Chapter 10: Whispers of the Forgotten Paths

  The halls of Virtus Academy stirred with anticipation. Word had spread—two ancient halls, long left untouched, had found a new student.

  Lucien Elcarin.

  In the quiet solitude of the Arcanum Tower, Lucien stood beneath shifting glyphs of light that danced without flame or mana. The room pulsed with primal silence. Instructor Null, silent as ever, raised a hand and the room dimmed.

  “Arcanum cannot be learned,” he said at last. “It needs talents or blessings from Gods or spirits or ——”he paused.

  Lucien did not reply. His eyes shimmered faintly with a soft silver shade. He knelt before a circular diagram that spiraled outward like a galaxy, breathing slowly.

  A voice echoed in his mind—not Null’s, but the tower itself.

  ‘Name the color of sound. Speak the shape of sorrow. Engrave it in silence.’

  And he did. As if guided by instinct rather than memory, Lucien drew his first Arcanum rune with a finger dipped in ethereal dust. The air around him rippled. Instructor Null watched in silence, his eyes hidden under his hood—but for the first time in decades, his mouth curved into the faintest smile.

  Even though professor Null amazed by his talents.He somewhat is not satisfied. Lucien noticed that dissatisfaction in the professor’s eyes.

  He asked with curiosity,“What’s wrong master? Is there something wrong in my drawing?”

  “You lack aptitude even though you have talent.” said professor with a disheartening voice after so many years waiting and when he finally got a student.

  Frona,who disguised herself as a maid,went to look for her master since her master is time-consious does everything on time.She finds her master in the arcanum tower after asking here and there.

  Professor Null notices Frona when he was guiding Lucien.He approached Frona in a rush so that the drawing made by Lucien didn’t stopped his steps.

  He grabbed Frona's hand and started checking her up with her right hand while holding her hand in left.He asked her with excitement,“What department are you studying?Do you want to learn about arcane magics!”

  She looked at Lucien with her hopeful eyes.Frona joined Lucien because she wanted to study magic now that she was offered to learn,her hidden ambitions rose again.

  Lucien with his cold eyes noticed her ambitions,nodded in a way like a father who gave permission to his daughter to go out.Lucien in a soft voice said,“Professor she is my maid.As far as I remember maids are only allowed to learn etiquette in this academy.”

  Professor Null's excitement diminishes after hearing Lucien’s words.He now left her hand away and turns to Lucien.

  Lucien continued,“If master wishes to teach her I can make exception,but you need to promise that you will hide it.”

  Professor smiled a bit but soon stopped since maids aren’t allowed to be taught magics or anything.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Lucien predicted this,and soon assured him that he can teach her while pretending to teach him.The deal settled there with professor being happy.

  Elsewhere, in the dim-lit basement beneath the Alchemy wing, Lucien stood before Master Lithan.

  “Rune crafting is not for prodigies,” the old master rasped. “It is for the stubborn. The forgotten. The desperate.”

  Lucien bowed slightly. “Then I am qualified.”

  Day after day, he etched runes with painful precision, making a thousand mistakes before one stroke glowed. Yet he never lost patience. He never sought praise.

  As others flaunted their brilliance in the courtyards, Lucien vanished into shadows, studying what the world had buried.

  At the same time, the Royal Class buzzed with tension.

  Yuki, Kaito, Nara, and several others—heroes summoned from another world—had been placed among nobles, princes, and legends. Though celebrated upon arrival, it quickly became clear they were mere additions, not stars.

  Yuki felt it most.

  Once a top student in Japan, here she was merely a summoned commoner among divine prodigies. Her frost magic, powerful back home, paled beside the First Prince’s aura or the Third Princess’s control of celestial flames.

  Even professors addressed them with polite pity.

  “They’re summoned heroes,” whispered one teacher. “They probably are foreign with the concepts.History already showed that they have potential.”

  Still, they trained. They pushed themselves, determined not to be outshined.

  The tension erupted during the First Mock Battle—an annual tradition where the Elite Class and Royal Class clashed in controlled combat.

  The arena was packed. Students and staff crowded the tiers, eager to see sparks fly.

  The Royal Class entered in elegant formation, led by Azrael, the First Prince. Clad in a black and silver uniform, he stood tall, his every step composed and authoritative. Behind him were Yuki and the other summoned students, wary yet focused.

  The Elite Class marched in less elegant, but no less determined. Many bore scars from harsh training. They were not royals—but they also worked hard and forged themselves in pain.

  Among them was a boy named Jareth, a martial artist whose strikes could crack stone.

  The battles began.

  Magic clashed with steel, explosions of mana lighting the sky.

  Yuki faced off against a flame wielder, countering with precise walls of ice. Kaito struggled against a dual-sword user, barely holding his ground. Nara, wielding earth magic, was overpowered by an alchemist’s corrosive mist.

  One by one, the Royals claimed victory—until the final match.

  Azrael vs. Jareth.

  Elite Class’s hope.

  Royal Class’s pride.

  The arena quieted as they faced off. Azrael didn’t draw his sword. He simply raised one hand, and the air around him thickened.

  Pressure. Authority. The weight of someone who had trained every day not to survive—but to dominate.

  Jareth charged in, fists glowing.

  Azrael whispered, “Bow down.”

  A flash of silver light exploded from his palm. The force knocked Jareth back, shattering the ground.

  “First Prince Azrael is the victor,” the announcer called.

  But he didn’t smile. Azrael turned to the watching students and offered only a single sentence:

  “Train harder and survive.”

  The Elite Class left in silence.

  The Royals stood proud—but the summoned students didn’t cheer. They felt it too clearly now.

  They were not the top of this world.

  And as they looked across the arena, they noticed one boy standing alone in the shade of the Arcanum Tower—watching.

  Lucien Elcarin.

  Eyes calm.

  Unimpressed.

  As if he had already knew the results.His cold and dark eyes already calculated all possibilities and showed the results even before the matches began.

  Later that evening, Yuki stood on the rooftop, staring at the night sky.

  “They think we’re useless and fools,” she muttered.

  Beside her, Nara clenched her fists. “Then we’ll prove them wrong.”

  They all gathered around making a giant circle where yuki standing in middle while commanding.She shoted“From today we are all members of Earth union”.Earth union is made of the people who were summoned in the world of Rathania,since they felt they are not the heroes they dreamt of so they have decided to work together.

  Unseen to them, a rune glowed faintly on the wall.

  Lucien had passed by earlier.

  And the rune whispered in an ancient tongue:

  ‘Those who have eyes are more blind than those who doesn’t.’