A few days later, the colony had two ant queens that were no longer mere shardjaws.

One had evolved into an embermaw ant queen, while the other had taken an aquatic path, becoming an aquamandible.

But the fruits of those transformations didn’t appear right away.

Only after Theo began feeding the ants enormous amounts of food did the brood start getting bigger. That was when he first tried comparing them to the earlier embermaws and aquamandibles, only to reach a disappointing conclusion.

Most of the earlier embermaws and aquamandibles were already dead. They had been among the very first, and it had been a long time since their birth.

Meanwhile, Clara and Elias were nowhere to be seen. That absence made Theo realize he might have grown a little too attached to them.

They were important, as his people, but to want them around him at all times felt like a different level of dependence Theo didn’t want to delve into again.

And when he was having the ants have another two bigger evolutions to maintain, and the Ant Queen was adamant on not initiating any more evolutions until it could complete the ones it currently had, Theo found himself with little to do beyond his sword training.

Rhys was busy with some missions, leaving only the normal knights to spar with him.

But they were too low-level for the sparring sessions to be meaningful.

Another day passed like this, and Theo came to a realization—he needed more than what he had right now.

He didn’t feel challenged and didn’t feel occupied enough. So, with a decision he made on his own, Theo went to the baron to discuss something.

"I want to attend the royal academy, Father," Theo said.

The baron just continued scribbling down words on the paper, not even looking up.

"I see," the baron spoke calmly, still not sparing a glance at him, then asked in return. "You can’t be in the normal first-year class anymore, Theo. The emperor has already told me they will make accommodations—and I know very well what that implies."

Only then did the baron finally lift his gaze.

"With your age, you stand somewhere between a child who will graduate to his third year. But in terms of knowledge, you still belong in the first year," the baron continued. "What do you intend to do about that?"

Theo looked at his father and frowned slightly. "Didn’t the emperor tell us that he would take care of it?"

The baron only sighed and went back to writing some more before he placed the paper to the side and then placed the pen back in its holder.

"The emperor will arrange things for you in a way that you may end up being the only student in your whole class for some time, Theo. Will you be okay with that?" the baron asked.

This time, Theo didn’t answer immediately. He held his father’s gaze for a moment, then fell into thought.

"Every single one of them will be just kids anyway... but making connections is important too..." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"I will figure out a way, Father. For now, all I want is to get a proper education, enough to stand on the same level of knowledge as an academy graduate," Theo said.

The baron nodded. "Perhaps it’s time you completed these studies of yours. Once you’re done, there’s a lot we will need to handle as a family."

He paused briefly before adding, "Your first outer devil hunt might also come earlier than your siblings’, with how often the emperor has been calling you for missions."

At that moment, Theo’s eyes widened.

"Fighting the outer devils?"

"Yeah, we will discuss that later. For now, let’s get started with that letter to Rael first," the baron said, pulling out a clean sheet of paper and beginning to write.

"I heard you haven’t visited the underground library."

"I haven’t had the time yet, Father. But before leaving for the academy, there are a few things I need to take care of."

A wide smile stretched on Theo’s face, one the baron knew well. A smile that only appeared when Theo was confident about something.

"Even if you send the letter to the emperor right now, I still won’t get admitted until the summer break is over," Theo added, earning a faint smile from the baron.

"And what makes you think that man won’t ask you to join during the summer break so that you can catch up to your peers?" the baron countered.

And again, Theo was in a dilemma, caught completely off guard.

"...Well, here I thought I had thought of something good," Theo muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"You might only have a week to finish with whatever you need to. After that, you will be leaving for the academy."

Theo nodded and left the room. When he told the news to Rhys after his return, the knight didn’t bother hiding his annoyance this time.

Theo had been leaving home for everything—except his aura training.

"So now you want to go and sit in a classroom while your aura is still this low-level, young master?" Rhys asked bluntly, making Theo purse his lips.

He clearly hadn’t expected to be confronted by Rhys such straightforwardly.

"It won’t stay pathetic forever, Sir Knight. I just need to learn more things," Theo replied.

Rhys stared at him for a few moments before clicking his tongue.

"Then don’t come back from that place weaker in the head compared to how you are when you leave. Knowledge is good, but if your body lags behind, all that knowledge will do is make you painfully realize how weak you are."

Theo nodded, taking his words seriously. That wasn’t something he needed to be told twice.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel curious about so many contradictions he was seeing.

On one hand, everyone insisted he gain knowledge—political knowledge, to be specific.

On the other, those who were truly strong seemed to care very little about such things.

Theo wanted to become someone like the baron... like Rhys... and eventually go beyond them.

And for that, he knew one thing clearly...

He needed to train at a level that might need his blood, sweat, and tears all at once.