"Self-taught."
Thorne's laugh was harsh. "Self-taught divine magic? Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"I think you're a man doing his job," Levi replied. "But I also think you're looking for a conspiracy where none exists."
"Then explain this." Thorne activated a crystal recorder, and suddenly the office filled with the sound of Levi's voice from the examination: "Then make it enough!" followed by the distinct sound of radiant energy discharge.
"That recording was taken from deep within Sector Seven," Thorne continued. "The energy signature matches weapons-grade divine magic. The kind that costs kingdoms their entire treasuries to produce."
"Maybe I'm naturally gifted."
"Or maybe you've made a deal with something that shouldn't be dealt with." Thorne's eyes hardened. "There are entities that grant power in exchange for services. Dark gods, fallen angels, demons seeking footholds in our world."
"I'm not working with demons," Levi said truthfully.
"But you are working with something."
Before Levi could respond, the office door burst open. Kane strode in, his face flushed with anger and his expensive gear clattering with each step.
"Master Thorne, I demand justice!" Kane's voice carried the authority of someone accustomed to being obeyed. "This fraud has made a mockery of the Guild's examination process!"
"Kane," Thorne said warningly, "this is a private interview."
"Private? While he gets away with cheating?" Kane pointed an accusatory finger at Levi. "I know what I saw down there. Normal people don't glow like miniature suns. Normal people don't drive off shadow beasts with their bare hands."
"What are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting he's using illegal enhancements. Probably divine steroids or soul-binding contracts. My father's connections in the Capital Guild can have this investigated properly."
Levi felt his temper beginning to fray. "Your father's connections?"
"That's right. Kane Blackwood, son of Guildmaster Aldric Blackwood. I have resources you can't imagine."
"Resources," Levi repeated quietly. "Is that what you call it when daddy buys your way through life?"
Kane's face went red. "You dare—"
"I dare a lot of things these days." Levi stood, and for the first time, Kane actually took a step back. "Including calling out spoiled children who think their last name makes them special."
"You're nothing!" Kane snarled. "A failure from the slums who got lucky once!"
"Lucky?" Levi's voice carried a dangerous edge. "You think what happened down there was luck?"
[LIGHT ENERGY BUILDING]
[WARNING: EMOTIONAL STRESS DETECTED]
[POWER REGULATION COMPROMISED]
"Gentlemen," Thorne said firmly, "that's enough."
But Kane wasn't finished. "You want to know what I think? I think you made a deal with something dark. I think you sold your soul for power, and now you're walking around pretending to be a hero."
"Kane." The voice came from the doorway, and all three men turned to see Elena entering uninvited. "You're embarrassing yourself."
"Elena? How did you get past the privacy ward?"
"I asked nicely," she said with a slight smile. "And I thought you might want to hear what I discovered in the Guild's archives."
She produced a leather-bound journal from her medical bag. "This belonged to my grandmother, who served as a Guild healer for forty years. She documented every unusual case that came through these doors."
Elena opened the journal to a specific page. "June 15th, thirty-seven years ago. A young man named Marcus Brightwater failed his examination thirty-two times before suddenly manifesting divine light magic. He went on to become one of the Guild's most celebrated fighters."
"That's impossible," Kane said. "Divine magic requires years of training—"
"August 3rd, twenty-nine years ago," Elena continued. "Sarah Moonweaver, failed candidate turned legendary healer after awakening lunar magic during her forty-first examination."
"There are more," she said, flipping through pages. "Thomas Stormcaller, Rebecca Earthsong, David Flameheart. All late bloomers who suddenly manifested extraordinary abilities after multiple failures."
Thorne leaned forward, his expression thoughtful. "May I see that?"
Elena handed him the journal. "Page forty-seven has the most interesting entry. A theory my grandmother developed about 'stress-induced awakening' in individuals with dormant divine bloodlines."
"Divine bloodlines?" Kane scoffed. "He's from the slums!"
"Bloodlines don't care about social status," Elena said coolly. "Some of the most powerful magic users in history came from humble backgrounds."
Levi stared at her in amazement.
She was covering for him with actual research, giving him a plausible explanation for his abilities. But more than that—she was defending him publicly, taking his side against someone with significantly more political power.
"This is fascinating," Thorne said, reading intently. "But it doesn't explain the energy readings we detected."
"Actually, it does." Elena moved to stand beside Levi, close enough that he could smell her subtle perfume. "Stress-induced awakening often results in power surges far beyond normal magical capacity. The individual essentially downloads years of potential growth in moments of extreme need."
"That's..." Thorne paused, considering. "That's actually consistent with what we observed."
"It's nonsense," Kane said flatly. "And even if it weren't, it doesn't change the fact that he's dangerous. Did you see what he did to those shadow beasts? That kind of power in the hands of someone unstable—"
"Someone unstable?" Elena's voice carried a sharp edge. "He saved your life, Kane. All of our lives. If he hadn't acted, we'd all be dead in those tunnels."
"I didn't need saving!"
"You were cowering behind a broken wall while shadow beasts circled your position. If that isn't needing saving, I don't know what is."
Kane's face went from red to purple. "You... you..."
"Choose your next words carefully," Levi said quietly. "Elena is a lady. Act like you have some breeding."
"Don't lecture me about breeding, slum rat!"
Kane's hand moved to his sword hilt, but before he could draw the weapon, Levi was there. His enhanced reflexes made the movement almost instantaneous, and suddenly Kane found himself pressed against the wall with Levi's hand around his throat.
"I said," Levi repeated, his voice deadly calm, "choose your words carefully."
"Let... let go of me," Kane gasped.
"Apologize to Elena."
"I... I'm sorry."
"Louder."
"I'm sorry, Elena! I'm sorry!"
Levi released him, and Kane slumped against the wall, gasping for breath. But instead of retreating, Kane's face twisted with rage and humiliation.
"You'll pay for this," he snarled, drawing his sword in one fluid motion.