The auditorium held its breath as one, the atmosphere turning suffocatingly tense. Valerius’s gaze sharpened, radiating a cold, predatory intensity that seemed to chill the very air. He stared unblinkingly at Pip, who was channeling a bizarre surge of energy—simultaneously pure, blinding white and a haunting, vibrant purple that seemed to defy the laws of physics. Valerius frowned, his knuckles white as he gripped his spear of light, his arm trembling—not from fear, but from raw, unbridled excitement.
SLASH!
Without a moment’s warning, the spear of light tore through the air, hurtling toward Pip at the speed of a thunderbolt. Pip grimaced, his teeth grinding until his gums bled. He channeled every ounce of his remaining mana, and a milky-white cube began to materialize—dense, glowing, and impenetrable—blocking the lethal strike just inches from his chest. The force of the impact sent shockwaves rippling through the floor.
Valerius chuckled, a smile of pure, arrogant adrenaline spreading across his face. "HA! Not bad, kid. You actually managed to block my attack? You’re showing your colors now!"
With a flick of his wrist, Valerius raised his hand high, and the atmosphere in the hall grew thick, heavy, and scorching. "Rain of LIGHT!"
At his command, thousands of tiny sparks on the ceiling converged, morphing into a terrifying hail of brilliant light-spears that hovered menacingly above. The sight was apocalyptic. Valerius pointed a finger directly at Pip, his eyes burning with the thrill of the hunt. "ACTIVATE!"
Like a meteor shower, thousands of spears rained down, obliterating the ceiling and cracking the stone floor beneath Pip’s feet into a jagged web. Pip looked up, his eyes wide with sheer panic; he knew he couldn’t outrun this. He gritted his teeth, desperate to form another shield, but against Valerius’s overwhelming mana output, his defenses shattered in a heartbeat. Debris rained down like shrapnel.
Valerius clicked his tongue in genuine annoyance. "Why aren't you using that mysterious purple mana of yours? Stop playing the hero and show me what you truly are!"
Pip couldn't speak; he was gasping for air, his lungs burning. Valerius interlaced his fingers in a strange, prayer-like gesture. A blinding, holy halo erupted behind him, so radiant that Pip was forced to squint and shield his eyes. WHOOSH! Valerius’s figure blurred, and in the next heartbeat, he was standing directly in front of Pip. He spun with elegant lethality, swinging his leg back in a devastating, bone-crushing kick.
WHOOSH WHOOSH BOOM...
The impact sent Pip flying into the wings of the stage. The heavy wooden barricades shattered like brittle paper, splinters flying everywhere. From the suffocating dust and debris, a voice emerged—warped, glitchy like a radio suffering from severe interference, laced with a mix of Pip’s natural tone and something deep, ancient, and guttural: "Kh-k-k... rrr-et... is that... all... you’ve got...?"
Kael screamed in absolute despair from the sidelines, his hands clutching his head: "NO! STOP IT! THAT THING WILL KILL EVERYONE HERE! PIP, FIGHT IT!"
Pip didn't answer. He turned his head toward Kael slowly, his movements jagged and unnatural. By now, half of his body had been consumed by "it." His left eye had turned into a hollow, dead white abyss, long jagged claws sprouted from his fingers, and his small horn had twisted into the shape of a razor-sharp, demonic stag antler. Despite the monster trying to seize his consciousness, Pip mustered his remaining human will and gave Kael a faint, shaky "thumbs up"—a desperate signal to show he was still holding the reins.
Pip roared, a sound torn from his very soul, and lunged at Valerius like a cannonball. The collision sent Valerius crashing into the massive wooden wall, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust. Pip stood there, gasping for air, his hand trembling violently as he fought a desperate, agonizing internal battle against the beast within that clawed at his sanity.
Valerius pulled himself from the rubble, blood streaming from a gash on his forehead, staining his face and obscuring one eye. Far from being angry, he let out a manic, exhilarated laugh that echoed through the ruined hall: "BRILLIANT! It’s been so long since someone managed to draw blood from me! You’re interesting, Pip! More interesting than all those pampered nobles combined!"
Ellarish, at a distance, frantically erected a thick barrier of ice to contain the shockwaves that threatened to bring the roof down. The arena was scorching, thick with the smell of burning ozone and magic. As the dust cleared, the sight left everyone in the stands stunned into total silence: Pip had a spear of light skewered deep through his shoulder, while his own clawed fingers were buried deep into Valerius’s side. Blood sprayed from Valerius’s mouth, while Pip stood shaking, his body convulsing as the monster clawed for total, bloody control.
Just then, sunlight poured through the massive hole in the shattered ceiling. The monster, terrified by the sudden influx of pure, concentrated light, shrank back, hissing as it retreated deep into the dark recesses of Pip’s body. Valerius stared at Pip, confused, but then he dropped his guard and offered a rare, satisfied smile. "Not bad. Not bad at all. I look forward to our next dance."
The Headmaster, who had been watching the entire ordeal from the balcony, was speechless. He pondered to himself, his brow furrowed in deep contemplation: "If I place him in the Temple Envoy class as a reserve now... is it too soon? He hasn't mastered his powers yet. If this leaks out to the Council, he won't be trained—he’ll be hunted. He needs to hide in plain sight."
He walked slowly toward the podium—now nothing more than a pile of smoldering ash and broken timber—and cleared his throat. His authoritative voice, calm yet chilling, echoed throughout the vast, ruined hall: "Pip, with the power you’ve displayed today, you have proven to everyone what it means to be a Deep-Color Mage. However, due to certain internal factors that require careful observation, I must announce that... PIP WILL BE ASSIGNED TO CLASS F!"
The entire auditorium went dead silent, as if doused with ice water. The air seemed to vanish. Pip stood there, covered in blood and dust, his heart hammering against his ribs in utter, paralyzed disbelief. "Hah...?" he whispered, his voice trembling as the weight of the announcement settled in, while the crowd began to erupt into confused, chaotic whispers.