Chapter 20: The Academy Hates You
The green light above the door hummed.
`CLICK.`
For 3 seconds, no one moved.
Kael stood in the middle of his destroyed workshop, holding a drone that was now scrap metal. Blood dripped from his nose. His hands were shaking so bad he could barely keep his grip on the bronze `C-Rank` badge.
Across from him, the hallway was packed.
30 students.
All C-Rank.
All D-Rank.
All wearing uniforms that cost more than Kael made in a year collecting bottles.
And at the front of them all was her.
Lira Veyra.
Silver hair tied in a tight braid. Ice-blue eyes. The emblem of a spear and shield on her chest. B-Rank.
She wasn’t smiling. She wasn’t frowning.
She was just... staring.
Like she was looking at a cockroach that somehow learned to talk.
"Move," the examiner said behind Kael. His voice was flat. Tired.
Kael flinched and stepped aside. The examiner walked out, his silver armor cut to ribbons, and didn’t look back once.
The silence broke.
"Is that blood on the floor?"
"Did he really pass with trash?"
"I heard the drone exploded. What a moron."
"Chief said someone from the Dump made it. Didn’t think it was real."
Whispers. Louder and louder.
One guy with red hair and a fancy sword stepped forward. D-Rank badge, but polished. Expensive.
He looked Kael up and down. Took in the burns on his arms. The cut-up clothes. The dirt under his nails.
He laughed.
"Trash Artisan," he said, drawing out the words. "That’s what they’re calling you?"
More laughs.
Kael didn’t answer.
His head was pounding.
`[Mental Load: 95%]`
`[Mana: 3%]`
`[Warning: Collapse Imminent]`
He just wanted to sit down.
"Hey. I’m talking to you, Dump Rat."
The red-haired guy flicked a pebble at Kael’s feet. It bounced off his boot.
Lira finally moved. She didn’t say anything. She just raised one hand.
The hallway went quiet instantly.
"That’s enough, Ren," she said. Her voice was cold. Clear. Like winter water.
"He passed. That’s all that matters."
Ren rolled his eyes but stepped back. "Fine. Whatever. Just keep him away from my workshop. I don’t want his garbage blowing up my forge."
The crowd started to disperse. But the looks didn’t stop.
Disgust. Pity. Hatred.
Kael could feel every single one.
An old man in a teacher’s robe finally walked up. Bald head. Scar running down his left eye. He smelled like oil and old paper.
"Kael," the teacher said. "I’m Instructor Garrick. Follow me."
Kael nodded once and followed. His legs felt like lead.
They walked for 5 minutes in silence. Down stairs. Past clean workshops with glowing forges and perfect tools. Past students who stopped to stare.
They stopped at a heavy steel door at the very bottom of the Academy.
The sign said: `WORKSHOP 2-B. BASEMENT LEVEL. HAZARD ZONE.`
Garrick swiped a keycard. The door hissed open.
The smell hit Kael first. Rust. Dust. And underneath it, the familiar smell of the dump.
The room was 3 times bigger than his old one.
New workbench. Hydraulic press. A small mana furnace in the corner.
And in the far corner... a mountain of scrap.
Broken chairs. Bent pipes. Cracked screens. The Academy’s garbage.
"Your new workshop," Garrick said. "Level 2 Access. Means you can requisition basic materials once a week. Don’t abuse it."
He tossed Kael a new keycard. Plain. No name.
"Classes start tomorrow at 0600. Combat. Theory. Crafting. Don’t be late."
Then he left. Door sealed with a `CLANG.`
Alone.
Kael dropped to his knees.
Not from weakness. From relief.
He was in.
He was C-Rank.
`[System Notification]`
`[RANK UP: D-RANK -> C-RANK]`
`[NEW AUTHORITY UNLOCKED: Workshop Access Level 2]`
`[NEW AUTHORITY UNLOCKED: Academy Library - Restricted Section]`
`[NEW QUEST: Survive 30 Days in the Academy]`
`[Reward: Full Student Status]`
`[Failure: Expulsion]`
He laughed. It came out broken.
"30 days," he whispered. "To prove I belong."
He looked at the badge in his hand. Bronze. Plain.
Then he looked at the mountain of trash in the corner.
His heart started beating faster. Not from fear. From excitement.
The Trash Core in his pocket pulsed. `_Thump._`
"Yeah," Kael said to the empty room. "I know."
He stood up. Slowly. Painfully.
Walked to the workbench.
Slammed the broken pieces of `Scrap` onto it.
The drone was destroyed. But the core was still intact. Cracked, but glowing faintly.
"They hate me," Kael said, picking up a welding torch. The flame sparked to life, blue and hot.
"Good."
He pointed the torch at the scrap pile.
"Because I’m going to build something in this garbage... that makes every single one of them shut up."
The first piece of metal melted.
Outside the door, he could hear footsteps. Stopping. Listening.
Then walking away.
`[TRASH SYSTEM: WORKSHOP LEVEL 2 ONLINE]`
`[SCANNING FOR MATERIALS... 342 ITEMS DETECTED]`
`[NEW RECIPE UNLOCKED: [Auto-Scrap Arm - Grade D]]`
`[Requirements: 50x Metal Scraps, 1x Mana Core Shard, 10x Copper Wire]`
`[Description: A prosthetic arm that automatically collects and processes nearby debris]`
Kael’s eyes widened.
"Auto-collect?" He grinned. "Now we’re talking."
He got to work.
Hour 1: Sorting scrap. His back hurt.
Hour 3: Building the frame for the arm. Burned his palm.
Hour 5: The arm twitched to life. Grabbed a screw from 2 meters away and brought it to him.
It was ugly. It was slow.
But it worked.
`[Creation Complete: [Auto-Scrap Arm - Grade D]]`
`[Ability: [Magnetic Field Lv.1] - Pulls debris within 3 meters]`
Kael attached it to his left arm. It was heavy. Cold.
But when he flexed, the pile of trash rattled.
He looked at the time on the wall. 0300.
3 hours until class.
He should sleep. He should rest.
Instead, he picked up another piece of metal.
"One more thing," he muttered. "Before they see me tomorrow."
He started sketching on the dusty table with a piece of charcoal.
A design. Bigger than `Scrap`. Meaner.
With legs. With armor. With teeth.
`[NEW RECIPE DETECTED: [Trash Golem - Grade C]]`
`[Requirements: 200x Metal Scraps, 5x Mana Core Shards, 1x Beast Core]`
`[Warning: Materials Insufficient]`
`[Warning: Beast Core Required]`
Kael stared at the last line.
"Beast Core," he whispered.
He remembered the fang from the D-rank wolf. Used it already in `Scrap`.
He needed another one.
And the only place to get one...
Was outside the Academy walls.
`KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.`
The door.
Kael froze. The torch in his hand flickered out.
A voice came through. Female. Familiar.
"Kael? It’s me. Lira."
His heart jumped.
"Can we talk?" she said. "About what happened in the exam. And about why everyone hates you."
Kael looked at the half-built arm. At the sketches for the golem. At the door.
`[Hostility Detected: Unknown]`
`[Survival Probability: Unknown]`
He took a deep breath and walked to the door.
His hand hovered over the handle.
Outside was the Academy.
Outside was everyone who wanted him to fail.
But inside... was everything he needed to prove them wrong.
Kael opened the door.
Lira stood there. Arms crossed. No smile.
Behind her, in the shadows of the hallway, Ren was watching.
And smiling.
"So," Lira said. "You really think you can survive here?"
Kael met her eyes. Exhausted. Bleeding. But not backing down.
"No," he said honestly.
"But I’m going to try anyway."
The lights in the basement flickered.
To Be Continued...
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