The Academy acceptance ceremony concluded with efficient bureaucracy. Successful applicants were herded into administrative halls, sorted into barracks assignments, given crystal access cards, and sent on their way with minimal fanfare. The system processed hundreds of new students every year. Individual congratulations were neither expected nor offered.
Jace and Kiri found themselves standing outside the registration building, crystal access card in hand, officially accepted into the Academy. The achievement should have felt triumphant. Instead, Jace felt the weight of exhaustion settling over him like a heavy cloak. The trials had drained him, the combat assessment pushing his newly stabilized Spirit to its limits. His body ached, his channels still bearing the scars from the forbidden cultivation materials.
More pressingly, the debt remained. Three thousand credits owed to the Summoner's Guild. Academy acceptance provided protection from conscription, but it didn't erase financial obligations. The debt collectors would come eventually, and when they did, they'd expect payment or collateral.
As if summoned by the thought, a figure approached from the shadows near the building's edge. A man in dark, practical clothing marked with the Summoner's Guild insignia. Not an official collector yet, but a scout. Someone who watched for newly accepted students and assessed their value as potential assets or targets.
The man studied Jace with calculating eyes, clearly recognizing him from the trials. "Jace. Three time failure turned Academy success. Impressive performance in the combat trial." His tone was neutral, professional. "I represent certain interests within the Guild. Your debt has been flagged for collection, but we're prepared to offer alternatives to standard repayment schedules due to your academy acceptance."
Jace's analytical mind processed the statement instantly. This wasn't a threat, not yet. This was an offer, the kind made to debtors who'd demonstrated unexpected value. The Guild wanted something beyond simple credit repayment.
"What kind of alternatives?" Jace asked, keeping his tone carefully neutral.
The scout gestured to a quieter area away from the crowded plaza. Jace followed, Kiri at his side, her golden eyes tracking every movement with predatory awareness. Once they were relatively isolated, the scout spoke more directly.
"The Guild operates several ventures beyond official summoner registration. Arena fights, specifically. Private matches for wealthy patrons who enjoy watching combat between contracted beasts and their summoners. The fights are legal, sanctioned, and non-lethal by Academy standards." The scout paused, letting the implications settle. "You fight in one arena match before your Academy training officially begins. Win, and your debt is cleared entirely. We'll even add a bonus payment of five hundred credits for expenses."
The offer was simultaneously generous and suspicious. Clearing three thousand credits of debt plus five hundred bonus for a single arena fight meant either the Guild was feeling uncommonly charitable, or the fight would be significantly more dangerous than standard arena matches.
"And if I refuse?" Jace asked.
The scout's expression didn't change, but his tone carried an edge. "Then standard collection procedures apply. The Guild has influence within the Academy. Your first year will be exceptionally difficult. Training facility access delayed. Resource requisitions lost in bureaucracy. Barracks assignments to the worst locations. Nothing explicitly against Academy regulations, but enough friction to ensure your advancement is significantly impeded."
Translation: accept the offer or spend the next year fighting administrative warfare while trying to progress through Academy ranks. Jace could probably survive that kind of harassment, but it would slow his climb dramatically. Time was his most precious resource. Every delay in reaching higher tiers was a delay in recovering his lost power and eventually challenging the system that had murdered his family.
"Details of the fight," Jace said. It wasn't acceptance, but it was acknowledgment that he was considering the offer.
The scout produced a small tablet, displaying contract terms. "Three opponents. Guild registered fighters, all Rare Tier summoners with experienced beasts. The match will be structured as a gauntlet. You and your contracted beast face all three sequentially. Victory condition: defeat all three opponents or force their surrender. Loss condition: your incapacitation or surrender."
Jace studied the contract carefully, his royal knowledge parsing the legal language for hidden traps. The terms were relatively straightforward, surprisingly so. Three consecutive fights against Rare Tier opponents. No rest periods between matches. Non-lethal but full contact combat. Victory cleared the debt and provided five hundred credits. Loss meant standard debt collection with added harassment.
The real danger was obvious. Three consecutive fights meant accumulated damage and exhaustion. Even if Jace and Kiri could defeat one or two opponents, the third would face them while they were already worn down. It was designed to be difficult, probably intended to extract maximum entertainment value from watching a debtor struggle before ultimately failing.
But the scout hadn't seen what Jace and Kiri had accomplished in the Academy trials. He didn't know about the Royal Stat Floor advantage, the forbidden cultivation breakthrough, or the tactical genius that came from three thousand years of inherited military knowledge.
"When?" Jace asked.
"Tomorrow night. Private arena, wealthy patron event. You'll have until then to rest and prepare." The scout extended the tablet. "Accept the contract, and transportation will be arranged."
Jace looked at Kiri, their bond pulsing with shared assessment. Through their connection, he felt her calm confidence. She'd hit the Rare Tier stat cap, performing well above her classification thanks to the Royal advantage. Three Rare Tier opponents, even sequentially, weren't insurmountable if approached with proper tactics.
More importantly, five hundred credits was significant capital. Combined with whatever Academy stipend they'd receive, it would provide resources for the Spirit treatment he desperately needed. The essence corruption and channel scarring weren't immediately fatal, but they required expensive purification materials. This fight could fund that treatment.
"I accept," Jace said, taking the tablet and pressing his thumb to the contract interface. The device registered his biometric signature and transmitted the agreement to Guild databases. Binding, legal, and now impossible to back out of without severe penalties.
The scout nodded, clearly satisfied. "Transportation will arrive at the Academy's east gate tomorrow at sunset. Don't be late. The patrons paying for this event expect punctuality." He turned to leave, then paused. "Fair warning: the fighters you'll face are experienced. They know how to exploit exhaustion and accumulated damage. Pace yourself, or you'll be destroyed by the third opponent."
The scout left, disappearing back into the shadows near the administrative buildings. Jace stood in the quiet plaza, holding the crystal access card in one hand and feeling the weight of the new contract pressing down on him.
Kiri stepped closer, her expression concerned. "Three consecutive fights. That's dangerous even for us. The forced feedback from taking damage in the first two matches will weaken you for the third."
"I know," Jace confirmed. "But the alternative is worse. A year of administrative harassment would cripple our advancement. We need to climb fast, need to reach higher tiers before our enemies consolidate power. This fight buys us time and resources."
He looked down at the access card, feeling its slight weight. Academy acceptance, debt collection, arena fights. The path forward was never simple, never clean. Just an endless series of calculated risks and dangerous gambles.
"Come on," Jace said, heading toward the barracks district. "We have one day to rest and prepare. Tomorrow night, we show the Guild exactly what a supposedly broken Seraph and her debt ridden summoner can accomplish."
They made their way away from the Academy grounds, passing other successful applicants celebrating with families and friends. Jace had no one to celebrate with except Kiri. No support network, no backing, just mutual loyalty forged through shared suffering.
But that isolation was also freedom. No obligations beyond survival. No expectations beyond his own ambitions. He could operate with pure tactical efficiency, making decisions that served only his goals rather than familial or political interests.
Jace knew lingering would do him no good, so he gave a mental command and Kiri nodded, following him back to his apartment for their final nights in squalor. In two days' time, they would join the hundred new successful applicants and receive official Academy accommodation. Jace stood watching out of his window at the city while Kiri sat in the corner, meditating. He thought back to the Guild scout, the certainty in their voice, he knew this was a setup, but also knew there was no way out. Jace was now filling himself with pure resolve.
They had no idea what was coming. The Guild scout had seen Jace's trial performance, but he hadn't understood the true scope of what the Royal Stat Floor provided. Kiri wasn't just performing above her stats. She was performing thirty percent above her entire tier, fighting with precision that came from royal tactical doctrine rather than conventional training.
Tomorrow night, the Guild would learn exactly what kind of weapon they'd inadvertently created when they offered a desperate summoner one last chance.
The debt would be cleared. The capital would be secured. And the climb would continue, one calculated risk at a time.