The light collision sounded completely trivial amid the suffocating silence of the stadium. Tap.The junk wooden box had landed perfectly on the conceptual foothold hardened in thin air, exactly one inch in front of the tip of Darius Vorn's boot. However, falling from the height of the VIP stands still took a physical toll on an object held together by cheap tree sap glue. One corner of the wooden box peeled away, and the mana crystal fragment inside shifted slightly, widening the crack on the frosted glass screen made from an old jar lid.Yet instead of dying out completely, that microscopic shift in the tangled copper wire circuit triggered a terrifying chain reaction.The cracked screen suddenly lit up. It was not a pale blue light like when Aster calculated wheat flour prices, but a thick, sharp, blinding blood-red glare. That red light radiated outward from the cracks in the glass, slicing through the darkness of the galaxy illusion above the stadium like a blade through silk. It

The rain of light flower petals was still falling softly, dampening the cracked obsidian glass floor in the middle of the arena. In the middle of that storm of mocking beauty, Darius Vorn forced his shattered, mana-depleted body to rise. He did not stand. His trembling knees slammed into the cold glass surface, pinning him in a pathetic kneeling position.His empty hands, still carrying the cold sensation of the meteorite blade that had just vanished, now scooped up the pile of silver star dust on the floor. Beside him lay Aster's Broken Calculator. The cracked, frosted glass screen still emitted a faint blood-red glow, displaying the three zeros that had executed his self-worth: 0.000%.Darius stared at the dust of his ancestral heirloom, then looked at the piece of scrap metal and wood. It was at that moment that his final defense collapsed.Tears fell from his temples, leaving marks on his pale cheeks before dripping down onto the star dust in his palm. He wept. Yet these were not

The morning sun cast a golden glow over the Commercial District of Aethelgard Academy, an elite area paved with white marble and adorned with silk drapes. Amidst this luxury, one building stood out like an ink stain on a white canvas.The shop's sign was made from a salvaged coffin board charred on one side, with slanted red paint reading: VALE JUNK SHOP. The display window was not crystal glass, but a salvaged wooden frame with hinges that creaked every time the wind blew. Inside, there were no holy swords or enchanted robes. There were only piles of dented pots, rusted nails, frayed hemp ropes, and jar after jar filled with dust and dried banana peels.Yet the line outside snaked down the block and turned onto the main street. Dukes, professors, and elite academy students stood straight-backed, holding their breath as they awaited the opening of the Temple of Destiny inaugurated by The Observer.In front of the entrance stood Darius Vorn.The heir of the Vorn Family wore his silver-

Outside on the streets of the Academy Commercial District, the late afternoon atmosphere felt like a market showered in a rain of gold. Second and third-year students jostled against one another outside blacksmith shops and alchemy apothecaries. Gold and silver coins clinked against wooden counters. They were buying steel swords polished with anti-poison runes, plate armor engraved with protective ward spells, and dozens of vials of high-grade healing potions. After all, tomorrow was the Midterm Exam in the Forbidden Forest Dungeon. Even though Professor Balthazar had guaranteed that the location was safe and medium grade, the survival instincts of these young nobles demanded they take shelter behind luxury and expensive steel.In the middle of the crowd, Darius Vorn stood atop a wooden crate, his right arm still wrapped in a silk sling suspended across his chest. With his left hand, he pointed at a student who had just purchased a silver shield for a hundred gold coins. "You call tha

The giant stone gates of the Forbidden Forest Dungeon swung open with a heavy rumble, spewing a dense, damp chill that smelled of wet earth. The air inside the dungeon felt heavy, as if lungs had to work twice as hard just to filter oxygen from the moss spores floating in the air. Sunlight from outside could only penetrate a few meters before being swallowed whole by the canopy of intertwined giant trees, creating a perpetual twilight illuminated only by the faint blue glow of poisonous mushrooms clinging to tree trunks.Team 1 stepped into the darkness. Their formation was highly unorthodox for an elite vanguard squad.At the front, Seraphina walked with the tip of her magic staff emitting an icy aura, freezing the mud ahead of her shoes so her expensive uniform would not get stained. Beside her, Darius Vorn marched alertly. His broken right arm was still suspended against his chest in a silk sling, but his left hand tightly gripped the hilt of a replacement sword, his eyes scanning