"Lucian," Rose said, setting plates on the table. "Why don’t we celebrate after the competition? The tournament is in two days. We can all go out afterwards."

Lucian shook his head. "You guys need to train. Test out your new strength. You just broke through to Core Realm — your mana flows differently now. Your spell outputs have changed. You need to recalibrate."

Rose’s shoulders drooped. "Come on, you’re so boring."

"He’s not boring, he’s obsessive," Clara corrected, pouring a second glass of wine.

"Thank you," Lucian said.

"That wasn’t a compliment."

Clara set down her glass and looked at Lucian with a competitive glint in her crimson eyes.

"Speaking of the tournament — if I meet you in the bracket, I’m definitely kicking your ass."

Lucian looked at her. His expression didn’t change. Then a slow, smug smile spread across his face. "That’s if I allow you."

Clara’s eye twitched. She turned to Rose. "Can you see this dude? Like, look at this dude." She gestured at Lucian’s smug expression. "He thinks he can beat me. ME—"

"Rose," Clara said. "Who do you think will win? Me or him?"

Rose raised both hands immediately. "Don’t drag me into it. I’m not choosing between my best friend and my other best friend’s boyfriend. I value my life."

"Oh, you’re going to get it," Clara said, pointing her wine glass at him. "You’re going to get it so bad."

They sat down to eat. Rose had grilled enough meat to feed a small army. Clara devoured it — strips of beef, pork chops, lamb ribs — with an appetite that bordered on feral.

The conversation drifted. Clara talked about her classmates — the elite students in Class A, their abilities, their weaknesses. Rose described her Support Department missions — barrier deployments, field medic work, tactical defense positioning. Lucian listened more than he spoke.

When the food was gone and the wine was finished, Ryan showed up briefly to congratulate Clara and Rose on their breakthroughs. He didn’t stay long — his research was calling. He left with a Tupperware container of meat that Clara forced on him and a spring in his step.

Lucian cleaned up. Rose and Clara retreated to their rooms to cultivate.

"Lucian," Clara called from her doorway. "I’m still kicking your ass in the tournament."

"Goodnight, Clara."

She smiled and closed her door.

Two days passed.

Lucian trained. Cultivated. Ate. Trained more. His Tempest Blade progressed from Adept to early Expert. His Crushing Palm broke through to Adept. Flowing Water Block remained at Novice — the technique required a level of fluidity that didn’t come naturally to his aggressive combat style. Heartbeat Detection settled comfortably at Adept, its thirty-meter range overlapping perfectly with his Blood Sense.

He didn’t sleep much. Two hours per night. The rest was training.

The tournament arrived.

The Combat Department’s main arena was an enormous coliseum-style structure built into the academy’s eastern wing. It seated three thousand spectators and was equipped with layered mana barriers that could withstand Grand Core Realm attacks. The floor was a reinforced combat platform, fifty meters across, with observation platforms for judges and instructors along the perimeter.

All five Combat Department classes were present — Class A through Class E. Approximately 150 students total, plus instructors, support staff, and spectators from other departments who had come to watch.

Lucian sat in the Class B section. Bruno sat behind him, his massive frame crushing a folding chair.

The written exam came first.

Every department started with a written component. The Combat Department’s exam covered spell theory, mana circulation, beast taxonomy, dungeon protocol, tactical analysis, and elemental interaction charts. One hundred questions. Two hours. Thirty percent of the total tournament score.

The exam booklets were distributed. Lucian opened his.

Question 1: Describe the three primary methods of Star Palace ignition and rank them by success rate. Explain why Comprehension has the lowest success rate despite being the most rewarding method.

Lucian wrote. The answer came easily — he’d studied the textbook cover to cover.

Question 17: A fire-based awakener encounters an ice-based beast with D-Rank thermal resistance. Calculate the optimal mana output required to overcome the resistance assuming a 30% environmental penalty and a Core Realm mana capacity of 8,000 MPU. Show your work.

Math. Straightforward.

Question 34: During a dungeon clear, your team encounters a Hive Mind beast controlling lesser minions. Identify three strategic approaches to neutralizing the Hive Mind without engaging the full minion horde. Rank them by casualty risk.

Lucian thought of Victor Renault. The Hive King. He wrote from personal experience.

Question 52: Define the term "Forbidden Fusion" in the context of dual Star Palace cultivation. What are the documented outcomes of a Fire-Ice fusion attempt? Provide historical examples.

Lucian paused. This one was trickier. The textbook mentioned Forbidden Fusion briefly — a paragraph warning against attempting to cultivate conflicting elemental palaces. But the historical examples were vague.

He queried the system silently.

"System. Forbidden Fusion. Fire-Ice. Historical outcomes."

The system responded with a data packet that Lucian transcribed verbatim, adjusting the phrasing to sound like his own words.

Question 78: An Astral Realm cultivator projects a Domain with a radius of 200 meters. If the cultivator’s mana capacity is 45,000 MPU and Domain maintenance costs 200 MPU per minute, calculate the maximum sustainable Domain duration. Factor in a 15% efficiency loss from environmental mana interference.

Lucian calculated. Forty-five thousand divided by two hundred. Adjusted for fifteen percent. He wrote the answer.

He completed all one hundred questions in forty-seven minutes. Several answers were supplemented by system data that no textbook contained. He didn’t care. The system was his tool. He’d use it.

He stood up. Walked to the front. Placed his exam booklet on the instructor’s desk.

The proctor — a thin, bespectacled man — stared at him. "You’re done? It’s been forty-seven minutes."

"Yes."

"You still have an hour and thirteen minutes."

"I’m done."

The proctor looked at the booklet.

"You may leave."

Lucian walked out of the exam hall and into the corridor. The arena’s combat platform was visible through a reinforced window — the combat exam would begin after the written exams were graded.

He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and waited.

The real test was about to begin.