The industrial heart of Sector 4 throbbed with a rhythmic metallic heartbeat. Giant pistons slammed into the earth with the weight of falling mountains. The air was a thick choking soup of superheated grease and spent mana coal. High above, the massive brass gears of the Foundry District turned with a slow grinding inevitability, casting jagged shadows across the circular gear platform where the two combatants stood.

Magnus stood in the center of the arena. He was a mountain of a youth whose Academy uniform seemed one deep breath away from shredding at the shoulders. His skin was the color of slate. His hands were encased in heavy brass gauntlets that hummed with a low brown light. He did not look like a student of Zenith. He looked like a siege engine that had been given human form.

"You have been making a lot of noise, Vane," Magnus rumbled. His voice was deep enough to vibrate the brass flooring. It was a low frequency growl that matched the churning machinery below. "Stopping golems. Humiliating the lower ranks. It has given the commoners in this exam a lot of false hope. They think because one rat learned to stand on its hind legs, the world is changing."

Vane stepped onto the platform. His boots clicked rhythmically against the metal. He did not answer. He unslung the Star-Metal Spear, the ash wood shaft groaning slightly as his grip tightened. He initiated the Spiral Circulation immediately. He forced his mana to vortex through his marrow and out into the shaft, building the supersonic Frictionless Sleeve around the weapon.

The Hum filled the air. It was a high pitched predatory whistle that cut through the roar of the pistons.

"Hope is expensive," Vane finally said. His voice was flat. "I am just here to tax the stupid."

Magnus snorted and dropped into a wide immovable stance. This was the foundation of his house, the Iron Clad style. Magnus flared his mana. A dense muddy brown energy erupted from his core, coating his skin and gauntlets in a layer of energy.

This was Magnus's S-Rank Authority: Indestructible. It was not a complex ability. It simply enhanced the user's Internal Augmentation and Mana Skin to a degree that surpassed the standard efficiency of Elite mana. It turned his body into a fortress. While a standard Elite could harden their skin to resist iron, Magnus could resist steel and concentrated magical impact.

"The points stay with the strong," Magnus declared.

He moved with surprising speed for a boy of his bulk. He lunged forward, throwing a heavy straight punch. Because of his Authority, the mana surrounding his fist acted like a solid battering ram.

Vane did not retreat. If he moved back, he lost the momentum of the platform.

Second Form: Lunar Deflection.

Vane snapped the spear into a vertical figure eight. As Magnus's massive brass fist collided with the shaft, it did not find a solid surface to break. The Spiral Circulation created a vortex that acted as a kinetic drain. The punch skidded off the rotating wood. The force was redirected into the empty air beside Vane's head.

Magnus's own weight, amplified by his dense mana, carried him a half step too far. His center of gravity tilted. It was a microscopic opening.

Vane did not waste a heartbeat. The spear was already in the upswing of its rotation.

First Form: Quicksilver Thrust.

Vane snapped his wrists, releasing the built-up momentum. The spear tip broke the sound barrier with a sharp whip-like crack. It was a supersonic needle aimed directly at the gap in Magnus's neck guard.

Magnus roared. His reaction time was elite. He did not try to dodge. He flared his Indestructible Authority, focusing his mana into a localized barrier on his forearm. He brought his gauntlet up to intercept the thrust, confident that his S-Rank reinforcement could deflect the star-metal.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been right. The star-metal would have glanced off the brown mana wall.

'Now,' Vane thought.

Authority: Silver Fang.

Vane triggered a micro-pulse. Liquid silver mana bled onto the star-metal tip for a fraction of a second. It was silent and beautiful. It was the refusal of durability.

The spear did not hit the gauntlet. It entered it.

The Absolute Severance of the Silver Fang ignored the density of the brass and the "Indestructible" reinforcement. The spear tip sank three inches into the heavy metal. It pierced the plate as if it were soft clay. The Authority did not skip ranks; it simply made Vane's Elite output focus into a point so sharp that Magnus's defense could not cope with the pressure.

Magnus bellowed in pain and shock, stumbling back as the silver mana receded. He looked down at the puncture in his gauntlet. It was a perfect surgical hole through three inches of Grade-B armor. Blood began to seep from the wound beneath the metal.

"That is impossible," Magnus hissed. His face contorted with rage. "You are a commoner. You should not have the piercing power to bypass my Authority."

"It is not about output," Vane said, stepping back into the spinning cycle of the Lunar Deflection. His spear whistled as it gathered speed. "It is about the edge. Your wall is thick, Magnus, but it is still just a wall."

The face-slap was mental as much as physical. Magnus was staring at a hole made by a boy he considered a rat. The arrogance of the Great Houses began to crack.

Magnus went berserk. He abandoned the defensive posture of the Iron Clad and went into an all-out offensive. He slammed both fists into the gear platform, sending a shockwave of brown Earth-aspected mana through the floor. It was a burst of kinetic energy intended to shatter Vane's footing.

Vane did not jump. He could not afford to be airborne against an Earth-aspect. He locked his joints, driving his rear heel into the brass flooring. He used the structure of the Argent Horizon to ground himself. The spear acted as a stabilizer to funnel the vibration through his body and out the other side. The platform beneath his boots groaned and buckled, but Vane remained a fixed point.

As the smoke from the tremor cleared, Vane saw his opening. Magnus was winded. His S-Rank Authority was a glutton for mana. The massive output of the tremor had caused his defensive coating to flicker.

Vane sprinted. He didn't run like a soldier. He ran like a wolf. He was low and fast. His body leaned into the supersonic sleeve of his own weapon.

Magnus swung a desperate wide hook. Vane dipped under the arm. The friction of the air was suppressed by the spiral mana surrounding his body. He was too fast for the heavy noble to track.

Vane leapt, spinning his entire body like a drill.

Third Form: Falling Star.

Vane reached the apex of his jump. He funneled a significant portion of his remaining mana into the spear. The liquid silver coated the upper half of the weapon in a shimmering mercury-like glow.

Magnus looked up. Primal fear hit him. He tried to cross his gauntlets in a final desperate shield, pouring every ounce of his soul into his Authority. "GET BACK! I AM THE IRON WARDEN!"

Vane brought the spear down.

The Silver Fang met the "Indestructible" brass gauntlets. There was no explosion. There was only a high pitched scream of matter being separated. The spear sliced through the brass and through the mana reinforcement. It slammed into the flooring between Magnus's feet.

The serration wake of the Authority sliced through the brass gear platform and severed the massive support chains holding it in place. The platform tilted violently.

Magnus fell to his knees. His gauntlets were in ruins. They were split clean down the middle as if they were made of parchment. His emergency shield flared to life. The blue light of the Academy's sensor indicated that the strike would have been a killing blow.

Transfer Complete. +300 Points.

Magnus looked up at Vane. His face was pale and covered in sweat. His rocky skin had reverted to normal. His hands were shaking. The "Iron Warden" was kneeling in the soot.

Vane stood over him. The star-metal spear rested casually on his shoulder. He was breathing hard. His mana channels were stinging from the pulses of the Authority. His eyes were cold and focused.

"You relied on the wall, Magnus," Vane said. He looked down at the broken noble with a gaze that made Magnus feel smaller than a slum rat. "But any wall can be cut if the blade is sharp enough."

Vane scanned the points from the terminal on Magnus's wrist.

Total: 700.

The other students watching from the edges of the Foundry District stood in stunned silence. The hierarchy of Zenith had just been slapped in the face.

Without another word, Vane turned and sprinted toward the upper tiers. He did not look back at the wreckage. He had a schedule to keep. The real monsters of the Academy were still ahead.

The rat was no longer just scurrying. It was hunting.

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