The academy wastes no time when there’s gossip to feed on.By the time I showed up for breakfast, the story had already mutated. I caught three different versions of the duel before the third bell even rang: one had me disarming Darian with nothing but my fists; another swore I’d broken his wrist. None of it was true. All those rumors did was rip my hard-won invisibility to shreds. Turns out, nothing travels faster than a scandal, and denying it just makes you look guiltier.Corvin slid into the seat across from me before I could finish my toast. He didn’t even ask, which was new. Two weeks ago, he wouldn’t have sat by an F-rank unless you threatened his life.“You’re not eating,” he said.“I’m thinking.”“About the ledger page, or about half the dining hall watching you like you’re about to explode?” He kept his voice low. I noticed he’d picked a seat with his back to the wall a soldier’s instinct, not a noble’s. “Did some digging after our sparring match. My grandfather has a solici

The main hall had lost all its dignity.The ceremonial banners and long tables were gone, along with the polished chairs usually lined up for assemblies and graduations. In their place stood a raised, circular platform of dark stone. Its surface was etched with concentric rings of ward-sigils that pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light, synchronized with the instruments surrounding it. Three examination stations had been positioned at equal intervals around the circle, each manned by a robed examiner whose presence hummed with a frequency that made my teeth ache.At the center of the chamber sat the pillar: a waist-high column of pale crystal laced with silver wire. It looked fragile, almost delicate, but I knew better. That pillar had the power to map the very shape of a soul.The tiered seating was packed. Students crowded the upper rows, their whispers passing between them in hushed tones, while the faculty sat in the lower tiers with expressions that shifted between clinical curiosit

"We need to get you promoted," Sorren said, pacing the floor of her office. "Before the tribunal meets."I sat in the chair across from her desk, the ache in my ribs still throbbing from the resonance chamber's backlash. "Promotions are frozen for students under review.""Standard promotions are." She stopped mid-stride and looked me dead in the eye. "There's an exception. The Ladder Trials. It’s open combat ranking, held once a term. Any student can enter, regardless of their standing. You fight your way up, and whatever rank you land on is official review or no review."I knew about the Trials. Everyone did. It was full-contact, no rank protection, and your opponents were pulled from every tier above yours."When?""Two days." She crossed her arms. "The tribunal convenes in five. If you can climb even one rank in the Trials, the review loses some of its sting. An F-rank looks suspicious. But an E-rank with documented combat wins? That's just a hardworking, struggling orphan."One ra