During combat training, students from the other divisions were busy sweating through hand to hand drills and technique practice.

The only exception was Alpha Division’s three problem students.

Cursecraft Academy had already been in session for a while, and before long, the two troublemakers from Alpha Division had become infamous across campus.

They skipped practically every class.

Half the time, nobody even knew where they were.

As for why everyone only noticed two absentees, the reason was simple.

The third one barely registered in anyone’s mind at all.

No, more accurately, people couldn’t even realize they had forgotten him.

In the spectator stands beside the training field, Caelum sat there lazily watching the younger Sorcerers from other divisions train.

The combination of martial arts and techniques was flashy enough to leave ordinary people dazzled.

He muttered to himself, "Wonder when they’ll finally let us go on missions."

Cursecraft Academy existed to train young Sorcerers.

The school had three grades in total, and every new student started from Year One.

Only after mastering the basics of Cursed Energy and techniques could someone truly be considered a qualified Sorcerer.

Once approved by instructors, students would be allowed to participate in real missions and exorcise Cursed Spirits.

By Year Two, most students had accumulated enough experience to function independently.

As for why the academy needed a third year at all...

Not everyone possessed talent.

A large number of students still failed to become proper Sorcerers even by graduation, lacking the strength necessary to exorcise Cursed Spirits.

Of course, things were different for Sorcerers born into established bloodlines.

For them, Cursecraft Academy was mostly a formality.

They had already received jujutsu education from childhood within their families and often entered the academy with overwhelming advantages.

Because of that, grade level had little to do with actual strength.

The two monsters in Alpha Division were perfect examples.

The ridiculously handsome black haired guy with spiky hair was named Zephyr.

He came from one of the great Sorcerer families and was so strong that many veteran Sorcerers couldn’t beat him.

Rumor had it he had already reached the level of an elite Grade 1 Sorcerer.

The blue haired guy with the short ponytail was Sylas.

He also came from a prestigious Sorcerer lineage.

Though slightly weaker than Zephyr, he was still firmly within Grade 1 territory.

Sorcerer rankings were closely tied to the threat levels of Cursed Spirits.

To put it simply:

A Grade 4 Cursed Spirit could be handled by ordinary humans using conventional weapons, assuming they could actually see it.

A Grade 3 Cursed Spirit required firearms and military grade weaponry.

Grade 2 Cursed Spirits were practically impossible to deal with without heavy equipment like rocket launchers or tanks.

Grade 1 Cursed Spirits possessed destructive capability comparable to missiles or artillery.

As for Special Grade Cursed Spirits...

Those things existed beyond standard definitions.

Anything significantly surpassing Grade 1 was generally classified as Special Grade.

Naturally, Sorcerers were ranked according to the level of Cursed Spirits they could reliably eliminate.

Grade 4 Sorcerers handled Grade 4 Cursed Spirits.

Grade 3 Sorcerers handled Grade 3.

And so on.

Generally speaking, Sorcerers were somewhat stronger than Cursed Spirits of the same grade.

For Zephyr and Sylas to possess that level of power at such a young age made it obvious how exceptional they were.

The academy had enormous expectations for both of them.

Everything taught at school, they had already learned long ago.

And many things the academy didn’t teach, they knew anyway.

With personalities that rebellious and independent, skipping class was practically inevitable.

As Sylas himself put it:

"Pointless lessons."

Pshht.

A soda can opened beside him.

Sylas appeared next to Caelum like a ghost and silently sat down, clearly uninterested in combat training.

Meanwhile, Zephyr strolled over with his usual lazy swagger.

He glanced at the soda in his hand, paused, then casually tossed it toward Caelum.

"My treat."

"Thanks."

Zephyr scratched his head strangely.

He had this persistent feeling that Caelum’s presence was unnaturally faint.

There were only three people in Alpha Division.

Yet somehow, he constantly forgot Caelum even existed.

Some kind of technique?

Zephyr’s instincts were incredibly sharp, and he immediately guessed the correct answer.

Still, a Sorcerer’s technique was private business, so he didn’t pry further.

Beep beep beep.

A ringtone suddenly sounded.

"Yeah, teach."

"Got it."

After hanging up, Zephyr flashed a bright grin at the other two.

"Permission approved. Time to head out and exorcise a Cursed Spirit."

Both Caelum and Sylas immediately perked up.

Sylas stood up and said to Caelum, "Let’s go."

Caelum followed behind.

Three days later.

Inside an abandoned building on the outskirts of Blackreach, the three stepped out of a black sedan.

The man exiting the driver’s seat was a broad shouldered middle aged man in a black suit.

Caelum didn’t know his name.

He only knew the man’s role as their supervisor.

His job was to transport them to mission sites, brief them on assignments, and provide support through basic techniques.

Combat ability wise, he was practically useless.

"Everyone, this is the location. Please stay careful."

As he spoke, the supervisor formed hand signs and launched a stream of black Cursed Energy into the sky.

A massive translucent black barrier spread outward, sealing off the surrounding area from the outside world.

Barrier Technique.

A Sorcerer’s duty was to exorcise Cursed Spirits.

Since Cursed Spirits were born from humanity’s negative emotions, ordinary people absolutely could not be allowed to learn of their existence.

Otherwise, widespread fear would generate even more powerful Cursed Spirits.

To prevent that nightmare scenario, Barrier Techniques were essential.

They isolated regions from the outside world and concealed whatever occurred inside.

Unless specifically authorized, outsiders could neither see into the barrier nor enter it.

"Don’t worry, supervisor."

Zephyr grinned confidently.

"We’ll wrap this up fast."

Sylas pulled a blade from his waist and handed it toward Caelum.

"You still haven’t built your core technique yet, right? Use this for now."

Caelum accepted it.

"A Cursed Tool?"

"Grade 1, actually."

Zephyr casually hooked an arm around Sylas’s neck, completely ignoring his resistance.

"You don’t need to worry about us. Sylas can fight just fine without that sword."

"Thanks."

"No problem!"

Even though Sylas was the one who lent the weapon, Zephyr answered first as usual.

Sylas simply shoved him away, already completely used to Zephyr stealing the spotlight.

A core technique referred to the unique foundation technique every Sorcerer created based on their soul and bloodline.

All future technique development had to branch from that foundation.

Nothing could exist outside its framework.

Zephyr’s core technique was lightning.

Sylas’s was rain.

Naturally, someone with lightning as a core technique couldn’t learn Sylas’s rain based techniques.

In reality, Caelum already had a core technique.

Tenfold Limit Art.

He had simply never revealed it to anyone before.

As a result, both Zephyr and Sylas had always assumed he was weak.

Which was exactly the effect Caelum wanted.

A perfect execution of the Binding Art, Nameless One.