Elise’s scream caught the attention of every applicant in the room.

One of the applicants, a lean man with a scar running across his chin, stood up and started walking toward them.

"Hey, what’s going on over there?" he called out, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Juna stepped directly into his path before he could get more than five feet, her tail stiffening and her ears pinned back against her head.

"Move it, beastkin," the man snapped, his expression souring as he looked down at her. "Mind your own business and let me see what that noble brat is doing to those girls."

Juna didn’t move an inch, just tilted her head slightly while her eyes narrowed into thin, predatory slits.

She didn’t say a word, but the air around her seemed to grow heavy, a primal, suffocating pressure radiating from her small frame.

The man froze, his breath catching in his throat as his instincts screamed at him to back away immediately.

He looked at her, then at his own trembling hand, realizing he was staring at a monster wearing a human face.

Even Gorren, who was still leaning against his chipped axe, stayed exactly where he was, his gaze fixed on the floor to avoid catching her attention.

Juna waited until the man scrambled back to his seat before she turned around to look at Hajin.

He was still sitting behind Elise, his hand slipped under her tunic and his fingers moving slowly against the skin of her back.

Elise was a mess, her head bowed low and her face so red it looked like she was about to steam, her breath coming in short, ragged hitches.

Juna watched them for a long moment, her eyes fixed on where Hajin’s hand disappeared beneath the fabric.

She puffed out her cheeks, her tail thumping irritably against the floor as she realized she didn’t like this at all.

Hajin ignored the tension and closed his eyes, focusing on the energy pulsing under his palm. The moment his mana entered her body, he felt the difference immediately.

He remembered the pain of his own awakening, the way the system had torn apart his old shard alignment to build the ring channels. His mana flow was smooth, a perfectly sealed circuit that felt like a natural extension of his own blood.

Elise was different. Her mana was moving through shard-aligned pathways that were jagged, inefficient, and full of tiny fractures.

’She’s leaking badly,’ he thought, tracking the way her energy dissipated before it could even reach her limbs. It was like trying to fill a bucket that was made of wicker. No wonder her control was only at a forty.

He realized that other adventurers must spend their entire lives fighting this basic inefficiency. They weren’t just talentless, they were fundamentally built on a broken system.

"I’m going to plug the leaks," he whispered, his voice low enough that only she could hear. "It’s only temporary, but it’ll stop the waste while we’re hitting the core."

He pushed a thin, needle-like stream of his golden mana into her primary channel, guiding it toward the largest fracture. She let out a sharp, muffled gasp, her body arching involuntarily as the energy began to coat her internal pathways.

Elise felt her eyes flutter shut as the warmth spread through her chest, a feeling she hadn’t felt in nearly a decade.

It was like her mother’s embrace, the same soft, protective heat she remembered from the night before she died. She felt happy and safe, the constant weight of her own messy mana finally lifting from her shoulders.

’What is this?’ she thought, leaning back into the touch without realizing it. ’It’s so warm and stable. I didn’t even know mana could feel like this.’

Hajin held the connection for a few minutes, making sure the threads were firmly anchored in her core and pathways before he started to pull his hand away.

"I’m done," he said, his voice quiet. "The leaks are sealed for now, so you should—"

"Don’t," she whispered, her hand reaching back and gripping his sleeve before he could fully withdraw. "Please, just... just a little longer."

He froze, his brow pulling together as he looked at the back of her head. He was about to ask what was wrong until he felt her body trembling against his palm, followed by the sound of a soft, choked-back sob.

He looked closer, seeing the way her shoulders were shaking and the faint glint of tears on her cheeks.

Sable watched the whole thing from a few feet away, her mouth slightly open and her eyes darting between Hajin’s hand and Elise’s crying face.

She was completely lost, her mind failing to find any reason for why a mana synchronization would turn into an emotional breakdown.

’She must have a tragic past,’ Hajin thought, letting his hand rest there.

He hadn’t really thought about it before since his life had been nothing but a blur of events since he awakened, but the strange, embracing feeling of his mana made him wonder.

’Could it be because it’s connected to the Goddess?’ he thought, looking down at his palm. ’It doesn’t feel like a weapon right now, it feels like it’s trying to protect her.’

They stayed like that for several minutes until her breathing finally leveled out and she slowly let go of his sleeve.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice still thick as she wiped her eyes and finally turned around to look at him. "For helping me. Not just with the mana, but... for this."

"It’s no problem," he said, his tone softer than it had been since they entered the guild.

Sable watched the two of them looking at each other, her expression turning into a grimace as her stomach churned.

She felt like she was going to be sick, the sheer weight of the sudden, soft atmosphere making her want to crawl out of her own skin.

"If the therapy session is over," she spat, her voice sharp enough to snap the moment. "I’d like to actually pass this exam before the guildmaster decides to fail us all for wasting his time."

Hajin stood up and brushed the dust off his pants, looking over at Sable with a calm expression.

"She seems a bit... intense," Elise whispered, leaning toward Hajin while she kept her eyes on Sable. "Is she always like this? What exactly is her deal?"

He looked at Elise and a small, genuine smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

"Don’t mind her," he said, reaching out and patting Elise’s shoulder in a way that felt surprisingly familiar. "She’s just a little high-strung because she wants to win so badly. We’ve been through a lot together today, so I’m used to the attitude by now."

Elise blinked, her face softening as she looked at him, feeling a sudden, comfortable closeness that she couldn’t quite explain.

Sable watched the two of them, her jaw tightening as she felt a hot surge of irritation boiling in her chest.

’Are you actually kidding me?’ she thought, her fingers curling into fists at her sides.

Just a while ago she had been feeling a little bad for him, even thinking about taking his side against the other applicants. But watching the way he was smiling and acting like they were best friends made her stomach turn.

’He’s not just some talented outsider,’ she thought, her eyes narrowing as she glared at the back of his head. ’He’s just a total lady player who knows exactly what to say to get under a girl’s skin.’

She turned away, not wanting to look at them anymore, while the stream panel flickered with a single, final message.

[ LurkerNoMore: what type of rizz am i witnessing right now 😂 ]