Chapter 65: The Zenith

The ward was too quiet for the condition of the boy lying at its center.

Austin, the Head Healer of the Academy, stood beside the bed, watching Caelus’s unconscious figure.

Mana tubes were inserted into his hands, steadily feeding restorative mana into his damaged circuits. His skin was deathly pale. Dark purple veins spread beneath it, while several near his left arm had taken on a faint black color from the corrupted mana still lingering within his body.

Headmaster Dover stood behind Austin.

His oversized robe hung loosely from his small frame, making him look no older than eight.

"How is he doing, Austin?"

Austin didn’t answer immediately.

He continued examining Caelus for several seconds before finally looking toward the Headmaster.

"What kind of question are you asking me?" he said. "Does he look fine?"

Austin’s expression hardened.

"You and these ridiculous entrance examinations need to be stopped."

Dover spoke.

"You get more patients to work with instead of lazing around all day."

He looked genuinely offended.

"Isn’t this good enough for you?"

Austin pinched the bridge of his nose.

"By the Goddess, I still don’t understand how you became a Primordial."

Dover smiled.

The amusement disappeared from Austin’s face.

"This is serious, Headmaster."

He turned back toward Caelus.

"His mana circuits were almost burned out. If he hadn’t reached treatment as quickly as he did, he might not have been able to use them properly again."

His fingers moved over one of the mana tubes.

"Most of his circuits are damaged, fried, or contaminated. The remaining corruption isn’t spreading anymore. His body is adapting to it and forcing the residue out on its own."

Austin’s voice became grim.

"You could say his body was practically useless when he arrived."

Dover said nothing.

"The number of broken bones was absurd. Several were completely shattered. Others were fractured badly enough that I’m surprised he maintained any mobility at all."

Austin’s gaze moved toward Caelus’s abdomen.

"Then there’s the Divine Mana."

"The Hero’s attack."

"Yes. It left traces throughout his internal pathways."

Austin’s eyes narrowed.

"And his circuits also haven’t properly adapted to his current rank."

He hesitated.

"It seems he had forced his recent advancement too quickly."

Dover’s expression changed slightly.

"But?"

Austin looked at him.

"It’s his core."

For the first time, something close to disbelief entered his voice.

"If someone consumes a Corrupt core, forces their soul through rapid ascension, suffers this degree of internal damage, and then survives an attack saturated with Divine Mana..."

He exhaled.

"Their core should be fractured."

Dover remained silent.

"At minimum, there should be lasting damage. In the worst case, they’d be permanently weakened. If the damage were severe enough, the core could be crippled."

Austin looked directly at Caelus.

"But his core..."

He paused.

"There is nothing."

Dover raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing?"

"Not a crack or a fracture, not even a trace of corruption."

His expression darkened.

"I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been there watching the broadcast myself."

Silence settled over the ward.

Behind Dover stood Veyra.

Her disguise concealed most of her features, but her eyes remained fixed on Caelus.

Dover looked back at the unconscious boy.

"Keep this between us."

Austin gave him a tired look.

"Obviously."

Dover nodded.

Austin glanced at his reduced figure.

"I’ll never get used to seeing you like this."

"Get used to it."

Caelus stirred.

Pain reached him first, a deep pressure settling around his abdomen, followed by the sharp scent of medicine tearing through his nostrils.

Something cold pressed against his skin while muffled voices drifted through the haze of unconsciousness, distant and indistinct, slowly pulling him toward wakefulness.

He felt mana moving through his arms, forced carefully through damaged pathways in slow, controlled pulses.

His fingers twitched.

His eyelids opened.

A white ceiling greeted him.

For several seconds, he stared at it without moving.

Then he tried to lift himself.

Pain exploded through his abdomen.

His body immediately abandoned the attempt.

He lowered himself back onto the bed.

A face appeared above him, wearing a medical robe.

"You shouldn’t be conscious yet."

Caelus stared at him.

"That’s a great line to say to your patient."

Austin’s eyebrows lifted.

Caelus turned his head.

Two other presences stood nearby.

He recognized Headmaster Dover first.

Then Veyra.

His breath caught and he almost choked.

Caelus slowly pushed himself upright despite the pain and bowed his head.

"Caelus Vespera greets the Primordial of force."

Dover waved a hand.

"Relax."

Caelus straightened and shifted his eyes toward Veyra.

She was staring at him, her expression calm.

Caelus immediately knew he was going to have to endure an interrogation.

Probably several.

And Veyra had enough material to make it particularly unpleasant.

The only thing stopping her from starting now was the Headmaster standing between them.

Dover noticed the exchange and smiled.

"You have a lot to ask, right?"

Caelus remained silent.

"Say it, kid."

Caelus looked at him.

"How many survived?"

Dover’s expression became more serious.

"One hundred and fifteen."

Caelus went still.

His memory shifted instinctively.

The original story had left one hundred and forty survivors.

Twenty-five more people were supposed to walk out of this examination alive.

His gaze lowered.

Two thousand candidates had remained after the others withdrew from the examination.

Two thousand had remained for the examination.

One hundred and fifteen survived.

For a moment, Caelus said nothing.

"The creature?"

"It’s dead."

Caelus relaxed by a fraction.

His body might have been broken now, but at least the thing was dead.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Three days."

Caelus glanced toward the windows.

"Rankings?"

"Not ready yet."

Caelus nodded.

Dover looked amused.

"You don’t have anything else to ask?"

"No."

"Then I do."

Caelus’s eyes lifted.

Dover smiled.

"But I’ll wait until you recover properly."

He turned toward the door, eying Caelus from head to toe.

"I’ll excuse myself. Take your time and recover."

As Dover passed Veyra, she remained where she was.

Caelus looked at her.

Veyra’s lips moved without sound.

Martial Artist Department. Head Office.

Caelus understood immediately.

He catalogued it.

And considering the look in her eyes, surviving the S-rank creature might have been the easier part.

Veyra followed the Headmaster out.

He looked toward the door.

"Why am I the only one here?"

Austin looked back at him.

"Perks of being a duke’s son."

Caelus almost forgot he was a Vespera.

Austin gestured around the ward.

"You have your own medical ward. You’re being treated by some of the highest-level professionals available."

He paused.

"But we don’t exactly have people queueing outside while we’re trying to keep you alive."

"Who came?"

Austin looked toward the corridor.

"Selene Vespera. Azrael Vespera. And some maid claiming to be your personal attendant."

"Mira?"

Austin nodded.

"They came this morning."

"Where are they?"

"They left." He glanced toward the door. "Only the maid stayed."

"Let her in."

The door opened.

Mira stepped inside.

She looked terrible.

Her hair was slightly disheveled. Dark circles surrounded her eyes, and there were visible bags beneath them. Despite her attempt to remain composed, her hands trembled when she approached the bed.

Caelus watched her silently.

She bowed.

"Young Master."

Her voice sounded strained.

She moved to the side of the bed and carefully adjusted the pillow behind him.

Her fingers shook.

Then she reached for the glass of water on the table beside his bed.

Caelus took it himself.

Mira watched him drink.

Her eyes stayed on him the entire time.

He almost laughed.

"You were worried?"

She paused.

"Of course, Young Master."

Her voice cracked slightly.

"I don’t want to see you like this again."

Caelus paused.

Then gave a small shrug.

"I’m okay now."

Mira didn’t answer.

A tear slipped down her cheek.

She tried wiping it away, but more followed.

"Hic-I-I’m glad."

Caelus looked away.

---

The ranking announcement was scheduled for this morning.

Inside the Academy, over a hundred students gathered before the ranking board.

All two thousand candidates who had remained for the examination had known the risks.

Only one hundred and fifteen had returned.

The survivors stood among one another now, waiting to learn where they had placed.

Some students quietly predicted the results.

"The Hero has to be first."

"No question."

"Toren Vespera killed more creatures than almost anyone."

The magic plate flickered.

The conversations died instantly.

Runes began appearing across the surface.

The rankings began appearing from the top.

Caelus Vespera — 21,560 pts

Kills: 1 S-Rank, 30 C-Rank

For a heartbeat, the students simply stared.

Then another name appeared.

Eve — 20,540 pts

Kills: 5 B-Rank, 34 C-Rank

A murmur spread through the crowd.

Toren Vespera — 12,530 pts

Kills: 3 B-Rank, 25 C-Rank

Several people looked at each other.

Lucian Ashborne — 10,180 pts

The silence changed.

"The Hero..."

No one answered.

Eyes returned to the first line.

Caelus Vespera.

Everyone knew which Caelus this was. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

The third Vespera son.

The boy once considered a cripple.

The one whose potential had been recorded as D-rank.

The one who had entered the examination without the reputation of a serious contender.

And now his name sat above all of them.

A student near the front swallowed.

"That can’t be right."

Another stared at the board.

"The S-rank..."

Someone else whispered.

"He killed an S-rank?"

"No."

The first student shook his head.

"That’s not what it means."

They looked toward the enormous number beside Caelus’s name.

Twenty-one thousand.

More than the Hero.

More than everyone else.

Behind the students, several older candidates had gone pale.

Three consecutive years.

Three Vesperas.

A Vespera had stood at the top of the entrance rankings again.

The name itself had become a warning.

The Vesperas did not attend the Academy to compete.

They attended to dominate it.

And now another Vespera had done it.

The one nobody had expected to see anywhere near the top.

The noise in the hall disappeared.

Even those who wanted to dismiss the result couldn’t look away.

There was something deeply wrong about it.

The magic plate continued to glow and the first name remained unchanged.

Caelus Vespera.