The night after the exam, the silence of my bedroom was broken only by the crackle of violet energy.
I sat cross-legged on the silk sheets, the heavy leather-bound tome I had plundered from the dungeon floating before me.
[Skill Book: Shadow Sovereign].
It pulsed with a heartbeat of its own, whispering ancient, unintelligible promises into the back of my mind.
"Learn," I commanded.
The book dissolved into streams of dark light that shot into my chest. A sensation like ice water flooded my veins, followed by a burning, addictive rush of power.
[Skill Acquired: Shadow Sovereign (Legendary - Level 1)]
[Passive Effect: You are the King of the Dead. Shadows obey your will.]
[Active Effect: Shadow Extraction. You can extract the mana-echo of slain enemies to serve as soldiers.]
I stood up and looked at my shadow. It stretched across the floor, darker and deeper than it should be.
"Let's test it," I whispered. "Arise."
I focused on the memory of the Abyssal Knight—the Level 20 Elite I had cheese-killed in the dungeon. Because the system had registered the kill, his "soul" was technically mine to claim.
The shadows on the floor boiled. A hand made of black smoke clawed its way out of the carpet. Slowly, a figure rose. It was the Abyssal Knight, but changed. He was no longer a towering giant of blue steel; he was a sleek, six-foot warrior composed of shifting darkness and violet flames.
He knelt before me, his head bowed low.
"I await orders... My Liege."
His voice sounded like grinding stones.
"You need a name," I mused, walking around him. "Nero. You will be my shadow."
"Nero... accepts," the knight growled, bowing lower.
I dismissed him with a wave of my hand, and he melted back into my shadow, ready to be summoned instantly. Perfect. I now had a Level 20 bodyguard that no metal detector could find.
The next morning, the sun rose over the Academy, but the mood was anything but bright.
I checked my phone in the limo. The news of the Shattered Star Stone had caused Vayne Corp stocks to jump by 15% overnight. Investors loved power. I was now significantly richer than I had been yesterday.
I entered the main building and headed for the top floor. Class S-1.
This was the classroom reserved for the monsters. The heirs, the prodigies, and the freaks of nature.
When I opened the door, the chatter died instantly.
Twenty students sat in the tiered lecture hall. Every single pair of eyes locked onto me. Some held fear, others jealousy.
I spotted Seraphina Frost in the second row. She was staring at her desk, her knuckles white. When I walked past her to take a seat in the back, she flinched—a tiny, involuntary spasm of her shoulders.
Good, I thought. She remembers the fear.
Kaelen was sitting in the front row, right in the "teacher's pet" spot. He still had bandages on his face from his Hard Mode run. He glared at me as I sat down, his eyes burning with that annoying "I will defeat you with hard work" energy.
Suddenly, the classroom door slammed open with enough force to crack the frame.
A man walked in. He was massive, easily six-foot-five, wearing a sleeveless tactical vest that showed off arms as thick as tree trunks. His face was a roadmap of scars, and he had a mechanical mana-prosthetic for a left eye.
Instructor Gideon. The "Iron Wall." Level 60.
He didn't say hello. He walked to the podium and glared at us.
"So," Gideon growled, his voice like gravel. "These are the so-called 'geniuses' the Empire has gathered. You look like soft, spoiled trash to me."
He slammed his fist onto the desk.
"I don't care who your daddy is. I don't care how much money you have. In my class, power is the only currency. And right now... I'm going to check your wallets."
BOOM.
Gideon flared his mana.
It wasn't an attack; it was pure, suffocating pressure. A Level 60 aura crashed down on the room like a falling building.
"Ugh!" A noble boy in the third row rolled his eyes back and fainted instantly, foaming at the mouth.
"Weak!" Gideon roared. "Drag him out! If you pass out, you're expelled from Class S!"
The pressure increased. It was heavy, hot, and terrifying.
Seraphina gritted her teeth, ice forming on her desk as she used her mana to shield herself. Kaelen was shaking violently, his hands gripping the desk so hard the wood splintered, but he refused to bow his head. His "Heroic Will" trait was fighting back.
"Not bad," Gideon sneered, looking at Kaelen. "You have guts, boy."
Then, Gideon's mechanical eye swiveled to the back of the room.
I was sitting with my legs crossed, scrolling through the news on my phone. I took a slow sip of the coffee I had brought with me.
The pressure washing over the room? My [Villain Aura] ate it for breakfast. My stats were already absurd, and the [Shadow Sovereign] passive made me immune to fear-based intimidation.
Gideon's eye twitched.
"Vayne," he barked.
I didn't look up. "Busy, Instructor. Vayne Corp stocks are fluctuating."
The class gasped. Nobody spoke to "The Iron Wall" like that.
Gideon marched up the stairs, his boots thudding heavily. He stopped right in front of my desk, his massive shadow looming over me. The pressure focused entirely on me, intense enough to crush a normal student's bones.
"You think this is a joke?" Gideon whispered, his voice dangerous. "You think because you broke a rock, you're untouchable? I can snap your neck before your bodyguards even blink."
I finally put my phone down. I looked up, meeting his glare.
"Snap my neck?" I asked calmly. "You can barely keep your own mana stable, Instructor."
I activated [Eyes of Truth].
[Target: Gideon (The Iron Wall)]
[Level: 60]
[Status: Critical Mana Rot (Stage 4)]
[Secret: Sustained a cursed wound in the Northern War. Life Expectancy: 2 Years. In constant pain.]
I stood up. I was shorter than him, but I didn't back down an inch.
"That war wound in your left lung," I said, my voice low enough that only he could hear. "It burns, doesn't it? Every time you channel mana, it feels like swallowing glass. The doctors told you it's incurable. Mana Rot."
Gideon froze. The aura around him flickered and died. His human eye widened in genuine shock. "How... how do you know that? That's classified medical data."
"I know everything," I bluffed smoothly. "But here is what you don't know. Vayne Corp's R&D division has just synthesized a prototype Star-Tear Elixir. It's the only thing on the planet capable of reversing Stage 4 Mana Rot."
Gideon's breath hitched. Hope—desperate, terrifying hope—flashed across his scarred face. He knew Vayne Corp had the resources. He knew I wasn't lying.
"You..." Gideon swallowed hard. "You have it?"
"I can get it," I corrected, fixing my cufflink. "But I don't give charity to people who threaten me. So, here is the deal. You stop this posturing, you treat me with the respect a majority shareholder deserves, and maybe... just maybe... a shipment finds its way to your office."
The silence stretched for five seconds.
Gideon looked at me. He looked at the class watching him. Then, the "Demon Instructor" took a step back.
"Take your seat," Gideon said, his voice gruff but lacking its previous bite. "Mr. Vayne."
As the massive instructor backed down, the shadow cast against the lecture hall wall twitched imperceptibly. Nero was stirring in the darkness, agitated by the scent of Gideon's weakness, eager to devour a prey that had lost its will to fight.
"Down," I whispered under my breath, suppressing the shadow.
"Thank you, Professor," I smiled coldly.
I sat back down and took another sip of coffee.
The entire class stared at me in horror. They hadn't heard the whisper. All they saw was the terrifying instructor getting in my face, me saying a few words, and the instructor backing down.
Kaelen looked back at me, his jaw hanging open. "What... what just happened?"
His mind raced, a cold knot of despair tightening in his chest. Hard work... willpower... burning mana until my veins felt like fire... I did all of that, and I barely withstood the pressure. Lucas didn't even lift a finger. None of my effort mattered against him.
I didn't answer him. I glanced at Seraphina. Her gaze lingered on me longer than before. Through the [Eyes of Truth], I saw the numbers shift.
[Target: Seraphina Frost]
[Affection: +15 → +25 (Fear/Admiration)]
[Thought: "He controls even the instructors… what else can he control?"]
[System Notification]
[Subjugated Authority Figure: Instructor Gideon.]
[Reward: +500 Destiny Points.]
[Gideon's Loyalty: 40% (Transactional)]
My phone buzzed on the desk—a notification from the exchange.
[Vayne Corp Stock: +8% (Trend: Bullish)]
[Reason: Rumors of Heir's Overwhelming Authority.]
I smirked behind my coffee cup. Fear is profitable.