Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest novel Chapter 1003

Reina's gaze softened—fractionally. Just enough for Astron to notice.

But then, she leaned back, the formal steel returning to her tone like a reflex.

"That's all for now. I'll forward the encrypted transcript of the fluctuations we recorded—review it when your schedule allows."

Astron gave a slight nod.

Reina's expression remained composed, but there was something behind it. A sliver of something quieter, not spoken aloud.

"And Astron?"

He paused. "Yes?"

"Do well on your exams," she said, tone light—but firm. "Your instructors are watching. And so am I."

A beat. Then, a dry smile ghosted across her lips.

"I expect results."

The connection blinked out before he could reply. The mana-screen dissolved into particles, fading back into the stillness of his room.

Silence returned.

Astron didn't move at first. His eyes lingered on the wall for a few seconds longer, watching the faint remnants of residual mana spiral through the air like embers left in reverse.

Then, slowly, he turned—his gaze shifting toward the arcane-etched wall opposite his desk.

Blank. Silent. Unchanging.

But not unseen.

His fingers hovered near the side of his eye for a breath, then dropped.

What does this mean?

He'd already sensed it.

Yesterday, just before midnight. The sky had shifted. Not in color, but in structure. The clouds had frozen mid-motion, and the thunder hadn't rumbled—it had curled, folding over itself like a looped frequency.

The leylines pulsed in reverse. The ambient mana began spiraling inward instead of outward.

He'd stared at the distortion for nearly thirty seconds—his [Eyes] active, locked on the deviation.

And it had almost broken him.

Not from pain. Not from pressure.

But from information.

He'd seen things—shapes, symbols, inverted echoes of runes that didn't belong to any modern system. Foreign anchors floating in the sky. Tethers that weren't connected to the land, but to something else entirely. Something distant.

At some point, the volume of raw data had overwhelmed him. His vision bled silver, and his perception twisted into noise.

He was forced to shut his [Eyes] off.

Just to remain grounded.

That should not have been possible.

Even when facing illusion domains, even under Reina's direct projection trials—he'd never been forced to disable his gift.

But last night…

It wasn't like looking at the world's secrets.

It was like the world was looking back.

Yet this was not the important thing.

He stared at the wall, unblinking.

Not because it held any answers.

But because it didn't.

Under twenty-one.

That was what Reina had said.

The gates are choosing based on age.

Not affinity. Not training. Not achievement. Just… youth.

His hands folded over his knees, fingers tapping once against the fabric of his pants.

Why?

The logic eluded him. In the framework of the natural world—of mana physics and system thresholds—there was no reason for dimensional access points to begin selecting based on such a human criterion. Age wasn't a construct of magic. It was biological. Arbitrary.

And yet, here it was.

The gates weren't opening for veterans, no matter their power.

Only for them.

This isn't how it happened in the game.

His eyes narrowed, the glow of recent mana data still faint in his pupils.

In Legacy of Shadows: The Hunter's Destiny, the event that shifted the world's balance came much later. Well past the academy arcs. Well past the awakening of personal Authorities.

It was the Descent of the Demon King.