The face in front of him was adorned with a set of six crystal-clear dark eyes, all staring back at him.


    They were a strange pair of eyes, with strange runic lines dancing within them.


    These eyes were situated on the left and right sides of the figure''s face, opened up on the cheeks themselves.


    Apart from the six eyes, which were wide open, there was another straight line on top of the figure''s head, currently closed.


    Nn guessed that it was probably another eye of some sort.


    The sight of those six eyes staring back at him was a little chilling, even for Nn.


    "You?" The ''guy'' spoke as he rose to his feet.


    He was about up to Nn''s chest, with long blue hair that reached down his back.


    At first nce, he appeared like a girl, but the fact that he was in the academy''s male dormitory made Nn aware that he couldn''t be a female.


    More of a feminine boy, or something like that.


    "Are you the one living here previously?" the guy asked as he slowly walked toward Nn, wrapping up his sleeves.


    Nn noticed an angered expression appearing on his face, and even the six eyes narrowed dangerously at him.


    But Nn wasn''t scared at all. The person before him was still a Neer. He could send him flying with a single kick.


    Still, Nn''s curiosity was piqued, wondering why this guy was suddenly angry, and he found it amusing to indulge in his own entertainment.


    "Yes?"


    "Oh...oh...oh. You''re in big trouble, you filthy bastard!" The figure shouted and rushed toward Nn, raising his hand and repeatedly banging on Nn''s chest.


    However, Nn didn''t move a single step backward.


    The guy continued his relentless punches and battle cry before eventually stopping and dropping to both knees, breathing heavily.


    ''How weak is he, seriously?''


    He asked himself.


    He hadn''t even reacted once and endured all the blows—if they could even be called that—and yet the ''girl-boy'' was gasping for air as if he had just been through the greatest battle of his life.


    "You... you filthy creature. How could you make me go through so much pain!" he shouted, struggling to catch his breath.


    "Under your bed, and sofa—there are cobwebs!"


    "Look at the ground, there are strands of dirt! Filthiness! You all reek of filthiness!" he spat in anger, and Nn looked at him dumbly.


    Was that why he was visibly annoyed with him? Because of filth?


    And Nn himself was anything but filthy.


    How could having some cobwebs and dirt be termed as one being filthy?


    "Tch, bastards."


    "They just had to put I, Norgomedev, in a filthy room, with a filthy iron-bodied mongrel like you."


    "Damn this bastard of an academy."


    "Get away from my sight. I don''t want to see you..." he said, waving his hand at Nn before dropping back to the ground and continuing his scrubbing.


    Only now did Nn finally understand what he wanted.


    It seemed the academy had allowed Neers who had just arrived to stay in the rooms of those Neers who had yet to move to their own ces.


    Nn guessed that all the students who would soon be Ascendants would have no choice but to share their rooms with the new arrivals.


    That realization saved the poor young man in front of him from a relentless beating.


    Nn simply ignored the strange girly-eyed alien and walked into his room.


    Upon arriving, he couldn''t help but notice something different.


    It was... clean!


    So clean that it was sparkling white, and Nn''s jaw dropped.


    He had always considered himself a neat individual and always took good care of the room he lived in.


    Yet,paring the cleanliness of his room now to how it had been previously was likeparing a dustbin to a holy worship ce.


    Iparable.


    He looked to the side and found his bag properly ced on the study table, and the same could be said of the rest of his books.


    Walking toward the wardrobe, Nn found all of his clothes hung properly on hangers, and even his dirty clothes were now sparkling and well-ced within the wardrobe.


    "Don''t tell me he even washed my clothes because he couldn''t stand their dirtiness?" Nn thought dumbly to himself.


    But his mind buzzed when he looked deeper into the wardrobe, searching for something only to be unable to find it.


    "Where?"


    "Where is the scroll!!!?" Nn screamed out loud in shock.


    He had made sure to keep the scroll, given to him by the Antean king, hidden and safe, because it was a scroll none but him must see.


    Yet right now, the ce where he had confidently hidden it was empty, cleaner than Nn could remember it.


    That meant only one person could have taken it.


    STEP


    STEP


    STEP


    The sound of footsteps rang out as Nn removed his head from the wardrobe, finding the guy''s shadow approaching.


    "Hey! Where''s the scroll!?" Nn asked loudly.


    The footsteps stopped and grew louder until the guy appeared before him.


    "You mean that weird scroll? It''s up above your head..." He said, pointing at Nn''s head.


    Nn turned his head upward and saw a small shelf close to the ceiling, with the scroll barely visible.


    Immediately, Nn jumped up, soaring to the ceiling, and grabbed the scroll before staring hard at it.


    "Did you open it?" he asked the guy with a calm tone, yet Nn''s mind was calcting.


    King Sammodra had told him no one must see the content of the scroll, or he would be putting himself in danger, and his life would most likely end.


    Yet, there was now this six-eyed guy who had touched it.


    Who knows if he had seen the contents or not? Whatever it is, Nn might have to take some drastic actions if his secret had been revealed.


    "When I saw where it was hidden, in the cupboard instead of the table, I knew it was something probably special."


    "I tried opening it, but it wouldn''t even budge at all. Useless thing..." the boy said with an uninterested expression before walking out of the room with his bucket and mop.


    "Can''t be opened?" Nn mused to himself as he looked at the scroll in his hand.


    Grabbing it, Nn tried to twist off the cover, but veins bulged dangerously on his arm as he desperately tried to wriggle the cover away, yet the scroll wouldn''t budge at all.


    It was just as the guy had said—the scroll wasn''t moving.


    "What the hell?" Nn wondered in shock, as his dagger appeared in his hand.


    But before he could use it, he was stopped by the system''s notification.


    [Don''t bother. Your power right now isn''t enough to twist open the lid. The only thing that can help you open it is your Anti-Aether energy.]


    [So, unless you employ your Anti-Aether energy, you won''t be able to open that scroll.]


    [The six-eyed boy is too weak to possess the strength to open it, so he couldn''t have seen the contents.]


    [Well, unless he has Anti-Aether energy like you, and he''s just lying.] The system said and Nn knitted his eyebrows furrowed before calming down.


    He had doubted the boy''s im and thought he might have read it.


    But with the system telling him that only someone with exceptional strength, which even Nn currentlycked, or someone with Anti-Aether energy could open it, he no longer doubted.


    The boy was too weak. He couldn''t have been strong enough, and Nn was the only one with Anti-Aether energy in the world, so there was no way.


    That meant his secret was still safe.


    "Phew," Nn exhaled loudly as he copsed into his seat.


    For a second, he had really been scared.


    [What would you have done to him if he had read it?]


    [You seemed to me like you were ready to kill an innocent person just to protect your little secret.]


    The system teased Nn, though it also seemed genuinely curious.


    When Nn had asked the boy if he had read the scroll, the system could sense all his muscles tense up, as if Nn was ready for battle.


    It was a sign that the system took as Nn being prepared to kill the boy.


    But was Nn really that determined?


    Would he kill an innocent boy who just happened to figure out his secret? Was he that cold and heartless?


    To the system''s question, Nn remained silent, but the system wouldn''t let it go.


    [What would you have done, Nn, if the boy had learned your Anti-Aether secret?]


    [Would you have killed an innocent boy just to keep your secret safe?]


    The system pestered on, and Nn turned his eyes towards it.


    ''Do you really want to know what I would have done?'' He asked the system whose silence was enough for a reply.


    ''I would have done...what needed to be done, to protect my life!''


    [Even if it means an innocent boy getting killed?]


    ''Even if it means an innocent boy getting hurt.'' He repeated.