2026-10-01 05:03:29The morning sun beat down on the central plaza of Sol-Caelum Academy, turning the polished white marble courtyard into a blinding lake of light.
Thousands of spectators packed the grand space. Banners of crimson, silver, and gold fluttered from the high stone archways. Over a thousand noble students stood in neat, disciplined rows wearing tailored silk uniforms. Behind them sat visiting high priests, academy instructors, and elite guild scouts from across Crowcrest, all eager to sign the top graduates of the year. Near the very back of the courtyard, leaning quietly against a cold marble pillar, stood Eldon. He wore his coarse grey cleaner uniform, stained with water and faint streaks of dirt from three years of hard labor. He held his long wooden broom loosely in his calloused hand. Around him, other servants whispered anxiously or bowed their heads in submission whenever a noble walked past. Eldon stood tall and still, his dark eyes locked onto the grand marble stage at the front of the courtyard. Standing on the elevated platform was Aurelia. She wore stunning crimson robes crafted from rare phoenix-silk, her blonde hair braided with small, sparkling mana gems that glowed like burning coals. Beside her stood Balthazar, the top student knight of Sol-Caelum Academy. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and encased in shining silver plate armor adorned with the crest of a Golden Lion. Floating above Aurelia’s head was a magnificent red status window that pulsed with bright, flickering flames: [Aurelia - Level 20 Flame Sovereign] The headmaster of the academy, an elderly man in long blue robes, stepped up to the magic amplification pedestal. His voice echoed across the courtyard through magical loudspeakers. "Today, we honor true excellence!" the headmaster proclaimed loudly, his voice filling every corner of the plaza. "At just twenty years of age, Aurelia of House Suncrest has reached Level 20 and unlocked the legendary Flame Sovereign class! She is a prodigy whose name will echo across Crowcrest for decades!" The crowd erupted into thunderous applause. Noble students cheered, and guild scouts hastily scribbled notes on golden scrolls. Aurelia smiled gracefully, bowing her head to the cheering crowd, her eyes shining with absolute pride and ambition. Standing near the pillar, Eldon watched her without a single trace of emotion on his face. He remembered when Aurelia was young—when she used to cry over scraped knees and beg Eldon to teach her how to hold a sword. He remembered the sweet smiles she gave him before the Day of Awakening, promising to stand by his side forever. Now, looking at her glowing red status window, Eldon saw only a stranger wrapped in vanity and cheat buttons. The applause slowly died down as Balthazar stepped forward to the front of the stage. He rested his gauntleted hand on the hilt of his massive silver broadsword. Above his head hovered his own glittering status window: [Balthazar - Level 20 Grand Knight] Balthazar raised his gloved hand, signalling for silence. The entire courtyard went dead quiet in an instant. "Honored instructors, guild leaders, and fellow nobles," Balthazar’s deep voice echoed through the loudspeakers, radiating arrogance and supreme confidence. "Today is a day of glory for House Suncrest and House Golden-Lion. Our engagement is not merely a union of two noble families—it is a union of absolute power." He paused, a cruel, mocking smile spreading across his handsome face. He turned his eyes toward the back of the courtyard, searching through the sea of commoners and servants until his gaze locked directly onto Eldon. Beside Balthazar, Valen stood with a bandage taped across his nose, his eyes burning with vengeful hatred as he smirked at Eldon. "However," Balthazar continued, his tone turning cold and dripping with disdain, "before we celebrate this joyous union, there is a small piece of trash that must be cleared from our house." The noble students turned their heads in confusion, muttering among themselves. Balthazar reached into his leather belt and pulled out a gold-sealed parchment—the childhood marriage contract between Eldon and Aurelia. He held it high above his head for everyone to see. "Three years ago, an unindexed cripple—a nameless parasite with zero stats—dared to tie his pathetic existence to Lady Aurelia!" Balthazar declared, his voice booming over the speakers. "Today, in front of the entire realm, we cleanse this dishonor once and for all!" Balthazar tapped the magic crystal on the pedestal, amplifying his voice to its absolute peak. "Eldon!" Balthazar yelled, his voice thunderous and harsh. "You famous Level 0 servant! Step up to the stage right now and face your judgment!"
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Chapter 25
The air on the academy plaza turned instantly suffocating. The heavy, metallic weight of Duke Volvo’s Level 25 pressure radiated across the marble stones like a physical wall, forcing several younger students in the front rows to drop to their knees, gasping for breath. The four imperial knights stepped forward in synchronized precision, their heavy plate armor clanking as they drew their rune-etched longswords. [Duke Volvo - Level 25 Imperial Warlord] [Class Crest: House Golden-Lion Sovereign] A golden, lion-shaped aura flickered faintly behind the Duke’s massive shoulders. He possessed the raw power of a noble who had conquered dozens of high-tier dungeons, and his cold, amber eyes stared down at Eldon as if looking at a pest that had somehow crawled into his grand estate. "Imperial Knights... seize the servant," Duke Volvo repeated, his voice booming across the silent courtyard like distant thunder. "Hold your
Chapter 26
The royal decree hung over Sol-Caelum Academy like a waiting guillotine. Two weeks. Fourteen days until the Trials of the Crown, where Eldon was scheduled to step into the blood-stained sands of the central arena for an official Death Match against House Golden-Lion's champion.Duke Volvo’s word was absolute, but so was his hatred. Eldon knew that two weeks was far too long for a High Councillor to wait passively. The moment Eldon stepped beyond the academy gates or lingered too close to the dark alleys of the Pits, a level-capped assassin would put a crossbow bolt through his spine to ensure the "cheater" never lived to make it to the arena floor.He needed a place to disappear.A place where the Duke’s gold could not buy scouts, and where System tracking runes were useless.Rain drummed a relentless, heavy rhythm against the cracked roof of Orik’s smithy in the lower forge district.Inside, the forge fire burned low, casting long, dancing shadows acro
Chapter 26
The quiet, razor-sharp words cut through the heavy silence of the plaza. Duke Volvo froze, his amber eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "What did you say, worm?" "You're terrified," Eldon repeated, his tone so calm, flat, and steady it sounded almost clinical. "You're terrified that a statusless cleaner proved your sons are weak. You're terrified that the entire realm will see that House Golden-Lion relies on fake stats, expensive gear, and bribed scouts to maintain its illusion of strength." "Silence!" Balthazar screamed, his face flushing dark red. "You claim I used dark magic to cheat," Eldon continued, completely ignoring Balthazar as he locked eyes with the Duke. "You want your guards to drag me into a dark room where no one can watch, so you can break my limbs, destroy the Hydra core, and pretend your family’s pride was never broken." The crowd of students began to whisper nervou
Chapter 24
The courtyard erupted into confused, shocked muttering. Aurelia’s small smile froze instantly. Her emerald eyes widened, her hands clenching into tight fists within her silk sleeves. "Second?" Balthazar barked, taking an aggressive step forward. "That’s impossible! We cleared the eastern high-tier hunting grounds! Who could possibly have scored higher than four thousand points?!" Headmaster Roste didn't look at Balthazar. He looked down at his parchment ledger, a strange, unreadable expression settling across his weathered face. "In first place," Headmaster Roste announced, his voice echoing off the tall marble pillars with absolute clarity, "with a total score of twelve thousand five hundred points... Eldon." A suffocating, stunned silence slammed over the plaza. Nobody cheered. Nobody moved. Students looked at one another in utter, bewildered disbelief,
Chapter 23
Dusk bled across the sky, turning the clouds above Sol-Caelum Academy into bruised shades of violet and crimson. At the eastern boundary gates, hundreds of students gathered on the marble plaza. They were battered, exhausted, and caked in forest grime. Mages leaned heavily on their wooden staves, their mana reserves completely drained. Vanguard tanks sat on the stone steps, groaning as support healers applied glowing blue salves to shattered armor plates and monster claw marks. Yet despite their exhaustion, an eager, excited buzz filled the evening air. In the center of the courtyard stood the high scoring altar—a massive granite table surrounded by glowing magical scales. Floating above the table was a projection screen constructed from light runes, designed to display the official point leaderboard as student squads surrendered their monster tokens. [ACADEMY WILDERNESS EXAM: FINAL SCOR
Chapter 22
The air hissed as three rows of translucent, venom-dripping fangs closed toward Eldon’s ribs.But he wasn't scared.With zero System auto-pilot to force his body into a pre-scripted dodge animation, Eldon shifted his weight, dropping his hips to alter his center of gravity mid-stance.He unanchored his left hand from the dorsal scale, pivoting his entire torso on his back heel. Reversing his grip on the leather hilt, he swung the twelve-pound cold steel broadsword in a tight, violent semicircle behind his back.CLEAVE.The heavy, matte-finished blade caught the snapping third head right along the soft tissue of its lower jaw hinge.A sickening crunch of bone rang across the black lake as the sheer physical weight of the dark iron sheared clean through scale, muscle, and jawbone. The lower half of the head dropped into the mud with a heavy splash, spraying a thick curtain of black, corrosive blood across the shoreline.The hydra screeched in agony—a guttural, multi-toned howl that sho
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