Zane sat still.
Stillness wasn't peace. It was strategy. It was camouflage. It was spite wrapped in a skeletal frame, curled like a starving feral rat around a dying arcane relay node. The mana throbbed through the cracked crystal like a wounded heartbeat, steady and suffering.
His skin, caked with dirt, shivered with micro-tremors. His black uniform hung off him like a bad idea—loose, damp, and flaking with old blood and fungal residue. The shadows that clung to the walls weren't natural anymore. They moved when he didn't. They breathed when he couldn't.
And above it all, he listened—to the mana, to the whispering network of roots, to the relay system hidden beneath the trial's surface layer.
This wasn't a hiding spot. It was a throne in waiting.
He looked at the system crystal hovering in front of his face.
> [Trial Ending In: 00:47:58]
[Secret Objective Chain: COMPLETED]
[Remaining Buffs: None]
[Remaining Food: One slimy mushroom named Greg.]
Greg sat proudly in Zane's palm, a crooked little fungus with one misshapen side that looked vaguely like a smug face.
Zane blinked. "If I eat you, do I hallucinate again or unlock enlightenment?"
> [Unknown. Probability of Enlightenment: 0.4%. Probability of Diarrhea: 67%.]
"…So you're saying there's a chance."
Crunch.
Greg went down like a warrior—chewy, defiant, and tasting like the back of an old wizard's robe.
And then—
> [New Buff: Indigestion.]
[Effect: -10% Focus for 30 minutes. +0.3% Humor resistance.]
He smiled faintly. "Figures."
The Trial Grounds looked like someone had tried to re-enact the end of the world with a budget.
Scorched tree stumps. Pools of blackened mana. The Chimera's corpse, bloated and swarmed by mutant beetles. Even the wind felt tired, like it was ready to retire after this shift.
Students wandered with hollow eyes, bruises, and torn robes. Those who had formed teams now sat apart, nursing wounds and quietly staring into the middle distance.
The professors were gathering. One of them, Professor Elandor—the one with the beard that defied gravity—spoke through a mana-amplified voice that echoed across the broken forest.
"To all remaining participants, the Trial ends in thirty minutes. Prepare for extraction. Final scores are being calculated."
A few cheered weakly. Others cried.
Some just curled up and slept. Victory had become relative.
"Where's that psycho from Class 9? The one with the attitude problem?" a familiar voice whispered from the side.
It was Mira, Zane's classmate, eyes sharp despite the dirt and bandages on her face.
"Zane? I haven't seen him since Day Four," muttered Kien, the sword-favoring knight boy from House Glaive. "Probably eaten by now. Or turned into soup by a Beast Mage."
"Or," Mira said softly, her gaze narrowing, "he's the reason the animals stopped attacking on Day Six."
They exchanged a look.
Down below, the rats remembered.
He had followed the mana flow. The hidden current beneath the arena wasn't just power—it was information. A hidden relay system buried when the academy was first built, forgotten when they changed headmasters fifty years ago.
The rats had found it. He'd simply followed them.
In return, he'd fed them. Fungal growths. Monster crumbs. His own blood.
Now they circled him like worshippers. Hundreds of them. Quiet. Still. Watching.
Zane opened his eyes. They glowed faintly now—burning with residual relay mana.
"System," he whispered. "Can I command them yet?"
> [Analyzing Bond Strength...]
[You have achieved: Feral Kinship Lv. 1]
[Title Unlocked: Rat King (Temporary)]
[Effect: Local subterranean rodents will obey basic commands. Communication limited to instinctive urges. Buff: Night Sight (Lv. 1), Disease Resistance (Lv. 2)]
His laugh echoed weirdly through the tunnels. Not mad. Not triumphant. Just tired.
Then he coughed up something dark and possibly sentient.
"You heard the announcer," he rasped. "Time to make an entrance."
The surface students were gathering near the central arena obelisk—waiting to be extracted. The first rays of dawn hadn't yet broken the sky. It was cold.
Suddenly—
The ground moved.
A section near the arena cracked. Crumbled. And from beneath—
Came rats.
Hundreds. No, thousands. A black tide of fur, teeth, and writhing tails.
Students screamed, some drawing weapons, others running in random directions. Professors reached for their wands, startled.
Then a figure rose up through the swarm.
Zane.
Covered in dirt and grime, his body thin and battered, but upright. Cloak flaring behind him like some half-buried monarch of decay. His eyes were dim but steady.
One of the rats scurried up his arm and perched on his shoulder like a herald.
Mira stared, mouth agape.
"...That lunatic."
Zane raised one hand, the rats stilling immediately.
He grinned.
"Hi. Did I miss lunch?"
> [System Alert: Trial Complete.]
[Secret Objectives Completed: 9/9]
[Unique Title: Shadow Diver — Awarded.]
[Hidden Class Tree Unlocked.]
[System Update In Progress...]
---
> [Welcome to Phase 2: The Prologue Ends.]
[S.A.S.S. (Semi-Annoying Support System) is now evolving...]
[Introducing: Semi-Autonomous Sentient System (Still S.A.S.S.)]
> New Features Unlocked: – Beast Command: Tier I
– Tactical Mapping (Subterranean Only)
– Dark Adaptation Boost
– S.A.S.S. Personality Upgrade: "Jaded Older Brother" Mode
– Mana Vein Affinity (Passive)
– Inventory Expansion: Subdimensional Trash Heap
Zane blinked.
The system interface now had a mustache. It looked disappointed.
> "You absolute dumpster fire of a gremlin. You actually ate Greg."
Zane coughed. "He was delicious."
> "I hope your digestive tract revolts."