The Academy City looked even more dazzling than usual tonight.
Festive decorations adorned every corner, the streets sparkled under the glow of fairy lights, and the hum of celebrations filled the very air.
It was as though the City itself had come alive, shining brighter than ever.
Oh, and there were parties. Plenty of them.
The seniors were hosting their own gatherings, marking the start of their new academic year with drinks and games.
Most dormitories were buzzing with various social events, while the Collectives held private parties that were accessible only to their members.
A Collective was essentially a posh club for Cadets belonging to rich and elite households who shared common interests and ambitions — like a college fraternity or sorority, with an extra layer of entitlement.
After his stunning victory in the Evaluation Exam, Samael was bombarded with invitations from numerous Collectives begging him to pledge to them.
Naturally, he ignored them all.
Joining a Collective sounded like a lot of work — endless meetings, tedious fundraisers, mandatory bonding activities, and pretending to care about their cause.
Worse, if you join a Collective and receive a mission from the Academy, you could only go on that mission with your fellow Collective members.
Yes, you couldn’t ask anyone else to accompany you.
But the real dealbreaker? Every Collective thought that being in their group was a privilege, and so they treated outsiders like lesser beings.
Samael had no patience for such nonsense.
Only he alone had the right to act superior to others.
And, well, Samael was lazy. Very, very lazy.
Anyhow, most Academic Societies were also hosting their own recruitment parties, inviting Cadets to join them.
Because of that, it truly felt like some kind of a festival. Every corner of the City seemed to be glowing as the night had turned into a labyrinth of light.
Amid this radiant chaos, Samael was walking alongside Alexia with her Origin Card hovering near her shoulder.
In her soft brown gown, curly orange hair framing her doll-like face, and unfocused gray eyes reflecting the sparkle of the city lights, she looked undeniably beautiful.
Then, as if sensing his gaze, Alexia turned toward him.
“Deep in thought, Lord Samael?” she asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.
“Yes,” Samael replied with a steady gaze. “That gown suits you. You look good.”
A wide grin spread across her lips. “Oh, thank you. I think you look quite good yourself.”
Samael was about to flash her a smile in return, charmed by the unexpected compliment, when he suddenly froze. His eyes narrowed at the blind girl.
Her shoulders were trembling, and her face was turned slightly away as though she was trying to stifle a laugh.
“You can’t see me,” Samael muttered through gritted teeth.
And just like that, Alexia burst into laughter.
Damn it! Even with her Origin Card floating right there, it was very too easy to forget she was blind.
“Right, sorry! My bad,” Alexia said, still laughing. “But I believe you look good. I’ve heard some girls talking about you, and let’s just say you’re someone they’d hate-date. You know, the guy they despise so much they’d date just to argue better.”
Samael groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Hate-date? That’s… oddly specific.”
Alexia shrugged with a grin. “Hey, I’m just relaying the gossip. Someone called you a human volcano — smoldering hot but guaranteed to ruin their lives.”
Samael crossed his arms and kept his expression flat. “Well, at least they admit I’m hot.”
Alexia nodded, mock-serious. “Oh, absolutely. Too bad it’s the kind of hot that comes with a warning label.”
As Alexia burst out laughing again, Samael shook his head, deciding it was time to change topics.
He casually gestured toward her floating Origin Card. “By the way, can I ask you something? How much can you actually see with your innate power?”
Of course, Samael already knew the answer. He had played the game as her, after all. She was one of the main playable characters.
But getting her to talk about her powers suited his agenda, so he carefully steered the conversation in that direction.
Alexia tilted her head, twirling a few loose strands of her orange hair between her fingers. “Ah, my Aura Sense? Curious, are we? Or just fishing for weaknesses?”
Samael raised a brow, his lips curling into a faint smirk. “Would you blame me if I was?”
She chuckled softly. “Not at all. But don’t get your hopes up. I’ll enjoy watching your face when you realize how little of an advantage over me you actually have.”
“By all means,” Samael scoffed. “Enlighten me.”
Her Origin Card glowed faintly, lazily orbiting around her as she began to explain. “Here’s the thing — I can’t see at all. What I can do is sense the Aura of anything alive — people, animals, plants, anything with a heartbeat or some kind of life force. To me, they shine like stars in an endless black void. Each living thing has its own unique rhythm, its own… fingerprint, if you will.”
She tapped a finger to her temple as if emphasizing her point. “Your Aura, for example, is strong — sharp and bright like a blazing sun. Most people’s Auras are softer, more muted. The farther away they are, the harder it is for me to ‘see’ them. But yours? It’s impossible to miss. Even in a crowd, it’s like someone waving a torch in the dark.”
Samael arched an eyebrow. “Flattered. But what about objects? They don’t have a life force. During the Evaluation Exam, you dodged almost all of my and Michael’s attacks. How?”
Alexia’s grin widened with a touch of pride. “Good catch. You’re right — non-living things don’t emit Auras. But here’s the trick — I do.”
She raised her hand and continued in a confident tone. “My Aura extends outward like a field. When something enters it, I can feel the way it interacts with the space around me — whether it’s a solid wall, a loose pebble, or even a stone lance flying at my face. It’s like echolocation, except instead of sound, it’s my energy bouncing back.”
Samael’s expression shifted to intrigue. “Impressive. But that sounds… limiting. Doesn’t it take effort to project your Aura constantly like that?”
“It does,” Alexia admitted with a shrug. “And yeah, it’s limiting. My power isn’t perfect. I can’t sense colors, for example, or read text. Paintings, photographs, screens — those are just empty spaces to me. And if someone suppresses their presence, as some advanced Hunters can, I lose sight of them entirely.”
She paused, then added with a faint smile, “On the plus side, I can sense emotions and the smallest changes in someone’s body. Which is why I’m unbeatable in close combat. Every twitch of muscle, every shift in intent — I feel it all before my opponent even moves. It’s like reading a book where every action is written a second before it happens.”
“Unbeatable?” Samael’s smirk widened. The faint glint of amusement in his eyes was impossible to miss. “What a bold claim.”
“Am I not?” Alexia shot back with her usual mix of arrogance and confidence.
Samael raised his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, fine. Sure. Fighting you was challenging. Especially when you somehow paralyzed our limbs. But I still don’t get one thing. If you’re completely blind without your powers, you must’ve been using them non-stop during the exam. How did you not run out of Essence?”
Alexia shook her head, the curls of her orange hair bouncing slightly. “Nope. I didn’t even activate my Origin Card until a few minutes before I fought you two. Before that, I was relying on my Shadow to guide me.”
“That reminds me—” Samael glanced around the brightly lit streets, but there was no sign of anyone following them. “Where is your Shadow, anyway?”
“He wanted to check out the Martial Society,” Alexia replied with a casual shrug. “He’s at their recruitment party, listing his name. He was reluctant to leave my side, but he knows better than to treat me like a helpless damsel.”
“Of course,” Samael said with a nod, his tone half-teasing. “So, let me sum this up — in a situation where you run out of Essence and your Shadow isn’t around, you’re pretty much done for.”
Alexia didn’t respond immediately, which only gave Samael a chance to press further.
“Why don’t you just use some kind of sensory enhancement Card?” he asked in a curious tone.
Alexia hesitated. “I’ve tried – the best my Clan could find. But Cards like that drain so much Essence. My Origin Card is already very taxing, so adding more strain? Not worth it. That’s why I avoid using most Cards altogether.”
Samael’s grin stretched wider as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small item and waving it in front of her. “That is a tragic predicament. Fortunately, I might have just the solution.”
Alexia frowned, sensing a rectangular object in his hand. “Is that… a Card? Wait, were you seriously trying to sell me a Card this entire time?”
“What?! No!” Samael chuckled awkwardly a few times. “Well… okay, yes. But listen! This isn’t just any sensory enhancement Card. It can amplify all six of your senses — yes, even your sixth sense. Intuition, instinct, whatever you want to call it.”
Alexia’s frown deepened, though her interest was undeniable. “That does sound useful, but Samael, like I said, these Cards exhausts too much Essence—”
“That’s the thing!” Samael interrupted, his voice brimming with excitement. “This one won’t. You can pick a single sense to amplify as a passive effect and it will cost you barely anything. It only starts draining when you activate all its enchantments and enhance all your senses simultaneously. So, yeah, it’s efficient.”
Alexia stared at the Card in his hand, blinking as if weighing the proposition. After a moment, she finally reacted.
“Huh. Okay, yeah. That… is incredible. Who made it?”
“It wasn’t forged,” Samael replied, his grin almost smug. “It’s natural.”
“That explains it.”
Cards could either be forged by artificers and enchanters or manifest naturally in the soul of a Hunter after they slay a Spirit Beast.
Natural Cards are typically considered more powerful and efficient than the forged ones.
“And what do you want in return for it?” Alexia asked, a skeptical look clouding her face. “I doubt you’re handing it over out of the goodness of your heart.”
Samael scoffed. “Yeah, zero chance of that. I’m not that nice. In return, I want the same «Visual Link» Card that Michael’s after.”
Alexia narrowed her eyes. “What is it with you two and that Card? It’s not even that special.”
“It kind of is for a Common-grade Card,” Samael nodded. “But you’re right, I don’t need it.”
“Then why?” Alexia queried.
Samael shrugged. “Because I want something that Michael has. But I have no leverage over him. He hates my guts, so he won’t make a deal with me under normal circumstances. But he’s desperate for that Card.”
Alexia took a deep breath. “Yeah, he did seem pretty desperate.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Samael said, grinning. “He’s hiding it, but he’ll do anything to get his hands on it.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
Alexia fell silent again, making Samael feel a twinge of nervousness. The truth was, he was equally desperate.
When she didn’t respond after a few moments, Samael stopped in his tracks and said, “You know, I have partial access to the Academy’s Vault since I’m the Ace, right? I’ll throw in another deal for you. Every time you advance in Soul Rank, I’ll find an upgrade for you. Higher-grade Cards that can help you rely less on your Origin Card. How does that sound?”
Alexia blinked, clearly surprised. “Wow! You must really want me to make this deal. But you see the problem, don’t you? This promise of yours is only valuable if – and that’s a big if – you manage to stay the Ace until I break through my Rank. What if someone dethrones you before that? What if I dethrone you before that?”
“Then you lose nothing!” Samael countered quickly. “In fact, you have nothing to lose if you take the chance! Look, I don’t gamble much—”
“Much?” Alexia interjected with a smirk.
“—But I can tell you, you have more to gain here than to risk.”
Alexia seemed to ponder the deal for a few more moments, then finally nodded and took the Card from his hand. “You know, you’ve changed a lot.”
Samael looked at her with questioning eyes and exclaimed, “You say that like we’ve met before!”
“I told you, we have!” Alexia replied with the same energy.
“When?! I racked my brain trying to remember, but I can’t!”
Alexia placed a hand on her chest and gasped dramatically. “Your words hurt me, Lord Samael. My poor maiden heart. I suppose I’ll just have to take this Card as compensation.”
Samael rolled his eyes, unable to suppress a grin. “Nice try. Now give me yours.”
“Tsk.” Alexia clicked her tongue, but with a grin of her own. “Well, it didn’t hurt to try.”