The silence that followed the massacre was heavier than the clamor of shattering bones. Lucian remained standing amid the wreckage of the camp, watching the flames lick at the remnants of the silk tents. At his side, Aria radiated an almost feline satisfaction, smoothing her scarlet hair with a gesture of infuriating elegance.
"We can't enter the Academy under the Blackwood name," Lucian stated, his voice gaining confidence. "If Alistair survives, the Patriarch will put a bounty on my head before I even cross the capital's walls."
Aria tilted her head, a mischievous smile stretching her crimson lips.
"A name is just a word, my Master. But if you wish to hide in plain sight, we need more than a pseudonym. We need a story."
She approached the body of a young guard she had spared decapitation—though he had died from internal bleeding. With a pickpocket's deftness, she searched his pockets and produced a wax seal and an unsigned letter of recommendation.
"Look at this. A cadet from a minor southern noble family—the 'Von Draculas'… no, too obvious," she scoffed. "The 'Kurogane.' A fallen warrior lineage from your mother's homeland. This boy was meant to enter the Academy as an external auditor. No one in the capital knows his face."
Lucian took the letter. The parchment was stained with blood, but the seal remained intact.
"Lucian Kurogane. A good compromise. But how will you explain your presence? A beauty like yours doesn't go unnoticed."
Aria stepped closer, her cold breath brushing his earlobe.
"I'll be your shadow. Your 'Familiar.' In this world, powerful mages bind spirits or beasts. I'll simply… adjust my aura to resemble that of a high-ranking attendant. No one will dare question it if you look at them with sufficient disdain."
Two days later, the silver towers of the Royal Solstice Academy of Magic rose above the horizon like divine lances poised to pierce the sky. It was the beating heart of the kingdom's power, a place where nobility bought their way to the top with raw mana.
Lucian, dressed in a sober black frock coat taken from the looted baggage of the camp, stood before the monumental gates. Aria walked half a step behind him, clad in a black-and-white maid's dress that, though modest, traced every curve with provocative precision. She had concealed her scarlet eyes behind dull gray magical lenses, yet her predatory aura remained palpable to anyone with survival instincts.
"Stay calm, Master," she murmured. "Your blood is beating too fast. It excites me… and it could alert the wardens."
"It's adrenaline, Aria. Not fear."
They approached the checkpoint where a rank-C mage was verifying credentials. The mage, a man in his fifties with weary eyes, looked up from his ledger.
"Name and rank?"
"Lucian Kurogane. External auditor. Rank… Zero."
The mage paused mid-note, a flicker of contempt crossing his gaze.
"A Zero? Do you realize that's a waste of time? The Academy isn't a daycare for talentless nobles. Unless…"
His eyes slid to Aria—and he froze. Despite her disguise, the Origin's natural authority struck him like a wall. Aria offered him a smile so cold the mage forgot to breathe.
"The young Master Kurogane possesses… unconventional talents," Aria said in a honeyed voice barely masking a threat of death. "His presence here is an investment."
The mage nervously stamped the parchment.
"V-very well. Enter. But cause no trouble. Placement tests begin in the central amphitheater."
The amphitheater was packed with self-important young aristocrats. The scent of expensive perfume and burning mana saturated the air. At the center of the hall floated an immense crystal sphere, designed to measure the destructive potential of the newcomers.
A murmur rippled through the crowd. A group of students in blue-and-gold uniforms entered. At their head walked a young woman with ebony hair and electric-blue eyes, moving with imperial arrogance.
"That's her," whispered a student beside Lucian. "Shizuka of House Hoshi. The best spellblade of her generation. They say she's never lost a duel."
Shizuka stopped before the crystal sphere. She placed her hand on its smooth surface, closed her eyes, and a blue shockwave swept through the hall. The sphere flared with blinding intensity.
"Rank A-!" exclaimed the examiner, his voice trembling with admiration. "Exceptional!"
Shizuka did not smile. Her gaze swept the room with icy indifference until it settled on Lucian. She frowned. She sensed something—a dissonance in the air, a scent of blood and shadow that did not match the frail-looking young man.
She approached him, ignoring the other students.
"You," she said, pointing the pommel of her katana at Lucian's chest. "Your aura is strange. You are either a genius of concealment… or a mistake of nature."
Aria stepped forward, her nails lengthening imperceptibly.
"Watch your tone, human. You are speaking to—"
Lucian placed a hand on Aria's shoulder, stopping her. He met Shizuka's gaze.
"I'm just a Zero, Lady Shizuka. A student looking for his place."
Shizuka narrowed her eyes.
"A Zero doesn't have a Familiar with that much bloodlust in her eyes. We'll meet on the training grounds. I hate secrets."
She walked away, leaving crackling tension in her wake.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[NEW TARGET DETECTED: SHIZUKA HOSHI (POTENTIAL YANDERE)]
[WARNING: HER OBSESSION WITH STRENGTH MAY CREATE CONFLICT WITH ARIA]
[OBJECTIVE: DEMONSTRATE YOUR SUPERIORITY WITHOUT REVEALING YOUR TRUE RANK]
Lucian felt a laugh rise within him. A potential yandere? As if his life weren't already complicated enough with a possessive vampire at his back.
"She's annoying," Aria murmured, her gray eyes briefly flashing red. "May I tear out her heart if she looks at you like that again?"
"Not yet, Aria. We need discretion. For now, be my 'servant.'"
Lucian's test became a moment of pure farce. When he touched the sphere, he used the skill [Monarch's Concealment], allowing only a fraction of his mana to leak out. The sphere emitted a pathetic, near-moribund glow.
"Rank F," sighed the examiner amid the hall's laughter. "The lowest in the Academy's history."
Lucian walked away under mockery, but in his mind, he saw his stats.
[HIDDEN STATISTICS:]
[STRENGTH: 45 (RANK B)]
[AGILITY: 52 (RANK B+)]
[INTELLIGENCE: 30]
[PRIMORDIAL BLOOD: AWAKENED]
He knew that in this world, being underestimated was the most devastating weapon of all.
That evening, Lucian and Aria took possession of their room in the external auditors' quarter—a spartan cell in the basements, far from the nobles' luxurious suites.
Aria locked the door and threw herself onto the narrow bed, her servant guise vanishing instantly to reveal her predatory form. She grabbed Lucian by the waist and pulled him against her.
"That little role-play was amusing," she said, licking Lucian's neck. "But that Shizuka… she looked at you with too much curiosity. I can feel her interest growing. It's dangerous."
She rolled him onto her, her hands roaming his chest with feverish possession.
"You are mine, Lucian. My blood flows in your veins. If you let another woman approach your heart… I will destroy this school and everything in it."
Lucian felt Aria's domination bear down on him—but this time, he did not retreat. He seized the vampire by the chin and forced her to meet his gaze.
"I am your Master, Aria. Don't forget it. Shizuka is a pawn. A source of power. Nothing more."
The defiance in Lucian's eyes seemed to excite Aria beyond reason. She let out a small sound, a mix of pleasure and submission.
"That's it… show me you can dominate me. The stronger you become, the more insatiable my thirst for you will be."
[SYNC RATIO: 15%]
[SKILL UNLOCKED: CALL OF THE SHADOW (SHORT-RANGE TELEPORTATION)]
The night was only beginning, and in the dark corridors of the Academy, schemes were already tightening around the "Zero" who was anything but.