The next day—
I once again stood inside Evelisse's office.
She was currently going through dozens of floating documents while writing corrections across mana formulas faster than I could even follow.
Without looking at me—
she suddenly spoke.
"Go ahead to the fourth-year classroom first."
Then she handed me several neatly stacked notes.
"Write all of these on the board before class begins."
I glanced through the pages briefly.
Advanced mana synchronization formulas.
Complex ones.
"I have to attend a meeting with the vice headmaster."
Evelisse stood afterward while throwing her dark academy cloak over her shoulders.
Then—
her eyes shifted toward me briefly.
"And I hope you're feeling well now?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Her tone became cold again instantly.
"I can't have you slacking during your first week here."
"Understood."
Soon—
I left the office and headed toward the fourth-year classroom.
…
Meanwhile—
inside the classroom itself—
the atmosphere suddenly became far louder than usual.
Because two particular students had just entered.
A young man with dark green hair walked calmly through the room while a girl with light green hair followed beside him elegantly.
Prince William Astryx.
Princess Anastasia Astryx.
The imperial twins of Astryx Empire.
Murmurs immediately spread throughout the classroom.
"The prince is back?"
"Finally."
"Looks like the imperial mission ended."
Both twins held enormous influence inside Mythralis Academy.
Not only because of their status—
but because both were terrifyingly talented themselves.
Anastasia calmly sat beside Lucinda and Isolde afterward.
Isolde immediately smiled brightly.
"Anastasia! You're back."
The princess smiled softly.
"Yes."
The light green-haired girl carried a far gentler atmosphere compared to her brother.
Then immediately—
Isolde started complaining dramatically.
"You came back at the worst time possible."
"Our Mana Theory results came out."
"And I scored horribly again."
Anastasia laughed softly hearing that.
Meanwhile—
William sat beside Joseph near the middle rows.
The prince immediately noticed Joseph's pale expression.
His sharp emerald eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Are you unwell?"
Joseph immediately stiffened.
"N-No."
"It's nothing, Prince William."
William clearly didn't believe him.
But before he could question further—
the classroom doors opened.
Silence spread briefly afterward.
A young man with black hair and golden eyes entered calmly carrying several stacks of notes.
Both William and Anastasia instinctively glanced toward him curiously.
"…Who is that?"
Anastasia tilted her head slightly.
Isolde answered immediately.
"Oh right."
"Professor Evelisse got herself an assistant."
Anastasia blinked softly.
"Oh?"
"But… he seems rather young."
"Yeah."
"Even I was confused."
Lucinda silently watched the black-haired assistant professor walk toward the board.
Her crimson eyes narrowed faintly.
Because for some reason—
that strange feeling from yesterday still hadn't disappeared.
...
I quickly wrote down all the formulas Evelisse had assigned before finally placing the mana stylus down.
The glowing equations covered almost the entire board now.
Afterward—
I quietly moved toward the desk before sitting down silently.
The classroom soon returned to its usual chatter.
Most students quickly lost interest in me afterward.
I kept my eyes away from Lucinda entirely.
Just seeing her was enough to make my emotions unstable.
I couldn't risk losing control here.
So I remained silent.
But unfortunately—
it seemed fate had other plans.
…
Lucinda's crimson eyes slowly narrowed while staring at the board.
Then quietly—
she leaned slightly back in her chair.
Isolde blinked beside her.
"Something wrong?"
"…The ninth formula is incorrect."
Anastasia looked toward the board again.
"Oh…"
"Wait you're right."
"I think the stabilization flow is reversed."
Isolde scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"…Should we tell him?"
"If Professor Evelisse finds out he wrote something wrong she might actually kill him."
Anastasia hesitated briefly before raising her hand slightly.
"Um… sir?"
Then she froze before whispering toward Isolde.
"…What was his name again?"
"Nio?"
"No wait—I think it was Zio."
"Oh right."
She nodded before looking toward me politely.
"Sir Zio…"
"I think the ninth formula is wrong."
Without even looking up—
I answered immediately.
"You're wrong."
Silence.
Anastasia froze.
Clearly not expecting such a sharp response.
Then—
Lucinda calmly spoke.
"No."
"She's right."
My golden eyes slowly shifted toward her.
The classroom atmosphere subtly changed instantly.
Lucinda met my gaze directly without backing down.
"The stabilization sequence is flawed."
"You reversed the outward circulation point."
"If a student attempted to compress mana using that structure…"
"…the output efficiency would collapse."
Several students nearby nodded hearing her explanation.
After all—
Lucinda Valen ranked first for a reason.
I slowly stood up from the desk.
"And how exactly…"
"…did you come to that conclusion?"
Lucinda's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The third pathway."
"You destabilized the elemental convergence intentionally."
"That causes mana leakage."
I stared at her silently for a moment.
Then—
I spoke calmly.
"Wrong."
A small twitch appeared near Lucinda's eye.
"The instability exists because the formula isn't meant for standard synchronization."
"It's designed for compressed dual-affinity overlap."
Lucinda immediately responded.
"That would never function."
"The elemental rejection would occur before compression stabilizes."
"Unless…"
I walked toward the board slowly.
"…the outward flow is intentional."
Lucinda immediately stood up afterward.
"No."
"You're forcing temporary instability to increase output."
"That method is outdated."
Several students immediately became interested now.
Because this was Lucinda Valen.
And she was openly arguing with someone.
Isolde quietly whispered beside Anastasia.
"…She's actually annoyed."
Anastasia blinked softly.
"…I've never seen her like this before."
Lucinda suddenly walked toward the front herself before grabbing the mana stylus directly from the board.
"If the stabilization flow rotates inward instead…"
"…the elemental convergence becomes perfectly balanced."
Blue mana light spread across the board as she quickly rewrote part of the equation herself.
Elegant.
Fast.
Precise.
Several students looked impressed instantly.
William quietly muttered.
"As expected of Lucinda."
Lucinda then stepped slightly aside confidently.
"The formula becomes far more stable this way."
The classroom quietly nodded.
Honestly—
her correction looked flawless.
Then—
I calmly walked forward again.
Without hesitation—
I grabbed the stylus from her hand.
For a split second—
Lucinda's eyes widened slightly at the sudden action.
Then—
I rewrote a single section near the lower sequence.
Just one line.
And instantly—
the entire formula changed.
The classroom fell silent.
Because suddenly—
Lucinda's corrected formula collapsed midway through the synchronization chain.
I calmly tapped the lower section.
"You forgot one thing."
"The inward stabilization flow only functions if both elemental affinities possess equal polarity."
I glanced toward her directly.
"But ice naturally suppresses fire during compressed overlap."
"So the moment phase three activates…"
"…your formula destroys itself."
Silence.
Several students quickly realized it too.
"…Wait."
"He's right."
"The polarity balance collapses."
Lucinda's pupils trembled slightly.
I calmly completed the final correction.
"By forcing outward instability instead…"
"…the elemental suppression disappears entirely."
"The mana becomes unstable briefly."
"But the compression output triples afterward."
The entire classroom became dead silent.
Then slowly—
murmurs spread everywhere.
"…Lucinda lost?"
"No way."
"She actually overlooked that?"
Lucinda remained completely still staring at the board.
And behind her—
several students secretly looked interested.
Because for the first time—
the untouchable Lucinda Valen had visibly lost her composure.
"Disappointing."
My voice echoed calmly throughout the silent classroom.
"From the supposed rank one…"
"How do you overlook something this basic?"
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Several students' expressions sharpened immediately.
Most of them respected Lucinda heavily.
To them—
she was one of the absolute elites of Mythralis Academy.
And now—
some random assistant professor had publicly embarrassed her in front of the entire class.
A few students were already preparing to speak up.
But before anyone could—
Lucinda calmly spoke first.
"…I apologize."
"It seems I was incorrect."
Silence.
Then—
without another word—
she returned to her seat gracefully.
No anger.
No excuses.
No denial.
Just calm acceptance.
That alone stunned several students even more.
Isolde blinked repeatedly beside her.
"…Are you okay?"
Lucinda calmly opened her notebook afterward.
"Yes."
Though—
her crimson eyes remained colder than before.
Isolde puffed her cheeks angrily while glaring toward the front.
"That guy is such a jerk, hmph."
Anastasia smiled wryly while observing me quietly.
"…He's quite unusual."
A few minutes later—
the classroom doors opened once again.
Professor Evelisse calmly entered while carrying several floating documents beside her.
The moment she stepped inside—
her sharp violet eyes immediately sensed the strange atmosphere within the room.
The tension.
The silence.
The unusually serious expressions on several students.
Evelisse's gaze slowly swept across the classroom briefly before landing on the board.
Her eyes narrowed slightly seeing the modified formulas written there.
Then—
her eyes shifted toward me.
I remained silent.
Lucinda also calmly sat in her seat as if nothing had happened.
After a few seconds—
Evelisse simply ignored the atmosphere entirely.
As expected of her.
She walked toward the center platform before placing her documents down.
"Open your notebooks."
"Today we'll be covering Dual-Element Synchronization Failure."
...
As the class finally concluded—
I quietly exited alongside Evelisse.
The entire time—
my mind remained focused on only one thing.
My mana circuits.
Eventually—
we arrived at her office once again.
Evelisse calmly sat down behind her desk before taking a quiet sip of tea.
Then—
without even looking at me—
she spoke.
"I already know what you're going to ask."
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"Your mana circuits."
"They're shattered, aren't they?"
Silence.
So she knew.
Almost as if she had read my mind completely.
Evelisse finally glanced toward me afterward.
"Of course I knew."
"The moment you first entered my office…"
"…I felt absolutely nothing from you."
"No mana."
"No circulation."
"Nothing."
Her violet eyes narrowed slightly.
"You're practically hollow."
I clenched my fists slightly.
"So could you hel—"
"No."
Her response came instantly.
Cold.
Absolute.
"I can't."
Then after a brief pause—
she corrected herself.
"Or rather…"
"…it's impossible."
My expression darkened slightly.
"But…"
"Didn't you cure this condition yourself?"
Evelisse quietly stared at me for a few moments.
Then—
she slowly stood up.
"You suffered a mana collapse."
"You're correct."
"So did I."
For the first time—
her voice lost its cold arrogance slightly.
Then suddenly—
she removed her dark academy cloak.
And turned her back toward me.
My eyes widened instantly.
Grotesque purple veins spread violently across her pale skin like living corruption.
Twisted mana scars covered almost her entire back.
Some looked burned.
Others looked rotten.
It barely even looked human anymore.
Then—
Evelisse slowly glanced back toward me.
"You wish to know how I cured myself, Zio?"
Her voice remained calm.
"My method had a ninety-eight percent failure rate."
A bitter smile appeared on her face afterward.
"And somehow…"
"…I succeeded."
She slowly pulled her cloak back over herself.
"…After nearly killing myself in the process."