Shaa—

Feeling the cold water trickling down my face, I took a deep breath. Looking up, I stared at my reflection. A familiar visage met my gaze, but as I looked closer at my expression, I noticed the slight curl at the end of my lips.

Though I smiled, I wasn't actually smiling.

.....My body was smiling in my stead. No, rather, Alexander was smiling for me.

"Haaa..."

I let out a long breath and turned off the tap. Massaging my face, my smile gradually faded.

The same was true for the monotonous world around me as color started to return, and I felt my emotions become more pronounced.

The world...

It didn't feel as boring anymore.

"....."

Staring at the all-too-familiar expression, I finally relaxed.

'....It's a dangerous ability.'

I could still feel the lingering traces of Alexander lingering within the depths of my mind.

If I wasn't careful enough, then there was a chance that the Alexander in my memories would take over.

"I can't allow that."

There was a goal that I needed to accomplish.

I couldn't lose sight of who I was before I even achieved my goal.

Even so...

"It worked."

For just a few minutes, I was able to become 'Alexander'. It was sloppy, and I needed to put more work into it, but during the fight, I had become him.

It was for that reason that Luxon was thrown off during the fight.

While I still wasn't stronger than him, in this state, I could hold my own against him. Even hold him in a passive state.

The more I thought about this new ability, the more my heart thumped.

".....So many possibilities."

What if I were to memorize and mimic more than one style? Not just Alexander. What if I tried to assimilate myself with more personalities...?

What would happen then? Would I be able to call forth different types of combat styles?

Though my physical limitations constrained how much I could imitate, if I could switch between personalities, it would certainly throw off a lot of my opponents.

If at one moment I was 'Alexander' and the next switched to another personality, then it would make it impossible for my opponent to predict how I fought.

"It's an interesting idea."

One that I sort of wanted to put to the test but had to stop myself from doing so.

"....."

My neck was starting to feel itchy, and my hand twitched at the sensation. I almost started to scratch my neck to get rid of the itch.

Leaning forward, I grasped the sides of the sink.

"It's troublesome."

The new 'technique' sounded strong, but there were severe limitations to it.

It involved letting myself be immersed in the emotions and memories of another person. In the process, I needed to make sure to not lose sight of myself.

The more I immersed myself in them, the more I could copy and replicate their abilities, but at the same time, it also took a massive toll on me mentally.

I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't lose sight of myself within those memories and emotions.

For that reason, I needed to be careful.

My neck felt itchy all of a sudden.

"....."

I stared at my reflection and clenched my fist tightly.

"Fuck off..."

Alexander was starting to take over my mind once again. It was an exhausting situation. However, I resisted.

I didn't let 'Alexander' take over who I was.

Grasping tightly the corners of the sink, I brushed my wet hair to the side.

"I'll control you."

Not just him, but whoever else I planned on assimilating in my mind.

I wasn't going to let them take over my mind.

That much, I was sure of.

***

The days passed and the day of the Midterms neared.

With the midterms being one of the main attractions of the Festival, it naturally attracted a lot of attention from the general public and big Guilds. But it wasn't without reason.

An announcement had been released by [Haven] a few days before the long-awaited midterms.

- [Announcement] -

In light of the delay with the midterms, the Haven facility has agreed with the other Academies within the Empire to open the midterms for all other Academies. This will now be a joint examination from students from all over.

- [Announcement] -

The news took over the Empire by storm as excitement boiled over the news.

Within a few days of the announcement, the Academy campuses became packed with people. From large sponsors to members of the fifteen Guilds. The Academy was filled with important figures.

Of course, there were plenty of reporters.

Cason Wallance, a rather renowned reporter walked around the Academy campus to interview the Haven cadets.

With their reputation, a lot of his audience was interested in listening to what they had to say.

Currently, he was interviewing a young cadet who appeared to be in his first year.

—How do you feel about the upcoming midterms?

—Oh, I feel great. I think my team will perform well.

—You're that confident?

—Well, I wouldn't say confident, but I trust in all the work I put in with them.

—That sounds amazing!

The interview flowed smoothly.

Whenever he asked a question, the cadet would respond with picture-perfect answers.

—You're aware that the other Academies will be coming for the upcoming midterms. Do you fear them a little?

—Oh, yeah. Even though we at Haven are hailed as the strongest, the other Academies are not to be looked down upon. They are extremely powerful in their own right. We can't let ourselves drown in our own arrogance.

It was a picture-perfect interview.

Humble, and confident. The interviewer nodded along as he interviewed the cadet.

—Thank you very much for the interview! I hope you and your team manage to achieve some success in the midterms.

—Haha, thank you very much.

Wrapping up the interview, the cadet left and Cason looked at the recording in satisfaction. After a little editing, he could send the video directly to be broadcast around the Empire.

Turning his head, Cason noticed his producer's expression looked troubled.

"Is something wrong?"

"Hmm, well..."

"What is it? Spit it out? Did I make a mistake in the interview?"

"No, it's not that."

"Then...?"

"It's monotonous. Bland. The people at Haven all seem to reply in the same manner. It's rather boring, don't you think?"

"Oh."

When he put it like that...

Cason frowned.

"What can I do? It's all live, and it's not like I can tell the cadets to start behaving irrationally."

"No, I get that."

"Then...?"

"It's whatever. Just keep doing your job. I'll think of something."

With these words, the producer left. Staring at his departing back, Cason scratched the side of his face.

".....Bland."

Staring at the recording device, he sighed.

"It looks like I'll have to do more interviews."

In a sense, he agreed with the producer. The interviews were indeed a little bland when taking into account that all of them were real.

There was no 'spice'.

"Hmm."

All of a sudden, Cason's eyes widened as he caught sight of a group in the distance. As if they were magnets, they attracted the attention of all the people around them. Wherever they walked, heads would turn.

Walking at the front, was a familiar-looking cadet.

One that just recently had started to make waves. With an appearance that was hard to forget, Cason was sure it was him. Alongside him were four other cadets. Amongst them, one girl in particular stood out.

With platinum long hair and red hair, her appearance didn't lose out to Julien.

Without even thinking, he appeared before them.

"Hello, cadets. If you don't mind, can I do a quick interview?"

"An interview?"

A head popped up. With widened eyes, she looked at him with excitement.

"Of course! Of course!"

Cason sighed in relief. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt rather intimidated by Julien's gaze. That was despite him not doing anything that would warrant such intimidation.

"Keum."

Clearing his throat, he turned on the recording device and started to interview. This time, unlike the previous attempts, he decided to hold the interview live.

—Hello, it's nice to meet you. Please introduce yourselves. Are you a group?

—Oh, yes! We are. I'm Josephine.

Stepping forward, Josephine introduced herself before pointing towards the others.

—He's Julien, our team leader. He's Anders, and he's Luxon.

—Oh, I see. And...

Cason pointed the recording device in the direction of the platinum-haired girl.

—I think you skipped her.

—No, I didn't.

—Uh?

—You can call her 'it'.

Finally speaking, Kiera looked at her with a scowl.

—Do you want to get hit?

—Maybe, the violent gorilla? No differenc-hiek!

Cason blinked as Kiera slapped Josephine's head.

'This is live...'

With a forced smile, he tried to calm the girls down and focused his attention on Kiera.

—....Hehe, friendly banter. Seems like the team chemistry is high.

—The fuck you on about?

Kiera looked at him with an expression that seemed to say, 'Is this guy an idiot? Chemistry? What the hell is that...?'

—....

Cason felt his face stiffen. Suddenly, he started to regret a lot of things.

—Ah, well...

And he quickly asked a question.

—How do you feel about the current format? A lot of Academies from the outside will be coming soon. Do you have any opinion on that?

—What do I care? It's a pain in the ass. If anything, they're just going to be a bother. It's not like they are any good to-hmmm!

Kiera was stopped mid-way as Josephin appeared from behind as she went on to cover her mouth.

—What are you doing?! This is getting recorded! Everyone will see you say this stuff!

—Hmm!

—Ak! You're licking me!

—The fuck are you putting your hand over my mouth for?

—Crap! You...!

Quickly wiping her hand over her shirt, Josephine's expression twisted as Kiera laughed at her from the side. Staring at the scene, Cason felt his face twitch.

'This isn't good.'

This team...

What the hell was this team?

Feeling that the interview was going in the wrong direction, Cason looked around and finally settled his gaze on Julien.

'Ah, right... There's him.'

Despite how intimidating he looked, he appeared to be the most reasonable of the group. Cason decided to interview him.

—What about you cadet Julien? What do you think about the recent news?

—.....?

As if not expecting to be interviewed, Julien looked down and tilted his head.

—About?

Cason cleared his throat and repeated.

—About the Academy's decision to open up to the other Academies for the upcoming examinations. Do you feel anything about that? There are quite a lot of powerful cadets in the other Academies. I'm sure you must've already heard of a few.

Cason went on to list a few names

—Johnathan Monroe. Karl Redhouse. Amelia Clementine... They're all high-level prospects just like you. Do you feel anything competing with such cadets?

—.....

Julien's expression didn't change much despite the question.

Initially, Cason thought he was mulling deeply over their names. Especially since he noticed his deep frown.

'Ah, judging from his expression, he seems to take them extremely seriously.'

As expected. Even the Black Star of Haven has heard of their names...

Julien's mouth soon parted open and Cason moved the recording device closer to his face. There was nothing more exciting than high-caliber prospects talking about each other.

This was sure to get the audience to pay attention and let them forget about the previous encounter.

Such were his thoughts until he heard Julien's words.

—.....Who?

At that moment, Cason froze.

He recalled his producer's words, and his mouth twitched.

Because...

He knew a storm had just started to brew.