By dawn, the ranking board had learned how to bleed politely.
Monthly ranking calibration sounded administrative. In Astral Zenith, administration simply meant violence with signatures.
No one called it that, of course. Astral Zenith preferred cleaner language. Calibration. Evaluation. Public correction. Merit verification. Words polished so smooth that the cruelty underneath could see its reflection.
The board stood at the center of the eastern courtyard, ten stories of black crystal framed in gold. Names floated inside it like insects trapped in amber. Zenith at the top. Gold beneath them. Silver shining broad and unreachable. Iron packed so tightly the letters looked crowded. Obsidian at the bottom, where most students learned the academy's first lesson.
Talent rose.
Everything else was asked to justify breathing.
My name sat in Iron.
Cedric Valdrake Arkhen — Rank 612.
