The evening mist over Zenith Academy was thick with a bioluminescent glow. It clung to the marble pillars of the Academic District, smelling of ozone and the ancient dampness of mountain stone. High above, floating mana lamps drifted like ghost fires, casting long and flickering shadows across the thousands of students gathered in the central plaza. This was the night of the unveiling. The midterms were over, the ink was dry, and the hierarchy of the first year was about to be rewritten in light.

Vane stood at the edge of the square, leaning against a fluted stone pillar that felt cold against his shoulder. He kept his hands in his pockets, his fingers tracing the smooth handle of his star steel spear. He could feel the stares of the passing students. The whispers followed him like a wake in dark water. He was the ghost of Oakhaven, the commoner who had dared to survive the ruins, and tonight his anonymity was about to be burned away.

Beside him, Valerica Sol was a figure of absolute, regal stillness. Her dark violet hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail that caught the blue light of the plaza. Her violet eyes were fixed on the darkened holographic board. She did not look like a student. She looked like an adjudicator waiting to pass sentence on the world.

"Look at them, Vane," Valerica said, her voice quiet but sharp. "They are all waiting to see who still has a right to breathe in this academy. In Zenith, the best rise to the top because there is simply no room for anyone else. It is a harsh truth, but it is the only one that matters."

Vane looked at the crowd. He saw the nervous shifting of feet and the way some students gripped their talismans. "I preferred being invisible, Valerica. Invisible people do not have targets on their backs. They do not have to worry about the wind changing direction."

"You lost the right to be invisible the moment you stepped into the Turbine Hall," Valerica replied. "You chose a path of friction. Now you must deal with the heat it generates."

A sudden chime echoed across the plaza, silencing the murmurs of a thousand voices. The massive holographic board flickered to life, washing the square in a cold and blue digital glow. The data began to scroll, a cascading waterfall of names and numbers.

Midterm Rankings: Top Five

Anastasia Aurelia: GPA 4.0

Isaac Glacium: GPA 4.0

Valerica Sol: GPA 3.95

Isole Sylvaris: GPA 3.92

Vane: GPA 3.85

The silence that followed was absolute. It was a vacuum of shock that seemed to pull the air out of the plaza. For the first time in the history of the current cycle, a name without a title had cracked the top five. A commoner from the slums was sitting within striking distance of the Imperial Princess.

Vane felt the Internal Pulse in his bones accelerate. He saw the way the students in the front rows turned their heads, searching for him in the shadows.

"Rank five," Valerica whispered, a faint and rare smile touching her lips. "You did more than find the angles, Vane. You dismantled the machine they built to keep you out."

Vane did not answer immediately. His attention was fixed on the figure at the front of the plaza. Isaac Glacium stood there, a statue of frigid stillness. His hair was the color of a winter dawn. Even from twenty meters away, Vane could feel the temperature drop. It was a conceptual weight that threatened to freeze the very flow of time.

The memory hit Vane like a physical blow. He was back in the Turbine Hall, staring at the Frost Monarch. He remembered the air turning to glass in his lungs and the overwhelming pressure of Isaac's mana. It was the first time he had felt fear that was entirely magical. He triggered a micro pulse of his silver mana to keep his blood from slowing under the pressure of that aura. The boy from Glacium did not look back, but the frost forming on the stone tiles at his feet told Vane everything. The Monarch had noticed him.

A movement to the right caught his attention. Anastasia Aurelia stepped through the ranks of students. She was the image of Aurelian perfection. Valerica straightened her posture as the Princess approached their position. This was not a chance meeting.

"Still clinging to the shadows, Valerica," Anastasia said, her voice like silk over a hidden blade. "I see the Sol name still holds the summit. Rank three is a respectable fortress, though I expect you to be dissatisfied with it."

"Your Highness," Valerica replied, inclining her head in a bow. "Perfection is a difficult target when one is managing a squad. But as you see, we do not stumble. We merely choose our footing carefully."

Anastasia eyes moved to Vane. She did not look at him with mockery. She looked at him with a predatory interest that made the skin on his neck crawl. She remembered their last encounter vividly. She remembered the way he had tried to negotiate with her as if they were equals.

"And the Rat finally shows his teeth," Anastasia noted, her voice dropping to a private frequency. "Rank five. You have climbed from the gutter to the top tier in a single cycle. I told you before that you were an interesting tool, Vane. It seems you have sharpened yourself since we last spoke."

"I am just trying to survive the curriculum, Your Highness," Vane said, his voice steady. He kept his gaze neutral, refusing to let her see the calculation behind his eyes.

"Survival is a boring ambition for someone with your talent for geometry," Anastasia noted. "I look forward to seeing if your logic can withstand the pressure of Sector 9. The Fungal Caverns do not care about your GPA or your clever words. They only care about what breaks under the weight of the dark. Do try not to break too early. It would be a waste of a good audit."

She moved on, her retinue following in a sweep of white and silver. Vane watched her go, his eyes moving down the list.

The Fallout

Rank 25: Ashe Razar: GPA 3.4

Rank 42: Jax: GPA 2.8

Jax was standing near the base of the board. He looked as if he had been struck by a physical blow. As an Adept, Jax was supposed to be the pillar of the elite. Instead, he was sitting forty places behind the Princess and nearly forty places behind the boy he called a Rat. Jax turned his head, his face a mask of pale fury. When his eyes locked onto Vane, the hatred there was a physical heat. It was a declaration of war that did not need words.

"The social friction has reached its breaking point," Isole said, appearing silently on Vane other side. Her dark green hair was ruffled by the wind. Her mismatched eyes shimmered with a detached amusement. "By taking Rank 5, you are now a systemic threat to their hierarchy. You have proven that their bloodlines are not the only source of logic."

"Good," Vane said, pushing off from the pillar. "Let them worry about the hierarchy. We have a descent to plan. The board has said enough for one night."

They turned away from the plaza and headed toward Villa 3. Inside, the air was warm and smelled of old parchment and the faint scent of tea. Vane lit the mana lamps, the golden glow filling the lounge. Isole moved to the mahogany table and spread out the scrolls she had secured from the archives.

Ashe was already there, sitting on the porch railing. She hopped down as they approached, her boots hitting the stone with a heavy thud. Her silver hair was messy and her red eyes were bright with a manic delight.

"Did you see his face, Vane?" Ashe laughed, her voice raspy and triumphant as she followed them inside. "Jax looked like he had swallowed a bag of rusty nails. Rank 42! The noble Adept got beaten by an Oni who did not even open the textbook until the third week. I think I might actually like this school if this is how it works."

"You did well, Ashe," Vane said, opening the audit scrolls on the table. "But do not get arrogant. Jax is humiliated, which makes him desperate. A desperate Adept is a variable we cannot ignore. He will be looking to reclaim his face in the Hollows."

The audit began in earnest. For the next several hours, the four of them dismantled the mechanics of the second practical. They ignored the celebratory atmosphere of the rest of the campus.

Squad Audit: Sector 9 Strategy

The Outliers: Anastasia and Isaac. They are the timer for the entire floor. Once they secure the first keys on Floor 1, the scarcity will force the mid tier squads into a frenzy. We must avoid being caught in that initial panic.

Direct Threats: Jax and the Blue Tower. They will likely use Fire and Wind to clear spore clouds. It is a loud and inefficient tactic that will attract every Guardian Construct within range. We will let them make the noise and follow in the wake of their exhaustion.

The Scavengers: Kaelen's Squad. They are support mages who will wait for a squad to be exhausted before stealing the objective. They are the ones who will hide in the vents.

"We do not compete for the same space as the Blue Tower," Valerica said, her violet eyes fixed on the map. "If Jax clears a path with fire, the spores will become toxic. We will use the thermal updraft to move through the higher ventilation shafts. We stay in the shadows of their noise and save our mana for the lower floors."

"Isole, what is the count on the Floor 1 keys?" Vane asked.

"Five keys for ten squads," Isole replied. "The scarcity is intentional. The academy wants to see who is willing to fight for a door. It is a filter designed to remove the hesitant."

Vane studied the layout of the first floor. It was a vertical maze of narrow tunnels and massive fungal chambers. "The audit is clear. Scarcity is the primary enemy. We need a fast path to the elevators. Valerica, your gravity well will be the anchor. Ashe, you are the perimeter. If a scavenger squad tries to stall us, you remove them before they can finish a chant. No warnings. No negotiations."

"With pleasure," Ashe grinned. She looked more comfortable now that the talk had shifted from GPA to combat.

By the time the meeting ended, the clock on the wall was striking midnight. The air in the villa was heavy with the weight of the coming descent. Valerica and Isole stood up to head back to their respective towers. The camaraderie in the room was quiet but solid. They had moved beyond being a collection of individuals.

"Rank 5," Ashe said quietly, pausing at the door. "Not bad for a boy from the mud. You actually made the numbers work for us."

"I just followed the logic, Ashe," Vane said. "The numbers were always there. We just had to see them."

"Get some sleep," Valerica commanded from the hallway. "The elevators open in forty eight hours. Then, the only thing that matters is the weight you can carry and the strength of the person next to you. We have done the theory. Now we do the work."

They left, their footsteps fading into the quiet of the night. Vane stood alone in the lounge, looking at the map of Sector 9. The descent awaited.

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