Sera’s food-smeared face was entirely too close. Lucian calmly placed a hand against her forehead — gently pushing her away.

"Sera, just watch and trust me, okay?" he whispered reassuringly.

Turning back around, the sly, calculating smirk slipped right back onto his face. Behind him, his whole team just watched in silence, Lyria giving Sera a helpless shrug.

"So, my friends, here is what you need to do..." he leaned in as his voice dropped to a conspiratorial murmur the rest of the instructions. A few seconds later, the leader of that group lost his patience. He stepped aggressively into Lucian’s space.

"Hey! Why the hell should we trust you? How do we know this isn’t a trap?"

Lucian didn’t even blink.

"Think it through, my friend," he smiled softly. "Do you even have any other choice?"

The man clenched his fists. Gritting his teeth, he spun around and began a slow, hesitant walk toward the wall. His team watched him bated breath.

"Damn it... Why do I always have to be the sacrificial lamb..."

Behind Lucian, Kaelen nervously gripped Lyria’s sleeve. Elira and Sera didn’t blink, their eyes completely fixated on the poor guy.

The guy took a deep breath and suddenly opened his eyes. Before the mirror could even manifest his deepest fear, he twisted his face into the most hideous, ridiculously ugly expression he could muster.

Pfttt...

A few snorts echoed behind him as his team held, trying not to laugh.

"Don’t drop it. Keep holding that face for five seconds," Lucian’s calm voice drifted over.

In the reflection, his actual fear finally appeared—a massive, bloodstained giant teddy bear. Confused and enraged by the ridiculous face staring back at it, the monstrous teddy suddenly started banging its massive paws against the glass.

"One."

"Two." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Three."

"Four."

"And five."

Passed. And fwoosh, the teddy disappeared... leaving a crack.

The eyes of everyone standing behind were stunned. Elira, Sera, everyone.

That guy suddenly stepped back... and glanced toward his team.

"Get ready, everyone."

He shot a powerful fireball... the wall broke, leaving a hole and a 10-second timer.

Without missing a beat, his entire team leaped through to the other side.

The ten-second timer vanished, sealing the wall back up. Even though the hole had been big enough to pass some or more teams still everyone else was too stunned to move, completely missing their chance. On the other hand, that successful team was already celebrating.

Sera just stood there, her mouth hanging wide open. Lyria and Elira exchanged baffled looks. They still had to cross, so why on earth was Lucian helping random rivals first? It was completely beyond their understanding.

Suddenly, the rest of the students snapped out of their daze and swarmed Lucian. It didn’t matter which academy they belonged to—they all wanted to know whatever he had whispered.

From the other side of the glass, the ’sacrificial lamb’ gave a grateful wave before leaving.

"Hey man! I owe you one!"

Over here, the crowd was practically piling on top of Lucian. A hint of his natural cockiness finally bled through his composed facade as he held up his hands to control the mob.

"Have patience, my friends, I will tell everyone... no pushing."

Standing there like a generous merchant handing out free samples, Lucian smoothly delivered his instructions to every desperate student.

"Pick someone afraid of ghosts or objects. Go up, make a funny face for five seconds. That’s it."

One after another, the teams put it to the test. Some people still failed to hold their composure, getting spooked at the last second, so they swapped in another teammate.

Standing toward the back, Eryx — the simple, lean-built leader of the Blood Oak team — watched in silent disbelief. His team had been wasting their stamina trying to shatter the wall with raw power, and this guy just talked his way past it?

He glared at Lucian as his suspicion grew.

There is no way he is just being nice. What is he really after?

"Eryx? What’s wrong? Why are you spacing out?"

He glanced to his side. Isla, their team’s prodigy beast tamer, was looking at him with wide, innocent brown eyes. He opened his mouth to reply, though got intrupted by another teammate who shouted from behind them.

"Eryx! Isla! Garrick made an opening! Hurry up!"

He blinked gobsmacked. Even his own team had just used Lucian’s ridiculous method to cross.

Putting his pride aside, Eryx didn’t overthink it. . After all, he knew the risks — wasting any more physical or magical strength on this first wall would only cripple their chances on the second and third floors.

Soon, the area started clearing out. Almost a hundred students had already crossed leaving only the stragglers behind — those who were still fumbling at the trick and those who had already collapsed in defeat.

With the elite teams gone, Lucian was finally left alone. But not for long.

Sera marched up, grabbed his wrist, and physically dragged him back to their circle. He was immediately met with the narrowed, interrogating stares of Lyria, Elira, and Sera.

Time was ticking. They couldn’t afford to be late, yet nobody was taking a single step until this guy started talking.

"What? Why the stares? Do you really still not trust my intuition?"

He sighed, rubbing his temples under their intense glares.

"Okay, okay... hold on. Let me explain it all."

He strolled over to the translucent wall and leaned comfortably against it.

First, let me explain how it works. It’s really simple. He said while tapping the glass lazily a few times.

"You see, this illusion isn’t just a trap... it’s a puzzle," Lucian began. "And like any puzzle, it has a built-in limit. You all saw Cassian earlier, right? He punched the wall with his eyes open, and it yielded, creating a hole. That proves this barrier has a breaking point. But what kind of limit are we actually talking about? Did you get it?"

All four of them just keep stared at him, shaking their heads innocently.

"It’s really simple. The limit has absolutely nothing to do with the wall’s physical durability. It depends entirely on your mental limit." Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly. "If I stand in front of this thing and maintain unwavering confidence — and if I truly believe without a single shred of doubt that I can break it — then even a simple punch is enough."

To prove his point, Lucian casually swung his fist backward, delivering a basic, effortless punch into the glass without even looking at it.

CRACK!

The solid surface instantly fractured right behind his shoulder.

"See? It really is that simple. Be confident, and you can break it. Because of that very first student who panicked, fear spread through the rest of the cavern like a plague. Everyone’s confidence wavered. And the moment they doubted themselves, the wall capitalized on it, trapping them in their own personalized illusion loops.

He pulled his hand away, looking back at the group. "This was never a test of raw strength. It’s a test of confidence."

While Kaelen stood frozen in awe though Elira and Sera awkwardly avoided eye contact with the rest of the group. They exchanged a quick embarrassed look. knowing they had wasted nearly all their stamina in a petty, meaningless rivalry. It was a good thing Kaelen was level-headed enough to shut down their mindless competition by replenishing their energy with steamed buns.

Lyria, however, was profoundly impressed.

This guy... he really has a brain that could win a thousand sword fights with just his words. truly a monster.