- A Few Minutes Later -

Xu Lian slowly blinked his eyes open after I used Soul Shackle on him, sitting up groggily.

"Where am… I…?"

Then, he spotted me, and immediately looked struggled to his feet before preparing to launch a spell. However, after seeing me not budging an inch, he hesitated.

"I would think twice about trying to harm me," I said calmly, sending him a condescending look. "Of course, you're welcome to try. See what happens if you do."

"… What did you do to me?"

"I purposely didn't hit you too hard so you wouldn't take too long to wake up," I chuckled. "To think it would actually work."

"Answer the question," he demanded coldly, his usual smile nowhere to be seen. He knew he had lost. And now he wanted to know what the consequences were.

"Well-"

I hopped off the walls of the temple and stood in front of him with a triumphant grin on my face.

"-Put simply, you're under my control now."

"… What?"

I smirked and summoned one of my Chaos katanas before very gently cutting open a slit on my fingertips.

"GAH!"

Immediately, Xu Lian fell to the floor in agony, clutching his hand as blood spouted out of it like a fountain.

"Tch… you bastard… what the hell is this…?"

"Are you really stupid or just pretending to be?" I taunted, dematerializing my katana. "Whatever injuries I receive… you'll receive them too — just amplified thousandfold. So — think twice before trying to hurt me. And remember, I can kill you anytime I want."

"The exam doesn't allow this…!" Xu Lian gritted his teeth and laughed to the best of his ability despite his agonizing finger. "Heh… you may have won now, but let's see you grin when you're kicked out from the school!"

"Oh?" I leaned in close to his face. "The rules only said no killing in this exam. I can kill you outside of it at any given moment. And besides… how will you report me when I can easily get rid of your tongue?"

With a light scratch of mine, I can easily silence him forever. I expected him to shudder in fear when I told him this, but instead… he merely laughed darkly.

"Ahaha… how I've been played. I always thought no one could match me in terms of scheming and intelligence, among the students of this school. Yet here I am, defeated. Just end my life, you damn bastard. I lost. I have no more purpose in living. Hell, if you won't do it, I'll do it myself."

"You lost once," I replied. "Is that really enough to shut you down already? Is that all you amount to?"

"… No matter how long it takes, I won't be able to exceed you."

"Is that so?" I scoffed. "What if I told you… I used to be a talentless waste without any magic, up until just last year?"

He snorted. "No way that's possible. You awakened your magic this late, yet managed to enter the top university in the world in a matter of months? If that's true, then it only proves my point — I can't surpass you. You win."

Tired of his whining, I walked closer to him and sank a punch straight into his face.

"Ngh-!" He fell back onto the floor, laying down. I straddled on top of him, before bringing my fist down again.

"How about this? Don't you feel the burning desire for revenge in your heart?"

"Don't… bother… gah! I know what you're trying to do," he spat with venom. "I'd rather… die… than become your slave!"

Hearing this, I stopped.

"Oh… you have some backbone. Unfortunately, I don't care."

With these cold words, I bashed his head in once again, just barely keeping him conscious and alive.

"Gah…"

"Ugh!"

"AH!"

I continued punching him until his face was completely bruised, and I finally got up from his body.

"… Hopefully, that should teach you what fear is. After all, there are things in this world worse than death."

"Hah… hah… this won't stop me… from killing myself…"

"Hm. In that case, go ahead." I turned around and casually began walking away, leaving his battered body behind. "I have plenty of Necromancy Magic up my sleeve."

At this, he froze. "… You're bluffing."

I smirked. This was the moment I had been waiting for.

"Is that so?"

Without even bothering to turn around, I pointed the palm of my head at the ground and cast a spell I had learned from the university's library just a while ago. It was also the same spell a certain now-deceased enemy of mine had once used against me.

Level Three Necromancy Magic — Acolyte Summon.

An ominous green light shone out of my hand and into the dirt, where a rock golem of some sort suddenly rose out of the ground. It was humanoid, but had a single glowing green eye in the center of its oddly shaped head. Its body was made out of clay, judging from appearances, but its claws were exceptionally long and sharp that made it the perfect killing machine.

The figure knelt down to me obediently, hissing quietly.

"Sssss… Greeeeeeetings, Masssssster…"

… Hm. Okay, that's kind of weird. I prefer Mei Gui or Flaria, thanks.

Slowly, I glanced back at Xu Lian, who held a shocked expression in his eyes.

"Do you want to see more? I still have a few cards up my sleeve, you know."

"… Tch. Fine… I'll serve you for the time being. Since I'm going to be made into your pawn either way, better do it while living than dead. Just know this… the moment I find a way to break this curse… I'm coming for your head."

"Ah, so the beating worked after all," I chuckled lightly. Too bad… you'll never be able to break this curse.

"…" Xu Lian fell silent, preparing to walk away, but I grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Where are you going? I haven't given you your first mission yet."

*****

After carefully instructing Xu Lian on what to do, I returned to Class A's Base to check on how the war went. The first mission I gave him wasn't all too difficult — basically, keep his mouth shut about me and convince his class of a certain outcome.

When I arrived back at the base, the battle had just about ended. Class B and C's forces lay scattered within the forest, completely defeated. The only one remaining standing was Si Ye, who had wounds all over her yet still glared at Ming Hao with hatred.

"… Si Ye. Give up," he said quietly, the usual carefree attitude to him nowhere to be seen.

"No… I'll make you pay…!"

Ming Hao sighed and shook his head, but in doing so, he spotted me hiding in the shadows of a tree. Knowing that I noticed him as well, he made a slight nodding gesture to me. I immediately understood what he meant.

Man… handle your woman yourself, moron.

Level Three Shadow Magic — Invisibility.

Level One Psychic Magic — Conceal Presence.

Discretely, I snuck up behind Si Ye, before decisively striking down on her neck with the side of my palm. Her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious into my arms. I canceled my invisibility and looked up at Ming Hao who smiled in response.

"Hey. Thanks."

"… You gonna come get her or what? I'm not sending her back to their base."

"C'mon, dude! She's already in your arms, just do it!"

I snorted, before setting her down in the dirt without any hesitation.

"It's your woman. I don't care what happens to her."

"She's not my woman, but okay…"

Ming Hao hopped off from the wall of the temple and picked Si Ye up in her arms.

"By the way, where were you during the battle?" He asked me before he left.

"I had some business to take care of. You didn't need me to be here, did you?"

"No, but… eh, whatever. Asking you to tell me your plans is like telling an elephant to play piano. Well, see ya in a bit."

I nodded firmly as he set off, then headed into the temple.

*****

- Later That Night -

"Congratulations," Sylvoir said as the two of us stared out at the beautiful landscape of the Infinite Realm.

"You've been watching me?"

"D-Don't overthink it. I just… was bored, that's all."

"I see. In that case, let me ask you a question."

"… Hm?"

"Do you think… what I did was evil?"

After a short silence, Sylvoir responded.

"Well. Judging from an outsider's perspective, yes. If someone were to take your actions out of context — beating your own schoolmate, cursing him and using him as a pawn — then they would naturally consider you as a villain: evil. But personally… I don't particularly feel what you did was 'wrong'."

"So… you support my methods?" I chuckled softly. "That's a first."

"I wouldn't go as far as to say I 'support' them — I just believe it's necessary to achieve what you want. There are plenty of better methods to go about it, but yours is the most surefire and certain way that leaves no room for error or — in this case — betrayal. I may be biased since you're my family, but-"

"Hold on. Did you just call me… your family?"

At this, she tensed up, before averting her gaze. "I… meant that girl by your side. Mei Gui."

"… Right. Of course."

"A-Ahem… anyway. The school you're currently in is good. But in the end, the knowledge they can teach you is limited. The Library of Infinite Beginnings holds many more secrets and mysteries to be unraveled, waiting for you."

"So… can I access the library from this Infinite Realm?" I asked.

"Normally, I would say no, but…" She sighed. "Because you are in a somewhat special situation where you can't enter the physical library, I'll allow you to do it this way."

"Allow me…? So it's possible, but you don't let the other Founders do this?"

"Yes — because of the risk of someone using Dream Magic to discover our existence."

"I see…"

"Your school doesn't have many strong mages who can use Dream Magic. And if they do try, I am powerful enough to prevent them from doing that. The other Founders, however… have quite a few enemies that are only slightly below my power level if not the same — which is why I cannot protect them like I'm doing with you."

"Huh, thank you then, I guess."

"Do you want to begin today?" She asked, folding her arms.

I shook my head. "Nah. Today, I just want to sleep peacefully and relax. I'll come in whenever I have time though."

Sylvoir snorted. "'Whenever you have time…' I can see everything you do, Xuan Kai — including what you do at night, in bed."

I leaned in close to her ear. "What. Jealous?"

She immediately swiped her leg up in an attempt to kick me, but I evaded out of the way with ease. She punched me last time I did this already — I wasn't about to fall for it again.

"… Shameless," she spat, cheeks turning red.

"Well, well, I'm just teasing. Relax." I turned away. "But in any case… I'm going to leave now. Thanks again."

She nodded. "Come back soon."

I smiled. There's so much knowledge in the Library of Infinite Beginnings — how can I not come back soon?

"I will."