Chapter 20: The Scholar's Respite
The massive, ancient stone of the ziggurat vibrated beneath our boots. A deep, mechanical groaning echoed through the Bloodwood, drowning out the distant screams of the remaining squads.
"Ten seconds!" Rolf howled, his yellow Beast-Aura violently flickering as he swatted away a stray fireball from the tree line. "Hold the stairs!"
"I'm holding, I'm holding!" Nyssa yelled back, her hands shaking as she maintained a fragile, shimmering emerald shield over our flank.
I was on my hands and knees in the mud, my ears still ringing a high, agonizing pitch from the Elven siege spell detonating. My muscles felt like they had been run through a meat grinder. Using The Sovereign's Conduit to swap between Aura and Magic twice in under a minute had completely drained my F-Grade core.
Five... Four...
A massive, shadowy dire-wolf broke through the tree line, its jaws slavering as it bounded up the stone steps toward Nyssa's blind spot.
Before I could even force my exhausted body to move, a flash of silver intercepted it. Kaelith materialized from the gloom, her daggers sinking flawlessly into the beast's neck. She used its own momentum to flip it over the edge of the stairs, landing silently back on the stone. The silver bracelet I'd given her caught the glow of Nyssa's shield.
Three... Two... One.
The sky directly above the ziggurat tore open.
A blinding, deafening pillar of pure, crystalline blue mana erupted from the center of the ruins, shooting straight up into the clouds. The sheer atmospheric pressure of the Geyser expanding knocked all four of us flat on our backs.
A mechanical, disembodied voice boomed across the entire forest.
"THE BLOODWOOD GEYSER HAS BEEN SECURED. SQUAD GRIK QUALIFIES. INITIATING RECALL."
The blue light swallowed us whole. The smell of burning pine and blood vanished, instantly replaced by the sterile, ozone-heavy scent of the Academy's Grand Hall.
Gravity slammed back into us. I hit the polished obsidian floor of the hall with a wet, heavy thud, groaning as every abused nerve in my body protested.
Around us, the massive hall was dead silent. Professor Hilde and Arch-Lich Malacor stood on the elevated professors' dais, staring down at us. Dozens of upperclassmen and eliminated first-years lined the balconies.
We looked like absolute hell. Rolf's fur was singed black in patches. Nyssa's pristine uniform was covered in soot, her glasses cracked down the left lens. Kaelith was drenched in black monster ichor. And I was covered head-to-toe in mud, ash, and bruises.
"They... they actually held it," an Orc noble muttered from the balcony, his voice carrying in the dead silence. "The goblin squad took the center."
I let my head fall back against the cold floor, staring up at the vaulted ceiling. I took a deep, rattling breath, the adrenaline finally crashing out of my system.
"You know," I rasped, my voice echoing slightly in the massive hall. I didn't get up. I just lay there like a discarded ragdoll. "The ancient, enlightened scholars of the East had a very profound saying for moments exactly like this."
Rolf groaned, rolling over onto his back next to me, clutching his ribs. "Please... by the Ancestors, tell me you're not going to give a lecture right now. I'm bleeding from my ears."
"It's a very important philosophical tenet, Rolf," I continued, keeping my delivery deadpan and entirely serious as I stared at the ceiling. "They looked upon the vast, terrifying chaos of the universe, and they whispered... 'It is what it is.'"
For a second, nobody moved.
Then, Rolf let out a sudden, barking laugh that immediately turned into a violent cough. "It is what it is? That's your grand wisdom? We almost got vaporized by a Solar Lance!"
"According to the fundamental laws of arcane thermodynamics," I wheezed, finally propping myself up on one elbow and wiping a thick layer of mud off my cheek, "we totally winged that."
"We did not wing it!" Nyssa snapped, though the fierce, indignant scowl on her face was completely ruined by the soot smudged across her nose. She scrambled over to me, her emerald eyes scanning me frantically. "That was a highly calculated disruption of a Class-3 lattice structure! You utilized a localized mana-pulse to destabilize the caster's core alignment!"
I looked at the High Hobgoblin, completely deadpan. "Nyssa, I slapped a guy in the spine and prayed. That's not a lattice disruption. That's a felony."
Kaelith let out a sound that was dangerously close to a genuine, audible snort.
The Shadow-Knight walked over, ignoring the staring nobles, and effortlessly reached down to haul me to my feet. Her grip was firm, checking my balance before she let go. "Let the tactician speak his nonsense, Nyssa," Kaelith said, her voice softer than it had been in weeks. "He earned it."
Nyssa huffed, crossing her arms, but she couldn't hide the overwhelming relief in her eyes. "Your mana pathways are behaving like a drunk tavern brawler. You shouldn't even be conscious, Grik."
"My skeletal structure is currently holding a grievance meeting," I agreed, leaning slightly on Kaelith's shoulder.
Up on the dais, Professor Hilde slammed the butt of her spear against the floor, silencing the murmurs of the crowd. A slow, genuinely predatory smile stretched across her scarred face.
"Squad Grik," Hilde announced, her voice booming with absolute authority. "First to secure the Geyser. First to qualify for the Main Tournament. Report to the infirmary to have your burns treated. You have earned your rest."
As we limped together toward the heavy oak doors leading out of the Grand Hall, the System chimed in my mind, a warm, golden glow replacing the usual aggressive red.
[QUALIFIERS SURVIVED. REWARDS CALCULATING...]
[Massive EXP gained.]
[Host Physical Status Update: Level 9 -> Level 10]
[CRITICAL SYSTEM ALERT]
Host has reached the physical threshold. The F-Grade core has fully stabilized.
[Species Evolution: Stage 1] is now unlocked. Please find a secure location to initiate biological restructuring.
I stopped walking for a fraction of a second, my breath hitching in my throat. Level 10. The seed was finally ready to sprout.
"You okay?" Rolf asked, glancing down at me, his amber eyes worried.
"Never better, Rolf," I said, a slow, genuine smile spreading across my bruised face. I looked at the werewolf, then at the brilliant mage, and finally at the deadly knight holding my arm. We were a squad of rejects and anomalies, and we had just put the entire Academy on notice.