Silence enveloped them. It was a stark contrast to the outgoing journey filled with the nobles' arrogant laughter and light conversations. Now, no one spoke. The only sounds were the horse hooves and the occasional clinking of armor. The team structure had broken and reformed into something awkward and unstable.

Darius val-Luminar, the leader, rode at the front, but now he was alone. His back was stiff, his gaze fixed ahead, but his mind was in turmoil. He kept replaying the events in the cave. The crystal explosion, the screams of the assimilated victims, and above all, Nihil's calm expression as he controlled a power that shouldn't exist. This was no longer about student rivalry. It was about a fundamental threat to everything he believed about the world. Power, to him, came from Grace, from the pure bloodline. But Nihil... Nihil was the antithesis of all that. He was living proof that all the rules Darius knew could be wrong.

Behind him, Orion Vex and Aurelia val-Crest rode side by side, but they too were silent. Orion occasionally touched his arm, healed by Celia, the scar a permanent reminder. He no longer made jeers. Every time he accidentally glanced at Nihil, he quickly looked away. His fear outweighed his arrogance. Aurelia, on the other hand, looked pale and uneasy. As a holy mage, she sensed Nihil's power as something fundamentally "wrong." It was a cold, hungry emptiness, and being near it made her spiritually ill.

At the back, Nihil walked steadily beside Celia. She was the only one brave enough to break the silence.

"Are you alright, Nihil?" she whispered, offering a water pouch. "You used a lot of energy in there."

Nihil accepted the pouch and drank a little. "I'm fine."

"What did you do... to the crystal?" she asked hesitantly. "I felt... their suffering just before they vanished. As if you freed them."

Nihil looked at her. "I merely erased what shouldn't have been there."

The cold, ambiguous answer didn't reassure Celia, but she knew she wouldn't get more. She could only see that behind the calm, the mysterious young man beside her carried a very heavy burden.

When they stopped to rest by a river, Nihil separated from the others. He sat on a large rock, taking out what he had obtained from the crystal's heart. The Void Crystal.

The thumbnail-sized black stone didn't reflect light. Instead, it seemed to absorb it, creating a small point of darkness in his palm. It felt cold, and strangely, familiar. He could feel the Null-Capacity Condenser in his pocket resonating gently with it.

"So that's your gift."

Nihil looked up. Darius stood before him, alone. The usual arrogance was gone, replaced by cold intensity.

"What do you want, val-Luminar?" Nihil asked.

Darius gazed at the Void Crystal in Nihil's hand. "Power like that," he said softly, "power to destroy golem armies and obliterate their magical cores... it doesn't come without a price. I don't know what you are, Nocturne. Devil, ancient god, or just a walking curse. But I know one thing."

He looked directly into Nihil's crimson eyes. "The Headmaster might see you as an interesting research subject. Princess Selene might see you as a new pawn. But people like Professor Theron, my father, and the entire Noble Council... they'll see you as one thing: a threat to be eliminated."

This wasn't a threat. It was a warning. A brutally honest political analysis.

"The world doesn't tolerate anomalies like you for long," Darius continued. "They'll hunt you. They'll try to dissect you. They'll try to control you. And if all else fails, they'll try to destroy you."

"Then I must ensure they fail," Nihil replied, his voice as cold as the river stone beneath them.

Darius nodded slowly, as if expecting that answer. "Be careful, Kitchen Boy. Your battle in the mine may be over, but your war has just begun."

He turned and returned to the camp, leaving Nihil in silence. Their relationship had changed. They were no longer mere rivals who hated each other. They were now two opposing forces who had measured each other's strength and reached a dangerous understanding.

As the white towers of Solara Magna finally appeared on the horizon, every member of Team Seven knew they would not return as the same students who had left. They had entered the darkness, and they had brought part of it back with them.

Team Seven's return to the Academy of Dawn Light was met with an anticipatory silence. News of their mission's success had arrived first, but the details remained a mystery. They were immediately summoned to report before the examination board: Headmistress Alina Sunstone, Professor Theron, and Instructor Zander.

They stood in a line in the magnificent council chamber. Darius, as the leader, stepped forward. Nihil's entire future at the academy depended on the words Darius would speak next.

"Headmistress, Professors, Instructors," Darius began, his voice formal and controlled. "The mission to Silverstone Mines is complete. The energy anomaly has been neutralized. The reports of missing persons can be confirmed... they did not survive."

"The initial report stated a D-Tier danger level," Theron said sharply, his eyes piercing Darius, though his anger was clearly directed at Nihil. "But I hear your team requested emergency healing signals. Explain."

Darius was unfazed. "The initial intelligence was inaccurate, Professor. We weren't facing ordinary monsters. We were attacked by a large swarm of crystal entities immune to most physical attacks and light magic. The danger level was at least B-Tier." He paused briefly. "We sustained some injuries but survived."

"And how?" pressed Theron. "How did your first-year team, led by you, survive a B-Tier threat without casualties?"

This was the moment. Darius could have lied, claimed the victory for himself, and accused Nihil of using forbidden magic. But he looked at Alina, who watched him with a calculating gaze. He knew such a lie wouldn't last.

"We survived due to unconventional tactics," Darius replied carefully. "When our standard methods proved ineffective, Special Research Student Nihil identified structural weaknesses in the enemies and neutralized the primary threat at its source."

The answer left Theron seething with anger. It was an acknowledgment, though delivered in a tone of extreme coldness and reluctance.

"Unconventional?" interjected Zander, a thin smile playing on his lips. "I hear you obliterated the entire hive. Sounds effective to me. Well done, lad." He nodded briefly toward Nihil.

Alina Sunstone finally spoke, her voice ending the debate. "Details about Student Nihil's methods are part of my research and not to be discussed here. What matters is that Team Seven, despite facing unexpected dangers, successfully completed their mission without losing a single member. This is an achievement. You have all shown courage."

She looked at each of them in turn. "You are dismissed. Report to the medical wing for a full examination."

As they exited the room, rumors began to spread like wildfire. Stories of how Nihil single-handedly destroyed the crystal monster army with his "absence magic" became a new legend at the academy.

That night, Nihil was in his room. He didn't care about the rumors. He was focused on one thing. On his table lay his damaged Null-Capacity Condenser and the dark Void Crystal. Using precision tools borrowed from Finn's workshop, he began working. This was a complex operation, combining arcane engineering with Void principles known only to him.

He opened the condenser panel, removed its cracked matrix, and carefully inserted the Void Crystal into the center. As the crystal made contact with the residual energy within the condenser, both resonated. A thick black light enveloped the artifact for a moment, then faded.

[Void Crystal integration successful.]

[Repairing and enhancing Null-Capacity Condenser...]

[Repairs complete. Stabilization efficiency restored to 100%.]

[Upgrade successful. Energy absorption limit expanded.]

A new, clean notification appeared in Nihil's mind.

[Maximum Capacity increased: 25 -> 40]

A faint smile appeared on his face. He had become stronger.

Suddenly, there was a knock at his door.

Nihil was alert. He opened the door slightly. Darius val-Luminar stood there alone.

"We need to talk," Darius said, without preamble.

Nihil let him in.

"I won't ask what you did in that mine," Darius said quietly. "And I won't report anything beyond the official report. What happened there, stays there."

He looked at Nihil. "I don't like you, Nocturne. I think you're a threat. But I'm not a fool. Theron is a fanatical fool, and his hatred endangers everyone. You... you are something else."

He took a deep breath. "My goal is to graduate from this academy as the strongest and lead my family. Your goal seems to be to survive and become stronger. For now, our goals do not conflict."

He offered an unspoken truce. "Stay out of my business, and I'll stay out of yours. We're not friends. We're not allies. We're rivals who now understand there's a greater enemy out there. But," his eyes blazed with cold light, "if you ever become a threat to the Imperium, I'll be the first to drive a sword through your heart. Understood?"

Nihil stared at him for a long moment, then nodded briefly.

"Good," said Darius. He turned and left without another word.

Nihil closed the door. He looked at his upgraded Null-Capacity Condenser, now pulsing with greater power. He had survived. He had neutralized one of his main rivals, for now. And he had become stronger.

But Darius's warning echoed in his mind. He was walking on an extremely thin tightrope, high above a very deep abyss.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.