Chương 100: CHAPTER 98: THE NOBLE FILTER

The heavy oak doors of the western basement entrance swung wide, banging loudly against the stone masonry as the first wave of applicants surged inside. Over two hundred aristocratic heirs, flanked by personal bodyguards and private retainers, pushed their way down the wide spiral staircase carved into the bedrock. Shimmering defensive barriers of cyan, gold, and crimson lit up the dark spiral descent.

Wind spells howled down the steps as personal attendants tried to blow away whatever air lay below, while alchemists held forward glowing silver lanterns filled with neutralising oils.

"Keep the barrier up!" Lord Vaelen commanded sharply, his gold-trimmed red robes snapping as four enchanted barrier rings flared on his fingers.

"The moment we reach the bottom, establish House Drake's perimeter! No common filth takes a seat before the high houses!"

"Understood, Young Master!" two armored knights shouted, raising heavy steel shields lined with protective runes. At the bottom of the long spiral stairs lay the wide basalt hallway. The moment the leading students stepped onto the level floor, they were enveloped in a thick, reddish-gray mist hanging motionless in the cold air.

"The Wyrm Spore vapor!" someone shrieked from the middle of the crowd. Panic erupted instantly. Several noble youths who had rushed in without activating their personal mana shields inhaled the fine powder. The reaction was immediate and violent. The crushed ghost-pepper husk and sulfur-moss powder ignited their nasal passages and throats like liquid flame.

"Gah! My eyes! My lungs!"

"My throat is burning! Help me! Antidote! Where is the high-tier antidote?!" Coughing violently, three high-born heirs collapsed to their knees, their eyes streaming with tears as they clawed desperately at their collars. Their private guards panicked, grabbing their young masters by the arms and dragging them backward up the stairs in utter disgrace. Other applicants tried to brute-force the hallway using money and rank.

A stout young lord wearing heavy emerald silk pushed through the coughing crowd, pulling out an open velvet pouch overflowing with high-grade gold ducats and glowing mana gems. Behind him, an elder family steward carried a formal letter sealed with the wax crest of the Merchant Guild.

"Where is the Sovereign instructor?!" the stout youth bellowed, squinting through the mist while his enchanted amulet projected a thin green bubble around his face.

"I am Lord Corin of House Maros! My family provides thirty percent of this academy's alchemical glass! We offer a ten-thousand gold endowment directly to this chair in exchange for guaranteed admission!" Inside the sealed subterranean laboratory, Shin stood behind the central steel table with his arms folded over his charcoal coat. The featureless white porcelain mask covered his face, hiding every expression. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Hovering right beside his shoulder, the tiny chibi companion had a miniature glowing clipboard in her hands and a pair of oversized, magical cyan spectacles perched on her nose.

"Spatial scan active! Purity and stress diagnostic protocols running!" she reported cheerfully, her eyes flashing with golden data rings. BEEP! A sharp, digital notification chime echoed through Shin's mind. [APPLICANT: CORIN MAROS] [FILTER CHECK: FRAUDULENT ATTEMPT (BRIBERY / EXTERNAL COMPENSATORY AID)] [MANA BARRIER STABILITY: 18% (FAIL)] [METABOLIC PURITY: CONTAMINATED] [VERDICT: REJECTED]"Candidate failed the baseline barrier test and attempted financial tampering!" the chibi announced with a sharp nod.

"Deploying rejection protocol!" Through the thick wrought-iron door, Shin's voice resonated outward, amplified by a subtle vibration of cold mana that cut straight through the shouting in the corridor.

"Bribery is an immediate forfeiture of life and rank," the cold voice declared.

"Leave the hallway within ten seconds, or your presence will be logged as hazardous biological refuse." Before Lord Corin could protest, a sharp backdraft from the laboratory's lower pressure vents hit the hallway. The sudden gust blew a dense cloud of the pepper powder straight through a gap in his green bubble shield.

"Aaaagh! It burns! It burns!" Corin screamed, dropping his gold pouch as he turned and sprinted blindly toward the stairs, knocking over two of his own guards in his desperate retreat. Abe saale... Rudra thought with a quiet sigh behind the porcelain mask. These fools think money can buy biological immunity. If a corrupted beast bites your neck on a battlefield, wave a bag of gold at it and see if it stops chewing.

"Look at them scatter!" the chibi giggled, flipping the page on her tiny glowing clipboard.

"Total applicants at entry: three hundred and twelve. Disqualified by panic: one hundred and forty. Disqualified by fraudulent enchantments: eighty-six! Here come the real contenders!" At the front of the corridor, Lord Vaelen pressed forward. His four enchanted rings hummed loudly, creating a solid spherical forcefield that deflected the spicy mist entirely.

Behind him came fourteen other high-ranking noble students who had maintained steady, continuous mana barriers around their skin, stepping over dropped bags and discarded amulets with cold, arrogant determination. Right behind the group of noble heirs, five solitary figures walked forward in absolute silence. They wore no fine silk and carried no magical jewels. They were scholarship students from the outer districts—commoners wearing patched, standard-issue gray academy tunics.

Instead of relying on expensive magic rings, each of the five maintained a tight, perfectly controlled skin-tight mana layer over their nostrils and skin, conserving their energy with precise physical discipline. The noble heirs and the commoner prodigies reached the colossal wrought-iron entrance at the same time. Lord Vaelen gripped the heavy iron handle, pushing his way through the heavy threshold. The other nineteen students followed closely behind, stepping into the massive, basalt-walled laboratory.

The moment the twentieth student crossed the stone threshold, Shin raised his dark-iron prosthetic hand. SLAM! With a deafening mechanical crash, all three heavy sliding bolts on the iron door drove themselves into the solid stone doorframe, locking the entrance completely.

"Roster capacity reached!" the chibi announced, doing a joyful spin in the air and closing her glowing clipboard with a snap.

"Total accepted: exactly twenty! Fifteen noble heirs, five commoner prodigies! Filter phase complete!" The twenty students stood inside the wide, cold testing room, catching their breath. The fifteen noble heirs immediately formed a tight cluster near the front steel tables, adjusting their rumpled silk collars and glaring at the five commoners who had taken positions quietly near the back stone pillars. Lord Vaelen stepped forward, dusting off his red sleeves before looking at Shin with a condescending sneer.

"We have passed your primitive little gas trap, Doctor," Vaelen said smoothly, folding his arms.

"Now that the rabble has been filtered out, House Drake expects you to begin by presenting your credentials and the core curriculum for this term. We do not take instruction from unranked commoners without proper oversight." Shin did not move an inch. He stood behind the central steel slab, his dark-iron hand resting flat on the cold metal surface, his narrow eye-slits fixed on Vaelen.

"You are inside my laboratory," Shin said in a low, flat tone.

"Your family name has zero value here. If you speak out of turn again without permission, I will remove your vocal cords and preserve them in a specimen jar on that third shelf." Vaelen's face twisted in sudden outrage, his hand dropping to the hilt of his rapier. Before he could draw his weapon, a violent, earth-shaking series of impacts slammed against the outside of the heavy iron door. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The reinforced basalt walls vibrated from the sheer physical and magical force of the strikes.

"Open this door immediately!" a thunderous voice roared from the corridor outside, amplified by high-tier earth magic.

"This is High Chancellor Drake! By authority of the Noble Houses' Senate, this unauthorized lecture is terminated! Surrender the commoner charlatan, or we will breach these doors and level this basement to the ground!" Dozens of furious shouts and the clashing of heavy weapons echoed through the lead-lined entrance as disqualified noble heirs and their high-ranking family patrons gathered in full battle readiness, preparing to tear the laboratory doors off their hinges.