The Anomaly's Path

The medical wing of Aegis Academy did not look like a normal hospital.

Because the academy itself was so big — like a small city, its medical area was a whole high-tech part of its own. It had enough healing rooms and mana chambers to take care of a small army, with rooms split by a student’s rank and performance.

A normal first-year might get a clean white room with a basic healing circle, but the top students got a multi-room VIP suite with premium recovery setups. Usually, this place was supposed to be quiet, where visitors were not allowed to make noise.

...or it was supposed to be.

But right now, my VIP suite looked less like a recovery room and more like a busy tavern during a party.

I was lying on the big, silk-covered bed, trying to do one simple thing: sleep.

My body was covered in bandages, my chest was still hurting where a silver blade had gone through it, and all I wanted was quiet. Instead, I was drowning in noise.

I grabbed a soft pillow and slammed it over my head, pressing down to block out the sounds. It did not help. Even through the pillow, I could hear Roan and Alice laughing loudly together over some dumb joke, their voices bouncing off the walls.

”I am telling you, the way those nobles ran when the Gate started shaking was so funny!” Roan laughed, leaning back in a fancy chair like he owned the place, wiping a tear from his eye.

”Right?!” Alice laughed, slamming her hand on the armrest. ”They looked like scared rabbits! I almost tripped one of them just to watch them fall!”

They were in their own world, telling jokes and laughing loudly right next to someone who was badly hurt.

Near them, Caster was nervously dropping a plastic cup, while Cordelia talked in her fancy royal voice, Elisabeth spoke softly with Arthur, and Amelia whispered to Julia.

To make it worse, Nyra was loudly chewing on something near the foot of my bed.

The room was packed. Roan, Alice, Riven, Arthur, Amelia, Caster, Lyssaria, Julia, Cordelia, and Elisabeth were all there. Even Lyra, was standing near the side table, calmly drinking some tea.

My eyebrows twitched under the pillow. My veins pulsed. Finally, my patience snapped. I threw the pillow off my head, sat up fast, and hurled it straight at Roan’s face.

Thwack!

”Keep your fucking voices down!” I shouted, my voice rough but loud.

The room went quiet. Everyone froze. Roan blinked, catching the pillow, while the rest stared at my bed. For a long moment, no one moved.

Then, Roan shrugged, tossed the pillow onto a couch, and turned right back to Alice. ”Anyway, as I was saying, the tournament results will announce tomorrow...”

The shouting and laughing started right back up. They all ignored me, turning away to keep talking as if I had not said anything. My jaw dropped. A vein popped on my forehead.

”Damn you all!” I roared again, slamming my fist onto the mattress. ”Didn’t you all come here to see me? I am the fucking patient here! So why the fuck are you all enjoying yourselves instead of asking me how well I am?!”

I raised a trembling hand, pointing a finger at them one by one.

”Roan! Alice! Didn’t you two come here because you were worried about me?!” I turned my furious gaze to Arthur and Amelia. ”And why are you two even here? To ask me for tournament tips?!”

My finger swung toward the corner. ”Riven? Caster? Even you guys are partying? Lyssaria, you are a healer, why are you not checking my pulse instead of drinking tea?!”

I turned to the girls. ”Cordelia? Julia... okay, Julia is fine because she is my employee and she actually looks worried. But Nyra!” I glared at the beast-girl who was reaching into a basket of healing fruits on my nightstand.

”Drop that! That is mine! Do not eat the patient’s food!”

Finally, my eyes landed on the back of the room. ”And Elisabeth! Why is the vampire princess even here?!”

I let out a sharp breath, crossing my arms over my chest, glaring at the crowd like a betrayed cat. ”Did you all not come for me?!”

Elisabeth stood up from her seat in the corner, brushing off her robes. ”I’ve seen enough. He’s not dying. I’m leaving.”

She walked toward the door without looking back. ”Try not to get stabbed again, Primus. It’s inconvenient.”

The door clicked shut behind her.

Riven clicked his tongue, pushing off from the wall. ”This is a waste of time. He’s fine.”

He turned and walked toward the door, Caster scrambling to follow him. ”Wait, Riven! I thought we came to—”

”We came. We saw. Now we leave.”

The door closed behind them.

Princess Cordelia stood near the window, her arms crossed. She didn’t say much, but her eyes kept drifting toward Julia, as if making sure her friend was okay.

Roan rolled his eyes, leaning back with a lazy smile. ”Honestly, you look fine to me. If you have enough breath to yell like that, the hole in your chest is already old news.”

Alice crossed her arms. ”If you can bark like a dog the second you wake up, it means you did not get stabbed hard enough, Leo.”

I glared at them, annoyed that they were not taking my ”recovery” seriously. ”I do not feel fine. My body feels weird. Like... everything is shaking.”

Roan snorted, looking me up and down with that annoying grin. ”Weird? That is just your core finally catching up to your stupidity. You broke through two sub-ranks while you were out. Honestly, it is impressive — most people would die from mana poisoning, but you just casually jump to Expert High.”

Two sub-ranks? I thought, my mind racing. How the hell did that happen? Nova must have done something while I was out. Or maybe... the loop forced my core to adapt.

”Two sub-ranks?” I muttered, stunned. I looked at my hands, feeling the heavy, unfamiliar weight of my power.

Alice leaned in, her smile sharp. ”Do not get too comfortable, Leo. I think you should try that again. Maybe next time you get your heart stabbed, you will jump another two ranks. At this rate, you will be a legend by graduation — or a very dead body.”

”You are a sadist, you know that?” I said, while looking toward Lyra.

Lyra slowly turned around, her face smooth and professional.

A tiny, sharp smile appeared on her lips as she spoke. ”Young Master, they are right. You look fine to me. In fact, seeing your energy, I think you can pull that reckless move again tomorrow. Maybe you will break through to the next stage if you lose enough blood.”

I choked on my own breath, staring at my maid in betrayal. ”Lyra! Whose side are you on?!”

I sank back into the pillows, my head spinning. I had broken through to Expert High, but I had no idea how it happened. I needed answers from Nova, but I was surrounded by idiots who just wanted to mock me.

”By the way,” Roan added, his voice dropping, ”Do you remember the last time your core shifted like this? When you broke through during that sparring session? You were just as annoying then as you are now.”

I sighed, ignoring his jab. How did it all even begin?

After my fight with Seris, I had completely lost consciousness.

When I finally opened my eyes a few hours ago, the first thing I saw was a plain white ceiling. I sighed. By now, I was entirely used to waking up to different ceilings. My brain immediately realized I had blacked out, and I prepared myself to be in a quiet, empty recovery room.

I sat up slowly, rubbing my aching forehead, trying to remember what happened. I was about to call out to Nova when the door burst open. Roan and Alice rushed to my bed.

I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, but Roan lunged forward and punched me in the stomach.

”Oof—!” I gasped, doubling over as the air left me.

Before I could even recover from the first hit, Alice stepped up and did the exact same thing, burying her fist right into my gut.

”What is wrong with you two?!” I yelled, holding my stomach and scrambling back. ”I am a hurt patient! I just had a sword through my chest!”

”That is our question, you idiot!” Roan shouted, his face red as he pointed at me. ”What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

”Do you know how reckless you are?!” Alice joined in. ”You told your watcher to stab you?! Are you crazy?!”

The two of them kept yelling at me, ignoring my complaints, which was how the rest of the students heard the noise and crowded into my room.

Back in the present, I shook my head, trying to clear the headache. ”By the way... how is Malva?”

”She’s fine,” Alice replied, her tone softening just a fraction. ”The medical team cleared her an hour ago. She wanted to stay, but we made her go rest.”

I nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. It had only been a few hours since I passed out. The official tournament results were not out yet because the teachers were still arguing over the rules, and the announcement would only happen tomorrow.

”Hey...” I muttered, glaring at the crowd again. ”Seriously, when are you guys leaving? I’m trying to sleep.”

But before anyone could answer, the heavy doors of the VIP suite slowly opened. A cold, heavy presence filled the room, crushing the lively mood. The air grew thick like lead.

Sylvia stood at the doorway.

She did not say a word. Her face was cold and perfect, her sharp eyes locked on me.

I looked at my older sister, and a cold sweat instantly broke out down my spine. In that exact second, I realized that death was standing right at my doorstep. I gulped hard, my eyes darting toward Roan for help.

But that bastard Roan was already near the door, looking away as he started sneaking out. In fact, the whole room knew the danger and silently agreed it was time to leave.

”Oh my,” Roan said with a sudden, incredibly fake laugh, checking his empty wrist. ”I didn’t realize it was already this late at night! I should really go now. Leo, hahaha... you enjoy your quality time with your sister!”

”Uh... yeah,” Alice said, coughing into her hand as she practically sprinted toward the door. ”I also think we should give you two some sibling time alone. Get well soon, Leo!”

One by one, all of them scrambled out like rats leaving a sinking ship. Arthur, Julia, and even Nyra — holding a stolen apple — quickly vanished into the hall. Even Lyra bowed to Sylvia and slipped out, closing the heavy doors behind her.

The lock clicked like a death sound.

Left alone under the cold, silent gaze of my older sister, I swallowed hard and pulled the blanket higher, knowing I was completely in trouble.