The cavern stank of smoke and charred shell. The Drone Lord lay in ruin, its massive frame still smoldering from the cadets' combined magic. Cheers broke through the silence, shaky but triumphant.
"...We really did it…" one student whispered, before a roar of celebration erupted.
Instructor Hwang allowed them their moment, but his eyes remained on Rin. He had seen it — the precise cuts, the way Rin's sword ignored System prompts. That was not a cadet's technique.
Rin sheathed his blade silently. To him, the cheers felt hollow. He knew the truth: without his strike, without the Codex, the class would have been nothing more than corpses feeding the nest.
As they left the dungeon, the glow of the exit crystal reflecting in their tired eyes, Rin caught his reflection in its surface — calm, unreadable. But within, a whisper stirred.
Codex Record Engraved:
> "Borrowed power fades. The blade engraved in the soul endures."
---
Outside, guild scouts were waiting. Their eyes weren't on the class — they were on Rin.
"Who is that boy?" one murmured.
"The way he fought… Silver Fang will want him."
Instructor Hwang's jaw tightened. He already knew trouble was coming.
---
Back at the academy courtyard, System notifications rang like chimes. Cadets laughed, compared rankings, voices alive with pride.
But Rin's name was nowhere. Not first. Not even last. Just absent.
"Eh? How's that possible?" a student muttered. "He struck the boss first…"
"Maybe the System glitched?"
Only Rin knew the truth. The Codex did not register with the System. His power would never be ranked. To others, he would always be a shadow among brighter flames.
---
Later, the library's silence wrapped around him. Rows of forgotten tomes stretched into shadow. He turned a page, its ink faded but sharp in meaning:
> "When corruption touches the root, even the strongest fall to ash."
The words clung like smoke. He closed the book softly.
"Rin!" Min Jae-seok's familiar voice carried across the shelves. The telepath grinned, easy as ever. "You really carried us back there, didn't you?"
Rin's lips twitched, but he said nothing. If Jae-seok had truly glimpsed his thoughts, he would know — the Codex was not something meant to be shared.
---
That evening, a knock echoed at his dorm door. A messenger bowed, presenting a sealed letter stamped in silver wax. The Fang.
Inside, words heavy as steel:
> "Seo Rin, you are hereby invited to the Silver Fang Guild's trial. Bring only those you trust."
The seal gleamed under lamplight. The Fang had chosen him.
End of Chapter 7
Codex Record:
>"A borrowed ranking may lift you high, but it is a ladder that can be kicked away. The blade engraved within the soul has no rank, no master, no ceiling. To walk this path is to be unseen by the world, yet feared by those who glimpse its edge."