Chapter 30: Lesson

Lazarus let the silence settle for a moment before he began.

"The secret is simple," he smiled, "but most of you will not fully understand until much later in your training. When a Historical Projection is destroyed while it is still bound to you, the connection is permanently severed. You will never be able to summon that same Projection again."

A ripple of surprise moved through the class. Several students stopped writing mid-sentence.

"The Celestial Library records the event," Lazarus continued. "It is theorized that, from the Library’s perspective, that particular thread of knowledge has already been spent in your hands and lost. The door permanently closes. No amount of additional study or higher Integration will reopen it for you. Other Historians may still summon the same figure or object, but you will not."

He let that land before moving on.

"This is why reckless use of rare or powerful Projections is dangerous in more ways than one. You are not only risking corruption or backlash. You are risking the permanent loss of a tool you may never recover."

Neron, still standing to the side with his arms loosely folded, tilted his head slightly.

His golden eyes were more focused now.

Lazarus continued without acknowledging the scrutiny.

"There is a second principle that follows from the first. The relative rank of the Projection determines how much control you retain after the summon is complete."

He raised one finger.

"If the Projection is weaker than your current capacity—an Echo for most of you—you can dismiss it at will. A thought is usually enough. The connection is thin and easily cut from your side."

A second finger.

"If the Projection is of roughly equal standing, dismissal requires a deliberate act. A short ritual, a specific chant, or a formal release of the bond. You cannot simply will it away in the middle of a fight without preparation."

A third finger.

"If the Projection is stronger than you, the decision to leave rests with the Projection itself. You may request. You may negotiate. You cannot force it. Until it agrees to depart, the summon remains active and continues to draw on your Anchor."

The classroom had grown very quiet.

Even the students who had looked skeptical when Lazarus first took the lectern were listening closely now.

"These three rules shape every practical decision you will make in combat," Lazarus continued. "They determine which Projections you risk in dangerous situations, how long you keep them active, and when you must prioritize escape over victory. A Historian who does not understand the cost of a destroyed Projection will eventually pay that cost at the worst possible moment."

He spent the next several minutes expanding on practical applications.

Positioning relative to a Projection’s effective range.

The difference between autonomous Projections that could act independently and those that required continuous direction.

The value of having at least one reliable, low-cost Echo that could be summoned and dismissed without ceremony when a situation changed too quickly for heavier options.

During this lecture, Neron interrupted twice with questions.

The first concerned the exact boundary between "equal" and "stronger" when a Historian’s Integration sat near a rank threshold.

Lazarus answered that the boundary was not always clear and that experience was the only reliable guide.

The second question was more technical.

Neron asked about the residual strain left on the Anchor after a forced dismissal of an equal-rank Projection.

Lazarus paused, then shook his head once.

"I do not know the precise measurements," he admitted. "Only that the strain exists and accumulates if the process is repeated too often in a short period."

Neron nodded, as though the admission itself was useful data.

He provided a brief, precise clarification of his own—citing a standard recovery window of several hours for most Squires—and then fell silent again, watching Lazarus with clear interest rather than any trace of resentment.

Lazarus noticed this and hid his wry smile. Of course, he knew the answer to that question, but he intentionally acted like he didn’t.

In the end, he was only a Squire in this Academy.

He couldn’t have all the answers.

By the time the period drew to a close, the atmosphere in the room had shifted.

The earlier shock had settled into focused attention. A few students were still writing rapidly, trying to capture the last points before the bell.

Neron stepped forward as Lazarus finished.

"That will be enough for today," the instructor said. His tone was a lot more serious than it had been at the beginning of the class.

"You have given them a cleaner framework than I did. I will take it from here next session."

He smiled at Lazarus.

"Thank you for the demonstration."

Lazarus inclined his head and returned to his seat.

The bell sounded a moment later.

Students began gathering their materials, many of them still speaking in low, animated voices about what they had just heard. Neron remained at the lectern, turning the pocket watch over in his fingers.

His golden eyes followed Lazarus for a few seconds longer than necessary before looking away.

Lazarus left with the first wave of students, but he did not head toward the next classroom immediately. Instead he found a quiet alcove at the end of the corridor, checked that no one was watching, and snapped his fingers while whispering the familiar cue.

"The Supreme Desecrator of Heaven and Earth!"

The world folded.

In the blink of an eye, his consciousness reached a new height. He stood once more in the bright, ordered space of his Secluded Domain.

The two familiar books rested on their shelves, and his magnificent seat waited exactly as he had left them.

Lazarus wasted no time.

He opened a Door of Light and focused it on the classroom he had just left, centering the view on Neron.

’Let’s see his Rank.’ He licked his lips while smiling to himself. ’Even if I may not get an accurate measurement, I should be able to discern the range of his Integration!’

However... he saw nothing.

’W-what?!’

There was no clear reading, or anything that even showed an approximate range.

The man’s presence registered as a Historian, but the depth of his Anchor and the density of his connection to the Celestial Library refused to resolve into any measurable level.

’This is...’ Lazarus’s eyes narrowed. ’Why is something like this happening now? Someone of his status would at least give some indication, right?’

He adjusted the Door of Light, trying a different angle of perception.

Still nothing.

Then... Neron’s head turned.

The instructor’s golden eyes looked directly toward the Door of Light—toward the exact point in space where Lazarus was observing from the Domain.

’....’

There was something akin to total clarity in the gaze.

’What the—?!’

Lazarus shut the Door at once, quickly severing the connection. Right after, the Domain returned to silence.

He stood very still for several seconds, processing the implication.

Neron had sensed the observation!

More than that, he had located it accurately enough to look straight at the aperture.

However, Lazarus didn’t know how.

’I need to be more careful.’ He exhaled slowly and released the tension in his shoulders.

Carelessness was the last mistake he could make at this moment.

Whatever Neron’s true level, the man had already demonstrated that he was paying closer attention than his sleepy demeanor suggested.

Probing him again so soon would be unwise.

Lazaruz waited a short while, letting the moment pass, befoee opening a fresh Door of Light.

This time, it was centered on the classroom scheduled for his next period. He intended only to confirm the room was filling and then descend.

The view showed him precisely what he wanted to see.

Students were already taking their seats. The front of the room was empty, but a moment later the door opened and a man entered.

He had blond hair and perfectly symmetrical features.

Wearing a fashionable leather jacket, his crimson eyes caught the light with an almost artificial brilliance.

The same instructor who had been introduced at Orientation as Lord Drakon.

Lazarus started to close the Door, intending to return to his body and walk to class normally.

Then he stopped.

Something about the man’s presence felt odd.

’How strange...’

He thought while looking closer.

The connection to the Celestial Library was there, but it was not the living, flexible bond of a true Historian.

It was fixed—static.

’This...’ Lazarus’s crimson eyes widened slightly.

Lord Drakon—the charming, perfectly composed instructor who had drawn so many admiring glances during Orientation—was not a living Historian at all.

’He is a Historical Projection!’