The applause died down, strangled by the sheer awkwardness of the situation.
Vane returned to his seat. He sat down, smoothed his uniform, and stared straight ahead. He could feel the eyes of the students drilling into his back. They were not looking at him with the disdain of earlier; they were looking at him with the confused caution one gives a feral dog that has somehow walked into a ballroom.
To his left, Isaac Glacium closed his book. The Frost Monarch did not look at Vane. He simply stared at the stage, his fingers tapping a rhythm on the leather cover. The air around his hands misted slightly, not a blizzard, just a subtle drop in temperature that spoke of efficient, leaking mana.
'He is annoyed,' Vane noted. 'He expected the spotlight.'
Evangeline dismissed the assembly a moment later. The exit was a chaotic stream of silk and mana, but the crowd parted around Vane like water around a rock.
Vane walked out of the auditorium and onto the white stone concourse.
"Mr. Vane."
Steward Pervis materialized from the crowd. The man looked unruffled by the ceremony, holding a flat, hexagonal crystal in his gloved hand.
"Your Student Tablet," Pervis said, offering it. "It functions as your identification, your wallet, and your access key."
Vane took it. The crystal hummed, binding to his mana signature. A holographic display projected from the surface.
[Student: Vane]
[Class: Special Admission]
[Rank: 1 (Provisional)]
[GPA: 0.00]
"Provisional?" Vane asked, tapping the screen.
"The Headmistress assigned your Rank based on her... unique criteria," Pervis said, his tone suggesting he disagreed with those criteria entirely. "But Zenith is a meritocracy. Rankings are updated after every evaluation."
Pervis adjusted his glasses, looking past Vane toward the white-haired boy exiting the hall.
"A word of advice, Mr. Vane. Do not let the title go to your head. Isaac Glacium is not merely a generational talent. He is the greatest talent in the history of the world."
Vane looked at Isaac, who was currently ignoring a Duke's son trying to speak to him.
"And yet," Vane said, "he is Rank 2."
"For now," Pervis said dryly. "He is the favorite to take your seat next evaluation. The Villa is fully staffed with maids and a chef. Try to enjoy it while you have the key."
Vane nodded and walked away.
He took the private mana-lift upward. As he ascended, the air grew cleaner, richer. The noise of the main campus faded away, replaced by the whistling of the wind.
The Villas were arranged in a spiral. The lower numbers were higher up.
Vane stepped off the lift at the base of the spiral. He began the climb across the crystal bridges.
He passed Villa 7. A boy with red hair, Torian, was standing in his courtyard. He was juggling spheres of fire.
Vane's eyes flashed violet.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Torian
Rank: 3 (Elite)
Authority: Instability (S-Grade)
Vane watched. Torian was not just juggling fire; he was compressing it. The fireballs turned from orange to blue, shrinking in size but increasing in heat. It was an impressive display of control for a Rank 3.
'S-Grade,' Vane thought. 'That is the baseline here.'
He climbed higher.
He passed Villa 5. A massive boy, Magnus, was letting a stone golem punch him in the chest. He was not blocking. He was just standing there. The golem's fist cracked against Magnus's skin.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Magnus
Rank: 3 (Elite)
Authority: Indestructible (S-Grade)
Vane kept climbing. The air was getting thinner. He reached the upper tier.
As he stepped onto the landing for Villa 3, the door opened.
Anastasia walked out. She was flanked by two floating luminous orbs that acted as automated luggage carriers. She stopped when she saw Vane.
The air around her grew warm. The ambient light on the bridge seemed to bend toward her, brightening her golden hair and casting Vane in shadow.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Anastasia Aurelia
Rank: 3 (Elite)
Authority: Blessed by Mana (SSS)
"You act well, commoner," Anastasia said. Her voice was perfectly polite, but her eyes were cold. "But acting is not ruling. Do not think a clever speech makes you my equal."
Vane stopped. He looked at the SSS-Rank status burning in his vision.
"I do not want to be your equal, Princess," Vane said. "I want to be Rank 1. Currently, you are Rank 3. Keep climbing."
Anastasia's eyes narrowed. The light around her flared, turning sharp. For a second, Vane thought she might attack him right there. Then she scoffed, a dismissive, elegant sound.
"Enjoy the view," she said, walking past him toward the lift. "The fall from Villa 1 is a long one."
Vane watched her go. She was strong. Her mana capacity was monstrous. But she was predictable.
He continued upward.
Villa 2. Isaac's home.
The garden was frozen. Not covered in snow, but flash-frozen in an instant. Isaac was sitting on the patio. He was not meditating. He was levitating three books around him while reading a fourth.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Isaac Glacium
Rank: 3 (Elite)
Authority: Pale Eternity (SSS)
Vane paused. Isaac wasn't just floating the books. He was manipulating the space around them. The pages were turning themselves. The tea in his cup was steaming, but the steam froze into intricate patterns before dissipating.
'Control,' Vane realized. 'Absolute, terrifying control. He is using an SSS Authority like it is a part of his own body.'
Pervis was right. Isaac was the superior mage. If they fought right now, Isaac would dismantle Vane in seconds.
Vane reached the final bridge.
Villa 1.
It stood at the apex of the spiral. A palace of white marble and glass, looking down on the entire world. It was lonely. It was exposed. It was a target.
Vane stopped on the bridge. He looked over the edge.
Directly below him, suspended on its own island, was Villa 4.
A girl was standing on the terrace. She had dark violet hair that seemed to glow in the twilight. She was holding a solid steel training sphere, the kind used by heavy infantry to practice grip strength. It was the size of a melon.
She didn't look like she was training. She looked frustrated.
She squeezed her hand.
There was no flare of mana. No shout. No technique.
The steel didn't melt. It imploded.
The metal groaned and shrieked as it was crushed inward, collapsing into a ball the size of a marble. The density was so high the metal began to glow red hot. The air around her hand distorted, lensing the light.
Vane froze.
That wasn't strength. Even a Rank 3 body enhancement couldn't compress steel like that without leverage. That was physics being told to sit down and shut up.
He focused his eyes. The violet light flared.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Valerica
Rank: 3 (Elite)
Authority: Celestial Heart (EX)
Vane stopped breathing.
He blinked, thinking it was a glitch. He looked again.
Authority: Celestial Heart (EX)
EX.
He had scanned the Headmistress. SSS.
He had scanned the Princess. SSS.
He had scanned Isaac. SSS.
But this girl... this Rank 3 student living in Villa 4... held a concept that outranked a Demigod.
Vane stared at her.
The girl looked at the glowing marble of compressed metal in her palm. She frowned.
"Not enough," she murmured to herself.
She squeezed again.
The marble shattered into powder. She let it drift away on the wind, watching it fall toward the clouds below.
"Still not enough," she whispered. She sounded tired. Not physically tired, exhausted in a way that had nothing to do with the body.
She looked up.
Her eyes locked onto Vane.
For a second, neither of them moved. Vane stood on the bridge of Villa 1, and she stood on the terrace of Villa 4.
Then Valerica smiled. It was not a friendly smile. It was the smile of someone who had just realized they weren't alone in the dark.
She raised her hand in a slow wave.
Vane didn't wave back. He turned and walked into Villa 1.
He leaned against the heavy door, his heart hammering against his ribs.
'EX,' he thought. 'She has EX-rank Authority.'