— Frey Starlight's POV —
A full month had passed since Londor.
I'd returned to my daily life inside the temple, which had completely closed itself off from the outside world ... transforming into a military war facility and treating us like soldiers.
And no group received stricter treatment than the second-year Elite Class, thanks to the remarkable quality of fighters our generation had produced—from swordsmen and tanks to wave controllers and mages.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that most of the Empire's future strength resided here within the walls of the Elite Class. Yet despite the current training intensity, it hadn't affected me in the slightest, thanks to the massive leap in my strength. That's what allowed me to win most of the time in sparring matches against the other elite students.
Today in particular... the students were once again paired up, as usual, to fight in duos.
"Your classmates will most likely become your future comrades in war," said Sophia, watching the duels from above as we clashed below.
"Knowing your ally's strengths and weaknesses is just as important—if not more—than knowing your enemy's."
And that's why they often had us fight each other.
I was typically paired against people like Snow, Daemon... or even Sansa and Ghost. These duels were always intense and exciting, as our powers were evenly matched—at least, without external boosts involved.
But today, unusually, I found myself paired with someone I hadn't interacted with much recently. Another member of the Starlight family... a distant relative by blood.
"We're both Starlights…"
She launched at me with her sword, coated in a blinding halo of light. Her strike came from the left, aiming for my side . which I'd seen coming from the start. I avoided it easily.
Clana had predicted I'd dodge, and so she immediately followed up with another strike from the opposite direction. The light around her blade made her movements swift, surrounding me from every angle.
With every slash, her sword left trails of shimmering light in the air, turning her assault into something flashy. Oddly enough, I didn't even need to activate Hawk Eyes to track her swift attacks.
Normally, I would've had to block them with my sword… but this time, her blade only struck afterimages—ghosts of my body as it effortlessly dodged her strikes on its own.
Clana used the Stardust Style, but she'd barely mastered half of it… and even that half wasn't anything Shadow Adaptation – Level 3 couldn't handle.
I saw her grit her teeth in frustration, trying to increase her speed after failing to land a single hit. But it was pointless. From the start, I'd been far faster than her—faster than anyone else in the Elite Class.
In a quick movement, I ducked low and swept her supporting leg, knocking her off balance. As she fell, I drove my sword into the ground next to her face—ending this meaningless bout entirely.
"Thanks for the match."
I said without showing even a hint of emotion—offering my hand to help her up as she lay at my feet.
"…"
Clana Starlight, unexpectedly, accepted the gesture without even looking me in the eye.
Usually, with her playful personality, she would try to mess with me or act out in frustration. But she didn't.
"Something wrong?"
I asked, unable to stay distant ... especially since Clana resembled my sister Ada. Like a younger version of her.
"It's nothing… I'm fine. Thanks for the match."
Her tone was softer than usual as she spoke, before running off, behaving more like a shy girl than the one I knew.
But honestly… I didn't have the mental space to think about her for long. I quickly pushed her out of mind as soon as she left.
I had a bigger dilemma to deal with—one that revolved around me.
Or more specifically… my strength.
"I've hit my limit."
To be clear, there's no more borrowed power that can push me any further than I already am. Balerion the Black Terror, the demon-slaying Dark Sister, Shadow Adaptation, and all my abilities…
They were all external factors that had boosted me—a mere B+—to a power level close to SS.
I was grateful for the added strength, but I'd burned through all of it.
No matter what I do, I won't be able to grow stronger with borrowed power anymore—and that truth became clear after a full month of training here in the temple. Which meant I had no choice but to return to the real path… one free of shortcuts ... my raw strength.
If I truly wanted to surpass where I am now, I'd need to elevate my B+ talent to at least S before I could see any further gain. And that's when I realized… Melina was right.
Legendary swords exist to help users unleash their potential more smoothly—not to increase that potential.
In the end, I am the source ... not the blade.
Having accepted that I'd reached my ceiling, I began planning how to raise my talent to SS and accelerate my training however I could.
But for now, my strength won't improve any further—for quite some time. And that's not good news at all… especially with the challenges that lie ahead.
"Are you done too?"
I was interrupted by Danzo, who appeared wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscles, his silver hair damp with sweat.
"Yeah. You?"
"Just finished. They picked that coward as my opponent."
Danzo jerked his thumb toward Adriana, who sat in the back with her head bowed, still reeling from her humiliating defeat at the hands of the human tank, Danzo.
As a Spear Bearer, she should've been able to put up a decent fight against someone like him—but the power gap was far too large. Add to that her cowardly nature, and it was clear why she hadn't progressed. No matter how I looked at her, only one thought came to mind—
"That girl won't survive."
Danzo said it before I could.
If war ever broke out again and she was thrown into the battlefield, I had no doubt she'd die quickly. Even Sansa, who had always been her friend and protector, wouldn't step in to save her.
And it would be entirely Adriana's fault—she treated her own friend like a monster, even though the princess only ever tried to help her.
Adriana was the kind of parasite who tried to survive without making any real effort to grow.
I couldn't feel any sympathy for someone like that.
With those thoughts, I looked away from the purple-haired girl sitting in the shadowy corner of the room.
After Danzo and I were the first to finish our matches, Snow and Ghost soon joined us. Everyone had completed their duels, showing what they were capable of.
But tonight's standouts were clearly Daemon Valerion and Seris Moonlight—
Especially the latter.
First off, Daemon had fully switched to using black lightning from the start, completely abandoning the regular type. After observing him closely, I realized that the arrogant warrior had finally overcome his old weakness.
Black lightning devoured aura at an insane rate and placed immense strain on the body… yet somehow, Daemon had managed to extend its usage time. At this point, defeating him in a battle of attrition would be near impossible.
As for Seris Moonlight ..
The girl who had always fought from range as a Wave Controller had revealed a completely new combat style.
She was paired against Sansa, yet chose to give up her typical advantage entirely.
"Is that... a shield?"
Snow asked, wide-eyed as Seris fought like a tank, wrapped in a suit of ice armor.
A blue, icy shield encased her body, protecting her vital points and giving her the freedom to move quickly while wielding a pair of ice blades she used to slash at Sansa.
Even though the princess's shadows were no longer at their peak, they were still tremendously powerful and difficult to counter. Sansa controlled them effortlessly, launching waves of projectiles in an attempt to crush Seris.
But Seris countered with her ice, manipulating waves in return.
Locked in a clash of elemental forces, their battle hit a stalemate—until Seris shattered that balance by breaking through Sansa's defense with her own body.
"A Wave Controller fighting like a tank?"
Seris Moonlight could now engage from any front, eliminating her previous weakness just like Daemon had.
However, Sansa's shadows were far from weak, and breaking through them pushed Seris to her limits.
The battle between the Valerion princess and her Moonlight counterpart was by far the fiercest tonight, ending in a draw after they completely destroyed their combat arena.
"A draw…"
That term fit the outcome, but as someone who watched it unfold, I could say without a doubt that Seris had taken control of the fight more often than not.
Without me realizing it, the young lady of the Moonlight family had grown much stronger—proving that I wasn't the only one evolving.
Overall, the second-year elite class was rising to exceed every expectation. That was good news for the Empire, which was hurtling toward an inevitable war.
Each time the elite class stepped up, its members shone in their own ways, leaving their peers behind.
"Maybe this generation will be the strongest in the temple's history…"
That was what people were saying now. A group of youths, barely eighteen, had somehow become the Empire's seeds of hope.
Fully aware of the expectations and the heavy burden placed on our shoulders, the elite class trained harder than ever. As for me? I stuck to my usual routine—training in the morning, hanging out with my friends after.
Living a life where I could look forward to the future let me spread my wings of freedom, even if I knew I couldn't fly high just yet ... trapped as I still was inside a much larger cage.
But for now, at least, everything had gone smoothly and peacefully. So much so, I began to wonder if it was even real…