One hour after his first match, Everett sat beneath the courtyard's spiraling skylight, his limbs still tingling from adrenaline. The sun simulated overhead was gentle, filtered through layers of crystalline foliage, but his thoughts spun fast.
"This whole ranking system," Everett muttered, "it still feels off. I mean—how are Intelligence or Assistant classes supposed to compete with someone like kael? It's not even close to fair."
Guruji Gopalan, who may or may not have been eavesdropping from the fourth dimension, drifted into view carrying a kettle and a cup balanced precariously on a spoon.
"Fairness is a trick performed by bureaucrats with two mirrors and a coin," Guruji said, pouring tea mid-air without spilling a drop. "What you're seeing is calibrated asymmetry."
Everett blinked. "...What?"
Guruji landed lightly beside him. "Combat types like you gain rank through direct confrontation. You fight your fellow cadets head-on. Straightforward."
"Yeah, that part I get."
"But Assistant classes follow a dual-opposition structure," Guruji continued. "They face two adversaries. One is secretly their partner—usually another assistant-type. Their objective? Assist that 'enemy' in defeating the real threat. Victory and synergy affect their rank."
Everett squinted. "So they have to read the situation and cooperate with someone pretending to fight them?"
Guruji beamed. "Indeed. Real life, isn't it?"
Everett grunted. "Okay… and Intelligence classes?"
"They operate through simulation, prediction, observation. Stealth types are ranked by their infiltration success, Prophecy types by their accuracy and long-term foresight. Academic types compare current results to archival benchmarks from previous Tier-One rankers. All of it feeds into rank calculation."
"Huh." Everett rubbed his chin. "So everyone's got their own test. Makes sense."
Guruji sipped his tea. "It does. Confusing sense. Like a spiral staircase—every step is different, but they all reach the same height."
Everett grinned sideways. "What was your rank, then?"
Guruji froze dramatically. "Such rudeness from one so young."
Everett just waited.
Guruji finally sighed. "214. I was a different man then. Busier. Also, technically being hunted by a divine algorithm."
"And Gloria?"
"126. Mid-tier. Reliable. She's been in Tier-One a year. Still room to grow."
---
⚠️ SYSTEM UPDATE
Tier-One Combat Simulation Rules:
Daily Battle Limit: 3 Matches
Final Ranking Lock-In: After 14 Days
Class Sessions: Suspended Until Rankings Complete
---
So began the first test.
Each cadet chose when to fight and who to challenge from a dynamically filtered list. Simulated arenas shifted with elemental biomes, ancient wars, shattered dimensions, and mythic beasts. Every day brought new chaos.
Everett climbed.
He soared through his Day 1 matches. On Day 3, he lost once but recovered by summoning faster, moving smarter. By Day 7, he passed through Rank 170. His wins stacked. His skill with timing—summon-switching, aura placement, dagger strikes—refined itself with every encounter.
Rank 130 came and went.
Then 90.
By the start of Day 14, Everett stood at:
Everett Miracle
Class: Cube of Becoming
Tier-One Rank: 47/234
Record: 34 Wins – 6 Losses – 1 Draw
He had one battle left for the day. One final challenge before the ranking locked.
And that's when the next match was assigned.
▓▓▓ MATCH FOUND ▓▓▓
Name: Robert Mallant
Codename: R.M-77
Tier-One Rank: 15 / 234
Class: Celestial Line Swordsman
Record: 41 Wins – 1 Loss – 0 Draw
A quiet gasp spread among the students watching from the hallway screens.
Robert Mallant wasn't just strong—he was precise. Cold. Surgical. His duels were often under a minutes long. His only recorded loss had been to Vaelion Drex himself, and even that ended in a stalemate until sudden-death overtime.
Everett stared at the screen.
He tightened his gloves.
"Alright," he whispered, stepping into the simulation gate. "Let's dance, Rank 15."
[ Everett Miracle
Class: Cube of Becoming
Tier-One Rank: 47 / 234
Record: 34 Wins – 6 Losses – 1 Draw
Opponent: Robert Mallant
Class: Celestial Line Swordsman
Rank: 15 / 234
Record: 61 Wins – 1 Loss – 0 Draw ]
The chamber expanded into its full combat form.
From the far side, Robert Mallant appeared.
He looked to be Everett's age—perhaps even younger by a few weeks—but the pressure around him was uncanny. He wore a dark gray tunic with a single red thread sewn down its sleeve. On his hip, a katana rested, slightly curved, sheathed in ash-black lacquer.
Robert's eyes did not wander.
He walked three steps forward, nodded once—a bow not out of courtesy but ritual—and unsheathed his blade.
It was silent.
Everett's instincts screamed. He responded immediately, summoning every beast in his arsenal:
The Wind Elephant. The Phantom Bear. The Thornbear. The Plated Serpent. The Shard Vulture. The Ice Salamander. The Glimmerwolf. The Frostite Creature.
All of them.
And then—
Robert moved.
A single slash. Clean. Invisible.
Then another.
And another
The Wind Elephant dissolved mid-charge. The Glimmerwolf flickered, headless before it hit the ground
Ten slashes in total, barely perceptible to the eye. It was like the air bent and unbent in those moments. No beast had time to roar. No defense activated.
The next thing Everett saw was a flickering screen.
❌ MATCH ENDED Robert Mallant WINS Everett Miracle DEFEATED
Across the battlefield, Everett's summoned creatures dissolved into shimmering particles. The terrain, cracked and split, smoked slightly from lines too clean to comprehend.
Everett blinked.
And he was outside the dome.
His breath was steady.
His mind, stunned.
It was the first time he had been defeated so definitively.
He stood there in silence.
No anger. No denial. Just clarity. Whoever Robert Mallant was, he wasn't just strong—he was unreal.
Still, Everett had climbed from over two hundred to forty-seven in just under two weeks. He had faced some of the best. Won battles with mind, magic, and movement.
This loss didn't break him. It reminded him.
He wasn't the best.
Not yet.
---
Outside the arena, Gloria waved him down.
"So, that bad?"
Everett smiled weakly. "I think I saw my own death ten times."
Guruji Gopalan floated in on a tea cloud.
"You survived. That's already better than many."
"Wasn't even a contest."
"Yet you're still here. That's the part people forget."
Everett nodded, glancing back toward the still-glowing arena where Robert had stood.
"He wasn't just out of my league," Everett murmured. "He was playing a different game."
Guruji grinned. "Then learn the rules. Or change them."
Everett smirked. "I'll do both."