The sun didn't just rise on the day of the Combat Trials; it arrived like an executioner, sharp and unapologetic.
Valthorne Academy's central amphitheater was a masterpiece of architectural cruelty. It was a massive bowl of white sand and tiered marble, designed so that every drop of blood spilled in the center could be seen by the highest-ranking donor in the top row. The air was thick with the scent of "Glory"—a mixture of ozone from lightning spells and the metallic tang of unsheathed steel.
I stood in the tunnel, the shadows sticking to me like a second skin. My uniform was still stained with the wine Lysandrae had spilled, but I didn't care. I felt heavy. Not with exhaustion, but with the 5,150 mana points humming in my marrow.
[SYSTEM STATUS: PRE-COMBAT BREATHING]
[MANA SATURATION: 102% (OVERFLOW RISK)]
"Don't look at the crowd," Vane's voice drifted from the darkness behind me. He was leaning against a moss-covered brick, looking as bored as if we were waiting for a bus. "The crowd is just noise. Focus on the mana-threads. Everyone here is a battery, Perryn. You just have to find the one with the leakiest connection."
"And if I get hit before I can siphon?" I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Then you'll find out if your 'Heart-Thief' system covers funeral expenses," he said with a dry snort. "Go. The Lion is waiting."
The gates groaned open, a sound like grinding teeth. I stepped out onto the white sand.
The Sacred Spar
The stadium erupted, but the cheers weren't for me. They were for the boy standing in the center of the ring. Jaxith.
He looked like a god made of sunlight. His S-Rank armor was etched with golden runes that glowed with a rhythmic, pulsing light. In his hand was a training spear, but even made of wood, it crackled with holy electricity. He was laughing, tossing a small ball of light between his hands as the Noble students screamed his name.
"And for our first demonstration of the day," the Proctor's voice boomed, amplified by a wind-spell. "We have the Solar Paladin, Jaxith Vance, showing us the disparity between S-Rank potential and... well, a Zero."
The crowd laughed. It was a cruel, practiced sound.
Jaxith's smile faltered for a second when he saw me. He stepped forward, lowering his spear. "Perryn? What are you doing here? This is for the combat-ready students. You should be in the infirmary tents helping with the bandages."
"I'm here for the Arithmetic, Jax," I said, my voice carrying further than it should have. I could feel the Shadow-Siphon reaching out, tasting the air. "I think the stone missed a few calculations."
Jaxith sighed—a sound of profound, weary disappointment. "Always so stubborn. Fine. If you want a lesson, I'll give you one. But I'm going to use the lowest output. I don't want to actually hurt you."
[TARGET: JAXITH VANCE]
[EMOTION: CONDESCENSION / HERO-COMPLEX]
[HARVEST MULTIPLIER: 1.5x]
"Begin!" the Proctor yelled.
Jaxith moved faster than my eyes could follow. One moment he was ten paces away; the next, he was a blur of gold and white. The wooden spear lunged toward my shoulder, trailing a wake of stinging sparks.
In the old days—yesterday—I would have closed my eyes and waited for the bruise.
But the System screamed in my ear.
[PREDICTION ENGINE ACTIVE: PROJECTED IMPACT IN 0.4 SECONDS]
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: MIRROR LASH]
I didn't dodge. I leaned into the strike.
The spearhead hit my collarbone. But instead of the sound of breaking bone, there was a sound like a gong being struck. A violent, purple ripple erupted from the point of impact.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: MIRROR LASH]
[REFLECTING 10% DAMAGE + EMOTIONAL MULTIPLIER]
Jaxith's eyes went wide. The force of his own strike surged back through the wooden shaft. It wasn't just physical force; it was the sting of his own condescension turned into a blunt-force trauma. He was blown back five feet, his boots dragging through the sand as he struggled to keep his balance.
The stadium went dead silent.
"What... what was that?" Lysandrae called out from the VIP box, her silver hair spilling over the railing. "She's a Zero! She shouldn't have enough mana to sneeze, let alone cast a reflection ward!"
Jaxith shook his head, a fierce, competitive light igniting in his eyes. The "pity" was gone. This was the Jaxith who fought for scraps in the Gray District. "Lucky shot, Perryn. I don't know where you hid that scroll, but you won't get a second chance."
He raised his spear, and this time, the gold didn't just glow. It roared.
"Solar Flare!"
A wave of blinding heat washed over the arena. It was a Rank-S area-of-effect spell. For a normal Zero, it would have turned their skin to parchment.
I felt the heat. I felt the pressure. And then, I felt the System opening its throat.
[DETECTION: MASSIVE MANA DENSITY]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACTIVATE 'VOID-GULP'?]
[WARNING: ABSORBING RAW ELEMENTAL MANA MAY CAUSE TEMPORARY INSANITY.]
Feed me, I thought, my vision turning a jagged, electric violet.
I didn't run from the fire. I opened my arms.
As the gold flames hit me, they didn't burn. They spiraled. To the crowd, it looked like I was being incinerated. But inside the heart of the flare, I was breathing in Jaxith's power. I could taste his ambition, his fear of being poor again, his desperate need to be loved by the people who hated him yesterday.
[MANA SIPHONED: +1,200]
[MANA SIPHONED: +1,500]
[LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP!]
I stepped out of the flames. My uniform was charred at the edges, and my hair was wild, but my skin was glowing with a dark, bruised radiance.
"Is that all, Paladin?" I asked. My voice sounded like two stones grinding together. "You've got so much light, Jax. It would be a shame to let it go to waste."
Jaxith stumbled back, his face pale. "You're... you're eating it. You're eating my magic."
"I'm a Zero, Jax," I said, the black veins on my arm reaching all the way to my fingertips now. I pointed at him, and for the first time in twelve years, I saw him look at me with genuine, bone-deep fear. "And Zeros are very, very hungry."
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: 'HEART-STRAND PULL']
[DESCRIPTION: Force the target to relive their most shameful memory. Mana yield: 5x.]
I didn't wait for his next move. I reached into the air and pulled a literal thread of golden light right out of his chest.
Jaxith screamed, falling to his knees as the "shame" hit him—the memory of him leaving me in the rain while he signed his soul away to Valthorne.
The crowd began to boo. Not at me, but at their fallen hero.
In the VIP box, Lysandrae's face was a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. And in the shadows of the tunnel, I saw Vane.
He wasn't bored anymore. He was smiling.