The Sovereign Veil Chapter 16: Chapter 16: The Showdown

Read chapter 16 of The Sovereign Veil by GodEmperor on NovelPedia.

Lucian strolled out of the examination hall over an hour early. In the courtyard, a few Awakened candidates and synthetic Catalysts who had also breezed through the tactical exams were congregating. Among them was Quinn Sterling and Vincent Thorne. Seeing Lucian exit the hall so casually, Quinn's delicate brows furrowed. She bit her bottom lip, a flash of profound irritation crossing her face. She knew his academic baseline intimately; he was a solid mid-tier student. As an unawakened civilian, what right did he have to submit his geopolitical strategy thesis early? It was academic suicide. "Well, well. Young Master Croft looks like he aced the tactical boards," Vincent laughed loudly, swaggering over with his lackeys. "Which university are you planning to grace with your presence?" "The Obsidian Vanguard Academy," Lucian replied without missing a beat, naming the elite military institution the Tier 2 Grandmaster had recommended. A beat of silence passed before Vincent and the surrounding students erupted into hysterical laughter. "The Obsidian Vanguard?!" Vincent wheezed. "That's the absolute apex military institution in the Terra-Nova Sector! Even top-tier Synthetic Catalysts get rejected! You think they take baseline civilians with delusions of grandeur?" The students universally agreed that Lucian's psychological break from reality was severe. Lucian walked past them, his expression completely blank. Over the past few days, he had grown accustomed to the sector's sheer disbelief regarding his status. What was he supposed to do, shatter Vincent's ribs in front of the academy proctors just to prove a point? That was the mindset of an insecure teenager, not a multiversal apex predator. "Lucian... I can't let you keep spiraling like this," Quinn murmured as she watched his retreating back. Beneath her freezing disappointment, there was a heavy, lingering concern. Vincent's smile slowly turned lethal as he watched Lucian walk away. "Don't worry about him, Quinn. By the end of the week, Croft and his entire family are going to be bankrupt and begging on the lower levels." Time flew. The two-day placement examinations concluded rapidly. To Lucian, the multiversal history and tactical physics portions felt like a joke. During the downtime, Lucian logged into the Sovereign Veil and immediately dropped 500 Aether Points to purchase the Aether-Marrow Elixir from Ares Prime. Clutching the crystalline, emerald vial, Lucian drove his sapphire coupe back to the family villa. When he walked in, both Evelyn and Arthur were sitting in the living room. They exchanged deeply worried, covert glances as he passed, secretly analyzing his behavior. Lucian noticed the weird energy but ignored it, locking his bedroom door. He sat cross-legged on the cyan Origin Stone and initiated the Kirin Ascendant Protocol . After circulating his True-Qi for a full cycle, he uncorked the Aether-Marrow Elixir and swallowed it. Instantly, a scalding, miraculous heat detonated in his chest. The Elixir violently bypassed his digestive system, diffusing directly into his bloodstream and penetrating his microscopic cells. It forcefully purged the genetic limitations of his human vessel, rewriting his biological aptitude for the Aether-Forged discipline. Beneath him, the Origin Stone flared, funneling massive currents of ambient cosmic energy to fuel the violent mutation. Two hours later. A thick layer of black, foul-smelling impurities had been expelled through his pores. The Elixir's terrifying kinetic refinement was complete. At the same time, the Kirin Ascendant Protocol officially broke through to the Middle Stage of the first tier. Lucian was now a Mid-Tier 1 Aether-Forged. Given his foundational density, he estimated his actual kinetic output could rival a standard Tier 2 Innate operative. When he was just at the Early Stage, he had nearly fought a Tier 2 Grandmaster to a standstill; now, he would crush him. Lucian hit the shower to wash off the biological sludg