The next morning, Zen woke up to the smell of food... real, expensive food, not synthetic.

He walked downstairs to find Valeria in the kitchen. She was wearing her academy uniform, but with an apron around her waist. She was humming a happy tune while cooking eggs and bacon.

"Good morning Zen," Valeria said with a smile as she placed a plate of food on the table for him. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did," Zen said, sitting down. "Thank you for the food, Val."

"Eat up," she said, resting her chin on her hands and watching him intensely. "You need your strength. We have a day at the academy today."

Zen took a bite of the bacon. It was incredibly good. But as he ate, he suddenly realized something.

Valeria was not just playing house or being nice. If she fed him high-quality food every morning, he would never have a reason to go to the academy cafeteria. She was trying to remove every possible reason for him to interact with other people.

After eating and dressing up, they walked to the Ares Military Academy together. Valeria kept her arm linked with his the entire way.

But as soon as they got to the campus, Zen realized something was wrong.

The campus was totally silent. None of the students were talking or laughing. Everyone was in the courtyard, staring up at the sky.

Zen looked up and saw three, big, black Vanguard Military dropships hovering above the academy.

"What is going on?" Jax whispered, running up to Zen and Val in the courtyard. He looked scared. "The military just locked down the school. Nobody is allowed to leave."

Before Zen could answer, the bay doors of the dropships opened.

Dozens of elite soldiers in dark grey armour dropped down into the courtyard holding high-tech mana-rifles. They quickly formed a perimeter around the students.

A tall man in a trench coat stepped out of the lead ship, floating down to the ground using wind magic. He had a scar on his face and a silver Inquisition badge pinned on his chest.

Professor Vance and Dean Alaric rushed forward, bowing nervously to the man.

"Inquisitor," Dean Alaric greeted with a confident smile. "We were not expecting the Vanguard. How can the Academy serve you?"

The Inquisitor ignored the Dean. He held up a glowing artifact that amplified his voice.

"Yesterday, the Academy experienced a spatial fracture," the Inquisitor’s voice boomed. "Our satellites detected an S-Rank magical anomaly from inside that unmapped zone. The energy signature was ancient. Unregistered."

Zen’s blood ran cold.

They were not here to investigate the teleportation pad malfunction or Kaelen’s possible sabotage. They were here because of the Primordial Void Breathing Zen had used to punch the Minotaur.

"We are locking down this Academy," the Inquisitor announced, his cold eyes sweeping over the terrified students. "An ancient threat has breached our Domain. And we are going to find out exactly how it got here."

Right next to Zen, Valeria’s grip on his arm tightened painfully.

"An ancient threat?" Valeria whispered, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses. A dark, terrifying aura began to leak from her body. "Interesting."

The Vanguard Inquisitor stood in the middle of the courtyard. The wind was blowing his dark trench coat around his legs. He was holding a glowing white crystal in his hand.

"This is a Soul-Measuring Stone," the Inquisitor announced in a magically amplified voice. "It is calibrated to detect any traces of ancient, S-Rank mana. Every student will step forward and place their hand on it."

A wave of panic rushed through the students.

"System," Zen thought, his heart beating fast. "My core is only High F-Rank, but if that stone touches me, it will pick up the S-Rank residue left behind by the Primordial Void Breathing. Plus, a suddenly healed core will blow my cover entirely."

[Warning: The artifact will expose your true mana signature. Probability of capture: 99%.]

"Can you hide it?" Zen asked.

[Affirmative. I can execute a Total Core Inversion to mask your signature. Warning: Forcing your healed core to invert will cause extreme physical agony.]

"Do it," Zen ordered.

Before the Inquisitor could call the first name, Kaelen Thorne pushed his way out of the crowd. He was sweating. Kaelen knew he had hacked the teleportation pad yesterday. He was terrified the Inquisitor was here to investigate the malfunction. He needed a distraction immediately.

"Sir!" Kaelen yelled, pointing a shaking finger directly at Zen and Valeria. "It was them! They were the only ones in the unmapped zone yesterday! If there is an ancient threat, they are hiding it!"

The entire courtyard turned to look at Zen and Valeria. The Inquisitor’s cold eyes locked onto Zen.

He didn’t ask any questions. He moved fast, grabbing Zen by the collar and slamming the glowing crystal against Zen’s chest.

"Let’s see what you are hiding, boy," the Inquisitor sneered.

"System. Now!" Zen thought.

[Executing Total Core Inversion.]

It felt like a bomb went off inside Zen’s chest. His mana core violently twisted itself inside out. The pain was blinding. Zen gasped, his eyes rolling back.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, splattering it across the Inquisitor’s boots. Zen’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees.

The Soul-Measuring Stone didn’t turn bright with S-Rank power. It flickered and turned a dull, pathetic gray.

"A dying Low F-Rank," the Inquisitor grunted in disgust, looking at the stone. "His core is completely broken. He couldn’t cast an S-Rank spell if his life depended on it."

But seeing Zen fall to his knees and cough up blood made Valeria snap. Her possessive, yandere instincts violently flared up.

CRACK.

The thick glass of her fake spectacles split right down the middle. A faint red light glowed in her eyes.

She didn’t release her S-Rank mana... that would have triggered the stone. Instead, she released a micro-burst of pure, suffocating killing intent directly into the Inquisitor’s mind.

The Inquisitor froze. The blood drained from his scarred face. Every survival instinct in his veteran body screamed at him. He felt like an invisible, massive blade was pressed directly against his spine.

Valeria stepped forward and slapped the Inquisitor’s hand away from Zen.

With her other hand, she quickly reached into her pocket and brought out a small, black metal card. She held it up just high enough for the Inquisitor to see. It was a Classified Vanguard VIP Crest.

The Inquisitor’s eyes went wide. He suddenly understood. This transfer student was highly protected Vanguard royalty, and the terrifying killing intent he felt was coming from her invisible, elite bodyguards hiding in the shadows.

"Do not touch him again," Valeria whispered. Her voice was calm, but it held a promise of death.

"My apologies, Miss," the Inquisitor stammered as he stepped back. He turned and glared furiously at Kaelen Thorne. "Are you trying to waste my time, boy? Get out of my sight."

Kaelen turned pale, shrinking back into the crowd, looking like an absolute fool.

The Inquisitor cleared his throat, straightening his posture as he looked at Dean Alaric. "The scan continues. Line the rest of them up."

Dean Alaric nodded nervously, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Alright, you heard him! Orderly lines! Step forward one at a time. Those who have already been cleared are dismissed for the lunch period!"

As the rest of the courtyard groaned and shuffled forward in a tense queue, Jax pushed through the crowd, running straight toward Zen. Jax looked terrified for his best friend.

"Zen! Dude, are you okay?!" Jax panicked, reaching down to grab Zen’s arm and help him up.

Valeria’s cracked glasses caught the light. She stepped between them, her possessive aura flaring again. She hissed at Jax like a territorial predator. "Don’t touch him. I am taking him home."

Zen wiped the blood from his mouth. Valeria was currently in hyper mode and wanted to isolate him. But if he let her scare Jax away, he would lose his only friend and his best source of information in the academy. He had to stop it.

Zen stood up straight, ignoring the throbbing pain in his chest. He looked at her. He didn’t look like a weak student anymore. For exactly one second, he let his cold, dominant Emperor persona bleed through.

"Val. Enough," Zen commanded, his voice deep and absolute. "He is my friend. He stays."

Valeria froze. A visible shiver ran down her spine. Instead of getting angry, a dark blush spread through her cheeks. The absolute authority in his voice was exactly how the Emperor used to speak to her.

She immediately lowered her head, acting perfectly submissive. "Yes, Zen. I’m sorry."

Jax stared at Valeria, then at Zen, looking completely confused. But Zen just patted Jax on the shoulder.

—

Later that day, during their lunch period, the three of them sat together. Valeria sat entirely too close to Zen, but she stayed quiet, allowing Jax to talk.

"You really dodged a bullet, man," Jax whispered, leaning over the table. "Kaelen is strutting around the hallways like a king today. The rumor mill on the student forums is going crazy."

"What are they saying?"

"Word is his family’s lawyers already strong-armed the school this morning," Jax replied, keeping his voice low. "People are whispering that they scrubbed the teleportation logs before the Vanguard even landed. Everyone suspects he hacked the pad yesterday that caused the spatial fracture, but because there’s no digital proof left? He is completely untouchable."

Zen looked across the cafeteria. Kaelen was sitting with his rich friends, laughing loudly. "Nobody is untouchable," Zen said coldly. "What class do we have next?"

"Melee Arts and Aura Flow," Jax said, checking his terminal. "With Instructor Graves. It’s basically a weapon sparring class."

Zen smirked. "Perfect."