Ember Reborn: The Flame That Defied Fate-Chapter 62: The Thing Beneath the Exam -

"Geez... the brat has no intention of waking up."

I said it like a joke, but my eyes kept flicking back to Yuren’s face.

Two hours.

A full two hours since he collapsed from mana exhaustion, and he still hadn’t so much as twitched.

I’d tried everything short of dumping cold water on him—tapping his cheeks, shaking his shoulder, even calling his name loud enough to startle nearby birds.

Nothing.

He was out like a corpse.

"...He’s not dead, right?"

I leaned down and checked his breathing again. Slow, steady, annoyingly peaceful.

I clicked my tongue.

’Mana exhaustion, yeah. This tracks.’

People liked to talk about mana exhaustion like it was a simple "I’m tired" situation.

It wasn’t.

If you emptied your reserves too deeply, your body didn’t just get fatigued—it shut down to recover. Some people woke up in minutes. Others needed hours.

I knew that better than most.

Back when my mana was pathetic, I’d practically been a professional in collapsing at inconvenient times.

Still...

I stared at the broken forest around us. The shattered bell fragments glinted faintly near the stream. The air still felt bruised from Yuren’s rampage.

This wasn’t a place I liked leaving an unconscious friend.

Especially not after what I’d just realized.

He wasn’t obsessed with first place because he was competitive.

He was obsessed because he was afraid of what losing meant.

And now he was here, helpless, while the exam timer kept ticking.

I turned on my Hero Watch.

Time elapsed since the midterm began: about four hours.

Time remaining: about four hours.

My current score: 0.

I stared at the number like it was mocking me.

The first wolf I killed hadn’t counted—no marker. And the unicorn... Yuren got the bonus objective.

So here I was: half the exam gone, and I was still sitting at zero.

’At this rate, I’ll graduate with "bottom rank" tattooed on my soul.’

It wasn’t just pride. Rankings affected everything—postings, resources, even which missions you got offered after graduation.

I didn’t need to be first.

But I couldn’t keep pretending last place was acceptable.

"...I need points."

I exhaled hard and looked down at Yuren again.

"And you need to wake up."

I couldn’t carry him around while hunting, and I couldn’t call for an instructor either without turning this entire area into a festival.

Besides, if a rescue signal went up right after the unicorn bonus objective, professors would swarm the mountains.

Which meant one thing:

The exam could get suspended.

And the moment that happened, the chaos would become my problem.

No.

I needed to stabilize the situation here.

So I made a decision I didn’t love.

"A barrier," I muttered. "Just a simple one."

In the past, I would’ve laughed at the idea of wasting mana on something like that. Barriers weren’t cheap spells.

But lately... my pool had grown enough to at least pull off a basic perimeter ward.

Not something that could stop a true monster.

But enough to discourage low-level beasts and buy time.

I rummaged in my pouch and pulled out a small stick of chalk and a compact ink capsule—standard academy supplies for rune practice.

No dramatic blood circles. No theatrics.

Just clean theory.

I knelt beside Yuren and started drawing.

A hexagram base. A three-layer circulation pattern. An anchor point at the center.

As I worked, the annoyance in my chest loosened into focus.

’So this is what it feels like...’

All those nights studying Sophia’s notes.

All those lectures that felt useless in the moment.

The structure of the circle mattered. The flow mattered. The stability mattered most of all.

Theory was just paper until you made it real.

I finished the last line and placed my palm near the core.

"Activate."

Mana flowed.

Wooooong—

A grayish haze rose in a thin ring, barely visible unless you looked carefully. It wrapped around Yuren like a gentle veil.

Not flashy.

Not strong.

But it was there.

I leaned back, satisfied.

"Alright," I murmured. "Sleep all you want. At least you won’t get eaten by a stray four-eye."

I stood, dusted off my knees, and turned—

Then froze.

The unicorn.

The white beast was still nearby, swaying on its feet.

It looked... wrong.

Not aggressive.

Not enraged.

Just unsteady.

Its mane hung limp, and the lightning around its horn flickered like a candle in wind.

"Hey," I said slowly, hands raised. "Easy. I’m not here to finish you off."

The unicorn didn’t react to my gesture.

It staggered, taking a few steps away... but not like it was fleeing me.

Like it was wandering away because it had only one thought left:

Get away. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

My eyes narrowed.

’It’s not running from me.’

The barrier around Yuren was too weak to affect a high-ranked beast like this, and the unicorn was outside its radius anyway.

So why did it look like that?

Why was it moving like it couldn’t even focus?

Then—

RUMBLE.

The ground trembled.

Not the natural vibration of distant fighting.

Not a collapsing tree.

This was deeper.

Heavier.

The kind of tremor that made your bones vibrate.

My instincts screamed before my mind caught up.

I jumped back.

BOOM!

The earth erupted a short distance away, dirt blasting upward like a geyser.

The unicorn reared with a sharp, panicked cry—

And something enormous surged out from below.

A shape.

A mass.

A presence that swallowed the space around it.

The unicorn vanished from view in the chaos, and when the dust cleared, it was gone—dragged away in one brutal motion I didn’t want to imagine.

I clenched my jaw.

This wasn’t part of the exam.

It couldn’t be.

I lifted my sword slowly and stared at the thing that had surfaced.

A beast with a crocodile-like head and a humanoid body.

Green scales like layered armor.

Muscles packed tight under its hide.

Its mouth opened slightly, showing teeth designed for crushing.

And its eyes—

Eight of them.

Eight red eyes, glowing like warning lights in the dark.

I let out a breath that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"...You’ve got to be kidding."

An eight-eyed beast didn’t belong anywhere near a third-year midterm.

That was the kind of monster that even experienced heroes treated seriously.

Rankers—top 100—didn’t "hunt" these casually.

They formed teams. They planned. They brought supplies. They accepted injuries as likely.

So why was one here?

I scanned its body quickly.

No marker.

No academy seal.

No signs that it was one of the "prepared" demonic beasts.

Just like the wolf earlier.

Which meant—

"This thing wandered in from outside," I muttered.

Or worse.

The future had shifted again, and the mountain had become a doorway for something it shouldn’t be.

Either way, the conclusion was the same.

I didn’t have time to debate fate.

Because the beast turned its head—

And looked past me.

Straight toward the faint haze where Yuren slept.

My eyes sharpened.

"No."

The beast’s throat rumbled, a low growl that vibrated the air.

Then it stepped forward.

Each footfall shook the earth.

Thud.

Thud.

It started moving like it had already decided what it wanted.

Like it didn’t even consider me a threat.

That annoyed me more than it should have.

I kicked off the ground and swung.

Clang!

My blade bounced off the scales like I’d hit a steel plate.

My hand tingled with impact.

"Tsk."

As expected. Direct cutting wouldn’t work.

’Vital points.’

Eyes. Throat. Joints.

Anywhere the armor thinned.

The beast shifted its weight and snapped its tail around like a whip.

The air screamed.

’Now.’

I channeled mana into my sword.

Sun Sword—Fifth Form: Variation.

Sunspot-Absorption.

The technique wasn’t about overpowering.

It was about pulling—condensing mana and pressure into a tight line, creating a moment of grip and control.

The air around my blade tightened.

I didn’t strike the tail with the edge.

I slapped it with the flat.

Whump!

For a split second, the tension caught.

Like my sword had stuck to its tail.

The force yanked me off my feet—

But I’d already planned for that.

Wind Step.

I expelled mana through my legs, kicked against the air like it was solid ground, and rode the pull upward.

My boots landed on its back.

The scales were rough, ridged like stone.

I reversed my grip and drove my sword toward one of its eyes.

Clang!

The blade skidded—blocked by a heavy lid.

My eyes widened.

’Even the eyelid?’

That was insane.

The beast roared and jerked, shaking like a mountain trying to throw off a rider.

I clung to the ridges, but the force was overwhelming.

My grip broke.

I flew.

I hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.

Thud.

Pain flared through my ribs.

Not broken—yet.

But enough to make my vision flash.

The beast turned, satisfied, and began walking again.

Straight toward Yuren.

Its tail swept once—

Crack.

My barrier shattered like thin glass.

The gray haze dispersed instantly.

The beast loomed over my unconscious friend.

And something cold slid into my chest.

Not fear.

Not panic.

Anger.

I pushed myself up.

My body protested.

My lungs burned.

But I stood.

"Hey," I said, voice low, steady. "Crocodile head."

The beast paused and slowly turned, eight eyes narrowing.

It looked almost confused that I was still moving.

I wiped dirt from my mouth with my sleeve.

"It’s not over," I said, green eyes hardening. "Where do you think you’re going?"

For a moment, the air held still.

Then the beast growled again and started forward.

I exhaled once.

Slow.

Controlled.

The pain didn’t matter.

Not right now.

Because I was out of clean options.

Which meant—

I’d use the dirty one.

Sssssss.

The sound of heat.

Not from the air.

From inside me.

I straightened, focusing my will like a blade.

And I spoke a single word.

"Rise."

Ash-gray smoke began to curl up from my skin.

Not a raging inferno.

Not the full Incarnation.

But enough.

Ignition.

My mana stirred—sharpened—thickened with the Primordial Flame’s presence.

The beast’s eight eyes flickered, sensing the change.

And for the first time since it appeared...

It hesitated.

I smiled, not because I was happy—

But because I finally had its attention.

"Good," I whispered. "Now we can talk."