“Absolutely not!”

  Professor Merriweather’s booming voice echoed in the central chamber of the infirmary. Despite the severe injuries he’d suffered just the night before, he had already recovered significantly, courtesy of the high-tier healer that had arrived sometime in the middle of the night. It was morning now, and Levi and Liliya had rushed over as soon as they heard that the professor had awoken.

  Professor Merriweather was sitting propped up against the headboard of the bed, the cast around his arm gone and only a couple of bandages left wrapped around his torso. His vigor had fully returned to him, his incredible Constitution as a Vanguard asserting itself.

  “But sir, we did activate the emergency beacon–”

  “My dear lass,” Professor Merriweather said, sounding aghast. “What sort of man do you take me for? You truly think I’d disqualify you from the Ascension Trials just because of something as trivial as that? By the Goddess, you survived against an Elder Wyvern! If I disqualified you after that, then how can I ever possibly be able to look at myself in the mirror again? Nay, you passed the Ascension Trials fair and square, and if anyone objects so help me I will personally raise hell on your behalf!”

  Liliya hesitated, then nodded. “Thank you, Professor Merriweather,” she smiled. “It means a lot.”

  “Of course, it’s the least I can do. If anything, you should be picking a bone with me for arriving so late. And getting knocked out so easily on top of that…” Professor Merriweather shook his head in self-disgust. “I am ashamed, truly, by how out of shape I’ve become. It’s only through the Goddess’s grace that Mythmaker Ravenbane was in town, else I shudder to think what fate would’ve befallen us all.”

  Levi coughed quietly from where he was standing off to the side. The Goddess’s grace, indeed. Liliya shot him a dark look before returning her attention to the professor.

  “You’re being too harsh on yourself, sir,” she said. “You gave a valiant fight, and it was only due to your efforts that Qorbin was able to bring down the Elder Wyvern in the end. He couldn’t have succeeded without your help; he said so himself.”

  “He did, did he?” Professor Merriweather stroked his mustache thoughtfully. “Indeed, I suppose you are right. There’s a reason why he split half the Elder Wyvern’s loot with me, after all.”

  Levi coughed again, and Liliya shot him another dark look.

  The official cover story they’d decided to go with was that Qorbin had singlehandedly taken down the Elder Wyvern after Merriweather’s incapacitation. Qorbin had offered to share the credit with Levi, but Levi had declined; he didn’t care much for fame and glory, but more importantly…

  Levi didn’t want the details of the battle getting back to Professor Heimler just yet. In retrospect, perhaps Levi had made a mistake in using his signature Sever and Cleave during the Restricted Sanctum fight, but in his defense, he doubted he would’ve been able to get past Heimler’s [Stillpoint] otherwise. It had been unfortunate, but necessary.

  Against the students who’d ambushed him, he had only used a single Sever, which was virtually indistinguishable from most basic cutting techniques and wind-based spells. It was only when Sever was paired with Cleave that it gained its unique sheen and appearance.

  Levi hadn’t been too worried about Heimler tracing that incident back to him, especially since the odds of his ambushers even telling anyone about it were extremely low; they had been the aggressors, not to mention how their pride would be irrevocably damaged if they admitted that they’d been defeated by Levi Ironwood.

  However, Qorbin was a different story. He was both Heimler’s old party partner, and he had also seen Levi’s Sever and Cleave up close and personal. Not a good combination by any means. As such, Levi had asked Qorbin to keep everything secret for the time being, and thankfully Qorbin had agreed.

  Of course, Levi knew that Heimler would end up finding out eventually. Levi just wanted to delay that happening for as long as possible so that he’d be able to come up with an appropriately believable bullshit excuse when it finally did, and failing that, have built up enough rapport with Qorbin for the assassin to vouch for him.

  As a result, Professor Merriweather had been told that he and Qorbin were solely responsible for the Elder Wyvern’s defeat, and that he’d received half the share of the loot for his invaluable contributions. In reality, he’d only received a third of the share, Levi receiving the other third.

  Incidentally, Levi had asked Qorbin to liquidate the loot for him. Not only did he not have an [Inventory] to properly store the loot in, but he also knew that Qorbin probably had access to the best deals and suppliers. Granted, considering Qorbin’s background, they might not be strictly legal deals and suppliers… but hey, profit was profit, and Levi doubted Qorbin would sell to any actually nefarious parties.

  “Anyhow, enough of that,” Professor Merriweather said. “Moving onto more important matters…” A wide, proud smile spread across his face. “Congratulations, Liliya Volkov. It is my pleasure to declare that as of today, you are now officially an adventurer. Welcome to the fold, I eagerly await to see what you have to accomplish.”

  Liliya beamed. “Thank you, professor. I’ll do my best to live up to expectations.”

  “Ha!” Professor Merriweather laughed. “Knowing you? I have no doubt that you’ll not only live up to expectations, but blow them out of the water altogether.” He paused. “Hmm… I seem to be forgetting something… Ah right.” He turned to Levi. “I suppose you’re an adventurer now too, Levi Ironwood. Congratulations–”

  “He saved my life, professor,” Liliya cut in.

  Professor Merriweather froze. “What?”

  “I would be dead if it were not for him,” Liliya said, her voice hard. “He’s the only reason that I’m standing here right now.”

  Professor Merriweather stared at her. “Truly?”

  “Truly.”

  “Ah.” Professor Merriweather’s face went through an interesting evolution of emotions, starting with disbelief, transitioning to guilt, before finally settling on acceptance. “Well, if that’s the case…” He turned back to Levi. Levi braced himself, but then blinked as Merriweather bowed his head.

  “It seems I owe you an apology, my dear lad,” the portly professor said, sounding genuinely contrite. “For me to disdain you even after you saved the life of Ms Volkov… I bring only shame upon myself.”

  “It’s quite alright,” Levi hurriedly said. “It’s entirely understandable. I don’t hold it against you.”

  “Even so…” Professor Merriweather sighed before giving him a small smile. “Well. Congratulations, Levi Ironwood, and I do mean it this time. I presume you and Ms Volkov have your secrets about what happened inside the dungeon – don’t look at me like that, I wasn’t born yesterday – and I won’t pry, but for her to stand up for you like this, it’s clear that you are not the same student that floundered in my class the entire past year.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Levi nodded. “I am not.”

  “It is the beauty of human nature that we can change and grow,” Professor Merriweather said. “And it is my honor as a professor and educator to witness it happen.” He smiled. “Go forth, Levi Ironwood. Show the world what the new you is capable of.”

  Levi smiled. “Thank you, professor. I fully intend to.”

  “That’s what I like to hear,” Professor Merriweather grinned. “Anyhow, I won’t keep you two; I’m sure you have better things to do than listen to the ramblings of an old man all day. I’ll recover soon enough – it’ll take more than an Elder Wyvern to keep me down, hah. Get some rest, then return to Luxanne whenever you are ready. I’ll see you there.”

  Levi and Liliya left the town of Farband at noon.

  True to Qorbin’s word, he had called in a druid to help revitalize the forest; he, Levi, and Merriweather had all agreed to set aside a relatively small portion of the Elder Wyvern’s loot to hire a druid to restore the Grove of Embers.

  As Levi and Liliya exited through the gates, they could already see the blackened wasteland in the distance actively being healed, large swathes of greenery appearing as hundreds of trees sprouted to life.

  The people of Farband had done their best to contain the forest fire with firebreaks, chopping down trees to prevent the fire from spreading further, but unfortunately the flames had been too fierce and widespread to control. By the end of the night, most of the Grove of Embers and the surrounding forest had been burned down. Thankfully, not even a full day later, it was already being brought back to life.

  Levi and Liliya hadn’t met the druid; they’d instantly gotten to work after arriving at Farband. However, Levi reached out with his magic, and through its senses he could feel the entire forest being steadily infused with life, a revitalizing magic that spread and permeated throughout the soil like the roots of a massive tree. Wherever the druid’s magic touched, new life bloomed and sprouted. At this rate, the entire forest should be restored within a single day.

  Suddenly, the druid’s magic brushed up against Levi’s magic and it instinctively recoiled. Levi quickly withdrew his presence; druids, like animals, didn’t tend to have the highest opinion of him.

  Speaking of Qorbin, the assassin had disappeared after he’d directed the healer to Merriweather and given the druid their payment. Qorbin didn’t say where he was going, but Levi suspected that he had headed out to attempt tracking down Phantasm. At any rate, Qorbin had told them that he’d be in touch later, then promptly vanished without a trace.

  And so, Levi and Liliya headed back to Luxanne on their Institute mounts. The trip back was far less tense and awkward than the initial trip there. Levi still didn’t do much to help during battle, but this time, it was more because Liliya wanted the solo experience from killing the enemies.

  They returned to the village of Copperton, the guards waving them through without even checking their papers this time (Liliya had reprimanded them for that; procedure was procedure). They stayed at the same inn as last time, and as with before, they were swarmed by children with Amy at the front of the group.

  “Did you fight any dragons on your quest?” Amy asked excitedly with a toothy smile. “Did you? Did you?”

  Liliya laughed. “Actually, yes I did.”

  A wave of gasps spread throughout the crowd of children, followed by shining eyes filled with hero worship. Levi smiled as Liliya launched into the tale of their Ascension Trials – heavily sanitized and censored to be appropriate, of course. He had a feeling that after this, Liliya would become cemented in the village mythos. There would be a whole generation of kids growing up wanting to be like her.

  They left Copperton the following morning and continued their journey back to Luxanne. Levi kept his guard up the entire time, wary of Phantasm suddenly appearing again, but thankfully nobody except run-of-the-mill monsters showed up.

  The remaining two days passed by quickly, and before they knew it, they were back at Luxanne. They arrived at the Institute just as the sun was starting to set, casting an orange glow over everything.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Liliya said as she dismounted her horse. “Here, I can take your horse back to the stables.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate it,” Levi said, dismounting as well and handing over the reins. His horse whinnied and quickly distanced itself from him. Then Levi paused. “Hold on, tomorrow? What for?”

  Liliya looked at him oddly. “Class, of course.”

  Levi stared at her without comprehension. “Didn’t we graduate already?”

  “Yes, but we’re still expected to finish our courses,” Liliya said. “Just because we’re adventurers now doesn’t mean we can just leave.”

  Levi’s expression was pained. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Liliya snorted. “It’s not that bad. We only have one week of classes left in the semester, and then we’re done. You just have to wait until then. After that, we’ll graduate officially, and Qorbin will presumably come to collect us.”

  “Ah, I see,” Levi said, relaxing. “That’s fine, then.” He could last another week. Hopefully.

  After bidding Liliya farewell, he left the Institute courtyards, navigating through the maze-like campus and arriving at the front of the Institute to see that his personal carriage driver was already there waiting for him.

  Levi’s eyebrows rose. How did the driver even know that he’d returned? Had he been camping out in front of the Institute this entire time? Or maybe the Luxanne gate guards had informed the Ironwood estate that Levi had returned? Levi didn’t know, and he was too afraid to ask.

  Ayla was already waiting for him in the reception hall of the Ironwood Manor when he arrived. She immediately rushed up to him, her eyes flickering up and down as she examined his form. She breathed out a small sigh of relief when she determined that he still had all his limbs intact and attached, then resolutely pretended like she hadn’t done so a moment later.

  “You’re alive,” she said. “Color me surprised. How did the Ascension Trials go?”

  Levi smiled. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you over dinner. I’m starving.”

  Ayla nodded as they began walking toward the dining hall. “I hope the partnership with Liliya Volkov went well.” She paused. “Should we expect a blood feud declaration from House Volkov anytime soon?”

  “House Volkov? No.”

  “... I don’t like the way you emphasized ‘Volkov,’” Ayla said warily. “That implies there’s another House you antagonized.”

  Levi coughed. “Well. House Montague may have an issue with, ah, recent developments.”

  Ayla processed his statement, then paled. “What do you mean? What recent developments?”

  “You’ll find out next week,” Levi said, avoiding the question. He didn’t know how Montague would react to the news of Levi and Liliya both becoming Qorbin’s personal apprentices, but he was willing to bet his entire share of Elder Wyvern loot that it wouldn’t be pretty. It was a good thing that Levi was already planning on dealing with Montague. “Speaking of, Liliya passes on her compliments regarding your potions – she said that they were well-made.”

  Ayla brightened. “She did? That’s high praise, I’ll have to thank her – wait, Liliya? Since when were you on a first-name basis with her?”

  Levi only chuckled in response.

  The next morning, Levi arrived at the Institute later than usual. As usual, he was greeted with stares, and as usual he ignored them with ease. He ascended the thirty-something flights of stairs and arrived at Heimler’s class with only a minute to spare.

  Hey, Levi had already technically graduated. He didn’t care much before, and he cared even less now.

  Andevar was already sitting at the back of the class, and Levi took a seat next to him. Andevar shot him a wide-eyed look, practically shaking in his seat. Levi smiled; it was clear that Andevar wanted to ask him loads of questions about the Ascension Trials, but wasn’t willing to risk talking during Professor Heimler’s class. Understandably so, really. Andevar would just have to contain his excitement and curiosity for a little while longer.

  Levi turned his attention back to Heimler, keeping a careful eye on the professor. Fortunately, it seemed like Qorbin had kept his word; Heimler didn’t look at Levi any differently at all. He lectured as he always did in that same engrossing style of his, and before long, class was already over.

  The moment Heimler dismissed the class, Andevar instantly whirled on Levi.

  “What did you do?” Andevar asked, his eyes wide with a mixture of confusion, disbelief, awe, and fear. His voice was taut and trembling, and he looked as though he wanted to grab onto Levi’s shoulders with both hands but was too afraid to. “What did you do?!”

  Levi frowned. This was an odd reaction. Had Andevar somehow heard about what happened during the Ascension Trials? There was no way; both Liliya and Qorbin had promised to keep things under wraps.

  “What do you mean?” Levi asked slowly.

  “The Subaru Paradox! How did you–”

  “Mr Ironwood,” Professor Heimler’s voice cut through the racket of the students leaving the classroom like a knife through butter. Silence instantly descended upon the room as every eye swiveled over to look at Levi. “Remain after class, please.”

  Ah. Levi resisted the urge to curse.

  This might be an issue.