The countdown in the corner of my vision finally bled into the final hour. Those forty-eight hours of preparation had been a blur of high-efficiency cultivation and corporate maneuvering, but as the sun rose on the morning of the Academy Entrance Ceremony, the timer sat at a clean 00:00:00.
I stood before the obsidian mirror, adjusting the high collar of my uniform. It was a custom Vayne Corp design: a black and gold military-style tunic that hugged my lean frame, reinforced with weave-steel that could deflect a mid-tier fireball.
The gold filigree traced the Vayne family crest over my heart, and the silver of my hair seemed to catch the morning light like a blade. My red eyes were calm—predatory, but calm.
"Young Master, the convoy is ready," Arthur, my driver, announced from the door. I glanced at him through the [Eyes of Truth], noting his loyalty had remained steady at 92%.
"Let's go," I said, my voice dripping with the bored arrogance of a man who already owned the day. "It's time to show the world that 'destiny' is just a word for people who can't afford to rewrite the script."
The Royal Academy of Magic and Martial Arts was less a school and more a city-state of white marble and soaring spires. Thousands of students from across the continent were gathered in the grand courtyard, a sea of anxious faces and fluttering robes.
I didn't arrive like a student; I arrived like a conqueror.
A convoy of six black mana-cars, each worth more than a commoner's lifetime earnings, glided through the main gates. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. I stepped out of the lead vehicle, the repelling field of my enchanted suit ensuring not a single speck of dust from the common road touched my boots.
The whispers started almost instantly.
"Look, it's him... Lucas Vayne." "I heard he broke his engagement with the Ice Queen two days ago." "He traded her for a mana mine! What a monster."
I ignored them. Their opinions were as irrelevant as the dirt beneath my feet.
Across the plaza, I spotted a familiar sight. Kaelen, the "Hero," was stepping off a crowded public bus at the far edge of the gates.
He looked even more pathetic than he had in the slums. His messy brown hair was windblown, and he was wiping sweat from his forehead with a sleeve that had a visible patch on the elbow.
He looked around with "innocent" wide eyes, clearly overwhelmed by the scale of the Academy. Then, he spotted me. His jaw tightened, his knuckles whitening as he remembered the mud puddle I'd left him in.
"Welcome, students, to the Potential Evaluation," a booming voice echoed across the courtyard. An elderly proctor stood on a raised dais, gesturing toward a massive, three-meter-tall crystal known as the Star Stone.
"The rules are simple," the proctor shouted. "Touch the stone. Channel your mana. The stone will reveal your rank. White for D-Rank, Blue for C, Green for B, Red for A, and Gold for the legendary S-Rank."
The line moved slowly. Most students flickered between White and Blue. A few noble heirs managed a respectable Green, preening for the cameras of the Magic-Net livestreamers.
Then, it was Kaelen's turn.
The crowd fell silent as the scruffy commoner stepped forward. There was a faint hum in the air—the sound of plot armor vibrating with self-importance.
Kaelen placed his hand on the stone and closed his eyes. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, a pulse of light erupted from the Star Stone.
It wasn't just gold; it was a blinding, radiant sun-gold that bathed the entire courtyard in a holy glow.
"S-Rank!" the proctor screamed, his voice cracking with disbelief. "A commoner with S-Rank potential! It's a miracle!"
The crowd erupted. "A genius!" "He's the one from the prophecies!"
Kaelen exhaled, a small, proud smile touching his lips. He turned his head, catching my gaze through the crowd. His eyes were full of a "heroic" defiance, as if to say, Money can't buy talent, Lucas.
"Next," the proctor called, though his eyes were still trailing after Kaelen. "Lucas Vayne."
The atmosphere shifted instantly. The cheers died down, replaced by snickers and hostile murmurs.
"The rich trash is up." "He probably bribed his way into the exam." "He'll be lucky to hit D-Rank."
I walked toward the dais with measured, rhythmic steps. Each click of my boots against the marble sounded like a closing casket.
I reached the Star Stone. Up close, it hummed with the collective mana of centuries. I didn't just place my hand on it; I gripped it, my red eyes flaring with a violet hue as I activated my [Villain Aura].
I didn't just channel mana. I unleashed the cold, calculating power of a man who had decided to plunder the world's destiny.
The stone didn't turn white. It didn't turn blue or red.
For a second, the light within the crystal died completely. It became a void, a hollowed-out blackness that seemed to suck the sunlight out of the courtyard. Then, a violent, jagged violet electricity began to arc across its surface.
Cr-crack.
A spiderweb of fractures raced across the Star Stone. The violet light intensified, turning into a deep, abyssal purple that felt heavy, like the gravity of a collapsing star.
"Wait! Stop!" the proctor yelled, backing away in terror. "The stone is—!"
BOOM.
The Star Stone didn't just fail; it shattered into ten thousand shimmering shards. A shockwave of pure, unfiltered mana swept across the courtyard, knocking several students to their knees.
Nearby, a Magic-Net streamer's floating orb flickered violently. The streamer, a young girl with cat ears, screamed into her microphone, "The Vayne heir just… broke the Star Stone! Chat is exploding—'He's a monster!' 'S-Rank is trash now?!'"
Her orb sparked and died, cutting the feed, but the damage was already done. The image of the exploding crystal was burning its way across the empire's network.
I stood in the center of the dust cloud, my black and gold uniform completely untouched. I slowly wiped a stray fleck of crystal dust off my glove.
"Measurement Error!" the proctor stammered, his face as white as a sheet. "Infinite... the stone couldn't contain the potential! Infinite Potential!"
Suddenly, a massive holographic projection materialized above the courtyard—the Academy's emergency broadcast system activating on its own, overriding the local mana-net.
[ Global Alert: Star Stone Destroyed. ]
[ Potential Classification: Beyond Measurable Limits. ]
[ Subject: Lucas Vayne ]
The red text hung in the sky like a bloody omen, visible for miles.
The silence was absolute. It wasn't the respectful silence Kaelen had received; it was the paralyzed, suffocating silence of people who had just looked into the eyes of a god and realized he was a vengeful one.
I turned my head toward Kaelen. The Hero was frozen, his "S-Rank" pride looking like a cheap plastic toy compared to the devastation I had just caused. He looked at the shattered remains of the stone, then at me, his mouth hanging open in a silent, pathetic gasp.
I let out a soft, bored sigh that carried across the hushed plaza.
"S-Rank?" I asked, my voice smooth and dangerously quiet. "Is that all? How quaint."
I walked past him, my shoulder brushing his just as it had in the slums. This time, he didn't just stumble; he fell to one knee, overwhelmed by the lingering pressure of my aura.
A familiar, crisp chime echoed in my skull, sweeter than any music.
[ System Notification: Global Shock Achievement Unlocked! ]
[ Face-Slap Multiplier x5 Activated: Witnessed by 5,000+ Students and Faculty. ]
[ Reward: +1,000 Destiny Points. ]
[ Kaelen's Plot Armor Integrity: -25%. ]
I caught a glimpse of Seraphina Frost standing near the faculty entrance. Through the [Eyes of Truth], I saw her affection stat flicker again.
[Target: Seraphina Frost]
[Affection: -10 → +5 (Intrigued/Terrified)]
[Current Thought: "What... what have I done? Who is this man?"]
I didn't stop to look at her. I had a tutorial to dominate, and the executioner's blade was looking more like a butter knife with every passing second.