The morning air was crisp, biting at the edges of Kael's thin robes as he made his way toward the North Training Grounds. Today wasn't a general assessment, it was a "Dueling Insight" session. Second and third-year students were paired to exchange pointers, a practice meant to foster camaraderie but which usually devolved into a theater of public humiliation for the low-born.
"You are tense," the Relic observed. Its voice had become a constant, grounding hum in the back of Kael's mind.
"It's hard not to be," Kael muttered under his breath, adjusting his collar. "Yesterday's stunt with the array has already made people look at me differently. Halvek isn't an idiot. If I keep passively enduring things I shouldn't be able to survive, they'll dissect me."
"Precisely," the relic replied. "Which is why we will provide them with a lie they are eager to believe. You cannot remain a 'zero' forever, Kael. In this world, a zero is an eyesore. But a flaw? A flaw is something people can categorize. They can pity it. They can ignore it."
Kael slowed his pace. "What kind of flaw?"
"The 'Flicker Core.' It is a rare, tragic condition where a mage possesses high-grade mana but has fractured circulation pathways. The power leaks, sparks, and ultimately fails. It explains why you cannot maintain a steady spell, but also why you can occasionally manifest bursts of power that defy your rank."
Kael felt a shift in his chest. The relic was manipulating the seals it had placed on his Mana Heart. Instead of a total, silent vacuum, he felt a sudden, jagged heat. It was like a dam had developed a hairline fracture, just enough to let a spray of mist through, but not the flood.
"I will regulate the output," the relic continued. "Your task is to act. When you strike, you must look like you are struggling to hold back a storm that is already killing you."
~~~
The North Grounds were already crowded. In the center of the ring stood Luna, a third-year student with copper-red hair and a reputation for being as sharp as the wind-blades she favored. She was a commoner who had clawed her way into the top ten through sheer ruthlessness, a stark contrast to the effortless elegance of nobles like Lucien.
Lucien himself was present, leaning against a weapon rack, surrounded by his usual circle of sycophants. His eyes, cold and calculating, immediately locked onto Kael as he approached.
"Ah, the Unmoved Stone," Lucien called out, his voice smooth as silk and twice as dangerous. "I heard about your performance yesterday, Kael. Passive endurance? Quite a feat for someone with no mana."
"It was just luck, Lucien," Kael said, keeping his eyes downcast.
"Luck doesn't stabilize a Grade-4 interference array," a new voice interrupted.
A girl stepped out from behind Luna. She was small, with large, inquisitive eyes and ink stains on her fingers. This was Mina, a prodigy in Runic Theory who was often teased for being more interested in how spells were built than how they were cast.
"The resonance was... flat," Mina said, walking a slow circle around Kael. "It was like the mana just... gave up when it touched you. That shouldn't happen."
Kael felt a bead of sweat roll down his spine. The Relic's warning about 'attention' was proving prophetic.
"Enough talk," Instructor Halvek shouted, stepping into the ring. "Luna, you're up. Ashborne, since you're so fond of standing still, you'll be her partner. Show us if that 'passive endurance' holds up against a living opponent."
The crowd snickered.
"Placing a low level mage against an high rank duo qi cultivator, is there even a need to watch the combat?"
Luna stepped forward, her eyes narrowing as she unsheathed a training saber. The air around her began to hum, the unmistakable vibration of Wind duo qi.
"Don't worry, Ashborne," she whispered as they faced off. "I'll make it quick. I don't like bullying the defenseless."
"Begin!"
Luna moved like a blur. She didn't use a spell because she was a duo qi cultivator, not a mage. Her saber whistled through the air, aimed squarely at Kael's shoulder.
"Now!" the relic commanded.
Kael didn't dodge. Instead, he raised his forearm in a desperate, clumsy block. At the moment of impact, the relic released a jagged burst of mana from Kael's heart.
BOOM.
A shockwave of raw, unrefined energy erupted from Kael's arm. It wasn't a shield, it was an explosion. The silver-white light flared brilliantly, clashing with Luna's wind-enhanced blade. The force sent Luna skidding back five feet, her boots carving ruts into the dirt.
The courtyard went deathly silent.
Kael didn't stand tall. He collapsed to one knee, clutching his arm, his face contorted in genuine pain as the relic forced his Qi pathways to snap shut, simulating a backlash. He coughed, a small trickle of blood escaping his lip, a byproduct of the relic's "refinement" of his acting.
"What... what was that?" someone whispered.
"Did you see the color? That was High-Grade Mana! But it was... erratic."
Lucien straightened, his casual posture vanishing. His eyes were wide, fixed on the fading sparks around Kael.
Instructor Halvek was at Kael's side in an instant. He grabbed Kael's wrist, his own mana probing Kael's arm. Kael felt the relic's deceptive work, it felt like his meridians were a jagged mess of broken glass and leaking energy.
"A Flicker Core," Halvek breathed, his voice a mix of shock and pity. "By the Heavens... no wonder your tests were zero. Your body is a sieve. You have the potential of a High Mage, boy, but your pathways are... they're a ruin."
Kael looked up, his eyes watery from the actual strain of the relic's grip. "Is it... bad, Instructor?"
Halvek sighed, releasing his wrist. "It's a tragedy. You're like a furnace with no chimney. You'll have these bursts of power, but they'll tear you apart if you try to use them. You're not talentless, Ashborne. You're cursed."
The mood in the courtyard shifted instantly. The mockery died, replaced by a strange, heavy silence. To be talentless was one thing, you were just a peasant. But to have "High-Grade" potential that was physically impossible to use? That was a special kind of hell.
Luna stood nearby, sheathing her sword. She looked at Kael not with contempt, but with a strange, fierce spark of recognition. "A curse is just a wall," she said softly, loud enough only for him to hear. "You either climb it or you die at the base."
Mina, the runic prodigy, was staring at the ground where the explosion had occurred. She frowned, her fingers twitching as if she were tracing invisible lines.
~~~
Later that night, back in the safety of his room, Kael slumped against the door. "That was... terrifying."
"But effective," the relic replied. "You are no longer a mystery. You are a 'broken genius.' The Academy will leave you alone now, pitying your 'failing' health. Even Lucien will stop seeing you as a threat and start seeing you as a curiosity."
"And the cost?" Kael asked, looking at his bruised arm.
"The cost is that you must now cultivate in the shadows of your own lie. The Flicker Core will be your mask. But remember, Kael..."
The relic's voice dropped an octave, vibrating in his very marrow.
"The presence I sensed earlier... it did not look for mana. It looked for balance. The lie fooled the students. It did not fool the depths."
Kael looked toward the window. Far below the foundations of Arcanum, in a place where the light of the crystals never reached, an ancient eye opened. It didn't care about flickering mana or broken pathways.
It had felt the quiet. And it was hungry for the source.
"I need to get stronger," Kael whispered. "Faster."
"Then tomorrow," the relic said, "we stop balancing. We begin to hunt."