Chapter 19: Scrap Swarm
The swarm didn’t wait for permission.
Two hundred pieces of trash screamed through the air at once.
Nails. Screws. Bottle caps. Shards of glass. All of it, guided by one broken drone in the center.
The examiner moved.
His silver spear blurred. _WHOOSH._
He spun it in a circle and the first wave of trash disintegrated into dust.
"Pathetic," he said. But his eyes weren’t laughing anymore.
Kael didn’t answer. He couldn’t.
His head felt like it was splitting open.
Controlling 200 things at once was like holding 200 strings with bleeding fingers.
[System Warning: Mental Load 70%]
[System Warning: Drone Stability 88%]
"Not enough," Kael gritted his teeth. Blood ran from his nose.
He pushed harder.
The broken pipe shot forward. The examiner sidestepped it. The fang from the D-rank wolf came next. The man blocked it with the butt of his spear.
But while he was blocking, the bottle caps came from behind.
_SHING. SHING. SHING._
Three of them sliced across the silver armor. Shallow cuts. Nothing serious.
The examiner’s jaw tightened. "You dare—"
He lunged.
Kael barely had time to raise his hands. The spear tip stopped an inch from his throat.
"Too slow, trash."
The examiner twisted his wrist.
The drone - _Scrap_ - took the hit instead.
_CRACK._
The metal frame bent. The core inside flickered.
[Drone Stability: 60%]
"NO!" Kael roared.
He grabbed the nearest thing. A rusted wrench on the floor.
He didn’t throw it. He _guided_ it with the swarm.
It shot forward and slammed into the examiner’s knee.
The man stumbled. Just for a second.
That was all Kael needed.
"SCRAP!"
The drone shrieked and dove straight down.
It exploded.
Not with fire. With _force_.
Every last nail, screw, and piece of glass in a 5 meter radius shot outward like bullets.
_BOOM._
The workshop wall caved in. Dust and smoke filled everything.
Silence.
[Drone Stability: 0% - DESTROYED]
[Mental Load: 95%]
[Warning: Mana Depletion Imminent]
Kael dropped to his knees, coughing. His vision was black at the edges.
"Did... did it work...?"
Through the smoke, he heard footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.
Not running. Not hurt.
The examiner stepped out of the dust.
His silver armor was ruined. Slashed in 20 places. One cut ran across his cheek, bleeding.
But he was standing.
He looked down at Kael. Then at the wreckage. Then back at Kael.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Finally, he sheathed his spear.
"You failed the test," the examiner said.
Kael’s heart sank.
The man continued. "A C-Rank is supposed to fight with strength. With mana. With skill."
He pointed at the destroyed workshop. At the twisted metal. At the drone parts smoking on the floor.
"You fought with trash."
He paused.
"And you almost killed a B-Rank examiner with it."
The examiner pulled something from his pocket. A badge. Bronze. With a big letter C on it.
He tossed it. It landed in the dust in front of Kael.
"Congratulations, Kael of the Dump," the examiner said, turning to leave.
"Welcome to C-Rank."
He stopped at the broken door.
"Oh. And one more thing He didn’t turn around.
"The Academy is going to hate you."
_CLICK._
The red light above the door turned green.
To Be Continued...
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