It was a plausible idea.

Unlike the current cultivated clouds, there will be no tax and daily mining limit for any Angels on the new cultivated clouds. Nobody owned it. At least for the time being, these clouds would be unrestricted for anyone to enter.

Many students would want to take ownership of them, but they wouldn’t be able to.

Not after they could handle the Star Beasts in there.

But Kai was still reluctant.

It’s far easier for him to sneak around to mine or even steal mana ores from others.

Since the other students don’t give a damn about him, he would also return the same.

"Can we at least try doing that?" Matilda persuaded further, seeing the doubt in his eyes. "Do not take unnecessary risks. Don’t give the academy any reason to root you out. Resorting to violence is exactly what they wanted."

"Are the cultivated clouds opened now?"

"No. Not yet. The clouds needed to be guided close enough to Cloud Colony Alpha, and it’ll take time."

"How much time?"

"F-Four da—"

"Four days?!" Kai turned, looking at her straight in the eyes. "You want me to waste four days waiting for the cultivated clouds to open?! The deadline is in five days! I would only have one day to gather three thousand mana ores!"

"It can be quicker than that, have some faith. Let’s mine as much as we can on two cultivated clouds we can enter, Grassland Grey and Maple Red, up to the limit, and go from there."

Matilda didn’t flinch away from his gaze.

She remained steadfast, knowing the dilemma Kai was experiencing right now was a hard one.

"I am on your side—Kai," She nodded her head slightly, changing to look from one of his eyes to the other. Almost like she was trying to make sure he could see the truth in her eyes. "I am not your enemy. I’ll help you gather the mana ores."

Kai’s eyes narrowed.

He gripped the scimitar’s handle and stripped the cloth from the blade in one slow, deliberate motion. The bare, sharp steel came to rest against Matilda’s throat. "I don’t believe you," His whispered, seeping into her bones as he pressed the edge into her skin until a thin line of blood welled up and streaked down her neck. But she didn’t move. "I want to kill you right now."

Silence fell over the area.

Matilda eventually parted her lips, "If you kill me, then you’ll be the same as me."

If he killed her right now, then he’d be killing a friend.

He would be the same as her.

Even then, Kai gripped the handle tighter and prepared to push the blade deeper.

Matilda still remained completely still.

No worry in her eyes, and there doesn’t seem to be any deceit in them either.

"Sigh..." Kai brought the scimitar away and grabbed the cloth from the floor, wrapping the sharp steel again. "Fine, let’s have it your way. You knew I’d kill you and succeed if you even attempt to betray me, so I’ll trust you."

"Wouldn’t it be better for you to listen from the start?" Matilda reached for her neck.

Blood smeared her fingertips.

She felt the scimitar graze her skin, but she didn’t expect it to draw blood.

Kai finished wrapping his scimitar and strode ahead—eager to discover how students located the mines on a cultivated cloud this vast. Then a thud sounded behind him. He stopped mid-step and glanced over his shoulder. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He saw Matilda on one knee, breathing heavily while holding her neck.

It was only then that he remembered something.

Shit! I must’ve lost my mind!

Since this was his first time using the scimitar, he forgot that it was enhanced by the Blood of the First Victim Orestes, allowing it to brand a Fatal Whispering Wound. Matilda was merely grazed by it, but it was enough for the effect to take hold.

"Are you okay?!" Kai knelt down beside her.

"I’m fine," She said breathlessly. "Just... the whisperers."

Kai thought of a way to reverse this and decided to put the scimitar close to the wound.

He charged it with mana, hoping that it would do something.

And it did.

Slowly, when the scimitar trembled in his grip, it called back a red hue from the scar.

It pulled something out from Matilda’s scar, and she gradually got better.

Didn’t take long for the whisperers to disappear.

"I don’t remember the weapon I made having that kind of effect," Matilda shook her head to push away the fog clouding her thoughts because of the whisperers. Her gaze snapped to Kai. "Is this your doing? Is that why you made a stop at your room?"

Matilda had been with Kai ever since he got the scimitar.

And the only time he wasn’t was when he was in his room, so that’s the only possible answer.

"Err..." Kai scratched the back of his head. "Something like that."

After the brief argument and a few hiccups, Kai and Matilda ventured deeper into the Grey Grasslands. True to its name, the cultivated cloud was mostly rolling grasslands, broken here and there by winding rivers, tall cliffs, and the distant roar of waterfalls.

Matilda knew most of the mine entrances in Grey Grassland.

But most of them are drained badly.

Sure, the known mines offered a path to meet the daily limit. But slow. Far inefficient. Taking too much time to their liking. Time that could be better used mining on Maple Red. So, they decided to find a new mine in an uncharted area.

To find it, one would need to have a special meter.

One that could detect the level of mana in the area, helping find clusters of mana ores faster.

It was the meter Kai was wondering about earlier.

Because the land ran shallow, the mana ore clusters are usually gathered inside the towering cliffs—some are even visible from the outside, accessible, almost inviting. There was no need for shovels. Just raw power, channeled into a fist, punched directly into the stone to reach the prize.

Mining was a tedious process.

For all its purity, the mana ores are still dangerous to touch carelessly. It could create a violent reaction if touched by the bare hands of Supernals, even with the hardened gloves on. So, the students can only use pickaxes to mine them.

One strike at a time.

As for the hardened gloves, they were mostly to avoid accidental touch with the mana ores.

It would only be safe to touch after it was mined, severed from the cluster.

Kai and Matilda found the spot when the meter beeped loudly.

They stood now at the northeast edge of the Grey Grasslands, facing a formation of towering stone pillars. Each had a wide, circular summit, and the pillars were connected to one another by weathered stone bridges. At the heart of the formation sat a dwarven stone structure.

Isolated and seemed untouched.

Matilda summoned her golden shield and, with a grunt, swiped it hard.

A big chunk of the stone structure was peeled off by the shield, and glinting ores greeted them.

"Huh... I guess this will be enough for the two of us."

"Let’s be done with this."

For the next two hours, the two mined the clusters with record speed. Neither of them talked during the entire process, fully immersed in mining. As strong as they were, mining these ores is not easy.

It didn’t take long for them to be covered in sweat.

"I should’ve brought my mining suit," Matilda complained under her breath.

She was in a hurry and wore the academy’s uniform instead of the distributed mining suit. It made her take off the blazer and leave only the shirt to get more moving room and also not get too hot.

I wish I had a mining suit.

Kai clicked his tongue in displeasure as he was really neglected as a Lesser Angel.

Once they were done, they stuffed the leather bags that they also brought with them with the mana ores and sat down for a moment to catch their breath. "Here," Matilda flicked a small blue bean. "It’ll keep you hydrated."

Kai looked at the bean and frowned.

He flicked the bean into his mouth and bit down.

Liquid burst across his tongue—it was bitter, sharp, and thoroughly unpleasant.

"What in the underworld is this?" He smacked his lips, grimacing. The aftertaste clung to his tongue like punishment.

"I don’t really know," Matilda stared at her own blue bean. "The academy said that it’s a water substitute."

"What, are we not good enough for regular water now?"

She almost smiled.

"It’s nothing like that. Just more convenient to carry a pouch of beans than a dozen bottles."

"I guess."

Kai looked around the place while he rested, taking in the silent sight. Nothing happened for the length of their mining session. Not even a single student was spotted. It was quiet, which was exactly what he appreciated, but it didn’t feel right somehow.

Kai took in the silent landscape as he rested—eyes sweeping the grey-green horizon. Nothing, absolutely nothing had happened during the entire mining session. Not a single disturbance. Not a single student came.

Such quiet should’ve been a relief—and it was, mostly.

But something about it didn’t feel right.

Even though it was nighttime and this area was essentially uncharted, Matilda had mentioned earlier that a few students should be patrolling. As members of the group that owned this territory, they were apparently given some kind of radar by the academy.

One that would allow them to know if there are other students in their territory.

Kai didn’t know exactly how the radar worked, but considering the academy’s pattern, he had no doubt the radar could detect whether the student was a Lesser Angel, Angel, or High Angel. And there’s no doubt that someone would come to see that it was him, a Lesser Angel.

Matilda said they would pay a visit, and also told him to let her do the talking.

But there’s no sign of them.

Of course, there’s a chance that the students might be asleep or didn’t care.

Kai doubted it, though.

Gaining ownership of this cultivated cloud must be hard, so they wouldn’t be this careless.

So where were they?

...

Somewhere in the Grassland Grey.

A pair of students sat beneath a towering rock formation, sheltered from the moon’s pale gaze beneath its stone canopy. Both were deep in meditation. Between them—a pad rested on the ground, its surface alive with pulsating blue rings.

It was a radar, quietly scanning the entire Grassland Grey.

One of them opened their eyes when a beep resounded; the radar detected two students.

"Hey," He tapped on his friend. "Someone is mining."

"Eugh..." the other student groaned and opened his eyes. "Someone is mining this late? Who is it?" He glanced at the tab—and was mildly surprised by what he was seeing. "A High Angel and a Lesser Angel?"

"It’s the first time a Lesser Angel came, let’s mess with him."

"Agreed. Night shift is fucking boring."

Just as the two students stood up, their eyes widened when a voice seeped into their ears.

"And why would you do that? Bullies aren’t charming, you know."