Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby

Chapter 234: A Ripple through the Academy

Several professors and instructors across the academy were notified of the duel in the Tower of Legends. For many, it was the ultimate test of strength for cadets, so they had standing requests to receive alerts whenever someone challenged the tower. Beside that, a great screen mounted on the academic building displayed live updates of ongoing competitions and events. A small crowd of cadets gathered there, eager to witness how far their peers could climb. Professors, noticing the gathering, soon became aware of the challenge as well.

Professors and instructors had access to any academy event through their personal devices. The moment Raijin Stormrider ascended past the thirtieth floor, shock rippled through the faculty. It was a well-known fact that at that point lay two Bloodstone Gargants... monsters whose corrupted blood poisoned all it touched. They could only be slain with precise killing blows that left no blood spilled, a feat nearly impossible for a newbie first-term cadet. Even many graduates rarely succeeded at such a task.

Among those notified was Supreme Grandmaster Scáthach herself. As head of the Combat Department, she received every tower alert, but she had configured her device to notify her only once a cadet passed the twenty-fifth floor. Mediocrity did not interest her. She sought only the extraordinary.

The first alert she received that day bore Raijin’s name. She was in meditation when the device pulsed, and though annoyed by the interruption, she checked his record:

[Personal Database]

Cadet Name: Raijin Astrape Stormrider

Cadet Number: 10156601

Institution: Ascendance Academy of Midgard

Race: Dragon

Bloodline: Sky-Lightning (Level 1)

Cultivation Level: Awakened

Academy Points: 2015

Courses: Basics of Cultivation, Introduction to Supernatural Ethics & Law, Introduction to Lightning Attribute, Cultivation History and Paths, School of Swords

Achievements: Rank 4 in the Initiation Ceremony

Her interest waned almost instantly. A lightning dragon should, by her estimation, reach the fortieth floor without difficulty. Anything less marked him as weak among his kind. With that thought, she closed the record and returned to meditation, deciding she would only bother to look again if he managed to reach the fiftieth floor.

It was much later that her device chimed again. Expecting the dragon’s progress, she opened the alert... only to be surprised. Another cadet had crossed the twenty-fifth floor.

[Personal Database]

Eleanor Elizabeth

Cadet Number: 10156659

Ascendance Academy

Race: Werewolf (Alpha)

Mind Reaver (Level 1),

Cultivation Level: Awakened

Academy Points: 2061

to Supernatural Ethics & Law, School of Mixed Martial

in the Initiation

had concealed it, or one of her parents was from the Lychos

Arrichion has been earning his keep. I wonder how she fares without leaning

His awareness spread outward in steady waves as he recovered his strength. Though his device had buzzed with the

***

and she found she could not so much as lift a finger. Her breath came in ragged bursts. A quick glance at the corner of her vision showed the timer ticking away at its usual pace... merciless,

and featureless, white walls enclosing her like a cage. No monsters lurked here, no weapons lay waiting. Only a staircase stood across from her, no more than

minute to understand. "Gravity," she realised bitterly. "This isn’t a fight. The challenge is to cross the room before the

"I can’t even call on it. I used it too recently. I’ll need at least twenty minutes to recover. I walked right into a trap, and

was gone. Gritting her teeth, she began testing the limits of her body under the crushing force. Slowly, deliberately, she shifted her weight, seeking any motion that might carry

***

of disappointment... his run had ended at the fiftieth floor, slain beneath the weight of an army greater than the one at twenty-five. But the praise of his

Stormrider is

what it means to be

very start of the term... imagine how far he’ll reach by the

do something

Master, are you

spare a glance

barely a hatchling. Don’t