For a brief moment, Ethan simply stared at him. Then his face twisted in utter disbelief.
"Get off me, you narcissistic bastard!"
Without another word, he planted both hands against Drey’s chest and shoved him with all the strength he could muster. The push barely moved the S-Class Sentinel, but Drey still took a step back on his own, more out of surprise than because Ethan had actually managed to push him.
Ethan immediately scrambled to his feet, dusting the dirt off his academy uniform with an irritated expression. "Do you seriously think the whole world revolves around you?" he snapped. "I got thrown into you because a monster kicked me halfway across the damn battlefield! If I wanted to throw myself at someone, it definitely wouldn’t be you."
For once...
Drey didn’t respond immediately, Instead, he simply looked at Ethan.
Really looked at him.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of embarrassment on Ethan’s face. No blushing. No flustered stuttering. No desperate attempt to explain himself while still trying to stay close.
Nothing.
Only pure annoyance.
It caught Drey slightly off guard. The Ethan he knew would have reacted completely differently. He would have been red-faced by now, panicking over every little misunderstanding while secretly feeling delighted that they had ended up so close together.
But this Ethan...
He looked genuinely disgusted and It didn’t even look forced. Plus there wasn’t the slightest hint of embarrassment in his eyes. Only frustration.
For some reason, Drey found himself frowning.
Before either of them could say another word, a furious growl echoed through the area.
The monster Ethan had stabbed several times slowly pulled itself back onto its feet. Thick, black blood dripped from the countless knife wounds covering its scaled body, yet none of them had been enough to kill it. Its crimson eyes burned with murderous intent as they locked onto Ethan.
Then it charged.
"Ethan!"
Drey’s warning came a heartbeat too late.
The creature’s enormous claws ripped through the air toward Ethan’s chest.
Instinct immediately took over as Ethan’s body moved before his mind could even process what was happening. He dropped low beneath the attack, rolled across the ground, snatched up the knife he’d thrown moments earlier, and came back to his feet in one smooth, practiced motion.
There was no hesitation or panic. Years of surviving a zombie apocalypse had carved those movements into his very bones.
Back then, there had never been time to think.
Only to survive.
The monster let out another furious roar and spun around for a second attack.
Before it could move another inch—
Slash!
A streak of brilliant blue energy tore through the air and in an instant the creature’s head separated cleanly from its body before crashing heavily onto the floor with a deafening thud.
Silence settled over the area once again. Drey lowered his sword as casually as if he’d merely cut through a sheet of paper instead of a high-ranked monster.
Not a single drop of sweat clung to his forehead.
Ethan released a long breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. "...Fuck, that was close."
He placed a hand against his chest, trying to steady his racing heartbeat. "I just saw my entire life flash before my eyes."
Drey remained silent, his gaze stayed fixed on Ethan. Something about those movements... they weren’t academy techniques.
Every student at the Academy was taught proper combat stances, refined footwork, and standardized methods designed to maximize efficiency in battle.
What Ethan had just displayed was none of those things. There had been nothing elegant or refined about it. Instead every movement had been rough, fast and practical. It looked less like something learned in a classroom and more like the instincts of someone who had spent years clawing their way through life-and-death battles.
Drey’s brows knitted together almost imperceptibly.
Was he overthinking things?
...Probably.
This was Ethan Ashford, the weakest Guide in the academy.
Why was he wasting time analyzing someone he’d never once considered worth paying attention to? This wasn’t like him at all. Clicking his tongue inwardly, he pushed the strange thoughts aside.
"Let’s go," he said indifferently. "We only have a few seconds before the exit gate closes. If we don’t make it in time, we’ll be trapped inside."
As he spoke, he bent down and picked up the glowing crystal that had formed where the monster’s corpse dissolved. Ethan nodded without arguing.
The next second, powerful wind wrapped around him again. Before he even had the chance to react, the scenery around them blurred. When his vision cleared, they were back at the entrance of the S-Class rift alongside the other four Sentinel-Guide teams.
One after another, the remaining rift gates opened across the training grounds as students poured out from every rank of rifts.
The once quiet training ground quickly became lively again. The supervising professors and instructors gathered at the front, waiting for every team to return before beginning the evaluation.
Ethan’s eyes instinctively searched the crowd. His eyes eventually landed on the instructor, the moment Ethan noticed the man’s expression...
His lips curved into a smile that wasn’t polite instead it was a deliberately smug smile. The instructor’s face visibly stiffened. It was obvious he hadn’t expected Ethan to return alive.
Even worse...
The boy standing before him looked almost exactly the same as when he had entered the rift. Aside from a few traces of dirt on his uniform, he appeared completely unharmed, that single smile was enough to make the instructor’s expression darken. Satisfied Ethan finally looked away.
Another supervising professor stepped forward and raised his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "One representative from each team, step forward and submit your monster cores,"
One by one, representatives from every team approached.
Naturally...
Drey stepped forward on behalf of himself and Ethan.
The supervising professors gathered the point crystals before carefully evaluating and calculating every team’s results. The training ground fell into complete silence. Finally after several minutes, the supervising professor stepped forward with the final results.
"The rankings have been finalized."
He glanced at the list before announcing loudly,
"In first place..."
"Lord Drey and Guide Ethan."
Applause immediately erupted throughout the training grounds.
"As expected of Lord Drey!"
"I knew first place would belong to him."
"The Empire’s strongest Sentinel never disappoints!"
"No one else even stood a chance."
Ethan quietly rolled his eyes.
Look at that.
Apparently I don’t exist.
He had entered the same rift, risked his life in the same test and won first place alongside Drey. Yet, here they were treating him like some background character while giving every bit of the credit to the empire’s golden boy.
Not that he particularly cared.
After all...
Drey had done almost all the fighting.
Still.
Hearing absolutely no one acknowledge him even a little was mildly annoying.
somehow...
Once the remaining rankings had been announced, the supervising professor retrieved a beautifully crafted pass engraved with the academy’s crest. "This grants access to the Academy’s Vault, you can now retrieve any special item you need" he explained before handing it over.
Naturally...
The pass went straight into Drey’s hand. Soon after, the students gradually began dispersing.
Ethan let out a tired sigh. What a ridiculously long day.
Well...
Not entirely pointless.
At least he had completed the test. As for the Vault reward...
He didn’t even bother asking about it.
He doubted Drey would refuse, but he also didn’t want to hear another speech about how he was using excuses to stay close to him.
Yeah.
He wasn’t dealing with that headache.
The sky had already begun turning shades of orange as evening slowly settled over the academy. After confirming there were no remaining classes scheduled for today, Ethan turned around, fully intending to head back to his miserable little dorm room.
He had barely taken a few steps when an unfamiliar voice called out from behind him. "Ethan Ashford, right?"
Ethan stopped and turned around only to be met with a face he didn’t recognize.
"The Principal is calling for you."