Kaien merely let out a small, understanding chuckle.
He had reacted no differently the first time he received the letter from his father. Even now, after seeing more of the world, he still found it difficult to believe.
Yet he trusted his father more than anyone. "Dante will be enrolling at Midvest as well," Kaien said calmly. "You'll be able to judge everything for yourself once you're there."
Silence settled over the room. Hector was the first to recover. He clicked his tongue before leaning back in his chair.
"Tsk... he's not lying." Hector looked toward Ragnar before continuing. "This bastard may only be a Level Three Mythical Being, but he can already fight against Level 5's. Everyone outside thinks he's Level Four, but even that's wrong. This guy's just letting people overestimate him. After all too much attention can be fatal"
Kaien simply shrugged. He had long since grown used to the disbelief. A soft hand suddenly rested on his thigh. Looking down, he found the beautiful Silver Wolf princess pouting at him. Her crimson eyes carried both annoyance and concern.
"My lord," she complained softly, "please stop bullying my youngest brother. This is the first time I've ever seen Ragnar this nervous." Kaien couldn't help but laugh.
Then he looked back toward Ragnar. Meanwhile...
Ragnar felt like his entire world had just been overturned. 'What the hell...? Why is someone that strong attending an academy? What possible reason would someone like that even have?'
His smile had long disappeared. 'Are there monsters like that walking around Midvest? Contrary to what everyone thinks, I'm not some battle-crazed lunatic. I enjoy fighting... but I enjoy fighting people weaker than me. Not monsters.' His thoughts became increasingly frantic.
'If he's sixteen and already that strong... then pills alone can't explain it. Maybe he didn't actually fight that Level Six. Maybe he only escaped...'
But even that explanation failed to reassure him. Escaping someone 6 entire levels above you in the Mythical Tier wasn't exactly normal either.
'This has to be an exception, no an anomaly amongst anomalies. I can't believe Father is sending me there. He glanced toward the Emperor and Empress. Neither of them questioned Kaien's words.
Not once.
That frightened him far more than anything else. Kaien noticed Ragnar's increasingly pale face and smiled. "You don't need to be this nervous. You've never met him and its not like you've offended him. So don't treat him like some unavoidable disaster."
"He knows where the line is." After a brief pause, Kaien added, "And as far as I know... he shouldn't be aware of our family's true strength either." As he spoke, Kaien's thoughts drifted elsewhere.
'To think Father commands people like the Silver Wolf Emperor...' Even after all these years... Even after attending Midvest Academy...
That fact still unsettled him. The academy had taught him more than simply combat. Its history classes skill theories and practicals, body tempering even ancient civilizations even technology, mana engineering.
Every subject had slowly revealed just how enormous the world truly was. And every lesson had led to the same conclusion. His father wasn't merely powerful. He was unimaginably powerful. Kaien had once believed he could eventually surpass him.
Now...He estimated it would take at least another fifty to one hundred thousand years before that dream even became remotely possible.
If it was possible at all. He smiled bitterly. The world believed he possessed a Level One Mythical Skill. Only a handful of trusted friends, family members, and subordinates knew he had already reached Level Three.
Even then... None of them knew the price he had paid to reach it. Across the table, Ragnar slowly forced himself to calm down. He had always considered himself a practical person.
He enjoyed overwhelming weaker opponents. He enjoyed becoming stronger, but he had absolutely no interest in challenging monsters. Just imagining a class full of people like Dante gave him a headache. Seeing Ragnar regain some composure, Kaien smiled.
"Relax. There won't be many. When I enrolled, there were roughly 100-150 hundred Mythical Beings. It'll probably be around the same when you arrive."
Ragnar's expression improved slightly.
Until Kaien continued. "That doesn't mean they're weak." Kaien remembered those years vividly. The academy had been filled with geniuses. Many possessed absurd talents. Yet they all encountered the same obstacle.
A Mythical Skill. Leveling one wasn't simply difficult.
It bordered on impossible.
Mastery wasn't achieved through endless battles alone. Each person had to discover the exact method that suited their own Skill. Only then could years—sometimes centuries—of relentless refinement begin. Kaien himself had entered Midvest at thirteen. More than a decade had passed. Despite countless competitions, inheritances, life-and-death missions, and relentless training...
His Skill had only advanced four Levels.
That alone spoke volumes about how terrifying the Mythical Realm truly was.
Kaien's gaze drifted toward Hector.
Among all the people he had fought since entering Midvest Academy, Hector remained one of the strongest. Possessing two Skills, one of which belonged to the Mythical Tier, he had been an extraordinary opponent. It was precisely because of that strength that, after defeating him, Kaien had invited him to become one of his subordinates. Even now, Kaien doubted there were many of his generation capable of matching Hector in direct combat.
'Maybe... Jeremiah.'
The thought made him smile bitterly.
'Aside from that monster, I doubt anyone else is stronger.'
Yet another figure slowly surfaced in his mind.
'Dante...' His smile gradually faded.
'That kid still gives me an uncomfortable feeling. Every time I think I've figured him out, he does something that makes me question everything again. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already stronger than me. Then again... unless he chooses to reveal it himself, none of us will ever truly know.'
His duty here was done. He had warned Ragnar. Whether Ragnar took those words seriously or not was no longer his concern.
Feeling the gentle hand still resting against his thigh, Kaien looked down.
The Silver Wolf princess met his gaze with bright crimson eyes, and he smiled before lifting her hand and placing a gentle kiss upon it.
She immediately blushed, her wolf ears twitching as a soft giggle escaped her lips. The atmosphere in the room gradually relaxed after that. The conversation shifted away from Midvest Academy and toward matters concerning the Silver Wolf Empire. Ragnar quietly listened from the side, occasionally answering when spoken to, but for the most part the discussion no longer involved him.
Eventually, the Emperor dismissed him.
"The entrance examinations for Midvest Academy will begin in a few months. Use this time wisely and make your preparations."
Ragnar rose to his feet before bowing respectfully.
"I understand, Father."
As he left the audience chamber with Shion and Sophie following behind, the conversation about Dante continued inside the room. Walking through the palace corridors, Ragnar finally let out a long breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
His nerves had calmed considerably. After thinking everything through, he arrived at a simple conclusion. The chances of him making an enemy out of someone like Dante were actually quite low.
He had no reason to provoke someone whose background, strength, and personality were all complete unknowns. 'Keeping a low profile isn't exactly difficult.'
His purpose for entering Midvest Academy had never changed. He wanted methods to raise the level of his Skill. He wanted resources. Equally so he decided Knowledge and experience. Everything that could make him stronger.
In the end, regardless of race or background, nearly every powerful being in the world pursued strength for one reason or another. Some sought fame, some authority and still others desired wealth, influence, beautiful women, or endless glory. But beneath all of those ambitions lay a far simpler truth.
Strength meant survival.
The world was simply too vast. Even those with no grand ambitions eventually wished to explore it, and without sufficient strength, exploration was nothing more than suicide. Even the Sovereigns understood this.
With his path decided, Ragnar spent the following weeks showing Shion and Sophie around the Silver Wolf Empire while helping them settle into their new lives as members of his pack.
When the day finally came to depart, the three of them left together. Their destination...
Midvest Academy.
Thinking about the monsters waiting there still made Ragnar's stomach tighten. But it wasn't enough to make him retreat. Whatever problems awaited him in the future, he would either overcome them...or survive them.
That, after all, was the entire reason he sought strength.