The first rays of dawn painted the sky in hues of soft rose and pale gold, filtering through the high arched window of the dormitory room. Fin woke to the unfamiliar stillness. He was usually the second one awake, but today, the other side of the room was not empty. Ren was still fast asleep, a rare and surprising sight. The boy, who typically vanished before the sun had even crested the horizon, was completely wrapped in his blanket, head and all, like a linen mummy. A genuine smile touched Fin's lips. It was a moment of unguarded peace, so contrary to Ren's usual intense demeanor, that Fin took a moment to commit the comical sight to memory.

With no classes scheduled, a void opened in his day. The investigation into the golem, the "Rebecca" construct, had been commandeered by Headmaster Elijah and Instructor Mara. Fin understood their reasoning, the threat was far beyond a first-year student, and their experience was invaluable, but it left him feeling sidelined, a pawn in a game he did not want to be in. He needed a distraction, a challenge. He needed to grind.

It had been a while since he had truly focused on pushing his skills forward. He'd been too caught up in conspiracies and surviving tribulations. With a thought, he called up his system interface, the familiar blue screen shimmering into existence.

Name: Fin Aodh

Age: 13

Core Status: Tier Two [Taranis Imprint]

Active Skills:

Lightning Armament* (Unique)

Level 3

Plasma Compression Core* (Unique)

Level 1

Dimensional Pocket Realm (Legendary)

Level 4

Passive Skills:

Convergent Equilibrium* (Unique)

Level 15

Electromagnetic Synchronization* (Unique)

Level 7

Theoretical Physics Application* (Unique+)

Level 2

Ambient Cloak (Unique)

Level 9

His eyes lingered on the list. The passives were the bedrock of his power, especially Theoretical Physics Application, the bridge between his old life and his new one. His active skills needed testing. But skills only grew through application, through stress and repetition.

An idea popped into his mind. Weeks ago, Instructor Gavric had given him a token. An access pass to a private training room. It was time to see what the upperclassman facilities were really like.

He slid out of bed, pulling on a simple gray tunic and trousers, the single embroidered star on his collar marking him as a first-year. Grabbing the heavy, metallic token from his dimensional pocket, he headed out, leaving the sleeping mummy undisturbed.

The walk across the main common was punctuated by stares. As he approached the Upperclassman Spire, a grand, intimidating structure of dark stone that spiraled deep into the earth, the glances from fourth and fifth-year students became more frequent and less subtle. Whispers followed in his wake. He ignored them, his focus fixed on the spiraling staircase before him.

He descended into the earth, the air growing cooler and smelling of old magic. The entrance room was a wide, circular chamber, its walls lined with doors bearing glowing runic numerals. Behind a large, imposing desk, a young woman with ink-smudges on her cheek was fast asleep, her head pillowed on a massive, leather-bound ledger, a thin line of drool connecting her to the priceless tome.

Fin cleared his throat.

The woman startled awake with a jolt and a soft snort. "Huh…wha? Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry!" She frantically wiped the slobber from her cheek with the back of her hand, her face flushing crimson. "I wasn't sleeping. Just... resting my eyes. The runes are very bright down here."

"Sure," Fin said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "I was told I could find a room reserved for Instructor Gavric."

Her eyes, now fully focused, scanned his tunic, lingering on the single star. Her professional demeanor snapped into place, laced with a mild condescension. "Aren't you a little young to be here? This area is for upperclassmen only. Three stars and above." She gestured vaguely back towards the stairs. "Please head back up and use the public training fields like the other first-years."

Fin sighed internally. This was exactly what he expected. Instead of arguing, he simply pulled the heavy token from his pocket and placed it on the desk with a solid thunk. "Uhm, but I have this?"

The secretary's eyes widened at the sight of the token. It was one of only a handful issued to instructors for their personal use. "Where did you get that?" she blurted out, before immediately shaking her head. "Never mind. I don't get paid enough to know. Or care."

Her entire attitude shifted from dismissive to efficiently helpful. She flipped through the ledger she'd been sleeping on, her finger tracing a line down a page. "Gavric... Gavric... ah, here. Go to Training Room Six and press the token into the door." She looked up at him. "Don't be alarmed when the door swallows the token. It's just registering the mana signature of the authorized user. It'll be returned to you when you're ready to leave." She leaned forward conspiratorially. "The rooms are said to be capable of handling anything up to a Tier Five meltdown, so don't worry about breaking anything. Have fun."

Fin nodded his thanks and headed down the indicated hallway, the stares of other students seeming to burn a little hotter now that he'd been granted access. He found the door labeled with a glowing '6' and pressed the token against its smooth, seamless surface. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the token was pulled from his grasp as if by a powerful magnet, sinking into the stone. Runes flared to life across the door, a complex matrix of light that blazed faster than Fin could perceive before vanishing, leaving behind a newly formed opening.

He stepped inside into a space that defied logic. The room was immense, easily the size of a football field, with a ceiling so high it was lost in shadow. He looked back, expecting to see the doorway he'd just entered, but there was only a flat, unbroken wall. The only indication of an exit was the token, sitting flush against the stone as if it had always been there.

Well, at least I know how to get out, he thought, a little unnerved.

He walked the perimeter, taking in the room's contents. Against one wall stood a row of mana manikins, their featureless faces unnerving. Most were marked with runic indicators for Tier Two and Tier Three. One, however, was locked behind a heavy, rune-etched cage, and its dormant mana signature felt... heavy. Oppressive. Maybe that one's for Gavric, he mused.

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Further down, a weapon rack held everything from wooden practice swords to gleaming metal halberds. And then, in a corner, was the oddest sight: a comfortable-looking couch and what appeared to be a fully stocked, magically chilled fridge. A small, personal touch that was so quintessentially Gavric it made Fin smile.

He shrugged and moved back to the center of the room. Time to work. He pointed a finger at five of the manikins marked 'Mid-Tier Two.' "Activate. Coordinated Assault."

The manikins stirred, their blank eyes glowing with a blue inner light. He stood opposite them, took a deep breath, and summoned his power.

Crackling blue-white energy exploded from his core, but this time, Fin paid attention to every nuance. He felt the mana flow through the pathways the Taranis Imprint had carved through his body, not just his meridians, but new channels that followed the patterns of his nervous system, his cardiovascular network, creating a secondary circulatory system of pure electrical potential.

The energy wove around his body, and his Lightning Armament skill engaged. But instead of crude set of armor, Fin tried something different. He visualized the armor not as medieval plate, but as a second skin, a bioelectric field that could selectively harden or soften based on need.

The result was extraordinary. The lightning didn't simply coat his body; it integrated with it. His muscles became fiber-optic cables of contained electricity. His bones became superconducting rails that could channel devastating amounts of energy without resistance. His skin became a dynamic interface between his internal electrical system and the outside world.

The armor wasn't separate from him, it was him, elevated to his fullest potential.

"Begin."

The moment the word left his lips, the manikins surged forward with silent, surprising fluidity. They weren't clumsy puppets; they were a hunting pack, and Fin immediately understood why upperclassmen trained down here. These constructs moved with tactical intelligence.

Two fanned out to his flanks, exploiting his peripheral vision. One lunged straight for his chest, forcing him to commit to a defensive position. The other two circled behind, their movements synchronized to create a gap in his awareness. They struck with methodical precision, not trying to overwhelm him with brute force, but to systematically dismantle his defense through superior positioning and teamwork.

The first exchange taught him humility. A wooden blade whistled past his ear, missing by millimeters. A metallic fist grazed his ribs, sending shock waves through his new armor configuration. Each near-miss was a lesson in the gap between his ambitions and his current capabilities.

But Fin was nothing if not adaptable. Fin learned to flow with it.

He began to notice patterns. The manikin on his left favored overhead strikes. The one on his right attacked in combinations of three. The one behind him was patient, waiting for openings created by the others. Armed with this knowledge, Fin began to adapt.

His Lightning Armament shifted and flowed around him like liquid electricity. When the left manikin raised its weapon for an overhead strike, Fin's shoulder armor thickened and angled, creating a deflection surface that turned the blow aside rather than absorbing it directly. When the right manikin began its three-strike combination, Fin's torso armor became flexible, allowing him to bend and weave between the attacks like a dancer.

[Lightning Armament has reached Level 4]

The notification came as Fin successfully parried four attacks simultaneously, his armor reconfiguring in real-time to meet each threat. This was exactly what he needed, focused refinement of his existing abilities. His Electromagnetic Synchronization passive skill helped him maintain perfect awareness of the manikins' positions, but his primary focus remained on perfecting his Lightning Armament.

Each exchange taught him something new about armor efficiency. The bulky plates he'd been using were wasteful, requiring massive amounts of mana for protection he didn't always need. Instead, he began experimenting with thickness and density. A thin layer of highly compressed lightning could deflect a glancing blow just as effectively as a thick plate, using a fraction of the energy.

He practiced shifting the armor's distribution in real-time. When a manikin struck at his shoulder, he would concentrate the protective field there, letting other areas thin out temporarily. When multiple attacks came from different angles, he learned to create reinforcement patterns that spread the impact across multiple points rather than trying to tank each hit individually.

The manikins continued their relentless assault, and Fin used each strike as a lesson in optimization. His armor became more responsive, more efficient. Where it had once been a static shell, it now flowed like liquid metal, always reforming to meet the next threat with minimal energy expenditure.

But the real breakthrough came when he stopped thinking of his Lightning Armament as armor at all.

His armor didn't need to work like metal plate, it could work like an electromagnetic field because that's exactly what it was.

He could make sections more flexible to absorb impact, or rigid to deflect attacks. He could create angled surfaces that redirected force rather than absorbing it. Most importantly, he could extend the field slightly beyond his body, creating a buffer zone that turned direct hits into glancing blows.

The transformation was gradual but profound. His mana consumption dropped dramatically as he learned to work with electromagnetic principles rather than against them. A manikin's fist would strike what looked like empty air, only to be deflected by an invisible barrier of compressed lightning positioned inches from Fin's actual body.

The manikins' coordinated assault continued, but now their strikes seemed to slide past Fin like he was made of quicksilver. His electromagnetic armor rippled and flowed around him, each adjustment more efficient than the last, always seeking the perfect balance between protection and energy conservation that his instincts demanded.

[Lightning Armament has reached Level 5]

[Electromagnetic Synchronization has reached Level 8]

The notifications came in rapid succession as Fin's understanding of defensive applications deepened.

The five manikins continued their relentless assault, but now their strikes seemed to slide off Fin like water off glass. His electromagnetic field rippled and flowed around him, creating barriers where needed, deflection surfaces where optimal, and always, always maintaining the perfect balance of protection and efficiency that his Convergent Equilibrium demanded.

It was in this moment of perfect synchronization between his skills, his understanding, and his physical form that slow, deliberate clapping echoed through the vast chamber.

The sound shattered his concentration like a crystal bell hitting stone. His electromagnetic field wavered, his precognitive awareness faltered, and in that single instant of vulnerability, he became fully, tragically human again.

The manikin that he'd sidestepped pivoted instantly, its fist connecting solidly with the side of his face. His head snapped back, stars exploding across his vision, and the world momentarily went white.

"Pause!" A familiar voice boomed, sharp with alarm.

Instantly, the five manikins froze in place, their glowing eyes dimming to harmless blue dots.

Fin's vision cleared slowly, revealing Kellan rushing toward him with genuine concern etched across his features. The older student was dressed in his own training gear, practical leather reinforced with metallic threading, the kind of equipment that spoke of serious, regular use.

"Fin! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Kellan said, extending a hand to help steady him.

"You're fine," Fin grunted, accepting the assistance while rubbing his jaw. The impact had been solid, but his Lightning Armament had absorbed most of the blow. Still, it was a humbling reminder of how dangerous distraction could be in combat. "My fault. I shouldn't have let myself get distracted in a fight."

He looked at Kellan with curiosity. "What are you doing here so early?"

Kellan gave him a wry smile. "I should ask you the same thing. I thought you'd lost this token or thrown it away. It's been weeks."

"I... had a lot come up," Fin said, the understatement of the century.

"I figured," Kellan said, his expression turning serious, his eyes filled with a knowing look that suggested he understood far more than he was letting on. "I heard some rumors about the other day."

There was weight in those words. But before he could ask what Kellan meant, the older student's expression shifted to something between admiration and determination.

"Let's work to make you stronger."

The younger boy gave the older teen a wicked smile, his earlier frustration transforming into anticipation. This was exactly what he'd been hoping for.

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