His teeth suddenly gritted together, his expression turning fierce.

"...Frost..."

Zephyrion’s eyes sharpened slightly.

’I see.’

Zephyrion had long held his suspicions, but they had never truly been confirmed. The first time he encountered that man had been within the Pyrian territory.

There, Frost’s appearance had been entirely different. With crimson hair and eyes, he had resembled a Pyrian through and through.

Yet the moment they reached the Order, he had simply shed that appearance, his hair and eyes turning snow white.

Even then, Zephyrion had sensed that the transformation hadn’t merely been superficial. It had gone far deeper than that.

Now, Demorian had confirmed those suspicions.

"...he can use multiple elements?"

"Yes!" Demorian growled. "That bastard... during the destruction of the Verdant Empire, he used their own element to wipe them out! That’s why the entire world thinks it was some internal conflict!"

’Wood.’

Zephyrion’s frown deepened slightly. That... did not sound good.

Currently, his other elements were still far too weak, only useful for supplementing his main element during battle.

But if Frost’s supplementary element alone had been enough to destroy an entire empire... then the gap between them was far larger than he had anticipated.

Zephyrion slowly clenched his fists before relaxing them again the very next moment.

’There’s no point dwelling on it.’

All he needed to focus on was growing stronger. Stronger and stronger. With enough power, he would make sure Frost paid for everything he had done.

The resolve within his mind slowly solidified. However, the moment he lifted his head, he found Demorian’s face suddenly inches away from his own, staring at him with a smug grin plastered across it.

"...what?"

"...my protege..." Demorian suddenly grinned so widely it looked almost unhinged. "This is incredible news!"

"..."

"No, think about it!" Demorian said excitedly, shoving his face closer. "If you can use multiple elements too, then your potential is even more monstrous than I thought! We can actually beat that frostbitten freak someday!"

"This is good! Very good!" Demorian rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Now tell me everything. How many elements can you use? How does it work? What are their ranks? Can you combine them? Can you—"

Demorian immediately began bombarding him with question after question regarding his power.

Zephyrion frowned deeply, though he still answered, revealing only the information he deemed necessary.

Eventually, he forced the man back into the rod before finally turning toward the research papers. It was time to properly go through them.

...

Within an empty training ground, the ragged sound of heavy breathing echoed repeatedly as Kaiden pushed himself far beyond his limits.

Huff. Huff.

Kaiden had bound his limbs with twice the weight he normally trained with and had been running ever since the narration ceremony ended.

Right now, his face was deathly pale, his movements sluggish and unsteady. He looked less like a warrior and more like a corpse dragging itself forward through sheer force of will.

Yet despite that, his eyes still burned with fierce determination as he forced his body onward.

Kaiden had struggled... nearly lost his life just to kill a single mutated beast. Yet he... he had defeated a mark seven.

Kaiden gritted his teeth harder.

’It’s not enough.’

He had to push harder. He had to grow stronger. He had to catch up.

...

Seated before a blazing forge, Fiona continuously hammered the molten metal before her with a massive smithing hammer.

The weapon looked enormous against her lithe frame, yet there wasn’t the slightest hint of strain on her face.

Instead, Fiona wore an excited smile.

Within her mind, the image of the young lord standing calmly amidst the forest replayed itself again and again, and no matter how many times it surfaced, she couldn’t stop the flutter stirring within her chest.

Eventually, she finished striking. After adding the final touches, Fiona lifted the completed object before her.

It was long and flexible, fitted with multiple curved appendages around it. A tactical belt.

The belt looked sleek and nearly flawless, yet a slight frown still formed on Fiona’s lips.

It remained somewhat heavy, but unfortunately she was only mark three and couldn’t yet inscribe runes to reduce its weight or improve it any further.

’The young lord would like this... right?’

The moment the thought of Zephyrion praising her for the belt surfaced in her mind, Fiona’s face immediately flushed red.

"I-I should polish it a bit more..."

She quickly lifted it again and began brushing its surface carefully. She truly wanted that praise...

...

BOOOOM!

A deafening explosion rippled outward, flooding the entire area with thick haze. A moment later, the haze slowly began to clear, revealing Kaelion standing amidst the destruction.

A swirling whitish armor radiating immense power wrapped around his entire body like a second skin.

As he stared at the devastation before him, a deep frown slowly appeared on his face.

’It’s not enough.’

His strongest attack had carved an enormous crater deep into the mountain range, obliterating rocks and causing the entire mountain to tremble violently.

Yet despite all that destruction... it still didn’t feel enough to defeat a mark seven.

Kaelion’s fists slowly tightened.

’Zephyrion Calderalth.’

The boy who had once looked down on him. Back then, Kaelion had sworn to himself that he would never lose to Zephyrion again. Yet today, that promise had been shattered completely.

’I won’t lose.’

During the upcoming Proving, no matter what happened, he would show Zephyrion that things were no longer the same as before.

With a cold expression, Kaelion turned and left.

...

Ingrid sat buried beneath a mountain of paperwork when her ward suddenly rushed into the office.

"...my lady, the Head of House has sent over the list of participants representing the house for the Proving."

Ingrid’s head immediately lifted, and she quickly gestured for the paper.

"Give it here."

The moment it reached her hands, her eyes swept across the names, searching for a single person.

The instant she found it, her teeth clenched slightly.

’Of course.’