Lucien didn't glance back as he walked through the academy's moonlit courtyard. The garden behind him, the one where the shadows had whispered and House Ashen's elite had watched, now lay still—silent but stirred. A thread had been laid in Sariah Ashen's mind. Whether it became a noose or a bridge would depend on how well she valued ambition over loyalty.
He passed through one of the lesser-used halls of Crown Academy, a corridor lined with statues of forgotten mages—those who had once shaped empires and vanished without legacy. How fitting, Lucien thought. Power meant nothing without permanence.
---
[System Alert – Influence Update]
Sariah Ashen (Level 4 Operative in Training):
Status: Watching
Corruption Progress: 0%
Influence Type: Tactical Interest
[Note]: Operative now aware of being noticed. Curiosity seeded.
Lucien smiled faintly. He preferred curiosity to fear. Fear closed minds. Curiosity cracked them open.
---
The Inner Circle Forms
Back at his dormitory, Lucien reviewed a set of encrypted notes written in cipher only he could decode. They weren't his. They had been lifted from a secret archive—one of the hidden libraries buried beneath the eastern wing of the academy, a place even most instructors didn't dare enter.
"Project Omen," it read.
A list of students enrolled unofficially under proxy names. Children of assassins, spies, rogue factions. Tools trained from birth.
Sariah's name wasn't the only one highlighted.
Three others stood out.
Tallis Dren, -descendant of the Grey Maw syndicate—expert in silent poisons and alchemical subterfuge.
Liora Veyne-, rumored bastard of a royal enforcer, specializing in psychic scrying.
Eral Voss,- related distantly to Kieran, but listed as a sleeper—combat prodigy, unaware of his own conditioning.
Lucien's thoughts quickened. These weren't just students—they were weapons. Hidden pawns.
He had no intention of letting others play with pieces he could own.
---
The First Whisper to Power
Morning brought with it opportunity. As Lucien passed through the dining hall, his gaze caught on Marcia Valemont again. She still sat alone, but now her eyes lifted the moment he entered.
Hooked.
He sat near her but said nothing. Instead, he placed a single, worn volume between them.
"Aetheryn's Principles of Dual Realities."
Her eyes widened. "That's… extremely rare."
Lucien offered no smile this time, only a quiet murmur. "Understanding truth is easy. Shaping it is art."
She reached out and opened the book, fingers trembling slightly with anticipation.
And the Sovereign System hummed again.
---
[Influence Update – Marcia Valemont]
Status: Engaged
Corruption Progress: 2% → 7%
New Trait: Trust Formation
Passive Thoughts: "He sees something in me. I want to be worthy of it."
---
The Phantom Library
That night, Lucien returned to the hidden chamber where the Unlisted Files were stored—but this time, he came prepared.
A spell from the Mindwoven Grimoire, partially deciphered, now shimmered in his memory:
> [Spell: Mental Anchor – Level 1]
> Embed a lasting psychic tether in a location. Future visits enhance clarity, allow detection of intruders, and grant the caster partial awareness of nearby thoughts while present.
He activated the spell, blood from his thumb pressed into the ancient runes etched on the floor. The anchor flared, subtle and silent. Now this place would answer to him.
---
As Lucien stood in the middle of that sealed archive, books whispering secrets on every shelf, he whispered back:
> "This academy… this kingdom… every shadow cast here is just light waiting to be bent."
---
[System Notice – Zone Claimed: "The Forgotten Archives"]
Territory Control: Passive Influence Engaged
Benefits: +5% Illusion Effectiveness in Area, +1 Insight toward Hidden Student Files
Warning: Zone contains Unbound Relic – Status: Dormant
Lucien's silver eyes glinted. A relic? Something unbound?
The academy, it seemed, had secrets even the council hadn't mastered.
Good. That meant they still had something he could take from them.
And take it, he would.