CHAPTER 96: A PHANTOM OF DOUBT

Ran tried not to dwell on what Mikel had said, but even hours later, it still bothered him. Lying flat on his bed, he turned his head toward the bed across the room.

Mikel was already asleep, lying on his side with his back facing Ran.

Now that I think about it, Mikel sleeps early. I didn’t expect that when I first met him.

Slowly, Ran peeled his gaze away from Mikel’s back and stared at the ceiling. No matter how he tried to push the thought aside, the idea that Mikel could somehow understand Gallos was deeply unsettling.

Everyone just casually let it slide that he held Eron’s glaive like it was nothing... he thought with a heavy sigh. And now, he also understands Gallos.

Ran was well aware that Gallos held a certain hostility toward Mikel—his Phantom made sure Ran was fully aware of it. Still, Ran had insisted to Gallos that Mikel might look a little rough around the edges, but he wasn’t a bad person. Besides, Ran had been picked on as a child.

Even before setting foot in the academy, kids his age used to tease him for having very weak spiritual energy and capacity. But Mikel didn’t. Maybe because Mikel himself didn’t have that much spiritual energy either—but still, he was different from the other young shamans.

Unless... he’s also a Phantom user.

Once again, Ran glanced quickly at Mikel’s back and sighed, shaking his head.

If he were, I would’ve known.

Phantom users couldn’t usually communicate with another wielder’s Phantom directly, but they could still sense and analyze each other’s Phantoms through behavior, energy signatures, and demeanor. There was a subtle but unmistakable trait shared among Phantom wielders. Mikel, however, gave off nothing like that.

So for now, Ran leaned more toward the theory that Mikel was one of those rare shamans—those with weak spiritual power but exceptional physical strength, enhanced through what little spiritual energy they possessed. It was an unpopular ability, still considered weak in the world of shamans, but not unheard of.

Besides... that punch of his earlier did just as much damage as my Justice Strike.

Ran’s thoughts trailed off when he suddenly noticed Gallos sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Gallos?" he murmured, propping himself up on one elbow. "I didn’t summon you..."

His voice trailed off again when he saw Gallos just sitting there, staring at Mikel’s bed.

He glanced at Mikel, who hadn’t moved since falling asleep, then looked back at Gallos.

"Gallos, what’s wrong?"

He didn’t do just as much damage as you.

Suddenly, Gallos’ voice rang in his head. Ran frowned, confused.

"What does that mean?" he asked quietly.

The silver, worn-out Phantom Knight sighed, finally turning his gaze to Ran. Though Phantoms were meant to serve shamans and were never granted the ability to cross over fully, they were highly intuitive, sensitive to spiritual energy in ways that most humans couldn’t perceive.

Ran, Eli, and the twins hadn’t sensed anything earlier because the Ruminant King’s overwhelming presence had drowned everything else out. But Gallos had felt a faint yet potent cursed energy.

A trace of something Gallos would never forget.

Master, do not trust him. The young shaman with you... he doesn’t belong in this place. Or in any place.

"Gallos..." Ran frowned. "Not this again."

Gallos simply sighed again, his gaze drifting back to Mikel’s unmoving figure.

"Never mind," Ran mumbled, collapsing onto his back again to stare at the ceiling. He let Gallos be. When he turned his head slightly, a subtle smile curled on his lips.

Gallos, I know you’ve been wary of him ever since he held Eron’s glaive, but... I want to trust him. I can’t explain it, but I just do.

There was something about a sense of familiarity Mikel had that Ran couldn’t shake. Mikel just looked like someone who should be at the very bottom... yet somehow thrived.

Ran wanted to be like that.

Someone who wouldn’t be defined by rank or stripe color.

As Ran closed his eyes, Gallos continued to stare at his master in silence. He wanted to say more—to insist his master was wrong. But as a Phantom, all he could do was warn. And if he could have, he would’ve warned Ran that Mikel wasn’t just at the bottom of the system’s ranking.

He was outside of it.

An anomaly.

And Gallos couldn’t trust someone like that, especially when the anomaly reeked not just of cursed energy, but of something darker. Something far worse.

As the night deepened and silence settled across the academy, Mikel finally opened his eyes. Not the kind of someone who was waking up in the middle of the night, but someone who had been awake all along.

He quietly sat up and swung his legs out of bed. As he lifted his gaze, he saw an enormous knight crouched at the edge of Ran’s bed.

Gallos’ eyes were hidden behind the shadows of his visor, but Mikel could still feel the stare.

He ignored the Phantom for a moment, checking on Ran first. The boy was sound asleep—even snoring. Then he turned to Gallos again.

"Hey," Mikel whispered. "Wanna come with me?"

Gallos didn’t reply. He didn’t even move. But his gaze remained locked on Mikel.

"Well," Mikel shrugged, "just asking if you want to come on a night jog."

Still no reaction.

"Fine. Guard the room, then."

He slipped on his old shoes.

"Relax," he muttered. "I’m not planning to steal anyone’s Phantom."

He tied his laces and glanced over at Ran. "He’s really proud of you, you know," he added, shooting Gallos a look. "And stealing isn’t something I usually

do."

[Usually.]

As always, Mikel ignored Doom’s correction. He nodded once at Gallos.

"Don’t tell anyone I’m sneaking out."

Just as Mikel stood and walked toward the door, Gallos suddenly appeared before him, blocking the exit.

Mikel stopped, looking up. For a while, nothing was said as they just gazed at each other. When Mikel blinked once, he muttered, "Whatever," then held out his palm.

Ran’s desk drawer slid open, and out flew the knife straight into Mikel’s hand. The knife pulsed once in his grip, its silent agreement felt more like a command than consent.

"Fine," he muttered, spinning the knife once. "Then tag along."

He expected Gallos to step aside. But instead, the Phantom began to shrink... and shrink... until he was smaller than even the twins.

Mikel stared. "Did he just become a chibi?"

[It’s the only way it could tag along without its wielder.]

Mikel’s face twitched. "Never mind."

Without another word, he resumed walking with the bite-sized Gallos trailing one step behind.

Mikel didn’t need to go hunting tonight to feed the Blood Chain. The relic already got its protein fix.

Tonight wasn’t about feeding.

It was about Anima.

His expression darkened. A flicker of red shimmered across his cursed eye.

I’m not waiting until third year to learn that.

Because Danika and Amon had made something very clear—something the headmaster conveniently left out.

Not all students at Refined Arts Academy made it to graduation.

Some didn’t even make it to the moving-up ceremony.

Because some... would become casualties.

And if there was one thing Mikel had been avoiding this entire time... it was becoming a casualty.