The Thirteen Knight

Chapter 5- Zero Link

"Zero mana compatibility."

The words hung in the air like smoke in a zero-gravity chamber. They didn't just say I was bad at magic. They didn't say I had a weak Link. They used the technical term. Zero.

My heart stopped beating for a second. I thought I was flying under the radar. I thought Professor Valerius just put a "fail" grade on my file and moved on. I didn't think it was flagged in the main medical database.

If they knew I was a true Null then they knew I didn't belong here. The Academy student visa requires at least a 5% compatibility rating just to ensure you don't die from ambient mana poisoning. I faked my entrance papers. I lied on the application.

And now they knew.

I looked past the doctor at the two Zodiac Corps soldiers. They weren't looking at me like I was a patient. They were looking at me like I was a threat. Or maybe just a disgusting bug that crawled in from the outside.

"I..." My voice cracked. I swallowed hard trying to get some moisture back into my throat. "I don't understand. I'm just a maintenance student. I'm not good with the practical stuff."

The doctor didn't blink. He just scrolled through something on his datapad.

"It is not about being 'good' Mr. Royce. It is about physiology. A normal human with a Link even a weak one would have been vaporized by the energy signature we detected in that loading bay. Their own mana veins would have reacted violently to the demonic presence."

He looked up from the pad his eyes cold and analytical.

"But you didn't. You have severe external burns yes. Cracked ribs. But your internal systems are untouched. You survived point blank exposure to a Rift Lord level event because you are completely empty."

He said "empty" like it was a disease.

I pressed my back against the pillows trying to put distance between me and them. They weren't arresting me for the suit yet. They were investigating a biological impossibility. Me.

"The explosion," the doctor repeated, stepping closer to the bed. "The security team found traces of an unknown metallic compound fused to the concrete around the blast zone. And they found you. Tell me what happened."

My mind was racing. I was still foggy from the painkillers but the adrenaline was burning through the haze. I couldn't tell them about the Gauntlet. If they knew I built an Apostate weapon they wouldn't just kick me out. They would send me to a black site lab and take me apart to see how it worked.

I had to lie. And it had to be a good one. It had to be close enough to the truth that the evidence supported it.

I squeezed my eyes shut acting like I was in pain. It wasn't hard. My ribs felt like they were wrapped in barbed wire.

"I was... I was in the workshop," I started, my voice trembling. "When the alarm went off. The whole building shook. I got scared. The protocol says to go to the nearest hardened shelter."

I opened my eyes and looked at the doctor trying to look like a terrified teenager instead of a guy who just beat a demon to death with his bare hands.

"I ran for the loading bay. It has reinforced walls. I thought I would be safe there."

The doctor nodded slowly urging me to continue. The soldiers behind him didn't move a muscle.

"I was hiding behind some crates near the supply doors," I lied. "And then... then the doors exploded inward. That thing came through. The Wasp."

I shuddered. That part wasn't acting. Remembering the Wasp tried to eat my face was still terrifying.

"It was hurt. It was bleeding that green stuff. I thought it was going to see me and kill me. But then... something else came through right behind it."

This was the crucial part. The pivot.

"What else?" one of the Zodiac soldiers asked. His voice was deep and synthesized coming through his helmet speaker. It made me jump. It was the first time one of them spoke.

"Another demon," I whispered. "I think. It was... it looked like a knight. But wrong. It was all black metal, jagged. It had glowing violet cracks all over it. It was huge."

I was describing myself in the armor. The best lies are mostly true right?

"They were fighting," I continued gaining confidence in the story. "The black knight thing tackled the Wasp. They were smashing into the walls. It was brutal. I just stayed down and tried not to breathe."

The doctor was frowning now tapping something into his pad. He seemed skeptical.

"Demons do not typically engage in infighting during a Rift breach," he muttered. "They are a hive mind structure."

"These two weren't," I said quickly. "The black one was... angry. It was screaming at the Wasp. Not in words just noise."

I took a shallow breath clutching my chest.

"The Wasp was losing. It tried to stab the knight but the armor was too thick. Then the knight grabbed it. It hugged the Wasp."

I looked the doctor right in the eye.

"And then the knight just exploded. It wasn't a bomb. It just let out all this energy at once. Violet light. It was so bright I couldn't see. The force of it blew me across the room into the pallets. That's the last thing I remember."

Silence filled the hospital room. The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound. It was speeding up because I was terrified they wouldn't buy it.

The doctor looked at the soldiers then back at me.

"A second entity," the doctor mused. "An armored bipedal entity with a violet energy signature. That matches the residual readings in the bay."

He seemed to buy it. Or at least the physical evidence I left behind—the exploded armor—matched the story of a "black knight exploding."

"But that does not explain the metal shards," the doctor said. "We found pieces of a dense unknown alloy scattered everywhere. If this 'knight' exploded where is the body? Demons dissolve into ichor when terminated. They do not leave metal scrap."

I froze. I forgot about that. The armor didn't dissolve because it wasn't a real demon body. It was junk metal held together by energy. When the energy died it just turned back into junk.

"I don't know," I whispered looking away. "I told you I blacked out. Maybe it didn't die. Maybe it just blew its armor off and ran away. I don't know magic. I'm just a maintenance guy."

I played the "stupid Null" card. It was my only defense.

The doctor stared at me for a long uncomfortable minute. He looked like he wanted to drill into my skull to get the truth.

Finally he sighed and lowered his datapad.

"Very well Mr. Royce. Your statement will be forwarded to the Zodiac Corps intelligence division for analysis. If what you say is true we have a new type of demonic threat on our hands. A rogue element."

He turned to leave signaling the soldiers to follow him.

"Wait," I called out.

They stopped.

The pain meds were definitely gone now. The reality of my situation was crashing down on me harder than the Wasp did.

I survived the fight. I survived the explosion. I even survived the interrogation. I lied to a Zodiac Corps officer and got away with it.

But none of that mattered because of the first thing the doctor said.

Zero mana compatibility.

The secret was out. My illegal status was confirmed by a medical scan. There was no hiding it anymore. No more faking it in Valerius's class. No more pretending I belonged here.

I looked at the doctor feeling small and broken in the big hospital bed.

"You know I'm a Zero," I said quietly. "You put it on my file."

The doctor nodded slowly. "Yes. It is undeniable now."

My hands clutched the thin hospital blanket. I had nowhere else to go. This world hated me and the only thing keeping me safe was that student ID card.

"So," I asked my voice shaking. "Does this mean I'm getting kicked out of the Academy?"