Kai's Dormitory
Ching.
The soft chime of the scanner echoed as I swiped my ID card across the panel. The door slid open, revealing what could only be described as a luxury suite.
Astrea Academy ID
User ID: Kai Night
Age: 16
Program: Year 1 Combat Program
School Rank: 42/2250
Element: Space-Time
Class: 1-A
I stepped inside, my eyes widening. "Whoa."
The room was massive. Polished floors reflected the dim ambient lighting, sleek furniture arranged with precision. A large bed dominated the center of the room, while to one side, a small kitchen gleamed with modern appliances.
But the standout feature was the training facilities.
A personal training area sat neatly in the corner, inscribed with glowing mana runes that hummed faintly. I recognized their purpose instantly: to contain damage and accelerate mana recovery.
And there, against the wall a VR pod.
"A VR setup?" I muttered, stepping closer.
I couldn't help but grin. VR in this world wasn't the same as Earth's clunky, pixelated simulations. It was a marvel created by elven mages, connecting consciousness to a theoretical pool called the Astral Nexus. Mages used it to practice spells, test combat techniques, and even adapt to new artifacts.
"Okay, enough geeking out," I sighed, collapsing onto the bed.
The mattress was soft, almost too comfortable. I sank into it, staring at the ceiling as the events of the day replayed in my mind.
"Rank 42," I murmured.
It didn't make sense. Sure, I won my duel against Garrick, but I'd barely done anything. My swordsmanship was laughable, and I only used Blink once and even that was sloppy.
"Overestimated already," I muttered, running a hand over my face.
I'd planned to lay low, to keep myself off the radar. That plan was already in tatters.
My mind wandered to Mortis.
The duel he'd had was burned into my memory, every detail clear. The bloodcurdling scream. The clean severing of an arm. The calm, emotionless way he stood on the platform.
Even though I knew the headmaster had forced his hand, it didn't change the fact that Mortis was terrifying.
"Nothing compared to what he'll do later," I whispered, the thought sending a chill down my spine.
And then there was the strange calm I felt all day. The way my nerves dulled in high-stress situations. The book's influence, perhaps?
"Too many questions," I muttered, shifting to my side. "I'll deal with it later."
As sleep took over, my last thought was simple: This isn't Earth anymore. No point pretending it is.
Celeste Astrea's POV
The dorm room of rank 2 not only that royalty was grand to say the least.
The grand chamber of the Astrea family dorms was adorned with shimmering golden banners, each embroidered with the royal crest a radiant star encased in a circle of intertwining mana streams.
There was a girl who seemed to embody the very essence of beauty, as if sculpted by the hands of a master artisan. Her skin, smooth and luminous, resembled polished marble, Cascading around her face were locks of platinum hair, shimmering like strands of moonlight,.
Celeste stood before a crystal console, her blue eyes locked on the glowing rankings projected above it.
The Top 10
The Top 10
1. Mortis – Nihility
2. Celeste Astrea – Pure Mana
3. Isolde Stromgard – Distortion
4. Rainar Drakos – Destruction
5. Reinhard Heydrich – Causality
6. Selene Valtheris – War
7. Noah Balavan – Severance
8. Amani Khalid – Death
9. Irina Volkov – Stasis
10. Dante Cross – Fear
Her name sat firmly at Rank 2.
And above it, Rank 1: Mortis.
Her hands clenched into fists. "Mortis," she hissed.
The name was unfamiliar. No family, no reputation, nothing. Yet it sat above hers as though he had simply appeared from nowhere.
"How?" she muttered, her voice tinged with frustration. "How could I lose to someone I've never even heard of?"
Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself, shifting her focus to the rest of the rankings.
Her gaze lingered on a few names.
Isolde Stromgard. A prodigy from the House of Storms,
Rainar Drakos. Heir to the Drakos line, infamous for their affinity for destruction magic.
Selene Valtheris. The Valtheris family were masters of war. Ruthless, efficient, and dangerous.
And Amani Khalid. The Setan family's control over death magic was legendary.
They were all familiar names from the Twelve Great Noble Houses.
Then, for some reason, her eyes strayed down the rankings below the Top 10.
Rank 42: Kai Night.
Her brow furrowed. "Kai Night," she murmured.
She hadn't sought him out. No, it was pure coincidence she noticed his duel because it was the first one of the day.
He was calm. Too calm.
"He didn't attack for most of the fight," she muttered. "Just dodged. Yet he didn't look worried."
When he finally struck, his movements were swift, precise minimal effort for maximum impact.
Unlike Mortis, who seemed to revel in destruction, Kai's style was elegant. Controlled.
Her eyes drifted back to Mortis's name.
"And then there's you," she whispered, her frustration returning. "Nihility… What even is that?"
But as her thoughts wandered back to Kai, a smile tugged at her lips.
He's interesting. I'll need to keep an eye on him.
Selene Valtheris's POV
The mirror shattered.
Blood trickled down Selene's hand, shards embedded in her palm as she stood in the bathroom of her dorm.
"So, the monster's first," she muttered, her voice cold and venomous.
Mortis.
Her brother.
Her disowned brother.
Father always warned her he was dangerous.
She glared at her reflection, her face contorted with a mix of anger and envy. "I'll kill you," she hissed.
The blood pooled in her hand, unnoticed.
Mortis's POV
Somewhere in the depths of his dorm, Mortis sat in the darkness, unmoving.
The void-like mirrors of his eyes reflected nothing.
"I feel like someone's saying something about me," he murmured, his voice emotionless.