Jason stumbled into his room, almost falling twice. His entire body trembled, soaked in cold sweat. He was alone, as all of the others who were part of his dorm had followed his orders to stay out.

He collapsed on his bed with his back against the mattress. His gaze shook as he stared a the ceiling. Then, the harrowing memories returned. It had been less than an hour, but Jason felt like he had spent his entire life cursed by them. Memories of how the world had gone dark and filled with the smell of blood. Memories of how the sunlight had ceased being warm, how the ground had stopped being solid, how the people around him had ceased to exist, all replaced by a crimson ocean that had swallowed him completely. Most of all, he remembered those eyes. Blue eyes filled with the promise to kill him, as if his life were worth less than a blade of grass. Jason gritted his teeth and hugged his legs, still shaking.

Fuck. Fuck!

No matter how much he tried to keep them away, those eyes kept coming back to him, as if they had been burned into his mind. A brand that he would likely carry forever.

All he felt was terror. Rylan Flameheart was no student or genius – he was a demon.

No, that wasn't all he felt. Jason could feel it, blooming in his chest, a rose as red as the ocean around him.

Anger. Hatred.

As the minutes passed, Jason's eyes were slowly filled with those emotions. His shaking gradually stopped. He clenched his jaw. The fear hadn't disappeared, but it was no longer the only thing. He couldn't take this lying down. He needed to fight back. No, it was a more primal conclusion than that.

"I need to kill him before he kills me," Jason said to himself through gritted teeth.

Rylan had said he would kill him if even a single Mage from the Empire was sighted within Ceotha. But wasn't that an inevitability? Given the current situation and the kingdom's relationship with the Kingdom of Mar, the Mages from the Empire would certainly come, regardless of the Cousteau house's relationship with a few imperial figures.

Which means my death is certain.

If he didn't kill Rylan soon, he would die. It was that simple.

Fear and anger melded together within Jason's chest alongside his raw desire to survive.

"Fuck you, then. Let's see who dies first."

He hadn't become the heir to the Cousteau house over all his siblings just because he was stronger than them. His decisiveness was his key trait. Jason took off his sweaty robe and shirt and stood up from the bed, then looked at his reflection in the nearest mirror. His expression had changed when compared to when he first entered the room. He gritted his teeth again.

He needed to act. Quickly.

***

Once class was over, Rylan headed straight to Damian's study after making sure his master was there. After climbing the tower, he stepped into the study as the doors opened automatically.

Damian was sitting on his chair, as always. The old Mage smiled at Rylan, but Rylan could see the exhaustion behind that smile, making him hesitate for a second. Then, he approached Damian's desk with a grave expression. Once the man looked at Rylan's face, his smile also died.

"…What happened?" Damian asked slowly.

"I got into a fight," Rylan replied seriously. "One that involved the Empire."

Damian frowned. For the first time in a while, Rylan felt like the man really looked his age. Sighing, he started his story. Since Damian already knew that he had joined the student council, he didn't need to spend too much time explaining why the factions within the Academy had looked for him, and chose to focus on Jason's threat. Once he reached that part, Damian's expression sank in real time. By the time he finished, Damian let out a deep sigh and looked at the window.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Rylan stayed silent for a few seconds, letting his master process what he'd heard and think about all the possibilities.

"Which is why," Rylan continued after almost fifteen seconds. "I think we'll need to speed up the process that we agreed upon."

Some time ago, he and Damian had decided that for the kingdom's sake, he would need special attention, including permission to tackle Dungeons and one-on-one lessons from his master. Now, Rylan also had another thing in mind.

I need to hone my swordsmanship.

He no longer had the luxury of only focusing on magic and neglecting his past life's knowledge. It was a conclusion he'd reached back when Hayden and Jasmine found out about the conversation he'd had with Damian, but hadn't truly acted upon.

Damian didn't reply for some time. Once he finally turned to look at Rylan again, he had a calculating expression, like a strategist overseeing the board.

"You want to train your swordsmanship, right? Like I realized a few months ago, most your power comes from there. Somehow."

Instead of denying it, Rylan only nodded.

"Yes. I need to delve into Dungeons and train. Of course, I'll keep coming to class whenever possible and will come talk to you as much as I can. But for the sake of everything I care about, I need to grow faster."

Damian stared into his eyes for what felt like a long time.

"Just trust me, Damian. I can do this."

It was the confidence of the one who used to be the Sword Saint.

"Very well," Damian abruptly replied after a few more seconds. "What level of Dungeon are you looking for? Fourth Circle?"

Rylan shook his head.

"Tell me of Dungeons at the level of the Fifth Circle, like the Basilisk Wilds. As many as you can, as dangerous as they can be."

Damian frowned.

"What are you even planning to do?"

"What is necessary to succeed. To survive. To protect."

Rylan stared into his master's eyes with calmness. More silence.

"I won't doubt your abilities," Damian said slowly. "I can tell you of three Dungeons at the level of at least a duo of Fifth Circle Mages, all near Caer Rhelon. The first is Golem Haven, the second is Frozen Sanctum, and the third is Arid Wasteland."

Rylan sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"The enemies in Golem Haven are, expectedly, Golems," Damian continued. "Of varying power, speed, and size. The difficult part comes from the fact that they don't feel pain, fear, or make mistakes. To stop one, you'd need to deal critical damage to their lower and upper bodies, and to destroy one, you'd need to find their core and target it. They only fight in groups, except for the most powerful ones, and even the smallest Golem is four meters tall."

Rylan continued to listen to Damian's explanation. The environment in Golem Haven was a large labyrinth with a ceiling, and because it was a Dungeon that had been cleared before, the Bosses that spawned weren't unique and were only a special kind of Golem. That did not mean they were easy to defeat – Damian had brought up this Dungeon for a reason. The Golem Boss was stronger than entire groups of the ordinary Golems, and could use magic.

Frozen Sanctum was a land covered in ice where it snowed permanently. The main building was the temple at the very heart of the Dungeon, where the Boss spawned. On the way from the Gate to the temple, enemies that ranged from beasts to Ice Elementals appeared. Each enemy type was powerful enough to have the Dungeon be considered at the level of a team of Fifth Circle Mages, but several types were present in the Dungeon, increasing its difficulty sharply. The Boss was a particularly powerful Ice Elemental that was also capable of elemental magic.

Lastly, Arid Wasteland was, simply put, a desert. Giant Sandworms lurked underneath the sand, and the sun and heat were enough of a challenge by themselves. Oases were few and far between, which meant that without sufficient preparation, hunger and thirst would be one's greatest enemy. The Boss lurked underground, which could only be accessed safely by using the openings created by the Sandworms.

Once Damian reached the end of his explanation, Rylan's expression was still calm. Damian frowned at him.

"…Are you sure you want to do this? You could go to Dungeons at the level of the Fourth Circle or even the Third Circle. This will be life-threatening, no matter how skilled with a sword you are."

Rylan smiled at his master.

"Thank you, Damian. But yes, I'm sure."

Damian sighed, as he had become increasingly likely to do ever since the war started getting worse.

"Fine. How do you want to go about it? I can send a professor with you, like Alice."

Rylan shook his head.

"No, I'll do this alone. It's the only way."

Damian stared at him before slowly nodding. They discussed the specifics, such as when Rylan would leave for the Dungeons and what they would tell Hayden and Jasmine to keep them from coming along, as well as what the professors would be made aware of, since the possibility of spies existed. Eventually, when it came to that, they decided to keep Rylan's outings as secret as possible. After a while, once they finished talking, Rylan stood up and nodded at Damian.

"Thank you again. I'll be back."

Damian nodded with a complicated expression. Rylan turned around and walked toward the doors. As they opened on their own, he heard Damian's voice from behind him.

"Don't die, Rylan."

Rylan stopped in place for a second and looked over his shoulder with a smile.

"I won't."

Even if it meant having his bones broken and his flesh shredded by enemies, in a place where he was all alone, he would keep going. Fighting for the sake of his family had been his oath from the moment he got his past life's memories.

Rylan walked out of the room. It was time to talk to Aelfric and decide what he should tell the rest of the family.

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