The entity wasn't visible.
It didn't need to be.
Riven could feel it—the pressure in the air, the way his breath caught in his lungs, how the mana in the chamber twisted like it was trying to flee. His fingers tingled, bones humming. The others sensed it too.
"What… what is that?" whispered one of the boys, his proud demeanor melting like wax under a flame.
The Headmaster didn't answer. His gaze was fixed on Riven.
"You've drawn something," he said quietly. "Something that shouldn't respond to any human aura."
Riven's knees nearly buckled. The burn across his spine surged—a jagged reminder of the awakening mark he'd hidden.It wasn't reacting to the others.It was reacting to him.
[Chaos Merge Progress: 4.7%][System Notice: Ancient Signature Detected — Origin Class proximity within 50 meters.]
Riven gritted his teeth. What the hell is an Origin Class?
The pressure intensified. Across the room, the noble girl from before dropped to a knee, sweating. Even the Headmaster's spell-etched staff began to flicker.
And then—it stopped.
Just like that.
Gone, as if it had never been there.
Silence rang louder than screams.
The Headmaster's cloak fluttered as he turned sharply toward the warded doors. "Everyone. Out."
"But Headmaster—"
"I said out!"
No one argued. They didn't run, but their eyes never left Riven's back as they filed out one by one.
He wasn't just different anymore.
He was dangerous.
Only the Headmaster and Riven remained.
For a while, the silence between them was complete.
Then—
"You merged them, didn't you?" the old man finally asked, voice low but certain.
Riven's fists clenched at his sides. "I didn't mean to."
"You don't merge Saint and Necromancer by accident."
"I didn't know it was possible," Riven snapped.
The Headmaster exhaled, rubbing his temples like he aged ten years in ten seconds. "It isn't. Not under any natural law. Not unless… the System itself chose to override."
[Hidden Trait Identified: Chaosborne – Access Level Locked][Recommendation: Suppress awakening or risk destabilization.]
The System's voice felt colder than before.
The Headmaster muttered, "I've seen something like this… once. A boy in the North. The class corrupted him. His own mother had to burn him alive before he could open a Rift."
Riven swallowed hard.
"I'm not like him," he whispered.
The Headmaster turned to face him fully now. "You don't know what you are yet. And neither do we. Until then… this doesn't leave this room."
Riven blinked. "You're covering for me?"
"No." The man's eyes were grim. "I'm delaying your execution."
That night, Riven didn't return to the student quarters.
He went to the only place he could breathe—the abandoned forge behind the academy, once used by visiting dwarves for artifact reforging. Now, it was quiet. Forgotten. Like him.
He sat among broken swords, closed his eyes, and reached inward.
Into the chaos.
[Merge Progress: 5.1%][New Affinity Detected: Draconic Residue – Dormant. Access Denied.]
"Draconic…?"
But the System didn't respond.
And yet—deep in his soul, something curled.
Something ancient.
Something watching.