Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Debts and Delusions

Chapter 62: Debts and Delusions

The dorm room was quiet. The lights were turned off.

Draven locked the heavy wooden door and walked toward the center of the room. He needed a secure environment to process his intelligence network.

He raised his right hand. He pushed a fraction of his mana into the black geometric tattoo etched into his skin.

VWOOM!

The physical world dissolved instantly. The walls of his dormitory faded into mist.

Draven stepped onto the polished obsidian floor of the Astral Server. The endless void stretched out in every direction. The silence here was absolute.

He willed the glowing interface into existence. He selected the target from his registry and initiated the astral pull.

FWOOSH!

Sirius Statanham materialized in the void. The Underworld Don wore a tailored suit. He did not stumble this time.

Sirius instantly dropped to one knee. He bowed his head with profound reverence.

"My Lord," Sirius greeted him. His voice echoed faintly in the empty space.

"Report," Draven commanded.

He projected himself as a shifting mass of pure darkness. He kept his authority absolute. He did not offer any pleasantries.

Sirius kept his eyes fixed on the floor.

"The slums are firmly under our control. The Hennesy Clan pulled their shadow guards back to the inner rings. My syndicate swept through the neutral territories. We monopolize the underground networks. Nothing moves in Bastion Seven without my men seeing it."

"And the Church?" Draven asked.

"They are bleeding," Sirius answered quickly. "But they are moving with urgency. Our scavengers intercepted movement in the deep sewer lines. They are ignoring the inner city completely."

Sirius paused and took a breath.

"They are funneling all their remaining mana crystals toward the exterior perimeter of the Bastion. They are planting them near the Great Wall."

’They are setting up the beacon arrays,’ Draven analyzed silently.

Elder Martha was not bluffing. She had lost her primary catalyst. She was accelerating the Beast Wave timeline to force a breach from the outside.

"Do not intercept their shipments," Draven ordered.

Sirius looked up in confusion. His scarred face showed his concern.

"My Lord? They are building something at the gates. If we let them finish their arrays, the perimeter will be compromised."

"I am aware of their plans," Draven replied. His layered voice vibrated directly inside Sirius’s skull.

"If you intercept their crystals, you will expose your network to the Cult. They are actively hunting for us. Let them build their arrays. Let them gather their forces in one place. It makes them predictable."

Sirius swallowed hard. He nodded slowly.

"Understood," Sirius said. "What are your orders regarding the breach?"

"Pull your men back to the inner rings," Draven instructed.

"I want your syndicate armed and stationed near the civilian evacuation shelters. The Vanguard Knights will fail to hold the walls. Your men will secure the citizens when the panic starts."

"We will hold the line," Sirius swore. He placed his right fist over his heart.

"What about the blacksmith?" Draven shifted the topic. "Is Cole Rust secure?"

"He is," Sirius confirmed.

"I spoke to Headmaster Vane personally. Cole is officially enrolled in the Special Class. The Academy will sponsor him for premium forging resources."

Draven narrowed his pitch-black eyes. The darkness around his projection swirled.

"Headmaster Vane is strict," Draven noted coldly.

"He despises corruption. How did you convince him to bypass Academy protocols for a slum worker?"

Sirius did not flinch under the pressure.

"Vane cannot be bought with credits," Sirius explained.

"But he is bound by his honor. He owed me a debt from his wildland days."

Draven waited for the explanation in silence.

"Ten years ago, Vane’s squad was pinned down by a horde of mutated trolls," Sirius continued.

"They were cut off from the main Vanguard force. My smugglers operated a tunnel network in that sector. I gave Vane the map. He used my tunnels to save his men."

Sirius lowered his head again.

"The Headmaster never forgets a life debt. He agreed to place the boy in the Special Class to clear his ledger with me."

"Good work," Draven said. The pieces were locking into place perfectly.

"Keep your syndicate ready. Contact Cole Rust tonight. Tell him I need those custom weapons finished immediately. The real war begins this weekend."

VWOOM!

Draven snapped his fingers. Sirius vanished from the server.

Draven stood alone in the quiet void. He closed the system interface. The political drama of the Academy was a useful distraction for the masses. The students were worried about their ranks.

The Extra was preparing for a siege.

He willed the void away and returned to his dorm room. He closed his eyes and slept.

---

The next morning, the Friday Arena was loud.

Thousands of students filled the stadium stands. The Vanguard Merit Ranking System was officially active. Today was the challenge day. The lower ranks fought to steal the luxury villas from the elite.

Draven walked out of the competitor tunnel. The sunlight hit the concrete mat.

He wore his black compression shirt and cargo pants. He kept his hands stuffed in his pockets. He looked completely bored.

He checked the digital clock on his wristband. It was almost noon.

’I have a prior arrangement with Aegon for training in twenty minutes,’ Draven thought. ’I need to end this quickly.’

BZZZT!

The holographic bracket flashed above the arena floor. The neon red letters locked into place.

[Julian Vaneer vs. Draven Mordis]

The crowd murmured. Julian Vaneer stepped out from the opposite tunnel. He was Rank 13. He wore a custom silk uniform and carried a steel longsword.

Julian glared at Draven with absolute hatred. He had not forgotten the humiliation on the white stone road. He had been forced to his knees in front of his lackeys.

He had wagered ten thousand Academy Credits for the right to challenge Draven today.

Julian stopped ten feet away. He pointed his sword at Draven’s chest.

"You used a cheap trick on the road," Julian sneered. His voice carried across the silent mat. "You caught me off guard. You are a fraud."

Draven did not answer. He did not take his hands out of his pockets.

"You do not belong in the Top Ten," Julian continued loudly. He wanted the crowd to hear him. "I am going to expose you. I will take your rank and your villa."

The referee stepped to the edge of the mat. He raised his hand.

"Both fighters are ready," the referee announced. "Match start!"

Julian channeled his mana. A faint green aura of wind magic wrapped around his legs. He kicked off the concrete floor.

He charged forward with impressive speed. He raised his steel sword high above his head. He planned to end the fight with a single, overwhelming downward cleave.

SWISH!

The blade cut through the air. Julian brought the weapon down toward Draven’s shoulder.

Draven did not dodge. He did not step backward. He kept his eyes locked perfectly on Julian’s chest.

’He is committing his entire body weight to the strike,’ Draven analyzed in a fraction of a second. ’His forward momentum is massive. His center of gravity is entirely exposed.’

Draven subtly activated his Vector Manipulation.

He did not manifest a flashy aura. He did not cast a visible spell. He simply reached out with his mind and grabbed the invisible arrow of kinetic force propelling Julian forward.

Draven reversed the vector. He multiplied the force by three.

BAM! 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Julian stopped dead in his tracks.

It looked like he had slammed into an invisible brick wall. The sheer kinetic backlash of his own amplified momentum hit him squarely in the chest.

CRACK!

Julian’s ribs fractured under the invisible impact. The steel sword flew out of his grip.

He was launched backward through the air like a discarded ragdoll. He flew a full twenty feet across the arena.

THUD!

Julian crashed hard into the dirt outside the boundary lines. He rolled twice and went completely limp. He lost consciousness instantly.

The stadium fell into absolute silence.

No one understood what had just happened. Draven had not moved a single muscle. He had not chanted a spell.

He had simply stared at Julian, and the challenger had been blasted out of the ring.

The referee stood frozen with his whistle in his mouth. He blinked in shock.

Draven turned his head and looked at the referee.

"Call it," Draven instructed flatly.

The referee jolted back to reality. He blew the whistle sharply.

TWEET!

"Ring out!" the referee shouted over the magical speakers. "Winner, and still Rank Four, Draven Mordis!"

A sparse, confused applause rippled through the stands. The students did not know how to react. It was not a heroic victory. It was a clinical execution of physics.

Draven turned his back on the unconscious noble. He walked calmly toward the competitor tunnel.

He accessed his system interface as he walked into the shadows.

[System Alert: Challenge Won.]

[Reward: 10,000 Academy Credits transferred to your account.]

Draven dismissed the screen. The credits would be useful for buying raw materials for Cole Rust.

He walked down the dim corridor. The noise of the arena faded behind him.

"You are late, Mordis."

Draven looked up. Aegon Logcheville was leaning against the concrete wall near the exit. The spearman had his arms crossed. He wore his training gear.

"He talked too much," Draven replied smoothly.

Aegon chuckled. He pushed himself off the wall and fell into step beside Draven.

"I watched the match from the monitors," Aegon said. "You blasted him out of the ring without throwing a punch. You are going to make people paranoid."

"Let them be paranoid," Draven said. "It keeps them away from my door."

They walked out of the arena complex and headed toward the training halls. The weekend was approaching. The students were worried about their exams and their social standings.

Draven looked up at the sky above the Bastion. The sun was shining. The clouds were clear.

But Draven knew the truth. The perimeter was already compromised. The Cult was waiting in the dark.

The Beast Wave was coming.