Chapter 11: Chapter Eleven – Before the First Kill

BACK AT THE ACADEMY – LESSONS IN POWER

Inside the lecture hall, the day’s class began as a teacher walked in, robes humming with faint mana circuitry.

“Today,” she said, “we’ll cover the origin of the system—how it came to be, and why it shapes every corner of your lives.”

She tapped her comm-node. A projection filled the room.

“The system was forged by the joint efforts of all six intelligent races after the Great Accord. It didn’t emerge overnight. Years of sacrifice, catastrophic failures, and endless research led to its final form.”

She pointed to the projection—a massive, glowing circuit-like world net intertwined with six race crests.

“The system’s core purpose is to regulate mana. To make the Awakening process safe, stable, and accessible.”

In the back row, Kael muttered under his breath, voice quiet as mist:“Tell me about it…”

The teacher continued.

“Now, leveling. There are four primary methods of advancement:

1. Slaying Veyriths or Abyssal creatures. The system converts their essence, cleanses it, and channels it into your core. This is the most effective and direct method.

2. Absorbing ambient mana. Safe, but extremely slow. Often used for control refinement rather than power progression.

3. Mana crystals. Effective, but inefficient. And prohibitively expensive. Crystals are also vital for weapon forging, barrier nodes, and core research.

4. Abyssal Core Essence. The rarest and most potent method. Even a low-tier essence can boost a low-level user several tiers. But supply is scarce… and dangerous to obtain.”

She paused, letting the gravity of it sink in.

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TRAINING GROUNDS – SPARKS BENEATH THE SURFACE

The academy’s training fields buzzed with tension. Freshmen clashed in friendly duels or pushed themselves to exhaustion. The looming competition had sharpened every breath.

Beneath a tree at the field’s edge, Kael sat in quiet reflection.

He thought of the system, and with a silent command, a translucent screen bloomed before him.

> Name: Kael ArdynAge: 13Affinity: UnknownLevel: 1Omnimana Control: 58%

Kael sighed.

“All that absorbing… and still Level 1? So slow…”His brow furrowed. “And control’s barely budged. Why is this so hard?”

Nearby, Reks was shadowboxing, his fists glowing with heated mana.

“I’m taking first place in the Diamond Rank!” he shouted, grinning wildly.

Laziel didn’t even glance up from his mana-linked tablet. “Yeah, sure.”

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Reks paused, raising an eyebrow. “You doubting me, smart guy?”

Laziel shrugged. “Not doubting. Just... betting against delusions.”

Reks leaned in. “You want a fight, don’t you?”

Kael watched them argue, faint amusement tugging at his lips.

Then he spoke.

“We need to focus.”

Both of them froze.

Kael was rarely the first to speak—almost never.

“…Whoa,” Reks said dramatically. “Quiet-boy speaks.”

Laziel looked up, smiling faintly. “He’s right. We need to take this seriously.”

He turned his tablet toward them. “I’ll dig through past tournament data. Match structures, common strategies. Anything useful.”

Reks cracked his knuckles. “Then let’s crush it.”

Kael rose to his feet, eyes steady.

> No matter who I face…I won’t fall behind.

FINAL DAYS OF PREPARATION

Near Training Sector Nine, Kael stood in silence beneath a hovering platform, the artificial sky glowing a dusky gold above him. He inhaled slowly, channeling mana through his core. A slow, precise breath in. A controlled, tempered exhale. The elements inside him coiled and aligned, more refined than they had been just days before.

He didn’t know who watched him from the shadows.Didn’t know someone inside the academy wanted him to fail.

But it wouldn’t matter.

Nothing frightened him anymore.

“KAEL!”

He turned. The familiar thunder of footsteps approached.

Reks jogged over, breathing hard, the afterglow of lava drills still simmering on his arms. His shirt clung to him, drenched, but he wore a grin that could’ve split rock.

“I won’t hold back if we meet in the 1v1s,” Reks said, holding out a clenched fist. “And I hope you won’t either.”

Kael returned the gesture without hesitation, fist meeting fist with a sharp thump.

“I won’t,” Kael replied, his voice even, eyes steady.

Laziel arrived seconds later, adjusting the glowing bands on his tech-bracer. “Before we start fighting each other,” he muttered, “we still have to survive the battlefield trial. Let’s focus.”

Reks raised both arms triumphantly. “THEN LET’S WIN IT!”

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THE BATTLEFIELD CONTEST – WHAT LIES AHEAD

Hours later, every freshman stood shoulder-to-shoulder within the Tactical Amphitheater.

Massive projection screens floated overhead, displaying terrain schematics, enemy data, and heat-mapped Veyrith activity zones. The tension in the air was thick, like lightning waiting to strike.

Then came the footsteps.

Heavy. Measured.

Stone groaned under the weight of the approaching figure.

An Orrukan stepped into view—massive, granite-toned skin lined with mana scars and thick armor that moved like shifting boulders. Each step echoed across the amphitheater like falling slabs.

He turned to face the new recruits, eyes burning like buried magma.

“You’ve trained. You’ve studied. Now you will bleed.”

The room fell into silence.

“This is not a simulation. You will be deployed into a sealed, real-world combat zone. A ruined city, seeded with live low to mid-tier Veyriths. Expect pain. Expect fear. Expect to be tested.”

The map shifted behind him, revealing a fractured urban wasteland. Craters. Collapsed towers. Faint red dots indicated active Veyrith clusters.

“Scoring is simple:

* Low-tier Veyriths: 5 points.

* Mid-tier: 15.Your kill count and coordination will be tracked in real time. The team with the highest score at the end—wins.”

“And yes, you will gain real experience. You will level up. For some of you, this will be the first true step forward. For others… the last.”

The instructor scanned the crowd.

“Don’t die.”

Then he walked off, stone dust swirling in his wake.

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Kael stood still among the sea of chattering students, but his mind was a pool of silence.His pulse didn’t quicken.It slowed.

Like a predator before the strike.

Behind him, Reks rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. “I hope they bring something tough.”

Laziel flicked his wrist, syncing the team’s shared HUD protocol. Data streamed across their visors in neat waves.

Kael stared ahead, hands slowly clenching.

This is it.The real test begins now.