e did not spe

ind of patience that made silence feel heavier than it had any right to be. The rest of the students were gone. The hall

ear the door

y, Hal

happened in

pression calm an

e doorway," he said. "I tr

ed at him

," the profe

es

o land on the one weak po

. "It has a

rrowed slightl

direct hit. Not a graze. Not a near miss. A direct hit at the exact center of the mass

not aimed it. He had not even tried. It had left his hand the moment he grabbed the bracke

ucky," K

for a long moment

" the prof

l s

the sharp lines of the professor's expression relaxed slightly, not into warmth, but into someth

students, gifted students, and a small number of genuinely exceptional ones. I have

aid no

stand forces up to an A rank mana channel without sustaining any damage. It

wai

urement," Hale said, "or whatever power yo

y at his status pan

ck:

a hidden powe

plain th

can

ack slightly

said quietly, "is exac

nded at the

looked up at

and deliberate, and his expression carried the specific kind of arrogance that belonged

rst year ranking board has been p

owly. "What k

en is rank

er the hall like s

ned in h

y," he sai

tained fury sitting just beneath the

Breaking the core stone was logged by the system as an unmeasurable ou

him. Then he

ught precisely between professional co

t is how the system handles unclassified results. It has n

slow step forwar

failed the measurement. He produced

roke," Hale

ate stare that communicated without any words that this conversation was far fro

d walked out with

ry still in

t he had accidentally torn loose, and placed his hand on a measuring stone that had broken for reasons he coul

nked him first in the

reappeared withou

ck:

e glowing letters

ot do anything,"

answered fr

kno

urned

with those steady, completely unreadable eyes. He had no idea how long s

all of that

f it,"

he back of hi

did not break the

yes moving briefly to the space be

t me to believe

his mouth

me thing," she adde

door and paused just at the t

she said, "it will come out

he was

e floor in front of him. He was ranked first in his year. He had no power, no talen

the sharpest student in his y

morrow was going to b

lickered once in

had not been there before, written in letters that loo

ade his stomach