Chapter 60: Sudden Change
Room 402 was unusually quiet. The excitement and tension that had consumed the academy throughout the day had finally begun to settle, leaving behind nothing but aching muscles and exhausted minds.
Beyond the tall dormitory windows, silver moonlight bathed the academy grounds in a soft glow.
Stone pathways stretched between the residence halls while enchanted lanterns flickered gently in the night, their warm light dancing across trimmed hedges and marble courtyards.
The once-boisterous campus had grown calm, with only the occasional footsteps of late-night students echoing in the distance.
Lina sat on the edge of her bed and slowly pulled off her boots, letting out a long breath she had been holding since the tournament ended. Across from her, Chloe rolled her shoulders before stretching both arms over her head,Every movement made her wince.
"My whole body feels numb," she muttered with a weary smile.
Lina looked up from folding her uniform neatly beside her pillow.
"We should get some proper rest," she said gently. "Everything will hurt less by morning."
Chloe gave a tired nod before dropping onto the mattress with an exaggerated groan.
Mei had returned to her own dormitory a short while earlier to collect a few personal belongings before spending the night in Room 402. She had insisted it would only take a few minutes.
Perched upon the wide wooden windowsill, Qhuin paid little attention to their conversation.
A neatly sliced piece of fresh apple rested between his tiny paws as he nibbled at it with slow, unhurried bites, as though the brutal tournament that had shaken the entire academy was nothing more than a mildly entertaining performance.
His crimson eyes remained fixed upon the moonlit academy beyond the glass.
Only after several quiet moments did his gaze drift back toward the room, settling upon the two exhausted girls.
Let them recover.
The young squander their strength too readily.
Silence reclaimed the room.
Then—
Without warning, the academy terminal standing against the far wall erupted into a brilliant crimson glow.
A sharp pulse of light swept across its crystal surface.
At the same instant, every communication crystal throughout Aurelius Academy activated together.
A low chime echoed through the residence halls before a calm, dignified voice flowed through every dormitory.
[Attention, all remaining candidates.]
[By decree of Aurelius Academy, the second phase of the Inter-Class Grand Tournament has been revised]
Lina and Chloe exchanged puzzled looks.
The announcement continued.
[Standard arena combat has been suspended.]
[Second Phase: Beast-Hunting Competition.]
[Preparation Period Granted: Two Days.]
[Further details will be distributed tomorrow morning.]
[We wish every remaining participant good fortune.]
The crystal dimmed,Silence returned almost immediately.
Qhuin neither moved nor spoke.
His crimson eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he continued staring at the now-dark terminal.
He listened to every word.
Not because of what had been said, but what had been left unsaid.
Lina frowned slightly as she looked at the darkened terminal.
"...That’s it?"
Chloe blinked twice, certain there had to be more.
"A Beast-Hunting Competition?" she repeated. "They changed the entire second phase just like that?"
"It doesn’t make any sense," Lina murmured. "The arena matches were already underway. Why would they suddenly stop everything?"
The room fell silent again, and neither of them had an answer.
Qhuin remained motionless upon the windowsill, the final piece of apple forgotten between his paws. His crimson eyes reflected the pale moonlight, but his thoughts had already drifted far beyond Room 402.
’A hunt instead of a duel. How... unexpected.’
His long ears twitched.
Academies did not overturn months of preparation on a whim. Humans loved rules almost as much as they loved status. For an institution as old as Aurelius Academy to alter the tournament after the first elimination round...
Someone had either discovered something—
—or was searching for something.
Neither possibility pleased him.
A faint sigh escaped his tiny body.
"The night rarely changes its course without a reason..." his voice drifted calmly into Lina’s mind. "When mortals disturb an established ritual, little sword, it is seldom because they have grown wiser."
Lina glanced toward him.
"You think something happened?"
"I think..." Qhuin answered after a measured pause, "...that those seated upon high thrones have begun moving pieces hidden from the eyes of the board."
His gaze slowly shifted toward the moonlit academy outside.
"Power has a peculiar fragrance. When great powers begin changing their steps, even the wind learns to whisper more softly."
Chloe listened quietly, unable to shake the uneasy feeling settling in her chest.
"Could this have something to do with today’s matches?"
Qhuin did not answer immediately.
Instead, he closed his eyes for a single heartbeat.
Far across the academy, an invisible thread of blood stirred.
The connection between master and servant awakened.
Without opening his eyes, his consciousness reached across the distance until it found Marcus’s older cousin.
The noble was still walking through one of the academy’s marble corridors, heading toward the upper-class dormitories.
Qhuin’s ancient voice flowed into his mind like cool velvet.
"My servant..."
The noble halted almost imperceptibly, careful not to draw attention.
" commands."
"The halls of power seldom conceal their stories as well as their ideas, Learn why the hunt has replaced the arena."
"Return only when certainty accompanies your report."
The connection faded as quietly as it had appeared.
The noble inclined his head ever so slightly before continuing down the corridor as though nothing had happened.
Back inside Room 402, Qhuin finally opened his eyes.
There was no trace of anxiety on his face.
Only patience.
"Truth has never fled from those willing to wait," he murmured. "Let the academy keep its silence for one night longer."
A knock sounded softly at the door.
"Lina?" Mei’s familiar voice called from outside. "I’m back."
Lina rose from the bed and crossed the room, unlocking the door.
Mei stepped inside carrying a small travel bag over one shoulder and a folded blanket under her arm.
"I passed at least twenty students in the hallway," she said after closing the door behind her. "Everyone’s talking about the announcement. Nobody seems to know what’s going on."
Chloe let out a quiet sigh.
"So we’re all equally confused."
Mei nodded before setting her belongings beside the bed.
"I guess all we can do is wait until tomorrow."
No one disagreed.
Outside, the academy remained peaceful beneath the moon.
Yet beyond the calm silence, unseen currents had already begun to shift. Neither Lina nor her friends realized that while they prepared for an unfamiliar competition, others within the academy had begun preparing for something entirely different.
Mei finished unpacking her things before dropping onto the spare mattress with an exhausted sigh.
"I was hoping tomorrow would just be another round in the arena," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "At least there you can see your opponent. A hunting realm is... different."
"It sounds dangerous," Chloe said quietly.
Lina leaned against the window, looking out across the sleeping academy. The lanterns lining the pathways seemed unusually dim tonight, as though even the campus itself had withdrawn into silence.
"If they’re giving us two days to prepare," she said after a moment, "then whatever’s inside that realm can’t be simple."
No one argued.
The room grew quiet once more.
Qhuin watched them from the windowsill without interrupting. Their concerns were natural. Young hunters always feared the forest more than the battlefield.
They had yet to learn that forests rarely killed the careless.
It was what hid within them that did.
His crimson gaze drifted back toward the moon.
"The moon has watched countless hunts begin beneath her light," he murmured into Lina’s mind. "Those who fear the darkness seldom survive it. Those who underestimate it fare even worse."
Lina folded her arms.
"So what should we do?"
Qhuin was silent for several breaths before answering.
"Prepare."
"Not merely your weapons."
"Your minds."
"Steel dulls. Mana exhausts itself. Even flesh betrays its master."
"Only judgment remains faithful when all else begins to fail."
Chloe lowered her eyes replying mentally.
"I’ve never hunted anything stronger than academy training beasts."
"Then you shall learn."
His voice carried neither comfort nor cruelty.
Only certainty.
"Every predator remembers its first true hunt."
"Whether it returns from that hunt..."
"Depends upon how quickly it learns."
The words settled over the room.
None of the girls spoke again.
Outside, the wind stirred through the trees surrounding the academy, carrying with it the distant cries of nocturnal beasts somewhere beyond the outer walls.
For the first time since arriving at Aurelius Academy, the tournament felt more like a competition
Far away, beneath the shadows of the upper district, Marcus’s older cousin walked alone through an empty stone corridor
The academy appeared calm on the surface, yet the deeper he ventured toward the administrative quarter, the more guards he noticed patrolling intersections that were usually left unattended.
His expression remained perfectly composed.
’Something has changed’
He continued forward without drawing attention, blending naturally among the handful of late-night staff members still crossing the halls.
Two professors rounded a nearby corner.
He stepped aside respectfully, lowering his head just enough to appear courteous without seeming suspicious.
"...the Principal’s orders came directly from the royal tower," one of them whispered.
"I’ve never seen the Mirror Realm open this early."
"Keep your voice down."
The two disappeared into another corridor before another word could be overheard.
The cousin remained where he was for only a heartbeat.
Then he resumed walking as though the conversation had meant nothing.
Deep within his mind, the words echoed only once.
Mirror Realm.
Without breaking stride, he quietly sent that single piece of information through the blood link.
Back in Room 402, Qhuin’s ears twitched.
His crimson eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
"A Mirror Realm..." he thought.
"Now that... is considerably more interesting."