Chapter 6 The Marked One
859 Words
Morning.
Main Hall of the Academy.
A massive holographic screen hovered midair.
All first-year students had been summoned.
The atmosphere was unnaturally quiet.
Because last night’s battle footage had already spread through the academy’s internal network.
An F-rank suppressing a B-rank.
Abnormal talent structure.
Explosive leap in combat power.
This wasn’t just a victory.
It was a fracture in the rules.
Instructor Kane stood at the center of the platform.
His voice was low.
“Following emergency evaluation, the combat ranking system has been recalibrated.”
The screen lit up.
—
[First-Year Combat Ranking Update]
Rank 12: Damian Krauss (B-Rank)
Rank 18: Leon Black (Combat Power Fluctuating)
—
Below it, a line of red text appeared.
[Talent Status: Evolutionary (Provisional)]
The hall erupted.
“Evolutionary?!”
“Aren’t talents fixed?!”
“What rank is that supposed to be?!”
Damian stood among the crowd, face ashen.
Dropping from Rank 12 to Rank 18 wasn’t the issue.
The issue was those two words—
Evolutionary.
It meant future.
It meant potential.
It meant threat.
Kane continued,
“Effective today, Leon Black will be transferred to the Special Observation Class.”
A ripple spread through the hall.
The Special Observation Class.
A hybrid zone for elites and high-risk variables.
Only A-rank and above—
Or anomalies—
Were admitted.
Ryan’s eyes widened.
“You skipped a class entirely?!”
Leon said nothing.
He could feel countless stares.
Jealousy.
Doubt.
Hostility.
And—
Fear.
Kane looked directly at him.
“Black. Step forward.”
Leon walked to the center of the hall.
Silence fell.
Kane’s tone slowed.
“Do you acknowledge that your talent structure changed during combat?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
“Is it controllable?”
“For now.”
A brief exchange.
Yet it felt like a trial.
Kane studied him for several seconds.
Then nodded.
“The academy does not suppress growth.”
“But if it becomes uncontrollable—”
He didn’t finish.
He didn’t need to.
—
The assembly ended.
The crowd dispersed.
Ava waited at the end of the corridor.
“Welcome to Observation Class.”
Her tone was calm.
“Sounds like a prison,” Leon replied.
“Or a launchpad.”
They walked side by side toward the restricted sector.
The access gate scanned their identities.
The doors slid open.
Six people sat inside.
All A-rank or above.
Their gazes landed on Leon simultaneously.
One black-haired young man smiled.
“So you’re the guy who evolves through failure?”
His tone was playful.
Leon didn’t retreat.
“Yes.”
The young man chuckled.
“Lucas.”
“Welcome to the Anomaly Zone.”
—
Meanwhile.
Top floor of the academy.
A sealed conference room.
A projection flickered on.
A stern middle-aged man appeared.
Gray hair.
Eyes sharp as a hawk’s.
“Black.”
He spoke the surname slowly.
“Confirmed as Arthur Black’s son?”
“Confirmed.”
“The central figure in the ‘Loss-of-Control Incident’?”
“Yes.”
Silence thickened.
The man spoke coldly.
“So the problem never disappeared.”
“It simply continued.”
His finger tapped lightly on the table.
“Initiate Observation Protocol.”
“Variable designation: B-17.”
“Codename—”
A line of text appeared on the screen.
[Catalyst]
—
Afternoon.
First training session in the Special Observation Class.
No public duels.
Only pressure testing.
A-rank students released their aura one by one.
Leon stood in the center.
Breathing steady.
Failure Catalyst rotated quietly within him.
The system interface appeared.
[Current Amplification: 0%]
He understood.
True growth wasn’t about winning once.
It was about accumulation.
Lucas stepped closer.
“I heard you get stronger by failing?”
Half curious. Half skeptical.
Leon nodded.
“Then I’ll help you fail.”
The moment his words fell—
An A-rank pressure descended.
The air cut like blades.
Leon’s body sank slightly.
But he didn’t resist.
He actively released energy.
It shattered instantly.
Failure.
[1%]
A faint smile touched his lips.
Lucas’s pupils shrank.
He felt it clearly.
In that instant—
Leon’s aura strengthened.
Not imagination.
Not illusion.
A real increase.
“Interesting,” Lucas murmured.
At a distance, Ava’s gaze darkened.
She realized—
If this mechanism continued—
Leon would become something uncontrollable.
—
Evening.
Training ended.
Leon stood on the rooftop.
City lights flickered on below.
A distant tower glowed against the horizon.
Ryan rushed up the stairs.
“I heard the Council marked you?”
Leon didn’t deny it.
“Yeah.”
“Scared?”
He was silent for a moment.
Then said softly,
“If failure makes me stronger—”
“Then fear can too.”
The wind swept past.
His shadow stretched long beneath the lights.
On top of a distant building,
the gray-haired man watched through surveillance glass.
His expression was cold.
“The experiment Arthur failed to complete…”
“Perhaps it can continue through his son.”
The screen slowly went dark.
The city remained calm.
But an unseen vortex had already begun to spin.
Leon didn’t know.
He was no longer just a student.
He was—
A piece on the board.
- Writer
