The observation room stank of fear and ambition.
Ten of the Academy's most powerful teachers sat around a circular table, watching holographic replays of Null's execution. The only light came from the flickering images—a boy erasing a monster from existence with the same effort most people used to swat flies.
"Impressive," Professor Valdris admitted, his scarred face impassive. "But it was an unstable prototype, not a true Special Rank. Any competent spatial mage could—"
"Could what?" Professor Elara interrupted, her eyes blazing with recruitment fervor. "That was conceptual power! He didn't destroy the Calamity—he removed it from reality itself. We must recruit him at all costs!"
"The dragon kingdoms have always produced anomalies," a third teacher drawled. "This one is simply more theatrical than most."
"Theatrical?" Elara's voice pitched higher. "Did you not see how he—"
"Silence."
Arthur's single word killed the debate. The Assistant Director hadn't moved from his position by the window, but his presence suddenly filled the room like poisonous gas.
He turned slowly. His smile was the kind that made smart people remember urgent appointments elsewhere.
"You're all missing the point," he said softly. "The Calamity wasn't the test. It was calibration."
The teachers exchanged glances.
"Calibration for what?" Valdris asked.
Arthur's smile widened. "To see if he was worth the real test." He tapped a crystal on the table. "Release both the other Special Ranks."
The room erupted.
"Both? That's suicide—"
"The students aren't ready—"
"The casualty rate will be—"
Arthur's laughter cut through their protests. Not loud, but wrong. The sound of someone who found genuine joy in other people's terror.
"Casualty rate?" He leaned forward. "We're selecting the next generation's elite. If they die to this, they were never worthy." His fingers danced across the control crystals. "Besides, I need more data on our little dragon prince."
The projections showed two new signatures appearing in the trial dimension. The teachers fell silent.
One signature burned like a dying star. The other was a void that seemed to eat the sensors themselves.
"What have you done?" Elara whispered.
"Given them a real challenge." Arthur's eyes gleamed. "Let's see how many survive."
The battlefield reeked of ozone and wrongness.
Where the Calamity had been erased, reality still hadn't fully healed. The air shimmered with afterimages of things that never were. The ground was glass where space had folded too sharply.
Null stood in the epicenter, cataloging the dimensional scarring—interesting data for future techniques.
Someone landed behind him. Hard.
The impact cratered the earth, sending cracks racing through the glass. The killing intent that followed was thick enough to choke on. Not cold or calculating—hot, furious, personal.
Null didn't turn. "Khaos."
"That power…" Her voice trembled with rage. "That beautiful, perfect violence… it should have been mine to fight!"
He finally looked at her.
She stood twenty feet away, her crimson hair whipping in a wind that didn't exist. Her eyes—those predatory white orbs—locked onto him with the focus of a hunting cat. Dark energy writhed around her form like living shadows.
"You stole it from me," she continued, taking a step forward. The ground cracked under her foot.
"It attacked me first."
"Irrelevant!" She bared her teeth in what might have been a smile. "You took my prey. My challenge. My chance to feel alive."
Null studied her. The rage was genuine, but underneath it was something else. Hunger. The same desperate need for worthy opposition that he understood intimately.
"What do you want?" he asked, though he already knew.
"Since you beat the only interesting thing here…" She crouched slightly, muscles coiling. "You owe me a fight."
The smart response would be no. They were in a survival trial. Two Special Ranks were still active. Fighting each other was tactically stupid.
But Null had never been motivated by smart choices.
"Yes," he said.
Khaos blinked. She'd expected negotiation, conditions, maybe refusal. Not immediate agreement.
"But," he continued, "only on the last day of the trial."
"Why wait?"
"Because by then, you'll have fought the other Special Ranks. You'll be stronger. More desperate." His eyes reflected nothing. "More interesting."
Her laugh was sharp enough to cut. "You think I need practice to fight you?"
"No. I think you need motivation." He turned away. "Right now, you're angry about a stolen kill. By the final day, you'll be angry about everything else I've taken from you."
"Such as?"
"First place. Perfect scores. The other students' fear." He glanced back. "Your reputation as the trial's apex predator."
The darkness around Khaos writhed faster. "You're that confident?"
"It's not confidence. It's math."
Before she could respond, the sky cracked.
Arthur's projection materialized above them, massive and grinning. Every student in the dimension could see him, no matter where they stood.
"Congratulations on surviving this long," his voice boomed with false cheer. "I have good news and better news!"
Null's eyes narrowed. Arthur's tone promised nothing good.
"The good news: two more Special Rank creatures have been released. Real ones this time, not prototypes." The projection's smile widened. "The Pyroclastic Tyrant and the Void Stalker. I'm sure you'll love them."
Screams echoed from distant parts of the forest. The hunt had already begun.
"The better news," Arthur continued, his eyes finding Null's through the projection, "is that I'm adding a new rule to make things more… interesting."
The pause stretched too long.
"Dragon Prince Kaelthuun is now designated as a Special Rank target."
The forest went silent.
"Any student who defeats him will automatically pass this test. No further requirements. No conditions." Arthur's laugh echoed across dimensions. "Consider him your golden ticket. Happy hunting."
The projection vanished.
Khaos stared at Null. "He just—"
"Made me everyone's primary target." Null's voice carried no emotion. "Clever."
"You're not concerned?"
"Why would I be?"
She studied him for a long moment. "The final day, then. Don't die before our fight."
"Likewise."
She vanished into the shadows, leaving Null alone.
No.
Not alone.
He could feel them already. Dozens of students were turning in his direction. Some solo, some in groups. All of them see an opportunity. A chance to pass without facing the real Special Ranks. Just one dragon prince against the world.
The smart ones would wait, let others weaken him first. The desperate ones would attack immediately. The clever ones would try to set traps.
None of it mattered.
A group was already approaching from the east. Five students, moving in formation. He could taste their killing intent from here—metallic and desperate.
From the north, a solo hunter. Fast-moving, probably an assassin type.
From the south, something bigger. A whole alliance of at least a dozen.
They were all converging on his position.
Null looked up at the violet sky, then down at his hands. Spatial energy danced between his fingers—beautiful, terrible, absolute.
Everyone wanted to hunt the hunter.
They had no idea what they were walking into.
A slow, cold smile spread across his face. Not joy. Not excitement. Something older and more terrible.
Anticipation.
Let them come.