KAEL's POV
It's been a couple of days since the incident with Professor Orin and the argument with Ryn. In those couple of days, the island exam had begun to feel less like a private warning or mission from the Professor and more like something official, something heavier with a burden.
It wasn't official yet.
It wasn't even public.
But it still felt real.
And I began to feel its pressure.
It existed in the way that kept Ryn constantly glaring at every notice board we would walk past, as if the Academy itself were hiding, waiting to reveal its secrets behind scheduled meal boards. It existed in a way that often made me pay closer attention to corridor gossip, something I didn't care about before. I would look at the professors' expressions, the way certain student nobles moved, and the increasingly frequent references to something called "midterm adjustments," spoken quietly by upper-year students.
Though I never quite took what they said seriously.
But most importantly. It existed in the way that caused both Ryn and me, who were currently sitting in the Academy cafeteria, supposedly eating lunch, but using the table we were eating on as a poor substitute for a strategy board.
Ryn had stolen three empty cups by the serving station where we received our food and arranged them between us.
"You see this?" He said, while pointing at one of the cups vehemently, "This. Is you."
I looked at the cup. There was a crack near the top of the rim.
"How flattering."
"This," he continued, pointing to another cup in the middle, "is the island."
"Ryn, that's just another cup."
"And this one right here," he said, tapping the last cup in the row, "is one of the heirs, you're inevitably going to have to face."
The third cup was smaller and more dainty compared to the first two.
"Why does the worst-looking cup represent an heir?"
"Because I don't like them."
'Of course that's the reason.'
"..."
"What?"
"Nothing. Continue with what you were saying."
Ryn leaned forward, the upper half of his body covering the food tray just in front of him, which had somehow already been reduced to mere scattered crumbs, half a bowl of meat stew, and a bread roll that he had been protecting like a starved wolf defending its meal.
"Right. Let's go through this again. If your goal is to finish in the top ten, the obvious plan would be to accumulate as many points as possible. I reckon just surviving by getting to the safe zones won't be enough. There's probably going to be a lot of people who end up surviving, which is fine, but it means the points value won't be much, and you, my friend... you need to stand out."
"I agree."
"Good." He moved the partially broken cup toward the small cup. "So, all you have to do is hunt the beasts. Lots of them. Not the tiny useless ones either. You need to get the valuable ones."
"We don't know how the points are going to be scored, or if there are gonna be different value beasts."
"We can guess."
"We can predict."
"Same thing."
"It isn't."
"It is in spirit."
I let out a big sigh and took a spoonful of my meat stew.
Aetherion was loud today, the cafeteria especially so. Groups of nobles occupied themselves with one another at the best-lit tables near the room's arched windows. They were speaking in their polished tones and elegant sentences, some were occasionally laughing, but looked as if the motion of laughing was privately tutored.
Commoner students sat in looser clusters farther in, their conversations more uneven, more alive, more likely to involve someone choking on soup after a badly timed joke.
The room smelled of warm bread, roasted vegetables, spiced meat, and, faintly, smoothened stone heated by, presumably, Aether lamps.
It was peaceful.
Which was, inevitably, temporary.
Ryn continued moving the three cups around.
"If you find the safe zone early, that could be useful, but only if reaching it gives certain ranking benefits. If it's just a pass condition, then it's useless for you."
"Not useless," I said. "A known location of professors could matter in some way. Medical equipment could be provided if a short break were allowed. Additional information density could be given in the zones. Students could use it at a point to meet up together."
Ryn narrowed his eyes. "You see, this is why people think you're weird."
"Because I value information?"
"Because you say things like information density over lunch!"
"People... say that."
"They absolutely do not!"
I decided to ignore that.
Ryn tapped the cracked cup again.
"Anyway, the plan is relatively simple. Collect as many points as possible, avoid direct confrontation with any heirs, maybe eliminate a few students along the way if you have to—"
"We are not going to use student elimination as our primary plan."
"I didn't say that we were going to do it. I said maybe."
"That isn't much better, Ryn."
"Kael, it's an exam that is apparently going to let other students fight and eliminate one another. Blame the Academy for being mentally insane, not me for noticing."
He, irritatingly, had a fair point.
The Academy is likely to allow students to do whatever is necessary for the upcoming exam, and there will definitely be students who utilise this to the fullest. I may not like it, but I'm probably going to have to attack other students just to defend myself.
Ryn leaned back, folding his arms.
"Also, let's not fight Cyril head-on unless you absolutely have to. Okay?"
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good. Good. See, you're learning now. I told you I would help you."
"I never said you weren't."
"Oh, and avoid Darious Renora."
"I have an inkling that won't be possible."
"What makes you say that?"
"I assume that Professor Anlor told him that I'm the sole reason he hasn't been automatically put into the Prestige Electives."
"Hmm, and you reckon he'll target you during the exam out of spite."
"I do."
"... Oh well, no biggie, you're just going to have to make the impossible possible, I guess."
"That's not how impossibility works?"
"It is if you're stubborn enough."
Ryn gave a wink while gesturing a thumbs-up.
I looked at him for a moment, causing some brief silence between us.
"Ryn."
"What's up?"
"I couldn't help but notice that you kept saying you."
He blinked in slight confusion. "Yeah, what of it?"
"It's WE, Ryn. The plan is for both of us to succeed. Not just me."
Ryn's expression changed slightly.
It was more sombre.
It wasn't enough that people who didn't know him well would notice; I could.
"What? I don't understand what you're trying to say."
"You keep framing this as if the only objective is my ranking," I said. "It isn't. It's ours."
He gave an awkward laugh and looked down at his tray.
"Yeah, well, you're the one with the crazy professor who decided to make a bet just for entertainment."
"That does not mean you are irrelevant to the exam."
"I didn't say I was irrelevant."
"You implied it."
"I did not."
"You did."
He frowned at me as if offended by the accuracy.
I continued before he could deflect.
"You need to pass, too. More than pass. If rankings move after the midterm exam, then your Circuit placement may change. Better placement means better access, better training conditions, better resources, and fewer chances for nobles to treat you as background furniture."
His face went quieter.
"And," I added, "as you told me, you're close to Ignis Master, which is a massive achievement for us at this stage. If you perform well, people will have to acknowledge that."
Ryn stared at me.
For a moment, he looked like he had forgotten how to speak.
It was strange. Ryn was loud by nature and sarcastic by default. Quick to fill any emotional gap with a joke, an insult, a complaint, or a theatrical declaration. But now he just sat there, his expression caught between surprise and something, to him, uncomfortably softer.
"You…" he began.
Then stopped.
I waited.
"You actually thought about that?"
"Yes."
"About my ranking?"
"Yes."
"And my Circuit?"
"Yes."
"And whether people would acknowledge me?"
"Yes."
He looked down, then coughed into his fist.
"Right. Yeah. That's… yeah. That's good."
I tilted my head.
"Are you choking?"
"No."
"Your face suggests choking."
"I'm not choking."
"Emotionally, perhaps?"
"Shut up."
I almost smiled.
He looked away, pretending to examine the far side of the cafeteria with great intensity.
"That's just… nice to know, I guess."
I watched him for half a second.
Then, while he was distracted, I reached across the table and took the bread roll from his tray.
His head snapped back.
He looked at his tray.
Then at my hand.
Then at the missing bread.
Then at me.
His expression entered a state I could only describe as spiritual confusion.
"You ruined it."
'Snooze you lose, pal.'
I took a bite.
"Ruined what?"
"Nothing." He pointed at me, eyes narrowing. "Just continue with what you were saying."
"This bread is pretty good."
"Kael."
"It's very soft."
"Kae, I'm gonna take this stew to our dorm room and pour it all over your bed."
"That seems a tad excessive."
"You stole from me during a vulnerable moment."
"I acted efficiently during an opening."
"That's worse."
"Eh. Debatable."
He stared at me for a moment.
Then, despite himself, he huffed out a laugh.
The tension between us had softened.
I decided to be kind and give half of his bread roll back.
Before I could fully extend my arm, he snatched at it as if he were rescuing someone held hostage.
"Ahem. Anyway," I said, returning my attention to the cups. "All we have right now are basic assumptions. We aren't able to form a full plan just yet. Although I do agree that we should avoid any unnecessary early conflict, we should gather as much information as possible while we're on the island so that we can identify any meet-up points if alliances are permitted."
Ryn chewed aggressively.
"As well as try our best not to die."
"That part is usually assumed."
"Haha, with you? We can't assume anything."
I gave him a decumbent look.
He grinned.
I moved the cracked cup closer to the second cup.
"Honestly, the part that matters the most is the island itself, its terrain, the type of beasts we could encounter, even our starting positions will factor into the equation."
"And whether some noble brat has already been privately given advice for this exact exam."
"That is a possibility, yes."
"Definitely a possibility."
"Likely one."
"See? You're starting to learn."
"... I was already aware of corruption as a concept."
"Yeah, but now you're appreciating the fine details."
"Unfortunately."