Chapter 16: What’s your secret
Suddenly, Gabe’s face lit up like a child receiving his first sword.
He didn’t even try to hide it—his joy was explosive, unfiltered, and so intense it made the other cleaners around him blink and take a cautious step back.
He raised both fists in the air and shouted, "Yes! Yes! Finally!" His voice echoed off the tiled walls, reaching the high ceilings of the enormous central hallway of Royal Azure Academy.
His entire body trembled—not in fear, not in pain, but in the overwhelming exhilaration of breakthrough. "I did it! Sixth Stage! Knighthood Stage! I finally broke through!"
He started pacing in circles like a man possessed. "No more remedial training! No more standing in line for basic techniques! I can finally enter Dungeon Hall! I can finally join the Nightblade Patrol Unit!"
His eyes glimmered with the kind of hope only those born with expectations placed upon them could understand.
"I can finally request higher-tier manuals. I’ll be allowed into the East Tower’s Mana Core Simulation Room. I can pick my own weapons now!"
The mop that had been smacked from his hand earlier lay forgotten, abandoned on the floor like some relic of the past.
Gabe reached for it dramatically, lifted it up, then laughed and tossed it aside.
"I was holding this? Me? With this much power? Ha!"
Wesley just stood there, his own mop still clutched in hand, not out of pride or habit anymore, but because letting it go might break the illusion—the illusion that he hadn’t just done something insane.