Nathaniel Hailstone's life had been a string of successes.

At the age of 10, he instinctively used healing magic, becoming aware of his natural talent for divine arts. By 11, he entered the school and was officially registered as an Abyss explorer within just four years. At 20, he played a crucial role in curing the mysterious mana plague that struck the third layer of the Abyss, earning him a promotion. Now, at 35, he was one of the leading figures of the Serapheon school, recently having participated in a grand expedition to the sixth layer.

A flawless path of success, like a picture-perfect life.

But even someone like Nathaniel had his worries.

And those worries stemmed from the student standing beside him.

‘Why did this have to happen while I was away…?’

The incident occurred while he was away on the grand expedition in the sixth layer.

It was completely unexpected, especially since his student had always been quiet and well-behaved. The disaster was caused by the student’s innocent desire to surprise him by secretly entering the training center and obtaining an explorer's license in his absence.

The cultists of the Abyss had attacked the training center.

That incident had completely changed his student.

The child, who had once been so beloved within the school, friendly and warm despite their average abilities, was now different. The smiles had vanished. The once-warm atmosphere around the student had turned cold and fragile. They had stopped interacting with others entirely.

It wasn’t that they had cut off existing relationships; in fact, the student now seemed to treasure those more than ever. But any new interactions were deliberately avoided.

Instead, the student had become obsessively dedicated to training. Whereas before, they would only stop playing with others when Nathaniel instructed them to train, now they pushed themselves to the point of collapse, only to heal themselves with magic and continue without rest.

Physical problems could be addressed with healing magic, but the mind was a different matter. It had crossed the line from training into self-harm.

Nathaniel blamed himself for it. If only he had thought more carefully, perhaps he could have prevented it.

His first student had been a genius, like himself, always meeting expectations even when progress was slow. He had assumed his current student would be the same, but that was his mistake.

"Sigh."

Nathaniel let out a quiet sigh, making sure it was too soft for the student to hear, trying to ease his frustration.

‘If only they’d agree to a Mirror of the Mind…’

The Mirror of the Mind was a divine healing spell that didn’t heal the body but the wounds of the heart.

It worked by inducing a light sleep state, allowing the patient to confront their trauma and build resilience against it. However, the caster would also witness the target’s trauma, so it wasn’t something the student was willing to show, even to Nathaniel.

Instead, he had decided to rely on the power of a special location in the third layer of the Abyss, but even that had yielded no results.

‘I wish they’d just talk about what happened. If only they’d open up…’

It wasn’t that the student kept everything a secret. But whenever it came to the most crucial parts, they dodged the question or clammed up when asked directly.

And it wasn’t just the student who did this.

Nathaniel understood. Talking about trauma wasn’t easy.

The great house involved in the incident certainly wasn’t going to divulge what had happened to their daughter to an outsider—even if that outsider was the student’s teacher.

He even suspected that the great house had made sure to silence the students involved.

Still, the frustration was unavoidable.

‘Well, I should focus on the positive. I’m just grateful they survived.’

The student had barely survived when over half the trainees perished in the attack. According to them, it was their healing magic that saved them, but they hadn’t been able to save their comrades.

Witnessing the death of comrades for the first time seemed to have shaken the young student’s worldview deeply.

"You’ve done well. You’re familiar with the first layer, right? Let’s take it slow from here." "Yes, teacher." "How are you feeling? If you’re tired, we can rest here for a while."

There was a lodging facility at the First Post, the area in front of the gate to the second layer. It was expensive, but for a successful explorer like Nathaniel, it was nothing. As a holy priest, he could even stay for free by offering charity.

"No, I’m fine. I want to get back and keep learning as soon as possible." "…Alright, then."

It would have been enough for Nathaniel if the student had just grown up healthy. In the few months he had been away, the student had matured far too quickly.

‘They could lean on me a bit more.’

Would time heal this?

Nathaniel pondered as he entered the outskirts of the First Post town.

"…Huh?"

The student’s voice suddenly changed, higher-pitched, as if they’d noticed something. Nathaniel followed their gaze and saw it.

‘What on earth…?’

It was something he had never seen before.

Even after reaching the sixth layer of the Abyss, a place brimming with infinite mysteries, Nathaniel had never encountered something like this.

It wasn’t the real thing, just a connection through a contract. Perhaps that’s why he hadn’t noticed it immediately.

The sheer presence of it was overwhelming. From the moment he became aware of it, Nathaniel felt as if his breath had been taken away. If it had been the true form, not just a contracted being—or worse, a possession—Nathaniel’s heart might have failed him on the spot.

Was this some gift from the gods who had long since disappeared from the world? The divine intuition that had grown sharper as Nathaniel became a holy priest screamed at him like never before.

More than just as a priest or an explorer, as a living being in this world, he instinctively recognized the anomaly.

This thing shouldn’t exist in this world.

It was different from any demon mage Nathaniel had encountered before. He had worked with demon mages a few times when necessary, so he knew the difference. This demon mage was unlike any he had met.

Nathaniel’s frozen gaze followed his student as they ran toward the figure.

"Wait…!"

His body moved reflexively. The responsibility of a teacher pulled him forward, but the student was already beyond his reach.

He had to stop them. His student wasn’t yet capable of handling this.

Even with their explosive growth since leaving the training center, this was still an incomprehensible level.

He would have to step in, at least for now…

‘Hmm?’

Nathaniel paused for a moment.

The student was smiling.

The student, who rarely smiled even when they were relaxed, was now smiling.

‘Who is that person…?’

Nathaniel reconsidered his next step. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to watch for a bit longer.

He couldn’t fully understand what that being was yet, but there was no need to reject them outright. Nathaniel didn’t know much about his student’s connections, but the person must be from the training center. That meant the great house was aware of this being, too.

‘The great house… what kind of monster have they been hiding? What are they planning…?’

"Roman!"

Hearing my name, I instinctively turned my head to find the person calling me.

It wasn’t far. A boy had run up to me almost immediately after calling out.

A young man in his late teens with warm blonde hair and a soft expression, the kind of face that made the whole atmosphere feel gentle, like a golden retriever.

Philon Gribas. He belonged to the Serapheon school, not one of the top six, but still quite prestigious. He was my peer, Number 6 among the trainees.

That was the boy’s identity.

"Philon?" "It’s been a while! And you’re with Ray and Leif, as always. You three really are inseparable, huh?"

Were we really considered a set? Well, we did stick together most of the time.

Ray fended off other trainees with her sharp attitude. Leif supported Ray from behind, casually offering sharp remarks to back her up.

"But it looks like you’re coming out of the second layer already."

Philon assumed as much, and I nodded.

"No, we just passed through the second layer. We went to the third."

"The third layer? But novices can’t go there, right?" "It’s fine if you have an escort. Also…"

Philon glanced around, lowering his voice.

"It’s pretty common for people to sneak into layers beyond their rank."

That was true. Even in the training center, they taught us that there were side paths to descend deeper into the Abyss.

"Where’s your escort?" "Oh, he’s right over there."

Philon pointed to a man with shaggy brown hair and a scruffy beard, standing a bit away, watching us.

When our eyes met, the man started walking over.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Nathaniel Hailstone, Philon’s teacher."

Nathaniel extended his hand, and I shook it in return.

"Roman Sun. I’m a peer of Philon’s from the training center. This is Ray and Leif, my teammates." "Leif Yusglimt." "Ray."

Leif gave a polite bow, while Ray merely muttered her name, not bothering to be formal.

Nathaniel nodded in greeting to both of them.

"Are you planning to go to the second layer?" "Yes."

Novices could explore the second layer as long as they weren’t alone. If that weren’t allowed, Philon would’ve had to sneak in through a side path.

Nathaniel seemed to glance around as if looking for someone, then asked, "Is your team entirely composed of novices?"

"That’s right." "Hmm… I won’t stop you, but when you go down to the second layer, stick to the main paths. Lately, things have been strange below, and the number of monsters has noticeably increased."

It was sound advice from an experienced explorer, but Nathaniel quickly retracted his words.

"Though, I suppose you don’t really need the advice."

Yes, well… that’s probably true.

We’re more than just a novice team, after all.