The Elite Class training hall was a massive, reinforced dome made of mana-absorbent glass and polished steel. Out of the thousands of recruits, only twenty had been placed in this class. They were the heirs of massive guilds, military prodigies, and A-Rank anomalies.
And then there was Elias.
He stood in the back of the room, leaning casually against the wall with his hands in his pockets, completely ignoring the glares he was receiving.
"Alright, listen up!" Instructor Graves barked, stepping into the center of the sparring ring. "Being an Elite doesn't mean you get to sit behind a desk. It means you are the spearhead of humanity. Today is your first combat sparring session. Magic, weapons, and skills are all permitted. The arena barriers will prevent lethal damage."
Graves looked at his clipboard. "First match... Leo Valerius versus Elias."
The room buzzed with instant tension.
Leo Valerius stepped into the ring, a cruel, arrogant smirk plastered across his face. He cracked his knuckles, causing sparks of red fire to jump between his fingers.
"I've been waiting for this," Leo said loudly, making sure the rest of the class could hear. "You pulled a neat trick with that bear yesterday, Summoner. Maybe you used an illusion artifact, or maybe you just masked your scent. But real combat isn't a parlor trick."
Elias sighed slowly, pushing himself off the wall. He walked into the ring, his expression completely blank. "Are you going to talk, or are you going to fight?"
Leo's face flushed red with anger. "I'm going to melt the flesh off your bones!"
"Begin!" Graves shouted, stepping back.
Instantly, Leo unleashed his A-Rank mana. The air in the dome grew blisteringly hot. He raised both hands, and a massive, roaring serpent made of pure crimson fire materialized above him. The heat was so intense that the other students had to shield their faces.
"Crimson Serpent!" Leo roared. "Let's see you stare this down!"
He threw his hands forward, and the massive fire snake shot directly toward Elias, its jaws open wide to consume him in a blinding inferno.
Elias didn't move. He didn't blink. He simply looked at the shadow cast by his own sneakers.
"Block it."
From Elias's shadow, a single figure rose in the blink of an eye. It wasn't the towering Hobgoblin, nor was it the terrifying Death Knight. It was just a standard, Level 12 Shadow Knight clad in pitch-black, rusted plate armor.
To the untrained eye, it looked like a frail, undead summon.
The Shadow Knight didn't even draw its sword. It simply stepped in front of Elias and raised its left hand, heavily armored in dark mana.
BOOM!
The Crimson Serpent slammed into the Shadow Knight. A massive explosion of fire and steam filled the arena, obscuring everything.
Leo laughed triumphantly. "What an idiot! He tried to block an A-Rank fire spell with a low-level undead? It's ashes by now!"
"Are you finished?" a cold voice pierced through the smoke.
The flames parted, sucked into the void like water down a drain.
Leo's jaw dropped in absolute horror.
Elias was standing exactly where he had been, completely unharmed. Not a single thread of his hoodie was scorched. In front of him stood the Shadow Knight, its arm slightly smoking, but otherwise entirely intact.
Because the Shadow Knight was made of Elias's pure, abyssal mana—and Elias had the mana pool of an Epic Artifact—a basic A-Rank fire spell wasn't nearly enough to evaporate it.
Before Leo could cast another spell, Elias tapped his finger against his thigh.
The Shadow Knight vanished.
It didn't run; it sank into the ground and traveled through the shadows at breakneck speed. Less than a second later, the shadow erupted directly behind Leo.
A cold, dark blade made of pure shadowy energy rested gently against Leo's throat. The temperature around the arrogant young master dropped from a boiling inferno to freezing winter in an instant.
Leo froze, his eyes wide with sheer terror. He could feel the absolute, chilling intent of the blade. If this were a real battle, his head would already be rolling on the floor.
The entire Elite Class was dead silent. The A-Rank prodigy had been completely neutralized in less than five seconds, and Elias hadn't even taken his hands out of his pockets.
"Summoners are supposed to be weak at close range," Elias said softly, his voice echoing in the quiet hall. "Next time you try to burn me, Leo, I won't just let my shadow block it. I'll let him eat you."
Instructor Graves stared in disbelief. He had to force himself to speak. "M-Match over! Winner... Elias!"
The Shadow Knight immediately dissolved into black smoke, returning to Elias's shadow. Elias turned his back on the trembling Leo and walked casually back to his spot against the wall.
No one glared at him anymore. They looked at him with absolute, unadulterated fear. Elias had just established the hierarchy of the Elite Class, and he sat comfortably at the very top.
[Warning: An unusual concentration of dark mana has been detected beneath the Academy grounds.]
Elias blinked, looking at the sudden blue system prompt floating in his vision. He glanced down at the floor of the training hall.
An unusual concentration of dark mana? Right under a military base? Elias smirked inwardly. It seemed this boring school trip was going to be profitable after all.