Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Sweat-drenched hair, heaving chest.

Leaning weakly against the doorframe, supported by the female insects crowding behind him, Philo stood at the entrance—disheveled but still able to steady himself on his own.

Yet, even so, it was hard to say the male was truly "fine."

But—

Raising his eyes to meet the old teacher’s gaze in the classroom, Philo curved his brows slightly and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Teacher, I’m fine. Sorry for almost being late."

...

Your Highness, you're too punctual.

The old female insect responsible for teaching cosmic theory, though usually strict with students—even having just thought that any insect daring to be late on the first day would face severe punishment—now softened as she took in the sight of the male drenched in sweat before her. Not being a Military Female herself, she quickly realized what must have happened. She had forgotten about the academy’s morning training rule.

Indeed, she had truly forgotten—after all, no insect had ever taken these so-called morning and evening drills seriously before.

But... Seeing the male clearly on the verge of exhaustion, the old teacher fell silent for a moment before saying quietly,

"It’s alright, Your—Philo, have a seat."

Yes, please sit down and rest, Your Highness.

Anxious gazes from countless insects in the classroom converged on Philo.

Smiling faintly, the male quickly found an empty seat and sat down. The insects from the A-block dormitory who had followed him also took their places around him.

With that, the first lecture for this year’s freshmen at Kalms Military Academy finally began on time.

Pushing up his sleeves, ignoring the immediate attention his movement drew, Philo focused intently on the holographic screen ahead.

Cosmic theory was a vast field of study—simply put, the astrophysics Philo had studied before was just one of its major branches.

Compared to the other female insects in the academy, Philo, who had barely passed the entrance exams with a stack of bonus points, naturally needed to study hard if he didn’t want to fall too far behind in theory.

Thus, very soon—

The old teacher, who had initially worried whether the male could concentrate on the lecture, realized his worry was misplaced.

"Ahem."

"Some of you need to focus. My lecture notes are right in front of your eyes, not elsewhere. Stop glancing around."

Her sharp gaze swept toward a few female insects whose attention had clearly strayed while stealing glances at the male. Her tone was stern, laced with warning.

Once the female insects refocused, the old female insect’s eyes briefly lingered over the male’s attentive gaze before withdrawing silently.

Though she said nothing, the approval in her eyes was unmistakable.

Unfortunately, the old teacher didn’t realize that attitude was one thing—actual comprehension was another.

"So, Your Highness... you barely understood most of it?"

The brown-haired female insect paused while eating, staring incredulously at the male across from her, who had been utterly focused throughout the entire lecture.

Exhausted from intense physical exertion and mental strain, Philo was eating just as quickly as the two female insects. To her question, he answered frankly.

"Pretty much."

"..."

This truly caught the female insects off guard.

After all, they had been sitting right beside Philo and knew best how attentively he had listened. But if he had truly paid attention, how could he still say... he didn’t understand?

"You wouldn’t get it."

Looking at the two naturally gifted female insects, Philo smiled helplessly.

"Among poor students, some don’t study hard—others just can’t grasp it, no matter how hard they try."

While Philo wasn’t entirely incapable of learning, having only studied last-minute exam material before, it was no surprise he struggled with the systematic, comprehensive cosmic theory curriculum.

Still—

"It’s fine. I’ll just spend extra time reviewing after class. Let’s finish eating—we have specialty courses this afternoon. We should head back early."

With that, the male focused on his meal.

Admittedly, though Philo had never attended school on the capital planet before, his adaptability to campus life wasn’t too low.

Since the three insects had different majors, their afternoon specialty courses naturally diverged as well.

This time, Philo didn’t accompany Lancelot and Amber. Entering the energy chamber, his practical training for the day involved identifying and mining energy crystals.

In the Interstellar Era, unlike Earth’s conventional energy sources like electricity, heat, and nuclear power, the operation of advanced machinery in this era relied primarily on energy crystals.

Simply put, the foundational step in understanding the construction of Insect starships and battleships—Philo’s greatest interest—was learning how to collect and utilize energy crystals.

Thus—

"Your Highness, let me carry that for you."

"Your Highness, that energy deposit is a bit remote—I’ll go with you."

"Your Highness, mining energy crystals might hurt your hands. Allow me."

Shouldering his energy crystal collection pack and gripping his mining tool firmly, Philo politely turned down the surrounding insects’ offers to help and proceeded to conduct his energy crystal extraction training independently within the simulation system.

Even though it was just a simulation, the system’s environment was designed to mimic the harsh conditions of real energy crystal mining planets—high temperatures, oppressive heat, and poor airflow.

Yet despite this, despite the many female insects offering assistance, Philo insisted on carrying his own pack and slowly completed his first hands-on energy chamber training.

Similarly, during the night training—since there was no worry about overrunning and missing class—even after an exhausting day, even when he nearly collapsed in the final laps, even when the surrounding insects offered help again, Philo ultimately pushed through and finished on his own.

The door to Room No. 1 soon opened and closed again.

Inside the guard booth, the female insect on duty late into the night silently withdrew her gaze from the male’s retreating figure, though a rare hint of confusion passed through her eyes.

Meanwhile, hours later, the female insects in Rooms No. 2 and No. 3 woke to messages on their communicators—their expressions likewise showing both puzzlement and surprise.

But at this moment, they had no time to dwell on their emotions. After quickly tidying themselves up, the two of them headed straight for the training field in Zone A, and then—

The sky was still dim, the cool evening breeze brushing past the SilverHaired Male Insect's neck before lingering at the corners of the female cadets' eyes.

At this moment, the female cadets who had arrived at the training field were not just Lancelot and Amber—many others who had witnessed the male insect’s grueling dawn and dusk drills the day before were also present.

They had assumed that after yesterday’s experience, His Highness Philo would immediately apply to the school to cancel his mandatory PT. But who could have guessed—

"Your Highness… how many laps is he at?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know? Didn’t the ones who arrived earlier count?"

"We didn’t have time. We got here first, but His Highness was already on the training field by then."

"..."

An unexpected answer, and a scene none had anticipated.

Now, watching the male insect who had chosen to arrive early at the training field alone instead of seeking help from anyone, all the insects present found themselves frowning.

Heartache—yes, they felt heartache.

Not just because this was a royal male, but because this was His Highness Philo.

Even though they showed deference to all male insects, they had to admit—this was the first male insect who had truly come close to the female insects.

The first one who made them feel he wasn’t so distant, so untouchable.

But, Your Highness…

Why are you so different? Why won’t you accept our help? Why… are you driving yourself this hard?

Yes, why?

A mix of concern and confusion churned in the hearts of all the insects present.

As for the reason Philo had chosen to enroll in Kalms Military Academy, all the insects who had followed his streams already knew.

In Philo’s own words, it was because he was interested in many of the things taught at the military academy.

But mere "interest," when applied to male insects, usually didn't last.

Especially in a place like Kalms Military Academy—could His Highness Philo truly be so persistent just because of interest? Could something that flimsy really drive him this far?

Watching the silver-haired male insect, all the female insects fell silent.

But no matter what Philo’s reasons were, no matter why he was pushing himself so hard in training, after the first week of classes, all the female insects who had initially assumed the male insect was just slumming it began to take him seriously as a cadet.

Philo noticed this change quickly.

At first, whether during theory classes or practical classes, whether from instructors or fellow students, most of the gazes directed at him were full of infatuation, adoration, possessiveness, respect… nothing like how they looked at other military cadets.

But starting from the second day—or perhaps the third day after the semester began—this phenomenon gradually began to change.

Aside from Lancelot and Amber, other insects started actually discussing tactics with him during practical classes instead of immediately trying to complete all his tasks for him.

Noticing this, even though he felt dead on his feet every day, Philo had to admit it felt good.

However, while the female insects might have started treating him like a normal classmate in other training sessions or classes, there was one course where they still didn't know how to act when facing Philo.

"I am Augustus Keshner, your combat class instructor. From now on, I will be responsible for teaching you combat techniques."

Standing in the enclosed training field, the middle-aged female insect, also dressed in black, spoke in a steady voice that brooked no argument.

"As students of Kalms Military Academy, I don’t care what your majors are, where you're from, or your service status. I have only one thing to say."

"In my class, short of death, even if your legs are broken, you will report for training! Is that clear?!"

Frowning, the middle-aged female insect’s deep bark instantly echoed throughout the confined training area.

Without hesitation, all the insects present immediately responded in the same stern tone.

"Sir, yes sir!"

Yes, every insect gave the same answer.

Naturally, that included Philo.

Her gaze didn’t linger on the male insect, but after hearing the unified response, the middle-aged female insect seemed at least marginally appeased.

Unlike specialized courses, combat class was mandatory for all students at Kalms Military Academy. Thus, following the rules of psi-level grouping, Philo was once again grouped with students from his dormitory area.

However—

"Today is the first class. To evaluate your proficiency in combat techniques, I won’t be demonstrating first."

With that, she pressed a button on the training field’s wall. Instructor Augustus, her expression stern, pointed at the suddenly cleared three-meter square in front of her.

"You will form sparring pairs based on your placement scores, from highest to lowest. Each pair will engage in ten-minute bouts. After all groups have finished, I will determine your training cohorts based on your individual performances."

Raising her eyes, the middle-aged female insect glanced at her communicator before barking.

"You have one minute to form your pairs and line up in order. Move! Clock's running!"

"60, 59, 58..."

While the exact rankings from the entrance exam might be unclear to those far apart, every insect present undoubtedly knew their immediate superiors and subordinates.

Especially since female insects naturally had excellent memories—many prepared ones had even done dossiers on all the Class-A psi ratings female insects in advance. Thus, the so-called "one minute" wasn’t even necessary before the insects swiftly snapped to formation.

Once the grouping was complete, the middle-aged female insect, who had remained stern-faced since her appearance, wasted no time in announcing:

"Good. First pair, step forward. The rest, sit down and observe carefully!"

The first pair, of course, consisted of the top-ranked cadets in the entrance exam.

Now, all the cadets assumed observation positions on the ground, observing the spar between the two strongest newcomers.

And soon, the two relatively unknown, even rural-born female insects demonstrated to everyone present what absolute strength looked like.

No hesitation, no playfulness.

Even though the two shared a dorm and came from similar backgrounds—making them the closest since enrollment—that didn’t stop the brown-haired female insect from swiftly striking at the heterochromatic female insect’s vital points.

Likewise, after blocking Lancelot’s attack, Amber’s counter was equally decisive.

Every move, every strike—the two female insects gave no quarter.

Watching this scene, all the onlookers couldn’t look away from the two combatants.

After all, while family background might make female insects cling to or envy others, raw strength also drew admiration from those who revered power.

Lancelot and Amber were clearly the two strongest insects of their year.

With the facts laid bare before them, many of the A-Class females who had initially felt somewhat unbalanced now found their resentment reluctantly eased.

But—

Clenching his fist, a sharp glare from one of the front-row students scanned the two females before inadvertently landing on the male sitting diagonally behind him.

Noticing the male’s intent gaze fixed on the two ahead, the grip on his fist tightened, and his already heavy gaze seemed to feel suffocating.

Yet, the two dueling fiercely clearly paid no attention to the surrounding stares.

Raising a brow, Lancelot snarled after another blocked strike, clearly surprised that her opponent was stronger than expected. But she was still the strongest!

"Ugh—"

Taking a step back, the heterochromatic female insect, struck first at the sternoclavicular joint, clearly faltered.

And just then, the ten-minute sparring session came to an end.

Clutching her chest, the two who had been fighting fiercely moments ago exchanged a smile, bumped fists, and then calmly returned to their original spots.

By now, Philo got it—he understood why the instructor had paired insects with similar rankings for sparring.

After all, random matches would be uneven—too strong against too weak, leading to poor training outcomes. But then again, while this method worked for others, if it were him…

Turning his head, Philo glanced at the young female insect sitting stiffly beside him, her ears tinged red, and wasn’t sure who to pity more.

This female insect’s name was probably Ya Bo, likely from the same department as Lancelot.

Aside from morning and evening drills and theoretical classes, he hardly spoke to her. But even without conversation, considering her rank and department, Philo knew exactly how it’d go.

This…

Seeing how his gaze had turned her not just ear-tips but her entire face burning red, Philo averted his eyes, telling himself to just try.

But while Philo could steel himself, Ya Bo clenched her fists, her skin prickling just from the warmth of the male insect’s breath beside her—before the fight even started.

Th-this… Forget trying—even with a hundred times the courage, she wouldn’t dare lay a finger on His Highness Fei Luo!

If she actually struck him, even with the instructor present, she’d walk out alive today… but not for long afterward.

But if she didn’t fight, how would she pass this class…

Before the young female insect could devise a solution, the number of insects yet to complete their spar dwindled. Finally, as the second-to-last pair finished, the middle-aged instructor’s gaze landed on them.

And then—

"Last pair—step up and fight!"