A second later, a soft shimmer in the air rippled, and Seraphine materialized right beside me, dissolving a low-tier concealment spell."The faculty roster was updated early this morning," she whispered, her voice a barely audible breath against the stone wall. "With Julian out of commission in the intensive care unit, his advanced combat-theory seat needed to be filled, and his personal curriculum records were moved. Only three people have the high-level clearance to bypass the noble dorm security wards to plant that scroll, and one of them is the new elite professor.""Who is he?" I asked, my eyes narrowing as we began walking down the quiet, carpeted halls of the administration building, pretending to be two students delivering paperwork."Professor Vane," Seraphine said, her expression tightening. "He’s a renowned scholar from the capital’s high magical circle who suddenly requested a transfer to the academy just last week. The timing is entirely too perfect. Right now, he’s cond

The day of the field trip came fast, and honestly, the atmosphere around the academy campus had shifted in a way I hadn't entirely expected. The standard roster of arrogant nobles and petty bullies who used to line up to make the original Ethan Hoke’s life a living hell had suddenly started giving me a very wide berth. The moment they saw me casually walking and talking with Lady Seraphine—the untouchable, lethal ice prodigy of House Vanilla, tiny aristocrat brains collectively short-circuited. Fear of her family’s immense political weight, combined with the lingering, terrifying rumors of my supposed "unstable Berserker bloodline," made me an instant social pariah.Which brought us to the forming of the excursion squads in the academy courtyard."Group Three!" Lady Gina’s voice echoed over the chatter of the freshman class, her eyes scanning the courtyard with a sharp, pinched frown."Ethan Hoke and Lady Seraphine. Where are the other three members of your unit?"Silence followed

I threw my raw 10% mana into my legs, pivoting backward just in time. The claws missed my throat by a millimeter, the sheer wind pressure ripping my collar. I lunged forward, executing a flawless, god-slayer counter-slash aimed straight for its throat.CLANG!My notched blade struck its armored hide, sending sparks flying. Right, I forgot. My physical body is still a fragile teenager. The impact vibrated violently up my arms, cracking the bones in my wrist. Before I could recover my stance, the beast’s heavy, barbed tentacle whipped around from the blind spot."Son of a—!" I choked out as the impact smashed directly into my midsection. Three of my ribs shattered instantly with a sickening snap, forcing the breath entirely out of my lungs. The force of the blow sent me flying backward, skipping across the rushing river water like a flat stone until I crashed brutally into a massive boulder.Blood, warm and metallic, immediately flooded my mouth. I tried to push myself up, but my vis

Thud.Before the smug grin could fully settle on my face, my knees buckled. It turns out that violently forcing two raw Tier-3 cores into a teenage body comes with a receipt, and my nervous system had just filed for temporary bankruptcy. The newly unlocked twenty percent of my sovereign power flickered and went dark, plunging my vision into a pitch-black void.The very last thing I registered before my consciousness completely detached was the sound of Seraphine’s high-born, composed facade shattering into pure, unadulterated panic."Ethan! You absolute—you complete idiot!"And then, total silence.When my eyes finally blinked open, the suffocating heat of the apothecary cabin was gone. Instead, I was staring at the sloped, tan canvas ceiling of a small, secluded tent. The faint, unmistakable smell of pine needles, campfires, and the distant, noisy chatter of elite academy freshmen confirmed I was right in the middle of the Oakhaven campsite.I sat up, expecting a wave of agonizing

“I want you by my side. I want you to become Clara's personal tutor and guardian, teach her exactly how you managed to bypass the core tier variables of those beasts."I blinked, keeping my face perfectly neutral, though internally, my mind was absolutely reeling.What the hell?I had expected a fight to the death with the church. Instead, the Pope was handing me his daughter—one of the twelve traitors who had murdered me in my past life—on a silver platter. He wanted me to teach her?I looked at Clara. She offered me a shy, completely oblivious little wave, her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment. She genuinely seemed to have no prior memory of being a transmigrated traitor. She looked like a completely blank slate, reborn into this world without her past-life sins attached to her consciousness yet.But as my gaze drifted back to the Pope's perfectly sculpted, serene smile, a cold, bitter amusement bubbled up in my chest.‘Oh, you magnificent, hypocritical snake,’ I thought