A month passed, and Ethan continued to work hard as a delivery boy, earning the acknowledgment of his senior students as a reliable and hardworking junior. The answer to his letter had not arrived but this was normal as it would usually take two weeks to go from here to his vilge, so the round trip would take at least a month.

  For the first-year students the workload wasn’t too overwhelming—or maybe it just felt that way because there hadn’t been any real tests yet. His performance so far seemed decent, and Ethan’s general impression of himself was… well, optimistic.

  Despite almost dying on every physical education css, there were no other big problems beside it. He had gotten fairly used to Mana Circution, his grasp over theoretical subjects such as Ancient Language, History and Monster Biology were progressing at a steady pace and for the first time in his both lives he felt Math was easy, due to studing what he already had learned.

  But obviously, this kind of peace couldn’t st.

  It was during the fifth week, exactly in Mana Manipution Css, that true hell began.

  Professor Alden Graves entered the room with his usual cold precision and stood motionless at the front of the css, waiting for the noise to settle.

  Luckily, the students got the hint quickly this time, so no punishments were handed out.

  "Good morning, students." His deep, sharp voice cut through the silence.

  "It’s been a month since I taught you the Fundamental Flow technique."

  He paused, eyes narrowing slightly.

  "Which means it’s time to see the results."

  A low murmur began to ripple through the css.

  "Today, we will move to the meditation cssroom where each of you will demonstrate the results of your training."

  The reaction was instant.

  "Eh!? What!? A test!? Right now!?"

  "Nobody told me about this! I didn’t study at all!"

  "I’m doomed! Completely doomed!"

  A wave of panic and despair spread through the cssroom like wildfire. A few students started gncing toward the exit, as if trying to calcute the odds of a successful escape.

  Professor Graves’ expression remained unchanged.

  He simply said—

  "Silence."

  His tone was calm—but it cut through the noise like a dagger.

  The students froze mid-panic, some sitting up straighter as if their very lives were on the line.

  "This is not a written exam," Graves continued, his voice low and steady. "It is a practical assessment. Your performance will determine how well you have absorbed the fundamentals."

  His gaze darkened.

  "And failure… will not be tolerated."

  A fresh wave of tension crashed over the cssroom.

  Ethan rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bead of sweat form.

  Great… no pressure or anything.

  The message was clear.

  It didn’t matter how well you performed in other csses—if you were deemed a failure in one, you were immediately expelled. That was the Academy’s policy. It ensured that every graduate was an elite with no weaknesses.

  Luckily, Ethan never had any high expectations for himself. He always figured his failure was just a matter of time. He had no ambitions of truly graduating from the Adventurers Academy.

  Sure, it would be great to graduate—but realistically speaking, his odds were close to zero, as he physically just couldn't keep up with them.

  It was better to just focus on making as much money as possible while he still could, so that once he got kicked out, at least he’d leave with a full wallet, even if his head couldn’t be held all that high.

  Funny enough, this mindset made him appear fearless and confident before the exams that followed, and if he were even slightly more handsome, maybe one or two girls from his css would’ve already fallen for him.

  The professor led the css toward the meditation room. The students began getting up from their chairs, some still whispering nervously to each other.

  It was exactly at that moment—

  "Help me~"

  A soft, trembling voice from behind.

  Ethan frowned as a hand suddenly grabbed the back of his shirt. He turned to see Misha, her face pale, eyes watery, and a slight tremor in her voice.

  "Help me~"

  Her expression was half-pleading, half-terrified.

  Ethan’s instinct was to ignore her and walk away—but the curious stares from the other students forced his hand.

  He clicked his tongue.

  "What’s the problem?"

  "Everything!" Misha’s voice cracked. "I forgot everything!"

  Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Then ask your friends for help. Why are you asking me?"

  Her eyes darted to the side.

  "They… I… I can’t!"

  "What? Please make some sense."

  "I can’t! Okay!? I can’t! Just help me! Please!"

  Her expression was so desperate it was almost pathetic. Ethan’s mind pieced the situation together.

  She probably pissed off her friends and now they’ve abandoned her.

  Or maybe her status doesn’t allow her to ask for help openly…

  Guh… complicated retionships are such a pain.

  Whatever the case, she had no other choice but to ask him. And after asking him so directly—

  He couldn’t refuse.

  "Okay, calm down. I’ll help—so stop crying."

  Great. I’ll help. But how the hell am I supposed to do that!?

  Ethan messed up his hair, trying to come up with a solution as the students around them slowly filed toward the meditation cssroom.

  "Do you remember the verses?"

  Misha’s eyes trembled. She shook her head.

  "I remember a few… but I always mix up the order and forget some…"

  Ethan’s eyes widened.

  "How the hell haven’t you gotten mana deviation yet?!"

  Misha’s face turned bright red as her mouth opened and closed, but no defense came.

  "Okay, how about this—if we write the beginning of each verse on your hand, can you remember the rest?"

  "I—"

  "I'll take that as a yes." He grabbed her hand. "Write them down!"

  Misha’s cheeks flushed, but she started scribbling furiously.

  "Thank you…" she muttered, voice barely audible.

  "No problem. Then, if that’s all—"

  "Wait!"

  "What now?"

  "I—"

  "Say it!"

  "I don’t… I don’t know the correct order the mana’s supposed to flow!"

  Ethan looked at the ceiling, holding back the urge to curse.

  "What if we write the body parts along with the verses—no, forget it. There’s no space left on your hand."

  Misha’s eyes started watering.

  "What do we do?" she whispered.

  Ethan’s mind clicked into high gear.

  And then—

  "Strip."

  Misha’s eyes snapped wide open.

  "W-WHAT?!"

  "Strip, right now. I’ll draw you the paths the mana must pass through."

  "WAIT! YOU DON’T MEAN—"

  "That’s right." Ethan’s gaze sharpened. "On your body. Now strip. I’m sure that after doing this, you’ll never forget it again."

  "T-THAT’S—NO! I CAN’T! THERE’S NO WAY I CAN ACCEPT THAT!"

  "It’s either this or you fail and get thrown out. Now, decide."

  "That’s… That’s… That’s…!"

  Ethan crossed his arms.

  "Everyone’s already gone. If we keep wasting time, we’ll both get kicked out without even taking the test. So… what’s it going to be?"

  Misha’s face was bright red, her hands trembling.

  Finally, with a growl of frustration, she yelled—

  "GAH! DAMN IT! IF WORD GETS OUT, YOU’LL HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!"

  Ethan smirked.

  "Deal."

  How the Hell Did It Come to This!?

  Ethan watched with the intensity of a hawk as Misha took off her clothes—piece by piece—until she was left standing in only her underwear.

  His mind screamed at him to look away, but his body refused to cooperate.

  His heart hammered painfully in his chest as his eyes betrayed him, wandering despite his best efforts to keep them under control.

  "S-Stop! That’s enough!"

  His voice came out sharper than intended, though it did nothing to stop the heat creeping up his face—or the unfortunate fact that all the blood in his body was currently being pumped toward a very inconvenient location.

  Misha let out a shaky breath, her face just as red as his.

  "Phew…"

  She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to keep her composure.

  Ethan swallowed hard and forced his voice to sound steady.

  "Okay, let’s start. We’ll do it like this—you read the verses, and I’ll lead your mana using this pen."

  He held up a thin mana-inscribed pen he had pulled from his pocket.

  "Just focus on the verses and memorize the path the pen follows. One step at a time. Got it?"

  Misha’s eyes flicked toward the floor, her arms tightening around her chest, but she gave a hesitant nod.

  "Got it."

  "Then… start."

  He pced the tip of the pen just over her heart.

  Misha took a breath and began chanting the first verse of the meditation prayer.

  Her voice trembled at first but quickly steadied as she settled into the flow of the chant.

  Once the verse was complete, Ethan guided the pen downward, tracing a line from her heart toward her shoulder.

  The pen’s tip glowed faintly as it left behind a thin trail of mana.

  Slowly, he guided it down her arm, moving toward her hand—

  "Hnn…!"

  A soft noise escaped Misha’s lips.

  Ethan’s hand froze.

  "Focus!"

  Misha’s face turned crimson as she nodded, biting her lower lip to suppress the sound.

  He reached her hand, circling it with the pen, waiting for the second verse to finish before tracing the mana flow back up her arm. The line drifted over her shoulder, down her back, and toward her leg—

  "G-Gyah!"

  Misha’s body shivered involuntarily.

  Ethan’s eye twitched.

  "Stay with it!"

  He fought to keep his gaze neutral as the pen followed the curve of her leg, gliding down her thigh toward her foot.

  The third verse ended, and Ethan drew the mana path upward from her foot to her waist.

  Misha’s hands flew to her mouth as her knees trembled. Her face was so red it looked like she might pass out.

  Don’t think about it.Don’t think about it.DON’T think about it.

  He forced himself to focus as the fourth verse began, guiding the line down toward her left foot.

  By the time the fifth verse started, Misha was visibly shaking—but not from mana loss.

  The pen trailed upward, over her left leg, across her abdomen, and toward her left hand.

  Finally, the sixth verse arrived.

  Ethan’s hand guided the pen in a final smooth motion, tracing a line back up her arm and ending exactly where they had started—over her heart.

  The soft glow of mana faded into her skin, signaling the completion of the circution cycle.

  As the st sylble of the verse left Misha’s lips, her body suddenly sagged.

  "Eh? Misha?"

  Her eyes fluttered shut as her knees buckled beneath her.

  Without thinking, Ethan stepped forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

  "Oi—are you okay?"

  Misha’s body slumped against him, her forehead resting against his chest.

  "I think I c—"

  Her eyes widened in horror, realizing what she was about to say.

  "I-I mean—I think I did it correctly!"

  Ethan exhaled in relief, adjusting his hold on her.

  "Really? Then that’s good. Did you memorize the path?"

  For a moment, Misha didn’t answer. Then—

  "Can we… do it again?"

  Her voice came out in a soft, almost dazed whisper.

  Ethan’s eyes widened.

  "Huh?"

  Suddenly realizing what she had just said, Misha’s eyes snapped open.

  "Wait! No! I mean—I got it! Forget what I said! Forget everything! I don’t need any more help!!"

  Ethan’s mouth twitched into a half-smile.

  "Uh-huh."

  Misha’s face turned red all over again as she frantically waved her hands.

  "I-I mean it! I swear!"

  "Sure. Whatever you say."

  He didn’t try to hide the amusement in his voice.

  Misha turned toward the wall, covering her face with her hands.

  Ethan chuckled to himself as he helped her regain her bance.

  "Anyway… looks like you finally got it. Congrats."

  Misha peeked at him from between her fingers.

  "Y-Yeah…"

  Her expression was still flustered, but a small, genuine smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

  "Then let’s get moving! Or we’ll be te!"

  Grinning, Ethan turned toward Misha—

  SMACK!

  —And without thinking, he spped her butt.

  The sharp sound echoed through the empty hallway.

  Misha’s entire body jolted, followed by a loud scream "K-KYAAAA!!!"

  Her face turned a shade of red previously unknown to mankind as her hands flew to cover her exposed backside, where the mark of Ethan’s five fingers was now visibly imprinted on the bare part of her skin outside of her panties’ reach.

  SLAP!

  Misha’s hand struck Ethan’s cheek with the force of a divine punishment.

  "GAH!"

  Ethan stumbled back, clutching his face.

  "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?"

  "Y-YOU KNOW WHAT THAT WAS FOR!"

  Her trembling voice and crimson face didn’t make her anger any less genuine.

  Ethan rubbed his cheek, still processing the pain.

  "It was instinct! I swear!"

  Misha’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

  "Instinct!? What are you—a savage!?"

  Ethan opened his mouth to argue—then wisely decided to cut his losses and started walking toward the meditation room.

  Misha followed behind, steam practically rising from her head.

  In Front of the Meditation Room

  A small line of students stood outside the meditation room, waiting their turn. Most of them looked anxious or defeated, whispering nervously among themselves.

  Among them was Ethan’s friend, Daniel Rooks.

  The moment Daniel spotted Ethan, his gaze zeroed in on the red mark blooming across Ethan’s cheek.

  "Yo, man, what’s up with your face?"

  Ethan sighed, touching his burning cheek.

  "I’ll leave it to your imagination…"

  Daniel’s grin widened.

  "Ahhh… so she rejected you in the end? Tough luck, buddy! Learn from this and do better next time!"

  Ethan shot him a sharp gre.

  "Shut up."

  Still, he couldn’t help but chuckle a little at Daniel’s teasing.

  After shaking his head, Ethan gestured toward the short line of students.

  "So… why are there so few left? Did everyone just give up?"

  Daniel’s smile faded.

  "Oh. That."

  His tone dropped slightly.

  "The professor’s being merciless today. If you make even a small mistake, he ends the test immediately."

  Ethan’s eyes widened.

  "Wait… so more than half the css is getting kicked out!?"

  Daniel shook his head.

  "Ah, no way. He’s giving everyone a second chance next week. You only get expelled if you fail three times."

  Ethan’s shoulders rexed a little.

  "Eh? That’s way more forgiving than I expected."

  Daniel chuckled.

  "Yeah, but don’t spread the word. A little pressure is good for motivation. If people knew they had three tries, half the css would sck off."

  Ethan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

  "I see… so it’s psychological warfare."

  Daniel spped him on the back.

  "Welcome to the Adventurers Academy, my friend."

  Ethan sighed.

  "Yeah… lucky me."