It was a completely random encounter.

"Why do you look so troubled, young one?" The voice came from an elderly man who sat on a bench by the roadside. He had red hair, ebony skin, and crimson eyes. He wore a dark robe, holding his walking stick very tightly as he looked at Adonis on that fateful day.

The old man had two horns, which should have made him a lower-middle-class member of society, yet he seemed a little too posh for that. Still, his appearance was the least suspicious thing about him.

It was the way he smiled.

Perhaps it was because Adonis was growing frustrated with planning, or because he was growing increasingly worried about his friends back in the Capital, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy when he looked into the man's eyes.

Still, he knew better than to act on how he felt.

Doing so would only make him appear suspicious, and that would taint his cover.

"It's nothing." Adonis replied with a shrug and began walking away. In his mind, he already crossed the encounter off as completely unimportant, and he had more important things to deal with.

Besides, merely talking to Dragons disgusted him beyond words.

If only he knew how much he would owe to the old man once the next words came out of his mouth… he wouldn't have been so hasty to walk away.

"You remind me of my kid. He's doing his best in the Academy right now… working hard for the sake of the Emperor."

'We look nothing alike! Stop talking nonsense!' Adonis thought to himself, wondering how he could possibly remind him of his son.

The man appeared old, which meant he must have lived for several centuries at least.

How could his kid look like him?

There were so many holes in the old man's words that made Adonis grow increasingly more upset, but he controlled his temper and kept walking away.

He had nothing to say to a senile old Dragon.

"My boy… if he proves himself in that Academy… he could finally be taken to the Capital—to serve the Emperor."

As soon as Adonis heard this, he froze in his tracks.

'Academy… Capital… Emperor…?!'

Indeed, the Capital was the dwelling place of the Emperor. It was also where the power of the Empire was centralized.

It was no surprise that the Chamber Of Ancients existed there too.

Only a select number of Dragons could live in the Capital, and all of them had one purpose or the other there. They either served their Empire exceptionally well in wars, or proved themselves in one major way or the other.

This was the first time Adonis was hearing about the Academy being another way for someone to get into the Academy, hence his interest in it.

"What are you talking about?"

"What else? Internship, of course! My son's performance is great, you know? Once you reach the Third Stage in the Academy, you must go for a compulsory internship within the Empire."

"... Including the Capital." Adonis muttered, his eyes wide open.

"Only those in Class A are considered for that privilege, though. It's not guaranteed for any other Class… so my son is working very hard to reach Class A before moving to Stage 3. Ahh… the Capital… it's such a dream come true, isn't it?"

As Adonis heard this, he smiled at a Dragon for the first time in his life.

"Indeed… it is."

**************

After that encounter, Adonis combed through the closest library he could find and researched for the validity of the information he just received.

Much to his amazement, everything was legit!

"That old man… he wasn't lying!"

An exceptional student in their Third Stage, Class A, could indeed apply for an internship in the Capital. If he could secure a role in his desired location, then he could easily increase the proximity between himself and the Chamber.

'And within that Chamber… the key to my Regression!'

Adonis helped Lucielle with setting up the Ancient Magic Circle back then, so he was confident that he could do it on his own if he had enough time. All of a sudden, a viable path opened for him, and he could see his dreams coming to fruition.

'I have that old man to thank. I never even considered the Academy in all my reasoning. How long would it have taken me before I thought in that direction?' He still despised Dragons to death, and he recognized that the old Dragon was definitely someone who had committed his fair share of atrocities before retiring.

How else would he be living a comfortable life?

Still, he was indebted to the Monster.

'If I ever encounter him after my Regression… I'll be sure to thank him with a quick death!'

As for his plans regarding the Academy, Adonis made sure to learn as much as he could about the school's requirements for entry—which was perhaps the easiest part of his whole journey—and how he could advance to a higher Stage.

Of course, in order to avoid suspicion, Adonis had to make sure he didn't advance too quickly. At the same time, he couldn't be too slow.

As a result of this rationale, he developed a roadmap for himself.

Everything was scheduled—down to the littlest of details—all to ensure he stuck to his plan and completed everything on schedule.

Training. Study. Classes.

Everything was accounted for, and Adonis could feel himself making progress every single day.

After spending about a month in Class B—which he got into after his Entrance Exams, he was able to make it to Class A by simply besting everyone else in his Class.

With his position in Class A solidified, his next goal was to get into the Second Stage of the Academy after a few more Academy Events—perhaps in a couple of months.

The only part of his integration that lacked proper strength was his interaction with peers, but Adonis couldn't help it.

He didn't have time to forge meaningless connections, and he despised Dragons.

There was no need to make friends.

Everything was going perfect in his timeline, and he predicted that within a year or so, he could even achieve his mission without any trouble whatsoever.

However, Rey just had to come and ruin everything!

The presence of R'ai and Luc'ia in Class 1A set the bar of excellence high in their Grade, but none of that bothered Adonis too much.

He was currently stronger than a Dragon General, so he wasn't particularly worried about competition among Dragon Newts. He could even beat the Lecturers, so there was no real need to be concerned.

Besides, he was already determined to leave 1-A in a few months, so he didn't think he'd interact with them much.

How wrong could he have been?

Not only did one of them force him to lead him to his room, but that person turned out to be Rey.

Everything spiraled out of control from there, leading Adonis to his current predicament.

But—

"So what?"

As he whispered to himself, he raised his head and clenched his fist with pure resolve.

"I've come this far already." Adonis quickened his pace at this point.

He abandoned everyone and came here for one mission, and he planned to complete it in his own way.

"Whatever it takes… I'll save all of us!"