CHAPTER 40: AURORA

The crowd was completely confused as to why Professor Odel accepted a draw when he was clearly ahead with a knight and a bishop. He was a war strategist and an undefeated chess grandmaster.

Jin stood up and shouted, "I won," as he glared at the senior student he had bet 20,000 gold coins with.

Kurt protested, "It was a draw!"

Jin Claye tilted his head and replied, "Our bet was that Professor Odel would never win against Gabby and he didn’t win."

That was when Kurt realized he had fallen into a trap. He had been blinded by the thought of winning ten thousand gold coins and didn’t notice the vague wording of the bet.

He couldn’t question why Professor Odel accepted a draw in a winning position, nor could he accuse him of taking a bribe. After all, no one could blame one of the Kingdom’s Top Ten Strongest. Professor Odel had reached the level of a Master tier threat in combat.

Kurt clenched his fists and thought to himself, "Jin Claye, you’re really starting to piss me off. I know you’ll be chosen as one of the academy’s representatives for the upcoming competition. And when that happens... I’ll humiliate you or kill you myself. Just wait."

Kurt appeared calm on the outside, but inside, he was boiling with anger. After all, losing twenty thousand gold coins was no small matter—a sum large enough for a lord to establish his own barony.

He forced a composed tone and said, "I’ll send the payment later."

Jin smiled and replied, "Thank you. I need to pay the kingdom’s taxes, after all."

With that, the chess match concluded in a draw.

Gabby stood up. His eyes were blank, his expression calm. He remarked, "Victory demands sacrifice. You cannot win without accepting loss."

Professor Odel’s eyes narrowed slightly as he thought to himself, "This is the first time I’ve met a student with such a dangerous philosophy. I only hope he’s not referring to war."

Aloud, he said, "Your knight sacrifice was a brilliant move. As promised, you are now exempt from all regular subjects, except for exams. You’re only required to attend your chosen major."

Gabby gave a slight bow. "Thank you, Professor Odel."

The students who witnessed the match began to whisper among themselves. Rumors quickly spread:

Professor Odel must have accepted the draw on purpose. To formally grant Gabby’s request without raising suspicion or facing backlash. After all, no one could oppose the Tower’s Vice President. It was rare for someone of his rank to even participate in such events. But no one dared to speak their thoughts aloud, not even the professors present in the arena.

The crowd didn’t cheer when Gabby managed to draw against Professor Odel. But they didn’t dare boo him either, not with Professor Odel still present.

Only a handful of students from the elite freshman class clapped quietly. Among them, Jin was the most cheerful, grinning from ear to ear after winning twenty thousand gold coins.

Gabby was approached by a petite senior girl with short chestnut hair that curled slightly at the ends. Her wide hazel eyes, framed by round glasses that kept sliding down her nose. She held a leather-bound notebook close to her chest.

"Hi," she said brightly, "I’m Lira Everen from the Journalism Club. How do you feel after sacrificing your knight and still offering a confident draw?"

Gabby gave a polite nod. "I feel honored. I still lack tactical and positional strength. But if fate allows me to face him again. I’ll do my best."

Without waiting for a follow-up, Gabby turned and walked away, avoiding the growing attention.

He thought to himself, "That was a good result. I got what I wanted. Now I just need to craft the right emotion—the kind a journalist like her would want to hear."

***

Gabby woke up early—not to attend Professor Jordan’s class, but to head straight to his chosen major: Survival.

As he walked through the quiet corridor, a girl approached him. She was one of his classmates—taller than most, with long, straight black hair tied into a low ponytail. Her bangs were neatly trimmed, just above her sharp eyes.

With a soft voice, she said, "Good morning, Gabby."

Gabby blinked, surprised. It was the first time a girl had ever approached him.

"Good morning, Aurora," he replied, recognizing her from one of his classes.

She looked down shyly, then said, "I was recently recruited into the Chess Club."

Gabby simply responded, "Thanks for letting me know. But if you’re here to recruit me. I’m not interested."

Aurora quickly shook her head. "No, no. I just wanted to say. I analyzed your match yesterday for about eight hours. It was disgustingly brilliant. That knight sacrifices? Nasty. But why did you sacrifice the bishop instead of the rook to Rd7+?"

Gabby paused, watching her, "Did her tone just change the moment she started talking about chess? he thought. She’s definitely a chess nerd. And... she doesn’t seem to have mana or aura. A non-awakened."

He scratched his head and replied, "I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m bad at mental visualization and calculation. Sorry."

Aurora didn’t seem discouraged. She pulled out a thick notebook and flipped it open. "Here," she said. Showing him, pages filled with detailed calculations and multiple variations of his game with Professor Odel.

Gabby stared at the pages as he thought, "Eight hours of deep study and her lines are this accurate? That’s impressive."

He pointed at one variation. "I didn’t even consider this line. Rook to Rd7+. I could’ve won Professor Odel’s queen in that sequence."

She remarked, "Yeah, right? That bishop sacrifice led to a draw. It was an unnecessary flashy move. Our Chess Club President is thinking about recruiting you."

Gabby gave a small nod. "I’ll think about it. Sorry, but I have a class to attend."

"See you later, Gabby," she said with a faint smile, stepping aside as he continued down the corridor.