The morning after the fountain incident, the palace was buzzing like a disturbed hornet's nest. Rumors spread through the servants' quarters and the noble halls alike. Prince Jiro, the prodigy of fire, had been found trembling in the gardens, claiming that his magic had simply "stopped working."
Kaito sat in the library, hidden behind a fortress of books. He wasn't studying ancient history anymore. He was busy analyzing the new data Riya's [Debugger] had unlocked.
[Admin Level: 1][New Feature: Remote Process Kill (Range: 5 meters)][Current Vulnerability: Physical Fragility]
"Kaito, you've gone too far," Kenji whispered, leaning over the table. His face was pale. "Jiro is furious. He's telling Father that you used some kind of cursed 'forbidden artifact' to steal his mana."
"Let him talk," Kaito said without looking up from his invisible terminal. "He can't prove anything because there was no mana. I didn't steal his power, Kenji. I just closed the application he was running."
Kenji sighed, pushing a heavy, metallic object across the table. It was a broken, rusted sword hilt from the royal armory. "If you're going to keep doing this, you need a focus. I found this in the 'Discarded Assets' pile. It's made of Black Quartz, a material that is notorious for being 'Mana-Resistant.' No mage can use it because it refuses to hold a charge."
Kaito's eyes lit up. To a mage, mana-resistance was a flaw. To a hacker, it was the perfect [Hardware] for an isolated system.
Kaito touched the hilt. His interface immediately reacted.
[Unknown Peripheral Detected...][Material: Void-Grade Quartz][Property: Null-Field Generation][Action: Initialize as External Drive?] [Y/N]
Kaito pressed [Y]. Suddenly, the rusted hilt began to glow with the same sapphire blue as his terminal. The rust flaked off, revealing a sleek, obsidian-black surface. He began to type, his fingers moving like lightning.
[Command: sudo_format --target: black_quartz_hilt][Command: install_bootloader --version: Glitch_OS_v1]
"What are you doing to it?" Kenji asked, mesmerized by the blue sparks jumping from Kaito's fingers to the metal.
"I'm turning it into a [Root Blade]," Kaito explained, his voice strained from the effort. "It won't have a physical blade made of steel. It will generate a blade of pure, raw code. Anything it touches will be 'De-compiled'."
Suddenly, the library doors slammed open. Prince Hiroshi walked in, his armor clanking. His face was uncharacteristically grim.
"Kaito, Kenji. Out. Now," Hiroshi commanded.
"Brother, what's wrong?" Kaito asked, hiding the black hilt under his cloak.
"The King has summoned the Royal Inquisitor," Hiroshi said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Jiro's claim of 'stolen magic' has reached the ears of the High Council. They don't believe you're mana-less anymore. They think you're a [System Intruder]—someone from the forbidden lands beyond the server-border."
Kaito's heart skipped a beat. If the Inquisitor scanned him, they might find his invisible interface.
[Warning: High-Frequency Pulse Detected!][Source: Royal Inquisitor's Scan][Firewall Status: 45% - Failing!]
"You need to leave the city for the training camps today," Hiroshi said, grabbing Kaito's shoulder. "The Royal Duel has been moved up. It's in forty-eight hours. They want to force you into a situation where you have to show your true power."
As they hurried out of the library, Kaito felt a sharp vibration in his palm. The black hilt was vibrating. A message appeared on his HUD, but it wasn't from his own system. It was a broadcast.
[[ BROADCAST FROM: SYSTEM_OVERSEER ]]
[[ Message: An unauthorized Admin Level 1 has been identified. ]]
[[ Protocol: Deploying 'The Hunter' program. ]]
[[ Target: Prince Kaito. Status: Terminate on Sight. ]]
Kaito looked up at the palace spires. High above, a dark cloud was gathering, shaped like a giant, lidless eye. Riya was right. He wasn't just a prince anymore. He was a target.
"Hiroshi, Kenji," Kaito said, his grip tightening on the black hilt. "The duel isn't going to be a competition anymore. It's going to be a war for the Root Access."
He turned to his terminal and typed one final command before heading to the training camps.
[Command: hide_process --name: Kaito_Asci][Command: enable_stealth_compiler][Message: Let them come. I've survived a blue screen of death before. This is nothing.]