Two days after the arena victory, Jace stood in the grand assembly hall with one hundred and eleven other successful applicants. The victory over the debt collectors had bought him freedom from financial persecution and earned five hundred credits, but it had been a private affair. The underground fighting circuits knew his name now, but the Academy's official records showed only his trial performance. Middle tier. Adequate but unremarkable.
Crystal fixtures cast cold, efficient light across rows of wooden benches. An instructor with greying hair and the scarred hands of a veteran summoner stood before them. His voice carried the clipped precision of someone who'd delivered this speech dozens of times.
"One hundred and twelve applicants passed this year's trials. Statistically, ninety will survive to graduation. The rest will fail, be conscripted, or die in the Wild Continent. Your classification begins today."
Jace sat in the back row, Kiri beside him. The Seraph's golden eyes tracked every movement in the hall with predatory awareness. Through their bond, he felt her calm confidence. They'd survived the arena. They'd endured worse than Academy orientation.
But the instructor's next words changed the calculation entirely.
"You will be assigned to barracks based on your trial performance scores. Top performers receive premium accommodations in the inner ring, direct access to senior instructors, and priority resource requisitions. Bottom performers receive basic necessities in the outer barracks. You must prove your worth through results before advancement is considered."
A massive display activated behind the instructor. Names appeared in three distinct colours. Gold for premium tier. Silver for standard. Bronze for basic.
Jace's analytical mind processed the list with cold efficiency. Aeliana's name sat at the very top, marked with special insignia indicating her Silverpeak Nation backing and Epic Tier status. Several other names clustered near her, all from wealthy families or major houses with political connections. The hierarchy wasn't based purely on trial performance. It was pre-established, reinforced by Academy classification but fundamentally determined before anyone entered the testing grounds.
His own name appeared in bronze. Not at the bottom, but far from the top. Forty three other students shared his classification. The so-called underachievers. Those who'd passed trials but failed to impress.
The instructor continued without emotion. "Bronze tier students are assigned to outer ring barracks. Your training schedule begins tomorrow at dawn. You have three months to demonstrate measurable improvement. Those who fail to advance will be reassigned to support roles, sent to the front lines or discharged from the Academy entirely."
The message was brutally clear. Prove your worth or be discarded. The Academy invested in winners, not in strugglers who required excessive resources to achieve mediocre results.
Jace felt the weight of the classification settle over him like a physical burden. He'd expected challenges, but this systematic branding was worse than simple difficulty. It was psychological warfare, designed to sort students into winners and losers before real training even began. Those branded bronze would internalize their low status, perform to limited expectations, and either grind slowly upward or fail completely.
The dismissal came quickly. Students filed out of the assembly hall, their destinations already determined by coloured markers on their information crystals. Gold tier students moved toward the gleaming inner towers with confident strides. Silver tier students walked with cautious determination toward the middle ring facilities. Bronze tier students trudged toward the outer barracks with expressions ranging from grim resolve to quiet resignation.
Jace followed the bronze tier group, Kiri silent at his side. The walk to the outer ring took twenty minutes, passing through increasingly less maintained sections of the Academy grounds. The transition was deliberately designed. Premium facilities gave way to standard buildings, which then degraded into functional but worn structures that had clearly seen decades of use without significant maintenance.
The outer barracks were a three story stone building with narrow windows and a single entrance. Functional. Nothing more. Jace found his assigned room on the third floor. Room seventeen. The space was barely large enough for a bed, a small desk, and a storage chest. A single window overlooked the outer training grounds where other students were already practicing with their contracted beasts.
He set his few possessions on the desk. The arena winnings had covered his immediate debts, but the five hundred credit bonus would disappear quickly if he wasn't strategic. Academy prices reflected their captive market. A single dose of Spirit purification elixir cost two hundred credits. The treatment for his scarred channels would require at least three doses, plus specialized cultivation materials to address the five percent efficiency reduction.
The door across the hall opened. A young man emerged, lean and sharp eyed, with the watchful bearing of someone who survived by reading people accurately. He assessed Jace in seconds, his gaze lingering on Kiri with obvious interest before returning to Jace's face.
"New arrival," the stranger said. Not a question. "Marcus. Room twelve. Been here two years, still grinding toward mid rank classification."
Jace nodded acknowledgment. "Jace. First year."
Marcus's expression shifted to something approaching professional interest. "Heard about you. Three time failure who somehow pulled a wingless Seraph and passed trials on the final attempt. That takes either incredible luck or hidden capability. Which is it?"
The question was direct, probing. Marcus was clearly an information broker, someone who survived by knowing everyone's business and trading in favours. Useful if handled carefully, dangerous if underestimated.
"Adequate preparation," Jace replied neutrally. Not a lie, but vague enough to avoid revealing specifics.
Marcus smiled, a quick flash of teeth that carried more calculation than warmth. "Good answer. Means you're smart enough to avoid oversharing. Bronze tier is full of people like us. We work harder, climb slower, but we survive by being strategic rather than powerful."
He gestured down the hallway. "Common room is at the end. Shared bathroom facilities on the second floor. If you need anything, black market contacts, training information, instructor assessments, I know people. Costs you, but fair rates for bronze tier budget."
Jace filed the information away. Marcus was positioning himself as a resource, which meant he'd eventually want something in return. But having access to Academy intelligence was valuable enough to justify future obligations.
"Appreciated," Jace said. "I'll keep it in mind."
Marcus nodded and retreated to his room, closing the door with a soft click. Jace entered his own space and locked the thin door behind him. Kiri materialized fully, her presence filling the cramped room with barely contained energy. Through their bond, he felt her assessment of their situation.
They'd been branded. Sorted. Classified as inadequate before they'd even demonstrated what they could actually achieve. The Academy was creating competition through artificial scarcity and social stratification. Those who succeeded would advance. Those who failed would be eliminated or relegated to permanent low status.
Jace pulled up his internal status screen, reviewing his current capabilities with the cold analytical precision that the Prince's tactical mind demanded.
System: Summoner Status
Name: Jace
Stats: Power 100, Spirit 105, Constitution 105, Speed 100
Rank: Rare Tier Summoner
Contract Slots: 1 (Occupied: Kiri)
Talents: Insight of the Tactician (Active, 3 uses per day)
Warning: Essence corruption detected. Treatment required within 26 days.
Note: Spirit scarring detected. Cultivation efficiency reduced by 5% until treated.
His stats had improved dramatically since the desperate cultivation session before trials. The forbidden materials had pushed him from Common Tier failure to Rare Tier competence. But the cost was written clearly in the system warnings. Essence corruption that would become critical in less than a month. Spirit scarring that limited his future potential. Both required expensive treatment he couldn't currently afford.
Kiri's stats were equally impressive and equally hidden. She sat at the Rare Tier ceiling, performing like a Low Epic beast thanks to the Royal Stat Floor advantage. But that hidden strength was invisible to casual observation. The Academy had classified her as adequate Rare Tier based on visible energy signatures, completely missing the thirty percent performance boost that made her genuinely dangerous.
That invisible advantage was their primary weapon. Let the Academy brand them bronze tier. Let instructors assume they were mediocre. Let other students dismiss them as barely adequate. When the time came to demonstrate true capability, the contrast would be devastating.
But first, they needed to survive the corruption timeline. Twenty six days before it became critical. That deadline meant Jace had to earn credits or merit points quickly enough to afford treatment. The Academy offered both through successful missions, impressive training results, and contributions to overall institutional standing.
The challenge was balancing visibility with discretion. Show enough capability to earn resources, but not so much that instructors became suspicious about his methods or knowledge sources. The forbidden cultivation materials were technically legal, but their use was heavily stigmatized. Questions would be asked if his improvement seemed too dramatic or too quick.
Jace sat on the thin mattress, his mind working through scenarios and contingencies. Tomorrow, training would begin in earnest. Physical conditioning to improve summoner stats. Beast combat drills to develop contracted creature capabilities. Tactical courses teaching standard Academy doctrine. And eventually, controlled missions into Zone 1 of the Wild Continent to test students under real pressure.
Each component offered opportunities to demonstrate excellence. Jace possessed royal knowledge that made him superior to most instructors in tactical analysis. Kiri's hidden performance advantage meant she could dominate beast combat exercises if properly deployed. Together, they could excel in ways that seemed impressive without triggering investigation.
The key was pacing. Advance from bronze to silver within the first month. That timeline was aggressive but achievable without seeming impossible. Then silver to gold within three more months, demonstrating steady improvement rather than sudden inexplicable capability. By the end of the first year, they needed access to premium resources and advanced mission authorization.
Through their bond, Jace transmitted the plan to Kiri. Her understanding was immediate and absolute. The Seraph princess, once marked for destruction in a discount cage, would prove her worth through undeniable results rather than explanations or justifications.
Night fell over the Academy grounds. Other bronze tier students moved through the hallways, their conversations mixing determination with resignation. Some believed they could advance. Others had already accepted permanent low status. Jace listened to the voices, cataloguing useful information about instructors, training schedules, and unspoken social rules.
He wouldn't sleep much tonight. The Prince's tactical mind rarely rested, always calculating, always planning three moves ahead. The Arena had been survival. The Academy trials had been acceptance. Now the real work begins. The methodical, strategic climb through a system designed to reward those who already had advantages.
But Jace possessed something the Academy's evaluation couldn't measure. Three thousand years of forgotten military knowledge, tactical genius refined through civilizations of warfare, and the absolute conviction that he would reclaim what had been stolen. The underachiever brand was temporary. Soon, everyone would learn that Jace wasn't another struggling bronze tier student.
He was a reincarnated Prince, armed with royal doctrine, and he would dominate this Academy through superior knowledge applied with ruthless precision. The climb continued. And nothing would stop it.