Chapter 5: The Genius Misunderstanding

The notification on Kael's panel read three simple words.

[ Luck Event Triggered ]

Kael stared at it, then he looked around the empty hall, as if someone might appear to explain what that meant.

Nobody appeared, and he looked back at the panel.

[ Luck Event Triggered ]

[ Details: Unclassified ]

"Unclassified," he said quietly.

The panel disappeared on its own.

Kael sat there for a long moment, then stood, straightened his uniform, and walked out of the awakening hall. He had no idea what a Luck Event was, what unclassified meant in this context, and absolutely no idea why his panel had decided to tell him about it now instead of earlier, when it might have actually been useful.

The hallway outside was mostly empty.

Evening had settled over the academy. The wall-mounted lanterns lit the stone corridors, casting a warm orange glow across the floors. A few students moved in the distance, talking quietly. The air smelled faintly of old books and something metallic that Kael could not quite identify.

He started walking back toward the dormitory, and he had made it about thirty steps when he heard voices around the corner.

Three of them, male, and loud enough to carry.

"Did you see the ranking board?"

"Kael Draven. First place."

"That has to be a mistake."

Kael slowed down.

"It is not a mistake," a third voice said. "My brother is a second year. He said the stone has never broken before. Not once. Not in the entire history of the academy."

A pause. "So what does that mean?"

"It means Draven is either the strongest student to enter in decades," the third voice said, "or something very strange is going on with him."

Another pause. "Draven looked confused the whole time, though."

"That is what they all say. The really powerful ones always act like they have no idea what they are doing. It is a strategy."

Kael pressed his back against the wall and closed his eyes.

A strategy.

They thought his confusion was a strategy, and he exhaled slowly through his nose, then turned the corner.

The three students saw him immediately and fell quiet, the way people do when they have just been caught talking about someone and know it.

Kael looked at them, and they looked at him.

One of them, a short boy with round glasses, gave a small, awkward bow.

Kael blinked.

"Please do not do that," he said.

The boy straightened quickly, and Kael walked past them without another word.

Behind him, he heard one of them whisper, "Even the way he walks looks calculated."

Kael kept walking.

He turned another corridor, went up a flight of stairs, and found his dormitory room with the help of a small nameplate beside the door. He pushed it open, stepped inside, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

The room was exactly as he had left it, simple furniture, a cracked mirror, and a candle that had burned slightly lower.

His panel reappeared.

[ Rank: 1st Year, 1st Place ]

[ Mana: F ]

[ Luck: SSS ]

He stared at the rank line for a long time.

First place, with F rank mana, and because he had tripped.

Kael lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

His old life had been simple. Invisible, he had gone to work, come home, eaten cheap food, and repeated the cycle until it ended in the most embarrassing way possible.

Nobody had noticed him, nobody had watched him closely, and nobody had ever said his name with anything other than indifference.

Now he was in a new world with a broken stone, a strange notification, and a ranking that made no sense.

He closed his eyes, and then someone knocked at his door.

Kael opened his eyes, and he sat up slowly.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened.

It was Mira Solen, a girl from his year with a bright expression and slightly too much energy for this late in the evening. She had short brown hair and the particular look of someone who collected information and enjoyed doing it.

"You are Kael Draven," she said, as if confirming something important.

"I am," he said.

"First place."

"Apparently."

She leaned slightly against the doorframe.

"Everyone is talking about you," she said. "The hallway incident, broken stone, and Darius's face when the board went up." She smiled. "It was a very good face."

Kael rubbed the side of his head.

"None of it was intentional," he said.

"That is exactly what everyone expected you to say."

Kael stared at her.

"Why does no one believe me when I say that?"

Mira tilted her head.

"Because the results keep contradicting you," she said. "You say you did nothing. Then something extraordinary happens. People tend to trust results over explanations."

Kael had nothing to say to that.

Mira straightened up.

"Anyway," she said, "I came to tell you that Professor Hale has scheduled an individual session with you tomorrow morning. Early. Before regular classes."

Kael felt a familiar weight settle over him.

"Of course he has," he muttered.

"Also," Mira added, her smile returning, "Darius Vane has been telling people the ranking is wrong and that he intends to prove it."

Kael looked up.

"How?"

Mira's smile widened just slightly.

"He challenged you to a duel," she said.

Then she gave him a small wave and disappeared down the hallway before he could respond.

Kael sat in the silence of his room.

A private session with a suspicious professor in the morning, a duel challenge from the top rival in his year, and a Luck Event, he still did not understand.

He looked at his panel one more time.

[ Luck: SSS ]

"Okay," he said softly. "Let's see how this goes."