The heat radiating from the silver coin in Kai's pocket wasn't the warm, fuzzy glow of a job well done. It was the searing, localized burn of a branding iron.
"Elena," Kai said, his voice dropping the playful edge that had defined their late-night training session. He didn't look at her; his eyes were fixed on the far end of the West Gymnasium, where the rows of high-tech training equipment cast long, distorted shadows against the polished floor. "You might want to step back. I think I'm about to have a very un-fun visitor."
Elena Frost didn't move. Instead, her aura flared—a sudden, sharp drop in temperature that sent a fine mist of frost skittering across the floor. "The 'Snake' coin. It's reacting."
"Reacting is a polite word for it," Kai grunted, clutching his thigh through his trousers. "It feels like it's trying to burrow into my femur."
[Warning: Interception in 04:12...] [Targeting: Evolving Core Signature.]
"They don't waste time," Elena whispered. She stepped toward the center of the gym, her silver hair shimmering like a halo of ice. "Kai, if they're coming for you here, on campus, they aren't just scouts. They're retrievers."
Suddenly, the overhead mana-lights flickered—once, twice—and then died. The gymnasium was plunged into a thick, artificial darkness. The only light came from the blue glow of the emergency exit signs and the faint, crystalline shimmer radiating from Elena.
Click. Click. Click.
The sound of footsteps echoed from the vaulted ceiling. It wasn't a human gait. It was too rhythmic, too mechanical.
A figure dropped from the rafters, landing silently thirty feet away. In the dim light, Kai could see a man wearing a high-collared black trench coat, his face obscured by a mask that featured a single, glowing violet eye in the center.
"The fruit is ripe," the figure said, his voice a synthesized rasp. "And the Ice Empress is standing in the way of the harvest. How inconvenient."
"Who are you?" Elena demanded. A jagged spear of ice manifested in her right hand, the air around it crackling with S-rank intensity.
"A gardener," the man replied. He raised a hand, and five metallic spheres drifted from his sleeves, hovering in the air like predatory wasps. "And you, child, are a frost-nipped rose. Beautiful, but ultimately a distraction."
The spheres hissed, glowing with a sickly violet mana.
"Kai, move!" Elena shouted.
She lunged forward, a wave of frost erupting from her feet to freeze the very air in front of the intruder. But the man didn't flinch. The spheres accelerated, spinning into a blur and emitting a high-frequency pulse that shattered Elena's ice-wall into fine powder.
Kai felt the pulse hit him. Usually, a mana-shock of that magnitude would have scrambled his nervous system, leaving him paralyzed. But as the wave passed through him, a new sensation took hold.
[Passive Trait Activated: ADAPTIVE BODY – Grade D] [Detection: High-Frequency Mana Shock.] [Adjustment: Neural pathways insulated. Physical Resistance applied.]
Kai didn't collapse. In fact, he felt a strange, cold clarity. The vibration of the spheres didn't hurt; it felt like a map, showing him exactly where the mana was densest.
"He's still standing?" the man in the coat muttered, the violet eye on his mask pulsing. "The F-rank is resisting a Grade-B Nullification Pulse? Fascinating. The reports didn't mention an innate resistance."
"That's because the reports are trash!" Kai yelled.
He didn't run away. He ran at the man.
He triggered Focused Breathing, his 6.35 Stamina fueling a burst of speed that caught the intruder off guard. Thanks to Adaptive Body, the increased air resistance of his own movement didn't slow him down; his body streamlined its posture instinctively.
[Movement Logic Copied: Null-Shell Slide.]
He used the movement he'd stolen from Brooks Vance, sliding beneath the arc of the hovering spheres. He reached the man and delivered a palm strike aimed at the central eye of the mask.
The man tilted his head with inhuman speed, Kai's hand whistling past his ear. "Impressive. You mimic the logic of those you fight. But logic is a cage, boy."
The man grabbed Kai's arm. His grip was cold—not the clean, sharp cold of Elena's ice, but a greasy, artificial cold that felt like it was trying to drain the very heat from Kai's blood.
[Warning: Thermal Drain Detected.] [Adaptive Body Adjustment: Thermoregulation activated. Blood flow redirected to core.]
Kai felt his arm go numb, but the "drain" stopped at his elbow. He used his other hand to grab the man's lapel, pulling him into a brutal headbutt.
CRACK.
The violet eye on the mask shattered. The man stumbled back, a hiss of escaping gas sounding from his collar.
"You... little... brat," the man rasped, his voice no longer synthesized but human and filled with venom.
"I prefer 'talented underdog,'" Kai panted, his head throbbing but his body already repairing the minor concussion.
"Enough!" Elena's voice was a scream of freezing wind.
She didn't use a spear this time. She unleashed a blizzard. The entire West Gymnasium was filled with swirling crystalline shards. The man in the coat tried to recall his spheres, but they were instantly encased in blocks of S-rank ice, crashing to the floor like stones.
"You are outmatched, Retriever," Elena said, her eyes glowing with absolute blue light. "The Academy's security is already on its way. If you don't leave, I will freeze your blood in your veins."
The man looked at the shattered violet eye in his hand, then at Kai, who was standing his ground despite the frost-burns on his arms.
"The Snake doesn't lose its prey," the man whispered. "It just waits for the prey to get comfortable. See you at the Ranking Test, Kai Rowan. We'll be watching to see just how much more you can 'adapt.'"
With a flick of his wrist, a cloud of thick, violet smoke erupted from his coat. By the time Elena's wind cleared the air, the man and his spheres were gone.
The silence that followed was heavy. The emergency lights flickered back on, casting a pale, flickering light over the frost-covered gym.
Elena slumped against a training rack, her breathing heavy. The S-rank blizzard had drained her, even with her massive mana pool. "Are you... okay?"
Kai looked at his arms. The frost-burns were already fading, the red, irritated skin turning back to its normal hue before his eyes. "I'm fine. Better than fine, actually. I think my body just learned how to handle frost-bite."
[Adaptive Body Progress: Grade D (6.2%)] [Note: Environmental exposure has increased cold resistance by 5%.]
Elena walked over to him, her silver hair damp with melted ice. She reached out and touched his arm, her eyes widening as she felt the heat radiating from his skin. "Your recovery speed... it's not human, Kai. Even for an E-rank."
"It's the new passive," Kai said, pulling up his screen and showing it to her. He didn't see the point in hiding it from her anymore; she'd just saved his life, and she was the only one who knew the truth.
Elena read the description of Adaptive Body. Her hand trembled slightly. "This is why you didn't shatter in the gravity room. Your talent didn't just grow your stats; it changed your fundamental biology to support the growth. You're not just building a house, Kai. You're reinforcing the foundation while the walls are still going up."
"It's a handy trick," Kai joked, though his eyes were serious. "But he said something. He said he'd see me at the 'Ranking Test.' What does that mean?"
Elena's face went pale. "The Ranking Test. It's the official Academy assessment. It's separate from the Mock Combat Tournament."
She turned toward the main doors of the gym, where the sound of running footsteps and shouting instructors could finally be heard.
"The Mock Tournament is for show," she whispered. "But the Ranking Test... that's where they determine your social status for the next three years. It's a full-scale dungeon simulation. Real monsters. Real danger. And the entire faculty—including the Headmaster—will be watching every move."
Kai felt a chill that had nothing to do with the room's temperature. "And the Snake organization?"
"They'll be there too," Elena said, looking at him with a mix of dread and determination. "They always have 'observers' at the Ranking Tests. It's how they find their 'fruits.'"
The gym doors burst open. Headmaster Vance, Commander Graw, and a dozen security guards rushed in, their talents flared and ready for combat.
Vance's eyes swept over the frozen gym, the shattered spheres, and finally, Kai and Elena standing together in the center of the wreckage.
"Explain yourselves!" Vance roared, his voice shaking the remaining glass in the rafters.
"We were training, Headmaster," Elena said, her voice instantly returning to its frosty, aristocratic calm. "We were attacked by an intruder. A 'Retriever' from an unknown organization."
Vance's eyes locked onto Kai. "And you, Mr. Rowan? You're still standing. Why are you not in the infirmary?"
"I've got a very sturdy constitution, sir," Kai said, giving a weary, sarcastic shrug. "Must be all the oatmeal."
Vance didn't look convinced. He looked at the frost-covered floor, then at the shattered violet glass near Kai's feet.
"Enough," Vance said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous frequency. "The investigation will begin immediately. But before that, there is an announcement you need to hear."
He looked at the students who had begun to gather at the doors, then back to Kai.
"In light of the security breach and the upcoming tournament, the Board of Directors has moved the schedule forward," Vance announced. "The School Ranking Test will begin in forty-eight hours. All students—from S-rank to F-rank—will be deployed into the Sector 7 Forest Dungeon. Your performance will determine your permanent rank and your future in this Academy."
Vance leaned in closer to Kai, his eyes like flint. "I hope your 'oatmeal' is as effective as you claim, Mr. Rowan. Because in Sector 7, there are no ice walls to hide behind. There is only the survival of the fittest."
[New Quest: The Sector 7 Gauntlet] [Objective: Survive the Ranking Test and reach the Top 10 Leaderboard.] [Constraint: Do not expose the Origin of your Talent.]
Kai looked at the golden screen, then at Elena's worried face, and finally at the Headmaster's predatory smile.
"Sector 7," Kai whispered, his heart thumping with a mixture of terror and exhilarating hunger. "Well, I guess it's time to see how much I can adapt in two days."