The race was over almost before it began. With his new form and instinctive control over his eight colossal wings, Noir Sullivan had covered the distance of the Warbling Valley in mere minutes, leaving a trail of astonished students and a sputtering Kalego Sensei far behind.
Noir landed softly at the finish line, the massive black wings folding neatly back into his frame with the elegance of a skilled being. He had won, but the victory felt strangely hollow. He no longer felt the thrill of fooling the system; he felt the unsettling weight of his new power.
He stood waiting for the others, the adrenaline receding, replaced by a growing sense of confusion. His body felt perfect, yet his mind was reeling from the speed of his transformation.
Inner Dialogue (Noir):I flew. I actually flew without crashing. But why do I feel so cold? I feel like I'm standing next to a freezer.
He instinctively glanced at his hands, expecting to see some lingering residue of the raw mana. It was then he saw it: a tiny, but impossibly menacing shadow clinging to his right shoulder. It was a patch of darkness so deep it seemed to absorb all light, and it was watching him with predatory intensity.
Noir gasped, recoiling from the shoulder shadow, twisting his torso to look back. He quickly realized the shadow was not coming from his back, but from the golden ring on his right hand.
The shadow, which seemed to possess a conscious hunger, extended from the golden ring, crawling up his arm and resting on his shoulder like a malicious, invisible cat.
Then, the shadow began to scream.
It wasn't a sound of pain, but of pure, profound hunger and frustration—a high-pitched, wailing shriek that carried an impossible weight of malice. The noise didn't travel through the air in a normal way; it traveled directly through the magical energy pathways of the environment.
The wailing echoed throughout the entire school and surrounding valley, heard instantly by every being with even rudimentary mana sensitivity.
Kalego, Alice, and the rest of the Misfit Class, who were finally catching up, froze in mid-flight, clutching their ears as the invisible sound assault slammed into their minds.
The moment the wail began, the shadow on Noir's shoulder seemed to consume the air around it. It was voraciously eating his mana.
Noir felt a sudden, powerful DRAIN of the chaotic energy within him. The immense, unstable surge of power that had necessitated the cocoon and transformation was being violently pulled out of his core and devoured by the Ring's shadow.
The effect, paradoxically, was immediate stabilization. The immense mana had settled his form, but it still threatened to overflow. The ring was acting as a perpetual, chaotic mana sink. By constantly eating the excess energy, the ring put Noir's dangerously charged condition into a state of controlled stability. The magical pressure on his body immediately dropped, and he felt a calm he hadn't experienced since entering the Demon World.
The shadow finished its meal with a final, satisfied gulp of power, receding back to a dark stain around the golden ring. The wailing stopped, leaving a profound silence in its wake.
Noir stared at the ring, realizing he hadn't just acquired a status symbol; he had acquired a mana parasite that ensured he would never be truly overwhelmed by his own power again.
Kalego arrived at the finish line moments later, his face contorted in a mask of fury and exhaustion. He ignored the gasping students behind him and focused solely on the transformed Noir.
KALEGO: "Sullivan! What was that cacophony?! You have severely disrupted a mandatory school function! Explain this ridiculous new form and that... that screaming!"
NOIR: (Adjusting his collar, the immense shadow wings twitching slightly) "My apologies, Sensei. It seems the ring on my hand has a hungry phase. It consumed the excess energy to prevent an overload. It won't happen again. Now, what's my rank? I won the race."
Kalego stared, realizing he couldn't reasonably punish a phenomenon, especially one that had stabilized into a magnificent, new form.
KALEGO: "The ranking owl refused to touch you. You are disqualified from the time trial. However, every student must receive a baseline rank." He pulled out a small, default rank badge. "Your rank will be determined by the lowest possible standing, as no assessment could be made."
Kalego thrust the badge into Noir's hand. It was a small, wooden disc carved with the single letter: Aleph (1).
Noir looked at the badge: Rank 1 (Aleph)—the lowest possible rank. It was the antithesis of the power he had just displayed, the form he now wore, and the familiars who served him.
He felt a deep, profound sense of relief.
NOIR: (A genuine, wide smile splitting his face—a look that was terrifying on his new features) "Aleph! Perfect! Thank you, Sensei! A reasonable evaluation at last!"
He had been given the lowest score, confirming that the system was broken, but it also meant he would attract the least attention. In a school full of ambitious beings, the one who looked magnificent but was officially a Rank 1 weakling would be the ultimate Misfit—and the ultimate blend-in artist.
Satisfied that he had received the best possible outcome, Noir turned to Alice and Clara, who were still recovering from the magical noise.
NOIR: "Class dismissed, I assume? Let's go grab a parfait."
He effortlessly took flight, leaving the finish line and heading back toward the school.
Kalego watched him go, then looked around at the damage: the terrified students, the shattered rocks, and the persistent scent of residual cosmic mana.
KALEGO: (Muttering to himself) "Disqualified, Rank Aleph, and a new form... This year is going to be hell."
Unaware of the full consequences of his actions, Noir's adventures in the valley quickly began to circulate. The tales of his transformation, his victory, and his impossible healing ability were immediately exaggerated tenfold, spreading like wildfire through the entire school:
Noir Sullivan did not simply race; he tamed the Guardian of Cutthroat Valley by breaking its soul and then absorbed the chaotic energy of the Sky Columns to fuel his metamorphosis!
He purposely took the lowest rank to show his contempt for the entire system, proving his power is unmeasurable!
The screaming was his Bloodline Power, which demands the allegiance of all lower beings!
Noir, was finally stable, ranked at the bottom, and completely oblivious that his greatest strategy—to blend in—had just failed more spectacularly than ever before.