Bond Master

Lilac and Coal Dust

Once the thick layer of caked-in swamp muck had finally been scrubbed from his skin in a steaming, high-pressure shower, and his filthy, mud-soaked uniform was sent down the chute to Mrs. Gable’s laundry room, Ren Barrett changed into his second set of clean charcoal-and-gold academy clothes.

Feeling human again, his muscles comfortably warm from the backflow of energy vibrating through his chain brand, he made his way down the wide, carpeted staircases of the residential wing to the designated outdoor courtyard where the squad had agreed to meet.

When he pushed through the heavy iron-reinforced arches leading out into the pristine academy grounds, however, he found only Vesper sitting patiently on the edge of a white marble stone bench, a heavy stack of leather-bound manuals resting on her lap.

Ren blinked, looking past her down the wide cobblestone paths lined with meticulously trimmed hedges. "Where are the others? I thought the shield boys were eager to test out the lounge facilities after securing that massive credit bonus."

Vesper sighed, tossing her damp, dark curls back over her shoulder and rolling her silver-blue eyes with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "It looks like the other two completely canceled on us, Ren.

Their personal combat instructor intercepted them right at the entrance of the locker rooms on their way down. Apparently, the proctors' evaluation reports from the swamp simulation traveled fast, and once the instructor heard that Garrick and Barek were getting so fantastic with their synchronized [Guard] barrier skills, he dragged them straight back out to the heavy martial fields for an additional three hours of high-intensity phalanx training."

Ren let out a low chuckle, taking a seat on the opposite end of the marble bench. "Well, look at the bright side—that simply means there will be far more empty tables and breathing room for us to tackle our actual homework. What exactly do you have to work on today? I figured an Elite Idol candidate would be practicing her stage posture."

Vesper winced, playfully waving her polished focus wand in his direction as if threatening to hex him. "Don't even joke about that, Barrett. I spent enough time in eyeshadow and posture braces yesterday to last me a lifetime. Today, it is strictly dedicated to foundational Mana theory. It’s one of the heaviest, most grueling academic core tracks for the casting blocks, and the professors don't show an ounce of mercy."

She opened the thickest tome on her lap, revealing pages covered in dense, hand-inked geometric diagrams and complex script. "The entire first-year focus is about learning how to expand our internal Mana pools while systematically reducing the raw stamina and energy cost of the basic spells we already know.

Right after the Divine Injection, our pathways are incredibly rough and inefficient. We burn through massive amounts of energy just to throw a single standard bolt. But the text says that as our control improves through constant meditation, most casting elites naturally receive sudden, instinctive insights into entirely new spells or auxiliary skills. It’s a built-in property of the mage-type bloodlines."

Ren leaned forward, his curiosity piqued by the mention of the injection's internal mechanics. "Insights? Like a spontaneous awakening?"

"Exactly," Vesper explained, tracing a glowing blue line across a diagram with her fingertip. "Once your Mana channels harmonize with a specific elemental frequency, your mind just suddenly understands how to shape a new spell without a teacher ever showing you the formulas. It allows us to expand our personal spell books completely outside the standard classroom curriculum, which is vastly faster.

The best part is that the unique spells you unlock through raw individual insight tend to grow significantly quicker and manifest far more power than the generic ones taught in lectures, which heavily helps you rank up through the academy tiers."

Ren leaned back against the stone framework of the bench, a thoughtful, slightly envious expression crossing his handsome face.

"That actually sounds like an immense amount of rigorous work, but the payoff is incredible. Mostly, my routine is far less intellectual. I just need to continuously practice my basic physical forms, my close-quarters striking speed, and my endurance so that my human skeleton can actually keep up with its own rapid growth. At least, that's the only baseline guidance Sergeant Corvina can give me for now."

He rolled up his gold-trimmed sleeve, staring at the faint, interlocking crimson chain mark wrapping tightly around his forearm. "The academy scholars still don't possess a single historical record regarding the specific Bond Master class marking I received. So, unless I miraculously trigger some kind of random internal insight like your casting block does, I am entirely limited to the single active combat skill I share with Grim.

The saving grace is that the [Bone-Plate Rend] technique naturally grows more lethal and requires less stamina every single time Grim refines his own power inside the Beast Vault. My own human body adapts right alongside him. The stronger that hound grows inside the vault, the stronger and faster I become in the real world."

Vesper looked up from her manual, her silver-blue eyes scanning his altered frame with a look of genuine fascination. "Honestly, Ren, that's both an incredibly tough break and an absolutely massive win for your career.

You essentially get to bypass hundreds of hours of library research and grow physically stronger just by existing, eating rich food, and training your companion beast. No mind-numbing theoretical study required to unlock your raw power.

But I suppose only commanding one primary attack method could eventually become a bit limiting once we start facing high-tier wild monsters on expeditions."

They rose from the bench by mutual agreement and began walking down the wide garden path, their boots crunching softly against the gravel. The air was remarkably crisp and clean, completely free of the toxic coal dust and sulfur fumes that Ren had spent his entire childhood inhaling back in the Soot stone District.

After a few moments of silent walking,