The Thirteen Knight

Chapter 6- Didn't get Kick Out!

The doctor didn't answer immediately. He looked down at his datapad and tapped the screen a few times. The silence in the room was heavy. It felt like the air pressure was rising pressing against my eardrums.

"Technically," the doctor said finally looking up. "Yes. The Academy bylaws are very specific regarding enrollment eligibility. A Mana Index of zero classifies you as a Non-Magical Entity. In legal terms you are considered 'dead weight' to the system."

He said it so casually. Dead weight. Like I was a broken chair or a bag of trash.

"However," he continued. "Your situation is... unique."

I didn't breathe. I held the blanket tight in my fists.

"The Dean of Students has reviewed your file. Given the catastrophic nature of the breach and the fact that you were the sole survivor in the loading bay there is interest in your physiology. You survived exposure to demonic radiation that would have liquidated a third year mage. You are an anomaly."

He slid the datapad into his pocket.

"You are not being expelled. Not yet. You are being placed under 'Medical Observation Status'. You will return to your dormitory once you are healed but you will be required to submit to weekly screenings. Essentially Mr. Royce you are now a lab rat."

He turned to the soldiers. "We are done here. Secure the door."

The soldiers nodded and turned around marching out of the room with heavy clanking steps. The doctor gave me one last look—a look that said he wanted to put me in a jar—and followed them.

The door slid shut. The magnetic lock engaged with a loud click.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. My chest hurt when I exhaled. The ribs were still knitting together.

I wasn't expelled. I was a lab rat but I was a legal lab rat. I still had my ID. I still had a place to sleep.

But then the panic hit me. It hit me harder than the doctor's words.

The crystal.

When the armor exploded I shoved the core into my pocket. It was the only piece of the Apostate Gauntlet that survived intact. If the security team found it they wouldn't think I was a useless Null. They would think I was a smuggler.

I looked around the room frantically. There was a small closet near the bathroom. I shuffled toward it dragging the IV pole with me.

I opened the closet door.

There was a clear plastic bag hanging on a hook. It had a yellow biohazard sticker on it. Inside was a pile of shredded scorched fabric—my work uniform.

I grabbed the bag and ripped the plastic open. The smell of burnt ozone hit me instantly.

I dug through the ruined clothes. My hands were shaking. I checked the pockets but they were burned away. I felt around the bottom of the bag.

My fingers touched something hard and rough.

I pulled it out.

It was the Imp Crystal. But it didn't look like a dangerous magical artifact anymore. It was grey and dull. It looked exactly like a piece of slag or a chunk of concrete rubble from the explosion.

I let out a shaky laugh. The security team must have found it in my pocket or on the floor next to me and assumed it was just debris. They threw it in the bag with my trash and forgot about it.

I held the dead rock tight. It was dormant. I had drained every drop of energy it had to kill the Wasp. To anyone with magic sense it was just a stone.

I shoved the dead crystal under my pillow. It was safe for now.

Knock. Knock.

I froze. I scrambled back into the bed pulling the blanket up to my chin.

"Come in," I croaked.

The door lock disengaged. It slid open.

I expected the doctor again. Or maybe the police coming back to realize their mistake.

But it was Sylvia.

She looked terrible. Her left arm was in a sling made of blue glowing fabric. She had a bandage on her forehead and she looked pale. She was wearing a fresh Academy uniform but she didn't look like the confident senior anymore. She looked tired.

"Chase," she said softly.

She walked into the room. She didn't have any guards with her.

"Sylvia," I said. "You... you're okay."

"Barely," she said. She walked over and stood by the foot of my bed. She looked at the bandages on my arm and her expression crumbled.

"I heard you were in the loading bay," she said quietly. "The doctor told me. He said you got caught in the blast radius."

She gripped the railing of the bed with her good hand.

"I'm sorry Chase. This is my fault. If I had stopped that Wasp in the plaza... if I was stronger... it wouldn't have chased us down the hall. You wouldn't be hurt."

She was blaming herself. She thought I was just a civilian casualty. A bystander who got blown up because the "real heroes" failed.

"It's not your fault," I said. It felt weird comforting her when I was the one hiding a demon crystal under my head. "I ran. I hid behind some crates. I was just in the wrong place."

"You were lucky," she said. She looked out the window at the Academy grounds. "The blast in that loading bay... it wiped out the structural reinforcements. Whatever exploded in there was powerful."

"The doctor said it was two demons fighting," I said carefully testing the waters. "A Wasp and... something else."

Sylvia nodded slowly. Her eyes got distant like she was replaying a bad memory.

"The Black Knight," she whispered. "I saw him. In the plaza."

"What was it?" I asked playing dumb. "Another monster?"

She frowned. She looked confused.

"I don't know. It looked like a demon. It smelled like one. But..."

She turned back to look at me.

"It didn't fight like a demon Chase. Demons are wild. They run on instinct and hunger. They scream and bite."

She tapped her fingers on the railing.

"This thing... it fought like a person. It used punches. It grappled. It protected me. When the Wasp tried to attack me the Knight stepped in the way. It took the hit."

She shook her head.

"It fought like a human wearing a monster's skin. It was thinking. It was calculating."

I swallowed hard. She noticed the difference.

"Maybe it was a new type?" I suggested. "A smarter demon?"

"Maybe," she sighed. She looked exhausted. "The Zodiac Corps is calling it a Rogue Element. They want to hunt it down. But part of me... part of me thinks it saved us."

She pushed herself off the railing and straightened her uniform.

"Anyway I just wanted to see if you were alive. When I heard a maintenance student was found in the wreckage I was afraid it was you."

She gave me a sad smile. It was the kind of smile you give to a puppy with a broken leg. Pity.

"You should be careful Chase. You're a Zero. This world... it's getting more dangerous. If another breach happens don't try to hide near the fight. Just run. Okay? Let the people with Links handle it."

"I will," I said. "I promise."

"Good," she said. "Rest up."

She turned and walked out of the room. The door slid shut behind her.

I was alone again.

I pulled the dead Imp Crystal out from under the pillow. I held it in my hand. It was cold and heavy.

Let the people with Links handle it.

That's what everyone said. That's what the system said. The Links were the heroes. The Zeros were the victims.

I looked at the grey stone. I killed a Wasp. I saved an elite student. I did what the Zodiacs were supposed to do. And I did it with trash.

Sylvia didn't suspect me at all. Why would she? To her I was just Chase the maintenance guy. The dead weight. The idea that I could be the Black Knight was so impossible it didn't even cross her mind.

But the suit was destroyed. The crystal was dead. I was back to square one.

No. Not square one.

I knew it worked now. My theory was right. Being a Zero wasn't a weakness. It was the key. I could use the energies that killed them.

I squeezed the dead crystal.

I needed a new suit. A better one. The Gauntlet Mark One was a prototype. It leaked. It overheated. It almost killed me.

I needed better parts. I needed stronger metal.

And I needed a bigger battery.

If an Imp Crystal could let me kill a Wasp imagine what I could do with something stronger.

I closed my eyes and listened to the beeping monitor. I wasn't going to get kicked out. I was going to stay. And I was going to build the Mark Two.

But first I had to figure out how to steal another demon without getting caught by the guards outside my door.