I Can Only Cultivate In A Game

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

A firm voice rang out from behind.

Victor froze as his killing intent dispersed instantly, like steam vanishing into the night.

His hand dropped slowly as he turned around.

Elyra Vorn stood waw standing right there behind him. Her green skin shimmered faintly under the moonlight as her eyes studied him with quiet intensity.

He forced his voice to stay steady. "I got lost."

Elyra raised a brow with a skeptical look. "This far into the restricted zone?"

Victor shrugged. "Yeah… walked the wrong way coming back from the restroom."

She stepped forward and looked past him to the floating orbs. "Right," she said slowly.

Victor didn't respond for a minute and then turned to her.

"You got lost too or...?"

Elyra turned her eyes back to him. "You're not the only one who came to look at them," she said. "I did too. Earlier. Out of curiosity."

He gave her a look. "That so?"

"Yeah," she replied. "To remember."

A moment passed.

Then she looked down the path. "We should probably get back. Before someone starts asking questions."

Victor nodded, keeping his expression neutral.

Together, they began walking back with the silence between them only broken by the gravel crunching under their boots in rhythm.

The cold sea breeze rustled the edges of Victor's jacket as he and Elyra walked along the rocky coastline, heading back to the base camp.

The horizon stretched endlessly with its edges bleeding orange under the setting sun as crashing waves echoed beside them.

Victor's expression remained neutral as he fixed his eyes on the path ahead. Elyra who was walking beside him, had her arms crossed with a slight frown on her face.

"I heard you say something," she said suddenly.

Victor blinked and looked her way with brows raised slightly. "Yeah? What did I say?"

"…'Father.' You mumbled it back there. When we were standing before those Drakenars."

Victor's eyes drifted away again. "Did I?" he replied with a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Probably just mumbling things. Long day."

Elyra didn't respond right away. She narrowed her gaze but chose not to press. "Fine," she muttered before turning her attention back to the trail. "Forget it."

Their conversation ended there, replaced by the distant murmur of other students at the camp.

When they arrived at the glowing circle of tents and the large fire pit at the center, the chatter around the flame hushed noticeably.

Dozens of students turned with expressions of surprise and confusion because of the one standing beside Victor.

Elyra Vorn was always cold, distant and untouchable. An S-Ranked first-year who rarely spoke to anyone unless absolutely necessary.

Even though Victor was S ranked now, he had only become that recently and had to defeat her to do so nonetheless so it was surprising to see them anywhere close to each other.

Now she was walking beside Victor like they'd been friends all along.

Victor, naturally, acted as if none of it mattered.

One of the D rankers whispered, "Are they buddies now?"

"Wait… since when do they know each other?"

Victor glanced at the fire pit, where some students were telling ghost stories of K-22. The tales were full of mutated beasts, spectral anomalies, and long-dead explorers whose screams could still be heard in the wind.

Victor joined them for a while, tossing out a few sarcastic comments, making a few of the students laugh despite the eerie atmosphere.

But he didn't stay long.

Just past midnight, he got up quietly and returned to his tent without a word.

---

The morning light slanted through the cracked canopy of trees as the students gathered again.

Today's objective: mapping the perimeter near the tidewalls, an area closer to the sea cliffs and rumored to contain unstable mana pockets.

Victor yawned as he unzipped his tent and stepped out while stretching. His white and black hair was a mess, refusing to stay down despite his best efforts to tame it.

But before he could take two steps—

"You're late."

Victor blinked. Standing just outside his tent was none other than Elyra Vorn with her arms folded and a stern expression but a strange spark behind her eyes.

"…Have you been standing here the whole time?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To make sure you don't get lost again," she said coolly. "And end up bumping into magma repitiles."

Victor sighed. "You don't have to do that, you know."

"I do," she stated. "You helped me during the Legacy Weapons competition. This is repayment. I don't like debts."

Victor scratched the back of his head. "Right… pride of Elyra Vorn the S-ranked extraordinaire can't owe anyone anything. Fine. Do whatever you want."

He walked off toward the briefing zone.

She followed quietly behind him.

Even when he detoured to the bathroom she still followed.

Victor turned with exasperation. "Seriously? Can a guy pee in peace?"

Elyra's lips curled slightly. "Then don't wander off like last time."

He muttered something under his breath and hurried off.

---

The day's exploration was fairly straightforward... at first.

As their squad moved across damp terrain covered in slippery stones and sparse foliage, Victor remained at the rear, letting the others take initiative.

Elyra, naturally, walked beside him the entire way.

But it was when they neared the outer defense walls of the coastal zone that Victor's demeanor changed.

A group of Mana Defense Officers in gray armored uniforms and glowing mana-stitched crests, were marching nearby. Chained between them were two Drakenars, bound and restrained with their scales dulled from suppressive magic. One was snarling while the other slumped, half-conscious.

Victor slowed to a stop and threw them a glare as his fingers curled into a fist.

The air around him changed. Even though he wasn't releasing qi, the pressure of the intensity from his gaze cause the winds to shift.

Elyra caught it immediately and her eyes flicked toward him.

Victor's eyes were fixed on the Drakenars as he clenched his jaw tightly.

The one that was still conscious met his gaze for the briefest second and flinched.

Elyra simply watched, silently.

When the squad was finally far enough ahead, Victor resumed walking in silence.

---

That evening, as the tents returned to glowing beneath the moonlight and the others prepared their food, Elyra found him again by the cliffside, where he was simply watching the waves.

"Victor."

He didn't turn.

She moved closer until she was right behind him.

"Did something happen… to your father?"

The world seemed to still at this moment as Victor's froze in place.

He remained with his back turned to her and his expression unseen.

Elyra stepped beside him. "When we saw those Drakenars today, your entire aura shifted. You weren't hiding it well."

Still, Victor didn't answer.

Her voice grew softer. "Was it them? Was it because of them… that something happened to your father?"

Victor's lips parted slightly, as if to respond—but nothing came out.

The question lingered in the air, carried by the crashing of waves, unanswered.

"Was that why you were at the restricted area? Is your father still...?"

Before Elyra could complete her statement...

"Yes! Yes, my father died because of the damn Drakenars!" Victor's voice cracked as he yelled.

His breath hitched as his fists trembled by his side. "He died… because I wasn't strong enough. If I had just—" his voice caught in his throat. "If I was faster… if I was better… he wouldn't have…"

His voice dropped into a whisper, momentarily crumbling under the weight of his grief.

Elyra didn't flinch. She didn't step away or recoil from his outburst. Her sharp green eyes softened, and her entire posture seemed to melt into something understanding... something almost maternal. "I know how you feel," she said gently.

Victor stared at her with a look of confusion slipping across his features.

She took a slow breath. "I lost my father too. Because of this cursed war."

Victor blinked. "You… what?"

Elyra nodded in response while moving to sit right beside Victor. "That day during the Warrior's Legacy Trials… when we fought and I screamed out 'Father!' after you knocked me down." She let out a brittle laugh. "You thought I was just being dramatic, huh?"

Victor looked away with a slightly guilty expression. "...Maybe."

"I wasn't." She turned her head slowly to look at him. "That battle… that entire trial… I'd trained my soul for it. Because I didn't want to fail him. Because if I couldn't even win that, what right did I have to say I inherited anything from him?"

Victor's lips moved to apologize, but she cut him off with a raised hand and a small shake of her head.

"It's fine. You didn't know. But now you do."

Silence drifted between them like mist. They were seated under a strange shed made of shimmering green bark and translucent leaves. It looked like a fragile thing, yet stood tall and proud even as the wind whistled past.

Victor's voice broke the quiet.

"Is that why you wanted a rematch?"

He reminded her of what she whispered in his ear on the day they were leaving the academy to come here.