The first attacker came from the left — a thick-armed student with earth mana crackling around his fists. B-Rank Earth Manipulation. Late Neophyte. He closed the distance fast and punched the ground where Lucian had been standing.

Crack.

Stone erupted upward in a pillar of jagged rock. But Lucian was already behind him. Phantom Walk had carried him three meters in a single flicker.

Crushing Palm.

Lucian’s palm struck the back of the student’s neck with a concussive shockwave that traveled through flesh and bone. The student’s eyes went glassy. His legs buckled. His bracelet flashed red before he hit the ground.

STUDENT ELIMINATED — [Class D, #041]

+100 Points. Total: 320.

"One," Lucian said quietly.

The second attacker didn’t hesitate. A woman with short-cropped hair launched a volley of compressed air blades from ten meters away. C-Rank Wind Blades. Five slashes, each one aimed at a vital point — throat, eyes, femoral artery, spine, heart.

Lucian planted his feet and activated Flowing Water Block.

It was the first time he’d used the technique against a real attack. The Novice-level form was clumsy — his arms moved too stiffly, the redirection angles were wrong. He managed to deflect two blades. The other three carved into his torso.

Ssshkk. Ssshkk. Ssshkk.

Pain flared across his ribs and shoulder. Not deep — wind blades at this rank couldn’t penetrate muscle fully — but bloody.

HP: 82%.

He closed the distance before she could cast again. Tempest Blade — three strikes, each faster than the last. The first she blocked with a wind barrier. The second cracked it. The third sent her flying into a tree trunk. Her back hit the bark with a sickening thud and she slid down, unconscious.

Bracelet flashed.

STUDENT ELIMINATED — [Class C, #067]

+100 Points. Total: 420.

"Two."

The twin brothers moved in unison. Both had C-Rank Fire Ball — identical abilities, identical fighting styles. They flanked Lucian from opposite sides, each launching a sphere of condensed flame the size of a basketball.

The fireballs converged on his position.

Lucian raised his left hand. Light Shield bloomed — a flat disc of hardened light that absorbed the left fireball in a wash of heat and steam. He used Phantom Walk to dodge the right one. It sailed past him and detonated against an oak tree, setting the branches ablaze with a whoooosh.

The left twin — thinking Lucian was committed to the shield — launched a second fireball. This one was bigger. Faster.

Lucian extended his right hand. Blood pooled from his palm and hardened instantly into a spear two meters long.

He threw it.

The Blood Spear punched clean through the fireball — S-Rank durability meant the hardened blood surface didn’t even char — and hit the twin in the chest. The impact knocked him backward. He hit the ground skidding.

HP: 12%.

Not eliminated. Close though.

The right twin tried to circle around while Lucian was focused on his brother. Lucian flicked his fingers. Scarlet Threads — ultra-thin lines of crystallized blood — erupted from his fingertips and wrapped around the twin’s wrists, ankles, and throat in a single motion. The threads tightened. The twin froze mid-step, unable to move a single muscle.

Lucian walked toward him calmly. Each step crunched on fallen leaves.

"Wait—" the twin choked, the threads pressing against his windpipe. "Wait, I—"

Crushing Palm to the sternum.

BOOM.

The concussive force detonated inside his chest cavity. His eyes bulged. His bracelet flashed before his body finished falling.

STUDENT ELIMINATED — [Class D, #055]

+100 Points. Total: 520.

"Three."

In the observation stands above the arena, the crowd murmur shifted. A man in instructor robes leaned toward his colleague.

"Was that blood? He formed a weapon from blood?"

"Dual awakener. Light Control and Blood Manipulation. Wow."

"..."

"Keep watching."

The injured twin — the one at 12% HP — had stopped running. He was on his knees twenty meters away, clutching his chest where the Blood Spear had hit. Blood seeped between his fingers. His breathing was ragged.

Lucian walked toward him.

"I yield!" the twin screamed. "I yield! That’s the rule — I’m surrendering!"

Lucian didn’t slow down.

"YIELD! I SAID I YIE—"

A Light Blade flicked from Lucian’s fingertip. It crossed the distance in a fraction of a second and cut a shallow line across the twin’s back.

HP: 9%.

STUDENT ELIMINATED — [Class D, #056]

+100 Points. Total: 620.

The twin vanished in a teleportation flash. The forest went quiet except for the crackle of the burning tree.

In the stands, Ryan Duncan lowered his tablet slowly. His face was pale.

Beside him, Rose Chevalier wrapped her arms around herself.

"Was that... necessary?" she asked quietly.

Ryan didn’t answer.

Julian Morel stood alone in the clearing. His four gang members were gone — teleported out, scattered across whatever recovery room the academy had set up. His lightning had died in his palms. His hands were shaking.

Four people. Eliminated in under three minutes. By one student. A Peak Neophyte. From Class B.

"You... what the hell are you?" Julian whispered.

Lucian raised the Sword of Aikis. The blade caught the light.

Julian ran.

He didn’t look back. Lightning crackled behind him as he bolted through the trees, using his ability to boost his speed. In three seconds, he’d put fifty meters between them.

Lucian watched him go. Lowered his sword.

"Four," he said to no one.

He checked his status. HP at 74%. Mana at 55%. Blood Energy at 70%. The fight had cost him more than he’d expected — Flowing Water Block’s clumsiness had let those wind blades through, and the Blood Spear plus Scarlet Threads had burned through both mana and BE simultaneously.

But 620 points was solid. Top five, probably.

He vanished into the forest using Phantom Walk and kept hunting.

Elsewhere in the arena —

Bruno Remmos stood in the ruins section, surrounded by three groaning students who’d just been teleported out. A fourth was still on the ground — Bruno had him by the ankle and was using him as a club to beat the fifth.

WHAM. WHAM.

The fifth student’s bracelet flashed. Bruno dropped both bodies and laughed.

"Too easy!"

+400 Points. Total: 680.

Shū Yán moved through the river section like water itself. Two beast packs — six constructs total — were fighting each other over a simulated corpse. She waited until they’d weakened each other, then picked off the survivors with precise joint strikes. No abilities. No wasted movement.

+60 Points. Total: 340.

Her eyes tracked the forest section from across the river. She’d felt something through the ground vibrations. A rapid series of impacts. Four eliminations in quick succession.

Grimaud.

Elias Schwarz hadn’t moved from his position in the caves. He sat on a rock with his eyes closed. Shadows pooled around him like living water. Every construct that wandered within thirty meters simply stopped moving. The shadows rose up and swallowed them whole — silently, efficiently, without a single wasted gesture.

+90 Points. Total: 440.

He hadn’t fought a single student. Didn’t need to.

Arthur Chevalier walked through the open battlefield section like a god of war. Metal particles extracted from the arena floor formed into swords, spears, and shields around him — a rotating arsenal of twenty weapons moving in synchronized orbits. Any construct that entered his range was cut apart by three blades simultaneously before it could take a second step.

Two students had tried to ambush him. One was impaled by four spears. The other was pinned to the ground by a metal shield and eliminated by a controlled sword thrust to the shoulder.

+300 Points. Total: 700.

Clara Duncan stalked through the meadow section with cold precision. A group of three students tried to jump her. She froze the ground beneath their feet with a casual wave, locked them in place, and launched ice shards into each of their chests with Psychokinesis — no hand gestures, no incantation, just pure telekinetic force.

Three eliminations. Forty-five seconds.

+300 Points. Total: 560.

The three-hour timer hit zero.

SURVIVAL GAUNTLET — COMPLETE.

The simulated environment dissolved. All one hundred and fifty students re-materialized on the coliseum floor — the thirty-two who’d survived standing in a designated area, the one hundred and eighteen who’d been eliminated appearing in a separate section to the side.

The main screen updated. Rankings scrolled down in luminous text.

The arena fell silent.

FINAL STANDINGS — PHASE 1

#1 — Elias Schwarz (Class B) — 1,240 pts — Peak Neophyte

#2 — Arthur Chevalier (Class A) — 1,180 pts — Early Core Realm

#3 — Damon Mercer (Class E) — 1,150 pts — Early Core Realm

#4 — Clara Duncan (Class A) — 1,130 pts — Early Core Realm

#5 — Lucian Grimaud (Class B) — 1,120 pts — Peak Neophyte

Lucian stared at the screen. Fifth. One hundred and twenty points behind Clara. Twenty behind Damon Mercer.

First place was the quest. Fuck, I failed it.

The system notification pulsed coldly in his vision.

╔═══════════════════════════════╗

║ ⚠ QUEST FAILED ⚠ ║

║ "Take 1st Place — Phase 1" ║

║ PENALTY APPLIED: ║

║ ├─ -1,500 System Credits ║

║ │ (Current Balance: -900 SC) ║

║ ├─ System Shop LOCKED for 72 hours ║

║ │ (Unlocks: Day 4, 06:00) ║

║ └─ Negative balance must be cleared within 7 days or additional penaltieswill apply ║

║ NOTE: "Qualify for Phase 2" ║

║ — COMPLETED — ║

║ Reward: 2,000 SC deposited ║

║ Net Balance: 1,100 SC ║

╚═════════════════════════════╝

Negative balance. Shop lockout.

Lucian’s jaw clenched. The 2,000 SC from qualifying had offset the penalty, but he’d still lost three days of shop access.

#6 — Bruno Remmos (Class B) — 1,080 pts — Peak Neophyte

#7 — Julian Renard (Class D) — 1,020 pts — Peak Neophyte

#8 — Shū Yán (Class B) — 980 pts — Peak Neophyte

#9 — Victor Haines (Class E) — 940 pts — Early Core Realm

#10 — Mei Lin (Class D) — 910 pts — Early Core Realm

The list continued down to thirty-two. Twelve of the top thirty-two were Early Core Realm. The remaining twenty were Peak Neophyte — the absolute ceiling of their realm, pushing against the boundary.

Lucian counted the realm gap in his head. Twelve opponents he couldn’t match in raw power. Twenty he could probably beat. Clara and Elias were both in the top four.

Clara’s going to win this whole thing.

The head instructor’s voice boomed across the coliseum.

"Top thirty-two. You have four hours to rest, eat, and prepare. Phase Two — the Elimination Bracket — begins at sunrise. Single elimination. Seeded by your Phase One performance."

The bracket materialized on the main screen. Thirty-two names. Lines connecting them in a descending tree toward a single champion slot at the bottom.

Lucian found his name. Seed 5. His first opponent was a Late Neophyte from Class C. Seed 28.

Easy.

He found Clara. Seed 4. Her first opponent was Seed 29.

He found Elias. Seed 1. Seed 30.

And at the bottom of the bracket, where the two semifinal winners would meet in the finals — two empty slots waiting for names.

Lucian turned and walked toward the exit. Clara fell into step beside him as they started chatting happily about the tournament. "You’re in the opposite half of the bracket from me," she said instead. "We can only meet in the finals."

"I know."

"If we both make it."

"We will."

Clara looked at him. He said it with such absolute certainty that she believed him.

Behind them, in the instructor observation box, Professor Elena Vasilev sat perfectly still. Her dark eyes were fixed on Lucian’s retreating back.

Blood Manipulation that didn’t char through fire. Threads that could bind a Neophyte-level cultivator instantly. Insane durability.

Her fingers curled slowly under the desk.

What are you, Lucian Grimaud? A bloodline? What makes you tick?

She pulled out a small communicator and typed a short message.

Then she closed the device and leaned back in her seat, her expression as unreadable as shadow.