The morning sun hit the marble courtyard of Aethegald Academy with a blinding glare. Five thousand freshmen stood in perfect rows, a sea of black uniforms and held breath.
At the front of them, Grand Instructor Selene stepped forward. Her eyes, glowing with a faint violet light, swept over the boys with a look of clinical detachment.
"I am Grand Instructor Selene," she announced. "Today, you cease being children of your houses and become the one to fight for the Goddess. Close your eyes. Focus on the core of your chest, reach in, and pull."
Lucien did as he was told. He felt the familiar hollow void in his chest the "defect" his father had mocked for seventeen years. But then, a spark. It wasn't the roar of fire; it was the sharp click of a key turning in a lock.
Ding.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
Host: Lucien Vilor
[MP: Has not been recorded]
[STATUS: AWAKENED]
All around him, the courtyard erupted. "Fire Bolt! I'm an attacker!" one boy cheered.
"Only Enhanced Vision as an ability, I already have enhanced vision as a skill, I don't need the same for an ability? That's it?" a girl near Lucien sobbed.
Lucien ignored the noise. His eyes were fixed on the screen floating only in his vision. Under the Skill tab, there was a single entry.
[UNIQUE ABILITY: RESONANCE BOND
Skills: None
"No skill? System describe the resonance bond."
[Description: This helps user to gain skills through physical intimacy with a female host, you may synchronize your life force. You will permanently copy her skills making yours stronger, like doubling the efficiency of the skill, while making her to level up too.]
A slow, predatory smile tugged at the corner of Lucien's mouth. He looked around the hall, his gaze drifting over the "ethereal beauties" of the noble families.
"Well this won't be easy after they know am a Vilor with no magic," he muttered.
"Silence!" Selene's voice cracked like a whip. "Now that you have your 'gifts,' it is time for the Mandate. The Goddess demands purity." She raised her hand, and a massive, translucent golden dome descended over the boys.
"The Apathy Seal," A guy behind him whispered, his face turning ashen.
"This seal will not take your mind," Selene continued, her voice dripping with a cruel sort of pity. "You will still feel desire. You will still feel the heat of your blood and the pull of your instincts. But you will be denied the ability to act on them. From this moment forward, no male in Aethegald shall ever undergo arousal again. You are now 'Hollow.' Your bodies are now nothing more than cold vessels for mana."
"What!" Some boys said in unison.
"I don't want this seal I still love women!" A guy cried out.
Lucien felt a cold, oily wave wash over him. He felt the "Seal" try to lock down his biological functions, attempting to sever the connection between his mind and his body. But before the chill could settle, his System screen flashed blood-red.
[WARNING: HOSTILE EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE DETECTED]
[ANALYZING 'APATHY SEAL'...]
[RESULT: USER IS 100% IMMUNE. BIOLOGICAL POTENCY PRESERVED.]
Lucien felt the warmth return to his blood, surging even stronger than before. Around him, the atmosphere among the boys was still normal but in-between their legs wasn't it.
"I won't have to fuck again." A guy cried kneeling down and faking cries.
"Why are they doing this to us just because they know beautiful girls in the academy are plentiful." A guy cried out with some of the guys joining in.
'Well it's a good thing I can still do what they can't have.' he smirked at his thought.
"Now," Selene said, ignoring the silent suffering of five thousand boys. "Now that your focus is guaranteed, we begin the Placement Exam." She opened a Rift behind them. "Look to the Great Rift, the monsters within only care about your mana. If you do not kill, you do not stay."
She gestured toward the massive Rift behind them, "Move, let us see who among you is a hunter, and who is merely... meat."
'Dont they care about the ones with no magic, how am I going to survive there? With no magic how am I going to face a monster." Lucien thought with a frown.
The gates of the Great Rift groaned as they swung open, exhaling a thick, violet mist that smelled of ozone and ancient decay. As the five thousand students turned to face the Rift behind them as they surged forward, the ground beneath them flickered with runes.
In a flash of light, the "Scattering Protocol" activated, warping small groups into different sectors of the monster-infested wasteland.
Lucien found himself in a jagged, rocky ravine. Around him stood four other freshmen, their hands trembling as they gripped their basic-issue daggers or channeled their flickering magic.
"Something's coming!" one of the boys yelled, his eyes glued to his system interface.
A Void-Crawler a multi-limbed insectoid with eyes like glowing embers, scrambled down the ravine wall, screeching as it targeted Lucien, the "weakest" presence in the group.
Lucien didn't flinch, he calculated the beast's trajectory, readying his body to move, but a girl from their group suddenly shoved him hard into the dirt.
"Get out of the way!" she hissed, a ball of weak flame dancing in her palm. "This kill is mine!" She blasted the creature, and the others swarmed in, desperately stabbing at the monster to ensure their System registered a "Contribution Percentage."
To them, Lucien was nothing more than a nuisance who might steal a fraction of their precious growth.
This pattern continued for hours, every time a beast lunged for Lucien, someone would kick him aside or use him as bait, only to swoop in at the last second to take the credit, lucien simply watched.
He observed their casting patterns, their panicked breathing, and the way the monsters reacted to their low-level mana.
By sunset, the Rift's gates hummed, forcibly warping the exhausted students back to the Academy hall.
The violet mist cleared to reveal the massive Grand Scoreboard, its obsidian surface beginning to glow with thousands of names.
Grand Instructor Selene stood on the podium, her violet eyes cold as she surveyed the battered crowd.
"The Harvest is complete," she announced. "The System has calculated your contribution, your efficiency, and your potential. Your Ranks are now absolute."
The board flickered. At the very top, names were S-Ranks. The crowd roared with envy as the high-tier names appeared.
"Now, for the lower tiers," Selene said, her voice dropping an octave. "Remember the least ones with 0 contributions is disqualification."
The board scrolled down rapidly, passing through A, B, and C ranks until it reached the bottom, CLASS D. Lucien watched as his name flickered onto the screen.
Lucien Vilor: Rank D (MP: 30/30) A chorus of snickers broke out among the students nearby.
"A Vilor in Class D?" someone whispered loudly. "He only had 8 contribution points, what the point of keeping someone low as him in an academy."
After the crowd was dismissed Silas came to meet Lucien who was heading to the D-rank class for the introductory, Silas then said "We're in the pit, Lucien. Class D. One wrong move, on
e bad exam, and you are going to be expelled, you are the lowest in class D. How can you be so calm?"