Outside Lafey's cottage stood Yoric, Yorkiana, Binson, and Robin, along with several other apprentices Grimm had seen but didn't know well—presumably Crimson Banner members on good terms with Lafey.Grimm "floated" down from the sky, landing. "What happened to Lafey?""Grimm, you should go in and see for yourself. We've never seen Sister Lafey take such a loss and remain so calm. She kicked us all out." Yoric's expression was grim and helpless."Right." Grimm nodded and entered the room, leaving the others outside.Yoric sighed. "Grimm's here now. Let's disperse..."As the crowd slowly left, leaving only Yoric, Yorkiana, Binson, and Robin, Robin suddenly spoke up hesitantly. "Did you notice... Grimm didn't use any spell to fly here just now?"Huh? Now that he mentioned it, the others realized it was true. Grimm had indeed arrived without any apparent spellcasting.Binson's jaw dropped. "Has Grimm advanced to a full Sorcerer? Only full Sorcerers can sense natural forces and float with

The war drums of the Twelfth District had begun to beat, and every apprentice within Blackstone Spire felt the shift in the air. It was a palpable tension, a thickening of the atmosphere that spoke of imminent conflict and the brutal winnowing that would precede the Sacred Tower Qualification Battle.Grimm stood beside Lafey on a training ground that had seen a sudden surge in activity. All around them, apprentices honed their spells, tested new alchemical concoctions, and formed impromptu alliances. The usual solitary focus of sorcerous study had been replaced by a grim, collective preparation."They're calling it the 'Scythe'," Lafey stated, her voice calm despite the half of her face that remained a desiccated ruin. The tiny green sprouts at the border of the dead tissue continued their agonizingly slow work. "The Nineteenth District's bloated ranks are the wheat, and we are the blade that will cut them down to a manageable harvest."Grimm nodded, his gaze sweeping over the bustlin

Throughout the journey, Grimm moved like Lafey's shadow, a silent and constant presence behind her. His quiet demeanor wasn't an act for his companions' benefit—among this trusted group, such pretense was unnecessary. Rather, he was multitasking: enduring the lingering weakness from his latest toxin tempering, maintaining their pace, and simultaneously studying fundamental texts on water and lightning elements. He had no mental energy to spare for conversation.Trailing Lafey did make him exceptionally inconspicuous, he mused internally.Binson, however, remained undeterred by Grimm's silence. While the others seemed to accept his quiet focus, Binson chattered incessantly at him, leaping from one trivial topic to another, even speculating about the future marriages of his and Robin's hypothetical children. It was... exhaustive. Grimm found himself thinking that Binson would have gotten along famously with Brutal Bear, Axe, and Hammer from his previous mission—a veritable league of cha

Within the shimmering barrier of the protective ward, three separate groups—those led by Lafey, Yatz, and Aldas—stood tense and silent, their gazes fixed on the horizon.Beyond the translucent veil, a tide of enemies surged: a vast formation of apprentice sorcerers from the Nineteenth District, more than two hundred strong. Against them, the mere twenty-odd apprentices within the barrier seemed like scattered candles before a storm.Yoric gripped his axe tightly, voice edged with disbelief. “How in the Abyss are there so many of them?”It wasn’t an overreaction. Even across all the academies under the Blackstone Spire banner, there were only seven or eight thousand apprentices taking part in this war. Spread thin over two hundred contested resource sites, few squads could gather more than a handful of fighters. Grimm’s team, as the advance force holding this crimson-veined mine, was lucky to have twenty.Aldas narrowed his golden eyes beneath sharply furrowed brows. Wordlessly, he dre

A thousand possible strategies flashed through Grimm’s mind, yet he settled on the most prudent and understated one.Under the transformation of his Biomorphic Alteration, Grimm quietly rewove fragments of his life-code, temporarily concealing the essence of the Body of Pyre within his being. The magnetic pull between him and Mina—the maddened sorceress known as the Sun’s Daughter—vanished instantly.But her fury did not.Flames erupted from her, crimson hair whipping in a storm of radiant power. Her eyes burned like twin suns, and waves of searing energy rippled through the cavern until it felt as though a miniature star had descended upon the world.Even stripped of their elemental resonance, Mina still looked ready to incinerate Grimm from existence.Yoric reacted first. With a guttural snarl, his body elongated, bones twisting beneath the skin as he assumed his lupine form. His enormous axe gleamed before his chest, twin eyes glowing with deep green ferocity while curved fangs pee