The silence at the school gate was thick, heavy, and absolute. Devis's fist, tensed for a punch that could break a jaw, hung in the air, frozen by the power of a single, cold voice.
"What is going on here?"
Mina stepped into the space between them. She didn't look scared. She didn't look like a rescuer. She looked like an auditor who had found a discrepancy in the books.
Devis's face was a mask of purple rage, but the public setting, the dozens of watching students, and Mina's unflinching stare, all combined to form a social cage he couldn't break out of. He couldn't follow through. To do so now would make him a problem for the school, not just a bully. He was a predator, but he wasn't stupid.
"This isn't over, you freak," he hissed, his voice low and venomous. The word "freak" felt more accurate than "trash" now. He slowly, furiously, lowered his fist. He shoved past Mina, intentionally knocking her shoulder, and stormed into the school, his crew scrambling after him like beaten dogs.
The "Lookism" hierarchy had just been shattered. He had postured, threatened, and then... retreated.
The crowd of students, whispering, melted away, leaving Dev alone with Mina.
She didn't comfort him. She didn't ask if he was okay. She turned to him, her eyes sharp, analytical, and filled with a cold, unnerving suspicion. She was studying an anomaly, a variable that had just broken her equation.
"You weren't scared," she stated. It wasn't a question.
Dev, his mind still half-processing the world through the cold filter of the Nexus, met her gaze. The old him would have been a trembling, grateful mess. The new him simply processed the query.
He gave the only answer that made sense to his new logic. "He wasn't going to hit me."
The answer was a slam-dunk confirmation of Mina's every suspicion. It was the worst possible thing he could have said. It wasn't relief. It wasn't a lucky guess. It implied calculation. It implied he knew.
Mina's expression hardened. She had been observing this boy for a long time, first with pity, then with curiosity. Now, she was looking at him with something bordering on alarm. The helpless victim she'd known was gone, replaced by... this.
Dev, unaware and uncaring of the social minefield he had just walked through, simply adjusted his bag and walked past her into the school building.
The rest of the day was a new kind of torture. The classes, the teachers, the chatter of students—it was all static.
It was the meaningless noise of a world he no longer belonged to. His [Spatial Awareness] made the classroom feel like a cage, the proximity of so many people a dull, irritating thrum against his senses. He saw Devis glaring at him from across the room, but the glare held no power. It was the posturing of a Level 0 creature that didn't understand the predator in its midst.
He felt completely, utterly alienated. He wasn't a student. He was a hunter, forced to sit in a pen with livestock, waiting. Waiting for the bell. Waiting for the sun to go down. Waiting to go back to the real world.
The moment he got home, he locked his bedroom door. He didn't eat. He didn't drink. His body's needs felt distant, trivial. He lay down on his bed and forced his eyes shut, plunging his consciousness into the familiar void, willing himself to sleep.
He awoke to the cold, sterile gray of the Ebonguard hub. Selina was already there, standing before him, her arms crossed.
[Host Status:]
[Name: Dev]
[Level: 2]
[Faction: Ebonguard (Uninitiated)]
[Title: None]
[Sync Rate: 2.0%]
[STR: 5] [CON: 4]
[AGI: 5] [SPI: 17]
[RES: 15]
[Nexus Shards: 114]
[Lesser Soul-Essence: 72/200]
Selina's eyes flicked over the panel, her expression neutral. "Level 2. Sync Rate 2%. You didn't die. Marginally acceptable."
She dismissed his panel with a wave of her hand. "Your performance in the Weeping Woods has been noted. Grinding Level 0 insects is a waste of the Faction's time and resources. You are no longer an infant, so we will stop treating you like one."
Her words were, as always, cold and pragmatic. "It is time to see if your survival was skill, or just luck. Your performance has qualified you for a formal assessment."
She gestured to his left. A new portal, one that hadn't been there before, was shimmering in the gray light. Where the portal to the Weeping Woods was a murky, sickly green, this one was a sharp, vibrating silver. It looked clean, and infinitely more dangerous.
"We call this a 'Title Duel'," Selina said, her voice flat. "This is not a chaotic hunt in a wild zone. This is a controlled test against a designated opponent. Pass, and you will earn your first Title, which grants a permanent enhancement to your soul-form. It is the first real step to becoming a member of the Ebonguard."
Dev looked at the portal, then back at her. "And the opponent?"
Selina gave him a look that was almost a smile, but held no warmth. "A true test. Something to measure that 'S-Rank Potential' the System seems to think you have."
She pointed to the portal. "Fail... well, the Faction doesn't waste resources on failures. Your contract will be terminated. And so will you. Go."
Dev's heart hammered, but not just with fear. This was it. The Weeping Woods was a nursery. This was the first trial.
He took a breath, his mind already calculating, and stepped towards the silver light.