2026-04-12 23:58:49"He was a scholarship student," Catherine corrected him. Her grip on Adam’s hand tightened, sending a surge of warmth through him. "But I have discovered that his 'Null' status was a mistake. He possesses a rare 'Void Heart'—a body that can stabilize and refine mana better than any of your Spirit Veins, Julian Martinez."
Julian looked like he had been slapped. "A Void Heart? There's no such thing in the textbooks!"
"The textbooks are written for ordinary people," Catherine snapped. "And as you can see, the Inquisitor’s own orb confirms it. There is no corruption here. Only the refinement of my magic. Now, unless you want to explain to the Headmaster why you are interrupting a high-level breakthrough session, I suggest you leave my tower."
Malphas looked at the orb one last time. It was perfectly clear. He looked at Adam, who was still glowing with that strange, beautiful light. The Inquisitor didn't look completely convinced, but he couldn't argue with the magical readings.
"My apologies, Professor Cook," Malphas said, though his voice was still stiff. "We must follow every lead when it comes to the Void. It seems we were misinformed."
He turned a very cold look toward Julian.
"Young Master Martinez," Malphas said. "It seems your 'report' was a waste of the Inquisition’s time. Do not let it happen again."
Julian looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He looked at Adam—the boy he had forced to his knees just last night. He saw Adam standing tall, holding the hand of the most beautiful woman in the Academy, looking like a legend.
"This isn't over," Julian hissed, though he made sure the Inquisitor didn't hear him. "I don't know what trick you're playing, Cook, but I'll find out."
Julian turned and marched out of the room, his face bright red. Malphas and the guards followed him, their heavy boots echoing down the stairs until the tower was silent once again.
The moment the door to the stairs closed, the blue light around Adam vanished.
His legs gave out immediately. He would have hit the floor, but Catherine caught him. She didn't let go of his hand. She pulled him toward her, letting him lean against the desk.
Adam was gasping for air. His skin was pale again, and the "Crown of Thorns" tattoo on his chest was pulsing with a dull violet light.
[Binding Terminated.]
[Soul Stability: 40%.][Mana Capacity: 10/10 (Temporarily Expanded).]"You" Catherine whispered. She was looking at him with an expression he couldn't quite read. It wasn't fear, and it wasn't anger. It was something closer to awe. "You actually did it. You took the rot. You you saved me."
Adam looked up at her. He was exhausted, but he managed a small, tired grin. "I told you I can eat the pain."
Catherine looked at her own hands. For the first time in years, her skin wasn't covered in a thin layer of frost. She felt warm. She felt human.
She looked at the purple screen that appeared in the air next to Adam. She couldn't see the words, but she saw the way his eyes tracked the light.
[Mission Progress: The Heart of the Frost.]
[Favorable Impression: -40 -> +10 (Neutral/Friendly)][System Note: You have survived the first day. The Ice Witch no longer wants to kill you. She now sees you as her lifeline.][Time Remaining: 48 Hours.]
[First 24-Hour Cycle Complete.]"Stay here," Catherine said. Her voice was much softer now. "You’ve exhausted your soul. If you walk out there now, you’ll collapse."
She walked over to a cabinet made of dark wood and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a shimmering silver liquid. "Drink this. It’s a Spirit-Mending Draught. It will help your body adjust to the energy you just absorbed."
Adam took the vial. His hands were still shaking. As he drank the cool, sweet liquid, he felt a wave of peace wash over him.
"Adam," Catherine said, standing by the window as the storm outside began to clear. "Julian Martinez will not stop. And the Inquisition Malphas is a smart man. He didn't find anything today, but he will keep watching. If you stay by my side, you will be in constant danger."
Adam looked at the empty vial. He thought about the ballroom. He thought about the wine soaking into his suit. He thought about the way the guards had tossed him into the mud like he was nothing.
"I’ve been in danger my whole life," Adam said. He stood up, feeling his strength returning. "At least now, I have a chance to fight back."
Catherine turned to look at him. The sun was finally breaking through the clouds, casting a golden light across the room. For a moment, she didn't look like the Ice Witch. She looked like a woman who had just been given a second chance at life.
"Very well," she said. "If you are to be my 'Catalyst' in front of the school, you cannot look like a beggar. We have much to do before the classes begin tomorrow."
Adam nodded. He looked at his HUD.
[New Skill Unlocked: Frost-Void Resonance (Level 1)]
[Description: You can now cast basic Ice Magic, but it is fueled by the Void. Effect: Your ice will not melt. It must be broken.]Adam raised his hand. He focused on the air in front of him. A tiny, jagged crystal of ice formed in his palm. It wasn't blue. It was a deep, dark purple, and it hummed with a strange, ancient power.
He had spent nineteen years as a Null.
Today, the first gate had opened.
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Chapter 145
Adam sat high in the dark, dusty rafters of the main Academy building. Outside, the cold rain hit the glass windows. He only had one week until the mid-term festival. He only had one week to stop Emily and Elias from blowing up the school. Adam realized his old tactics were too slow. Stalking targets one by one, following them through the halls, took too many days. He needed a faster way to hunt. He needed systematic efficiency. Adam closed his dead, dark brown eyes. He did not open the Gate of Hunger, but he tapped gently on the door of the "Grave of Kings." He let the sensory overload of his hollow soul flood his brain. Instantly, the dark school disappeared. Adam’s mind filled with a glowing, three-dimensional map of the entire Academy. He could see the bright, warm blue lights of normal students sleeping in their beds. And he could see the sick, pulsing red strings of the Blood Cult. Adam watched the red strings move like a giant spiderweb. He saw exactly where the cult memb
Chapter 144
Adam stood on the wooden beam high above the candlelit room. His cover was blown. Toby and the other corrupted students were staring directly at his invisible shape in the dark. "Hello, Adam," Emily’s voice echoed. Her dark-purple scar glowed brightly, reflecting in the sick, yellow eyes of her followers. Adam did not panic. His hollow mind worked like a cold, perfect machine. He stepped off the wooden beam. He fell twenty feet through the air and landed perfectly on the dusty stone floor. He made absolutely no sound. The thirty uncorrupted students gasped and stepped backward. But the ten students who had already taken the vow did not move. They stood in front of Emily, moving their feet at the exact same time. They were a perfect, creepy wall of human shields. Adam slowly stood up straight. His dead, dark brown eyes locked onto Emily. "You need to stop this, Emily," Adam said. His voice was completely flat and emotionless. "Put the silver cup down."Emily laughed. It was a loud
Chapter 143
Adam stood completely frozen in the dark hallway. The sharp, black diamond dagger was in his hand. He looked through the crack in the wooden door. He saw the Elias inside the room, standing next to Emily. Then, Adam looked at the second Elias standing right next to him in the hall. "If you attack," the Elias in the hallway whispered, smiling his polite, evil smile, "we will slaughter every sleeping student in the dormitories. The Master has many hands, Adam."Adam’s hollow mind worked like a lightning-fast computer. He calculated the math of the fight. He could kill both copies of Elias right now. He could kill Emily. But he could not be in two places at once. If he started a war tonight, hundreds of innocent children would die in their beds before morning. Adam made a cold, logical choice. He closed his hand. The black diamond dagger vanished into nothing. "Good boy," the Elias in the hallway laughed softly. The tall boy in the dark blue uniform suddenly melted. His body turned
Chapter 142
Emily sat on the cold, dusty floor of the old alchemy building. The dark room smelled like old dried herbs and damp stone. Elias, the tall boy in the dark blue uniform, stood over her. The thick, red blood magic he had given her was pumping through her veins. "Breathe, Emily," Elias whispered. His voice was smooth and polite. "Do not fight the void-scar. The Academy teaches you to control magic with rules. But true power has no rules. Push the red blood magic directly into the scar. Feed it."Emily closed her eyes. She focused her mind. The dark-purple scar on her right arm usually burned with terrible pain. It always tried to eat her life force. But this time, Emily pushed the heavy red blood magic into the jagged wound. The hungry scar drank the red liquid. The pulsing pain instantly stopped. Emily gasped. A cold, rushing thrill of pure energy exploded in her chest. The void-scar was no longer a parasite. It became an engine. It pumped massive, terrifying power back into her bod
Chapter 141
So, Adam did absolutely nothing. He just looked at her with his dead, cold, dark brown eyes. He showed no pity. He showed no surprise. He was just a blank, hollow shell. Emily saw his dead eyes. Her paranoid, angry mind completely misunderstood his silence. “He is not surprised,” Emily thought. “He is looking right at my arm. He knows what happened to me.” "You knew," Emily whispered. Her voice trembled with pure, toxic hatred. Adam blinked slowly. "Knew what, Emily?" he asked in a flat, monotone voice. "You told me to be safe!" Emily hissed, stepping closer. "You told me to stay ordinary. But you knew the relic was trapped! You knew I was going to look for a way to get stronger, and you let me walk right into the fire!"Adam’s face did not change. He just stared at her. To his cold, hollow mind, her anger was just noise. She was not a threat to his mission. "I have class, Emily," Adam said simply. He walked right past her, not looking back. Emily stood in the courtyard, her wh
Chapter 140
The red lightning in the dark, underground room suddenly changed color. It did not stay bright red. It turned into a violent, dark-purple flash of pure void-energy. Emily screamed. The Cursed Lexicon did not give her "Instant Ascension." It did not make her a god. The ancient artifact was a trap. It was hungry. The jagged, rusty iron shard on the cover of the book shot forward. It slashed violently across Emily’s right forearm. The pain was worse than anything she had ever felt. It felt like a hundred angry wasps were stinging her skin all at once. The dark-purple void-energy poured out of the book and burned directly into the deep cut on her arm. "Ahhhh!" Emily cried out, falling to the hard stone floor. The heavy black book dropped onto the ground next to her. The dark-purple light faded away. The book looked completely dead and normal again. But Emily was not normal. She held her right arm. The cut was not bleeding normal red blood. Instead, a jagged, dark-purple scar was p
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