"Haaaah…"A lazy yawn echoed inside the limousine.
"Young master, we've arrived at the academy," said a familiar voice.
Theodore turned toward the source of the voice. It was a man in his thirties—sharp, composed, and as punctual as ever.
"Young master?" the voice repeated, gently pulling him from his daze.
"I'm awake, Michael. I'll get out now," Theodore replied, finally sitting upright. Michael followed suit, retrieving Theodore's luggage with practiced ease.
"So, this is the place Father sent me, hoping I'd find a rival worth my time?" Theodore muttered, eyeing the campus with a trace of disdain. "Doesn't look like much."
Michael smiled faintly. "Young master, don't let appearances fool you. This academy is where even the best of the best struggle to gain entry."
"I know, Michael. If this place weren't so prestigious, no amount of power could've dragged me out of Austria," Theodore muttered, stepping through the grand gates of Zukunft Arcanum Academy, Michael close behind.
Without delay, they headed toward the dormitory section of the academy.
Thanks to Theodore's exceptional accomplishments, he had been assigned a room in the finest dorm available: Novaheim.
There were three dormitories at Zukunft:
Novaheim, for ranks 1 to 10,
Mittellicht, for ranks 11 to 100,
and Dunkelheim, for those ranked 101 to 400—the lowest tier.
To be honest, Theodore didn't expect much from the dorm itself. He imagined it'd be far inferior to his home. But somewhere deep inside—perhaps no bigger than a speck—there was a glimmer of hope. After all, Novaheim was a place others could only dream of.
Tap.
A shoulder bumped into his own, snapping Theodore out of his thoughts.
In front of him stood a boy with brown hair and deep brown eyes, roughly his height—another Novaheim student, it seemed.
With a brief glance, Theodore examined the figure. Then, without warning, he released his energy into the air.
The atmosphere tensed. The pressure grew thick.It was suffocating.
But Theodore wasn't trying to provoke. Not really. He just wanted to see what kind of strength his dormmates had… or rather, he was bored. He was, without doubt, the best of his generation. What could go wrong?
"Stop," the brown-haired figure said calmly. He didn't flinch. Didn't even blink.
"And if I don't?" Theodore asked with interest.Most people would have trembled by now—maybe even panicked.But this one… this one didn't seem to care at all.
How long can he hold out? Theodore thought, amused. But then—
Something shifted.
Suddenly, Theodore felt a crushing weight bearing down on him.But there was no energy.No aura.Only intent.Killing intent.
And it was growing. Pressing. Smothering.For the first time in his life, Theodore felt outmatched.
The brown-haired boy spoke again, voice calm but cold:
"You asked, 'What if I don't stop?' Didn't you? I think you've got your answer."
With that, he turned and walked away.The pressure… began to fade.
THUD.
Just as Theodore exhaled in relief, it slammed back into him. Hard.His knees buckled.He dropped.
Why?Why release it again?
Looking up in disbelief, Theodore met the boy's gaze.
"Don't try anything that stupid again," the boy said.The moment the words left his lips, the weight lifted entirely—as if it had never existed at all.
Theodore sat in stunned silence, trying to process what had just happened.Even Michael, the man who had seen and prepared for nearly every situation, had frozen beside him.
And that was saying something.
Michael wasn't just any servant. He was a high-level sword expert. A seasoned warrior. But even he had been paralyzed.
"Pfff…" Theodore finally exhaled.That had been… one of the most terrifying moments of his life.He had dismissed it as overacted bravado at first—but now, he knew just how wrong he had been.
Still, none of that mattered.Because in that moment, something inside him lit up.
He turned to Michael, a grin breaking across his face."I've finally found a worthy rival, Michael."
"Young master! Are you serious?" Michael asked in disbelief.Who would say such a thing after being crushed under that kind of pressure?
"I've never been more serious," Theodore replied, his smile unable to be contained.
At last…The Absolute Prodigy had found a rival.And nothing could thrill him more.