The voice behind him carried neither mockery nor praise.
Just calm curiosity.
Ren turned.
The boy standing there wore the crest of the Akamine Clan on his sleeve. The same boy whose hand had ignited the Talent Pillar moments earlier.
High-grade talent.
The crowd around them had already begun dispersing, but the boy remained still, observing Ren with sharp interest.
“So you’re Ren.”
Ren studied him once.
“And you’re the Akamine heir everyone was whispering about.”
A faint smirk appeared on the boy’s face.
“Akamine Ryu.”
He folded his arms.
“I expected someone else.”
Ren tilted his head slightly.
“Oh?”
“Someone who would react.”
Ryu’s gaze drifted briefly toward the pillar behind them.
“You didn’t.”
Ren said nothing.
The wind brushed lightly across the arena, carrying away the last of the murmurs from the departing crowd.
Ryu watched him for another moment before speaking again.
“Low grade talent.”
His tone wasn’t mocking.
If anything, it sounded… curious.
“Yet you weren’t surprised.”
Ren’s expression didn’t change.
“Surprise is wasted on predictable outcomes.”
Ryu’s eyes narrowed slightly. For a moment, the two boys simply looked at each other.
Then Ryu exhaled softly.
“Interesting.”
Without another word, he turned and walked away.
But just before disappearing into the crowd, he paused.
“We’ll meet again in the academy.”
Ren didn’t respond. He already knew that. The ride home was quiet.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
His uncle stared out the carriage window, his expression dark.
His aunt’s disappointment was far less subtle.
“We had expectations,” she said sharply.
Shiro shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“I thought… cousin Ren would do well.”
His uncle sighed.
“Low grade talent.”
The words lingered in the air like dust.
A wasted investment. A broken expectation. Ren listened calmly.
None of it mattered.
In his previous life, the same words had been spoken.
Talent.
Potential.
Limits.
People loved placing cages around themselves.
The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the house.
Without waiting for further conversation, Ren stepped down and walked inside.
By afternoon, the house had fallen into a quiet lull.
Servants moved slowly through the corridors. His uncle had retreated to his study. His aunt spoke with visitors in the courtyard.
Ren slipped outside unnoticed. His destination lay beyond the town.
Kurotsuki Ridge. The path was familiar.
Not because he had visited it often in this life—
But because memory guided his steps.
In his previous life, he had only learned of the ridge’s hidden treasure years later. By then, someone else had already claimed it. A missed opportunity.
Today, he intended to correct that. The forest grew thicker as he climbed.
Wind moved through the trees in long, whispering breaths.
Eventually, Ren reached a narrow clearing tucked between two jagged stones.
He stopped. Then crouched.
A thin layer of dirt covered the ground beneath a twisted root. Ren brushed it aside carefully until the edge of something metallic appeared.
A small chest.
Just as he remembered.
Ren lifted it free.
Dust coated the lid, but the structure itself remained intact.
His fingers traced the lock. Still sealed. Still waiting.
But his current strength was insufficient.
Opening it required far greater thread pressure than his body could produce.
Ren studied the mechanism for a moment before placing the chest back into its hiding place.
“It’s still here.”
That was enough.
Treasure delayed was not treasure lost. He covered the chest again and stood.
Instead of returning immediately, Ren continued walking deeper into the ridge.
The terrain shifted gradually. Sharp stones. Narrow slopes.
Small cliffs hidden beneath tangled vegetation.
He moved slowly, mapping the area in his mind.
If one hidden cache existed here, others might as well.
Time passed unnoticed.
Eventually Ren reached a high outcrop where the forest thinned.
From there, the town below was clearly visible.
Roofs clustered together. Smoke rising gently from chimneys. The training arena stood near the center like a silent monument.
Ren stood there quietly for a moment.
Watching. Thinking.
Threads of possibility stretched invisibly through the town.
Clans.
Politics.
Ambition.
Enemies.
Friends.
And somewhere within that web
The truth behind his parents’ deaths. Ren’s eyes narrowed slightly. Then he turned away.
The sun was already sinking when he began the walk back.
The house was far less quiet when he returned.
His aunt was waiting in the courtyard. The moment she saw him, her expression hardened.
“Where have you been?”
Ren stopped.
“Walking.”
“Walking?”
Her voice rose sharply.
“You left without permission and returned after sunset. Do you know how that reflects on this family?”
His uncle stepped out from the hall behind her.
“A young member of our household wandering outside all day,” he added coldly. “After today’s performance.”
Ren remained silent.
Inside the house, Shiro stood near his bedroom door, listening quietly.
He couldn’t see Ren from where he stood.
But he could hear everything.
His cousin had just been declared low-grade talent.
His uncle and aunt had expected greatness.
Anyone in that position would feel crushed.
Shiro leaned against the wall, frowning slightly.
"So Ren ran off to the mountains."
"He might be upset over his low grade talent"
Meanwhile, Ren simply watched his aunt finish her lecture.
Her anger slowly burned itself out. Finally she sighed and turned away.
“Enough of this.”
Then she paused and added one last thing.
“The official academy begins tomorrow.”
Ren inclined his head slightly.
“I understand.”
Without another word, he walked past them and toward his room.
Behind him, the house slowly fell quiet again.
But Ren’s mind was already elsewhere.
The treasure chest still waited beneath Kurotsuki Ridge.
And tomorrow
The academy would begin.The real game was about to start.
