The crack in the Resonance Crystal was loud, like a bone snapping in a quiet room. The students nearby froze, their whispers dying out instantly. The proctor finally looked up from his ledger, his eyes bulging as he stared at the hairline fracture spider-webbing across the priceless holy artifact.
'Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I'm dead. I'm actually going to be executed right here in front of everyone,' Mordecai thought, his hand still glued to the cold stone.
His heart was hammering against his ribs so hard it felt like it might burst. The red warning on his screen was blinking like a siren, mocking him. He could feel the Abyss in his chest waking up, hungry to swallow the light radiating from the crystal.
'Stay down! You piece of shit shadow, get back in the hole!'
He gritted his teeth, forcing every ounce of his will to pull the dark mana back, dragging it away from his fingertips and burying it deep in his core. He imagined a heavy iron door slamming shut over the Primordial Hollow.
"What... what did you do?" the proctor stammered, his hand shaking as he reached for a communication crystal on his belt.
Mordecai pulled his hand back as if he'd been burned. He put on his best look of pathetic, wide-eyed terror—something he'd learned back in the Tower when the Elders were looking for someone to punish.
"I don't know! It—it just made a weird noise when I touched it! Is it broken? Did I break it? I'm so sorry, I don't have any money to pay for this!"
He made sure his voice cracked. He looked like a scrawny, terrified commoner who had accidentally tapped into a faulty machine.
A group of high-ranking mages in silver-trimmed robes rushed over, their faces pale. They poked and prodded the stone, casting diagnostic spells that hummed with annoying, bright light.
"The structural integrity is compromised," one of them muttered. "But there's no residue. No elemental signature. It looks like... a mechanical failure? The internal mana conduits must have overheated from the previous applicant."
"A Duke's daughter just used it," another whispered. "The Lady Solari's mana must have put too much strain on the core. This boy just happened to touch it at the breaking point."
'Yes. Yes, blame the rich girl. Blame the machine. Anything but me.'
Mordecai wiped sweat from his forehead, his legs feeling like jelly.
"Move him to the secondary testing stone," the lead mage ordered, looking at Mordecai with a mix of pity and annoyance. "We can't have a potential student lose his chance because of a technical glitch. Boy, go to the smaller stone over there. Try not to break that one with your 'bad luck'."
Mordecai nodded frantically and shuffled over to a smaller, less ornate crystal. This time, he didn't just suppress his power—he strangled it. He used the [Mana Suppression] passive he saw on his screen, imagining his mana as a tiny, flickering candle instead of a roaring void.
He touched the second stone. It hummed weakly, glowing a dull, pathetic greyish-blue.
"Mordecai Thorne. Mana Capacity: Low-Tier. Elemental Affinity: None," the proctor announced, his voice bored now that the excitement was over. "Rank: F. Proceed to the written exams."
Mordecai bowed his head and hurried away toward the main hall, his skin crawling.
'I did it. I'm a nobody. An F-rank loser. Perfect.'
As he walked, he could see Elara Solari watching him from the balcony of the VIP section. Her eyes were narrowed, as if she were trying to solve a puzzle that didn't quite fit.
'God, if she or any of these holy freaks find out I'm a Necromancer, they won't just expel me. They'll put me on a pyre and watch me burn while they sing hymns. Why the fuck is this my life? I just escaped a tower of psychos only to walk into a den of zealots.'
He found a seat in the massive examination hall, the blue screen finally fading back to its normal color.
[Status: Hidden] [Mana Output: 1%]
'One percent. If I have to fight anyone today, I'm going to have to do it with my bare hands or I'm going to trigger every alarm in this city.'