Three weeks had passed since Nova's arrival at Sky Tower Academy.
The routine had become familiar now—morning exercise under crushing gravity, combat fundamentals with Thorne, magical theory, dungeon ecology, weapon maintenance. Hour after hour of classes, each one pushing him harder than the last. His body had adapted to the 2x gravity until it felt almost normal. His teleportation range had expanded to eighty-five feet with his new rank. His bloodline activation had crept to 17%.
But he was not the only one growing.
The academy's first monthly ranking test loomed at the end of the week—a comprehensive evaluation that would determine class assignments for the following month. Nova had studied the system obsessively since learning of it.
FIRST YEAR RANKING SYSTEM
The Table: A real-time leaderboard displaying all 287 first-year students ranked by:
Combat performance (40%)
Academic scores (30%)
Cultivation progress (20%)
Instructor evaluations (10%)
Monthly Reset: Rankings update after the last day of each month. Class assignments shift accordingly.
Resource Allocation:
Rank from 1-15: Class S (Privileged Class): 500 Gold + High-Grade Mana Stones + Private Instructor
Ranking from 16-45: Class A: 300 Gold + Medium-Grade Mana Stones + Advanced Technique Library
Ranking from 46-95: Class B: 200 Gold + Low-Grade Mana Stones + Standard Technique Library
Ranking 96-165: Class C: 100 Gold + Basic Mana Stones + Limited Library Access
Ranking from 166-235: Class D: 50 Gold + No Mana Stones + Basic Library Access
Ranking from 236-287: Class E(Remedial): 25 Gold + No Resources + Mandatory Extra Tutoring
Class S was something Nova hadn't known existed until his second week.
Fifteen students who existed above the regular hierarchy. Children of planetary governors, continental guild masters, military generals. Students whose families had enough power to buy their children's placement in an elite track that didn't mix with the common ranks.
Nova had seen them once—passing through a restricted corridor, surrounded by attendants, their cultivation already at 2nd Order despite being first years. They hadn't looked at him. Hadn't looked at anyone.
Privileged, he thought. Born with everything. Expecting to keep it.
He didn't envy them. He watched them, the way he watched everyone who might become an obstacle or an ally.
The morning of the ranking test dawned cold and clear.
Nova stood in the combat hall with the rest of Class A, waiting for instructions. The atmosphere was tense—everyone aware that today's performance could send them up or down the hierarchy.
Beside him, Darius was carved from stone, his expression revealing nothing. Kaelen cracked his neck repeatedly, nervous energy bleeding through his usual calm. Seraphina's lightning flickered in uncontrolled bursts—a rare sign of anxiety.
"Look at them." Rina appeared at Nova's elbow, her spatial sense allowing her to move silently even without powers. "Class S doesn't even have to take the test. They're automatically ranked 1-15 regardless of performance."
"How do you know that?"
"I know everything." She smiled thinly. "My spatial sense picks up conversations I shouldn't hear. The S-class students have a deal with the administration—their families pay enough to keep them at the top regardless of merit. The test is just for show. Some of their families sponsor the academy."
Nova filed that information away. Corruption. Favoritism. The same systems that had destroyed his family in another life, operating even here, even on this backwater planet.
"The test," he said quietly, "doesn't care about their deals. If they're not actually better—"
"They are. That's the problem." Rina's voice dropped. "Their families pour resources into them from birth. Private tutors, enhancement pills, cultivation chambers. Even without the deals, most of them would rank high. The deals just guarantee they stay there."
Before Nova could respond, Instructor Thorne's voice cut through the hall.
"First years—attention."
The room fell silent.
Thorne stood on the central platform, a data slate in his hand. Behind him, the other instructors arranged themselves in a line—Valerius, Mira, and several faces Nova didn't recognize.
"Today is your first monthly ranking test. You will be evaluated individually on combat ability, theoretical knowledge, and cultivation progress. Your scores will determine your class placement for the next month." He paused. "Some of you will rise. Some of you will fall. That is the nature of this academy."
His eyes swept the room, lingering for just a moment on Nova.
"Combat evaluations begin now. Group A, Platform One. Group B, Platform Two. You'll be called in alphabetical order."
Nova's first match was against a student he didn't know—a boy from Class C named Ren, with a water affinity and desperate eyes.
The platform was bare, surrounded by observation arrays that would record every movement for the instructors to analyze. No inhibitor bracelets today. No restrictions. Just two students, their powers, and five minutes to prove themselves.
Ren attacked immediately—a wave of water surging across the platform, trying to sweep Nova off his feet.
Nova teleported.
Appearing behind Ren, blades already drawn. The water boy spun, too slow, his eyes widening as Nova's practice blade touched his throat.
"Match." Instructor Valerius's voice was flat. "Almond advances."
Ren stared at Nova with a mixture of shock and humiliation. He hadn't lasted ten seconds.
Nova offered no comfort. This was the system. Adapt or fall.
Four matches followed throughout the morning.
A fire user from Class B—defeated in two minutes. An earth shaper from Class C—three minutes. A girl with enhanced speed from Class A—five minutes of cat-and-mouse before Nova cornered her.
And then, his final match of the day.
Kaelen Stoneheart.
They faced each other across the platform, two students who had already fought once—in the exam final, when Kaelen had yielded rather than continue a pointless stalemate. But that was different. That was exhaustion and generosity.
This was the ranking test.
"Been looking forward to this," Kaelen said, his stone skin already activating. "No yielding this time. No mercy."
"Didn't expect any."
They moved simultaneously.
Kaelen charged—not subtle, but devastating. His stone-enhanced fists could shatter bone, and his reach was nearly twice Nova's. The only option was to not be there when those fists landed.
Nova teleported left, right, behind—a pattern of movement designed to confuse, to disorient. Kaelen tracked him with surprising speed, his head swiveling, his body always turning to face Nova's last position.
He changed tactics.
Instead of constant movement, he committed—appearing directly in front of Kaelen, blades extended. Kaelen's fist swung, too fast to dodge, but Nova was already gone, teleporting again before the blow landed. Appearing behind Kaelen's swing, inside his guard.
Practice blade found kidney.
Kaelen grunted, stumbled, but didn't fall. His stone skin absorbed the blow that would have dropped a normal opponent.
"Good hit," he growled. "My turn."
He spun—faster than something his size should move—and his fist caught Nova's shoulder.
The impact sent Nova flying across the platform. He hit the ground hard, rolled, came up with his arm screaming in pain. Dislocated, maybe. Or just deeply bruised.
Can't take another hit like that.
Kaelen was already advancing, confident now, certain of victory.
Nova smiled.
He teleported straight up—eighty-five feet into the air, the maximum his new rank allowed. Below him, Kaelen stared upward, confusion on his face.
Then Nova teleported down.
Appearing directly above Kaelen, falling with all the weight of gravity and momentum behind him. His blades extended downward, aimed at the junction of neck and shoulder—a spot even stone skin couldn't fully protect.
Kaelen saw it coming. Tried to move. Too slow.
The blades struck.
Not deep—Nova pulled the strike at the last moment, practice weapons instead of real steel. But the impact was enough. Kaelen crumpled, his stone skin flickering, his eyes wide with shock.
Nova landed beside him, blades still raised.
"Match." Valerius's voice held something that might have been approval. "Almond wins."
Kaelen lay on the platform, breathing hard, staring at the ceiling.
"How?" he whispered.
Nova offered a hand.
"You're not the only one who learns."
The ranking results came that evening.
Nova stood before the massive display in the main hall, watching names shift and settle as the algorithms processed combat scores, academic results, cultivation measurements.
FIRST YEAR RANKINGS — MONTH 1
Valerius Chen — Class S
Isadora Vane — Class S
Marcus Stone — Class S
Seraphina Cross — Class A → Class A
Kaelen Stoneheart — Class A → Class A
Darius Vane — Class A → Class A
Nova Almond — Class A → Class A
Vivienne Reed — Class A → Class A
Corbin Hale — Class A → Class B
Tessa Blackwood — Class A → Class B
...and so on down the list.
Nova scanned the rankings, noting the shifts. Corbin had fallen to Class B—his poor academic scores dragging him down despite decent combat performance. Tessa had fallen with him. Rina Moon held at Class A, 12th place. Lyra Windborne, who Nova had defeated in the quarterfinals, had climbed to Class B through strong academics.
And the Class S students... all fifteen of them occupied the top spots. Untouchable. Unmovable.
Rina appeared beside him, following his gaze.
"Told you. Deals with the administration. Their positions are guaranteed."
"Doesn't matter." Nova turned away from the display. "I know where I stand. I know what I need to improve."
"And next month?"
"Next month, I climb higher."
That night, Nova sat on his bed and reviewed his progress.
GODLESS SYSTEM — MONTHLY UPDATE
HOST: Nova Almond
CULTIVATION: 1st Order, 3rd Rank
MANA RESERVE: 248/248 units
BLOODLINE ACTIVATION: 17%
CLASS: Class A — Rank 7/287
QUEST PROGRESS: "ACADEMY SURVIVAL"
Current Position: Class A, Rank 7
Target: Maintain Class A through first semester
Status: On track
NOTE: Class S students ranked 1-15. Combat evaluation suggests host could defeat several of them despite ranking gap. Political factors prevent upward movement. Recommended: Continue growth. Opportunities will arise.
Opportunities will arise, the System said.
Nova wondered what form those opportunities would take.
He lay back and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the students he hadn't met—the fifteen at the top, protected by wealth and connection, never having to prove themselves the way everyone else did.
In another life, he had been like them. Born to power, protected by family name, never questioning whether he deserved what he had.
Then the Emperor had come. And the betrayals. And the fire.
Privilege is an illusion, he thought. Power is real. Everything else can be taken away.
He closed his eyes and slept.