I Evolve 10,000 Times Faster

The High Council Hall was built to intimidate.

Massive stone pillars rose thirty meters to a vaulted ceiling painted with scenes of ancient battles. A circular bench of elders sat on an elevated platform, each one wearing formal black robes with silver trim. The center of the hall was a wide, open floor where the accused stood before judgment.

Holden walked through the oak doors and took a seat in the observer section.

Draven was already there.

He stood in the middle of the hall, wrapped in heavy spiritual chains that glowed faintly blue. Each chain was inscribed with suppression runes that kept his astra energy completely sealed.

Two men in expensive suits stood beside him. Not guards. Lawyers. The kind that noble families hired when they needed to make guilt disappear with fancy words.

The elder in the center, a bald man with a stern face, leaned forward.

"Counsel for the defense, you may present your argument."

The lead lawyer stepped forward. He was tall, polished, and spoke with the kind of practiced confidence that cost five hundred credits an hour.

"Respected elders, what we have before you today is a tragedy, not a crime. My client, Draven Valcrest, heir to the distinguished Valcrest household, is a victim of circumstances beyond his control."

Holden almost laughed.

"The arena’s protection array was an aging system with known maintenance issues. The catastrophic failure that occurred during the tournament was, according to our independent technical analysts, an equipment glitch. A tragic malfunction. Not sabotage. My client had no knowledge of any array instability and certainly did not cause it."

The lawyer gestured dramatically toward Draven.

"This young man has suffered greatly. Injured in the tournament, dragged from a medical bed in chains, and now subjected to this public humiliation. The Valcrest family requests that these charges be dismissed and their son returned to his studies with a formal apology from the academy."

Silence hung in the hall for a moment.

Then the doors at the far end opened.

Instructor Vespera walked in.

Every person in the hall reacted immediately. The elders straightened. The lawyer paled. Even the guards standing at attention looked nervous.

Vespera’s star-core was healed. The cracked crystal near her heart that had been slowly killing her for years was now stable and whole. The difference was visible in the way she moved. No more careful, measured steps. No more hidden pain behind her eyes. She walked like a weapon that had just been unleashed.

Her Rank 4 aura flared.

The atmosphere turned crushing in an instant. The lawyer staggered as if he’d been pushed, and Draven collapsed to his knees, sending a rattle through his chains. The observers in the back rows gripped their armrests.

"You brought an Abyssal Rift into my school," Vespera said.

Her voice was quiet. That made it worse.

"You brought an Abyssal Rift into my school," she repeated, "and your lawyer has the audacity to call it an equipment glitch."

She reached into her jacket and withdrew a small crystal. She held it up, and a holographic projection burst from its surface, filling the air above the council floor.

It was a 3d map of the arena’s underground infrastructure. The protection array was visible as a glowing grid. And woven into that grid, highlighted in angry red, was a second array. Dark. Corrupted. Clearly artificial.

"This is a sabotage matrix," Vespera said. "It was manually installed beneath the arena at some point within the last seventy-two hours. It was designed to overload the protection seals and release the caged beasts. The magical signature on the sabotage array matches the astra fingerprint of the Valcrest family’s private security force."

She turned to face the lawyers.

"The Valcrest family didn’t just know about this. They paid for it. They planned it. And their heir gave the order while lying on a medical bed after getting beaten in a fair fight."

The lead lawyer opened his mouth.

"Sit down," Vespera said.

He sat down.

She turned to the elders.

"This student nearly killed my personal disciple. He endangered the lives of every freshman in that arena. He tore a hole in reality because he was too weak to win on his own merits. I am requesting the maximum penalty."

The elder in the center looked at Draven.

Draven said nothing. His face was white. His hands were shaking inside the chains.

The elder raised his gavel.

"Draven Valcrest. You are hereby stripped of all student ranks, titles, and privileges. Your enrollment at the Vanguard Academy is permanently revoked. You are banned from all academy grounds and affiliated facilities for the duration of your natural life."

Bang.

The gavel struck the sound block.

"Remove him."

Two security guards stepped forward and grabbed Draven by the arms. They pulled him toward the side exit. For the first few steps, he was silent. Stunned.

Then he turned his head and found Holden in the observer section.

His face twisted into something ugly and broken.

"This isn’t over, Voss!" he screamed. "My family will destroy everything you love! Your sister! Your friends! Your little team! I’ll watch them tear it all apart and I’ll laugh!"

The guards shoved him through the door. His voice faded into the corridor, still screaming threats that nobody was listening to anymore.

The hall emptied quickly after that. The elders filed out. The observers murmured among themselves. The Valcrest lawyers packed their things in silence and left without looking at anyone.

Holden sat still until the room was nearly empty.

Then Vespera appeared at his side.

"Walk with me."

They left the hall together and turned into a quiet hallway.

"The academy is safe," Vespera said. "The council’s decision is binding. Draven cannot use official channels to touch you or your sister while you’re on academy grounds."

"But?"

Vespera stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Outside these walls, the Valcrest family operates in a different legal space. They have connections in the merchant guilds, the mercenary unions, and the underground networks. They won’t send another amateur assassin like last time. They’ll hire professionals. Rank 2. Maybe even Rank 3."

Holden nodded slowly.

"You need to be ready," she said. "Not eventually. Now."

She turned and walked away.

Holden stood alone in the hallway.

He pulled up his status panel.

┌──────[ Profile ]──────┐

│ [Name]: Holden Voss

│ [Fighter Rank]: Rank 2 (1-Star)

│ [KP Balance]: 5,790

│ [Multiplier]: 1,000x

│ [KP Booster]: 2x Active

└─────────────────────────┘

Five thousand, seven hundred and ninety Kill Points.

He opened the system shop and scrolled to the multiplier upgrades. The next tier sat there, glowing faintly, taunting him.

[10,000x Multiplier]

[Cost: 100,000 KP]

[Current Balance: 5,790 KP]

[Gap: 94,210 KP]

He needed almost a hundred thousand points. Against Rank 2 and Rank 3 professional killers, his current 1,000x multiplier would keep him alive. Probably. But alive wasn’t enough. He needed to be so far beyond them that the Valcrest family couldn’t touch him even if they emptied their entire fortune into the effort.

That meant hunting. Every single night. High-level targets. As many as he could find.

He closed the panel and started walking.

He needed an underground arena.