After that, he continual sparred with Celeste daily. Iron rank was no joke. Even holding back, she moved with a speed and precision that made his Copper rank enhancements look pedestrian.

But he learned. He learned indeed.

He learned to read body language, to anticipate attacks before they came. He learned to manage his mana more efficiently, to not waste energy on flashy techniques when simple ones would do.

He learned when to defend and when to attack, when to stand his ground and when to retreat.

Danger Sense turned out to be way more valuable than he thought.

The skill wasn't perfect. After all, it couldn't predict every threat and sometimes the warnings came too late to fully avoid an attack.

But it gave him an edge. It gave him a split-second advantage that could mean the difference between a clean hit and a glancing blow.

---

Five days passed in this intense routine.

Train. Study. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

Lucas barely saw the others except in passing. Everyone was dealing with the aftermath in their own way and needed time to themselves.

On the evening before the midterm exams, Lucas sat in his dorm room. He was carefully reviewing his notes one last time before the exam.

"How do you cast fire and water together without them canceling each other out?" he read.

"Easy, keep them apart until the very end," he answered. "Imagine two streams twining around each other, but never touching until you release the spell. That's when they merge and amplify instead of fighting."

"The next question is.....What's the difference between channeling and casting?" He read.

"Channeling is when you draw magic through yourself continuously, like keeping a stream flowing. Casting is when you gather the magic first and then release it all at once." He answered.

"Channeling, also happens to use more mana over time because you're constantly maintaining the flow. Casting is more efficient if you only need one burst of magic."

"So for something like a sustained barrier, you'd want to channel. But for an attack spell, you'd cast."

"Unless you need multiple attacks quickly, then you'd pre-cast several spells and hold them ready. That's what they call spell-stacking."

Lucas closed the book and yawned.

"I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be for the midterm exams tomorrow. I think I should get some sleep now."

And so he did.

----

Lucas woke to sunlight streaming through his window.

For a moment, he just lay there, staring at the ceiling.

After a while, he sat up and checked the clock. 6:00 AM. The exams started at 8:00.

Lucas stood and stretched, feeling his joints pop. He walked to the window of his dorm room and looked out over the academy grounds.

Students were already moving about despite it being so early.

Some were heading to the dining hall for breakfast, others making their way toward the exam buildings. Everyone looked nervous.

Lucas took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Five days of training. Five days of pushing himself harder than he'd ever pushed before. Five days of preparation for this moment.

He turned away from the window and began getting ready.

Clean uniform. Check.

Pen. Check.

Pencil. Check.

Eraser. Check.

Ruler. Check.

Pencil Case. Check.

[ Good luck, Host. Try not to die today.]

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Lucas snorted.

He finished getting ready, grabbed his student ID, and headed for the door.

Outside in the hallway, he could hear other students moving about.

There were some nervous conversations and even last-minute cramming.

Some unlucky sap was clearly having a panic attack in one of the nearby rooms.

Lucas exited the building with a frown on his face.

Even though I've been preparing for this since I got to this world, I still feel like I haven't prepared enough.

He saw more and more students as he neared Ervot Hall, the academy's main building and where the exam was taking place.

They look just as anxious as I feel.

He thought, passing by them.

Then finally...

He arrived at Ervot Hall.

Ervot Hall towered above him and its polished stone facade gleamed in the sunlight, adorned with intricate carvings.

Their detailed patterns weaved across the stonework in elaborate designs that drew the eye upward and outward

Grand double doors open beneath a soaring archway, while arched windows and tall columns gave it an air of elegance.

The doors themselves were massive and their dark wooden surfaces inlaid with metal fixtures that caught the light and each window was divided by stone mullions into smaller panes that glittered in the morning light.

Tall columns flanked the entrance and extended along the building's front. These vertical elements gave the structure an air of elegance and classical proportion. The columns supported a decorative entablature that ran horizontally across the facade creating clear lines.

"Well, this is already nerve breaking."

He said to himself as he walked into the building.

-----

Navigating to the examination hall, he found the room where the first test would take place.

And upon entering it, he saw that it was filled with students who were already seated, waiting for the test to start.

"Whoa, is that Lucas Estellan. He still goes here?"

"That lazy bum. I heard he somehow managed to beat Garrett Mills."

"Are you serious? He must have cheated somehow."

"I said the same thing!"

"He looks quite fine for someone about to be kicked out of the academy."

The gossip hit Lucas like a whiplash.

He'd spent so much time trying to arrange things his way, trying to boost his power and dealing with the Legion that he had completely forgotten that he was a teenager in school with teenagers.

And as a result of his predecessors bad reputation, he would be a key source of gossip.

But how in the hell did these guys even know my bad reputation in the first place. We're not even in the same class.

Looking around, Lucas spotted Lydia. She didn't say or do anything and just stared at him for a moment before giving a smile.

Then not far from her...

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