An hour before sunrise.

Inside a luxurious office illuminated by a chandelier suspended on the ceiling, has tall windows with rolled-up blinds, a plush chair fit for a boss, and a shelf full of documents and journals, the sound of a furious desk smash filled the air.

"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT DAMNED B-RANKER IS STILL NOT FOUND?!" roared a bald middle-aged man, his head reflecting a shine of the chandelier's light.

"S-S-Sir Baldwin! P-Please calm yourself, y-you'll lose more ha– err, excessive anger is bad for your heart."

Veins popped at the sides of the bald boss' head after hearing the words of his tall, long-haired, bespectacled subordinate, his body shaking in utter fury.

"You mere underling…Lushmane, you dare…did you just almost say that I'll lose more hair even though I have none left? Have you actually grown the balls to mock me? Hnngghh…DO YOU WANT ME TO RIP YOUR SCALP OFF RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW?!"

"H-HIIH!! I don't dare, Sir Baldwin! I most certainly didn't almost say such a thing!"

"You…" the bald boss said in a low roar, pointing repeatedly at Lushmane while staring daggers at him. "I'll let you off this time…repeat this one more time and see how I donate every strand of your hair to charity…"

After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Baldwin calmed down and continued:

"This damned bladeborn academy is trying to protect that damned Okuni, are they? Fine then, let's see if they can hide the brat from me. I'll turn that unjust institution upside down…"

***

The well-rested sun soon rose to assume its heavenly throne, signaling the beginning of yet another exciting day for this year's novices.

Daru groaned lightly as he sat up, lightly stretching before hopping out of his bed.

He then grabbed everything he needed before going to the shared bathroom to take a bath and prepare himself for another day.

He had to wait a few minutes this time before a cubicle was freed.

Around thirty minutes later, he finished his preparations and left the F-ranker dormitory alongside a few depressed souls, heading over to their lecture building.

Daru's building was about a twenty-minute walk away from his dormitory, so he and the other low rankers had to wake up earlier than the higher rankers.

They will be late otherwise.

But Daru didn't mind much.

He enjoyed his morning walks, appreciating the singing birds, the fresh morning air, the trees, and the neatly maintained flowerbeds.

He inevitably arrived in front of his classroom, reaching out to open the door.

The moment he did, a few heads turned to him, checking who it was that entered, though the attention of a majority of his classmates was glued to their two classmates sobbing in front, kneeling at their unusually early instructor.

Talon usually arrived just on time or a few minutes late…

"S-Sir Talon, please! I don't want my journey in the Myriad Sword Realm to end like this! I promise we'll take better care of our lives…"

"Yes, Sir Talon! You should be able to do something about our situations…we'll be forever indebted to you! I promise we'll repay you once we make it. Although I'm only a D-ranker, Kevin is a C-ranker like you! We can even sign a contract with you! Just please…"

Unfortunately, despite their pitiful pleas, the instructor's face remained indifferent.

"I apologize, but there's nothing I can do. Like you guys, I'm a mere C-ranker. I haven't even restored the life I lost a year ago. There's nothing I can do. You still have a life left, so your journey in the Myriad Sword Realm hasn't ended yet. You can still try to gain more lives for yourselves."

It wasn't difficult for Daru to understand what was happening after hearing his instructor's response, and the rather heartless remarks of a few of their classmates only confirmed what he grasped.

"Heh, serves you two showoffs right…"

"Yeah, I already warned these two repeatedly not to attempt taking on spawns and quests that aren't within their capabilities…"

"Me too. I told them to take it a little easy, especially after their first deaths, but do you know what their response was? They kept on telling me crap like how would we overtake the high-rankers if we didn't even have the balls to take a few risks?"

"Hahaha! Do they think they're the main characters of an anime, or something? Talk about being brutally slapped by reality right out of their delulu-land…"

Daru frowned at the group of four.

While it was indeed important to acknowledge one's limits in order to improve at an appropriate pace, he respected the courage of his two begging classmates for even daring to attempt to chase after the sun.

It was a bit unfortunate that they were scorched, though…

Still, he appreciated them far more than the slimy bastards standing a few meters away from him, sneering before he left:

"Disgusting…"

The four heard it, but they were mere D-rankers.

They weren't so confident in challenging Daru, despite being among those who mocked him for awakening a trash sword.

They couldn't even call him out and were left gritting their teeth, clenching their fists, and talking tough in mutters and mumbles as he headed for his slumber capsule.

The begging went on for another minute before Instructor Talon lost patience:

"Enough. Your lives are your responsibilities, and the academy doesn't have the means to give you more. Either leave the room now if you want to give up, or go back to your seat if you want to continue. I'm starting the lecture soon, and I won't tolerate any more disturbances."

Kevin and Carl could only despairingly walk back to their slumber capsules. There was no more negotiating with their instructor's cold and stern tone…

Although the majority of their classmates watched and smiled in schadenfreude, they were also taking the scene in front of them as a lesson—a reminder that their actions in the Myriad Sword Realm actually had consequences.

If they didn't want to end up like these two, they had to play it smart and take it a little easy.

Removing his attention from the two dejected students, Instructor Talon was about to start the lecture when, suddenly, his phone rang.

"Wait a sec."

He then exited the room and answered the call.

A minute later, he returned, the frown on his face deepening.

Talon momentarily looked at two empty capsules before announcing:

"I've been summoned by the Principal for an important matter. Lecture is suspended today, but afternoon classes will proceed as usual."

He then left the classroom under the excited gazes of his students.

Since there was no lecture today, this meant that everyone would be able to enter the realm two hours earlier.

Everyone quickly lay down on their slumber capsules, adjusted them for comfort, and pressed their palms on their sword marks.

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.