The **Grand Hall of Assessment** was a cavernous dome of glass and gold, large enough to house a dragon. Sunlight filtered through the stained-glass ceiling, painting the floor in mosaics of saints and martyrs.
At the center stood the **Evaluating Crystal**.
It was a massive, spinning diamond, suspended in a magnetic field. It hummed with a low-frequency vibration that made Silas's teeth ache.
"Next! Rank 124!"
A girl in silk robes wept with joy as her score appeared in the air.
"Rank 890! Rejected!"
A commoner boy was dragged away by guards, kicking and screaming.
Silas stood in the back of the "Unsorted" line, observing. He wasn't watching the students. He was watching the machine.
*Input: Mana.*
*Output: Number.*
But the algorithm was flawed.
He watched a commoner with dense, powerful Earth Mana touch the crystal. The boy was strong—stronger than most knights. But his mana was "muddy." The crystal glowed a dull brown.
**Score: Rank 400.**
Then, he watched a noble with thin, wispy Wind Mana touch it. The boy was weak. He would die in a real fight in ten seconds. But his mana was "bright." It resonated with the holy frequency of the crystal.
**Score: Rank 50.**
"Divine Favor," Silas muttered. "They mistake brightness for power. They mistake gold for value."
"It's not a mistake," a voice said beside him. "It's a feature."
Silas turned.
Standing next to him was a girl who looked like she had stepped out of a stained-glass window—and then broken it.
She had hair the color of midnight, tied back in a severe, practical braid. Her eyes were a startling, piercing violet. She wore the uniform of a High Noble, but unlike the peacocks around her, hers was devoid of jewelry or frills.
**Elara Vexley.**
The future **Saint of Laws**. The woman who would one day try to single-handedly arrest the Pope for corruption during the middle of a demon invasion. She was the one person in history Silas respected—and the one person he feared.
Because Elara Vexley had a superpower that no magic could replicate: **Absolute Moral Clarity.**
"Lady Vexley," Silas said, keeping his voice neutral. "I didn't expect a Duke's daughter to be standing in the 'Unsorted' line. Don't you have a private box?"
"I like to see the competition," Elara said, her eyes fixed on the crystal. "And I like to see the lies. That boy—" She pointed to the rejected commoner. "He had more raw mana than the Stormwind boy. But the crystal is calibrated to react to 'Holy Resonance,' not density. The Church filters out Earth and Shadow affinities because they're 'ugly'."
Silas felt a chill. She was sixteen. How did she already know that? In his timeline, she hadn't started questioning the dogma until she was twenty.
*Did I change something?* Silas checked his interface.
**[CDI: 3.8%]**
**[Timeline Stability: 96.1%]**
No. She was just... sharp. Sharper than he remembered.
"Maybe Earth mana is just harder to polish," Silas suggested, playing the fool.
Elara turned those violet eyes on him. It felt like being scanned by a laser. "You don't believe that. You're standing with your weight on your back foot, ready to run. You're observing the crystal's pulse rate, not the score. You're calculating something."
*Shit.*
"I'm calculating if I have enough coin for lunch," Silas lied, offering a self-deprecating smile. "Bread is expensive in the capital."
Elara stared at him for a second longer, then looked away. "Lying is a survival trait, I suppose. Just make sure you don't lie to the crystal. It explodes if you try to feed it fake mana."
"Next! Silas Vane!"
The Proctor's voice cracked like a whip.
Silas took a breath. "Nice meeting you, My Lady."
"We'll see," Elara said. "Don't disappoint me, Vane."
Silas walked up the platform. The Crystal loomed over him.
He placed his hand on the cold surface.
*Connect.*
He felt the Crystal's consciousness—a dumb, artificial intelligence designed by the Church. It probed him.
*Query: Lineage?*
*Answer: None.*
*Query: Faith?*
Silas paused. If he said "None," he'd be flagged as a Heretic.
*Answer: Devout,* Silas projected mentally. He pulled a memory of a hymn he had learned in boot camp. He fed that borrowed emotion to the machine.
**[System: Faith Simulation Active.]**
**[Fate Leverage: -0.05% Stability.]**
The World stuttered for a microsecond as the lie became truth.
*Query: Mana Volume?*
Now for the hard part.
Silas opened the floodgates of his core—just a crack. He needed to be exactly average.
He pushed the mana out. The Crystal glowed... a soft, mediocre blue.
**Rank 600...**
**Rank 550...**
**Rank 510...**
*Perfect,* Silas thought. *Hold it there.*
But then, he felt it.
A pulse from the **Paradox Engine** in his chest. The Artifact was reacting to the Crystal's probe. It wanted to feed. It wanted to eat the divine energy of the test.
*No!*
The Engine lurched. A spike of Void Energy shot down his arm.
Silas violently *wrenched* his hand back, severing the connection physically before the Void could touch the Divine.
*CRACK.*
A small spark jumped from his finger to the Crystal. The massive diamond didn't shatter, but it... skipped. The glowing light flickered for a microsecond, turning from blue to a deep, void-black, before snapping back to blue.
It happened so fast only two people saw it.
Silas.
And Elara Vexley.
"Hand removed!" The Proctor yelled. "Premature disconnection! Score finalized at... **Rank 499**."
Silas let out a breath, sweating. Rank 499. One spot better than his target, but safe.
"Cadet Vane," the Proctor sneered. "Weak resolve. You pulled away because it tickled? Pathetic. Go to the C-Block dorms."
"Yes, sir," Silas mumbled, clutching his shaking hand. "Sorry, sir. Nerves."
He hurried off the stage, his heart racing. That was too close. The Engine was unstable.
As he walked past the waiting line, he met Elara's gaze.
She wasn't looking at his score. She was looking at his hand. And she looked... terrified.
She had seen the black light.
**[CDI: 3.9% (Rising)]**
**[Suspicion Level: Elara Vexley (Low -> Moderate)]**
Silas merged into the crowd, pulling his hood up.
*Great...* he thought. *Day One, and I already have a stalker.*
***