ch 70,71,72
Chapter 70 – Veil of Weakness
The Academy's northern arena buzzed with energy.
Stone seats carved into the cliffside were filled with students, instructors, and a few visitors from nearby noble clans. Banners waved in the mountain breeze. Below, the dueling platform shimmered with protective runes, designed to shield spectators from stray magic and wild beasts.
Ray stood among the lower-ranked students, his eyes lowered, hood up, quietly blending into the background. He was still a commoner in their eyes. A boy with average mana. Weak.
Perfect.
[Seventeen: "Play it up. Shuffle a little. Look nervous. They're watching."]
Ray did as instructed. A shaky breath. A glance at his trembling hand.
[Seventeen: "Brilliant. Almost believable. If I wasn't inside your mind, I'd pity you."]
A bell rang. The trial had begun.
---
Ranking Trial – Round One
Each participant had to face a beast summoned by the academy's tamers. The beasts were real but controlled with collars that stopped them from killing. Still, injuries were common.
Ray's turn came faster than expected.
Instructor Varn called out, "Next! Ray of Village Windmere."
Snickers came from the side.
"That the dirt brat?"
"He'll probably faint."
Ray walked calmly into the circle. The crowd barely reacted.
Then the gate opened.
An F+ Rank Stone-Fang Hound padded in, jaws frothing, eyes red with forced rage. Its back was armored with natural stone plates. Fast, brutal, aggressive.
The moment it saw Ray, it charged.
Ray stood still.
[Seventeen: "Dodge left. Tap its jaw. Push mana to your feet but only slightly."]
He did exactly that. The dodge was messy, the tap clumsy.
To the crowd, it looked like dumb luck.
Ray stumbled, rolled, and came up breathing hard. The Hound circled again.
He reached into his sleeve and palmed a thin bone shard from his hidden storage.
[Seventeen: "Allow one hit. Bruise only."]
The hound lunged. Ray let it hit his shoulder and roll him to the ground.
Cries erupted.
"Too much!"
"Stop it!"
But Ray was already moving.
The shard slid into the hound's neck. Not deep. Not fatal. Just enough to deliver a tiny burst of necrotic mana.
The beast froze.
Not dead.
Not unconscious.
But trembling.
Tamer officials ran in, yelling, thinking Ray had done something illegal.
But the beast wasn't hurt. No lasting damage.
Instructor Varn narrowed his eyes.
"Beginner's luck," he muttered.
Ray was escorted out of the ring.
Behind his quiet eyes, Seventeen laughed.
[Seventeen: "That beast will sleep for twelve hours, dream of death for twenty. You did well."]
---
Later, in the waiting area, a voice sneered behind him.
"So the coward got lucky. Think that makes you special?"
It was Dren Varic. Mid-tier noble. E-rank elemental. Fire user.
Ray didn't respond.
Dren shoved his shoulder. "Answer me, rat. Or are you mute now, too?"
Ray looked up with empty eyes. "I don't fight trash without orders."
Dren flushed red.
"You're dead, peasant."
[Seventeen: "Permission to instigate a sanctioned duel?"]
"Granted."
Ray smiled. "Propose a duel, then."
---
Nightfall – Training Arena
A small crowd gathered.
Dren arrived with friends. His fire sparked along his fingers. He wore an enchanted training cloak.
Ray wore his village shirt. Still torn from the hound hit.
The duel began.
Fireballs flew.
Ray dodged. Clumsily. Perfectly clumsily.
Then one blast singed his sleeve.
He paused.
And whispered: [Skill Activated: Raise Corpse]
The bone shard from earlier moved. A bone rat crawled from Ray's sleeve and bit Dren's leg.
Screams. Chaos. Mana suppression kicked in.
[Seventeen: "One hit. One scar. That's all it takes for memory."]
Ray didn't win.
But he didn't lose.
He left with Dren's blood on the floor.
---
Back in his hidden domain, Ray opened his status.
[Level: 6] [EXP: 12/150]
[Army: 32 Units. Domain Expansion: 6%]
[Dimensional Gate Timer: 2 Days, 16 Hours]
Ray looked up at the Spine Tree, now glowing faintly. In the distance, Warcha howled to the undead moon.
The world thought he was weak.
Good.
Let them think it longer.
Until it was too late.
---
Chapter 71 – The Crawling Begins
Night fell heavy.
Ray stood in the academy dormitory, window wide open, letting the cool breeze soothe his bruises. His limbs ached from the ranking trials, his body still covered in fading scars and faked exhaustion. Yet behind his tired smile lay something dark and growing—greed.
A quiet pulse echoed in the back of his head.
Seventeen whispered, "Insect units have breached the outer forests. Level 1 scouts. Organic armor. Weak alone. Dangerous in swarms."
Ray closed the window and turned away, voice calm. "Is the domain safe?"
"Hidden. Masked. But anomalies in mana density will draw attention. Especially if you keep feeding it like this."
He said nothing. His hand reached for his wrist, brushing against the barely visible tattoo that marked his bond with the system. His core pulsed faintly.
---
Elsewhere – Edge of the Forest (200 km South)
The Tier 1 Gate pulsed. Hairline fractures webbed across the stone monolith now half-buried in moss. A hiss echoed.
Then something crawled out.
First, antennae. Then a glistening, obsidian exoskeleton. Razor legs. Clicking jaws.
The first insect—barely larger than a wolf pup—looked around.
Behind it, hundreds more followed.
---
Back in the Academy – Next Morning
Ray moved stiffly through the training field. Other students whispered behind their hands. Some mocked him. Some pitied him. A few watched with quiet suspicion.
None knew he had summoned a walking corpse army last night.
He smiled politely to the instructor. Played the role. Hid the sharp glint in his eyes.
Inside, his mind burned.
[Domain Update Available] [New Tree Unlocked: Mawroot Tree - Produces acidic bone spears. Grows faster with blood.
[Warcha has gathered two new undead: Bone Vulture and Hollow Acolyte] [Shadow Lizard evolved into Shadow Drakeling - gains stealth leap and poison breath]
He had to hold back a grin.
Seventeen whispered, "At this pace, in five days your domain's power will rival a B-rank outpost."
"Not enough," Ray thought. *"I want more."
---
Later That Day
Ray snuck off the academy grounds after dusk. Not through the main gate, but through the hidden tunnel he'd made behind the outer wall.
Within minutes, he was deep in the forest—and within moments, Seventeen triggered the veil.
The domain welcomed him.
Spine Tree branches rustled. Bone Crows circled. The Mawroot Tree spit out a spear with a hiss. Warcha stood at the center, flanked by growing ranks.
Then Ray felt it.
A shift in the air.
"Something crossed the forest border," Seventeen whispered.
He turned. Just beyond the domain barrier—a dark figure.
Long legs. Glinting exoskeleton. Sharp mandibles clicking in rhythm.
An Insect Scout.
It couldn't see the domain…
But it could smell death.
---
To Be Continued in Chapter 72
Chapter 71 is locked in — dark, tense, and steadily turning up the heat. The insect threat has finally made landfall, and Ray's domain is evolving at a terrifying
---
Chapter 73 – The Quiet Before the Collapse
The Bone Cathedral breathed.
Not in the way a creature did—but with pulsing mana, like the slow heartbeat of something ancient. Deep within its spined towers, Ray's army rested in silence, undead and beast alike waiting for their master's command.
But Ray was gone.
Above ground.
In uniform.
Back at the Academy.
---
Academy Grounds – Two Days After the Insect Raid
Ray walked the marble halls like a ghost in human skin. His face was calm, unreadable. Around him, students laughed, sparred, and discussed the gate attack that had wiped out two small villages.
No one mentioned his name.
No one even knew he had been there.
"Ray!"
A familiar voice cut through the noise. Evan, his roommate, ran over with a tray of meat buns and a beaming smile. "You hear? The first real ranking trial's starting. They're dividing us based on combat footage."
Ray blinked. "Combat footage?"
"Yeah, the professors got some. Drones from the south. Someone wiped out over thirty insects with a group of… weird skeletons. Rumor says it's a hidden clan."
Ray smiled softly. "Must be."
---
Ranking Trial – Briefing Room
Three instructors stood before the students. The ranking trial would take place in a sealed forest training area. Solo participants only. Entry was staggered. Points awarded for survival, kills, and creativity.
"Insects may be present," Instructor Diran warned. "Anyone found to be cheating with outside help will be expelled."
Ray raised his hand. "Define 'outside help.'"
Diran narrowed his eyes. "Tamed beasts are allowed. System summons must be bound to your current class. If we find hidden necromancy—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Ray nodded politely.
Inside, Seventeen whispered: "I can hide all mana traces. Let them hunt ghosts."
---
Later – Dorm Rooftop
Ray sat cross-legged, watching the stars. Around him, five small shadow birds—bone crow hatchlings—hopped playfully. One perched on his shoulder.
"You'll scout," Ray whispered. "But no killing unless I say."
He fed them tiny soul crumbs — the leftover remains of broken cores. They chirped in low rattles.
Seventeen projected a visual report.
Domain Growth: 5% (Bone Cathedral assimilation ongoing)
New Undead: 7 from last raid
Warcha has begun construction of a throne
Ray exhaled. "Let him build it. He earned it."
"Your army is nearly large enough," Seventeen said. "But the Cathedral has… reacted."
Ray frowned. "Reacted how?"
---
Hidden Domain – Bone Cathedral
Somewhere deep inside, where no light reached, a pulse of dark energy passed through the structure. Bone twisted into shape, forming a sealed cocoon.
Inside it, something stirred.
A fusion of undead and beast.
Half insect. Half man.
And something else entirely.
Seventeen labeled it:
[Aberrant Spawn – Unstable Evolution]
Status: Dormant – Time to Hatch: 3 Days
Ray hadn't made it.
The Domain had.
"It's building me monsters now…"
He didn't smile.
---
Back at the Academy – Midnight
Ray returned to his bed and lay beneath the covers, eyes wide open.
In three days, the trial would begin.
In three days, the aberration would hatch.
And in three days, the first true war would reach the Academy gates.
He whispered into the dark:
"We're not ready. But we will be."
---