Chapter 2: The Dog Who Eats Wolves (Part 2)
Location: The Hall of Ancestors, Arken Estate.
Time: Early Morning.
Weather: Overcast, threatening snow.
Morning arrived not with the sun, but with a bucket of ice-cold water.
Splash.
Ren gasped, his body jerking upright from the pile of hay. The freezing water soaked his tunic, his hair, and the makeshift bandage on his arm. The cold shock was so intense it felt like a physical blow to the chest.
"Rise and shine, cur," a rough voice barked.
Ren wiped the water from his eyes. Standing outside the kennel bars was a stable hand, a burly man with a missing front tooth and a cruel grin. He held an empty wooden bucket.
"Alfred says you're to be scrubbed," the man sneered. "Can't have you smelling like rat shit in the Hall of Ancestors. Even if you are one."
Ren stood up slowly. His joints were stiff from the cold and the hard floor. His left arm throbbed where the rat had bitten him, but the wound was closed, leaving only four angry red scabs.
"I am awake," Ren said calmly.
"Good. Here." The man threw a bundle through the bars. It landed in the mud.
It was a clean tunic. Simple, rough grey wool. The uniform of a servant, not a noble.
"Put it on. And be quick about it. The Young Master is eager to see you fail."
The Hall of Ancestors was a cathedral to the ego of the Arken family.
The ceiling arched fifty feet overhead, painted with frescoes depicting the first Arken Duke slaying a dragon. The floor was polished obsidian, so dark and reflective it looked like walking on a bottomless lake. Along the walls stood statues of previous Dukes, their stone eyes watching the gathering crowd with eternal judgment.
Ren stood at the very back of the hall, near the heavy oak doors. He was clean, dressed in the grey servant's wool, but he stood apart from the others.
In the center of the room, a crowd had gathered.
There were roughly thirty children, all aged ten to twelve. They were cousins, children of branch families, and vassals sworn to House Arken. They wore silks of crimson, azure, and gold. They chattered nervously, their voices echoing in the vast space.
At the front of the hall, on a raised dais, sat Duke Valerius Arken.
He sat on a throne of iron and velvet. He did not look like a man; he looked like a statue carved from granite. His hair was jet black, streaked with silver at the temples. His eyes were the same storm-grey as Ren's, but where Ren's were calm, the Duke's were crushing. He radiated an aura of pressure so intense that the air around him seemed to shimmer.
[ Analytical Eye ]
[ Name: Valerius Arken ]
[ Title: The Iron Duke of the North ]
[ Rank: ??? (Too High to Analyze) ]
[ Danger Level: Calamity ]
Ren lowered his gaze instantly. Staring at a predator is a challenge. I am not ready.
Beside the Duke stood a tall, robed figure holding a staff topped with a glowing blue crystal. A Mage from the Royal Academy, hired to oversee the ceremony.
In the center of the dais stood the Awakening Stone.
It was a massive chunk of raw mana-crystal, jagged and pulsing with a faint, rhythmic blue light. It was the judge. It would draw out a child's mana, measure its quantity and quality, and determine their future.
Red: Low Potential (Soldier)
Orange: Average (Officer)
Yellow: High (Elite)
Green: Exceptional (General)
Blue: Genius (Hero)
Violet: Legendary (Sage)
"Silence," the Duke said.
He didn't shout. He didn't have to. The single word extinguished all sound in the hall. The children froze. The parents held their breath.
"Today, you prove your worth," the Duke continued, his voice rolling like distant thunder. "House Arken does not feed the weak. If you have power, you will be elevated. If you do not... you will serve."
He gestured to the Mage. "Begin."
The Mage unrolled a scroll. "First candidate. Lyra Arken."
A girl with fiery red hair stepped forward. She looked confident, her chin held high. She walked to the stone and placed her hand on it.
Huummm.
The stone vibrated. A light began to glow from its center. It started red, turned orange, then flared into a bright, sunny Yellow.
"Yellow!" The Mage announced. "High Potential. Mana Affinity: Fire."
A ripple of polite applause went through the crowd. The girl beamed, bowing to the Duke. The Duke nodded once—a high honor.
"Next. Garret of House Miller."
A boy stepped up. The stone glowed a dull, muddy Red.
"Red," The Mage intoned flatly. "Low Potential. Affinity: Earth."
The boy's shoulders slumped. His parents in the crowd looked away in shame. He was ushered off the stage not to the right, where the "talented" stood, but to the left—the side for the disappointments.
Ren watched the process, analyzing the data.
It's a resonance test, he observed. The stone pushes a small amount of neutral mana into the body. The body's core reacts and pushes back. The color indicates the density of the push-back.
He checked his Status again.
[ Mana: 0 / 10 (Locked) ]
I have nothing to push back with, Ren thought. When I touch that stone, nothing will happen. I will be ranked lower than Red. I will be 'Colorless'.
He looked to the side. Caelum was standing near the front, whispering to a group of sycophants. He caught Ren's eye and smirked, pantomiming a crying baby.
The ceremony dragged on. Green was rare—only one boy achieved it. Most were Orange or Red.
Finally, the Mage cleared his throat. He looked at the bottom of the list, frowning slightly.
"Last candidate," the Mage hesitated. "Ren... Arken."
The whispers started immediately.
"The bastard?"
"Why is he here?"
"Does the Duke acknowledge him?"
"Look at his clothes. He's dressed like a stable boy."
Ren stepped forward.
The walk to the dais was long. The sound of his cheap leather boots on the obsidian floor echoed loudly. He felt hundreds of eyes on his back—eyes filled with curiosity, disgust, and mockery.
He kept his face blank. He walked with a steady rhythm. Left, right, left, right. Do not rush. Do not drag.
He reached the stairs and climbed up.
He stood before the Duke.
For the first time in four years, father and son looked at each other.
The Duke looked at Ren with zero emotion. No hate. No love. Just cold calculation. He was assessing a tool to see if it had any use.
"Proceed," the Duke commanded.
Ren turned to the stone. The Mage looked at him with pity.
"Place your hand on the crystal, child. Close your eyes. Focus on the sensation of heat in your belly."
Ren reached out.
His hand was small, pale, and scarred from the previous night's battle. He pressed his palm against the rough, cold surface of the Awakening Stone.
Here it comes, Ren thought. The humiliation.
He felt it immediately.
A surge of foreign energy entered his hand. It felt like a stream of warm water rushing up his arm, seeking his heart, seeking the "Core" that every human possessed.
The energy reached his chest. It searched for his Mana Core.
It found the Bibliotheca of Infinity instead.
[ System Alert ]
[ External Mana Intrusion Detected. ]
[ Source: Low-Grade Divination Crystal. ]
[ Analyzing... ]
Ren froze. Time seemed to slow down.
The warm energy from the stone didn't hit a wall; it hit a void. The Archive, the massive mental library, was a hungry beast. It felt the mana coming in and, like a starving man offered a crumb, it snapped.
[ Error: Mana Core is Locked. ]
[ Alternative Action: Absorption initiated. ]
Wait, Ren thought. Stop!
He couldn't pull his hand away. The stone was stuck to his palm.
Inside the crystal, the blue light swirled. The Mage leaned in, expecting a color.
Suddenly, the light in the crystal flickered.
It didn't turn Red. It didn't turn Violet.
The blue light was sucked out of the crystal. It traveled up Ren's arm, invisible to the naked eye but roaring like a waterfall to Ren's senses.
The massive Awakening Stone turned grey. Then dark grey. Then a dull, lifeless black.
Crack.
A hairline fracture appeared on the surface of the stone.
Then silence.
Ren pulled his hand back. The magnetic pull was gone.
The stone sat on the pedestal, dark as a piece of coal. It looked dead.
The Mage stared at it, mouth open. He tapped it with his staff. Nothing happened.
"This..." The Mage stammered. "There is... no reaction."
The crowd murmured.
"No reaction?"
"Not even Red?"
"That means... he has no mana at all."
"A Null? I thought they were extinct."
"Disgraceful."
Caelum's laughter broke the tension. It was loud and cruel.
"A Null!" Caelum pointed. "He's not just a bastard; he's a defect! He broke the stone with his emptiness!"
The laughter spread. It wasn't warm laughter; it was mocking, scornful.
Ren stood there, his hand throbbing. But he wasn't listening to the laughter. He was reading the blue text scrolling rapidly across his vision.
[ Mana Absorbed: 500 Units. ]
[ Archive Emergency Protocol Activated. ]
[ Mana used to force-break Seal Layer 1. ]
[ ...Success. ]
[ Mana Core Status: UNLOCKED. ]
[ Current Mana: 50 / 50 ]
[ Class Acquired: Novice Librarian. ]
Ren lowered his hand. He hid the tremor in his fingers.
He hadn't failed. He had just stolen enough energy to jump-start his own heart.
The Duke stood up. The laughter died instantly.
Valerius Arken looked at the black stone, then at Ren. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were cold.
"A Null," the Duke said. His voice was flat. "Useless."
He turned away, losing interest instantly. To him, a tool that didn't work was trash to be discarded.
"Send him to the servants' quarters," the Duke commanded over his shoulder as he walked away. "He can muck the stables. At least there, his lack of talent won't embarrass the family name."
"Father!" Caelum called out, stepping forward, his eyes gleaming with malice. "Why let him stay in the main house? He's a stain. Send him to the Blackwood Mines. Let him dig for coal. It suits him."
The Duke paused.
Ren went still. The Blackwood Mines were a death sentence. Slaves and criminals were sent there to dig mana-coal. The life expectancy was two years.
The Duke looked back at Caelum, then at Ren.
"He is of my blood," the Duke said simply. "We do not sell our own to slavery, Caelum. Remember that. Pride is also a currency."
Caelum flinched, bowing his head. "Yes, Father."
"But," the Duke added, glancing at Ren one last time. "He is no longer a guest. He is a servant. Treat him as such. If he cannot work, he does not eat."
The Duke left the hall.
The ceremony was over.
Ren was left standing on the stage, the dead stone behind him. Caelum walked up to him, leaning close, his voice a whisper.
"You got lucky, rat," Caelum hissed. "But the stables are my territory too. I'm going to make you wish you died in that kennel."
Ren looked at Caelum. He didn't look angry. He looked... busy.
Inside his mind, he was browsing a new shelf that had just appeared in the library.
[ Row 1 Unlocked: The Novice Collection. ]
[ New Book Available: 'Basic Mana Manipulation'. ]
[ New Book Available: 'The Art of Stealth'. ]
"Enjoy your victory, brother," Ren whispered back, his voice so low only Caelum could hear. "While you slept in silk, I learned to eat rats. We are playing different games."
Ren turned and walked off the stage, heading toward the servant's exit.
He was officially the lowest creature in the estate. A Null. A stable boy.
But as he walked into the shadows of the hallway, a faint, blue spark danced across his fingertips—pure, condensed mana—before vanishing.
The Librarian was awake.
End of Chapter 2 - Part 2
Summary of Events:
The Humiliation: Ren attends the Awakening Ceremony.
The Twist: Instead of displaying a color, the Archive eats the energy from the Awakening Stone, turning it black/dead.
The Verdict: Ren is labeled a "Null" (someone with zero mana), the lowest of the low.
The Reality: The absorbed energy forcibly unlocked his Mana Core. He now has 50 Mana and has unlocked the Novice Librarian class.
New Status: He is demoted from "Guest/Bastard" to "Stable Boy," narrowly avoiding the mines.
Cliffhanger: Ren now has access to magic, but must hide it while living as a servant under Caelum's torment.