By the time dusk draped Nexus Academy in shadows, the dormitory halls were graveyards of groans.
Some students soaked in ice baths, others sprawled on the cool floors, clutching their ribs or massaging torn muscles.
The once-proud nobles cursed under their breath, their voices hoarse with exhaustion. Even the Monster Trio had withdrawn silently; Adrain as calm as always, Selene disappearing like a phantom, Valek vanishing behind his door with a storm cloud of rage around him.
The scholarship survivors sat scattered across their corridor, their bond forged even tighter by fatigue.
Mira leaned against the wall, tower draped over her neck, still breathing hard.
"Warm up, he said," she muttered, throwing her towel onto the floor. "I swear, that man’s lungs are powered by demonic spite".
Kairo lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling with eyes that flickered between exhaustion and defiance. His body was shriveled again, his uniform loose, his frame gaunt. His stomach growled loud enough that Mira winced.
"You look like death, again," she crouched beside him, smirking despite the worry in her eyes. "What are you planning, Vale? Starve your way to victory?"
Kairo’s lips twitched. "Better starving than giving up".
He turned his head toward her, a faint grin carving through his sweat-streaked face. "Besides... I didn’t die today. And in my books, that’s a win".
She rolled her eyes, but her voice softened. "Idiot. You push like that every time, you won’t live to win anything".
Other students watched from a distance, whispering.
Some whispered awe; Kairo hadn’t collapsed until the very last lap, once again showing that he was not just a regular student among the freshers.
With every day that paced, the dread for the boy called Kairo rose in the Academy walls among the freshers. Maybe beating Valek was not a fluke.
But despite all the evidence before them, others whispered doubt still, sneering that he only had one ’joke ability’ and was burning himself to the ground, but none dared speak it loud.
Kairo closed his eyes briefly, hearing it all, feeing the weight of every gaze.
To most of these nobles, he’d always be a slumrat, an outsider. But in his chest, the thought burned steady. ’For Leora, I’ll survive. No matter what’.
In the end, the only reason why he was doing all of this was to get powerful enough to find his sister.
With power, money would naturally follow, and money was the important resource that he needed to find his sister and retrieve her.
Afterall, he didn’t want to bring his sister back into abject poverty.
Mira didn’t even need to focus as she saw the fire in his eyes. ’I wonder what his motivation is,’ she thought.
She sighed, ruffling her hair. "You’re a stubborn bastard, Vale. Fine. Just... don’t collapse when the real mission comes, ok?"
"Two weeks, remember? That ’accelerated test’ the professor announced".
Her words lingered in the air like a warning.
Kairo didn’t answer as he looked at her, then feeling mischievious, he smirked. "Oh my, what is this? The mighty Mira is feeling warrior, about someone? Ah, what has the world turned to?"
Mira glared at him. "Get lost!"
Kairo laughed.
Hearing his own laughter, he was slightly stunned. To think he could bring himself to laugh a laugh so pure and genuine; he was surprised.
He eventually forced himself upright, wiping the sweat from his face.
His voice was hoarse, but steady as he threw a brief glance at Mira. "Don’t worry about me," he grinned. "To not collapse, I’ll just have to grow stronger in two weeks".
The other scholarship students glanced at him, weary eyes meeting his.
Some smirked, some nodded. For all their exhaustion, something sparked, a fragile flame that said maybe, just maybe, they could endure together.
Nexus Academy was not for the weak, and even more so now after the Demons officially made a statement of intent of war.
Surviving it till graduation was a ritual that turned boys into men.
If they made it to graduation, by the time they’ll graduate, every single one of them would be 19. They didn’t know how powerful they would be then, but surely, some of them will be the main players in the gigantic machine called humanity.
Night fell over Nexus Academy.
The dormitory quieted. But in the shadows of the halls, whispers spread.
Whispers about Adrain’s calm dominance, Selene’s strange silence, Valek’s seething pride, and Kairo Vale... the slumrat who refused to break, even when his body screamed for him to stop.
What Kairo did in the Endurance Training, outlasting every single other student, it left an even bigger impression among the freshers.
There were already whispers in the dark that the freshers no longer have a Monster Trio, some now whispered of a Monster Quadruple.
That night, while every of the freshers either slept or gossiped, whispering about the happenings in Class 1A, Kairo couldn’t join them into the soothing embrace of sleep because... well, he couldn’t sleep.
~Growl.
His stomach wouldn’t let him sleep.
’Ah... f*ck! Even this nigh?’
And so, Kairo had no choice but to leave his bed that night, paying for another full square meal with more of his contribution points.
The food was delivered to his room, and once he got it, within minutes, he devoured everything even as the lightheaded feeling disappeared, blood and energy returning back to his brain and consequently his body.
"Ahhh..." He moaned in satisfaction.
He was beginning to like his body’s high metabolism.
When eating raw meat, not so much, but when the food was like now, a sumptuous meal that was made by the master chefs in Nexus Academy, even a mad man would pray for heavy appetite.
After eating to his fill, the system lit up with new notifications.
DING!
~----~
[Congratulations! Your Overall Rank has increased to F+ Rank!]
~----~
Staring at that notification, Kairo couldn’t help a smile blooming across his face. All the effort put in was worth it.
But that was not the end...
~----~
[You have evolved to the F+ Rank, your body is saturated with residual energy and a high calorie intake from your meal.]
[Your body is in optimal condition.] The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NoveI~Fire.net
[System Hint: Work out]
~----~
Kairo grinned. ’A night work out is it huh?’