The Dead Zone was quiet. Not the peaceful quiet of a library, but the tense quiet of a graveyard waiting for a fresh burial.
Ren moved through the twisted mangroves, his boots silent on the black mud. The Void-Sheath strapped to his back was humming faintly. It had absorbed enough excess Void energy from his body to be dangerous. If he drew the Rusted Blade now, the first strike would carry a volatile discharge of chaotic mana.
"A loaded gun," Ren whispered, touching the hilt. "Save it for the big game."
He wasn't looking for monsters. The Tier 3 golems were scrap metal now. He was looking for the other predators in this jungle.
The exam rules stated that students needed to collect tokens to pass. Copper tokens were held by Tier 1 golems. Silver by Tier 2. Gold by the rare Tier 3s.
But the rules also stated: Tokens may be acquired by any means necessary.
Ren checked his Nature Sense. The swamp was thick with mana interference, but he could feel a cluster of bright, arrogant magical signatures about half a mile to the east. Fire. Wind. Light.
The Nobles.
Ren adjusted his mask and changed direction. Why fight monsters for tokens when you can rob the people who already did the work?
***
East of the Dead Zone: The "Safe" Clearing.
Lord Valerius stood in the center of a clearing, surrounded by five other noble students. The ground around them was scorched black, littered with the broken remains of Tier 1 Wood Golems.
"Pathetic," Valerius spat, kicking a wooden head. "Alaric promised us a challenge. These things break if you look at them wrong."
He held up a small pouch. It jingled with Copper and Silver tokens.
"We have enough to pass, my lord," a Wind Mage named Kaelen—the same bully Ren had embarrassed in the dorms—said nervously. "Perhaps we should head to the exit?"
"Pass?" Valerius sneered, small flames licking his fingers. "I don't want to just pass. I want the Gold tokens. I want the top ranking. It's the only way to wash away the humiliation of that... thief."
He touched his throat, which was still bruised from Ren's grip the night before.
"I'll find him," Valerius snarled. "And when I do, I'll burn the mask off his face."
Snap.
A twig broke nearby.
The nobles instantly formed a defensive circle, wands raised.
"Who's there?!" Valerius demanded. "Show yourself, or face the wrath of House Ignis!"
From the dense fog of the Dead Zone, a figure walked out. He wore common leather armor, covered in swamp mud. A black cloth mask covered the lower half of his rugged face.
He looked unremarkable. Like a lost F-Rank student.
Except for the eyes. They were deep-set, dark, and utterly devoid of fear.
And he was carrying a sack over his shoulder that clanked with the sound of heavy metal.
"You," Valerius whispered, his voice dropping an octave. "The thief."
Ren stopped ten paces away. He dropped the sack. It landed with a heavy thud that made the ground shake slightly.
It wasn't full of tokens. It was full of the obsidian plating he had stripped from the Tier 3 Hunter Golems.
"You're looking for Gold tokens," Ren said, his voice rough. "I have three."
He held up his hand. Three gleaming gold coins were woven between his fingers.
Valerius's greed warred with his caution. "You defeated three Tier 3s? Impossible. You have no mana."
"They tripped," Ren lied smoothly.
"Kill him," Valerius ordered. "Take the tokens. And take his head."
The five noble lackeys hesitated. This was the thief who had fought Sebastian to a draw.
"Move, you cowards!" Valerius screamed. "Fireball!"
He launched a Tier 2 fire spell directly at Ren's chest.
Ren didn't dodge. He took one step forward.
Internal Art: Mass Anchor.
He increased his density instantly. The fireball hit his leather chest armor. It exploded, scorching the leather, but Ren didn't budge an inch. His feet sank two inches into the mud from the force.
"My turn," Ren said.
He lunged.
He moved with the terrifying momentum of a falling boulder. He closed the ten-pace gap in a heartbeat.
The Wind Mage, Kaelen, tried to cast a Wind Barrier.
Ren didn't punch him. He shoulder-checked the barrier.
CRACK.
The barrier shattered like glass. Ren's shoulder slammed into Kaelen's chest. The noble flew backward, hitting a tree with sickening force. He slumped to the ground, out cold.
The other four nobles panicked. They fired a chaotic mix of Water Bullets and Light Arrows.
Ren weaved through the attacks, using Void Step to reduce air resistance, sliding across the mud like a phantom.
He grabbed a Light Mage by the collar. He didn't hit her. He just threw her.
Mass Transfer.
He threw her toward Valerius. But as she left his hand, he briefly transferred his internal mass into the throw. The girl, weighing a hundred pounds, flew through the air with the kinetic force of a cannonball.
Valerius had to cancel his second spell to dive out of the way. The girl hit the ground where he had been standing, creating a small crater.
"Monsters are easy," Ren muttered, grabbing two Water Mages by their heads and slamming them together. "They have patterns. Humans just have panic."
In less than thirty seconds, five nobles were down. Moaning, bleeding, or unconscious.
Only Valerius remained.
***
Valerius stood alone, his hands trembling, the flames sputtering on his fingertips.
"You... what are you?" Valerius whispered. "You're not a student. You're a weapon."
Ren walked toward him. He didn't draw his sword. He didn't need it.
"I'm the consequences of your family's greed, Valerius," Ren said.
He stopped three feet away.
Valerius, driven by pure fear, unleashed everything he had left. "INFERNO WAVE!"
A tsunami of fire erupted from his body, consuming the entire clearing.
Ren didn't move. He activated the Abyss Markings. The black veins flaring under his scorched tunic.
The fire washed over him. It burned his clothes. It blistered his skin.
But it didn't stop him.
He walked through the inferno, his dense flesh absorbing the heat, his Void energy eating the magical structure of the flames.
He emerged from the fire, smoking, his mask burned away to reveal his rugged, determined jaw.
Valerius fell to his knees, exhausted, his mana depleted. He looked up at the boy who walked through fire.
"Please..." Valerius begged. "Take the tokens. Take everything. Just let me leave."
Ren reached down and ripped the pouch of Copper and Silver tokens from Valerius's belt. He added them to his own Gold ones.
"I'm not just taking the tokens, Lord Ignis," Ren whispered, kneeling down so they were eye-to-eye. "I'm taking your ranking. I'm taking your pride. And soon..."
Ren stood up, turning his back on the broken noble.
"...I'm taking your family's future."
Ren walked away into the fog, leaving Valerius shivering in the mud, surrounded by the unconscious bodies of his friends. The Freshman Hunt was over.
And the real war had just begun.