Kael didn't have time to rest.
Within an hour, he was standing inside the Faculty Chamber.
High ceilings. Silver mana lamps. A circular array carved into the floor.
Five professors sat around the chamber.
At the center—
The Ranking Crystal.
The same one that had branded him F-Class three years ago.
Darian stood at the side, silent.
Professor Helbrecht, Head of Combat Theory, leaned forward.
"Explain."
Kael kept his expression neutral.
"A demon manifested in the lower corridor."
"We know that," Helbrecht snapped. "The sensors recorded mana distortion equivalent to C-Class."
Murmurs spread among the faculty.
"Yet only one student was present."
"All other students were at training grounds."
Helbrecht's eyes locked onto Kael.
"And that student is you."
Silence pressed down on him.
Kael didn't lower his gaze.
"It attacked. I defended myself."
Professor Liora, specialist in Mana Resonance, tapped her finger lightly on the table.
"An F-Class defending against a C-Class manifestation?"
She didn't sound angry.
She sounded curious.
Dangerous.
Helbrecht raised his hand.
"Step into the array."
The circular formation beneath Kael's feet glowed faintly.
The Ranking Crystal pulsed in response.
"If you are hiding external assistance, artifacts, or demonic contract," Helbrecht said coldly, "the crystal will react."
Kael stepped forward.
The array activated.
Mana threads wrapped around his body.
Scanning.
Analyzing.
He felt the two currents inside him stir.
Dark.
Bright.
They rotated instinctively.
The crystal flickered.
Then stabilized.
Text appeared in the air.
Name: Kael Ardent
Rank: F-Class
Mana Capacity: 12 Units
Affinity: None Detected
Silence.
Helbrecht frowned.
"That's impossible."
Liora stood.
"Run it again."
The array intensified.
Mana pressure increased.
This time, Kael felt pain.
The dual currents reacted defensively.
The crystal flashed violently.
Cracks of light spidered across its surface.
Warning sigils blinked.
Mana reading spiked.
12 → 18 → 34 → 9 → 47 → 0
Then—
It froze.
Rank: F-Class
The room went dead quiet.
Liora's eyes widened slightly.
"The data fluctuated."
Helbrecht stood up abruptly.
"The crystal does not fluctuate."
Darian's voice cut in from the side.
"I felt something when the demon died."
All eyes turned to him.
"Not normal mana. Something layered."
Helbrecht's jaw tightened.
He looked back at Kael.
"What did you do?"
Kael answered calmly.
"I fought."
Liora approached the crystal.
She placed her hand against it.
The cracks of light slowly faded.
"The crystal isn't broken," she murmured.
"It's… resisting classification."
The word hung in the air.
Resisting.
Helbrecht turned back to Kael.
"You are dismissed."
That surprised even Darian.
"But—" Helbrecht continued, "you will be under observation."
Kael bowed slightly.
"Understood."
As he left the chamber, he could feel their eyes on his back.
Not suspicion alone.
Interest.
That was worse.
Outside the chamber—
The academy courtyard buzzed.
Students gathered in front of the Ranking Board.
A massive projection panel displaying all student rankings.
Normally it updated once per week.
Today—
It flickered.
A system notice appeared:
⚠ Irregular Mana Disturbance Detected
⚠ Emergency Rank Verification Initiated
Names shifted slightly.
Rankings adjusted.
Then—
Kael's name flashed.
From bottom of F-Class…
To the top of F-Class.
A tiny change.
But visible.
Students murmured.
"Didn't he fail orientation combat?"
"He's the weakest guy."
"Why is his mana fluctuation flagged?"
Darian stood watching from a distance.
His eyes narrowed.
This isn't normal.
The board flickered again.
For half a second—
Kael's rank jumped.
F-Class → E-Class
Then snapped back to F.
Most students didn't notice.
But Darian did.
And someone else.
On the highest balcony overlooking the courtyard—
A silver-haired girl watched silently.
Vice Head Student Council.
Seraphine Vale.
Her sharp eyes focused on one name only.
Kael Ardent.
The board stabilized.
But a small red symbol appeared next to his name.
⚠ Monitored Candidate
Students began whispering louder.
"What did he do?"
"Did he cheat?"
"Is he under investigation?"
Kael walked past them calmly.
Ignoring the stares.
Ignoring the tension.
But inside—
He understood.
The system is destabilizing.
The crystal cannot categorize dual resonance.
And now the academy's mechanisms are reacting automatically.
Good.
Let them watch.
Let them doubt.
The more unstable the data becomes—
The harder it will be for them to predict him.
As he reached the dorm corridor—
The air shifted again.
Subtle.
Almost imperceptible.
A whisper brushed against his senses.
"Divergence increasing."
He froze.
That wasn't imagination.
He turned slowly.
No one was there.
But far above the academy—
A thin crack formed in the sky.
Gone within a blink.
Acceleration confirmed.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"Then move faster."
Because this time—
He wouldn't die at the bottom.