The morning began without sunlight.

The academy sky was covered by an unbroken layer of pale gray cloud, diffusing the light into a colorless calm that felt neither morning nor noon.

Arios Pureheart opened his eyes to that dull half-light. His alarm crystal was already buzzing faintly — not in its usual rhythm, but with an intermittent, irregular pulse.

That was new.

He sat up slowly, rubbing his temples. Across the room, Lucy was curled under a blanket on the couch, hair a mess, murmuring something in her sleep.

Liza was at the kitchenette, stirring water into an instant breakfast cup, humming tunelessly.

And Pokner — Pokner was awake before all of them.

She sat at the far end of the room, her posture straight, her hair tied in a quick braid. The terminal projection shimmered before her, and she was scrolling through a page of student logs.

Without looking up, she said, "You're up."

He grunted in acknowledgment. "Did something happen?"

Pokner finally turned the projection toward him. A flashing notice filled the center of the screen:

NOTICE:

Your Examination Record for "Dungeon Evaluation: Floor 1–6" is under procedural review.

Temporary Access Restriction has been applied to your Academic Account.

Please report to the Student Council Tower before 12:00.

— Academy Systems Authority.

The lines glowed in crimson script.

Liza leaned over her cup, blinking. "Wait, what does that mean?"

Pokner's tone was even. "It means he's been flagged."

Lucy stirred under her blanket, sitting up groggily. "Flagged for what?"

Arios didn't answer immediately. He reached for his terminal, opening his own access page. The lock icon was there — small, discreet, but absolute.

Half his functions were gray-shaded now: student correspondence, grade verification, internal dungeon log access.

He tried a backdoor query through his team license. The system responded with a soft tone — access denied.

Pokner folded her arms. "They moved faster than expected."

"Expected," Lucy repeated, yawning. "You expected this?"

Arios nodded faintly. "The interference report. They wouldn't ignore it forever."

Liza frowned. "But we didn't do anything wrong."

"That's not the point," Pokner said flatly. "Someone wants it to look like he did."

Lucy blinked. "Who?"

Pokner didn't answer. She just looked at Arios.

He sighed quietly. "The Council."

By the time they left the dorm, the academy grounds were already stirring with students. Word had begun to spread — quietly, indirectly.

Someone had been flagged after the dungeon evaluation. The rumor turned and twisted as it moved: cheating, data manipulation, tampering with mana cores.

Each version was more dramatic than the last.

Arios walked through the courtyard without reacting, hands in his coat pockets, his team close behind him.

Pokner walked on his right side, scanning the message feed that continued to buzz with new reports.

Lucy trailed just behind, biting into a piece of toast she'd grabbed on the way out.

Liza walked on his left, looking half annoyed and half worried.

The Student Council Tower loomed ahead, tall and cold, its upper spire lost in the gray sky.

Pokner muttered, "They really chose the perfect time. Everyone's awake, everyone's watching."

Arios smiled faintly. "That's how they like it."

Inside the Tower, the air was sterile and still.

Two attendants in silver uniforms escorted them up the lift, saying little beyond the formalities.

When the doors opened, the Council chamber looked just as it had the night before — immaculate, symmetrical, precise.

Damien Ravencroft sat at the head of the table again, reviewing a set of open files on his console. His expression was unreadable.

Chase was there too, leaning back in his chair, stylus in hand, smiling faintly as though he had been waiting specifically for this moment.

When Arios entered, Chase greeted him first.

"Well, well. The star of the hour."

Arios didn't reply.

Damien gestured to the empty chair opposite him. "Sit."

Arios sat. Pokner stood behind him, arms crossed, expression cold. Lucy and Liza stayed a few steps back, close enough to see but far enough not to interfere.

Damien glanced at the display. "Your exam log triggered a red flag at 13:28 yesterday. You know why you're here."

Arios nodded. "You think I tampered with the system."

"No," Damien said quietly. "I don't think that. The system does. There's a difference."

"Convenient," Pokner muttered.

Damien's gaze flicked to her. "You may observe, not comment."

She said nothing more, but the tension in her jaw made her thoughts plain.

Chase leaned forward slightly. "The footage from Floor Six shows residual interference linked to your mana signature, Arios. Care to explain?"

Arios's voice was calm. "The dungeon was collapsing. My barrier core overloaded. That's all you're seeing."

"And the timestamp modification?" Chase asked.

Arios met his gaze evenly. "Not mine."

"Of course," Chase said smoothly. "It never is."

Damien's stylus tapped once against the table. "Enough."

The room went quiet again.

Damien turned the projection toward Arios. "For protocol, I need to confirm this directly. Did you or any member of your team manually alter your exam records after submission?"

"No," Arios said simply.

Damien studied him for a long moment, then turned to the clerk standing at the side. "Log that statement."

The clerk nodded.

"Until verification is complete," Damien said, "your access remains restricted. You are still permitted to attend classes, but any dungeon access or research privileges are suspended."

Pokner's eyes narrowed. "You're isolating him."

"Protecting him," Damien corrected. "If he's clean, he'll be cleared. If not, the restriction prevents further damage."

Chase smiled faintly. "It's fair."

Arios stood slowly. "Then I'll wait for the verification."

Damien gave a single nod. "That would be wise."

Outside the chamber, when the doors closed behind them, the four walked in silence down the long corridor.

Lucy finally broke the silence. "That was awful."

Liza nodded grimly. "And Chase looked like he was enjoying it."

Pokner's voice was low. "He was. He's the one feeding the tampering reports."

Arios didn't answer. He walked with his hands still in his coat pockets, face unreadable.

When they reached the end of the hall, the lift door opened with a soft tone.

Lucy looked at him uncertainly. "So… what do we do now?"

Arios stepped into the lift. "What we always do."

"Which is?"

He looked at her, faintly tired but still steady. "Prepare for the next exam."

Liza blinked. "Even with your record locked?"

"Especially with my record locked," he said. "They're watching now. Which means they'll slip up sooner."

Pokner's eyes narrowed slightly — not in disagreement, but in understanding.

The rest of the day passed in fragments.

The academy resumed its rhythm as though nothing had happened, but small changes lingered. Conversations lowered when Arios passed. Messages paused when he entered a room.

His reputation, once an afterthought, now hovered in that gray space between intrigue and suspicion.

He didn't fight it.

He watched.

He listened.

Pokner kept her distance, observing patterns in the academy network. Lucy tried to act normal, though her glances grew more worried. Liza hovered between irritation and loyalty, her moods shifting like weather.

By evening, the tension had hardened into a kind of routine.

Arios sat alone in the library, a notebook open before him. He wasn't writing; he was thinking.

Every word, every gesture from the Council replayed in his mind — Damien's measured calm, Chase's too-easy smile.

Something about Chase's tone had felt… scripted.

Like a man performing a role already rehearsed.

He turned the pen once between his fingers, then wrote down three words on the page:

"Controlled interference patterns."

If the dungeon's behavior was truly erratic, it meant someone had injected external resonance — possibly through the administrative layer itself.

He drew another line under the words, slowly.

Pokner found him there an hour later. She didn't ask what he was writing. She just sat across from him, folding her hands.

"You're not going to sleep?" she asked.

He didn't look up. "Later."

She studied him for a moment. "You think Chase did it."

"I think he's covering for someone," Arios said. "But yes — he's part of it."

Pokner leaned back slightly. "You're going to fight this."

"Would you expect me not to?"

She shook her head. "No. I'd expect nothing less."

There was a quiet between them — not awkward, not heavy, just filled with unspoken understanding.

Then Pokner stood. "Don't stay up too late. You'll need a clear head tomorrow."

He nodded. "You too."

She hesitated for a moment, then added, almost softly, "You're not alone in this, Arios."

Then she left.

Arios sat there for a long while after, the notebook still open before him, the ink drying slowly.

He didn't smile. He didn't frown. He simply stayed still — letting the weight of the silence settle, piece by piece.

Outside, the wind picked up slightly, carrying the faint rustle of banners across the academy walls.

Somewhere in the distance, the tower lights flickered once, then stabilized.

A small glitch — almost invisible.

But not to him.

He noticed everything.

And deep down, in the calm stillness of his mind, Arios Pureheart understood:

The real exam had just begun.

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