The silence crushing the Central Clearing became something tangible, a suffocating weight that strangled whispers and panicked breathing alike. Two hundred of the world's most promising young players stood frozen...a sea of statues staring at the colossal rubble pile that had been a Raid-level boss. Wind whispered through the clearing, carrying ozone and shattered stone, a funeral dirge for collective pride.
Atop the fallen Behemoth's mound, Alvian stood carved from indifference. Brilliant multi-colored loot glow erupted from the monster's corpse, bathing him in ethereal light. To onlookers, a treasure hoard of unimaginable value. To Alvian? Simply the next logical step. Tools for the coming war.
He reached into the light, hand closing around the two most potent power sources.
[Ding! You have acquired [Behemoth's Earthshaker Greataxe] (Epic)!]
[Ding! You have acquired [Aegis of the World Tree] (Legendary)!]
No moment wasted examining them. Mental command sent both to inventory. The greataxe held no use for him, but would fetch a fortune. The Legendary chestplate—a priceless future upgrade. His focus remained singular. Exam complete. Objective met. Everything else? Noise.
He landed with a soft thud, new [Prowler's Boots] absorbing impact silently. He began walking. Not toward any official, not toward the adoring or terrified crowd. Just toward the exit.
The sea of players parted before him as he moved. They scrambled from his path, faces mixing awe, terror, and soul-crushing envy. They'd come to become heroes, make names for themselves. Instead they'd become audience to a legend's birth, their ambitions reduced to footnotes in his ascension story. Whispers followed like shockwaves.
"That's him… Alvian…"
"Level 13… how is he Level 13 already?"
"Did you see those damage numbers? Has to be a bug… has to be…"
Alvian heard it all, processed none of it. Their opinions were irrelevant. Their shock meaningless. Children playing a game, still blind to the blood-soaked truth this world would become. They saw a high score; he saw another day of preparation secured.
His path took him directly past the wooded rise where Valeria and her party stood, faces pale. Her party members flinched as he approached, instinctively stepping back as from a primal predator. Valeria held her ground. Those grey eyes, once filled with suspicion and competitive fire, now stormed with confusion, humiliation, and reluctant terrifying respect.
For a single fleeting moment, their gazes locked.
He saw a prodigy whose perfectly constructed world had shattered. She saw an anomaly defying every law of reality she held dear.
Alvian gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. Not apology or boast. Simple acknowledgment. The kind given to landmarks on long journeys. Then he was past them, long shadow stretching behind, leaving her to grapple with her certainty's ruins.
He continued his silent march toward the designated exit portal...a shimmering archway of blue and silver light. As he approached, a figure stepped forward to intercept. An academy official in crisp formal uniform, face grim. Behind him, several staff members tended a seated figure. Professor Solaka Mika. The old scholar's leg was bandaged, but the sickly green Golem Curse glow had vanished, replaced by healthy aura.
"Examinee Alvian," the official said, voice stiff and formal. "Professor Solaka has requested to speak with you."
Solaka waved dismissively at the official's formality. He pushed himself to his feet, leaning on a simple wooden cane, eyes magnified by spectacles shining with intense analytical light.
"Young man," Solaka began, voice filled with warmth that contrasted sharply with surrounding tension. "I must thank you. The Alpha's fang worked perfectly. The curse is neutralized. You saved not only my life, but preserved my research."
A golden notification chimed in Alvian's mind—formal conclusion to their business.
┏━━━━[ Hidden Quest Complete ]━━━━┓
│ Quest: The Scholar's Plight
│ Rank: A-Tier
│
│ Objective: Retrieve an [Alpha Dire Wolf's Fang] - COMPLETE!
│
│ Performance Grade: PERFECT (Time Bonus Achieved)
│
│ Rewards:
│ - 75,000 Examination Points.
│ - [Professor Solaka's Gratitude] has been upgraded to [Professor Solaka's Favor].
│ - Acquired unique item: [Rune of Minor Manaflow].
│ - Your actions have been noted by the Overlords Academy high faculty.
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
"I was merely completing a task," Alvian replied, tone flat.
Solaka let out a dry chuckle. "A task? Child, do you have any idea what you've done? We've been monitoring the Battle Grid. Examiner Andre's report was already… extraordinary. He spoke of a student who reasoned with the Heart of the Grove, something no one has managed in a decade."
He gestured vaguely back toward the clearing. "And then there's… that. You triggered the final boss ahead of schedule, single-handedly defeated a creature designed to test coordinated efforts of two hundred students. Your final score isn't just a new record...it's broken the very scale we use to measure performance."
Solaka's expression turned serious, gaze piercing. "I'm more than a researcher, Alvian. I'm an official observer for this examination, a senior professor at the academy. I'm telling you now...you're not like the others. An anomaly. A variable the system itself didn't account for."
He reached into his robes, produced two items. First was a standard glowing data-crystal, the official acceptance token for Overlords Academy. Second was a sealed envelope made of rich cream-colored parchment, stamped with wax seal depicting a dragon coiled around a lightning-wreathed tower.
"This is your official acceptance," Solaka said, handing him the crystal. "But this," he continued, offering the letter with reverence bespeaking its importance, "is something more. My personal letter of recommendation to the Headmaster himself. It designates you as a 'Special Entrant.' You won't be beholden to standard freshman curriculum. You'll be assigned a personal mentor, one who specializes in… unique talents."
Alvian took both items. The crystal felt cool to the touch, but the letter felt warm, thrumming with faint latent power. He understood what this meant. He wouldn't be thrown in with the general population, forced to waste time on pointless introductory courses. He'd be fast-tracked, given access to resources others could only dream of. His gamble, from choosing the 'SkillBurst' class to every calculated move in the exam...had paid off more perfectly than he could have imagined.
"Overlords Academy doesn't just train the talented," Solaka said, voice a low final pronouncement. "It seeks to understand the impossible. And you, young man, are the most impossible thing I've seen in fifty years."
Alvian gave a simple acknowledging nod. "Thank you, Professor."
Without another word, he turned and stepped through the shimmering portal.
The cacophony of the Battle Grid, the stares of other students, the weight of his newly forged legend... it all dissolved into a maelstrom of light.