They followed the angry elder to the front of the Gene Archive.
The reception area was massive. A polished oak desk stretched across the entire width of the entrance hall. Dozens of clerks in crisp black uniforms sat behind it. They processed the lines of freshmen quickly and efficiently. The sound of stamping paper and low voices filled the hall.
The elder bypassed the main queue entirely. He walked straight to a clerk at the far end of the desk.
"Process these two," the elder snapped. He pointed a wrinkled finger at Jin and Luna. "Outer-rim recruits. Free quota."
The elder did not wait for a reply. He turned around. The air warped around his body, and he vanished into thin air. He used his spatial movement technique to return to his guard post in room four.
Jin stepped up to the oak desk. He placed the heavy gold plate on the wood. The metal clacked loudly.
Luna stepped up beside him. She placed her small silver plate next to his.
The clerk looked down. He was a young man with glowing blue eyes. He picked up Jin's gold plate first. He read the heavy engraving. Devourer Gene Legacy.
The clerk paused. He looked up at Jin.
"Are you certain about this selection?" the clerk asked. His tone was entirely serious. "The fatality rate for this path is extreme. Most students who choose this legacy explode before their second year. You can still go back and pick a stable element."
"Process it," Jin said. His voice was flat. He wanted the asset. He had already calculated the risk.
The clerk sighed. He set the gold plate down. He picked up a square, black metallic device from his desk. It looked like a modern barcode scanner, but it was powered by an embedded green Aether crystal.
He pressed the scanner against the gold plate.
The green crystal flashed brightly. The device beeped with a sharp, electronic tone. It verified the selection against the main library database.
The clerk repeated the process with Luna's silver plate. He tapped the scanner against the metal. Another bright flash. Another sharp beep.
Behind the clerk, a massive machine sat against the stone wall. It was a bulky mix of heavy iron gears, glass tubes, and glowing Aether arrays. It was the Archive's internal printing press. It was a high-grade artifact designed for mass production.
The clerk pressed a button on his desk.
The iron machine roared to life. Thick, blank parchment fed automatically into the iron rollers. Blue Aether flared inside the glass tubes. The machine started rapidly printing exact copies of the selected manuals. It pulled ambient energy from the air to bind the ink perfectly to the pages.
"The printing cycle takes three minutes," the clerk stated. He reached into a drawer under the desk. "While you wait, you must complete the required paperwork."
The clerk pulled out two thick sheets of pale yellow parchment. He slid them across the polished oak desk. He placed a long black quill and a small glass bottle of dark red ink next to them.
"Read the document carefully," the clerk instructed. "Sign your name at the bottom."
Jin picked up the yellow parchment. His eyes scanned the text rapidly.
He felt a deep sense of familiarity. The Apex Empire was filled with gods, monsters, and magic. But corporate bureaucracy was a universal constant. This was a legal document. It was a binding contract.
More specifically, it was a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
Jin read the clauses with practiced ease. His corporate mind processed the legal jargon instantly. The Academy was giving them highly valuable intellectual property for free. In exchange, the Academy demanded absolute exclusivity.
The terms were incredibly strict.
Clause one stated the enrolled student was the sole authorized user of the provided legacy.
Clause two stated the student could not share, copy, or teach the legacy technique to anyone else. Not to family members. Not to trusted friends. Not to future children. The knowledge belonged exclusively to the Academy.
Clause three outlined the penalty for a data breach.
It did not mention fines. It did not mention lawsuits or academic suspension. The language was brutal, plain, and clear.
If a student leaked the legacy, the Genesis Zenith Academy would issue an immediate execution warrant. The elite disciplinary committee would hunt the thief to the absolute end of the universe. They would wipe out the student, and they would slaughter every single person who learned the stolen technique.
Jin appreciated the honesty. There was no confusing fine print. There were no hidden loopholes. Keep the corporate secret, or die. It was a perfectly fair trade for free power. It prevented market dilution.
He looked over at Luna.
She was reading her copy of the contract. Her hands were shaking. The color completely drained from her face. She was a simple ledger keeper from a dirty outer-rim town. She had never seen a legal threat this severe in her life.
"They will hunt us to the end of the universe," Luna whispered. She looked up at Jin with wide, terrified eyes. "If I say the wrong thing to someone... if I slip up... they will kill me."
"Then keep your mouth shut," Jin replied. His voice was low and perfectly calm.
He looked her directly in the eyes. He needed to ground her panic with simple logic.
"It is a standard NDA," Jin explained. "They are protecting their most valuable assets. We are getting a massive loan from the bank. The bank just wants to make sure we do not give their money to rival competitors. Do not teach your space technique to anyone. Ever. If you follow that one rule, you are completely safe."
Luna swallowed hard. She looked back down at the scary red text on the parchment. She took a deep breath. She nodded slowly.
"I understand," she said. Her voice stopped shaking.
Jin picked up the black quill. He dipped the sharp tip into the small glass bottle. The red ink was thick. It smelled like copper. It was blood-ink, mixed with raw Aether to bind the contract to the signer's life force.
He pressed the quill to the bottom of the parchment. He signed his name in quick, sharp strokes.
The red ink flared with a brief flash of heat the second he finished the last letter. It dried instantly. The contract was now biologically bound to his Aether signature.
He set the quill down. Luna picked it up. She signed her name beneath the warning clauses. Her signature also flared with a brief burst of heat.
The clerk collected the two signed contracts. He checked the signatures. He placed the yellow parchment into a secure metal lockbox under his desk.
"Agreements logged and verified," the clerk said.
A loud mechanical ding echoed from the heavy iron machine against the wall. The gears stopped turning. The glowing blue Aether tubes dimmed back to normal. The printing cycle was complete.
The clerk turned around. He opened a small metal hatch on the side of the machine. He reached inside and pulled out two fresh, thick books.
He walked back to the oak desk and set them down in front of Jin and Luna.
The first book was Jin's. It was a heavy manual with a stark, plain black cover. It looked exactly like the original copy locked inside the glass case in room four. The title Devourer Gene Legacy was stamped deeply into the thick leather. The book actually felt warm to the touch. It smelled like fresh ink and raw energy.
The second book was Luna's. It had a smooth, bright silver cover. The title Space Element Gene Legacy caught the light of the entrance hall. It looked clean and precise.
"Your signing bonuses," the clerk announced. He pushed the books closer to them. "You are now officially enrolled in the cultivation curriculum. Guard these texts with your lives. If you lose them or destroy them, the replacement fee is one hundred high-tier Aether cores."
Jin picked up the black book. It was heavy. It felt like a solid brick of lead in his hands.
This was his workaround. This was his operating system. This was his only path to power in a universe that wanted him dead.
He opened his grey spatial pouch. He placed the heavy black manual inside. The book vanished into the spatial pocket, perfectly secure.
Luna picked up her silver book. She did not have a spatial pouch. She hugged the thick manual tightly against her chest like a shield.
"Transaction complete," Jin said.
He turned away from the oak desk. The reception hall was rapidly filling up with more freshmen. The lines were getting longer. The noise level was rising as students argued over which legacies to pick.
They had exactly what they came for. The initial capital was secured.
"Let's go," Jin told Luna.
They walked toward the heavy iron doors of the Gene Archive. They stepped out into the bright sunlight of the Academy grounds. The air outside felt much lighter and easier to breathe than the dusty air of the vault.
Jin raised his left arm. He tapped his Aether-band. The blue holographic map flared to life above his wrist. He needed to chart the next move. They had the instruction manuals. Now they needed a safe, quiet place to read them. They needed to return to his aunt's estate.
The hostile takeover was moving to the research and development phase. Jin walked down the white stone path, ready to crack open the Devourer legacy and fix his broken body.