Standing in the corridor he had just left, leaning casually against a mana conduit, was a girl. She wore the uniform of a Senior Student, but it was modified—darker, sleeker. Her hair was a cascade of violet, and her eyes were covered by a blindfold made of sheer black cloth.

Yet, she was looking right at him.

[Player Identified: Seraphina]

[Level: 42]

[Class: Shadow Dancer]

[Affiliation: The Silent Watchers]

Level 42. She was leagues above him. A senior elite.

"Who are you?" Alvian asked, his muscles coiled to strike.

"A friend of the deceased," Seraphina said, pushing herself off the wall. She moved with a fluid grace that reminded Alvian of water. "And someone who knows that Rogge didn't just die to stop a dungeon break. I know about the Avatar, Alvian."

Alvian narrowed his eyes. "Then you know why I'm here."

"I know you have his key," she said, walking closer. She stopped just outside the range of his dagger. "And I know that if you go down there alone, you'll trigger the failsafe and blow this entire island out of the sky. Rogge was paranoid. He trapped the entrance against everyone. Even you."

"Why tell me?"

Seraphina smiled, a small, sad expression. "Because Rogge was the only professor who didn't treat us like soldiers or stats. He treated us like people. And because…"

She pointed a gloved finger at the ceiling, toward the main campus above.

"The people who killed him? They aren't just the SnowMages. The Syndicate has funding. They have access codes. They have clearance."

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"The call is coming from inside the house, Freshman. Rogge found out. That's why he went to Silverwood personally. He knew he was being hunted."

Alvian lowered his dagger slightly. "You're a Silent Watcher. Internal Security. Aren't you supposed to arrest me for being here?"

"I'm supposed to," Seraphina agreed. "But I'm also an Anomaly. Just like you."

She lifted the edge of her blindfold, revealing an eye that wasn't human. It was a clock. A mechanical, ticking pupil set in a gold iris.

"I can see the timelines, Alvian. Just fragments. But I saw you. Standing on the ashes of the world."

Alvian's heart skipped a beat. A seer? No, a Chronomancer. A class even rarer than his own.

"So?" Alvian asked. "Do I save it?"

Seraphina dropped the blindfold.

"I don't know. The vision ends in fire. But Rogge bet his life on you. So I'm going to bet on you too."

She tossed him a small crystal.

"This disables the gravity trap on the third step. Don't die, Alvian. We need you."

With that, she dissolved into shadows and vanished, leaving Alvian standing alone at the mouth of the dead man's tomb.

Alvian looked at the crystal, then at the dark stairs.

"Variables," he muttered. "Variables everywhere."

He turned and descended into the dark.

The air in the Deep Lab was stale, smelling of ozone and old coffee. It was a space carved directly into the bedrock of the floating island, filled with humming servers and prototypes that looked dangerous just sitting on the shelves.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

Alvian navigated the stairs, using Seraphina's crystal to bypass a gravity well that would have crushed him into a singularity. He reached the main floor.

In the center of the room sat a single, massive terminal. It was disconnected from the Academy network, air-gapped for total security.

Alvian approached it. He inserted the black iron key into the slot.

[Ding! User Authenticated.]

[Playing Last Will and Testament: Protocol Omega.]

A hologram flickered to life. It was Rogge. He looked tired, his lab coat stained with soot, a mug of coffee in his hand. He was recording this in this very room.

"If you're watching this," the holographic Rogge said, raising his mug, "then I finally did it. I blew myself up. Hopefully, I took something big with me. If I died slipping in the shower, delete this immediately, it's embarrassing."

Rogge put the mug down and leaned into the camera. His expression became deadly serious.

"Listen closely, kid. The Academy is compromised. The Vice-Headmaster, the Logistics Division, even some of the High Council… the Syndicate has its claws deep. They're funneling mana from the Core to feed something. Not an Avatar. Something worse. A God Seed."

Alvian's blood ran cold. A God Seed. The nucleus of a Demon God. If that hatched…

"I couldn't prove it," Rogge continued. "They blocked my access. But I stole something from them. A schematic. They call it 'Project Genesis'. I call it 'The Limit Breaker'."

A blueprint materialized on the screen. It was a complex mana circuit, designed to be etched onto a human soul.

"Your talent, the [Super Upgrade System]… I ran the numbers, Alvian. It's powerful, but it's limited by your body. You can upgrade skills, but you can't upgrade yourself fast enough to keep up with the acceleration. Your mana channels will burn out if you try to wield S-Rank power with a C-Rank body."

Rogge pointed at the blueprint.

"This is a Mana Circuit Overload technique. It's forbidden because it usually kills the user. But you? You can upgrade the technique itself. You can fix the flaw."

[Ding! You have received a Legacy Item: [Schematic: Mana Circuit Overload (Incomplete)]]

"Learn it," Rogge commanded from beyond the grave. "Fix it. And then, use it to burn the Syndicate to the ground. Oh, and Alvian?"

The hologram grinned, that familiar, manic smile.

"Take the suit in the corner. You'll need it."

The hologram faded.

Alvian turned to the corner of the lab. Standing in a glass case was a set of armor. It wasn't bulky plate or flimsy cloth. It was a stealth suit made of a material that seemed to drink the light, etched with faint red runes.

[Item: Rogge's Prototype Stealth Suit]

[Grade: Epic (Purple)]

[Type: Light Armor]

[Attributes: +40 Speed, +20 Physique]

[Effect: [Mana dampening] - Makes the wearer invisible to magical sensors.]

[Note: "It rides up a bit in the crotch, but it keeps the fireballs out." - Rogge]

Alvian placed his hand on the glass.

"Thanks, Professor," he whispered.

He opened the schematic in his interface.

[Skill: Mana Circuit Overload (Flawed)]

[Description: Forcefully expands the user's mana capacity by 300% for a short duration. Causes permanent mana burn and stat reduction after use.]

[Status: UN-UPGRADABLE (Except by SSS-Rank Authority).]

Alvian's eyes glowed gold.

"System," he commanded. "Let's get to work."

[Ding! SSS-Rank Talent [Super Upgrade System] authority invoked!]

[Consuming one (1) daily charge…]

He had two charges left for the day. He used the first.

[Skill Evolved: [Mana Circuit Overload +1]. Backlash reduced to temporary fatigue.]

'Again.'

[Consuming final daily charge…]

[Skill Evolved: [Limit Breaker: Genesis Mode]]

[Rank: S (Perfected)]

[Description: A technique that temporarily elevates the user's Lifeform Tier. For 5 minutes, all Attributes are doubled. All cooldowns are reduced by 80%. No backlash.]

Alvian stared at the description. Doubled stats. 80% cooldown reduction.

Combined with [Klaus's Upgrade]… combined with [Shadow Weave]…

He wasn't just an assassin anymore. He was a calamity in human form.

He equipped Rogge's suit. It fit perfectly. He felt the power humming against his skin.

He turned to leave the lab. He had six months to save the world.

He didn't plan on needing that long.

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