The Zenith Academy was an imposing structure of white marble and soaring towers, a place where the future elite of the kingdom were forged. The courtyard was teeming with new registrants, all buzzing with excitement and sizing each other up. I ignored the stares and whispers that followed me—the story of the "Zero" was apparently already common gossip.
I walked straight to the registration tables. The assessor, a stern-looking man with a neatly trimmed beard, looked up from his ledger. "Name and Blessing."
"Snape Valerius. Thunder Blessing," I said, my voice clear.
The man's eyes widened almost comically as he found my name on his list. He looked from the parchment to me and back again. "Rank... F? Is this correct?" he asked, his voice loud enough for those nearby to hear.
A new wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"It is," I confirmed, unfazed.
He sighed, shaking his head as if dealing with a lost cause. He stamped my form with a heavy thud. "Placement exam is in the main training hall in one hour. You'll be assigned to the... appropriate class afterward." The word "appropriate" was dripping with disdain.
I took my papers and turned, and that's when I saw her.
Iris was standing near the grand entrance with a group of other clearly high-ranking students. She wasn't laughing or sneering. She was just watching me, her emerald eyes unreadable. She must have seen the confrontation with Kaelen, or at least heard the fresh wave of gossip about the F-Rank actually showing up.
Our eyes met for a brief second across the crowded courtyard. I saw a flicker of something in her expression—surprise? Confusion? It didn't matter. I gave her nothing back. No anger, no sadness. Just a cold, empty stare. I was the first to break eye contact, turning my back on her and walking toward the training hall.
"Good," Voltaris's voice rumbled with satisfaction in my mind. "Let her wonder. Let her see that the boy she threw away is not the same one she knew. Indifference is a sharper blade than hatred."
As I walked, I could feel her gaze on my back. For the first time since the ceremony, I felt like I was the one in control. The placement exam was next. It was time to show them all what a Zero could really do.