The Grand Arena of the Royal Aegis Academy was built to withstand the impact of Rank 4 spells, but as the iron gate groaned open, the very foundations seemed to tremble with primal fear.
The sound was the first thing that hit us. A wet, guttural rattling that echoed from the darkness of the beast-tunnel, followed by a scent so foul it made the students in the front rows gag—the smell of rotting meat and sulfur.
[Warning: High-Level Threat Detected!]
[Entity: Shadow-Stalker Chimera (Rank B-)]
[Status: Enraged / Scent-Marked]
I stood alone in the center of the sand, my shadow stretching long toward the VIP boxes. Julian von Krest stood there, his arms crossed, a look of simulated concern on his face that didn't reach his cold, calculating eyes.
"Since we are under lockdown," Julian's voice boomed, magically amplified to drown out the murmurs of the crowd, "the faculty has decided to test our 'Vanguard' candidates against the true threats of the border. Voss, you won't be sparring with a student today. Prove your 'luck' against a predator of the Void!"
The beast lunged.
It was a monstrosity of stitched-together nightmares. The body of a mountain lion, plated in obsidian scales, fused with the segmented tail of a Giant Scorpion. But it was the heads that made the Saintess-candidate Elara gasp from the sidelines—three skeletal wolf heads, their eyes glowing with an unholy violet fire.
It was a Rank B- beast. Three full ranks above my "public" status. In any other world, this was a public execution disguised as an exam.
"The gate lock! It's malfunctioning!" Julian shouted, his acting so wooden it was almost insulting. "Guards! Form a perimeter around the stands! Voss... try to stay alive until the containment team arrives!"
The Chimera didn't wait. It blurred. A creature of that size shouldn't have been that fast. It covered the fifty meters of sand in two heartbeats, its central head snapping at my throat while its scorpion tail whipped overhead to impale my heart.
The crowd screamed. Some turned away. They expected to see a commoner turned into a red mist.
I didn't draw the Raven's Talon. I didn't even move my feet.
"Quiet," I said.
I didn't use my voice. I used the Heart of the Forest. I tapped into the emerald core pulsing in my chest and projected a wave of "Sovereign Authority." To a beast like this, I didn't look like a human anymore. I looked like the forest itself—the ancient, looming power that had birthed its ancestors.
The Chimera's claws were inches from my chest when its entire body seized. It crashed into the sand, the momentum sending a spray of grit over my boots. It skidded, its heavy obsidian scales grinding against the stone floor, until it came to a halt right at my toes.
The arena went deathly silent.
The beast wasn't dead. It was trembling. Its six violet eyes were wide with a terror that surpassed hunger. It let out a low, pathetic whimper—a sound a Rank B monster should never make.
I reached out. My hand looked small against the skeletal armor of its central head. I didn't strike it. I gently stroked the bone-plate between its eyes.
"It's okay," I whispered, my voice carrying in the unnatural silence. "I know it wasn't your choice."
[Notice: 'Sovereign's Command' successfully applied.]
[Cost: 500 Karma Points.]
[Effect: The beast is now bound to your 'Intent' for 10 minutes.]
I looked up at the VIP box. Julian was no longer leaning back. He was gripping the stone railing so hard his knuckles were white, his mouth hanging open in a silent "O" of disbelief.
"Julian," I called out. My voice was calm, almost bored. "You mentioned a malfunction?"
Julian stammered, his eyes darting from me to the submissive beast. "Voss... what... what is this? Kill it! Kill it now!"
"I'm trying, Lord Julian," I said, a dark, thin smile touching my lips. "But I think the beast is confused. It's telling me... through a very specific mana-vibration... that someone rubbed 'Prowler Pheromones' on my jacket this morning. A substance that only the Krest family has the license to produce."
A collective gasp went up from the faculty. The "Demon Cult" lockdown had everyone on edge—and now, a noble was being accused of using a forbidden lure in a student trial.
"That's a lie!" Julian roared, but his intent, as seen through the [Eye of the Abyss], was a jagged, terrified white.
"It's a shame," I continued, patting the Chimera's neck. "The beast is very upset about being manipulated. I'm just a commoner with 'lucky' mana, Julian. I don't think I have the strength to hold its leash for much longer."
I pulled my hand back. I didn't give a command, but the Chimera felt my "Intent." It felt my cold, righteous fury toward the man in the red cape.
The beast stood up. It didn't roar. It let out a sharp, clicking hiss.
"Help!" I shouted, putting on my best 'panicked victim' face as I ran in the opposite direction. "The beast is out of control! It's going for the VIPs! Lord Julian, protect us!"
The Chimera lunged. It didn't look at the students. It ignored the guards. It flew through the air like a black meteor, its six eyes locked onto the man who had tried to turn it into a murderer.
[Notice: Karma Reward incoming!]
[Fate Branch: 'The Architect's Ruin' unlocked.]
[+2,200 Karma Points awarded!]
As the beast crashed into Julian's box, sending stone and silk flying, I stood in the center of the arena and wiped a single grain of sand from my sleeve.
The "Luck" of Kaelen Voss had struck again. And this time, it had teeth.