Diana’s POV

  With Alexander gone, Diana didn't have much to do besides keeping the house clean, studying, training, and occasionally running a few dungeons with Mark, Ocean, and Stella—since most of the money she earned was being saved to fulfill her dream.

  On calmer days, she even found herself thinking about him: "I hope he's okay and comes back soon."

  Even Diana's teacher, Sarah—the first to notice her potential at the Twin Combats Academy when she met her during the entrance exam—noticed her performance had dropped in the last month.

  When questioned, Diana couldn't pinpoint exactly why this had happened.

  What confused Diana the most was that she didn’t even know what she felt for him.

  Her feelings often clashed and overlapped

  Alexander was her first friend in Twin City.

  The one who helped her; the one who made her open up more; the one who gave her confidence; the one who seemed to always be there when she needed… However, he was also the one whose thoughts she understood the least.

  "Sometimes I feel like I’m just a familiar to him,” sighed Diana thinking about this. "It would be so much easier if I knew what he thinks of me."

  Before leaving, Alexander let her stay at his house so she could save some money in exchange for taking care of the house and Ocean while he was away, which showed he trusted her. From another angle, this didn't mean much, it could be considered normal between friends.

  Since Alexander had been gone a long time, over a month, even Lucas went looking for him.

  Not wanting to think about it, Diana began cleaning the house and cooking to occupy her thoughts.

  The problem was that after finishing preparing the food, Diana realized she had made more than her and Ocean's portion. "…"

  For the first time since he left, Diana was glad Alexander wasn’t there to see that.

  That would have been very embarrassing for her.

  When Diana finished organizing and cleaning Alexander's room—which was the last one left—she was overcome by tiredness.

  Seeing she had nothing else to do, she decided to go rest in her room. "…"

  "It's his bed," thought Diana as she turned to Alexander's bed.

  "It's fine, isn't it?" she asked herself. "I won't do anything wrong. I'll just rest a bit."

  After convincing herself that just this once should be fine, Diana lay down on Alexander's bed to rest and couldn't help but think the bed still had his scent.

  Feeling calmer and more at ease, Diana adjusted herself on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

  Lucas’s POV

  "Does this idiot exist just to make my life harder?" Lucas asked himself, exasperated. "It's been a month and he still hasn't returned."

  "If he doesn't show up for the academy's combat styles tournament, the professor will be angry with me for letting him leave," Lucas grumbled to himself.

  With no one else to turn to, Lucas went to Alexander's house to ask his friend—who was staying there—if she knew anything about his whereabouts.

  When talking to Diana, Lucas didn’t know whether to laugh or cry—she asked him if he had any information about Alexander.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "You’re asking me that… but who am I supposed to ask?" thought Lucas.

  After 5 more days without any news from Alexander, Lucas was called by his professor to talk about organizing the 1st-year academy's combat styles tournament, which made him nervous.

  Since most of the preparation was going well, he focused on the positive aspects.

  "That's right," said the professor remembering something at the end of their conversation. "How is that boy who managed to learn the [Asura Mantra]?"

  "#$%@" thought Lucas, who for a moment imagined he had gotten away with it.

  "Well, Professor…" Lucas said carefully. "He still hasn't returned."

  Lucas's professor didn't answer him directly and only turned to look at him with a dark expression.

  The mana in the room—and beyond—grew denser and heavier.

  An instinctive chill ran down the student's spine and his heart sank.

  Alexander’s POV

  Released by the imperial guard— yet still apprehensive—Alexander immediately returned to the academy and spent some time keeping a low profile.

  His return started off very turbulent.

  Basically, he had to wait for a carriage willing to stop for him—a stranger, almost in the middle of nowhere—due to the injuries on his feet caused by his fall from the floating island.

  Arriving at Twin City's walls, Alexander, now fully recovered, finally sighed in relief and joined the line at the gate.

  As soon as he thought he could rest, the guard at the gate saw the condition of his identification and called two other guards.

  "Your identification is worn out," pointed out the guard. "These guards will take you to the adventurers' guild so you can repair it."

  "Alright," said Alexander upon retrieving his identification, which indeed was somewhat worn out due to his "adventures."

  Passing through the gate, Alexander saw the city seemed to be preparing for some event and reflected: "Looks like staying low is going to be hard."

  Taking a deep breath and filling his chest to prepare for what was to come, Alexander let out a shout that echoed throughout the city.

  "COME!" he shouted as if he were calling someone.

  There was no rule obliging adventurers to be escorted merely for wear on their identification—especially when there was no indication of forgery.

  The moment they heard him shout, the guards tried to attack.

  Already on guard since the gate, he materialized his spear and struck down the guards escorting him. Then, he ran toward the academy.

  With Alexander's "escort" being knocked down by him, more people quickly emerged from the crowd to attack him.

  "If you don't fear for your own lives, come at me!" shouted Alexander as he brandished his spear and used |Water Field| and |Vapor Mist|. "I guarantee no one will live long enough to enjoy the money earned from my misfortune. All who try will have to pay the price."

  Seeing some of them retreat at his threat, Alexander cleared his way among those who didn't.

  Knowing the situation wasn't good, he didn't even bother blocking all blows and just retaliated.

  Noticing all that commotion inside the city, the crowd divided between those who fled scared and those watching the situation unfold, whether out of curiosity or personal interest.

  Even having to fight multiple opponents at once, Alexander still felt the strong presence coming towards him and brandished his spear with all his strength to repel the incoming strike.

  With the technique |Vapor Mist| partially obstructing his own vision, Alexander couldn't see clearly who had just arrived.

  This didn't prevent a chill from running up his spine and filling him with dread when he saw the golden gleam of the identification on their neck.

  Realizing he could no longer stay there, Alexander took advantage of the exchange's momentum to distance himself and began running at his maximum speed.

  Feeling that presence was still on his tail, Alexander deactivated the spell |Vapor Mist| and drew his dagger to channel another spell.

  Knowing this was all or nothing for him, Alexander was determined to use his |Elemental Water Blast| inside the city if they continued pushing him further into a dead end.

  Upon seeing the growing destructive power in Alexander's dagger, most of his pursuers gave up.

  Not out of fear of him or his spell. They simply didn't want to get involved in the possible large-scale destruction of the city.

  With his path clearer thanks to the threat of |Elemental Water Blast|, Alexander resumed running toward the academy.

  But his momentum was cut short when the gold-rank adventurer pursuing him launched a skill.

  Feeling this was the last straw, Alexander prepared to counterattack the adventurer's skill with his |Elemental Water Blast|.

  Before he had the opportunity to launch it, a large ice block intercepted the skill and continued its path towards the adventurer—even if worn down.

  "Ocean!" celebrated Alexander, happy to see her on a rooftop.

  "Woolf!" replied Ocean—approaching him to fight by his side.

  "No," said Alexander mounting Ocean. "Back to the academy."

  Ocean wasn’t happy about retreating, but she obeyed.

  With Ocean's addition, even the gold-rank adventurer was unable to stop Alexander's advance.

  The most she could do was inflict a few more cuts on him, at the cost of getting a few herself.

  When the duo reached the academy's street, the ground beneath Ocean softened and a large stone wall rose from the ground to block their path.

  Without thinking twice, Alexander fired his |Elemental Water Blast| at the stone wall.

  Then, Ocean advanced through the fragments of what was destroyed and the sides of the buildings.

  Seeing that city commotion heading towards the academy, the academy guards decided to close its gate.

  However, seeing Alexander arrive at their gates displaying the crest Lucas gave him, they could only sigh and let him enter.

  Knowing they were safe from external dangers being inside the Twin Combats Academy—the most inviolable place in Twin City and a large area around it—Alexander let out a great sigh of relief.

  He finally calmed down a bit and began tending to their wounds.