The sun dipped below the smog-choked horizon of the Aetherion Academy, casting long, bruised shadows across the industrial sector. In the dilapidated confines of Shed 4, the air was thick with the scent of ozone, sweat, and burning grease.
"Class dismissed," Valerius announced, snapping his pocket watch shut.
Five students collapsed onto the concrete floor, groaning in unison. They looked less like prestigious mage candidates and more like survivors of a boiler explosion.
Kaelen Moss was covered in soot, his shirt torn to ribbons, revealing skin that shimmered with a metallic, gray hue. Zhuo Yan's hair was standing on end, smoke curling from his ears. Miller was nursing a bruise on his forehead where he had walked into a support beam while blindfolded.
But Elara Vance…
She stood amidst the wreckage of a training dummy, her chest heaving. The brass "Heat Exchanger" backpack hissed rhythmically, venting plumes of white steam. Her eyes, usually timid and downcast, were wide with disbelief. She looked at her hands. For the first time in years, they weren't trembling from the cold.
"I… I emptied my mana," she whispered. "And I didn't faint."
Valerius wiped a smudge of oil from his cheek with a silk handkerchief. "Of course you didn't. You stopped trying to hoard the heat and started using it as fuel. Thermodynamics, Miss Vance. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted. You just converted your pain into power."
He glanced at the others. "Go back to the dorms. Eat double portions. If you vomit, eat again. Your bodies are undergoing structural renovation; you need raw materials."
"Yes, Professor!" Kaelen shouted, his voice booming with newfound confidence.
As the students hobbled out, dragging their exhausted bodies toward the cafeteria, Valerius leaned against his desk and let out a long, shaky breath. His "Cool Professor" mask cracked, revealing the tired engineer underneath.
"That was too close," he muttered, checking the Axiom Archive in his mind.
[Teaching Session Complete.][Student Trust Levels Updated.][Kaelen Moss: 45/100 (Trusting)][Elara Vance: 52/100 (Reverent)][Lucas: 10/100 (Amused)]
"Lucas…" Valerius frowned. The boy had spent the entire three hours perfectly tightening bolts without breaking a sweat. The Archive still returned an [Encrypted] status on him. "I'll have to deal with that anomaly later. Right now, I have a bigger problem."
He pulled out his wallet.
Inside, a single silver coin and three copper pennies stared back at him.
"I'm broke."
The realization hit him harder than a steam-hammer. The original Valerius Kane had spent his last paycheck on rare books and fine wine to drown his sorrows.
"Kaelen needs 'Iron-Bark Potions' to harden his skin further. Elara needs high-grade coolant for her backpack. Zhuo needs a blast-proof chamber…" Valerius did the mental math. "I need at least 50,000 credits by next week. Or my students will literally fall apart."
In his past life, he was a structural engineer. He made good money. Here, he was a disgraced academic with a negative credit score.
"I need to find a way to monetize the System," Valerius mused, tapping his cane on the floor. "Appraisal? Blueprint correction? Consulting?"
Bang!
The heavy iron doors of the shed were thrown open, interrupting his financial panic.
Silhouettes stood in the doorway, backlit by the gas lamps outside. Valerius squinted.
"Elara Vance!" A booming voice echoed through the hangar.
Elara, who had barely made it ten steps out the door, froze. She turned around, her face draining of color.
Standing there was a middle-aged man in a tailored velvet coat, holding a gold-tipped cane. His face was red with rage, his mustache twitching. Flanking him were two armored house guards and a tall, thin man wearing the white robes of the Imperial Medical Association.
"Father?" Elara whispered.
It was Baron Vance.
Valerius straightened his coat, his expression shifting instantly into one of bored indifference. He stepped out of the shed. "This is a restricted teaching area. Unless you are here to donate scrap metal, I suggest you leave."
Baron Vance ignored him. He marched up to Elara, grabbing her arm. "I heard the rumors, but I didn't believe them. You actually joined his class? The disgrace of the Academy?"
"Father, wait!" Elara tried to pull away, but the steam-pack on her back made her clumsy. "Professor Kane helped me! I can cast spells now! Look!"
She tried to raise her hand, but the Baron slapped it down.
"Cast spells? You are killing yourself!" The Baron shouted. He turned to the thin man in white robes. "Doctor Aris, tell her!"
Doctor Aris stepped forward, adjusting his spectacles. He looked at Valerius with a sneer that suggested he smelled something rotting.
"Miss Vance," Aris said, his voice oily and patronizing. "I have treated your condition for three years. You have 'Frozen Meridian Syndrome.' Your body is too cold. You need to nurture warmth, preserve your yang energy, and avoid mana exertion. This…" He pointed a disdainful finger at the hissing steam-pack. "This contraption is venting your precious body heat. It is suicidal. Whoever prescribed this is not a teacher; he is a murderer."
The Baron turned his glare on Valerius. "You heard him, Kane. You are playing with my daughter's life to save your failing career. I am withdrawing her from your class immediately. If you object, I will bring this before the Board of Directors and have you arrested for malpractice."
Kaelen and the other students gathered around, looking anxious, but the Baron's guards kept them back.
Valerius didn't flinch. He looked at the Baron, then at Doctor Aris.
"Doctor Aris, was it?" Valerius asked calmly. "A 2-Star Medical Mage, certified by the Imperial Association?"
"That is correct," Aris puffed out his chest. "I have published twelve papers on mana-pathology. My diagnosis is absolute."
"Absolute," Valerius repeated. He took a slow step forward, the tap of his cane echoing in the silence. "Then tell me, Doctor. If her body is 'too cold' and needs warmth, why does she cough up blood every time she drinks your 'Fire-Root Soup'?"
Aris blinked. "That… that is a side effect. The cold repelling the heat. It is part of the healing process."
"Healing process?" Valerius laughed. It was a cold, dry sound. "You are feeding coal to a blocked furnace. You aren't curing her; you are pressurizing her. If she had continued your treatment for another month, her heart valves would have ruptured."
"Preposterous!" Aris turned red. "You are a failed theory teacher! What do you know of medicine?"
"I know that you are a quack," Valerius said. "And I know that your 'absolute diagnosis' is worth less than the paper it's printed on."
"You dare!" The Baron roared. "Guards, seize him!"
"Wait!" Valerius raised a hand. His eyes flashed with a faint blue light as the Axiom Archive activated.
[Target: Doctor Aris][Occupation: 2-Star Physician][Flaws: 14 Detected.][1. Misdiagnosed Elara Vance due to reliance on outdated texts.][2. Currently suffering from 'Mana-Acid Reflux' due to secretly consuming experimental libido-enhancing potions.][3. His right knee has a micro-fracture from slipping in the bath yesterday.]
Valerius smirked. It was a vicious, predatory smile.
"Baron Vance," Valerius said smoothly. "You trust this man because of his t.i.tle. But a man who cannot even diagnose his own condition has no business treating others."
Valerius pointed his cane at Aris's stomach.
"Doctor Aris. You've been feeling a burning sensation in your gut for the past three weeks, haven't you? Specifically, two inches below the sternum. It gets worse when you cast healing magic."
Aris froze. His eyes widened. "How… how did you…"
"You think it's stress," Valerius continued, stepping closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "But it's not. It's mana erosion. Caused by that 'Golden Stag Elixir' you've been brewing in secret. You know, the one meant to… invigorate your nightly activities?"
The students gasped. Kaelen covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.
Aris turned a shade of purple that defied nature. "You… I… That is private medical information!"
"It is a structural failure," Valerius corrected. "And your right knee. You're favoring it. Did you slip? Perhaps you were in a rush to hide the elixir?"
"Enough!" Aris shrieked, backing away. He looked at the Baron, sweating profusely. "My Lord, this man is… he is spying on me! He is a voyeur!"
"I am an engineer of reality," Valerius said coldly. "I see flaws. And you, Doctor, are full of them."
Valerius turned to the Baron. The nobleman looked confused, looking between the panicked doctor and the calm professor.
"Baron," Valerius said. "Your daughter has the Cryo-Generator Physique. It is not a disease. It is a gift. The doctor treats it as a leak; I treat it as an engine. In one lesson—one lesson—I allowed her to walk without a cane. Can your expensive doctor say the same?"
Valerius gestured to Elara. "Walk, Elara. Show your father."
Elara hesitated, then took a deep breath. She adjusted the straps of her brass backpack. She didn't just walk; she ran. She jogged a circle around the group, her movements fluid, the steam hissing happily from the vents.
She stopped in front of her father, her cheeks flushed not with fever, but with exertion.
"It doesn't hurt, Father," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "For the first time since I was six… it doesn't hurt."
The Baron dropped his cane. He looked at his daughter, then at the trembling Doctor Aris, and finally at Valerius.
The silence stretched, heavy and thick.
"Doctor Aris," the Baron said, his voice dangerously low. "You told me she would be crippled for life. You told me walking would kill her."
"I… The texts said…" Aris stammered.
"Get out of my sight," the Baron snarled. "Before I feed you to the hounds."
Aris didn't need to be told twice. He gathered his robes and fled into the night, limping heavily on his bad knee.
The Baron turned to Valerius. The anger was gone, replaced by a complex mix of shame and awe. He bowed stiffly.
"Professor Kane. It seems… I have been misinformed."
"Happens to the best of us," Valerius said, checking his nails. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my students need rest. And I need to figure out how to pay for the upgraded coolant your daughter is going to need."
The Baron paused. He reached into his coat and pulled out a heavy velvet pouch. The clinking sound was unmistakable.
"For the coolant," the Baron said, placing the pouch on the nearby crate. "And for… the tuition. If you can truly turn her curse into power, the House of Vance will not be stingy."
He turned to Elara, patting her shoulder awkwardly. "Study hard. Don't… don't embarrass the family."
With that, the Baron signaled his guards and marched away, leaving the heavy bag of gold sitting on the crate.
Valerius stared at the bag.
[System Notification][Crisis Averted.][Resource Acquired: 500 Gold Sovereigns.][Student Elara Vance Trust Level: 85/100 (Fanatic)]
Valerius picked up the bag. It was heavy. Beautifully heavy.
"Professor!" Elara beamed, looking at him with shining eyes. "You were amazing! How did you know about the Doctor's… uh… elixir?"
"Structural analysis," Valerius lied smoothly. "His posture indicated an imbalance in his center of gravity caused by internal chemical erosion. Basic physics."
He tucked the gold into his coat.
"Alright, everyone back to the dorms. Tomorrow, we go shopping. We're going to upgrade this workshop from a scrapyard to a fortress."
As the students cheered and dispersed, Valerius allowed himself a small smile.
'Okay. Step one: Survival secured. Step two: Get rich. Step three: Fix this broken world.'
He looked up at the moon, partially obscured by the gears of the giant clocktower.
'But first, I'm going to buy a really nice steak.'