Back on the awakening stage.
“Actually, you didn’t awaken an F-Class talent.
You awakened an SSS-Class talent!” Asher looked at Luna with absolute seriousness.
Luna froze.
The tension and wariness in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by sheer bewilderment.
A second later, a trace of genuine pity crept into her gaze.
If she remembered correctly, Chloe and Claire had just mocked him with those exact same words not two minutes ago.
It was such a lame, recycled excuse that it was hard to believe a sane person would actually try using it again.
“To be precise, you didn’t awaken the F-Class Magic **[Ravenous Mole]**.
You awakened the SSS-Class Magic **[World-Devouring Behemoth]**!” Reading the obvious doubt on her face, Asher immediately revealed the information he had scanned.
“Oh.
I see,” Luna nodded gently, her expression completely flat.
Asher’s mouth twitched.
“A mage of Fiore doesn’t lie to another mage of Fiore!
You have to believe me!”
This time, Luna didn’t answer right away.
She gave Asher a long, hard look before nodding solemnly.
“Alright.
I believe you.”
“Do you really believe me?”
“Really.”
“Liars have to swallow a thousand needles.”
“…” Luna’s lips parted, but she couldn’t bring herself to say a single word.
Asher’s face darkened.
It felt like an awkward crow was flying overhead, cawing into the heavy silence.
“Sigh… I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” Asher lowered his head and let out a long sigh, though his expression was surprisingly calm.
When he looked back up, a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes, and his voice radiated absolute confidence.
“Let me ask you something.
Ever since you started your second year, have you been waking up in the dead of night feeling completely starved?
And as time passed, has that hunger been growing stronger and stronger every single day?”
*Boom!*
Asher’s voice wasn’t loud, but to Luna, it hit like a thunderbolt.
Her muscles tensed instantly, and all the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
Within seconds, cold sweat drenched her back.
A bone-chilling sense of terror washed over her.
“H-How do you know that?!” Luna panicked, looking at Asher as if he were some kind of monster.
This was her deepest, most humiliating secret.
Because it was so embarrassing, no one in the world knew about it.
Not even her parents!
Asher just smiled faintly, not answering her directly.
“At first, you could endure it.
Then, you had to start snacking in the middle of the night just to cope.
But eventually, snacks weren’t enough to satisfy you anymore.
If I’m not mistaken, in the days leading up to the Awakening Ceremony, you were waking up multiple times a night from sheer starvation!
And your cravings for raw meat have only gotten deeper!”
He suddenly raised his voice.
“Am I right?!”
Luna stumbled back three steps in a row, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
Absolute horror filled her eyes.
She was terrified because he was right.
He had guessed every single detail perfectly!
“How… how do you know all this?!” Luna’s mind was reeling, and she could only stammer the same question again.
Just as Asher had described, ever since her second year began, she had been hit with a crippling hunger in the early hours of the morning.
At first, she hadn’t paid it much mind, brushing it off as a growth spurt.
But it kept getting worse.
Every day, the hunger grew more ferocious than the last.
And the most terrifying part was her sudden obsession with meat—specifically, the raw flesh of magical beasts!
Raised to be a proper, refined young lady, she became convinced she had contracted some horrific psychological disease.
She was too terrified to tell her parents.
This waking nightmare had tormented her for so long; it was the darkest secret buried in her heart.
And now, Asher was dragging it directly into the light.
Her lips trembled, and she finally forced the words out.
“You’re right… about all of it.”
Asher flashed a wide, brilliant grin, his eyes sparkling.
“What did you just call me?”
Luna lowered her head.
“Instructor Asher.”
Even though she was officially his apprentice now, she had secretly looked down on him, just like Chloe and Claire did.
After all, Asher’s reputation as the worst teacher in the academy was famous, at least among the second-year students.
But in this single moment, his image in her mind had completely transformed.
“Master!” Luna suddenly bit her lip, her voice thick with desperation.
“Please, tell me how to cure this sickness!”
If Asher could see exactly what was wrong with her, she believed he had to know the cure.
“Foolish!” Asher’s reprimand hit her like a ton of bricks.
“This isn’t an illness at all!”
“It’s not an illness?
But…” Luna stared at him, completely lost.
“Of course it’s not!” Asher said sternly.
“I already told you—you didn’t awaken the F-Class **[Ravenous Mole]**, you awakened the SSS-Class **[World-Devouring Behemoth]**!
Do you have any idea how much terrifying magical energy is required to fuel an SSS-Class awakening?”
“Normal mages gather energy by using breathing techniques to absorb ethernano from the atmosphere.
But as the host of the **[World-Devouring Behemoth]**, your body naturally hungers to consume and devour in order to build up energy!
Of course you feel starved!”
“If you had just listened to your instincts and eaten as much as your body craved, you might not have fully awakened the Behemoth, but you would have at least secured an A-Class rating.” Asher shook his head in disappointment.
“Because you repressed your natural hunger so drastically, you starved your own magic.
That’s why you only awakened an F-Class rating!”
Luna froze, looking like a delicate statue crumbling in the wind.
Asher’s words hit her with such overwhelming force that her brain practically short-circuited.
“Whatever.
Since you’ve acknowledged me as your master, I’ll see this through to the end.
Wait here.”
Leaving her with that, Asher hurried off.
A few minutes later, he returned, slinging a large cloth sack over his shoulder.
“Instructor Asher, what is—”
*Thud!*
Asher slammed the heavy sack onto the ground.
“The cafeteria only had this Tier Three, Low-Grade Iron-Spine Boar leg.
I specifically asked for it medium-rare.
Eat it.”
“Trust me.” Asher untied the sack and held out the massive, steaming leg of meat to her.
*Gulp!*
Staring at a chunk of meat larger than her own head—still dripping with bloody juices—Luna unconsciously licked her lips.
Her logical mind screamed that she couldn’t possibly eat something so barbaric.
But the roaring hunger in her body made her want to tear into it raw and swallow it whole.
“Go on, eat it.
You must be starving.
It’s delicious, really.” Asher urged her like a devil on her shoulder, his eyes shining with anticipation.
He looked even more excited than she was.
*Gulp!*
Finally, after swallowing thickly a dozen times, Luna made up her mind.
Her delicate, pale hands reached out and took the massive boar leg.
She quickly turned her back to him, gritted her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut, and took a massive bite.
*Mmm… it was so good!*
Watching her tear into the food, Asher’s eyes gleamed with wild triumph.
Three minutes later.
*Boom!
Boom!
Boom!*
The magical aura surrounding Luna suddenly exploded outward, her physical strength surging exponentially right before his eyes!
At the exact same time, the system notifications erupted in Asher’s ears:
**”Ding!
Luna’s F-Class Magic [Ravenous Mole] has successfully evolved into the C-Class Magic [Bloodthirsty Direbear]!”**
**”Ding!
Luna’s cultivation has leveled up from Tier 1, Level 1 to Tier 1, Level 3!”**
**”System evaluating… Reward conditions met!
First-time reward doubled!”**
**”Ding!
Congratulations, Host, on successfully evolving your apprentice’s magic!
Your original C-Class Magic [Thorn Snake] has evolved into the B-Class Magic [Horned Python]!”**
**”Ding!
Congratulations, Host, on successfully raising your apprentice’s cultivation!
Your own cultivation has increased from Tier 3, Level 1 to Tier 3, Level 3!”**