Kaelen didn't make it halfway to the infirmary before the air around him grew heavy—not with mana, but with the weight of absolute authority. The students who had been cheering for him moments ago suddenly scattered, their gazes dropping to the floor.
Standing at the end of the glass walkway was a woman who looked less like a student and more like a law of physics. Her hair was a stark, clinical silver, tied back in a ponytail so tight it seemed to pull at the corners of her eyes. Her uniform was the standard Academy blue, but she wore a crimson sash across her chest: Student Council President.
[TARGET: Seraphina van Draken] [RANK: Tier 5 'Order-Bender' / Daughter of the High Inquisitor] [KARMA: +250,000 (Sin: Absolute Rigidity, Lack of Empathy)] [THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]
Kaelen's Sovereign's Ledger let out a low, warning hum. Unlike Julian, whose debt was a messy sprawl of petty sins, Seraphina's ledger was a terrifyingly clean balance sheet. She didn't have "sins"; she had "enforcements."
"Saint Kaelen," she said. Her voice didn't carry emotion. It was the sound of a ledger being closed. "A fascinating performance. I have watched three hundred duels in this arena this semester. Yours is the first where the victor's mana pool increased during the exchange."
Kaelen leaned on his cane, his face a mask of weary humility. "Lord Julian was... generous with his spirit, President. I merely reflected what he offered."
"Do not lie to me," Seraphina said, stepping forward. The glass floor beneath her feet frosted over. "I am an Order-Bender. I don't see light or dark; I see the flow of energy. Julian didn't 'offer' his mana. It was pulled from him through a high-frequency spiritual vacuum."
She stopped inches from him, her silver eyes scanning his "False Saint's Halo" with the cold precision of a diamond-cutter.
"The Church calls you a Martyr. The Academy calls you a Hero," she whispered. "But the math doesn't add up. You have no family, no backing, and yet you carry a soul-debt so heavy it's warping the local space-time. I can smell the interest on you, Kaelen."
Kaelen's heart skipped a beat. She can sense the Debt? [WARNING!] [Target is using 'Logic-Eye'!] [False Saint's Halo is failing (70% Integrity)...]
"I don't know what you mean, President," Kaelen said, his voice steady. "I am a simple servant of the—"
"Enough," she snapped. She reached out, her fingers hovering just over the Breaker's Omen ring hidden beneath his sleeve. "I don't care about your 'Saint' act. But this Academy runs on a strict meritocracy. If you are a parasite feeding on the student body, I will liquidate you myself before the High Priestess even has a chance to bless you."
She pulled back, the frost on the floor shattering.
"The Ranking Exams are in three days," Seraphina stated. "If you are truly a Saint, you will pass the 'Trial of the Scale'. If you are a thief... the Scale will demand everything you've stolen. Including your life."
She turned and walked away, her crimson sash fluttering like a warning flag.
[NOTIFICATION] [New Main Quest: The Trial of the Scale.] [Objective: Pass the Ranking Exam without revealing your 'Void' nature.] [Penalty for Failure: Immediate Soul-Liquidation.]
Kaelen stood in the hallway, his "Heroic" glow finally fading into the dim light of the corridor. He looked at his hand—the ring was cold, hungry for more.
"The Trial of the Scale," Kaelen whispered. "They want to weigh my soul."
He let out a dry, jagged laugh. If the Scale weighed his soul, the sheer mass of his billion-point debt would probably collapse the entire building into a singularity. He didn't need to be "good" to pass the exam. He needed to find a way to hack the scale.
He looked at his balance: Surplus 100 KP.
System, Kaelen thought. Open the 'Forbidden Market'. I need to buy something that can lie to a God.