The extraction spell felt less like magic and more like being squeezed through a very narrow, very cold straw.

  Space twisted. The smell of the Whispering Lake—ozone and rotting fish—vanished, replaced instantly by the crisp, sterile air of the Academy’s Great Plaza.

  *POP. POP. POP.*

  All around the stone plaza, students materialized out of thin air.

  Most of them looked like they had been through a war zone. Robes were torn, faces were covered in soot and mud, and quite a few were weeping openly. The healers were already rushing onto the field, casting golden restoration lights on broken limbs and acid burns.

  Julian landed on his feet near the center of the plaza. He stumbled slightly—teleportation sickness was apparently based on inner ear equilibrium, something he was already struggling with after the infrasound attack—but he stayed upright.

  He looked down at himself. His grey F-Grade robe was soaked in lake water and caked with dried mud. He smelled terrible. But he was whole.

  "I survived," a student nearby gasped, kissing the ground. "It's over."

  Julian adjusted his glasses, which were miraculously unbroken. "Extraction time: 16:00 sharp. Efficient."

  "Out of my way, trash!"

  A shoulder slammed into Julian from behind. It was Kaelen.

  The fire mage looked surprisingly good. His crimson armor was polished (likely by a cleaning spell), and despite looking tired, he held his head high. He was followed by his entourage, who were busy congratulating him.

  "You did it, Kaelen!" one lackey shouted. "You definitely took first place. I saw your score before the blackout—680 points! No one else was even close!"

  Kaelen smirked, shooting a glare at Julian. "Of course I did. Natural talent always rises to the top. Unlike some rats who hide in the mud."

  Julian didn't respond. He just tapped the **Ember-Heart Ring** on his finger.

  Kaelen’s eyes locked onto the ring—*his* ring—and his face flushed a dark, angry purple. But before he could scream, the Dean’s voice boomed across the plaza, amplified by wind magic.

  "SILENCE!"

  The chaotic noise of three hundred traumatized teenagers died down instantly.

  Dean Valerius, a tall man with a beard like spun silver and eyes that looked far too old, stood on the floating podium. He looked down at the students with an expression that was hard to read.

  "The Freshman Trial is concluded," the Dean announced. "Many of you failed. Some of you exceeded expectations. But the Trial is not subjective. It is objective."

  He raised a hand. "Behold the rankings."

  Above the plaza, a massive illusionary screen flickered to life. It was a list of names, glowing in gold letters.

  Stolen story; please report.

  The students held their breath. Kaelen stepped forward, a confident smile plastered on his face, ready to wave to the crowd.

  The list populated from the bottom up.

  Rank 300: ...

  ...

  Rank 3: Lyra (Wind) - 650 Points

  Rank 2: Kaelen (Fire) - 740 Points

  The crowd gasped. Kaelen froze. His smile twitched.

  "Second?" he whispered, his voice cracking. "I... I'm second? But I killed everything in my sector! Who could possibly..."

  Then, the top name appeared. It wasn't just above Kaelen. The font size was actually larger, as if the system itself was trying to emphasize the disparity.

  **Rank 1: Julian (Null) - 9,850 Points**

  Silence. Absolute, suffocating silence.

  It wasn't just a win. It was a statistical impossibility. The gap between first and second place wasn't a gap; it was a canyon.

  "Nine... thousand?" someone whispered. "Is that a glitch?"

  "He must have cheated!" Kaelen screamed, breaking the silence. He pointed a trembling finger at Julian. "He's an F-Grade with zero mana! There is no way he earned nine thousand points! He hacked the artifacts! Check his pockets!"

  The accusation hung in the air. The other students murmured in agreement. It made sense. An F-Grade beating a noble? Impossible.

  The Dean looked down from his podium. His gaze landed on Julian.

  "Student Julian," the Dean said. His voice wasn't angry, but it was heavy. "Step forward."

  Julian walked to the front of the crowd. He stood alone, looking small in his muddy grey robe compared to the shining armored nobles behind him.

  "Do you deny the accusation?" the Dean asked.

  "I deny the premise, Dean," Julian said, his voice calm and projected clearly. "I did not 'hack' anything. I simply utilized the environment."

  "Liar!" Kaelen shouted. "You killed a Level 12 Siren Serpent! I saw the log! How does an F-Grade kill a Sea Boss? Did you talk it to death?"

  "No," Julian replied coldly. "I boiled it."

  He raised his hand, showing the ring. "Using the thermal amplifier I won from *you*, combined with a high-frequency acoustic resonator, I induced a cavitation event in the lake water. The resulting shockwave liquefied the target's internal organs."

  He looked at the Dean. "Physics, sir. Mass times acceleration. Energy transfer. It is reproducible. It is calculable. And it is decidedly not cheating."

  The Dean stared at Julian for a long moment. The professors whispered among themselves. One of them, a woman in blue robes, was frantically checking a crystal tablet—likely reviewing the recording of the battle.

  She looked up at the Dean and nodded slowly, her face pale. "He's... telling the truth, High Mage. The mana readings are negligible. The kinetic output, however... it was equivalent to a Tier 4 spell."

  The Dean’s eyebrows shot up.

  "A Tier 4 impact," the Dean mused. "Created by a student with Tier 0 mana."

  He looked back at the crowd.

  "The results stand."

  "WHAT?!" Kaelen roared, but he was silenced by a wave of the Dean's hand.

  "Julian has proven that power takes many forms," the Dean declared. "For taking First Place, Student Julian is awarded 5,000 Academy Credits, access to the Tier 2 Library, and..."

  The Dean paused.

  "...and the right to challenge for a Dormitory Upgrade."

  The crowd erupted into whispers again. The Dormitory Upgrade was a privilege usually reserved for third-years. It meant moving out of the shared barracks and into a private suite with a mana-gathering array.

  Julian bowed slightly. "Thank you, Dean. Efficiency is paramount."

  He turned to walk away, but as he passed Kaelen, the fire mage grabbed his arm. Kaelen's face was twisted into a mask of pure hatred.

  "This isn't over, calculator," Kaelen hissed, low enough that the Dean couldn't hear. "My father sits on the Board of Directors. You think you can humiliate me and walk away? You're just a bug. And bugs get squashed."

  Julian looked at Kaelen’s hand on his arm. Then he looked into Kaelen’s eyes.

  He didn't look scared. He looked bored.

  "Kaelen," Julian said softly. "You are thinking emotionally. You should be thinking structurally."

  "What?"

  "If you attack me now, you get expelled. If you attack me later, I will be prepared. Your threat has zero strategic value."

  Julian pulled his arm free and walked away, heading towards the prize counter.

  "Variable Kaelen status: Escalated," Julian noted internally. "Threat Level: Moderate. Solution: Acquire more resources."

  He looked at his new balance: **5,000 Credits**.

  "Time to go shopping."