The elevator ride to the Spire took three minutes.
Vane spent the first minute leaning against the glass wall. He tried to massage the cramp out of his left calf. He spent the second minute checking his reflection in the chro doors. He looked like he hadn’t slept in three days. That was an accurate assessnt. He spent the third minute trying to calm his heart rate.
He wasn’t afraid of the Headmistress. He was afraid of what she represented.
Evangeline was the ceiling. In a world of monsters, she was the one holding the leash.
The elevator chid. The doors slid open.
Vane stepped out into humidity. The top of the Spire wasn’t an office. It was a greenhouse. The air was thick and slled of wet earth and crushed mint. Sunlight stread in through the glass do. It was unfiltered and blindingly bright compared to the gloom of the lower levels.
Evangeline was standing by a row of hanging planters. She held a watering can. She wasn’t wearing ceremonial robes or armor. She was wearing a loose white shirt and grey slacks. She looked like a tired woman in her thirties who just wanted her plants to grow.
She didn’t look up.
"Take a seat, Vane," she said. Her voice was quiet. It barely carried over the sound of a small water fountain in the corner. "How is the view from the top of the hill?"
Vane looked around. There were no chairs, just a stone bench near a bed of purple flowers. He sat down heavily.
"I am in Villa 3 now," Vane said. "It is lower than Villa 1. But the air is easier to breathe."
Evangeline turned. She set the can down and wiped her hands on a rag. She studied him for a long mont. Her grey eyes were unreadable.
"I watched the feed," Evangeline said. "You took a beating. But you are walking. That is better than most first years do after eting Isaac."
"Isaac wasn’t trying to kill ," Vane said. He rubbed his knee. "He was trying to ignore . There is a difference."
Evangeline walked over to the bench and leaned against a stone pillar opposite him.
"So," she said. "You survived the purge."
"Barely," Vane said. He looked her in the eye. "Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Paint a target on my back," Vane said calmly. "You put at Rank 1. You gave the Villa. You made sure every student with an ego and a weapon would co looking for . You set up to die."
Evangeline smiled. It wasn’t a cruel smile. It was just approving.
"I did," she admitted. "And you didn’t die. So clearly, my calculations were correct."
"Calculations?"
"Do not look at like that. I am not gambling with your life, Vane. I am investing."
She crossed her arms.
"Do you know how the Great Powers grade potential? The Empire, the Kingdoms, the Palaces. They are not idiots. They know the formula."
She held up three fingers.
"Body. Mind. Authority. They asure the density of the mana channels. They test the processing speed of the brain. And if the student is lucky enough to have an Authority, they asure the weight of their soul."
She paced slightly.
"They look at Isaac Glacium and they see perfection. His Body is a fortress. His Mind is disciplined. His Authority is a glacier. They see a perfect triangle."
She stopped in front of him.
"But they are looking at the current output. They asure what is already there."
She pointed a finger at him.
"I look at the Origin."
Vane frowned. "The Origin?"
"I saw you in Oakhaven, Vane. I saw the shape of your soul when you were shivering in that mud. It was fractured. It was hungry."
She leaned closer.
"Authorities are born from trauma. They are scar tissue on reality. Isaac inherited his scar. Anastasia was born with hers. It was given to them. But yours?"
She shook her head slowly.
"Yours was carved out of desperation. I ranked you first because I believe the quality of your Authority is higher than theirs. I believe that if you survive long enough to let it grow, your hunger will eat their perfection."
Vane listened. He felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature.
She believed it. She genuinely believed that his Authority—Usurper—had a higher ceiling than the others.
"You think I am stronger than them," Vane said slowly.
"Potentially," Evangeline corrected. "Right now, you are a sapling. They are oak trees. But oaks stop growing. Saplings beco sequoias."
She gestured to the glass walls.
"I look at Valerica Sol and I see a powerful gravity manipulator. I look at Ashe Razar and I see a war prodigy. I look at Isaac and I see the pinnacle of ice magic."
She shrugged.
"But they are defined. Gravity. War. Ice. They are boxes. You are not in a box, Vane. You are the thing that breaks the box."
Vane stared at her.
And in that mont, he realized the truth.
She doesn’t know.
Evangeline was the strongest mage on the continent. She had instincts that bordered on prophecy. She sensed that Vane was special. She sensed that his Authority was dangerous.
But she didn’t know the numbers.
She looked at Valerica and saw "Powerful Gravity." She didn’t see [Celestial Heart (EX)]. She didn’t know Valerica was generating star matter.
She looked at Isaac and saw "Pinnacle Ice." She didn’t see [Pale Eternity (SSS)]. She didn’t know his ice was a conceptual absolute.
She was estimating. She was looking at their auras and making educated guesses. She thought Vane was an EX-Rank potential surrounded by S-Ranks.
She didn’t realize she was looking at a room full of EX-Ranks.
She underestimated them. She thought Vane had a unique advantage because of his "Origin," not realizing that Valerica and Isaac were just as broken as he was.
Vane kept his face perfectly still.
This was his ace. The Headmistress was flying blind, and she didn’t even know it. He was the only one in the room with the instruction manual. He could see the grades. She could only feel the pressure.
"You are betting a lot on a feeling," Vane said carefully.
"I am 9th Circle, Vane. My feelings are more accurate than their mathematics."
She walked back to her desk, which was carved from a single slab of ancient wood. She sat down.
"But feelings don’t win fights. Weapons do."
She picked up a pair of golden shears.
"And I hear you have been trying to sharpen a very dangerous weapon in my basent."
Vane stiffened. He knew where this was going.
"Instructor Senna," Vane said.
Evangeline inspected the blade of the shears.
"The broken tool," she murmured. "Interesting choice."
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