The South Annex – Css Z Quarters

  “—and that concludes today’s tactical review,” Rhovana said, voice dry as sandpaper. “Unless some of you lowlights are secretly highborn geniuses hiding your brilliance behind a mask of failure. No? Didn’t think so.”

  Kai raised his hand.

  Rhovana arched a brow. “Evernight. Is that your way of volunteering to breathe louder?”

  Kai smirked, leaning back on his chair—boots propped on the desk, arms crossed behind his head.

  > “Just saying, if you spent half the energy teaching instead of roasting us, maybe we wouldn’t be so ‘useless,’ Mentor Reaper.”

  The room went quiet. Even Grenn stopped chewing his mana bar.

  Rhovana’s prosthetic arm flexed. A faint purple pulse crawled along the null-runes embedded into the bcksteel. Her one organic eye narrowed.

  > “Field. Now.”

  ---

  Training Field – Ten Minutes Later

  Css Z formed a loose circle under the dusky light. Shadows lengthened as mana-nterns flickered on. Kai stepped into the arena, cracking his neck. Across from him stood Rhovana Vane, the retired assassin known in the underground as The Reaper of Thorns.

  She wore no armor—just her tattered coat and nullsteel arm. Her mana was barely visible, like a quiet grave before a storm.

  > “No holds barred,” she said. “First touch wins. Or until I get bored.”

  > “Perfect,” Kai said. “Just need to touch you once.”

  > “Many have tried,” she said with a smirk. “They don’t blink anymore.”

  ---

  > “Begin.”

  Kai surged forward. His mana fred around him like indigo wind.

  > “Shadow Pulse: Abyssal Fang!”

  Dark energy burst from his dragon pocket knife in a wave of compressed sshes.

  Rhovana vanished. Not with speed, not with teleportation—but with Void Skip, a Reaper technique that made her disappear without triggering a spatial ripple.

  She reappeared behind Kai.

  > “Wh—!”

  > “Grave Hex: Stillborn Howl.”

  A silent pulse of null-magic crashed into Kai’s nerves. His limbs locked up, frozen mid-spin.

  > “Anti-casting seal?” he grunted.

  > “Suppression type. Crafted for mages who talk too much,” she replied.

  Kai’s eyes narrowed. He bent his knee, shadows writhing beneath him.

  > “Shadow Bind: Echo Lure!”

  From his own shadow, a decoy erupted—striking at Rhovana from behind. But her arm moved without looking.

  > “Deadlock Art: Specter Drain.”

  The clone withered into smoke before contact. Rhovana stepped in.

  > “Time to sleep.”

  > “Not yet!” Kai snarled.

  He smmed both palms to the ground.

  > “Mirror Burst – Phase Edge!”

  A dome of reflective shadow exploded outward, intending to bounce her image across it and strike the real one.

  But Rhovana didn’t move.

  > “Null Step: Gravewalk.”

  Every reflection shattered. Every illusion folded. She stood still, untouched.

  Then her boot was at Kai’s neck.

  He froze. She tapped his chest lightly.

  > “Touch.”

  ---

  Kai y on his back, panting.

  Rhovana crouched beside him, that smirk never leaving her face.

  > “You’re good, kid. Smart. Adaptive. You’ve got the makings of something dangerous.”

  She leaned closer, whispering only for him.

  > “But if you can’t even touch me… don’t fantasize about reaching those who live above the tower.”

  Her eye gleamed like obsidian steel.

  > “They won’t py fair. They’ll erase you before you blink.”

  ---

  As she walked away, Kai stared at the sky, heart hammering—not from fear, but revetion.

  > “Above the tower, huh…?”

  He clutched his jacket, fingers brushing the Rank 0 badge.

  > “Then I’ll climb through the shadows.”