispers could be heard as I struggled past with the heavy armor.
"Why is a Class C student carrying such expensive gear?"
"Was he the knight from yesterday?"
"Ah, impossible. He's probably just a porter for an upperclassman."
Various speculations arose. But as always, I chose to be deaf. After tidying the equipment in my room, I headed straight for the Class S Dormitory.
Unlike my dorm which resembled a dull military barrack, the Class S Dormitory was a magnificent mini-palace. Its gates were made of gold-plated wrought iron, and its garden was filled with roses blooming eternally due to season-manipulation magic.
I stepped toward the gate, but two guards in silver armor crossed their halberds, blocking the path.
"Halt," one guard said with a condescending tone. "State your identity."
"Arin. First year, Class C."
"This area is reserved for nobles and Class S students. Class C students are forbidden to approach within five meters. Leave."
I looked at them flatly. How ironic.
Last night I snapped the neck of a monster that could tear these two guards apart in a second. But here, faced with the wall of social rules, my strength meant nothing. If only the Alpha skin could be used as an entry ticket.
"I have urgent business with Lady Elena Rhyms," I said calmly, trying to negotiate.
"Everyone has business with the Princess," sneered the guard without looking at my face. "Leave before we call special Academy security for disturbing the peace."
I sighed deeply. There was no point in forcing entry with violence. But since this was vital for Lady Rhyms' survival, I had to at least leave a message.
"Just pass this on," I said, handing over a neatly folded slip of paper. "Tell her, 'The goods are ready in Lab 4'. If she doesn't come before dusk, I will throw them in the gutter."
The guard frowned, perhaps surprised by my audacity to threaten a Duke's daughter. But he snatched the paper roughly.
"Go!"
I turned and walked away, exhaling slowly. This social wall... one day I would tear it down too.
My steps carried me back to the private laboratory. However, when I reached the door, my heart pounded in alarm.
The door that should have been locked tight was slightly ajar.
Was there an intruder? Adnia's spy? Or a chemical thief?
I pushed the door open gently, ready to draw the dagger hidden beneath my shirt.
However, the sight inside made my vigilance melt away, replaced by deep concern.
In the dim corner of the room, on the shabby sofa where I usually rested, someone was curled up.
Erika.
Why was she here?
Her condition... was truly terrible. Her face was pale as paper and her lips were chapped. Her black hair was limp with cold sweat. There was a trail of dried blood under her nose that hadn't been wiped away.
On the wooden floor near the sofa lay two empty bottles of high-dose Mana Stimulant. A harsh drug that could damage nerves if consumed excessively.
I immediately walked over to her with quick but silent steps.
"You..." I hissed softly, suppressing the anger that suddenly bubbled up.
Erika jolted awake. Her eyes were red and sunken, with thick dark circles underneath. She looked at me with blurred vision.
"Arin? You're back?" her voice was hoarse and weak. "I... I just wanted to rest a bit. My dorm is so noisy. I can't sleep."
I didn't answer. My hand immediately grabbed her wrist. Her pulse was weak and very fast. Classic symptoms of acute anemia and advanced Mana Exhaustion.
"How many bottles did you drink?" I asked coldly, pointing to the glass bottles on the floor.
"Just... two," she answered quietly, avoiding my gaze.
"Liar. Your pupils have constricted drastically. That is at least three bottles," I snapped without realizing it. "Do you want to die, huh?! Do you think destroying your own body will make you strong? Do you think by shattering your brain nerves, you can catch up?!"
Erika flinched at my shouting. Her body trembled. But a second later, she slapped my hand away roughly.
"Then what should I do?!" she yelled back. Tears began to pool in her eyes. "You have a genius brain! Elena has noble blood and natural talent! What do I have, Arin?! I am just a village girl who can throw small mana balls! If I don't train until I vomit blood, I will be left behind! I will be alone in the back!"
"But this isn't the way, Erika!"
"Then how?!" Erika stood up, though her legs wobbled. She looked at me with a gaze of deep hurt. "You always said we would fight together. But look at you! You killed a high-level monster, you made deals with nobles, you shot so far ahead! While me? I couldn't even protect you from a single bear!"
"Erika..."
"Every time I see you come home with injuries, I feel like trash! I hate my weak self! I hate being a burden who can only cry and bandage you! I want to stand beside you, Arin! Not behind you!"
Her voice broke at the end of the sentence into heart-wrenching sobs. Her body slumped back onto the sofa; she covered her face with both hands.
I stood frozen in place. My anger receded instantly, replaced by guilt stabbing sharply into my solar plexus.
I was too busy becoming strong alone. I was too busy protecting her physique that I forgot to protect her heart. I didn't realize that every step I took forward created a shadow of fear in Erika's heart.
The fear of being abandoned.
I sighed deeply, then walked closer. I knelt before her, lowering my ego.
I reached for her hands covering her face, grasping them tightly with both of mine. Those hands were cold and rough; the hands of a desperate hard worker.
"I'm sorry," I said softly.
Erika peeked through the gaps in her fingers, her eyes wet.
"I was wrong. I was too absorbed in running that I forgot to look back," I continued. "But listen to me, Erika. You are not a burden. Not for a single second have I ever thought of you that way."
I took two blood-replenishing tablets and a glass of water from my workbench, then offered them to her.
"Drink this first."
Erika obeyed, swallowing the medicine while sobbing.
I stared into her blue eyes intensely. "Do you remember in the forest? Without your shots, that bear's hide wouldn't have been scratched. You have potential you don't realize, Erika. You are just too focused on looking at other people's light that you forget you shine yourself."
Erika fell silent, her tears slowly stopping.
"You are the same as me. We are cursed by the world, destined to be syndrome sufferers. But that is exactly why we are dangerous. We are not bound by their rules of 'talent'."
I placed my hand on top of her head, stroking it gently.
"Don't drink that poison anymore. I will draft a proper training schedule for you. A method that is safe, scientific, and efficient. We will find the way together. Just like before, we will get stronger. Not me alone, but both of us."
Erika looked at me, searching for doubt in my face. Finding none, she nodded slowly.
"You promise?" she whispered.
"I promise. I will not leave you."
"Okay, Arin. I believe you."
Erika didn't argue anymore. Physical and mental exhaustion finally took over. The effect of the mild sedative I mixed into her water began to work. Her eyelids grew heavy.
In minutes, her breathing returned to a regular rhythm. She fell fast asleep on the sofa, this time with a much calmer face.
I took a wool blanket from the cupboard and covered her. I watched her sleeping face for a long time. Ambition without method is suicide. My duty as the brain of this team was to ensure she didn't get destroyed by her own ambition.
Click.
The laboratory door opened again.
This time, an elegant figure in a pale blue winter dress stepped inside, bringing the cold air from outside with her.
Elena Rhyms.
She looked slightly breathless, her cheeks flushed red from the cold air. It seemed she had jogged from her dorm after receiving my message, ignoring the protocol of walking gracefully like a noble.
Elena's gaze fell instantly on Erika sleeping on the sofa with a pale face.
"What happened to her?" Elena asked quietly. Her tone wasn't cynical as usual, but concerned. As a fellow magic user, she knew the signs of extreme mana exhaustion.
"Just stupidity," I answered briefly while walking to the workbench to get the cooling box. "Same as you. Too afraid of being weak that she forgot how to be human."
Elena was stunned for a moment. She looked at me sharply. "Are my ears deceiving me? Hearing those wise words from the mouth of a person who created methods to hurt himself for power?"
"..."
I fell into an awkward silence. It felt like being called out for hypocrisy.
"You didn't come here just to mock me, did you, Lady?"
"Of course not. I came straight here after receiving your rude threatening letter," Elena replied, sounding somewhat impatient but full of hope.
I took a small vial containing bright blue liquid from the cooling box. The liquid glowed beautifully in the dim room, radiating a calming yet powerful cold aura.
"Here it is," I said, lifting the vial to Elena's eye level. "Blue Crystal Flower extracted by cold sublimation method and mixed with stabilizing catalysts. Elixir Cryo-Stabilizer."
Elena's eyes locked onto the vial. There was a deep longing there. A longing to be free from freezing pain, from the fear of early death.
"Will... will this work?" she asked, her voice trembling to hold back emotion.
"Theoretically, ninety-eight percent," I answered firmly. "It will coat your mana circuits with an etheric protective layer, preventing body heat leakage when you cast magic. You can use your power without feeling cold anymore."
I offered the vial to her.
Elena accepted it with both hands shaking slightly, as if holding a fragile royal crown. She looked at the liquid, then looked at me, and finally glanced at Erika sleeping peacefully.
She took a deep breath, preparing to swallow her future.