Dawn had already broken, and Ivy remained unconscious.
As the day progressed, Storm sat by her bed with his head leaning forward against the bed. Pondering about what the Lord said and if Ivy would be okay.
"I don't want to be in the shadows of Ajax, but to kill him?" He thought, "This isn't something I should be thinking about. I should have given him the answer, there's no way I'm killing Ajax."
Regardless of his thirst for power, killing Ajax isn't something Storm intended to do.
As his mind wandered, Ivy began to gain consciousness.
"Hey, what happened?" Ivy murmured.
Storm raised his head and gave a faint smile."Hey I'm glad you are up."
"Don't look at me. I hate being weak," Ivy said, tilting her head against her shoulder.
"Is that all you can think of?" Storm asked and sighed.
Ivy Wager, a first-class noble. Her parents, strict and superiority-oriented, always preferred she was on top. Ivy had long wished to have a normal life—get praised and appreciated for doing her best—but no, her parents hate to see her lose and get punished if anything such happens. Because of these circumstances, Ivy hates to lose and feel inferior. To broaden her superiority, she tries everything she can to get all potential talents under her control.
Storm said as he helped Ivy up. "What happened to you?"
Ivy sat on the bed with her back against the frame. "I don't remember much," she said calmly. "I started to feel hot all of a sudden. That's what I remember.
"By the way, which demon did you summon?"
Storm hesitated for a moment. "Nothing…Yeah. I got nothing."
"Mmm? That's unusual," Ivy murmured as she pressed her into a thin line.
Storm asked Ivy to excuse him and left the room. He strolled the North Sacred campus, intending to kill time for his encounter with God.
He headed to the North Sacred guild to see what the members were up to. He was approached by three students, and without a word one of the three pinned Storm against a wall with his elbow pressing Storm's neck. "Stay away from Ivy. I don't care who your parents are; I will kill you if you don't." He said angrily and let go of Storm and entered the guild.
Storm held his neck. "What the heck? What did I do?" He stood in front of the guild for a while with his arms folded across his chest before he was approached by students who wanted to know about his parents.
Before long it was time for the North Sacreds training. They met at the training grounds, and each student joined their respective representatives. Because of Ivy's absence, a temporary representative was needed, and Storm was assigned due to his parent's reputation.
"Me?" He asked with a skeptical expression. Without any option, he approached the dais and faced his students.
He clenched his fist. "I'm good at theories, but practical? I will give that to Ajax." He thought as he shook his head, "Come on, Storm Galehart, you've got this."
"Okay, let me use mana circulation to kill time," he said.
He instructed everyone to take their seat in the North Sacred personal zendo.
Once they got seated, his instructions were simple—they should try and exceed the limitations of their mana pool by releasing excess mana into their body.
The training soon ended, and the students waited at the guild for dungeons to explore, so the representatives strolled to the principal's office for possible availability of dungeons.
As they approached, a familiar face seemed to be dismissed from the office; it was Ajax. Storm hurried to him and tried to explain his reason for leaving. But Ajax just smiled and gave him a thumbs up as he headed out.
Storm had no idea. Ajax had a throat injury and couldn't speak much, but despite Ajax's friendly gestures, he wasn't happy with it.
"Is he that mad at me?" He thought.
Finally, the professor instructed the representatives to got to the office and they did. Storm's mind still pondered his and Ajax's encounter.
The night drew in, instantly. Ivy was okay now—which was a relief for Storm because he would have made them meditate again the following day.
He lay down in bed and stared calmly at the ceiling, waiting for the Lord to approach him.
His wish was granted. Lord stood in front of him once more with his appearance as fearsome as before.
"This looks exactly like my room but in flames," he said as his eyes wandered around.
Before Storm could utter a word, Lord spoke up, "What if I told you Ajax exists to kill people like you?" His voice was steady.
"What do you—" Storm asked, confused.
Before the words left Storm's mouth, Lord's hand was on Storm's head. In that instant, Storm was shown a scene where Ajax murdered him brutally without any hesitation.
Storm's jaw dropped, but immediately shook his head. "How true is this?" He demanded.
Lord began strolling around the room with his arms folded over his back. "Ajax's life is anticipated by his family," he gazed at Storm. "But you, being his best friend, gives you the advantage.
"The scene you saw is something likely to happen in the future. And I'm not betting on chance, he's your best buddy after all."
Storm stood still and listened calmly.
He continued, "I will allow you to perfect any two skills of your choice and choose an ultimate skill. But the longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to kill him.
"You will soon get a reason to kill him."
Those were his last words, and before Storm could question him, he was in his actual room.
"Ajax killing me? How absurd," he thought with a smile, "I mean, this guy would rather run than face off against a giant mud golem.
"Perhaps he's just a lonely god who wants to use our friendship as entertainment. I'm not giving in, Lord."
He lay calmly in bed, giving himself reasons why Ajax would never kill him, until he finally drifted to sleep.
Meanwhile, Ajax lay on his bed pondering his conversation with Principal Elion. He had approached the principal about wanting to explore the Shadow Cry dungeon but did not want to explore it as an academy duty. He asked if his gear could be removed just for that dungeon, but unfortunately, Principal Elion declined.
"Once you are on this campus, you do everything in the academy's honor." He said.
"I just have to make sure I don't die," Ajax thought as he relaxed in his chair.
[Ajax, do you have your dreams and aspirations?] Lucius asked. [I mean, aside from what the Romanov family and God want from you, do you have your desires?]
Ajax took a brief moment and a deep breath. "I don't know yet, I think I will find that along the way," he said. "I just know I want to be free and for the opportunity to dream. I don't think I have that opportunity now."
[Why do you want to clear the dungeon, then?" Lucius asked, curious.
Ajax stood up and leaped into his bed. "Because you asked," he murmured, "And regardless of what I want, I know I must get stronger, and it's painfully obvious that my parents want me to get strong as well."
[Fair enough.]
He decided to start exploring the dungeon once his throat was completely healed.
"There's no way Skylar would leave me if my throat isn't healed." He thought as his eyes drifted off.