We'll—this is ridiculous!" Headmaster Amina Oya shouted. "How could an artificial dungeon transform into a B-Rank dungeon?!"
Headmaster Maximus stared at the readings, his expression hardening.
"Give me two minutes. Activating Master Control Override procedures."
Back inside the dungeon…
The Minor Flame Drake threw its head back and ROARED.
A shockwave of primal fear ripped through the chamber.
Tecno froze.
Gavan and Cynthia collapsed almost instantly, their bodies hitting the ground as the overwhelming pressure rendered them unconscious.
"Damn it!" Bertram shouted.
The others charged forward, desperately trying to intercept the beast.
But Ayuma suddenly stepped in front of them.
His eyes widened.
The drake's throat was already glowing.
"GET BACK!"
BOOOOOOM!
Dragon fire engulfed Ayuma completely.
"AYUMA!"
The blast hurled him backward. He crashed against the ground, coughing up blood.
"G-Gahhh…!"
Then something strange happened.
The flames didn't disappear.
They began flowing into him.
Ayuma's eyes widened as fire crawled across his arms, chest, and face. Within seconds, his entire body was ablaze.
Then—
BIRTHRIGHT GIFT UNLOCKED
BURNING ACCESSION — ACTIVATED"What…?"
Ayuma stared at his burning hands.
"My body…"
His heartbeat thundered.
BOOM.
"…is heating up…!"
The temperature skyrocketed.
"UUUUURAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"
Ayuma screamed as a pillar of flame erupted around him.
"Agh!"
"Back up!" Gao shouted.
The others stumbled away as burns began forming across their skin.
But they weren't being burned by the drake.
They were being burned by Ayuma.
His eyes slowly turned completely white.
The Minor Flame Drake stared at him.
For the first time—
the beast recoiled.
Ayuma took one step forward.
Ssssssssss—
The dungeon floor began melting beneath his feet.
Another step.
The drake's scales started glowing red.
Another.
Its flesh began to melt.
The creature shrieked, but Ayuma hadn't even touched it yet.
His sheer presence was destroying it.
Then Ayuma vanished.
BOOM!
His fist punched straight through the Minor Flame Drake.
The impact was so violent that cracks spread through the surrounding space itself, nearly shattering the very fabric of the artificial dungeon.
The drake collapsed.
Dead.
Ayuma landed several meters away.
His knees buckled.
"G-Gah…"
He dropped to the ground.
But the flames didn't stop.
They grew hotter.
And hotter.
And hotter.
"Ayuma!" Bertram shouted.
Suddenly, several figures appeared throughout the chamber.
The Headmasters.
"Everyone, move!" Maximus commanded.
He appeared behind Ayuma and struck him with enough force to render him unconscious.
Ayuma collapsed into his arms.
Almost immediately, the raging flames began to subside.
"Get the others to safety!" Maximus ordered.
The Headmasters rushed toward the injured students while Maximus remained still, staring down at the unconscious Ayuma.
His expression had changed.
Confusion.
Concern.
And recognition.
"I thought this boy was powerless…"
Maximus tightened his grip on Ayuma.
His eyes narrowed.
"But that intensity…"
A long silence followed.
"It feels all too familiar."
Ayuma opened his eyes.
Fire surrounded him.
For a moment, panic shot through his body, but then he realized something strange.
The flames weren't burning him.
They weren't even hot.
Instead, they felt familiar—almost as if they were a part of him.
Ayuma slowly looked down at his hands as the flames curled around his fingers without harming him.
Then a voice echoed inside his mind.
"My son… if you are hearing this message, then you have matured and endured long enough to awaken what has always been sleeping within you.
"Upon your eighteenth birthday, your bloodline ability was destined to awaken. However, yours is… unique, to say the least.
"Now, witness your true glory.
"Witness the Eternal Blaze."
The flames suddenly surged around Ayuma.
His eyes widened—
Then everything went dark.
One Week LaterAyuma's eyes slowly opened.
He stared at the ceiling for several seconds before realizing that he was lying in a bed.
"Where am I…?"
He quickly sat up.
"My classmates—what happened?!"
Ayuma frantically looked around the room and realized he was inside the academy infirmary.
Nearby, he noticed the same fairy who had assisted him before.
She smiled.
"Oh! You're awake now."
Ayuma blinked.
"How long have I been out?"
The fairy giggled.
"An entire week. Quite the sleepyhead, aren't ya?"
Ayuma froze.
"A… week?"
She turned toward the doorway.
"Headmistress! The boy is awake!"
"A WEEEEEEK?!"
Ayuma practically launched himself out of the bed.
"I'VE BEEN OUT FOR A WEEK?! THAT'S SO MUCH CLASSWORK! UHHHHHHHH!"
The head nurse, Gale, calmly approached him while holding several items.
"Relax, hun. Here's your student ID, your class schedule, and your dorm room information. Try to be safe this time, alright?"
Ayuma quickly grabbed everything.
"Thanks, Gale. I appreciate it."
He glanced down at his schedule.
His eyes widened.
"I'M GONNA BE LATE FOR CLASS!"
Ayuma rushed out of the infirmary.
Physical EducationAyuma sprinted toward P.E. just as attendance was beginning.
He quietly slipped into the line of students, hoping nobody noticed.
Headmaster Kaito stood at the front of the class with his staff resting against the ground.
"Ayuma."
Ayuma straightened immediately.
"Are you present?"
"Here!"
Kaito nodded.
Without another word, he slammed his staff against the ground.
BOOM!
The entire class vanished.
A moment later, Ayuma found himself standing within a massive mountain range.
Towering peaks stretched as far as he could see.
Kaito casually rested his staff against his shoulder.
"Alright! Three laps around the mountain."
The students stared at him.
Kaito grinned.
"You've got three minutes."
Silence.
"And…"
He raised his staff.
"GO!"
The students immediately took off running.
Ayuma lowered his body and pushed forward.
"Time to put in some work."
For the next minute and a half, Ayuma ran alongside several of the faster students.
However, something felt wrong.
Ayuma glanced ahead.
Then behind him.
"Wait…"
Despite how far they had been running, the starting point somehow seemed closer than the path ahead.
Several students noticed the same thing.
"What the hell?"
"Are we even moving?!"
Ayuma kept running.
Instead of panicking, he focused on his breathing.
His footsteps.
The wind.
The terrain beneath him.
Slowly, his movements began to synchronize with the environment around him.
Then—
"TIME!"
Kaito's voice thundered across the mountain range.
Everyone stopped.
Kaito stared at them with disappointment.
"Oh, come on now, ya little runts! That's all you got?!"
Several students collapsed onto the ground.
Kaito pointed his staff at them.
"EVERYONE! TWO THOUSAND PUSH-UPS AND FIVE THOUSAND BURPEES!"
The entire class stared at him in horror.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
"NOW! GO, GO, GOOOOOOOO!"
Andrade dropped his head.
"Aw, man…"
Ayuma sighed.
This school really was something else.
The rest of the day passed quickly.
Ayuma attended his classes, gathering as much basic information as he could about the academy, its history, and the different worlds surrounding Hyun.
Considering he had missed an entire week, he had plenty of catching up to do.
Later, after lunch, Ayuma began walking toward his dorm.
As he made his way through campus, he noticed a familiar face.
"Bertram!"
Bertram turned around.
Standing beside him were three other students: Ruth Sato, Ignant, and another familiar face.
Ayuma waved as he approached them.
"Hey, guys! How've you been liking the first two weeks of school?"
Before Bertram could answer, Ignant looked Ayuma up and down.
"Yo, Bertram. Who's this?"
He pointed toward himself.
"Name's Ignant, buddy."
SMACK!
Ruth slapped Ignant across the back of the head.
"Ow!"
"Manners."
Ignant rubbed his head.
"Alright, alright. Sorry."
Ruth smiled at Ayuma.
"This is my friend Ignant. And I see you've already met Bertram."
Ayuma nodded.
"Yeah."
Ruth pointed toward one of the nearby buildings.
"We were about to head to the café and talk for a while. You wanna come?"
Ayuma's eyes lit up.
"Food and coffee?"
He grinned.
"Well, I'm down. Let's go, guys."
The group began walking toward the café together.
After everything Ayuma had experienced during the final exam, it felt good to finally have a normal moment.
But somewhere deep inside him…
The Eternal Blaze was still burning.