Extra Of The Magus Academy

"Did you notice?"

"Yeah… apparently, he hasn't left his room all day. The Exchange is in just a few days…"

"Is he even taking it seriously?"

A few students had just returned from the Training Hall, returning to their Dorms for a quick shower and a lunch break when they glanced in a certain direction: the room of the Shame of the Zephyr Household.

There was sheer silence emanating from the room, but if one moved closer and placed their ears on the door, loud snores could be perceived from within.

Ashfelt Zephyr, the one residing in the room, was yet to come out despite it being late afternoon, and practically everyone who passed by his room knew he was sleeping. Not only was that incredibly lazy for a student to do, but with the Exchange around the corner, it was an irresponsible act for a participant.

"If our Academy gets affected because he is slacking off, then—" The student who muttered this suddenly kept quiet almost as soon as he started sharing his thoughts with his friends.

The reason was simple.

Seth Zephyr appeared seemingly out of nowhere and walked past the group.

All three students bowed their heads to show their respects, but also did so to hide thor faces in shame and fear for the things they had said about a member of the Four Great Noble Households.

If Seth wanted to be petty, he could have furthered the matter with them.

Thankfully, he didn't.

Instead, he walked towards the room of his twin brother, giving the three students the perfect opportunity to scurry away in relief.

"Brother… it's me, Seth."

Seth knocked on Ash's front door, his azure eyes carrying an unknown mix of emotions.

No response.

Seth's presence, which often caused students to tremble in fear or awe—sometimes both—was completely ignored. The boy stood in front of the door for a few seconds, both dazed and slightly embarrassed.

However, he didn't let that stop him from knocking again while raising his voice.

"Brother, it's me—"

"Shoo! Go away…" Ash's voice slurred as he spoke, almost like he was still stirring from a deep sleep and wanted to return to his land of dreams.

Upon hearing this, Seth's eyes scrunched and he felt a pang of annoyance course through him.

All the negative emotions that he had been holding back for so long began bubbling to the surface and with clenched fists, he raised his voice and doubled down in a far more intense manner.

"Open the door, brother! You have humiliated yourself and our family for long enough!"

"...."

Ash's lack of response caused Seth to believe the boy had fallen back to sleep.

Perhaps he was simply ignoring him.

Either way, Ash's actions were extremely rude, especially when considering the nature of the person speaking to him.

"You won't even dignify my presence by opening the door for me and looking me in the eye when you chase me off." Seth fumed. "You are being too much, brother, and everyone has taken note of it at this point."

If it was only Apprentices, it would have been a different matter.

But the Intermediate and Expert Stage students were also noticing Ashfelt's terrible attitude towards the Exchange, and even now… it was obvious that some students were peeking at Seth or listening in on his conversation with his brother.

Even so, Ash refused to behave properly—in a way befitting of the Zephyr Noble Household.

"This is very disappointing, brother."

Seth gritted his teeth, annoyed at both his brother's refusal to see him and his silence throughout all of his rants.

What he didn't know, however, was that it wasn't Ash's fault.

Even if Ash wanted to see Seth, he couldn't due to the stress that had been placed on his entire body and Soul due to the Grade Advancement ritual he conducted.

He was beyond exhausted.

Ash could barely even move his body, not to mention stand and address Seth who stood several feet away from him. Rather than bother with it, Ash simply considered it a more prudent option to save his strength and limit even his words so he could regain his energy faster.

However, since Seth didn't know all of this, he was upset.

"I was glad when you returned to Alpha Class, brother. I thought you were changing for the better, and when you even applied and successfully got selected as a participant for the Exchange, I was happy that you were making improvements with your life. But…"

Seth's expression was conflicted.

He clearly didn't want to hurt his brother's feelings or sound scathing, but he saw no other option at this point.

"... But, I can see why people call you a slacker and they suspect that you used underhanded means to pass the Re-Entrance Exams. Even making it to the selected list of participants for the Exchange is seen as luck, or you simply riding on my coattails." Seth said, clenching both of his fists.

He didn't want to be accusatory towards his brother, but this was necessary.

"The actual Exchange will be a lot different from everything you've faced thus far." He began after taking a deep breath. "There will be no room for underhanded tactics or some shameless behavior that will place you on top." Stay tuned with My Virtual Library Empire

Silence.

"It's far more brutal than you think, brother… and if this is how you'll behave even days before the Exchange starts, it's best you drop out before you get hurt."

Still silence.

"I'm saying this for your own good, brother." Seth sighed and shook his head.

Since everything he said thus far was not dignified with any kind of response, he felt it unnecessary to say any more while standing in front of his brother's room.

"Goodbye…"

Seth left the room and jogged to the training hall, leaving the dead silent abode of the deadbeat Noble.

'Haa… this sucks.' Ash groaned internally. 'But, I have to conserve my energy as much as possible so I can regain my lost strength.'

Even if it cost his barely existent relationship with his brother, so be it.